Weinstein dodges sentencing enhancement, faces 18 years

LOS ANGELES – Harvey Weinstein faces a shorter prison sentence in California after a Los Angeles jury failed to reach a verdict on whether the disgraced mogul planned his attack on a woman he was convicted of raping. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench declared a mistrial on the issue Tuesday after the panel … Read more

Tennis ace Boris Becker recalls prison loneliness, friends

BERLIN – Tennis great Boris Becker tearfully recounted the moment the door of his single-occupancy cell at Britain’s notorious Wandsworth prison closed for the first time, speaking publicly after serving eight months for bankruptcy offenses. “It was the loneliest moment I’ve ever had in life,” Becker said in an interview with German broadcaster SAT.1 that … Read more

Cuban artists blocked from once-promising NFT trading sites

HAVANA – When everything seemed to be going wrong, Cuban multimedia artist Alejandro Pablo García Alarcón found a solution in what some might consider an unusual place: NFTs. Artists like him have been dealt multiple blows in recent years: The pandemic wreaked havoc on Cuba’s tourism sector, sending art sales plummeting. American sanctions, while not … Read more

Italy: Parliamentary inquest eyed for missing ‘Vatican Girl’

ROME – Opposition lawmakers in Italy are seeking a parliamentary commission of inquiry into three cold cases that have consumed the Italian public’s imagination for decades, including the 1983 disappearance of a 15-year-old that was highlighted in the Netflix documentary, “Vatican Girl.” The aim of the inquest, said Sen. Carlo Calenda, would be to pressure … Read more

Terry Hall, singer with ska icons The Specials, dies at 63

LONDON – Musician Terry Hall, who helped create of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as lead singer of The Specials, has died. He was 63. The band announced late Monday that Hall had died after a brief illness. It called him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and … Read more

Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial

LOS ANGELES – After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Los Angeles jurors on Monday found Harvey Weinstein guilty of the rape and sexual assault of just one of the four accusers he was charged with abusing. But the three guilty counts involving an Italian actor and model known at the trial as … Read more