MARSEILLE, France, May 8 (Reuters) - The Olympic flame is set to reach French soil at Marseille's Old Port amid tight security on Wednesday, 79 days before the Paris 2024 Games Opening Ceremony. More than 150,000 people are expected to welcome the three-masted Belem, which left Greece on April 27 with the flame after it was lit in Ancient Olympia 11 days earlier. Around 6,000 law enforcement officers will secure the area as the Belem arrives in the harbour around 0900 GMT (1100 local time) before a six-hour parade. "It's...

Internationally recognized author, scholar and philosopher Christopher Phillips is searching for answers beyond planet Earth as the new philosopher in residence of Humanity in Deep Space, a think-tank organization dedicated to gathering information and promoting discussion on possible human civilization in outer space. Humanity in Deep Space was created in 2019 and comprises a diverse group of creative thinkers, space professionals and others who are working to develop a better understanding of just how people would be able to inhabit and live outside of Earth.

Former Trail Blazer Ben McLemore adamantly denied charges that he raped and sexually abused an incapacitated woman in Lake Oswego in 2021. His denial came one day after McLemore appeared in court to hear the charges against him and posted bail to get out of Clackamas County Jail. “I did not rape this woman,” McLemore said in a one-page written statement Thursday. “I am not sexually abusive. I have never pursued a sexual relationship when I understood the woman was not interested in me and acting willingly.” He added: “The...

US travelers hoping to visit the beautiful beaches of Brazil will have to acquire a visa first beginning in 2025 — meaning they’ll have to share their bank statements with the South American country. Beginning April 10, 2025, Brazil-bound travelers from the US, Canada and Australia need to be approved for a visa before their trip, CNN reported. The application includes providing proof of income by either showing their last three checking or savings account statements or their previous six pay stubs, according to the Brazilian government’s website. Those who...

An ex-NBA player who spent nine seasons the league has been arrested on multiple felony warrants including first-degree rape. Ben McLemore, 31, last played in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021-22. He also played for the Kings, Grizzlies, Rockets and Lakers after being drafted out of Kansas in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. McLemore was arrested at the Portland International Airport. He is also charged with first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and two counts of second-degree sex abuse, Lake Oswego police said. The charges stem...

JERUSALEM (ABC4) — The BYU Jerusalem Center in Israel is relocating the 93 students, faculty, families and service couples to Greece, the facility announced on Friday morning. Details about where the students, faculty and family members would be staying in Greece were not disclosed, however, the university does routinely offer Health Care programs in the area. A Thursday morning update said there had been no reported violence in Jerusalem but said tensions are always higher on Fridays as Muslims gather on the Temple Mount, or Haram esh Sharif, for noon...

After a week of war between Israel and Gaza, the BYU Jerusalem Center is evacuating students and faculty to Greece, where studies will resume, the center announced Friday morning. “The Jerusalem Center Fall 2023 Program is currently relocating to Greece,” center officials said in a two-sentence security update. “In addition to the 93 students and faculty, faculty families and service couples will also relocate to Greece.” Students had sheltered and studied in place on the center’s campus during the first week of the war, which began Saturday. Field trips were...

Amid terrorist attacks in Israel, The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center announced plans to relocate students, faculty and their families to Greece. In total, 93 BYU students and faculty, as well as faculty families and service couples will relocate to Greece. Further details about where the group will stay were not made available. The decision to relocate comes as students and faculty were "asked to stay at the center" for nearly a week. BYU has been providing regular, daily updates on security for the last week and no violence has...

ATHENS, Greece — The death toll from severe flooding in central Greece rose to 10 people Friday, while another four remained missing, the country’s civil protection minister said. Rescue crews in helicopters and boats ferried hundreds of people from inundated villages to safety. Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 22 people in all three countries since the rains began Tuesday. In Greece, the rainstorms turned streams into raging torrents that burst dams, washed away roads and bridges and hurled cars into the...