The Mix

The award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison and lashings just ahead of his planned trip to the Cannes film festival, his lawyer told The Associated Press Thursday.

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish investigative magistrate on Thursday provisionally shelved the latest probe into an alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira following recommendations by prosecutors.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England maintained its key U.K. interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% though it gave a broad hint that a reduction could be on the cards imminently as inflation falls towards its target.

Romantic comedies are in a destination wedding rut. Perhaps it’s a collective post-COVID wanderlust kicking in, or, more cynically, some combination of tax credits and a place producers want to spend time.

TORONTO — Kevin Durand has a simple explanation for why he always gets cast as the bad guy. “Just look at my face,” the actor says during an interview at a Toronto hotel. “People see me and they’re like, ‘Ahh!’” The Thunder Bay, Ont.

NEW YORK (AP) — In a famous “Twilight Zone” episode from the early 1960s, a bloodthirsty World War II commander stationed in the Philippines finds himself transported into the body of a Japanese lieutenant and, to his horror, expected to help kill an

HONG KONG (AP) — An appeals court on Wednesday granted the Hong Kong government's request to ban a popular protest song, overturning an earlier ruling and deepening concerns over the erosion of freedoms in the once-freewheeling global financial hub.

TORONTO — A book about the legal implications of developing outer space has won the $60,000 Donner Prize.

LONDON (AP) — The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled, according to the EU medicines regulator.

HOUSTON (AP) — Nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed after a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld music festival have been settled, including one that was set to go to trial this week, an attorney said Wednesday.