A ring before a playoff win for Justin Herbert, who gets engaged to singer Madison Beer

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Justin Herbert has his first ring, and it's not on the football field.

The Los Angeles Chargers quarterback and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Madison Beer jointly announced their engagement in an Instagram post Tuesday. It was accompanied by a photo of Herbert on bended knee holding a ring box in front of a smiling Beer, who was crouched with her right hand on his left knee. The caption read, “Meet my fiancé."

The congratulatory responses included ones from the NFL and the Chargers, as well as singer Gracie Abrams.

The couple was first spotted together last August. Beer attended some Chargers games last season, and she and Herbert kissed on the sidelines at one game. They've also turned up at Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers games.

J. Cole still thinks about his six points for the Scarborough Shooting Stars

TORONTO - J. Cole is still thinking about the six points he scored in Scarborough.

The North Carolina rapper brought up his brief stint with the Scarborough Shooting Stars several times during his Toronto concert Monday, joking about his modest basketball stat line while reflecting on the deeper connection he made with the city.

"I used to play ball up in Scarborough," Cole told the crowd at Scotiabank Arena, drawing loud cheers. "Go to YouTube, I scored six points for the Scarborough Shooting Stars, man. Two for two!"

Cole signed with the Canadian Elite Basketball League team in 2022, making five appearances in one of the more unexpected chapters of his career.

Defendant in Salman Rushdie stabbing declines to testify in terrorism trial

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The man on trial in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie chose Tuesday not to testify or call any witnesses in the federal terrorism case, which is expected to head to the jury as soon as Wednesday.

Hadi Matar's lawyer told the court that the 28-year-old — who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges — wouldn't take the stand at his trial on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

“At this time, the defense rests,” attorney Nathaniel Barone said. Matar has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors also rested their case Tuesday, and closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning. Rushdie, the prize-winning author of novels including “Midnight’s Children” and the controversial “The Satanic Verses,” testified last week about the 2022 attack that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye.

CBC won’t disclose Eurovision costs as memo says Ottawa can’t order it to take part

OTTAWA - CBC/Radio-Canada won’t disclose how much participating in the Eurovision song contest could cost, while a government document notes the tab for the international cultural event has hit $1.5 million in other countries.

"Such information is generally considered competitive and confidential," CBC spokesperson Leon Mar said in an email.

A government document, obtained through access to information law, says public information about spending on Eurovision in other countries is limited. It says the total cost of participating in Eurovision in 2025 ranged from about $400,000 for Portugal to $1.5 million for Israel.

Participating national broadcasters pay fees to enter Eurovision that vary from country to country. The Canadian Heritage document says each national broadcaster also picks up the costs associated with choosing a musical act and supporting it through the competition.

What to Stream: ‘Devil Wears Prada 2,’ Ariana Grande, ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ and ‘Diarra from Detroit’

The “Devil Wears Prada 2" and Ariana Grande's new album are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Diarra from Detroit” and Lollapalooza, from the comfort of wherever you choose to watch it.

New movies to stream from July 27-August 2

— Coming two decades after the original, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (Wednesday, July 29 on Hulu and Disney+) re-teams Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt in another trip through the high-fashion Manhattan world of Runway Magazine. With more than $688 million in worldwide ticket sales, the 20-years-later sequel was a hit at the box office. In it, Hathaway’s Andy returns to Runway to help save it from a sad media fate. In my review, I wrote that “mid-life career changes aren’t nearly as compelling or relatable as a newbie assistant thrown into the high-fashion fire.” 

Marlon James, Douglas Stuart and Elizabeth Strout are among Booker Prize semifinalists

LONDON (AP) — Booker Prize winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart are in the running again for the prestigious fiction award, alongside Dublin gangs, dystopian science fiction and the New England characters of Pulitzer Prize laureate Elizabeth Strout.

Judges read 163 novels to come up with the 13 semifinalists announced Tuesday for the 50,000 pound ($66,000) Booker Prize, a list described by historian Mary Beard, head of the judging panel, as literary “dynamite.”

The list includes James’ “The Disappearers,” about a group of gay men in a hostile 1980s Jamaica; Stuart’s “ John of John,” a story of father-son secrets on a remote Scottish island; and Strout’s heartfelt small-town tale “The Things We Never Say.”

James won the Booker in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings” and Stuart won in 2020 for “Shuggie Bain.” Strout’s “Oh William!” was a finalist in 2022. She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009 for “Olive Kitteridge.”

Dreaming of a better future

The lingering ghosts of colonialism have long haunted Nova Scotia artist Arjun Lal.

“When I’m thinking of colonial ghosts, it’s these elements of colonial legacy and oppression that maintains a presence in this contemporary world,” says Lal, 34.

He said he most commonly sees this in the fetish community, where colonialism is still often role-played through the oppressor and the oppressed.

Seeing how society’s systems and spaces are still shaped by colonial powers, Lal, whose parents both immigrated from India, questioned what it would be like to break free from these systems and their current form: What would it be like to be a flamingo?

Singing the praises of fringe shows that dare to take risks

In the sweltering heat, after a couple of beers, conversation in the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival queues this year could turn saucy.

Rape and assault case against British entertainer Yung Filly heading to jury in Australia

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Lawyers made closing statements Tuesday in the Australian trial of British entertainer Yung Filly on charges that he raped and choked a fan following a music performance two years ago.

The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, had pleaded not guilty in the District Court of Western Australia state to six charges of rape, three charges of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of choking in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

The accuser cannot legally be named. She was 20 at the time.

Prosecutor Danielle Clarke told the court Barrientos was an “entitled man” with a “moderate degree of fame" who had been sexually violent toward an “impressionable" young woman.

Cultural consultation gives Indigenous stories strength in Netflix’s new Little House on the Prairie

Through her work as an Indigenous consultant for film and TV, Julie O’Keefe, a citizen of the Osage Nation, has brought accuracy and authenticity to works such as Martin Scorsese’s 2023 crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon, the 2025 western miniseries American Primeval and, most recently, Rebecca Sonnenshine’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie.

But she doesn’t work solo.

“One of the things that I always say is, in any of these jobs that I do — whether it’s Shoshone and Paiute and Ute or Osage — I never come alone to this,” says O’Keefe, who grew up in Pawhuska, Okla., the heart of the Osage Nation, and is now based in Santa Fe, N.M. “I engage because those stories are so much richer with our voices added to it, and we know that.

“I’m sitting down with brilliant directors, brilliant writers, and I’m handing over pieces of history that they’re like, ‘How come nobody knows this?’ And the great part is, this is the time in history … people are really starting to get on top of wanting this for their stories, because it really wasn’t of any importance before.”