STATUS UPDATES
A week in which a soccer star chose his mom, and a Mexican town’s police force was detained
OWED (1):
Some filial loyalty to his mother. That’s what Sardar Azmoun, a soccer player called the “Iranian Messi,” felt after he was insulted for not scoring in the World Cup — insults that, he said, made his mom seriously sick. So Azmoun said he would stop playing for Iran, at the young age of 23.
DENIED:
An automatic visa waiver to enter the U.S., to former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana. Solana, a Spanish citizen, was denied because of a visit to Iran, and must apply for a full visa, the BBC reports. The visa rules date back to the Obama administration. Solana helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
TRUSTING:
That bricks and mortar stores still matter. There will soon be more than 700 empty Toys “R” Us stores across the U.S. with the company’s bankruptcy. But CNN reports that many will be occupied, as other retailers seek to add locations. Store closings reached 7,000 last year, according to Coresight Research.
SOARING:
The coca plant, in Colombia. A White House report finds that cultivation of the plant has reached an alltime high, rising 11 per cent to 209,000 hectares in 2017. But don’t worry: The Associated Press quotes Jim Carroll, of the White House drug policy office, as saying: “The steep upward trajectory is unacceptable.”
OWED (2):
Robert De Niro, a lot of money. The actor has joined the list of film industry figures who are due large sums from the Weinstein Co., according to documents obtained by the Blast. The money is allegedly for work on 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook. The claim is part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
ADMITTED:
That a sumo ban is outdated. That’s what a Japanese mayor who suffered a stroke at a sumo event — and was given first aid by a female nurse who entered the maleonly ring — said about the sport’s ban. Ryozo Tatami, mayor of Maizuru city, resumed work after recovering from the stroke he suffered in April.
SUSPECTED:
The police force in the Mexican town of Ocampo. The BBC reports that the entire force was detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a mayoral candidate. The town’s 27 police officers and the local public security secretary were detained by federal forces on Sunday.
FALLING FLAT:
A political protest during the World Cup. A sculpture calling for the release of an imprisoned Crimean film director was misinterpreted as support for the German team, the Daily Telegraph reports. A replica trophy wrapped in barbed wire drew curious tourists and fans but promptly befuddled them.