Tributes flowed as quickly as the news of Alfredo Di Stefano's death spread across continents, with Pele joining modern stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi among the thousands praising the Real Madrid great as a luminary of the game.

Di Stefano, the Argentine forward who helped lead Madrid in its glorious era in the 1950s and 60s, passed away on Monday aged 88, two days after he was hospitalized following a heart attack.

At this point, the top Tour de France sprint star might be called Sir Marcel.

Marcel Kittel, the German with a French first name, led a bunch sprint to win Monday's Stage 3 with a finish on the doorstep of Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace. Two days earlier, he courted royal attention as Prince William and Kate saw him win Stage 1 in Yorkshire in another sprint.

A fossil found in South Carolina has revealed a gigantic bird that apparently snatched fish while soaring over the ocean some 25 million to 28 million years ago.

Its estimated wingspan of around 21 feet is bigger than the height of a giraffe.

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe met with his Australian counterpart on Tuesday to sign agreements bolstering defense and trade ties between the countries.

The defense deal, which involves the transfer of military equipment and technology, comes a week after Japan's government ushered in a new era for the country's defense force by reinterpreting its pacifist constitution to allow greater use of its military to defend allies.

They're a couple rarely seen in public, together only since February.

So when Academy Award-winning power-couple Charlize Theron and Sean Penn walked in to Dior's Monday show, holding hands and sat prominently on the front row, it's not only the couture gowns that dazzled guests.

Madonna turned up for jury duty Monday at a state courthouse in New York City. But she didn't have to stay flor long.

The pop superstar had gotten excused from a jury service date in May. This time, she was finished within two hours and wasn't questioned for any case, spending the wait in a clerk's office instead of in the sprawling juror waiting room.

A painting by Henri Matisse stolen more than a decade ago from a museum in Venezuela made its homecoming Monday.

Handlers held the painting up in front of the stairs of the jet it arrived on, like an arriving celebrity, while photographer snapped pictures. Officials said a piece of national heritage has been restored without injury. The artwork, "Odalisque in Red Pants," depicts a topless woman sitting in front of a wall.

Boeing is deciding what to do with six newly manufactured commercial airplane bodies that fell off a train in a derailment in western Montana, including three that slid down a steep riverbank, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

Experts from Boeing Co. and Spirit AeroSystems, which built the fuselages, are at the site of Thursday's derailment on the Clark Fork River about 50 miles west of Missoula, spokeswoman Dina Weiss said in a statement.

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger thinks Brazil has crossed the line with some of its hard tackling ahead of the World Cup semifinals and is urging referees to keep a closer eye on the host team.

"I am all for a healthy hardness but some of Brazil's fouls were over the limit," Schweinsteiger said. "Brazilians are not only football magicians, hard tackling is part of their game — we have to be careful and so does the referee."

With the potentially record-breaking $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers hanging in the balance, a trial beginning Monday will focus on whether Donald Sterling's estranged wife had the authority under terms of a family trust to unilaterally negotiate the deal.

Shelly Sterling struck a deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer after Donald Sterling's racist remarks to a girlfriend were publicized and the NBA moved to oust him as team owner.