Art & Entertainment

FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA - They say when you visit a country you should go ‘local’ and experience the real culture of the place.  For Freeport, that would be a drive to Toni Macaroni’s Conch experience at Taino Beach. Macaroni’s open aired, thatch-roofed shack was not your run of the mill restaurant.  At Tony’s you can only get Roast Conch, his...

CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett’s family said Thursday that the attack on the black and gay “Empire” actor in downtown Chicago this week was a “hate crime” and they pushed back against any suggestion that he was anything but honest with the police. Smollett, who plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, hasn’t spoken publicly about the...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The victim in Bill Cosby’s criminal sex-assault case has settled a defamation lawsuit against a former prosecutor who said she added details to her story over time. Andrea Constand’s suit against Bruce Castor had been set for trial in April in Philadelphia after a federal judge refused to dismiss it. The case then settled this week, court...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – At the onset, eight senior high school students were all deemed winners, but after two nerve wrecking hours of preparing, cooking, tasting and serving, Labrano McPhee Jr. emerged the overall winner of the New Providence District 2019 Senior High School Young Chef Competition. The students’ assignment was to plan, prepare and serve a dish made from Mahatma...

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s Parliament passed a motion Wednesday saying Netflix should compensate the people of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, for using footage of the 2013 rail disaster in the post-apocalyptic survival film “Bird Box.” The footage involved the disaster created when an unattended train carrying crude oil rolled down an incline, went off the tracks and exploded into a massive ball of...

NEW YORK (AP) — James Ingram, the Grammy-winning singer who launched multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts and earned two Oscar nominations for his songwriting, has died, according to a close associate. He was 66. Debbie Allen, an actress-choreographer and frequent collaborator with Ingram, announced his death on Twitter on Tuesday. Attempts by The Associated Press to confirm his death...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Anyah Coke, a student of A. F. Adderley Junior High School, is the winner of the New Providence District Junior High School Young Chef Competition. The budding chef’s Coconut Lemon Meringue Muffin and Tropical Seafood Fried Rice tantalized the judges’ taste buds positioning her as winner of both the Best Rice and Best Flour categories. The judges...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - As Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is just months away, Anthony Knowles, a designer for The Bahamas Masqueraders carnival group projects that they will gain a 33 per cent growth in participants this year. In an interview Tuesday with Eyewitness News Online, Knowles said Bahamas Masqueraders is preparing to have more than 1,600 persons. The cost for a costume...

CHICAGO (AP) — A cast member on the hit television show “Empire” alleged he was physically attacked by men in Chicago who shouted racial and homophobic slurs, police said Tuesday. Police did not release the actor’s name but a statement from Fox, which airs “Empire,” identified him as Jussie Smollett, 36. Authorities said they are investigating the alleged attack as...

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Lorraine Toussaint welcomes the idea of intimacy coaches on television and film sets, even if the actress wasn’t quite sure what the job entails. Informed that such coaches help stage scenes involving sex that are respectful to the actors, the 58-year-old star of NBC’s upcoming series “The Village” told a TV critics meeting on Tuesday that...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS -- A school student selects 'Order of Entry' number for Junior Junkanoo. Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture Deputy Permanent Secretary K. Darron Turnquest; Deputy Director of the Division of Culture Dereka Deleveaux-Grant; and National Coordinator of Junior Junkanoo Henry Higgins joined Junior Junkanoo organizers and stakeholders at the Order of Entry ceremony at Esso Gas Station South Beach...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS -  Annual Red Cross Ball with its usual sparkle took place at Baha Mar on Saturday evening, attended by Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Marguerite Pindling; Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and Mrs. Minnis; and Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Frankie Campbell and Mrs. Campbell; and other dignitaries. Nancy Kelly was the 2019 Red Cross Individual...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taraji P. Henson and Erykah Badu want to clear the air. The pair, who star together in the upcoming comedy “What Men Want,” say their comments regarding R. Kelly have been taken totally out of context. The “Empire” actress recently posted an Instagram story where she looked up the hashtag #MuteRKelly and later looked at one...

NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off of its win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, “Black Panther” is heading back into theaters. Disney announced Monday that Ryan Coogler’s Oscar nominee will play for free Feb. 1-7 at 250 participating AMC theaters to celebrate Black History Month. Disney also said it will give a $1.5 million grant to support the United...

FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA – Marathon enthusiasts and dog lovers can begin lacing up their running shoes in anticipation for the Annual Grand Bahama Dog Days Half Marathon in Freeport, Grand Bahama. On Saturday, March 2rd,  organizers will celebrate their 5th anniversary of this fun event which has raised more than $65,000 for local charities. Dog Days Event Directors Siobhan Antonia-Bates...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Winners at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, presented Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles: FILM Actress: Glenn Close, “The Wife” Actor: Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody” Ensemble: “Black Panther” Actress in a supporting role: Emily Blunt, “A Quiet Place” Actor in a supporting role: Mahershala Ali, “Green Book” Stunt Ensemble: “Black Panther” TELEVISION...

BEIRUT (AP) — Nadine Labaki is standing taller than usual. The Lebanese director, a source of national pride, this week became the first female artist in the Arab world to be nominated for an Academy Award. Labaki’s foreign language nomination for “Capernaum” makes her one of the only female directors to compete at this year’s Oscars, which feature another all-male...

PARIS (AP) — The lawyer for a woman who filed a rape complaint in Paris against American singer Chris Brown and two other men said Thursday that his client was under “great psychological pressure” at a luxury hotel when “non-consensual sex” allegedly took place inside locked rooms. Brown was released from custody without charges pending further investigation of the woman’s...