4 mins read

Pope begs breakaway traditionalist group to back off bishop consecrations

ROME | Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday begged a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics to call off its plan to consecrate new bishops without his consent, calling the move a schismatic act and a “sin of extreme gravity.” “I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!” Leo wrote in […]

7 mins read

Why most Black Americans say they never fly the American flag, according to a new AP-NORC poll

DETROIT | Jerry Esters proudly displays the American flag each day on his Detroit home. A few miles away, Yvonne Pistochini says there is no scenario under which she would allow the Stars and Stripes to cast its shadow where she lives. Both are Black. For Esters, the flag represents the opportunities that allowed the […]

7 mins read

Gender-bending is now part of menswear. Paris runways show how mainstream it has become

PARIS | This was men’s fashion season. The women were everywhere. They walked the coed Paris runways at Amiri and Ami. At Vetements, women modeled many of the “menswear” looks, and Sharon Stone closed the show in thigh-high boots. Inside fashion, none of this was eyebrow-raising. The gender blur was not happening on the margins. […]

2 mins read

Film academy invites 529 new members, including Jenna Ortega, the Safdie brothers and Jacob Elordi

NEW YORK | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday invited 529 members to the Oscar voting body, a new class that brings the group’s membership to nearly double what it was a decade ago. Among those who received invites are “One Battle After Another” nominee Teyana Taylor, Josh O’Connor, Jenna Ortega, […]

2 mins read

Star-maker Clive Davis honored at funeral that draws Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and others

NEW YORK | Kenny G played a mournful sax solo to kick off the funeral Monday for music legend Clive Davis, as pop royalty turned out to honor a man who championed so many of their careers. Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder were among of the other musical stars at the […]

2 mins read

Comcast plans to split into two public companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky

Comcast is planning to split itself into two publicly traded companies, one focused on media that would include NBCUniversal and Sky and the other focused on broadband and wireless services. The company said Monday that its board and management team think each company will be better positioned to pursue its own strategic priorities, invest for […]

7 mins read

Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios

LOS ANGELES | While much of Hollywood was consumed by the streaming wars, Issa Rae was studying a different mode of entertainment thousands of miles away: microdramas. No stranger to creating a successful online series, the Emmy-nominated actor and producer became intrigued by China’s booming market for the short, mobile-first soap operas, seeing its potential […]

6 mins read

Inside country legend Alan Jackson’s triumphant finale concert

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | The time has come for country music superstar Alan Jackson to hang up his signature Stetson hat. The genre traditionalist from Newnan, Georgia, whose career kicked off in the 1980s and exploded shortly thereafter in the oft-cited ’90s country wave with heartfelt songs for the working man who’d rather be drinking, or […]

6 mins read

Charlie Brown’s longtime pen pal is finally revealed in new Apple TV ‘Peanuts’ movie

NEW YORK | Charlie Brown began writing to a pen pal not long after the comic strip “Peanuts” debuted in newspapers back in 1950. No one has gotten a look at whoever was on the other end of his letters — until now. Her name is Mia, and she’s a young girl from London of […]

7 mins read

Norman Rockwell people-watched in the West Wing lobby. Now those sketches are on public display

WASHINGTON | For more than 40 years, sketches by American illustrator Norman Rockwell of scenes from the White House visitor’s lobby graced the walls of the West Wing, where every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump had seen them. Now, they’re going on public display for the first time after a nonprofit organization paid […]