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  • Manhattan high-rise to be stabilized after columns buckle, forcing evacuations


    NEW YORK (AP) — Workers were expected to begin stabilizing a Manhattan high-rise Tuesday evening after buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations in and around the midtown construction site.

    Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings — including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels — in the busy corridor of midtown had been rushed out after firefighters were called there around 8 a.m. and found the precarious conditions.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said early Tuesday afternoon that the building remained unstable and was “an extremely serious situation.”

    His office said later that a team had gone floor-by-floor and observed no additional movement of the damaged columns, giving on-site contractors the greenlight to move forward with emergency repairs.

    The temporary measures are meant to stabilize the building and are expected to stretch into the coming days, impacting a busy corridor of midtown near the famed Grand Central train station that is a hub for metro area commuters and residents as well as tourists.

    The building, which is the former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is located just down the street from New York City icons like the Chrysler Building. The gleaming glass-and-steel building is in the midst of being converted to luxury apartments.

    Leila Bozorg, one of Mamdani’s deputy mayors, said it was “encouraging” the building did not appear to be shifting as officials went up into and past the damaged floors on their way to the 37th floor — the top floor — of the building.

    From the street below, a badly bent structural column could be seen through a large glass window on the 21st floor. The fire department, which also posted images of the column, said they found multiple cracks and sagging floors.

    Asked earlier in the day if there was concern of a collapse, Fire Chief John Esposito said the way the steel-framed building is constructed, “it would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localized collapse.”

    Still, nearby buildings and streets remained evacuated, including a school and the Israeli consulate just across the street. The building itself was empty at the time, other than for the construction workers.

    Ramesh Yallappa, a tourist who was among those evacuated from a nearby hotel, said he initially feared it was a fire in the hotel when an immediate evacuation was ordered Tuesday morning.

    “That moment, we were really really scared,” he said.

    With more than 1,600 units, the developers say the project is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history. Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project, says on its website that it is transforming a pair of 1970s-era office buildings by adding more than a dozen stories and redesigning an adjoining tower.

    Building department records show the project has been fined by the city for several safety violations, including glass and metal falling off the building, along with an incident where a worker fell off a ladder.

    Spokespersons for Gensler and MetroLoft, the project developer, didn’t return messages seeking comment. But in a statement to The New York Times, MetroLoft stressed that the building itself is not at risk of collapse and that no debris fell from the building.

    The building commissioner said workers will need to add emergency beams and columns to stabilize the compromised ones.

    “Our top priority right now,” the mayor said Tuesday morning, “is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area.”

    Ed Miller, an area resident, said he walks under the building’s scaffolding several times a day, but will find other routes home going forward.

    “The building was pretty old,” said Miles Grant, who used to work at the building. “It definitely needed a lot of work to become ready for residential.”

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct that city officials revised the building’s height to 37 stories, not 38.

    ___

    Izaguirre reported from Lindenhurst, New York.


  • George E. Johnson Sr., founder of a pioneering Black hair care business, dies at 99


    CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose multimillion dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according to his family.

    Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released.

    Johnson and his late wife, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.

    His company was a national sponsor of the hit 1970s music and dance television show “Soul Train.”

    “Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” his family said in a statement.

    Johnson’s trajectory started from humble beginnings.

    He was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi. Johnson’s mother, Priscilla Dean Johnson, was just 18 when she left her husband, took her children to Chicago and found a job at a local hospital, said Hilary Beard, a Philadelphia-based author who worked with Johnson on his memoir.

    Their move occurred during what’s called the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Blacks moved to northern and midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.

    “There was just enough money for food, clothing and shelter, but not for anything extra,” Beard said.

    Johnson and his older brother, John, would collect cigarette packages, peel out the aluminum linings, roll it into balls and sell it to people who collected junk for resale, Beard said. Johnson also shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.

    As an adult, Johnson worked for the Black-owned Fuller Products Co. in Chicago. Beard said Johnson met a barber who was distraught because he couldn’t convince Fuller to back a product he was working on that straightened men’s hair. The drawback was the product burned the scalp.

    Johnson worked with Fuller’s chemist to revamp the barber’s formula and started his business after ultimately convincing a bank he needed a $250 loan to take his wife on a vacation, Beard said. That business would become Johnson Products.

    Johnson’s company offered above-market salaries, profit-sharing for its workers, healthcare and other benefits at a time when many companies didn’t provide such perks, Beard added. Johnson Products was sold in 1993 to a pharmaceutical firm in a deal worth more than $60 million.

    Johnson later founded Independence Bank, and he became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.

    Johnson’s memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in 2024.

