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    Online Scammers Posed as Brad Pitt to Get Cash, Spanish Police Say

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    The authorities in Spain said they had arrested five people who posed as the famous American actor online and swindled two women out of more than $350,000.The Spanish authorities have announced the arrests of five people accused of swindling two women out of over $350,000 by posing as Brad Pitt online.The arrests — three made last November and two in July — were announced in a statement released on Monday by Spain’s Interior Ministry, detailing a complex scheme that it attributed to a “criminal organization.”The statement said the accused had contacted the women through an online fan page dedicated to Mr. Pitt and posed as the Oscar-winning American actor. The authorities said the accused had gone on to exchange instant messages and emails with their victims, who thought they were corresponding directly with Mr. Pitt.Those behind the plot “managed to make these women believe they had become so close to the well-known American actor that they believed they had a romantic relationship with him,” the statement said. Then, according to the authorities, the Pitt posers asked for money.One woman, who lives near Bilbao in the north of Spain, sent 150,000 euros (about $168,000) in a series of money transfers. The other, in Granada, sent €175,000.About €85,000 has been recovered as part of the investigation, the statement said. The suspects, whose names have not been released, face charges including fraud and money laundering, according to the Spanish police.Matthew Hiltzik, a publicist for Mr. Pitt, said on Wednesday that he had not been aware of the case, and noted that his client does not have any authorized social media accounts.“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” Mr. Hiltzik wrote in a WhatsApp message. “But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”Online frauds and cybercrimes represent a growing threat. In the European Union, millions of people were attacked and exploited online in 2023, according to the Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment, a report from the bloc’s law enforcement agency.Jürgen Stock, the secretary general of Interpol, said in March, “We are facing an epidemic in the growth of financial fraud.” More

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      Singles in Spain Look for Love in the Grocery Store, With Pineapples as Prop

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      How the Spanish grocery chain Mercadona got a reputation as an unlikely dating hub, with its upside-down pineapples as props.@yosoyvivylin via InstagramAs a scorching summer draws to its close in Spain, love is in the air in an unexpected place — in air-conditioned supermarket aisles. But only for an hour a day, and with an unusual accessory: an upturned pineapple in your shopping cart to let fellow lonely hearts know you’re available.The comedian Vivy Lin is being credited in the Spanish news media for starting the fad, after she and a friend, Carla Alarcón, recorded themselves shopping for groceries in Seville a few weeks ago.In the video, Ms. Lin said she had noticed that there was a specific window of time — between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. — when the aisles in Spain’s largest superstore, Mercadona, are full of single men and women wandering aimlessly without buying much at all.Ms. Lin winked at the camera and concluded there was only one thing they could be doing: “ligando,” which roughly translates to looking for a date. With a cheeky grin, she coined a new phrase, “the dating hour in Mercadona,” and uploaded her video to TikTok.Other users took it from there. A brunette dressed to kill applied bright red lipstick and posed beside stacked shelves. Girls in sexy summer shorts and T-shirts cruised the aisles and goofed around beside the wines. A young man in a sharp suit and tousled hair smiled coyly and raised an eyebrow at fellow shoppers.“I see it as being a phenomenon of humor more than of love,” Ms. Lin, the comedian, said in a telephone interview, adding, “I think the hookup pretext has been an excuse for people to go out and have fun, to make memes and record videos.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Son of Spanish Actor Is Convicted of Murdering Colombian Surgeon in Thailand

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      Daniel Sancho Bronchalo was sentenced to life imprisonment after a court in Koh Samui ruled that he was guilty of murdering Edwin Arrieta Arteaga last year.A court in Thailand on Thursday sentenced Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, to life in prison after finding him guilty of murdering a Colombian surgeon and dismembering his body.The trial, which ended in May on Koh Samui, an island popular among tourists, drew international headlines for involving the scion of a famous Spanish acting family and for the gruesome nature of a killing in a region known for its resorts, parties and beaches.Prosecutors had accused Mr. Sancho, 30, of murdering Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in August last year. The two men had met up on the Thai island of Koh Phangan during its monthly full-moon celebrations, during which partygoers dance all night on the beach. Mr. Sancho said they had connected on Instagram a year earlier and become romantically involved, the Spanish newspaper El País reported.Mr. Sancho being escorted by a police officer on Koh Phangan, an island known for its full-moon parties. Somkeat Ruksaman/EPA, via ShutterstockDuring the trial, prosecutors accused Mr. Sancho, a chef who posted cooking videos on YouTube, of purchasing knives and a saw before meeting Mr. Arrieta, a 44-year-old surgeon from northern Colombia. Mr. Sancho then killed Mr. Arrieta, they argued, before dumping some parts of the body in a landfill on the island and others in the sea. After attending a full-moon party the next evening, he reported Mr. Arrieta as missing to police officers.Mr. Sancho, whose mother, Silvia Bronchalo, is also an actress, pleaded guilty to a charge of concealing the body, according to a statement from the Koh Samui Provincial Court, and he admitted during the trial to dismembering and disposing of Mr. Arrieta’s body.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Production Company for Katy Perry’s ‘Lifetimes’ Video Under Investigation in Spain

