Mother’s Day is in a couple weeks, but Drake gave his mom an early gift with a heartfelt speech at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, where the rap star also broke Taylor Swift’s record for most wins.

Drake turned up the love for his mom when he picked up top artist, besting Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Post Malone and Travis Scott. He won 12 awards Wednesday in Las Vegas, making his career total 27 (Swift has 23 wins).

He looked up to the ceiling as he held the trophy, then said: “I just want to thank my mom for her relentless effort in my life.

“I want to thank my mom for all the times you drove me to piano. All the times you drove me to basketball and hockey — that clearly didn’t work out. All the times you drove me to `Degrassi.’ No matter how long it took me to figure out what I wanted to do, you were always there to give me a ride, and now we’re on one hell of ride,” Drake said.

Family bonding was a theme at the three-hour show, which aired live on NBC and was hosted by Kelly Clarkson

Ciara’s young son and husband, NFL player Russell Wilson, danced along while she worked the stage, and Nick and Joe Jonas gave kisses to Priyanka Chopra and Sophie Turner of “Game of Thrones” fame when they sang in the audience before hitting the stage. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco looked to his parents as he accepted top rock song, quoting the name of his current hit: “Hey look Ma, I made it!”

Mariah Carey’s twins cheered her on as she sang a medley of her hits and accepted the Icon award. She was in diva form before taking the award from Jennifer Hudson, throwing her napkin on the floor after dabbing her face with it.

“Without getting into all the drama, all the ups and downs of my career … I guess I always felt like an outsider, someone who doesn’t quite belong anywhere, and I still feel like that lost interracial child who had a lot of nerve to believe I could succeed at anything at all in this world. But, and this is the truth, I did believe because I had to,” she said. “The truth is I dedicated my life to my music — my saving grace — and to my fans.”

Cardi B, the night’s top nominee with 21, locked lips with husband Offset on the red carpet and the couple sat closely inside the venue. She won six awards, including top Hot 100 song for “Girls Like You” with Maroon 5.

“I remember when Maroon 5 hit me up to do this song. I was like, Bro I'm five months pregnant. I can't even breathe.' But this record to me was so amazing. I was like,Oh this is going to be a hit.’ And now I sing this song to my daughter because she’s the girl that I need,” she said.

Drake and Cardi B — who both won multiple awards during the live telecast — used their speeches to promote love and appreciation for their peers in the music industry.

Others, too, brought on the positive energy when onstage. Imagine Dragons’ band leader Dan Reynolds used his speech to highlight the dangers of conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth. He earned rousing applause. Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard followed suit, telling the audience after winning top country song: “In the spirit of so much truth being spoken tonight by so many talented artists, I think we should speak some truth.”

“As artists we all get to experience so many unbelievable things, but in our opinion, at the end of the day, it’s all for nothing if you’re not using your platform for better … to spread love, to help those in needs, to be a light to your community,” he said.

Swift kicked off the show when she brought her new music video to life with a colorful, eye-popping performance of her song “ME!” Dancers wearing bright, pastel colors spun in the air holding umbrellas and a marching band kicked off Swift’s performance — like most of the world, maybe she was inspired by Beyonce’s new Coachella film?

Madonna, wearing an eye-patch, teamed up with Colombian singer Maluma for a performance, but it was Grammy-winning Christian artist Lauren Daigle who had the night’s best performance. She sang “You Say,” giving the audience a calm, yet strong and powerful performance. She was backed by three awesome background singers and a pianist.

BTS, who performed alongside Halsey, also had a major night. At the Billboard Awards and American Music Awards, the K-pop band had only previously won “social” awards based off their fanatic fan base, but on Wednesday BTS picked up top duo/group, besting Grammy-winning groups like Maroon 5, Imagine Dragons and Dan + Shay.

“I still can’t believe we’re here on this stage with so many great artists,” RM said as fans screamed loudly. “We’re still the same boys from six years ago, we still have the same dreams … we still have the same thoughts. Let us keep dreaming.”

