MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros ($64 million) in wrongly imposed fines, a court document seen Monday by The Associated Press said.
The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar.
The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish tax authorities did not prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision.
For a person to be considered a tax resident in Spain, she must spend more than 183 days in the country.
Spanish authorities were only able to prove that Shakira lived in Spain that year for a total of 163 days, the court said, ordering the Treasury to reimburse the singer the tax paid plus interest.
“There was never any fraud, and the Tax Agency itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true," Shakira said in a statement provided by her lawyers.
Spain's Treasury is to reimburse the singer 60 million euros (almost $70 million), including interest, Shakira’s lawyer said.
“This resolution comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of rigor in administrative practices,” her lawyer, José Luís Prada, said in a statement.
Spain's tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes. Those players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.
FILE - Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Congolese health minister announced the opening of three treatment centers in the Ituri region of eastern Congo on Sunday evening as the country grapples with a new Ebola outbreak.
“We know that the hospitals are already under stress because of the patients,” the minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said during a visit to Bunia, the capital and largest city in Ituri. "But we are preparing to have treatment centers at all three sites in order to be able to expand our capabilities.”
The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in Congo and two in neighboring Uganda. Although the outbreak is centered in Ituri, cases have been reported in the capital, Kinshasa, and in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa said Sunday on X that a team of 35 experts from the WHO and the Congolese Ministry of Health had arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, along with 7 tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
Rwanda closed its land border with Congo on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said on social media on Sunday evening. AP reporters tried to cross the border on Sunday and Monday morning, but were informed it was closed except for holders of international flight tickets. Rwandan authorities have not replied to a request for comments.
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. By WHO’s standards, it shows the event is serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a coordinated international response.
Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told Sky News on Sunday that he is in “panic mode” due to a lack of medicines and vaccines as deaths rise, but there are some candidate treatments anticipated in the coming weeks.
The East African Community a regional bloc that includes Congo, said Monday that the new Ebola outbreak underscores the importance of regional solidarity and preparedness. Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the deputy secretary general, said that given the high level of movement of people and goods across the region, coordinated preparedness and rapid information sharing are essential to preventing cross-border transmission.
In a statement he added that the bloc is committed to helping its members strengthen surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, infection prevention and control and other efforts, particularly in border areas.
A general view is seen of Bunia where ebola outbreaks have been confirmed in Ituri province, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/ Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
A woman wearing a protective mask stands in the corridor of a hospital in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/ Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)
