Political pundits have offered up a myriad of reasons for newly inaugurated President Barack Obama’s victory in November’s election - the economic crisis, plummeting public support for George W. Bush, concerns about the Republican ticket and so on Read more

THE BUSINESS OF ART. The Sakonnet Arts Network, a Tiverton-based nonprofit organization, will host a gathering of artists and friends to discuss The Business of Art on Friday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 1956 Read more

A US military raid in the eastern Afghanistan province of Laghman last Friday night resulted in the deaths of at least 16 civilians, including women and children, according to local residents. Several Afghan officials, as well as President Hamid Read more

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has hit out at Real Madrid presidential hopeful, Florentino Perez, who claims he would bring Gunners boss Arsene Wenger to the Bernabeu were he to be elected. “I think it is laughable,” Hill-Wood told the Sunday Read more

A sea of people, many of them starting their journey as early as 4 in the morning, spilled into the National Mall from directions north, south, east and west to watch Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States. But over an hour Read more

(CBS) Neil Sedaka will always be a permanent fixture when it comes to the making of American rock ‘n’ roll. He’s had an over 50-year love affair with making music through performing and producing. Whether he was behind the mic or behind the scenes Read more

It seemed like an ordinary shopping expedition: two gay men wandering the aisles of a San Francisco Baby Gap in search of a neo-preppy look for their tousle-haired tyke. An adorable attention-grabber, the little fella with the thin neck and long arms Read more

Gray whales are passing us by: Currently swimming southbound off our Pacific shores, the mammals are in the midst of a long migration from their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas to lagoons in Baja California, Mexico , where they will Read more

Inside the crater of Sicily’s Mount Etna. Italy’s rolling hills and stunning coastlines often detract from the extreme volcanic activity that cuts through most of the country, especially in Campania, Sicily, and on the Aeolian Islands. Volcanologists Read more

NEW FAIRFIELD — Chris Chianelli, who turned a childhood love of model toys into a career as a specialty publications editor, television personality and radio-controlled model guru, died Tuesday at his home. “He was a friend to all, and he tried to Read more

CHARACTER Group, the company behind Doctor Who and Spider-Man toys, yesterday said sales were down 35 per cent in Christmas trading, partly as a result of Woolworths’ demise. The company said it had 1 million of stock with Woolworths at the time it Read more

Devil May Cry is a videogame developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom Ltd. The game was released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 console from Sony and debuted in August 2001. It can be classed as an action title played from a Read more

IN THE small dusty village of Kogelo in western Kenya, Barack Obama’s fellow tribesmen chewed on sugar cane, peanuts and mangoes and added to the world’s mounting expectations of their favourite son. Almost the entire village of 4000 gathered in a Read more

Over the past decade, Paperhand Puppet Intervention has built a fanatical following for its magical outdoor shows. Until now, these have been large-scale, family-friendly events, but the company makes a major shift with its new, intimately scaled Read more

The newest puppet show from Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre looks at the adventures of a woolly mammoth. Monica Leo wrote the new show at the urging of Maureen Korte, education coordinator for the State Historical Museum. “It hooks into our local history Read more

HUNTINGTON Latta s Toy Station has been named the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce s Business of the Week for the week of Jan. 19. Latta s Toy Station, located across from Pullman Square at 943 3rd Ave. in Huntington, features new Read more

If the kids ask why they’re not going with you to tonight’s puppet show, tell them there are puppets for daytime and puppets for nighttime - and since they’ll just hear “no,” kiss them goodnight and head to PuppetSLAM . This adult series by Puppet Read more

The Portland Public Schools’ eight-year consecutive streak for trying to reduce or eliminate the sex education program will continue in 2009 as budget problems again loom over the district. Unlike those of us who had the pleasure of learning from a Read more

The under-manned military will launch a detailed range of dolls that will go on sale this spring complete with minutely detailed weapons and clothing. Two decades after the eye-swivelling, rubber-hand-gripping Action Man figures were last deployed in Read more

Ashland, Mass. - In the wake of the Chinese toy product debacle, and under pressure from the American people, the US government has mandated what amounts to a massive recall of its own. Children’s products such as clothing, shoes, bedding, toys Read more

At her confirmation hearings yesterday, Hillary Clinton insisted President-elect Barack Obama would not give up on Mideast peace - even though the region’s problems seem “intractable.” Nothing seems more intractable than the Israeli-Palestinian Read more

A Chechen who had formally accused the puppet puppet president of Chechnya of participating in kidnappings and torture sessions was fatally shot Tuesday as he walked out of a grocery store in Vienna, according to his lawyer and family friends Read more

