Amazon's annual Prime Day sales event is underway with the largest number of discounted items in its history. As usual, customers can snag discounted big-ticket items, Amazon-branded products or any tchotchke they desire.

One thing to keep in mind when shopping during Prime Day: fake product reviews on Amazon and across social media.

Authorities in Russia have charged a man with murder in the death of U.S. student Catherine Serou, who went missing last week and was later found dead.

A local court said suspect Alexander Popov gave Serou a ride before taking her to a wooded area where he beat and stabbed her during a "dispute," The Associated Press reported.

New Zealand has named Laurel Hubbard to its women's weightlifting roster for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, making her the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the games.

Hubbard, 43, will compete in the category for women over 87 kg, about 192 pounds.

Ethiopians are deciding Monday whether to return Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to office as a growing conflict in Tigray has threatened to engulf the region, unraveling the international goodwill that helped win Abiy a Nobel Peace Prize just two years ago.

The vote, originally planned for last year but delayed by the pandemic, has been described by Abiy as the first attempt at free and fair elections in the country's history.

The election of Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran brings not just a new face to Iranian politics but also new problems for a Biden administration that hopes to ease tensions with Iran while reining in its nuclear ambitions.

Faced with the prospect of reshaping college athletics, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a narrow but potentially transformative ruling Monday in a case that pitted college athletes against the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

At issue in the case were NCAA rules that limit educational benefits for college players as part of their scholarships.

On paper, The New York Times' Nikole Hannah-Jones is a dream hire for the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

STOCKHOLM — Stefan Lofven, Sweden's Social Democratic prime minister since 2014, lost a confidence vote in parliament on Monday, making him the first Swedish leader ever to lose such a motion.

The development creates new political uncertainty in the Scandinavian nation after the last election in 2018 created a deadlocked parliament and months of negotiations to produce a government.

Organizers for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics announced they will allow some local spectators into each venue as long as no state of emergency is in effect.

Up to 10,000 domestic fans will be allowed at events, or 50% of the venue's capacity, whichever is less, organizers said Monday.

The coronavirus situation in Japan has improved in recent weeks with increased vaccinations, though critics still believe it would be safer to close the games to all spectators.

John Nephew thought he had a winner with a new tabletop game called Dice Miner. Importing the games from China turned out to be its own roll of the dice.

Nephew, founder of Atlas Games in Duluth, Minn., ordered a 40-foot cargo container full of games from Shanghai in December, anticipating delivery in about six weeks.