The number of scripted original U.S. television series airing new seasons in 2016 hit a record 455, reflecting an explosion of original shows by online subscription services, research showed on Wednesday.

That's an increase of a total of 34 series on American television from last year, the FX cable network said in a study.

Grammy award-winning singer James Taylor said Wednesday he has cancelled a February 2017 concert in the Philippines in protest at the alleged extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal drug war.

"I don't think of my music as being particularly political but sometimes one is called upon to make a political stand," the US star said in social media posts on Twitter as well as on his Facebook page.

Rap legend Tupac Shakur and grunge rockers Pearl Jam earned spots Tuesday in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as perpetual nominee Nile Rodgers finally won recognition -- in a side category.

Tupac, who was slain in 1996, and Pearl Jam were both chosen to enter the shrine to rock culture in their first year of eligibility.

At Hot Bites, the party is in full swing and there is beer, dancing and boy-meets-girl until curfew time hits Maiduguri, the cradle of the Boko Haram jihadist movement.

"We need to move on," said 18-year-old Fatima, her almond-shaped eyes rimmed with eyeliner, teetering on high heels with a dress sporting a plunging neckline.

Industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails on Friday announced their first release in three years -- an EP that frontman Trent Reznor described as "impenetrable."

Monday nights feel like Saturdays in Rio's Little Africa neighborhood when the sun sets and the samba starts to play.

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Thursday, saying the honor was beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

The 40-year-old, accompanied by his wife, American actress Blake Lively, and their two young daughters, recalled visiting Hollywood with one of his brothers 15 years ago and being in awe of all the legends immortalized along the iconic avenue.

Hollywood actress Julia Roberts is the latest star planning to head to the small screen, reports said Thursday.

Roberts will play the lead in a series based on the recently released novel "Today Will Be Different" by the US author Maria Semple, according to entertainment news site The Hollywood Reporter.

They are two of the hottest stars on the planet, but it took a movie about loneliness in deep space to bring together Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.

The pair appear together for the first time in "Passengers" as strangers on a 120-year journey to a distant planet when their hibernation pods wake them 90 years too early. 

Emoji have exploded from 176 original designs to around 1,800 and counting, as the little symbols conquer the world.