    ___

    Williams reported from Detroit.


  • Wall Street banks are sky-high about SpaceX, but investors remain cautious


    NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street banks have high hopes for SpaceX but at the moment shares of Elon Musk’s rocket market appear to be earthbound.

    Many of the investment firms that underwrote SpaceX’s initial public offering issued their first research notes about the company Tuesday, and almost all recommended that investors buy the stock and forecast it to trade above $200 in the next 12 to 18 months.

    But after topping $200 in its first week of trading, the stock is trading around $150 per share, where it opened on June 12, its IPO day. Investors may be looking cautiously at the same factors that have Wall Street so enthusiastic about the stock.

    Analysts are focused on SpaceX’s potential to lead the market for space transportation and infrastructure. The company’s reusable rockets allow it to transport people and cargo into Earth’s orbit and it is aiming for deeper exploration of the solar system. Most of the company’s revenue currently comes from its Starlink satellites, and AI innovations are expected to advance that technology.

    “SpaceX’s ambitions, and potential impact on humanity, are bigger than any company’s we’ve ever seen,” said a analysts from J.P. Morgan, in a research report.

    The bank expects the stock price to reach $225 by the end of 2027. It cited the company’s competitive advantage in space transportation, with about 670 orbital launches and a nearly 99% success rate with its Falcon rockets. Most payloads launched into orbit since 2023 were through SpaceX.

    The company has dominated the reusable space rocket market with its Falcon 9, but its gigantic Starship rocket is the key to launching bigger pieces of cargo, including data centers.

    Investment bank Raymond James is by far the most optimistic. Its analysts expect the stock to eventually reach $800 per share and consider SpaceX a key industrial company for the 21st century.

    “Just as railroads, electric grids, and the Internet reshaped prior economic eras, we believe SpaceX is building the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity,” the analysts wrote in a research report.

    SpaceX founder Elon Musk decided to take the company public because it needs money to fund its ambitions, including putting more satellites and eventually data centers into space. It’s more ambitious goals include establishing a colony on Mars.

    For now, Starship is still in the test phase and no technology exists to put data centers in space or send people to Mars. Wall Street analysts acknowledge that a delay or failure to establish a steady schedule of launches for Starship is a risk that could torpedo their forecasts.

    SpaceX ended its first day on Wall Street in June with a market value of more than $2 trillion and is still sitting around that level. That made Musk the world’s first trillionaire, though his net worth has since fallen back below $1 trillion, according to Forbes.

    A few banks on Wall Street are more cautious about the company’s prospects. Equity research firm MoffettNathanson said it sees the potential, but has given the company a more “neutral” rating and sees the stock eventually sitting at $131 per share. The concerns are over many of the unknowns related to regulatory issues, technology and demand.

    “It is, in short, a bet on any and all things made possible by a virtual lock on rocket manufacturing and launch,” MoffettNathanson said in a report.


  • Chanel turns the Grand Palais into a dark fairy tale for Matthieu Blazy’s 2nd couture show


    PARIS (AP) — Inside the Grand Palais in Paris Tuesday, Chanel’s starry salon was swallowed by a garden gone wrong: giant beanstalks climbing to the ceiling and huge flowers blooming a little too brightly to be safe.

    Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh and Catherine Deneuve were among the crowd, the kind the Parisian stalwart summons and few others can. The show looked enchanted and faintly poisoned at the same time, which turned out to be the point.

    This was designer Matthieu Blazy reaching for the storybook.

    The idea came from a small leather-bound book of fairy tales he found on a shelf in house-founder Gabrielle Chanel’s old apartment.

    Blazy arrived from Bottega Veneta and is still early at Chanel, the house Karl Lagerfeld ran for 36 years until his death in 2019, and then his longtime deputy Virginie Viard led until 2024.

    This is only his second couture outing, and already the place feels lighter.

    “I started to wonder, was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairy tale?” Blazy said.

    Coco’s fairy story

    Blazy had decided her rise from a convent orphanage to the top of fashion was its own Jack and the Beanstalk: a nobody who climbs, dares and comes back down with the gold.

    So the clothes told tales.

    The opening look was a sheer Chanel suit, its grid of embroidery shaped like tiny bean shoots. Vines crept up dresses and curled around the heels of shoes. Butterflies and blossoms turned up where you least expected them.

    Little evening bags took the shape of sleeping bears and fat chickens; heels were sculpted into butterflies and golden eggs. There were sly nods to Goldilocks, Puss in Boots and the Ugly Duckling, though Blazy was too clever to spell any of it out.

    Most of the magic hid inside. Jackets concealed painted linings and mock to-do lists stitched in sheer silk — couture’s grandest craft spent on a shopping list.

