A Spanish investigative magistrate on Thursday provisionally shelved the latest probe into an alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira following recommendations by prosecutors.

The Colombian singer had been under investigation for the alleged evasion of 6.7 million euros ($7.2 million) in taxes on her 2018 income via an offshore company. She denied wrongdoing.

Competition in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Tuesday in Sweden, with the war in Gaza casting a shadow over the sequin-spangled pop extravaganza.

Performers representing countries across Europe and beyond took the stage in the first of two semifinals in the Swedish city of Malmo. It and a second semifinal on Thursday will winnow a field of 37 nations to 26 who will compete in Saturday's final against a backdrop of both parties and protests.

An extra day and the lure of an appearance by the Rolling Stones pushed attendance at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to a half a million people, organizers said Monday.

That was the second highest attendance in the festival's history — just behind the 600,000 attendees in 2001. In 2023, more than 460,000 people passed through the festival's gates.

Protesters in New York converged near the Met Gala in a rally against the ongoing war in Gaza, leading to several arrests, police said.

Among the rallying points Monday were the gates of Columbia University, which has been the center of spreading demonstrations, before protesters marched through Manhattan to American fashion's biggest night -- or at least as close as police would let them.

Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest said Thursday they reserve the right to remove any Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols at the show next week in Sweden.

The announcement came amid heightened tensions surrounding Israel's participation in the annual music competition over its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month. Pro-Palestinian groups are expected to stage large protests in Malmo to raise awareness of their cause.

A drug and child molestation gang led by a famous Lebanese TikToker has been busted by Lebanese security forces, in a case that has shocked the country.

The well-known TikToker, Georges Moubayed, is a barber whose shop lies in the Metn neighborhood of Sabtyieh near Beirut, media reports said.

Billie Eilish is hitting the road.

The pop performer will embark on a worldwide arena tour this fall, kicking off in Quebec City in Canada on Sept. 29 and concluding in Dublin on July 27, 2025. She'll hit many major cities in North America in 2024 before heading to Australia and then Europe.

Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.

A hearing on those issues — including a request from Jamie Spears for a broad ruling dismissing them — had been scheduled for Monday but was pulled from the court calendar after the settlement was approved by a judge on Friday.

Ralph Lauren has been known for many a grand fashion show over the years: taking over Central Park for a sumptuous anniversary celebration, for example, or staging a runway show amid his eye-popping classic car collection.

But for his Fall/Holiday 2024 collection, he decided to go minimal — at least, minimal in Ralph Lauren terms. That meant an intimate show Monday night in a (relatively) small design studio at his New York City offices, inspired by his first women's fashion show in 1972, where he displayed his wares to editors and friends in his own office.

Taylor Swift continues to dominate in the week following the release of her 11th album, "The Tortured Poets Department." The 31-track album has hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, tying Swift with Jay-Z for second-most No. 1 albums at 14. Only The Beatles, with 19 No. 1 albums, have had more.

The double album has amassed 2.61 million equivalent album units, according to Luminate, the industry data and analytics company. A shocking 1.91 million of those units come from traditional album sales — people purchasing downloads, CDs, cassettes and vinyl. Vinyl accounts for 859,000 units sold, the highest number of vinyl sales in modern history.