Month: July 2023

By MAURICIO SAVARESE AP Sports Writer SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian soccer star Neymar was fined more than $3.3 million for violating local environmental rules during renovations at his mansion in the city of Mangaratiba outside Rio de Janeiro. The Mangaratiba city hall said in a statement Monday night it had issued four fines totalling

WALDORF, Md. (AP) — Authorities say a man stole a forklift from a Maryland home improvement store and killed a woman in the parking lot after ramming the car in which she was sleeping. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office says 20-year-old Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown has been charged with murder, assault, theft and other alleged

PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Fireworks explosions in adjacent counties in western Michigan have left at least one woman dead and nine others with injuries from critical to minor. Both explosions happened Monday within about 30 minutes of each other. One was in Park Township, when a fireworks explosion killed a 43-year-old woman from Holland.

COLFAX, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man may be well on his way to an official world record for pencils. Aaron Bartholmey of Colfax has been collecting wooden advertising pencils since he was a child. He now claims to have more than 70,000. That’s substantially more than the Guinness World Record for the largest pencil

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says she received an anonymous message alleging that her imprisoned husband, also an opposition figure, died behind bars. Siarhei Tsikhanouski was arrested in 2020 after announcing plans to run against Belarus’ authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in presidential elections that year. After

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — The cobblestoned banks of the Seine served as the stage for Chanel’s fall-winter runway show and celebrated the soul of Paris. With the Eiffel Tower standing tall in the distance, models strutted over the uneven terrain lined with what looked like charming book stalls. But on

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Last month, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry. Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honor

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government has declared an end to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and says people no longer have to wear masks in health and care centers as well as pharmacies. Spain has gradually ended the mandatory mask wearing, first in public and then on public transport over the

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye. Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been

By CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities are seeking 90 million euros ($98 million) in damages from a Swedish mining company for a major toxic spill near the famed Doñana National Park in 1998. The civil trial in the case opened on Tuesday. The Boliden company ran the Aznalcóllar mine, where the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Officials on the Orkney Islands, a corner of Scotland with Viking roots and an independent spirit, seized a moment in the global spotlight on Tuesday and voted to explore ways of seeking more autonomy — or even independence — from neglectful U.K. governments. Journalists from across Britain

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Authorities say three people were killed and eight others injured when several men fired indiscriminately into a crowd of hundreds that had gathered in a Texas neighborhood following a festival in the area. The shooting in the Fort Worth neighborhood of Como happened late Monday night, about

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says Swedish authorities’ failure to prevent Quran-burning protests in the country is raising security concerns and questions about Sweden’s credentials for possible NATO membership. But Hakan Fidan said Turkey would approve Sweden’s membership in the military alliance if Stockholm “completes its homework” and

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Roger Federer and Andy Murray have provided the highlights on a rainy Day 2 at Wimbledon. Light but persistent showers prevented the completion or even start of dozens of matches. Federer was honored at Centre Court before the start of play there under the closed

LONDON (AP) — Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”: The lofty ideals to which France has long aspired are embossed on coins and carved above school doors across the land. Yet they are the polar opposite of what some French people who are Black or brown saw in a shocking video of a

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lawmakers in Hungary have passed a controversial bill affecting the country’s teachers. The law passed Tuesday cements a new regime in public education that has elicited months of protests and strikes by teachers and their students. The law revokes teachers’ status as public employees, increases allowable

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The reprieve is over. Just as the American economy is struggling with high inflation and interest rates, the coming resumption of student loan payments poses yet another potential challenge. The restart of those payments will force many people to start paying hundreds of dollars in loans

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO has extended the mandate of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for another year. The former Norwegian prime minister has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term was due to expire last year but was prolonged to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A group of armed plainclothes officers assigned to protect South Africa’s deputy president were caught on video dragging a man out of a car and then stomping on his head until he lies motionless, sparking outrage and drawing more attention to the country’s problems

By RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — A spokesman at Afghanistan’s Vice and Virtue Ministry says the Taliban are banning women’s beauty salons. The announcement is the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls following orders barring them from education and public spaces. The ministry spokesman on Tuesday confirmed

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — A strong storm in Slovenia has caused a train to derail, flooded roads, damaged buildings and slightly injured two people who were riding in a bus that was hit by a dislodged rock. Authorities say heavy rain and strong winds on Monday evening in the central part of the mountainous country

BERLIN (AP) — A court in Germany has convicted a man who attacked two girls and killed one of them last year and sentenced him to life in prison. German news agency dpa reported Tuesday that the Eritrean man, who came to Germany as an asylum seeker, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder

MOSCOW (AP) — Masked assailants in the Russian province of Chechnya have attacked and beaten a prominent journalist and a lawyer. The assault on Tuesday underlined human rights abuses in the region. Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov had just arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of Zarema Musayeva. Musayeva is