Defending champion Miki Sudo wins women’s division of Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest
NEW YORK (AP) — Defending champion Miki Sudo of Florida has won her 10th title in the women’s division at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. On Thursday, the 38-year-old Sudo consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes and set a new world record for women. Mayoi Ebihara of Japan came in second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Ebihara was also the runner-up in 2023. Competitors have come from over a dozen states and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic, vying for the coveted title in men’s and women’s divisions and $10,000 prize money.
MbappĂ© warns of ‘catastrophic’ political situation in France as the far right gets closer to power
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — France soccer captain Kylian Mbappé has warned his country is in a “catastrophic” political situation as it lurches closer to a first far-right government since World War II. The National Rally has gained around 33% of the vote nationwide in the first round of a rushed election. The second round of the legislative elections are on Sunday. Marine Le Pen’s party is poised to potentially gain power. Mbappé urges people to go out to vote “now, more than ever” because it is a “pressing” situation. He says “we cannot let our country fall into the hands of these people.”
An American swims in Paris’ Seine River before the Olympics despite contamination concerns
PARIS (AP) — A 75-year-old American swimmer has taken a dip in the Seine River in Paris to celebrate the Fourth of July. He braved the murky waters to highlight the French government’s efforts to clean up the river for the Olympic Games. He had good timing. Hours later, regional authorities released data showing water quality in the river has improved over the past week. That raised hopes that it can host Olympic swimming events after all. American Joel Stratte McClure last swam in the Seine in 1976 for a magazine cover shoot. He says he was impressed with the progress made in cleaning up the river, but still had concerns about its safety.
Despite hardships brought by war, flowers fill Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Flowers have always been linked with Ukraine’s culture but since Russia’s 2022 invasion, their significance has only grown. Blooms and specifically sunflowers have become a symbol of both resistance and hope for the war-torn country. Ukrainians take every chance they can to fill Kyiv and other cities with flowers from the country’s vast rural heartland. Flowers are depicted on Ukrainian banknotes, textile patterns and murals. Across the country, young men on dates and soldiers, sometimes missing a limb, carry bouquets on their return home. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy famously brought a bouquet on a hospital visit in 2022 to a teenage girl injured while fleeing advancing Russian forces outside the capital, Kyiv.
LeBron James agrees to a 2-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, AP source says
LeBron James is coming back for a record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, one in which the league’s all-time scoring leader could share the floor with his son Bronny as teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers. James has agreed to a two-year contract to remain with the Lakers, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. The second year of the deal is at James’ option and means he could become a free agent again next summer, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced publicly. The Lakers did announce that Bronny James already has signed his first NBA contract. It is a four-year deal.
These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are 34,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. The mounds existed while saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed other parts of the Earth and large swathes of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. They predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe. Evidence shows they have been consistently inhabited by termite colonies. The researchers urge more study of termite mounds for the lessons they offer on climate change, sustaining ecosystems and perhaps even for improving agricultural practices.
US ends legal fight against Titanic expedition. Battles over future dives are still possible
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. government has officially ended its legal fight against an upcoming dive to the Titanic shipwreck. That’s because the expedition will no longer enter the ship’s hull or take artifacts from the site. The U.S. has said doing so would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a memorial. The Georgia-based company RMS Titanic Inc. owns the Titanic’s salvage rights. It displays artifacts recovered from previous expeditions. The firm significantly scaled back its dive plans this year. Uncrewed submersibles will only take images of the wreck and debris field. The mission is scheduled for mid-July.
Police find remains of girl snatched by a crocodile while swimming in northern Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police have found remains of a 12-year-old girl two days after she was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in a creek in remote northern Australia. Police say the remains were found on Thursday in the river system near where the girl vanished at the Indigenous community of Palumpa, southwest of the Northern Territory capital Darwin. Injuries confirmed a crocodile attack. Efforts were continuing to trap the killer crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles are territorial and the killer is likely to remain in nearby waterways. The girl’s disappearance triggered an intense 36-hour land, water and air search.
Banned NBA player Jontay Porter will be charged in betting case, court papers indicate
NEW YORK (AP) — Court papers indicate that former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter will be charged with a federal felony connected to the sports betting scandal that spurred the NBA to ban him for life. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed what’s known as a criminal information sheet on Tuesday. The document doesn’t specify a court date or the charge or charges. But it does show the case is related to an existing prosecution of four gamblers charged with conspiring to cash in on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early. The Associated Press sent voice and email messages to Porter’s lawyer on Wednesday.
Massive makos, Queen Bosses and a baby angel shark on Discovery ‘Shark Week,’ where women shine
NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine stepping into a life-sized whale carcass decoy and steering it into deep water. You’re looking — yes, looking — for a group of hungry sharks to spark a feeding frenzy. To attract them, you shoot out hundreds of gallons of synthetic blood and chum. Then watch them lose it. That’s what marine biologist Liv Dixon did for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” one of several eye-popping moments during the 21 hours of new programing this year where scientists risk everything to understand the apex predators better. The week, hosted by John Cena, kicks off Sunday with Dixon’s hour-long “Belly of the Beast: Bigger & Bloodier.”
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