An unlikely winner at the Billboard Awards? “Game of Thrones” actress Maisie Williams, whose plays Arya Stark on the HBO series and shined brightly on last week’s episode.

“Shout-out to Arya Stark for putting in that work last week,” Drake said onstage after winning his first award of the evening.
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Rugby is one of Kenya’s most popular sports, and the country’s national team has played in the World Cup. 

Inspired by the national team’s success, members of Kenya’s deaf community launched a deaf rugby team last year. The team, which is has been training for just more than a year now, has big dreams for the future. 

Every Sunday, Martin Kasuivya begins his journey to the rugby pitch with a rush of excitement in his eyes.

He had played football (soccer) as a child, but had never played rugby until a year ago, when officials of the newly formed Kenya Deaf Rugby Association came to his church.

Martin was born deaf and has largely remained within the deaf community in Kenya. For this story, he speaks to VOA through a sign language interpreter.

Sunday afternoon practice

“Before, when I was growing up, there was no deaf rugby, but people like to join new things so I decided let me go with a new thing,” he said.

At the pitch about an hour’s commute from his house, Martin joins 16 other players for practice. This has become the team’s weekly Sunday afternoon routine.

Maurice Okwatch formed the team and the Kenya Deaf Rugby Association to support it. Speaking through a sign language interpreter, Okwatch explains his motivation.

“In Kenya, the people who are hearing are the only ones who have a rugby team, so we thought let’s copy South Africa, let’s have a deaf rugby team,” he said.

Funding hard to find

Deaf rugby is also played in Australia, Canada and England, and the sport is represented at the Deaf Olympics, which comes up next in 2021.

The players in Nairobi haven’t played a game yet and don’t have a sponsor. They make do with what they have: one ball and mismatched secondhand uniforms. Okwatch says the team is currently self-supporting.

“When I formed this group,” he said, “I tried to look for funding but it was very difficult and the committee ourselves we decided let’s chip in, so we bought a ball as a committee.”

Progress and big dreams

There’s no whistle here. The team’s coach, Brennan Rashid, communicates with players through sign language. In a professional deaf rugby match, the referee waves a white flag to draw the attention of the players.

Unlike the players, Rashid is not deaf. He says that despite a lack of playing experience, the team is getting better.

“I have seen the progress, I have seen them step by step going places with it, getting a proper understanding of the game and that is the best thing I can give,” he said.

Despite the various hardships, Kasuivya and the other players have big dreams, like competing in the Deaf Olympics.

Kasuivya says his goal is to win the gold.
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Rugby is one of Kenya’s most popular sports, and the country’s national team has played in the World Cup. Inspired by the national team’s success, members of Kenya’s deaf community launched a deaf rugby team last year. The team, which has been training for just more than a year now, has big dreams for the future. Sarah Kimani reports from Nairobi.
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In one of the most ethically and scientifically challenging cases in modern sports law, two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya lost her appeal of a rule that requires women to medically reduce their natural levels of testosterone in order to compete in certain track events.

Here is a look at the case that sports’ highest court acknowledged in its 2-1 ruling Wednesday was discriminatory, but said the discrimination is “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to maintain fairness in women’s track:

The rules

In April 2018, the governing body of track and field published eligibility rules in its races for women runners with “differences of sex development (DSD).”

Those women must reduce their testosterone to comply with IAAF rules for at least six continuous months before competing at top-level events.

The rules apply only to “conditions where the affected individual has XY chromosomes” — male chromosomes — it was explained Wednesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

Those athletes “have testosterone levels well into the male range.”

The IAAF has said the rules “exist solely to ensure fair and meaningful competition,” and not to judge or question any athlete’s sex or gender identity.

Put on hold by Semenya’s appeal, those rules now take effect next Wednesday.

