World
Brawl breaks out between Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Angels slugger Jorge Soler
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler were ejected after getting into a brawl Tuesday night.
Soler homered off López in the first inning, then was hit by a 96 mph fastball from the right-hander his next time up. In the fifth, Soler charged the mound after López threw a high-and-inside wild pitch that tipped off catcher Jonah Heim’s mitt.
At first, López held up his hands as the two glared at each other before both started throwing punches.
“I asked him if everything was OK and the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it,” Soler said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “That’s why I went out there.”
The benches and bullpens emptied as players from both teams tried to separate the two. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was among those who tackled Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP with the Braves.
“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said. “But that’s a big man, and so I just felt I’ve gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, yeah, because he was on a warpath.”
López was still holding the baseball when he landed a punch on Soler’s batting helmet.
The two were teammates in Atlanta during the second half of the 2024 season.
“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So, again, it’s just a shame.”
Atlanta led 4-2 when the fight occurred and went on to a 7-2 victory.
Soler’s two-run shot in the first made him 14 for 23 with five homers and three doubles against López.
“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can’t miss like that.”
Weiss understood why Soler was mad.
“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lópey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn’t look good,” Weiss said. “Lópey’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get ’em out. Our job is to get ’em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So, I think the switch flipped for him.
“There was no intent there. I just think that Lópey’s just overthrowing, because he’s had a hard time getting him out. But he’s certainly not trying to hit him,” Weiss added.
López pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“Obviously, guy’s got good numbers off López, and hits a homer his first at-bat. Gets drilled up high in the wrist his second at-bat and then third one takes a good swing and then throws the next one head-high. It wasn’t over his head but it was head-high coming in,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said.
“I don’t blame Jorge one bit. He went out there and words were exchanged and Jorge went out,” Suzuki added. “You get thrown at your head, you have a family, your career, you know, it’s dangerous. I know it’s part of the game. I know it happens.”
The Angels won 6-2 on Monday in the opener of the three-game series. Tuesday night’s game was more eventful, to say the least.
“It gets your juices flowing a little bit, on both teams I’m sure,” Weiss said. “So, as long as nobody gets hurt, it’s kind of a good time. But as long as nobody gets hurt. But yeah, I was proud of our guys the way we handled everything tonight.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
World
AI ‘Organisms’ Come Alive in Kuala Lumpur as Dutch Artist Unveils Immersive Show
Digital lifeforms are taking over Kuala Lumpur.
“Algorithmic Organisms 2.0,” an AI-driven immersive audiovisual exhibition from Dutch artist Ray Tijssen, opened at The Grey Box, GMBB Kuala Lumpur, ahead of a public run through July 19.
The show weaves together AI, generative imagery, immersive audio and spatial narrative design, which organizers describe as producing a living, evolving environment. It is organized by Jazzy Group of Companies and presented by MAISEAT, with support from the National Art Gallery of Malaysia (Balai Seni Negara). The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kuala Lumpur also backed the project.
The opening drew figures from the arts and creative industries alongside media, strategic partners, cultural institutions and members of the diplomatic community.
“More than a traditional exhibition, it invites audiences into a living audiovisual environment where AI-generated imagery, immersive sound, and digital lifeforms continuously evolve in real time. It challenges the way we experience art, not as passive observers, but as participants within the work itself,” said Joanne Goh, founder and CEO of Jazzy Group of Companies, in her opening remarks.
Goh added that the project reflects Jazzy Group’s broader push to bring internationally minded creative programming to Malaysia and to foster dialogue across art, technology and culture.
Dutch audiovisual artist and Creative Director 0010×0010, known offstage as Ray Tijssen, joined the ceremony to present the curatorial thinking behind the show, touching on the interplay between technology and creativity and the visitor journey the exhibition is designed to deliver. Tijssen, who is based in Los Angeles and serves as creative director of SQNXR, has built a career around immersive visual installations, sound design and AI-driven imaging systems. Variety first reported on the exhibition in April, when it was announced as a sidebar installation to the Malaysia International Film Festival’s 2026 edition, set to run July 18-25 in Kuala Lumpur.
Goh and Tijssen, joined by representatives of the exhibition’s presenting and supporting partners, performed a ribbon-cutting to mark the official opening. Tijssen then led guests on a walkthrough of the installations, unpacking how artificial intelligence, sound design and generative visuals work together to keep the show’s audiovisual landscape in constant flux.
The evening closed with a cocktail reception featuring live DJ sets and synchronized audiovisual projections.
Tijssen will extend the exhibition’s themes with “Machine Vision & Human Expression: An Interactive Masterclass with 0010×0010,” set for July 4 at the National Art Gallery of Malaysia.
Jazzy Group of Companies also founded and organizes the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) and has a footprint spanning film production, distribution and exhibition across Asia and beyond.
