LONDON (AP) — Singer Chris Brown was arrested Thursday in England for allegedly hitting someone with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.

The Metropolitan Police did not name Brown but said it took a 36-year-old into custody at a Manchester hotel on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Under British law, police cannot name suspects before charges are filed.

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The Sun, which first reported the story, said producer Abe Diaw told them Sunday that he was hospitalized after Brown beat him in an unprovoked attack at the Tape nightclub in the swanky Mayfair neighborhood in London in February 2023.

The tabloid said it became aware Brown was in the U.K. on Wednesday and called police to find out if he was under arrest. The newspaper said Met officers then traveled to Manchester and made the arrest.

Brown’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Diaw said Brown, who was on a U.K. tour at the time, cracked him on the head with a bottle and punched and kicked him on the floor. The producer has filed a $16 million lawsuit against the singer.

Brown, often called by his nickname Breezy, burst onto the music scene as a teen in 2005 and has become a major hitmaker over the years with notable songs such as “Run It,” “Kiss Kiss” and “Without You.” He won his first Grammy for best R&B album in 2011 for “F.A.M.E.” then earned his second gold trophy in the same category for “11:11 (Deluxe)” earlier this year.

The singer is launching an international tour next month with artists Jhene Aiko, Summer Walker and Bryson Tiller, opening with a European leg before starting North America shows in July.

By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein’s assistants kept a list of female “friends of Harvey” to invite to events and sometimes considered them a special category for guest lists, an ex-aide testified Thursday at the former movie mogul’s sex crimes retrial.

“A ‘friend of Harvey’ was a woman that he’d meet at events or parties or festivals or — somewhere,” said Elizabeth Perz, one of his executive assistants from 2011 to 2013.

The then-married Weinstein asked his assistants to invite these women to events, Perz said. It was such common practice that Weinstein’s subordinates had a shorthand: “Might as well add a FOH column,” Perz advised colleagues by email as they discussed the attendee list for some 2013 awards-season events.

Jurors were shown a roster of well over a dozen names, which Perz said was kept in the office at Weinstein’s now-defunct production company. The names were broken down by geography, such as “LA Friends” or “Cannes/Etc/all invites.”

One “LA Friends” entry was Jessica Mann, one of the three women whose allegations are at the heart of the retrial.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan in New York, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. The once-powerful studio boss, who became a prime target of the #MeToo movement’s campaign against sexual misconduct, maintains that he’s never had sexual encounters that weren’t consensual.

During the last five years, he was convicted of various sex crimes in both New York and California. But he’s on trial again because an appeals court found that his New York trial was tainted by prejudicial testimony and overturned that conviction. He’s charged with raping Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on two other women, separately, in 2006.

Mann, who was a hairstylist and aspiring actor when she met Weinstein in the early 2010s, is expected to testify in the coming days or week. The other accusers, Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola, already have taken the stand.

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At Weinstein’s 2020 trial, Mann painted a complex and emotional picture of a yearslong relationship that began consensually but became “degrading” and volatile and eventually exploded into rape. Still, she kept seeing him and sending warm messages because she wanted him to believe she “wasn’t a threat,” she testified.

Weinstein’s lawyers at the time argued that Mann willingly had a sexual liaison with him to serve her acting ambitions. At one point during his defense’s questioning in 2020, she began sobbing so forcefully that court ended early that day.

At the retrial on Thursday, jurors saw messages that Perz had sent to Mann about some Oscars-related parties in 2013.

“Harvey would like to extend an invitation to you” and a friend, Perz wrote.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who alleged they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be identified, which Sokola, Haley and Mann have done.

BRIMSON — St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said winds gusting up to 70 mph Thursday afternoon could be a “game-changer” for firefighting efforts if there isn’t rain as well.

The sheriff reported in a Facebook video around 12:15 p.m. that authorities were concerned about high winds from 4-9 p.m. that could fuel the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires.

A gale warning in effect along the North Shore from 1-8 p.m. is expected to produce 3- to 6-foot waves on Lake Superior, the National Weather Service in Duluth reported.

Ramsay said some firefighters have been reallocated to the Jenkins Creek Fire, which is growing faster than the Camp House and Munger Shaw fires. All three fires were zero percent contained as of early Thursday afternoon.

Crews were monitoring the growth of the Jenkins Creek Fire in the direction of Hoyt Lakes. As of early Thursday afternoon, the tip of the fire was 6.5 to 7 miles from the city, which has a population of around 2,000. Ramsay said there was a very slim chance the fire could reach Hoyt Lakes in the next 24 hours.

Jenkins Creek Fire crews were working Thursday morning to protect the fire from spreading to an AT&T communications tower and the unincorporated community of Fairbanks, located just west of Cadotte Lake and the Superior National Forest’s Cadotte Lake Campground, and 18 miles southeast of Hoyt Lakes.

The Eastern Area Incident Management Team, which manages the Brimson Complex, including the Camp Fire and Jenkins Creek fires, said in an update at 11 a.m. Thursday that a dozen crews were constructing a line on the south side of the Jenkins Creek Fire. Planes dropped water Wednesday to protect the communications tower.

“The fire is fueled by mixed forest vegetation and spruce budworm-infested forest stands,” the update read. “Dead and distressed balsam and aspen prone to ignition pose a significant hazard for firefighters.”

Jenkins Creek Fire status, 8:44 a.m. Thursday

Started: Monday
Acres: 15,570
Location: East of Hoyt Lakes
Cause: Under investigation
Resources: 5 engines, 3 tenders, 3 tracked vehicles, air support
Eastern Area Complex Incident Management Team notes: “The hot, windy weather in recent days led to some extreme fire behavior with crown torching and crown spread. The fire jumped Forest Road 120 (Skibo Road) and pushed north. Unlike the Camp House Fire, the Jenkins Creek Fire was not impacted by lake-effect winds. This fire is burning in mixed boreal forest and grassy ground cover; this area is heavily infested by spruce budworm, so there is an abundance of distressed and dead balsam fir and white spruce. Those ‘snags’ are especially prone to ignition.” Ground access could be limited due to swamps, rivers and a lack of forest roads.

