The island of Barbados is in the midst of great change. As the country continues to transition into a republic, the nation has elected a woman as its very first president.

Dame Sandra Mason was elected after securing two-thirds of the votes in the country's two houses of Parliament, the government announced.

Barbados announced in September 2020 that it would become a republic, a process that involves removing Queen Elizabeth as the island nation's head of state.

Four years ago, the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va., was at the heart of a violent white supremacist rally that left a counterprotester dead.

Now, a museum dedicated to Black culture and history has put forward a new proposal: Melt the statue down and use the bronze to create new works of public art.

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center's proposal, titled "Swords into Plowshares," calls for commissioning an artist-in-residence to create the new artworks, which would be gifted to the city of Charlottesville upon completion.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a controversial Texas abortion law on Nov. 1 but refused to block the law while it examines Texas' unusual enforcement scheme and whether the Department of Justice has the right to sue to block the law.

Renowned Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink died Thursday at age 92. The range of his work gives a glimpse of how much he was admired and beloved both in Europe and the U.S., particularly by orchestras and soloists who hailed him as a musician's musician, prizing the work itself over showboating and glamor.

Expressing "shock and sadness," actor Alec Baldwin says he is cooperating with the police investigation into the shooting on a movie set that killed the film's cinematographer and injured its director.

Baldwin, who is also a producer of Rust, fired the prop gun during filming on Thursday afternoon, police said.

Roberto Carlos Lange conceives of sound differently than the traditional songwriter.

Working under the moniker Helado Negro, the Ecuadorian-American artist has deftly moved between genre and medium, creating everything from albums steeped in house-tinged electronica and downtempo Spanish folk, to meditative sonic art installations. His category-defying body of work has spanned more than a decade, his kaleidoscopic take on the world garnering critical acclaim along the way.

This story was originally published by Carolina Public Press.

In late summer, multiple hospital systems told their workers to vaxx up or pack up.

Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians have volunteered to get vaccinated against COVID-19. To date, more than 5.7 million state residents have gotten two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer jabs or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Dune may not be the best new movie you'll see this year, but it's easily the most new movie you'll see this year. I left the theater feeling overwhelmed and a little parched, as though I'd spent two hours and 35 minutes being pummeled by hot desert winds and blinding sandstorms. The world of Frank Herbert's novel feels big and immersive here in a way it never has on-screen, with its futuristic spacecraft, cavernous fortresses and, of course, terrifying sand worms.