Entertainment

The EU has condemned FIFA for suspending a one-match ban imposed on top US striker Folarin Balogun following an unprecedented intervention by US President Donald Trump.Speaking to journalists on Monday, Trump confirmed that he asked the global football governing body to review a referee’s decision to issue a red card to Balogun during the US team’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday. The red card automatically disqualified Balogun from the next match in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.“As a fan, I too believe it was the wrong decision,” European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef wrote on X, adding that decisions on these matters “belong to sporting bodies, not politicians.”European Commission spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova...

Instagram’s latest update makes reels, videos, and photos from public profiles available to Meta AI by default, allowing the company’s AI tools to generate content using them unless creators opt out.On Tuesday, Meta rolled out its new Muse Image model, entering a market dominated by image generators such as OpenAI’s GPT Image, Google Gemini, and Midjourney. The tool launched integrated into Instagram, with users automatically enrolled in its AI features.“If your account is public, anyone on Instagram can reuse all or part of your reels, feed videos, and photos shared after reuse became available,” Instagram says on its Help Center page. “In addition, people may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta.”Minors with public accounts will only have their ...

US President Donald Trump wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.The Post cited a person close to Trump as saying that the president believes Infantino is “respected by everyone around the world” and has a “special ability to bring people together.” It is unclear, however, whether the Swiss-born football executive wants the job, the newspaper added.Infantino has reportedly built close ties with Trump, awarding him FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize in December after the US president repeatedly argued that he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end conflicts. Their friendship came under scrutiny during the FIFA World Cup, which the US co-hosted with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.Sh...

American actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto has become the subject of a new BBC documentary, in which four women accuse him of sexual misconduct, the British broadcaster reported Wednesday.The allegations, featured in ‘Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret’, reportedly relate to the period between 2002 and 2016. According to the documentary, all four women were underage at the time of their alleged encounters with the actor and musician.One woman alleged she was “sexually assaulted in a motel bathroom” when she was 17. Another one claimed she was subjected to threats of “sexual assault” from Leto at the age of 19, when she was unexpectedly left alone with him in a hotel room.A third woman said she had a sexual relationship with the Hollywood star in California when she was ...

European football’s 55 member associations have unanimously voted to boycott the World Cup if its governing body goes ahead with its plan to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors.In a statement on Thursday, UEFA, which oversees Europe’s football, said it rejects a proposal by world football governing body FIFA to transfer ownership interests to stakeholders, calling it an “ultimatum.”“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever… From that moment onwards, every decision… is no longer driven by what best serves the game, but by what best serves shareholders,” it wrote. “The World Cup is not for sale”UEFA stressed that none of the teams in its national associations would take part in any FIFA competition while the pri...

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing a fresh scandal after reports emerged that UEFA paid off his alleged “lover” while he headed the European football body.The report comes amid mounting calls for Infantino’s resignation over his controversial proposal last month to sell private equity stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA events. Infantino became FIFA president in February 2016 after 16 years at UEFA, including as secretary general from 2009 to 2016. The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing colleagues ...

Russian MMA champion Islam Makhachev has made UFC history with a commanding welterweight title defense against Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry, notching his 17th straight victory and smashing a UFC record.UFC 330 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday went the full five rounds, with Makhachev dictating the 25-minute bout through wrestling and ground control while mixing in dynamic striking, including a damaging second-round head kick which knocked Garry down. While Garry had the edge in striking, land...

US rapper Kanye West, known as Ye, will perform two shows in Russia after his concerts were canceled in several European countries over the star’s controversial remarks about Israel and Adolf Hitler.The rapper will perform at St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena on October 10 and 11, his producer Joseph Karre and local organizer SAY Agency confirmed on Monday. The shows will be part of the Ye Live Concert Tour 2026 in support of his 12th album, Bully.West will be one of the few big-name Western artists to perform in Russia since February 2022, when many Western countries cut cultural ties with Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.Ukrainian officials and activists have campaigned to dissuade foreign artists from visiting Russia and pressured other countries not to host Russian performers, including b...

Things are getting ridiculous – Kanye West is coming to perform in Russia. In the past few months, it’s been hard to get rid of him. Photos with captions like, “We’re at a Kanye West concert in Türkiye!” (or Tbilisi! or Almaty!) are all over social media. It feels like no one attends other concerts anymore. No one raves, “We’re at a Muse concert!” (or a concert by ‘Metallica’, ‘Linkin Park’, or at least Marilyn Manson). Nope. It’s all about Kanye West.To quote Ostap Bender from the novel ‘The Little Golden Calf’, “Who’s Studebaker – is Studebaker your dad?”. Who is Kanye West? Is that the rapper who was supposed to perform in Moscow? But lots of people were supposed to perform in Moscow. And then the hysteria hit St. Petersburg. Now, it’s reported that VIP boxes for West’s concert costing ...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs could face criminal charges linked to the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas 30 years ago, The Telegraph has reported, citing sources. According to the outlet, prosecutors could take action if the man currently on trial over the murder is convicted.Combs, who rose to become one of the most powerful figures in US hip-hop as a rapper and producer, is currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2025 on two counts of transporting people for prostitution.On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times while stopped at a red light in a car with record executive Suge Knight. The 25-year-old died six days later, while Knight survived. His death soon became one of the most infamous unsolved murders in US popular culture.The cold case wa...