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      Local authorities opened an investigation into the production company for filming in a protected area without clearance, according to a news release.The production company behind Katy Perry’s music video for her single “Lifetimes” is under investigation in Spain for filming in a protected area without clearance, the authorities said Tuesday.The government of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago off eastern Spain, said in a news release that its Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment has opened an investigation into the filming in the Parc Natural de Ses Salines. It is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage nature reserve that stretches across the islands of Ibiza and Formentera.According to several published reports, part of the video was apparently filmed within the dunes on the islet of s’Espalmador, a preserved area that Balearic Islands tourism authorities say is “highly valuable” ecologically because of the plants and animals that live there.“In no case had the production company requested authorization from the Regional Ministry to carry out the filming,” according to the news release, which is in Spanish.The government agency also said that filming was not an environmental crime and is permitted with appropriate authorization. Authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Tuesday evening.“Lifetimes,” which premiered on Thursday and is a single off Perry’s upcoming studio album “143,” features the star singing and dancing on a beach and on a boat, cliff jumping and performing in a crowded nightclub. The video was directed by Stillz and produced by WeOwnTheCity, according to the end credits. Perry teased the video’s release in several posts on her Instagram account in recent days. “Sending love from Ibiza,” Perry wrote on Instagram on Thursday, the day the video premiered, using an orange heart emoji for love. The post features “Lifetimes” lyrics and a series of postcards from locations including Ibiza and Formentera, where the national park is, set against images of what appears to be seaside cliffs. The postcards appear to be outtakes from Perry’s video.WeOwnTheCity did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for Katy Perry had yet to comment.According to Formentera Island Council Tourism’s website, the park includes rich, biodiverse land and marine habitats stretching from southern Ibiza to northern Formentera. The park is also a nesting area for more than 200 species of migratory birds and is home to Posidonia, a seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean Sea that plays an important role in maintaining and protecting the water and marine life. The park has been listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO since 1999, the tourism agency said.The islet of S’Espalmador is part of the park and has “one of the best-preserved and most amazing beaches,” with crystal-clear waters and a forest of pine trees and junipers, according to the Balearic Islands tourism authorities.Perry’s “143” album is set to be released in September.Jesus Jiménez More

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      Saying Goodbye to the Messy, Murderous World of ‘Elite’

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      A diverse cast of characters and a murder to solve each school year have helped make this teen drama one of Netflix’s longest-running original shows.Shooting the eighth and final season of Netflix’s teen crime drama “Elite” last November, crew members yelled “silencio” so often it could have been mistaken for a chant.Dozens of young actors, dressed in black tie, talked and laughed as they milled around a set on the outskirts of Madrid that depicted a nightclub. The Brazilian actor André Lamoglia seemed used to the chaos as he waited, perching on the bar in a black suit with white trim, to lead another of the show’s rowdy party scenes.After the cameras finally started rolling, and with the extras making much less noise, Lamoglia’s character, Iván, took a seemingly casual selfie with his half sister Chloe (Mirela Balic) that was actually part of a scheme to discover who murdered his friend.Unruly teenagers, expensive clothes and mysterious dead bodies are all typical for the Spanish-language show which, since its premiere in 2018, has become one of Netflix’s most popular original titles, and one of the longest-running. (The final season is being released Friday.)In its first season, “Elite” used a setup familiar from other successful teen shows, including “Gossip Girl” and “Beverly Hills, 90210”: inserting beautiful outsiders into an exclusive social setting. In this case, three scholarship students join Las Encinas, an expensive private high school. But at Las Encinas, every year (and season) there is also a murder for students and the police to investigate.This blending of soapy teen drama and tense murder mystery has helped the show run for eight seasons, and by its fourth, “Elite” was ranking in Netflix’s weekly Top 10 chart in more than 70 countries, according to data from the streamer.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Euro 2024 Final: Spain Beats England to Claim Fourth Title

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      A 2-1 victory in the Euro 2024 final extended England’s suffering but crowned a generational star in Spain’s teenage forward, Lamine Yamal.First, Spain’s players had to perform the rituals of celebration. They communed with their fans. They draped themselves with a selection of flags, national and regional. They commiserated with their bereft English opponents. Once those were completed, they gathered by the podium hastily constructed on the field at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.Most of the players took that moment to compose themselves, to share an embrace, to try to absorb the scale of their achievement over the past month: At the start of Euro 2024, Spain stood in the second rank of continental powers. Now, after a flawless tournament and a 2-1 triumph over England in the final on Sunday, the country sits at the pinnacle once more.Lamine Yamal, though, could not contain himself. He danced and bounced, unable to stop moving. He knew, though not from firsthand experience, that each and every player would get chance to lift the trophy, so he made sure to practice his technique, heaving an imaginary cup three times.When Spain’s players were eventually summoned to receive their prize, Yamal went a little too early. The assembled dignitaries were not yet in place when he scampered onstage. He had to be called back by his teammates, greeted not with censure but an affectionate, somewhat paternal, ruffle of the hair.It has been easy, over the past few weeks, to forget quite how young Yamal is. Only 16 years old for most of the tournament, he is so young that German law requires that he have special dispensation to work late in the evening. He is so young that he has had a designated guardian with him at all times. He is so young that, standing by the podium, he could probably taste the cake he was given to celebrate his 17th birthday on Saturday.And yet, despite his youth, Yamal can claim a large portion of the credit for taking a relatively unheralded Spanish side to a largely unanticipated glory. It was his goal that turned the semifinal with France on Tuesday. It was his pass that created Spain’s opening strike in Sunday’s final, turned home by Nico Williams.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ICJ Orders Israel to Halt Its Military Incursion Into Rafah