World
Interpol issues red notice for Ukrainian woman wanted for Monaco apartment bombing targeting oligarch
Ukraine, Russia peace efforts stall as strikes intensify
Ukraine has intensified its aerial offensive, launching drone strikes deep inside Russia, hitting a refinery in Russian-held Crimea and a Moscow oil tank. Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot reports that these actions aim to send a message to Moscow as peace negotiations between the two nations remain stalled.
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The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a red notice Friday for Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old Ukrainian national suspected of bombing a Monaco apartment building that reportedly targeted a Russian-linked Ukrainian oligarch.
The June 30 apartment building explosion, according to numerous media reports, injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born construction magnate.
While declining to identify any of the victims by name, Monaco public prosecutor Stéphane Thibault also revealed the explosion injured a woman and a 13-year-old child in the apartment who media reports widely claim to be members of Yermolaiev’s family.
‘PARCEL BOMB’ EXPLODES IN MONACO RESIDENTIAL AREA, LEAVING 2 CRITICALLY INJURED: REPORTS
Berezovska, according to Interpol, is now wanted on charges of attempted murder, depositing an explosive device on a public highway with criminal intent and criminal association.
Interpol identified the Ukrainian national as a dark-haired German-speaking woman who possibly has a tattoo of a snake on her arm.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiia Berezovska (Interpol)
The 39-year-old suspect was initially believed to be a heavy-set man. Monaco Deputy Prosecutor Morgan Raymond even initially referred to the suspect in masculine terms.
“He stood up a few meters ahead of the victims, placed an explosive device taken from his shopping bag on the entrance steps of the building, then turned to confirm the presence of the three victims before triggering the explosion using a remote control,” Raymond said at an initial news conference after the incident.
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Prosecutors reviewed footage of the days leading up to the explosion, finding that a man wearing a fishing hat repeatedly cased the apartment building and surrounding area. However, on June 28, the man was absent from security footage. Instead, a woman — who prosecutors now believe to be Berezovska — followed the same patterns as the man.
Surveillance photo of Anastasiaa Berezovska (Interpol)
“The repeated reconnaissance operations and the pauses made in front of the building clearly demonstrate the intention to specifically target the three victims,” Raymond said.
Investigators tracked her escape across the Monaco-France border, through Italy and into Germany, where authorities are now actively looking for her. They raided her Frankfurt apartment Thursday.
Raymond noted that the sophistication of her explosive device gives prosecutors reason to believe she did not act alone.
“The relative sophistication of the explosive device and the modus operandi appear to indicate that the person who placed the device was not acting alone,” Morgan said.
The damaged entrance of a residential building after an explosion in Monaco June 30, 2026. (Reuters/Alexandre Dimou)
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Though authorities have provided no motive, Yermolaiev’s status as a sanctioned former Ukrainian is notable.
The 58-year-old construction tycoon renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2017, Ukrainian media reported, and has been a citizen of Cyprus since 2019.
In 2023, the Ukrainian government sanctioned him for allegedly continuing to engage with Russia, paying taxes to Moscow and facilitating business transactions through his liquor business in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014.
World
Germany’s Merz defends NATO spending after Trump calls it ‘ridiculous’
Back and forth over defence spending comes as NATO leaders set to meet in Ankara next week.
Published On 3 Jul 2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has defended his country’s NATO defence spending, shortly after US President Donald Trump re-upped his criticism of alliance members.
The statement on Friday came as NATO leaders were set to meet next week in Ankara. Trump has decried defence spending by members of the bloc throughout his political career, calling the balance of spending “ridiculous” and “one-sided” in his latest Truth Social posts on the issue earlier this week.
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In one post, Trump said Germany’s spending was “MUCH LOWER” between 2014 and 2025 than the US or other NATO allies, which he again called “Ridiculous!”
When asked about the comment, Merz said Germany would double its defence budget within four years.
“This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defence capabilities. In this respect, we have no reason to shy away from anyone,” Merz said.
“We will state this, with all due modesty, and we are doing so as the European Union’s largest member state, bearing a responsibility within Europe,” he said.
US and European ties have been strained throughout Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021 and his current term, which began in January 2025.
However, while largely dismissive of the president during his first four years in office, several European leaders have sought a more amenable approach to the president this time around.
At the behest of the US, NATO leaders agreed to spend 3.5 percent of their countries’ GDP on core defence items, such as weapons and troops, by 2035, an increase of the previous goal set by the bloc of 2 percent of its GDP.
However, relations have since frayed over several issues, including Trump’s pledges to take control of the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Denmark is a member of NATO.
The US-Israeli war in Iran has also proven to be a major wedge, with Trump launching the conflict without consulting European allies who have dealt with the fallout of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had repeatedly condemned European allies for not joining the war effort.
Merz, meanwhile, roiled the president by saying in April the US had been “humiliated” by Iran. Trump, in turn, said the US would withdraw 5,000 troops currently stationed in Germany.
Speaking on Friday, Merz said Germany was ahead of schedule to reach its NATO commitments.
“We will reach the 3.5 percent benchmark set in The Hague as early as 2029,” he told reporters, “well ahead of the agreed deadline”.
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