Camp House Fire status, 8:44 a.m. Thursday

Started: Sunday
Acres: 14,979
Location: Brimson
Cause: Under investigation
Resources: 32 engines, 13 tenders, 6 dozers, 3 tracked vehicles, air support
Eastern Area Complex Incident Management Team notes: “Firefighters are engaged in full suppression tactics on the fire and are providing protection to threatened structures and infrastructure around the fire perimeter. The fires have been active, making short runs in the pine overstory — especially in areas with heavy spruce budworm infestation. Fire has proved challenging due to the influence of unpredictable shifting ‘lake turbulence’ winds.” Crews were working to protect an AT&T communications tower.

Munger Shaw Fire status, 11:50 a.m. Thursday

Started: Monday
Acres: 1,600
Location: 2 miles east of Elora Lake
Cause: Undetermined
Resources: 65 personnel
Minnesota Interagency Command Team A notes: “Continue use of aircraft and ground personnel, dozers, and track vehicles to continue establishing an anchor point and containment line.” The fire was “creeping and smoldering.” Sixty-five personnel were on the scene.

Evacuations

St. Louis and Lake counties will contact residents in their respective counties if they need to evacuate.

St. Louis County’s “ready, set, go!” evacuation zone map denotes evacuation status in yellow, orange and red, along with recommended plans to protect residents and their property.
Lake County’s “ready, set, go!” evacuation zone map denotes evacuation status in yellow, orange and red, along with recommended plans to protect residents and their property.

Evacuation centers:

St. Louis County Public Health and American Red Cross shelter at the Fredenberg Community Center, 5104 Fish Lake Road, Duluth.
Old School Lives, 9165 U.S. Highway 53, Cotton.

Weather forecast

A strong low-pressure system moving in Thursday could bring showers and thunderstorms to the Arrowhead by the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth. Severe storms are possible in the afternoon and evening; however, the best chances are in Northwestern Wisconsin.

The forecast for Brimson on Thursday calls for a high of 81 degrees and a chance of showers between noon and 4 p.m. and possible thunderstorms after 4 p.m. Relative humidity was 69%.

The NWS reports that the Camp House and Jenkins Creek fires will continue to spread heavy ground-level smoke Thursday. Winds shifted to the southeast and will push the smoke plumes northwest, affecting portions of St. Louis, Itasca and Koochiching counties through the afternoon.

The NWS lifted the Red Flag Warning for Minnesota on Wednesday, but outdoor burning is discouraged.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued an air quality alert for fine particle pollution in Northeastern Minnesota until 4 p.m. Thursday. The Air Quality Index is expected to reach the orange level (unhealthy for sensitive groups, including those with lung disease, asthma, heart disease, children and older adults.

How you can help

United Way of Northeastern Minnesota
For residents impacted in St. Louis County. It is working to establish a wildfire recovery fund. Immediate assistance is offered through its Comforts of Home program, which replaces lost items with referrals from agencies like the Red Cross and St. Louis County. All proceeds go to impacted community members.

Donate online: unitedwaynemn.org/firehelp
Donate via mail: United Way of Northeastern Minnesota, 608 East Drive, Chisholm, MN 55719.

Head of the Lakes United Way
For residents impacted in Lake County. All proceeds go to impacted community members.

Donate online: hlunitedway.harnessgiving.org/campaigns/18236
Donate via mail: Head of the Lakes United Way, 314 W. Superior St. #750, Duluth, MN 55802; include a note indicating “wildfire relief.”

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The city will now hold off on selling the debt of property owners—who make the list if they owe taxes or water, sewer and emergency repair charges—until June 3. The extension “gives New Yorkers more time to take action and get help,” Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack said.

Buildings in Brooklyn. (Photo by Adi Talwar)

The city will delay the return of its controversial tax lien sale for two additional weeks—an effort to give home and property owners more time to address their debts and avoid it, officials said Thursday. It will now take place June 3, rather than May 20 as originally planned.

Since the Giuliani administration, the city has attempted to collect on delinquent tax, water or emergency repair bills by selling the debt to an authorized buyer, usually a trust, which typically begins charging fees and interest on any unpaid liens. It can lead to foreclosure, and has historically hit homeowners in communities of color the hardest.

This year is the first time the city will hold the sale since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, many housing advocates have called to abolish the practice, saying it puts vulnerable small homeowners at risk of homelessness or exploitation by predatory lenders.

“It’s the same areas that historically were redlined, it’s the same areas that were targeted, that had racial predatory lending. It’s the same areas that have suffered from discrimination for decades, almost a century,” said Kevin Wolfe, deputy director of advocacy and public affairs at the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, in an interview with City Limits last month.

In an effort to address that criticism, the City Council and the Adams administration passed reforms last year, including the creation of a new “Easy Exit Program“—under which eligible households can avoid having their debt sold for up to a year—and a $2 million outreach campaign that offers free counseling for homeowners.

There are other ways people can get their buildings off the sales list: they can pay their debts in full, enroll in a payment plan, apply for a property tax exemption, or submit a probate application. 

“This extension gives New Yorkers more time to take action and get help,” said Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack in a statement Thursday. “We’re doing everything we can to connect property owners with payment options and support services to help them avoid the lien sale and stay in their homes. If you or someone you know is at risk, now is the time to reach out.”

You can find more information and resources from the city here, or visit the Center for NYC Neighborhoods’ Homeowner Help Desk here.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

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