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What's big, glowing and no longer Olympic? Paris has the answer

The Paris Games may be over, but the flame is still rising — just don't call it Olympic.

The helium-powered hot-air balloon that lit up the French capital's skyline during the 2024 Games is making a dramatic comeback to the Tuileries Gardens, reborn as the "Paris Cauldron."

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Grammy category created for album covers as Sabrina Carpenter's takes spotlight

The Recording Academy has tweaked some of its rules for the 2026 Grammy Awards, including carving out a stand-alone category for best album cover — a day after Sabrina Carpenter sparked considerable discourse unveiling what is believed to be the cover for her next album.

The academy on Thursday announced that the best recording package and the best boxed or special limited edition package categories will be combined into the best recording package category, with best album cover spun out on its own. The last Grammy for best recording package went to "Brat," the Charli xcx album whose distinctive cover was immediately embraced by pop culture and meme creators.

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TikTok star Khaby Lame plays soccer in Brazil after US detention

Khaby Lame, the world's most-followed TikTok personality who left the U.S. after being detained by immigration agents, went to Brazil where he's been spending some time with friends, local authorities said Thursday.

Lame is staying with AC Milan player Emerson Royal, and has been enjoying time with local fans, Paulo Eduardo Dias Junior, a city councilman from Americana, about 78 miles (125 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press.

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Dua Lipa confirms long-speculated engagement to actor Callum Turner

Dua Lipa has confirmed her engagement to the English actor Callum Turner, months after speculation began.

She went on the record about the engagement in a cover story for British Vogue's July issue, published Thursday, calling it "very exciting." The 29-year-old said she was obsessed with the ring Turner had made for her.

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Earthquakes damage centuries-old monasteries in Greece

Centuries-old monasteries have been damaged by an ongoing series of earthquakes in a secluded monastic community in northern Greece, authorities said Friday.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the Mount Athos peninsula on June 7, followed by a series of both undersea and land-based tremors that continued through Friday.

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Pope Leo XIV's fashion choices make waves, and many wonder what they mean

When Pope Leo XIV stepped out on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to greet the crowd for the first time after his May 8 election, liturgical fashion aficionados around the globe took note: Gone was the simple white cassock and silver cross favored by Pope Francis. Back was the red satin mozzetta shoulder cape, the burgundy stola with gold embroidery and a gold cross held by a double-stranded silken gold cord.

Over Leo's first few weeks, the excitement grew among liturgical fashion-conscious Catholics as they noticed new additions to the wardrobe, or rather a return to the old additions of the papal wardrobe: cufflinks, white pants, lace.

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First millennial saint Carlo Acutis to be canonized Sept. 7

Pope Leo XIV on Friday set Sept. 7 as the rescheduled date to canonize the Catholic Church's first millennial-era saint, Carlo Acutis, in what is expected to be Leo's first saint-making ceremony as well.

Leo made the announcement during a meeting of cardinals, known as a consistory, to set the dates for a handful of new saints.

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Israeli strikes on Iran test Trump's ability to deliver on 'America first' agenda

Just hours before Israel launched strikes on Iran early Friday, President Donald Trump was still holding onto tattered threads of hope that a long-simmering dispute over Tehran's nuclear program could be resolved without military action.

But with the Israeli military operation called "Rising Lion" now underway — something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says will go on for "as many days as it takes" — Trump will be tested anew on his ability to make good on a campaign promise to disentangle the U.S. from foreign conflicts.

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South African president visits flood sites with death toll at 78 and expected to climb

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the region Friday where devastating floods have left at least 78 people dead in the southeast of the country as search and rescue operations continued for a fourth day and authorities said they expect the death toll to rise.

Ramaphosa traveled to the town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape province, where the floods hit hardest when they began in the early hours of Tuesday.

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Investigators search Air India crash site for evidence and more victims

Investigators searched the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger Friday, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on board and several people on the ground.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday.

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