    Edges were left deliberately frayed, a nod to Coco Chanel’s habit of attacking her own clothes with pins as she fitted them.

    “Haute Couture at Chanel is not just a fairy tale; in essence it is for women, their realities and their adventures of the everyday,” Blazy said.

    That was the real point.

    For all the whimsy

    Blazy kept cutting away anything too grand, and what was left were clothes a woman could actually live in: a sharply cut coat, a red sequined shift, an evening look pared all the way back to a black tunic and trousers.

    It is the oldest Chanel trick — walk into a room in something plain and make everyone else look as if they tried too hard — and Blazy has quietly made it feel new.

    He cast women of every age, which made the argument without a word.

    After the customary wedding gown came the finale: a bare black off-the-shoulder dress, less bride than warning shot.

    Chanel, famously, never married.

    The front row

    It should be said that it had turned out as if summoned by the fairy tale itself.

    Swinton and Pedro Pascal, Yeoh and Lupita Nyong’o, Deneuve and Vanessa Paradis, the boxer Imane Khelif and the skater Surya Bonaly were among them.

    They came for the spectacle. Blazy sent them home thinking about their to-do lists.


  • IOC eases path toward Russia returning with full team at 2028 LA Olympics


    GENEVA (AP) — Russia moved closer Tuesday toward having a full team with its national flag and anthem at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

    The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted a suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and advised Olympic sports bodies to end a three-year program where Russian athletes had to be vetted for permission to compete as neutrals.

    The IOC said the timing was because qualifying events are starting for the L.A. games, and “the need to offer equal access to these competitions to all athletes.”

    The move, which also signals a return for Russia in team sports, was expected since the IOC advised two months ago that athletes from Belarus, which was Russia’s ally when its military invasion of Ukraine started in 2022, should be allowed again to compete with their full national identity.

    “We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their governments,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said at an online news conference after she chaired an executive board meeting.

    A two-time Olympic gold medalist swimming for Zimbabwe, Coventry said it was a fair decision and noted: “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I had to pay the price when my country was going through things and being sanctioned.”

    Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi questioned why the IOC altered its rules when in the war “nothing changed. The situation became even worse.”

    Russia unleashed waves of missiles and drones at Ukraine early Monday, killing at least 22 people.

    “So we don’t understand it,” Bidnyi told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. “In this day, when all of Ukraine (is) in a day of mourning, when our flags was a little bit lower because of so many people, peaceful, our peaceful citizens was killed yesterday at night.”

    The IOC also reiterated its “solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine” and ongoing financial support.

    Barriers remain

    The IOC’s guidance to reintegrate Russians in international events is not binding for the governing bodies of individual sports.

    “Our country’s return to the Olympic family is a green light for international federations to restore the rights of our athletes,” Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said Tuesday.

    Track and field is not following suit.

    Asked about the IOC’s decision, World Athletics referred the AP to its decision last week maintaining a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in its international events.

    In soccer, FIFA and European body UEFA have continued to exclude Russia in competitions like the World Cup and Champions League, avoiding likely chaos because teams from other countries would refused to play those games.

    Russian athletes and teams likely will face issues getting entry visas from some countries hosting sports events.

    Russia’s return

    Among top-tier Olympic sports, swimming’s governing body World Aquatics lifted its restrictions on Russian athletes in April.

    The ROC was suspended in 2023 when the Russian Olympic body incorporated regional sports councils from occupied regions of eastern Ukraine. But the IOC said “the ROC confirmed that it does not, and will not, conduct any activities in these territories.”

    Ukrainian minister Bidnyi said this promise was “just fake and empty words.”

    Just 32 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics as approved neutrals, and combined to win five medals, with just one gold.

    The Russian team in Los Angeles could now be closer to the more than 300 athletes sent to the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, that returned with 71 medals including 20 titles.

    Athletes still monitored

    To be approved for neutral status, Russian athletes had to show no links to state military and security agencies. They also should not have publicly supported the war in Ukraine .

    The IOC will continue to monitor social media posts by Russian athletes, Coventry confirmed, citing the “role models” requirement in the Olympic Charter.

    “That is strong enough leverage that we would need at any time in order to decide who would be willing and deserving to come to any Olympic Games,” she said.

    IOC official James Macleod said the Olympic body gets referrals from Ukraine about problematic social media posts by Russian athletes: “Those are always taken into consideration.”

    Flag, anthem to return in October?

    The IOC did not yet approve letting Russian athletes and teams compete with their flag and anthem. That decision will come “at an appropriate time,” it said.

