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NEW YORK, N.Y. – A bronze sculpture by Fernando Botero has set a new auction record for the Colombian artist.
Jian Ghomeshi was a radio star with a devoted national following and a fledgling international audience for his insightful CBC Radio chat show “Q”, but a month of headlines in a scandal that now sees him facing sexual assault charges has given him a new reputation. Here is a look at Ghomeshi’s career before the scandal erupted that has seen him ousted from his job at CBC and facing four counts of sexual assault and one count of what is called “overcome resistance — choking,” charges to which his lawyer said Wednesday he plans to plead not guilty:

BOGOTA – It has been praised the world over as a model for uplifting disadvantaged youth by connecting them with classical music.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Mark Strand, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate widely praised for his concentrated, elegiac verse and graceful command of both humour and despair, has died. He was 80.

TORONTO – Canada’s performing arts community is mourning the death of Brian Macdonald, a Tony Award-nominated choreographer and director who was considered a prolific pioneer in the dance, opera and theatre worlds.
TORONTO – The UFC has joined forces with Reebok on a six-year deal billed as the biggest non-broadcast partnership in the history of the mixed martial arts organization.
GATINEAU, Qc – Claude Joli-Coeur is the new government film commissioner and chair of the National Film Board of Canada.

TORONTO – Bill Cosby’s three shows in Canada in January are still on the calendar, but there is a call to boycott his performance in London, Ont.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Grand Central Terminal is known for its Beaux Arts architecture, light streaming through the cathedral windows, a soaring ceiling and the famous, four-faced clock sitting on a golden base. It’s a tourist attraction, a historic landmark and a working train terminal with hundreds of thousands of people streaming through daily.

WASHINGTON – U.S. services firms expanded at a faster pace in November, a signal that overall economic growth should remain robust.
MEXICO CITY – Renowned Mexican author, playwright and journalist Vicente Lenero has died. He was 81.
RICHMOND, Va. – Claudia Emerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, died early Thursday morning at age 57 after a long battle with cancer, the university said.

WASHINGTON – The first major expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is commencing nearly 50 years after construction began on the cultural centre, with a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday led by Vice-President Joe Biden.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A selection of photographs amassed by the late mutual fund guru Howard Stein is going on the auction block.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Former professional wrestler C.M. Punk has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC, and he intends to make his mixed martial arts debut in 2015.
WASHINGTON – An actor hailed as America’s “favourite son” and a musical genius who rose from a British shipyard town received America’s highest honours Sunday for influencing the country’s culture through the arts.

WASHINGTON – Tom Hanks and Sting joined Lily Tomlin, singer Al Green and ballerina Patricia McBride in being awarded this year’s Kennedy Center Honors for influencing American culture through the arts.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Britain’s Prince William sat down with President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday and unveiled an effort to curtail illegal wildlife trading, while his wife, Kate, made an impression of a down-to-earth duchess on preschoolers and prominent British expats in New York.
TORONTO – SCTV alum Andrea Martin will host the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The civil rights drama “Selma” led all films Tuesday when it collected eight nominations for NAACP Image Awards.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Actress and martial arts champion Ronda Rousey is ready to share some war stories.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Someone other than Kanye West is confirming his visionary status.
DETROIT – Kevyn Orr has agreed to step down as Detroit’s emergency manager, saying in a letter released Tuesday that the city will no longer be in a financial emergency once it exits bankruptcy.

TORONTO – About a dozen men and women sit around the edges of a spacious room, some perched on chairs, others in wheelchairs, waiting for a special class to begin. A few of these seniors have their eyes closed. Some stare into space. Others have a look of anticipation, as if they’re ready for anything.