UK fans wonder if Taylor Swift will say ‘So long, London’ after Eras Tour
LONDON (AP) — Taylor Swift fans enjoy parsing the singer-songwriter’s lyrics for references to her romantic life and insights into her state of her mind. But Swifties in the U.K. didn’t have to listen closely to her latest album to get the sense that Swift had soured on the country’s capital after making it her second home. The record’s fifth track is titled “So Long, London.” As Swift brings her Eras Tour to the city on Friday, some fans wonder if it’s the beginning of an extended goodbye. London is the only city on the tour where Swift is stopping twice. She is scheduled to return for six nights in August to close the tour’s European leg.
Donald Sutherland, the towering actor whose career spanned ‘M.A.S.H.’ to ‘Hunger Games,’ dies at 88
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Sutherland has died at 88. Sutherland’s agents say he died in Miami on Thursday after a long illness. The Canadian actor’s career stretched from “M.A.S.H” to “JFK” to “The Hunger Games.” He was known for offbeat characters and epitomized the unpredictable, antiestablishment cinema of the 1970s. But over the decades, Sutherland shifted into a career as a respected character actor. He said he found more challenge in those roles. He never stopped working, ultimately appearing in nearly 200 films and series. He received an honorary Oscar in 2017.
Gleaming monolith pops up in Nevada desert, the latest in a series of quickly vanishing structures
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A strange monolith has been found jutting out of a remote mountain peak near Las Vegas. The discovery comes several years after a similar structure appeared in Utah and then suddenly vanished 10 days later. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it’s trying to figure out if the latest monolith is still there. That’s because it was a Las Vegas police search and rescue unit that apparently found the shiny rectangular prism over the weekend in an area of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge’s acting manager says people shouldn’t try to find it because an influx of visitors could disturb the fragile ecosystem.
Retired Azzurri star Roberto Baggio robbed at home during Italy’s loss to Spain
ROME (AP) — Retired Italy star Roberto Baggio was robbed at gunpoint at his home while watching the national team’s game against Spain at the European Championship. Italian media reports say at least five armed robbers burst into Baggio’s villa near the northern city of Vicenza at around 10 p.m on Thursday. One struck Baggio on the head with the butt of a gun when the former soccer player confronted them. The robbers locked Baggio and his family in a room while they stole jewelry, watches and cash. Italy lost to Spain 1-0.
Celebrations honor Willie Mays and Negro League players ahead of MLB game at Rickwood Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Fans came out to celebrate Willie Mays and other Negro Leaguers in several events and festivities around the historic Rickwood Field. Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, hosted its first Major League Baseball game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. The game, which MLB called “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues,” was meant to honor the legacy of Mays and other Black baseball greats who left an enduring mark on the sport. The celebration started hours before the game and continued into the pregame ceremony.
Rapper Travis Scott arrested after Miami Beach police say he drunkenly yelled at people on a yacht
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach police say rapper Travis Scott was arrested on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and public intoxication. Police say Scott was drunkenly yelling at people on a yacht at the city marina and disobeyed their order to leave early Thursday. The 33-year-old Scott, who is one of the biggest names in hip-hop, posted his $650 bond and was released from jail before noon. His attorney says the arrest stemmed from a misunderstanding. Ten people were fatally crushed at a 2021 Scott concert at Houston’s Astroworld amusement park when the crowd surged. The final lawsuit in those cases was settled last month. After a police investigation, a grand jury declined to indict Scott.
After Drake battle, Kendrick Lamar turns victory lap concert into LA unity celebration
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Not content with merely taking a victory lap after winning his battle last month against fellow rap superstar Drake, Kendrick Lamar turned his Juneteenth “Pop Out” concert into a celebration of Los Angeles unity. The 37-year-old rapper curated a three-hour livestreamed concert featuring a mix of up-and-coming LA rappers and stars including Dr. Dre and Tyler, The Creator. He performed his Drake diss songs “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA” and finally “Not Like Us,” which he rapped in full four times. The audience of 17,000 people at the Forum in Inglewood, California included The Weeknd, LeBron James, Ayo Edebiri and Rick Ross.
New York moves to limit ‘addictive’ social media feeds for kids
New York’s governor has signed a bill that would allow parents to block their children from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm, a move to limit feeds critics argue are addictive. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the bill Thursday but it does not immediately take effect. Under the legislation, social media feeds for people under the age of 18 would be limited to posts from accounts they follow, rather than content suggested by an automated algorithm. A tech industry trade group criticized the legislation as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.
TikTok accuses federal agency of ‘political demagoguery’ in legal challenge against potential US ban
TikTok on Thursday disclosed a letter the company sent to the government in April accusing the federal agency that once held the platform’s future in its hands of “political demagoguery.” The internal documents disclosed Thursday provide details about negotiations TikTok held between January 2021 and August 2022 with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. TikTok has said those talks ultimately resulted in a 90-page draft national security agreement that would require the company to implement more robust safeguard for U.S. user data. However, attorneys for TikTok said the agency “ceased any substantive negotiations” with the company after it submitted the draft agreement in August 2022.
Stonehenge not visibly damaged by protest paint. It’s clean and ready to rock the solstice.
LONDON (AP) — Stonehenge monuments that have stood for thousands of years appear unscathed after climate protesters were arrested for spraying orange paint on them. Nick Merriman, the chief executive of English Heritage, said workers cleaned the stones and the roughly 4,500-year-old monument was visibly undamaged. The UNESCO World Heritage Site site reopened and was expected to host thousands of revelers celebrating the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, early Friday. A 73-year-old man and 21-year-old woman were released on bail Thursday after being arrested a day earlier on suspicion of criminal damage, damaging an ancient monument and deterring a person from engaging in a lawful activity. The climate change activism group Just Stop Oil has taken responsibility.
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