The IAAF’s first attempt to address the issue in 2011 was rejected by a previous Court of Arbitration for Sport panel in 2015. That ruling challenged the IAAF to produce better evidence because it had not proven that hyperandrogenic women — women with excessive amounts of male hormones — gained a significant advantage.

Semenya’s defense

Semenya’s lawyers argued that “her genetic gift should be celebrated, not discriminated against.”

Although testosterone — a hormone that strengthens muscle tone and bone mass — is a doping product if injected or ingested, no one has suggested Semenya’s natural physiology is a form of cheating.

Semenya’s case was championed by United Nations human rights experts and women’s sports activists, including Billie Jean King, who saw potential for abuse and discrimination against women.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party linked Semenya’s cause to the liberation struggle of Nelson Mandela and, on Wednesday, accused the IAAF of “acting in a prejudicial manner.”

The judges 

The judges from Canada, Australia and Switzerland scrutinized evidence, including testimony from Semenya, over five days in February in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The nuanced verdict was detailed in a two-page court statement expressing concern about some evidence underpinning the rules and how they will now be applied.

The judges believe some women who choose treatment with medication will have difficulties staying within with the limit and face bans for “unintentional non-compliance.”

The IAAF said Wednesday it “will keep all practical matters of implementation under periodic review.”

Behind the ruling

The judges’ full 165-page verdict remains confidential, and contains sensitive medical information.

A six-page executive summary published Wednesday clarified the judges’ majority opinion without detailing the evidence.

The ruling derives from the premise that separate men’s and women’s races were created due to “insuperable performance advantages derived from biology.”

From there, “it follows that it may be legitimate to regulate the right to participate in the female category by reference to those biological factors rather than legal status alone.”

The case appeared as if it would likely sway on scientific evidence rather than a concept of fairness, and one expert witness called by Semenya’s team questioned the data.

”In the absence of really compelling evidence, something discriminatory is not justifiable,” South African academic Ross Tucker told The Associated Press. “I don’t see good science having been followed here.”

Semenya’s future 

The CAS judges paid tribute to “Ms. Semenya’s grace and fortitude throughout this process.”

She will potentially run her final international 800-meter race on Friday in Doha, Qatar, when the Diamond League series opens.

If she wants to defend her 800-meter world title in September — also in Doha — she must begin medicating within days. The IAAF requires affected athletes to give a blood test by next Wednesday within the set limits.

With the world championships opening on Sept. 28, the IAAF said it will waive the 6-month compliance rule for that event.

Semenya can run without medication in the 5,000 meters — or possibly in the 1,500 if the IAAF follows the judges’ guidance to defer applying the rules to that event. Semenya won a bronze medal in the 1,500 at the 2017 worlds in London.

There is no indication the IAAF will do that.

What next?

Semenya and the South Africa track federation have 30 days to appeal to Switzerland’s Supreme Court in Lausanne.

Federal judges rarely overturn CAS decisions but can intervene if it’s determined the legal process was abused.

Semenya could request an interim federal ruling to freeze the CAS decision pending a full appeal.

With the IAAF rules under permanent review, other female athletes could one day challenge them.

“I can say this decision is certainly not the perfect one,” CAS official Matthieu Reeb said, “but is there a perfect decision in this situation?”

 
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Taylor Swift is set to kick off the 2019 Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday with the debut performance of her new song ME! and she could continue her run as the most decorated winner in the show’s history. 

Swift, a 23-time Billboard Award winner, will open the show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas alongside Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco, who is featured on her new track. Swift is also nominated for two awards: top female artist and top touring artist. 

Cardi B, though, is the leading nominee with 21 and will attend the show. Drake — who will also attend the show — and Post Malone are close behind with 17 nominations each. All three acts will compete for the night’s biggest prize, top artist, along with Ariana Grande and Travis Scott, who scored 12 nominations. 

Kelly Clarkson will host the Billboard Awards for a second time and also perform at the three-hour show, airing live on NBC at 8 p.m. EDT. 