This year, several of the New Frontier installations will be presented outside the actual venue at the bottom of Park City’s downtown Main Street near the Music Cafe. One of those is Moon Theater , an interactive work by Nova Jiang and Michael Read more

Ralph Nader says he is seriously considering running for president in 2008 because he foresees another Tweedledum-Tweedledee election that offers little real choice to voters. “You know the two parties are still converging — they don’t even debate Read more

SolidWorks Labs has added a bunch of new CAD toys to its technology sandbox, giving 3-D CAD users an opportunity to try out four new experimental applications available at no charge. The newly overhauled SolidWorks Labs site features Read more

OPEN THE DISHWASHER DOOR, HAL: The Readybot prototype robot is capable of picking up cups, bowls and plates, throwing food scraps out, loading the dishwasher and scrubbing the bench. Later this week, the largest (and smallest) electronics companies Read more

New Year’s Eve is TONIGHT and you don’t want to miss the fifth annual village-wide celebration hosted by the Millbrook Rotary. If you’re a resident, the event will be hard to miss, in fact, as the various wonderful performers will be captivating the Read more

F.A.T. Friday Trolley Hop. 6-10:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 26. Connects businesses on Frankfort, Mellwood and Story avenues. Free trolleys run from Johnson Street in Butchertown to Frankfort and Stilz avenues with a stop at the Mellwood Arts Read more

The entertainment calendar is published Wednesdays and Saturdays on a space-available basis. Submit entertainment items at least a week before publication dates to calendar@reporternewspapers.com. Black-tie premiere for independent film The Read more

The Mixx will be downstairs at The Pub playing mixxed rock and roll for a $5 cover. The show starts around 9:30 p.m., but you can dine in upstairs at the Hazel River Inn Restaurant with New Year s Eve specials from 6 to 10 p.m. 195 East Davis Read more

Signe Howe and Kaethe Wilson, both 11 and fifth-graders at Lindsborg Middle School, and Julia Wilson, 9, a fourth-grader at Soderstrom Elementary School, had been making marionette puppets at a workshop directed by puppet artist Michelle Meade at the Read more

For Canadian theatre, 2008 was the year that Broadway came to Stratford, a Lebanese Quebecer torched up the country and reality TV got into the casting business. It was also the year that Judith Thompson took us to Iraq, a Vancouver company took us Read more

WASHINGTON The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and Read more

Two puppeteers, 17 marionettes and a room full of wide-eyed children brought a Russian winter’s folk tale to life Monday at the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum in the City of Poughkeepsie. The No Strings Marionette Company, based in Randolph, Vt Read more

Puppetry expresses the human condition with a kind of visual magic. It can be as powerful to the eye as music is to the ear. In their first collaboration, The Florida Orchestra and Bits ‘N Pieces Puppet Theatre merge these art forms in “Petrushka Read more

NEW YORK How to get to Sesame Street is child’s play, as the chirpy theme song has assured kids daily for 39 years. But first it had to be created. In the new book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street (Viking Adult, $27.95 Read more

A group of art students will showcase their handcrafted puppets during a puppet production of Jack in the Beanstalk at 2 p.m. today at Lake Eustis Museum of Art. The students, ages 10 to 18, attended a puppetry class for home-schooled children and Read more

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at Obama’s inauguration; liberal and gay groups are not pleased with the choice . A 4-year-old Brooklynite was one of the winners of Chuck Schumer’s Obama inauguration ticket lottery. Gov Read more

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is for Barack Obama not to be on TV anymore. If you can grant this request, I will build a beautiful landing pad for you on the roof and clean out the chimney real good. I know this is a lot to ask, so if you can Read more

Ralph Nader says he is seriously considering running for president in 2008 because he foresees another Tweedledum-Tweedledee election that offers little real choice to voters. “You know the two parties are still converging — they don’t even debate Read more

New Delhi: India today called off its Cricket tour of Pakistan in January even as Islamabad denied its own claims that Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar had been placed under detention. President Asif Ali Zardari, who had earlier Read more

CHESTERTOWN The Garden Puppet Theatre Museum will exhibit the 18th Century Colonial 12th Night Celebration and wedding of George and Martha Washington beginning Jan. 1, at the Kent County Visitor Center in Chestertown. The exhibit will be on display Read more

The following is a selected list of holiday events in the area. Please note that due to the forecast, some events may be subject to postponement or cancellation. Always call ahead or check organizers’ Web site before making your plans. Squawk Read more