July 18 - Every week, Reuters journalists produce scores of multimedia features and human-interest stories from around the world.
Below are some stories from this week selected by our editors, as well as explanatory context and background to help you understand world headlines. For a full schedule of news and events, please go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect.
Paris Olympics marketing blitz powered by female athletes
Global advertisers are hiring more female athletes to launch marketing campaigns ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics, a move aimed at capitalizing on recent record ratings for women's sports in the United States and Europe to reach new audiences. (OLYMPICS-2024/WOMENS-SPORT (PIX), 723 words)
Remains of ancient Papal palace believed to have been found in Rome
ROME - The remains of what appears to be a medieval palace where popes lived before they made the Vatican their home have been excavated in Rome prior to renovations for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, the Italian Culture Ministry said. (ITALY-ARCHAEOLOGY/ POPES (PIX), 295 words)
In Moscow, enthusiasts work to bring bike polo to Russia
MOSCOW - At a suburban hockey pitch on the southern edges of Moscow, a small group of dedicated enthusiasts gather regularly to bring an unusual sport to Russia: bike polo. (RUSSIA-SPORT/BIKE POLO (TV, PIX), 263 words)
Portuguese 'DJ priest' plays upbeat tunes to spread hope
LAUNDOS, Portugal - Portuguese priest Guilherme Peixoto rose to fame playing electronic dance music near his church in a tiny Portuguese village. Now famous beyond borders and playing at some of the world's best nightclubs, his goal - to spread a message of hope through music - hasn't changed. (PORTUGAL-PRIEST/DJ (TV, PIX), 420 words)
Art is cool, museum tells sweltering Muscovites
MOSCOW - Art lovers drift slowly through the exhibition halls of the Pushkin Museum, pausing to peer at vibrant works by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh. The Muscovites are happy to see the art, but they also came for a more pressing, physical reason: to cool off. (EUROPE-WEATHER/MOSCOW-MUSEUM (TV, PIX), 392 words)
Visitors uncover Black Brazilian past of Sao Paulo's Japanese neighborhood
SAO PAULO - São Paulo's Liberdade neighborhood, home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan, is renowned for its Asian-style architecture, restaurants and public lighting resembling paper lanterns. Thousands of tourists enjoy the area's cuisine and culture, often unaware of the neighborhood's Black history. (BRAZIL-BLACKHISTORY/ (PIX), 475 words)
Butchered animal bones indicate earliest human presence in southern South America
BUENOS AIRES - Fossil bones of a large armadillo relative with cut marks suggestive of butchering that were found in Argentina indicate that humans were present in southern South America some 21,000 years ago, according to researchers, earlier than previously thought. (ARGENTINA-FOSSIL/ (PIX, TV), 663 words)
Radar study puts spotlight on Saturn moon Titan's hydrocarbon seas
WASHINGTON - NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which explored Saturn and its icy moons, including the majestic Titan, ended its mission with a death plunge into the giant ringed planet in 2017. But some of the voluminous data gathered by Cassini during its 13 years of surveying the Saturnian system is only now being fully examined. (SPACE-EXPLORATION/TITAN (PIX), SPACE-EXPLORATION/TITAN (PIX), 705 words)
Webb telescope reveals wild weather on cosmic brown dwarfs
WASHINGTON - The weather report is in for the two brown dwarfs - celestial bodies bigger than a planet but smaller than a star - closest to us. (SPACE-EXPLORATION/BROWN DWARFS (PIX), 692 words)
From 4,000 My Little Pony toys to quilts, exhibit celebrates UK hobbies
LONDON - More than 14,000 objects collected, created or customized by British hobbyists are being shown together for the first time in a major exhibition exploring the UK's hobbies. (EXHIBITION-HOBBIES/ (TV, PIX), 229 words)
Stars of award-winning Egyptian film describe defying social norms
CAIRO - The female stars of an Egyptian street theater troupe that is the subject of a prize-winning documentary film said they set out to challenge attitudes to women's role in society when they began performing in their remote rural village. (EGYPT-FILM/WOMEN (TV, PIX), 360 words)
Four reasons why couples should consider staggered retirements
NEW YORK - When you envision retirement with a partner, what does it look like? (MONEY-RETIREMENT/COUPLES (PIX), 716 words)
EXPLANATORY CONTENT
NEWSMAKER-J.D. Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now they are running mates
FACTBOX-Wife of Trump running mate J.D. Vance is lawyer with Supreme Court ties
FACTBOX-Key nominations for TV's 2024 Emmy Awards
FACTBOX-Paris landmarks double up as Olympic venues
FACTBOX-Soccer-Incidents involving fans at major matches
(Compiled by Mark Porter and Patrick Enright)