Other performers will include Madonna with Maluma, BTS with Halsey, Paula Abdul, Dan + Shay, Jonas Brothers, Khalid, Tori Kelly, Panic! at the Disco, Lauren Daigle, Ciara and Mariah Carey, who will receive the Icon Award. Grande will perform via satellite from her tour.  

Cardi B’s 21 nominations include top female artist and top Billboard 200 album for her Grammy-winning release, Invasion of Privacy. With her No. 1 hits — I Like It featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny and Girls Like You with Maroon 5 — she is nominated twice in categories like top Hot 100 song, top selling song and top collaboration. 

Rap strong in album category

Rap music, which dominated the charts and streaming services last year, owned the top Billboard album category. Along with Cardi B, the nominees include Drake’s Scorpion, Scott’s ASTROWORLD, the late XXXTentacion’s ? and Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys. 

For top Hot 100 song, rap shined again with nominees like Cardi B’s I Like It, Juice WRLD’s Lucid Dreams, Scott’s SICKO MODE and Malone’s Better Now. Maroon 5 and Cardi B’s Girls Like You is also up for the prize. 

XXXTentacion, who was fatally shot last June, earned 10 nominations, including bids for top male artist, top R&B artist and top rap album. Last year, he posthumously won honors at the American Music Awards and the BET Hip-Hop Awards. 

The late Aretha Franklin also earned a nomination. The Queen of Soul, who died last August, is up for top gospel album with Gospel Greats. Queen,  whose music hit a new peak late last year with the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, received nominations for top rock artist and top soundtrack. 

Presenters at the show will include Jennifer Hudson, Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley of This Is Us, David Guetta, Eva Longoria, Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown and Terry Crews. 

Nominees and winners for the Billboard Awards are based on album and song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement. The awards are based on the chart period of March 23, 2018, through March 7, 2019.
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Media mogul Oprah Winfrey, whose opinions can get millions of fans to try a new diet or turn a book into an international best-seller, is figuring out which Democratic candidate she will endorse in the crowded 2020 U.S. presidential race.

Winfrey, who has ruled out running for the White House, told the Hollywood Reporter in an extensive interview released on Tuesday that she was “quietly figuring out where I’m going to use my voice in support.”

“I’m sitting back, waiting to see. It’ll be very clear who I’m supporting,” she said of the 2020 election campaign.

Winfrey campaigned heavily for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but adopted a lower profile in her support of Hillary Clinton, who lost in 2016 to current Republican President Donald Trump.

Some 20 Democrats are running for president in 2020.

Winfrey said among the Democrats she is researching are South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke and California Senator Kamala Harris.

She said she already knows New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

Winfrey, a billionaire movie producer, television network owner, magazine publisher and philanthropist, was urged by her supporters to run for the White House herself after delivering a rousing speech at the 2018 Golden Globe awards ceremony. She has repeatedly ruled out the idea.

Winfrey is also an actress who was Oscar-nominated for her supporting role in the 1985 film “The Color Purple.” She also had a major role in the 2018 film “A Wrinkle in Time,” and appeared in “Selma” and “The Butler” as well as the series “Greenleaf” on OWN TV, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

But with a series of documentaries and interview shows lined up for the upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service, Winfrey said she was no longer interested in acting.

“I think to be really, really good at it, you’ve got to do it a lot. You’ve got to work at it. And it’s got to be something that you have true passion about. I don’t think it’s something you can dabble in,” she said. “It doesn’t feed my soul anymore.”
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Early scenes in Rachel Lears’ documentary “Knock Down the House” take place far away from the halls of power. At a New York taco and tequila bar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is filling ice buckets in the basement. 

It’s six months before the primary that turned Ocasio-Cortez into a liberal phenomenon. Then trailing far behind in the polls, few expected her to win the race for New York’s 14th district and unseat incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, who had served for two decades and hadn’t faced a primary challenger in 14 years. 

“If I were, like, a normal, rational person, I would have dropped out of this race a long time ago,” she says riding an elevator with sanitary gloves on her hands. 

