Americans unexpectedly cut their spending in July as a boost from government tax refunds faded.

Retail sales slipped 0.6% last month, the biggest drop since May 2025, from a revised gain of 0.2% in June, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.

Ash spewing from Sicily's Mount Etna has forced the closure of the Italian island's largest airport for the fifth consecutive day, stranding hundreds of summer holiday travelers during the busiest travel week of the year.

Catania's airport will remain closed until early Saturday, which falls on the Ferragosto holiday that marks the height of the Italian summer holiday season when millions flock to the sea and mountains, deserting Italian cities.

Actors Colman Domingo, Charlize Theron and filmmaker John Carpenter are set to be honored at the Academy Museum Gala this fall. The red carpet for the annual fundraising event, now in its sixth year, has become a reliably starry and glamorous affair — a West Coast rival to New York's Met Gala. This year's edition will take place on the evening of Oct. 17 in Los Angeles.

Academy museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement that the honorees,' "extraordinary careers exemplify the creativity, innovation, and excellence that continues to move the industry forward."

Less than a month after Spain won the World Cup, La Liga is the first of Europe's big domestic leagues to kick off this weekend, though in muted fashion.

One game has been postponed and defending champion Barcelona and José Mourinho's Real Madrid won't play until the following weekend because they had players return later from the World Cup.

Italian authorities recovered three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth millions of euros that were stolen earlier this year from a private museum near the northern city of Parma, police said Friday.

A statement from the Italian Carabinieri's art recovery squad said the paintings were discovered during searches ordered by prosecutors, but no details were given. The investigation is ongoing.

Russian jet-powered drones struck a home in northern Ukraine on Friday, killing a 29-year-old woman and her 9-year-old son, officials said.

The strike came a day after the United Nations said July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since the weeks following Moscow's all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago.

As Afghanistan's Taliban rulers mark five years since sweeping back to power, some Kabul residents said they feel safer after decades of conflict and upheaval but stressed the leaders should now focus on creating jobs and expanding access to schools in the country where girls above the age of 12 are banned from education.

"Thank God, the past five years have passed in safety," said Mohammad Qasim, 30, reflecting on the anniversary that comes against a backdrop of economic hardship in a conflict-stricken country. "Our wish and hope from the government is to create job opportunities for the youth."

Record-breaking rainfall that pounded cities east of Tokyo overnight flooded roads and dozens of homes, stranded thousands of people, caused power outages and left at least four people dead and one missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe warning for heavy rain in more than a dozen municipalities in Chiba prefecture as rain subsided Friday morning but forecast more rain later in the day.

Firefighters across France and in central England struggled against multiple fires Friday as a new wave of record-breaking heat baked a swath of Europe, their task further complicated by exceptionally parched landscapes.

With France experiencing its driest year ever, a new fire raced through woodlands overnight in the Landes region on the southwest coast. The blaze forced more than 500 people to evacuate their homes in the town of Luglon as hundreds of firefighters deployed to the area, the regional administration said Friday.

A British company said Thursday it has been hired to salvage a grounded Russian shadow fleet tanker off Oman's coast and stop an oil spill that is threatening wildlife as it reaches the country's shoreline following its dramatic spread in recent weeks.

Satellite images have shown that oil from the tanker Caroline Bezengi has exponentially spread over hundreds of square kilometers during stormy weather, endangering a marine protected area. The region's "Khareef" monsoon season peaks in July and August.