    The next Olympic competition is the 2026 Youth Summer Games in Dakar, Senegal opening Oct. 31.

    The IOC said to “address the lack of confidence in the global sporting community relating to the return of Russian athletes to international competition,” those athletes must give multiple doping controls and be part of a recognized testing program.

    The IOC said it will continue to “not organize IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to its events.”

    ___

    AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Düsseldorf, Germany, and AP writer Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv contributed to this report.

    ___

    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games


  • Lionel Messi scores his eighth goal of this year’s World Cup, takes lead in Golden Boot race


    ATLANTA (AP) — Lionel Messi let the tears flow at the final whistle, succumbing to emotion after Argentina conjured up an incredible two-goal comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 on Tuesday and advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.

    Argentina’s three goals came in the final 11 minutes of regulation and injury time. Messi played a direct hand — or foot — in two of them.

    Messi helped get Argentina on the board in the 79th minute, assisting on Cristian Romero’s header. Four minutes later, he leveled the match at 2-2, drilling a shot past Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.

    A sold-out crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, made up of mostly Argentina’s signature blue and white, erupted. And no one was surprised it was Messi who paved the way to victory.

    “Watching Leo run the way he does, just pushing himself further every day — I just told him that he deserved it. He’s our role model, our guide — the one who helps us at all times,” Argentina forward Lautaro Martínez said. “This team is incredible. It never gives up. It keeps trying until the very end.”

    Messi’s goal was his eighth of this year’s World Cup and moved him to the top of a tight Golden Boot race. It also extended his scoring streak to a record nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to Argentina’s title run in 2022. Tuesday’s goal was his 13th in that nine-game span.

    In the race for his first Golden Boot, Messi entered Tuesday’s match even with France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland at seven goals each. Mbappé held the tiebreaker with two assists. England’s Harry Kane is also in the running with six goals.

    The score also gave Messi a two-goal lead over Mbappé on the all-time World Cup leaderboard.

    Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbappé in 2022 with seven goals while leading Argentina to the title in Qatar. He tied for third with four goals in 2014.

    Messi’s impact on this year’s World Cup run, teammate Julián Álvarez said, is hard to put into words.

    “Leo, honestly, there aren’t really words to describe this Cup run,” Álvarez said. “What he’s doing is incredible, and we just try to help him, support him, and enjoy every moment alongside him. We’re also grateful for everything he does for us and for the kind of person he is.”

    Whether or not he wins the Golden Boot, Messi’s reputation is unlikely to ever be downplayed.

    “He’s a legend,” Álvarez said. ”The greatest player in history.”

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Brewers call up outfield prospect Luis Lara before DH vs. Cardinals, send Blake Perkins to minors


    ST. LOUIS (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers outfield prospect Luis Lara has been called up to the major leagues nearly a month after signing a seven-year, $31 million contract.

    The NL Central-leading Brewers announced before their doubleheader Tuesday with the St. Louis Cardinals that they had promoted Lara and optioned outfielder Blake Perkins to Triple-A Nashville.

    Milwaukee also placed infielder David Hamilton on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left hamstring, selected utilityman Greg Jones from Nashville and transferred outfielder Brandon Lockridge to the 60-day IL.

    Lara, 21, was still playing for Nashville when the Brewers signed him last month to a deal that runs through 2032 and includes club options for 2033, 2034 and 2035.

    “I just really was trying to stay prepared, you know, mentally knowing that this moment could come at any given time, and the moment came,” Lara said in Spanish through an interpreter. “So now it’s just kind of doing what I was doing in Triple-A and just going out there and enjoying the game and having fun while playing it.”

    The 5-foot-7 outfielder from Venezuela has long been regarded as an outstanding fielder, but he’s having a breakthrough season at the plate.

    Lara hit .321 with a .432 on-base percentage, .470 slugging percentage, nine homers, 42 RBIs and 24 steals in 78 games with Nashville. He batted .257 with a .369 on-base percentage and .343 slugging percentage in 136 games for Double-A Biloxi last season.

    “I think any time you sign a contract at a young age, you think about just wanting to give the maximum potential you have, give everything you have for the team,” Lara said. “Really I just try to tell myself as much as possible to stay calm, to not get lost in my thoughts too much, just do what I always do.”

    Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Lara can play all outfield positions.

    “I think Luis can help us being a switch-hitter and equally good from both sides,” Murphy said. “Never touched the big leagues, but you know it’s time, and we’ve signed him to a long-term deal, obviously, that predicates that he’s going to be a Brewer, you know, and we’re excited.”

    This marks the second time this year that a Brewers prospect has been called up to the majors after signing a long-term deal.