“Knock Down the House,” which premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, is, in movie lingo, an origin story. But while it has come to be known as “the AOC documentary,” it captures a wider political movement. Shot over two years in the lead-up to the 2018 elections, it follows four progressive insurgent candidates, all women, running grassroots campaigns: the Bronx-born Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela of Nevada, Cori Bush of Missouri and Paula Jean Swearengin of West Virginia. 

One of them – you might have heard – won. 

“They were all considered long shots. We were looking for people that would be very compelling to watch, no matter what happened,” Lears said in an interview. “We were very interested in races that would involve political machines and very entrenched power structures. We were interested in exploring the nature of power in the United States.”

The attention surrounding Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, has raised the profile of “Knock Down the House.” It won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, where Netflix acquired it for $10 million – the biggest documentary sale ever at the festival. 

And given the intense partisan divisions around Ocasio-Cortez, “Knock Down the House” has also been used against the congresswoman by some. The filmmakers have had to combat falsehoods that Ocasio-Cortez profited from the Netflix sale (documentary subjects generally aren’t paid). Still, Ocasio-Cortez has said she’s been approached on the House floor about how much she made from the film. 

​On Monday, Kellyanne Conway criticized Ocasio-Cortez on Fox News’ “Hannity” for promoting “Knock Down the House” on Twitter the day after the Sri Lanka Easter bombings. (Ocasio-Cortez responded that Conway was “using this as an excuse to stoke suspicion around my Christianity.”)

“There is a lot of speculation about what the film is,” said Lears. “I look forward to it being out there and people can decide for themselves.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who declined to comment for this article, was unable to attend the film’s Sundance premiere in January, citing complications due to the government shutdown. 

“Some might be assuming that this is her personal project, and that’s not true at all,” said Lears. “We had complete editorial independence.”

Those expecting a glossy political advertisement may be surprised to find something far more personal in “Knock Down the House.” The main thrust of the film is capturing the struggles of working-class women challenging the establishment, navigating the often painful process of stepping into public life and battling far larger, and far better bankrolled political machines.

The candidates are backed by the political action committees Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, groups that were Lears’ gateway to the four candidates. But the candidates are inexperienced political outsiders motivated to run by personal experience. Bush is a nurse and ordained pastor. Swearengin comes from a long line of coal miners, several of whom died from black lung disease.

​Swearengin unsuccessfully ran against Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat and defender of the coal industry in West Virginia. In the documentary Swearengin summarizes her opposition: “If another country came in here, blew up our mountains and poisoned our water, we’d go to war. But industry can.” 

Vilela, a Nevada businesswoman, entered politics after the death of her daughter, Shalynne. She died at age 22 of a massive pulmonary embolism weeks after being turned away from an ER for lacking insurance. Running on a platform of universal health care, Vilela lost to Democrat Steven Horsford. 

“People right now don’t understand the basis of the film, or the basis of why we ran,” said Vilela. “This movie is about what is to go against the system and it’s not just a Democrat thing. It’s across party lines. It’s money in politics.”

One of the film’s most vivid moments comes when a devastated Vilela, faced with election day tallies that eliminate her long-odds bid, falls to her knees and bursts into tears.

“I was like: And now more people will die,” said Vilela. “And I couldn’t save them like I couldn’t save my daughter.” 

Vilela said she will run for office again. And she guarantees Republicans will watch “Knock Down the House.” 

“People are going to secretly go and watch this movie. They’re ranting about it online. They’re not going to be able to resist,” she said. “I think it will humanize what we’re doing. Hopefully, we won’t be so scary to them, and they’ll understand where we’re coming from.”

Lears was there to document a happier election night for Ocasio-Cortez, and the documentary’s final moments track the Congresswoman’s giddy arrival in Washington D.C. But, to her, “Knock Down the House” isn’t about winning. 

“It’s a testament to the value of trying to be part of the democratic process,” said Lears, “no matter what the outcome.” 
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