Kendrick Lamar has won a Pulitzer Prize for his album "DAMN".
Los Angeles, April 17: American rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar has won a Pulitzer Prize for his album "DAMN".
Lamar's "DAMN" was announced as the recipient of the prestigious award on Monday, a history-making first for a rap artiste, as the music award is typically given to classical or jazz works, reported cnn.com.
It is the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award.
"DAMN" is Lamar's fourth studio album and was released in April 2017. The 30-year-old musician won five Grammy awards in January for the album.
Lamar's politically charged performance at the Grammy Awards in January won him wide praise. "DAMN" picked up best rap album at the award show, and his song "Humble" also picked up Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video.
The New York Times and The New Yorker were also awarded Pulitzer prizes for their reporting on Harvey Weinstein that put the #MeToo movement in the national spotlight.
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
