Bertoletti, Sudo win top dog honors at Nathan’s Famous power-eating contest, absent longtime champ
NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago has won his first men’s title at the annual Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. Bertoletti won Thursday by consuming 58 hot dogs in a tight, 10-minute race where the leader bounced back and forth. Earlier, defending champion Miki Sudo of Florida won her 10th title in the women’s division. The 38-year-old Sudo consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes and set a new world record for women. Thousands of fans flock each year to the event held outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn’s Coney Island. The event’s biggest star and reigning champion, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, didn’t attend this year over a sponsorship tiff.
30th annual Essence Festival of Culture kicks off in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The City of New Orleans welcomed thousands of people descending on the Big Easy for the 30th annual celebration of the Essence Festival of Culture. The festival’s CEO says reaching that milestone was not easy. But New Orleans played a big role in getting there. The magazine’s July and August issue commemorates the festival and its relationship with the city. Executives say the cover story is a love letter to the people, places and spaces of New Orleans. The festival offers free daily workshops in the convention center and ticketed nightly concerts with big-name artists at the Superdome.
Mbappé 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.”
Hayden Springer posts 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history with his eagle-birdie finish for a 59
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Hayden Springer has posted the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. Springer holed out for eagle from 55 yards on the 17th hole at the John Deere Classic and finished with a 12-foot birdie for golf’s magic number. It was the second 59 on the PGA Tour in three weeks. Cameron Young also shot 59 at the Travelers Championship. Springer will have to settle for a share of the course record at the TPC Deere Run. Paul Goydos also shot 59 in the John Deere Classic in 2010. Springer’s was the eighth sub-60 round in golf worldwide this year.
House Democrat is proposing a constitutional amendment to reverse Supreme Court’s immunity decision
WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading House Democrat is preparing a constitutional amendment in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark immunity ruling. Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York says he is seeking to reverse the court’s decision “and ensure that no president is above the law.” It’s the most significant legislative response yet to the decision this week from the court’s conservative majority. Congress can launch the Constitutional amendment process with a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, which is highly unlikely during the period of divided government. It then needs ratification by three-fourths of the states. There have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
FACT FOCUS: Trump wasn’t exonerated by the presidential immunity ruling, even though he says he was
Former President Donald Trump is turning to his social media platform to declare “total exoneration” after the Supreme Court ruled presidents have broad immunity when it comes to their actions while in office. But the ruling did not exonerate him and left intact the long-established principle that there’s no immunity for purely personal acts. It did, however, significantly narrow his election interference case by finding that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for their core constitutional duties. The ruling does amount to a major victory for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose legal strategy has focused on delaying court proceedings until after the 2024 election.
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.
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