BLANTYRE, Aug 18: The Queen of Pop is also a soccer mom, and she’s getting ever more involved in the beautiful game.

BEIJING, Aug 18: Thanks to extensive conservation efforts, Chinese researchers announced Thursday that the giant panda was no longer threatened with extinction.

ATLANTA, Aug 18:  An Atlanta-area property company is suing Grammy-winning R&B artist R. Kelly for $203,400 over “extensive damage” to two homes he rented.

LONDON (AP) — Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress and nemesis of U.S. President Donald Trump, has pulled out of a British reality-TV show at the last minute after a dispute with producers. Daniels was due to take part in “Celebrity Big Brother,” which locks contestants in a house under constant surveillance. But she failed to join housemates including actress Kirstie Alley and psychic Sally Morgan for Thursday’s first episode. Lawyer Michael Avenatti said Friday that Daniels argued with producers who attempted to “control her and produce a certain result.” Broadcaster Channel 5 said Daniels told producers hours before airtime that she no longer wanted to participate. Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, and was later paid $130,000 to stay silent about it. The president denies the encounter.

NEW YORK, Aug 18: Aretha Franklin’s funeral will be held Aug. 31 in her hometown of Detroit.

MUNICH, Aug 17: A German woman who has never had sex aged 36 says she has successfully auctioned her virginity online for €250,000 (£223,000).

PORTLAND, Aug 17: Jill Janus, lead singer of the heavy metal band Huntress, has died at age 43, her family and band said Thursday.

NEW YORK, Aug 17: Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul” who sang with matchless style on such classics as “Think,” ″I Say a Little Prayer” and her signature song, “Respect,” and stood as a cultural icon around the globe, died Thursday at age 76 from pancreatic cancer.

HELSINKI, Aug 17: Rovio Entertainment (ROVIO.HE), the maker of the “Angry Birds” mobile game series, reported a sharply lower quarterly profit on Friday due to declining revenue from its 2016 Hollywood movie, but said sales at its games business were growing.

PERU, Aug 17: A rare rodent species known as a "bamboo rat" that lives around the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru has resurfaced after a decade of absence and been photographed for the first time.