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      The International Court of Justice has no means to enforce its order in the Gazan city, but the ruling added pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to “immediately” halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, dealing another blow to the country as it faces increasing international isolation and a drumbeat of criticism over its conduct in the war.The court has few effective means of enforcing its order, and it stopped short of ordering a cease-fire in Gaza, with some of the court’s judges arguing that Israel could still conduct some military operations in Rafah under the terms of their decision.But the order added more pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced domestic and external calls to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would lead to the release of hostages held in Gaza.“The court considers that, in conformity with obligations under the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the court’s president, Nawaf Salam, said in reading the 13-2 ruling.The court, based at The Hague, also specified the need for open land crossings, in particular the Rafah crossing, as part of its request for “the unhindered provision” of humanitarian assistance and services. Israel has controlled the Rafah crossing for more than two weeks, and very few aid trucks have entered the enclave since, according to United Nations data.The Israeli government said in a statement that its military “has not and will not” take actions that would lead to the partial or complete destruction of the Palestinian population of Rafah. In effect, it said that the court’s decision has no bearing on Israel’s offensive because the prohibited acts are not occurring. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Comet Fragment Explodes in Dark Skies Over Spain and Portugal

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      A brilliant flash of blue, green and white on Saturday night came from a shard of an as yet unidentified comet that was moving around 100,000 miles per hour, experts said.A bright object broke up in Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday night, illuminating night skies over parts of Spain and Portugal. Experts say it was a fragment of a comet, perhaps only a few feet in size.ESA/PDO/AMS82 – AllSky7 via ReutersOn Saturday, revelers across Spain and Portugal ventured into the temperate springtime evening, hoping for a memorable night. None were expecting a visitor from outer space exploding above their heads.At 11:46 p.m. in Portugal, a fireball streaked across the sky, leaving a smoldering trail of incandescent graffiti in its wake. Footage shared on social media shows jaws dropping as the dark night briefly turns into day, blazing in shades of snowy white, otherworldly green and arctic blue.Rocky asteroids cause sky-high streaks as they self-destruct in Earth’s atmosphere with some frequency. But over the weekend, the projectile was plunging toward Earth at a remarkable speed — around 100,000 miles per hour, more than twice that expected by a typical asteroid. Experts say it had a strange trajectory, not matching the sort normally taken by nearby space rocks.That’s because the interloper wasn’t an asteroid. It was a fragment of a comet — an icy object that may have formed at the dawn of the solar system — that lost its battle with our planet’s atmosphere 37 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. None of the object is likely to have made it to the ground, the European Space Agency said.“It’s an unexpected interplanetary fireworks show,” said Meg Schwamb, a planetary astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast.It is not rare for comets to create shooting stars. “We have notable meteor showers throughout the year, which are the result of the Earth crossing debris clouds of specific comets,” Dr. Schwamb said. For example, the Perseids, which occur every August, are the result of our world’s sweeping through litter left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Spain’s Socialists Win Catalan Vote Dominated by Amnesty for Separatists

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      For the first time in over a decade, the regional government in Catalonia may be led by a party opposed to independence.Spain’s governing Socialist party emerged on Sunday as the winner of regional elections in Catalonia that had been widely seen as a litmus test for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s polarizing amnesty measure for separatists.The Socialists are celebrating what they claim is a momentous victory, though they did not clinch enough seats to govern on their own. They most likely face weeks of bargaining, and possibly a repeat election if no agreement is reached. But for the first time in over a decade, they may be able to form a regional government led by an anti-independence party.Addressing supporters late Sunday night at Socialist headquarters in Barcelona, the party leader, Salvador Illa, declared: “For the first time in 45 years, we have won the elections in Catalonia, in terms of both seats and votes. The Catalans have decided to open a new era.”Still, Mr. Illa, who has promised improvements in social services, education and drought management, will need 68 of the Catalan Parliament’s 135 seats to form a government. On Sunday, his party got only 42, meaning he will have to seek support from the pro-independence party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Catalan Republican Left) and the left-wing Comuns.“Winning does not mean governing,” Toni Rodon, a professor of political science at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, said before the results were in. While Esquerra has supported Mr. Sánchez in the Spanish Parliament, he said, negotiations in Catalonia are not expected to be easy.The Socialists’ main rival was the pro-independence Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), led by Carles Puigdemont, who campaigned from exile in France. Junts came a close second, but with 35 seats would not be able to form a government with other pro-independence parties, which performed badly.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More