    Shortstop Cooper Pratt made his MLB debut on June 16, 2 1/2 months after he signed an eight-year, $50.75 million contract. Pratt, who turns 22 on Aug. 18, entered Tuesday’s doubleheader with a .204 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, no homers, two RBIs and six steals in 18 games with Milwaukee.

    Perkins, 29, was hitting .157 with a .250 on-base percentage, one homer, 11 RBIs and three steals in 53 games with the Brewers.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb


  • Djokovic outlasts Auger-Aliassime after more than 5 hours to reach Wimbledon semifinals at age 39


    LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic was pushed to play more than five hours by Felix Auger-Aliassime before the seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) on Tuesday to set up a semifinal against defending champion Jannik Sinner.

    When a forehand from Auger-Aliassime sailed wide after a long rally to give Djokovic a 9-4 lead in the final-set tiebreaker, both players leaned on their rackets in exhaustion. Djokovic, while he was leaning over, still found energy to encourage the crowd to cheer louder, waving his racket for more noise.

    Then on his first match point, a big forehand from Djokovic led to another error from his 25-year-old Canadian opponent to end it after 5 hours, 15 minutes — and just before the All England Club’s 11 p.m. curfew took effect.

    To celebrate, Djokovic raised his arms high and wide and took in the applause as he walked to the net to shake hands with Auger-Aliassime. Then Djokovic performed a little elbows-to-knees dance. He often mentions that his daughter tries to teach him moves.

    “These,” Djokovic said, “are the kind of moments that I still play tennis for.”

    Djokovic continues to break records as he chases a 25th Grand Slam title. He’s reached a record-setting eighth consecutive Wimbledon final four — moving him one ahead of Roger Federer for most consecutive men’s singles semifinal appearances at the grass-court tournament.

    Sinner spent less than half the amount of time on court as Djokovic did when he beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 much earlier in the day on No. 1 Court.

    Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals; and Djokovic outlasted the Italian over five sets in the last four of this year’s Australian Open.

    “I wish it was finals, so I don’t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow,” Djokovic said.

    “I was telling the kids to go to sleep after the fourth (set) but they didn’t want to listen. I’m glad they stayed because it was honestly one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career.”

    Medical time out

    In the first set, Djokovic dealt with what appeared to be a lower-leg issue. He grimaced during the ninth game, which he held to love for a 5-4 lead. Then he was treated by a trainer on the ensuing changeover and took a medical time out. The trainer tested the stability of his left ankle and calf before massaging Djokovic’s calf muscle.

    Djokovic had earlier leaned over to stretch his leg by pulling back the tip of his sneaker. He also stretched while standing at the back wall.

    There was more stretching the rest of the way, too — especially late in the fifth set.

    “It was really anybody’s game in the super tiebreak in the fifth,” Djokovic said.

    Djokovic opposes roof closure

    Djokovic objected to the decision to close the Centre Court roof at 7:40 p.m. after Auger-Aliassime won the second set to even the match at a set apiece.

    Djokovic told Wimbledon tournament referee Denise Parnell that they could squeeze in another set before the natural light fades.

    “We can play a whole another set outdoors. We’re an outdoor tournament,” Djokovic said. “You remember the first round? You didn’t close it until like 8:20, 8:30 and now you want to close it at 7:40. Where’s the consistency?

    “You’re so proud of your rules and you’re not sticking to any kind of rules,” Djokovic added.

    Gauff rallies

    Down a set after untimely double-faults, Coco Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals for the first time.

    With the victory, the 22-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova, who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open, the women’s professional tennis tour said.

    Gauff will face 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, eliminated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4 on No. 1 Court.

    In Gauff’s six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never gotten past the fourth round. But perhaps experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.

    “I think after seven years playing this tournament it’s finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous,” Gauff said.

    In the completion of a fourth-round match, second-seeded Alexander Zverez beat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to set up a quarterfinal Wednesday against sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz.

    Heating up at Wimbledon

    Under a sunny sky, the early afternoon matches started with the temperature at 29 Celsius degrees (84 Fahrenheit) and expected to rise to 31 C (88 F).

    Sinner, who lost in the second round at the French Open amid a heat wave in Paris, used an ice towel around his neck on changeovers.

    Early in her match, Gauff asked the chair umpire: “Do you guys have an ice pack?” The American dabbed what appeared to be a blue ice pack to her cheeks and top of her thighs.

    ___

    AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis


  • Democrats’ narrow path to Senate majority gets rockier as Platner faces sexual assault allegation


    A new accusation that Graham Platner once sexually assaulted a woman he was dating has rocked the U.S. Senate race in Maine and cast fresh doubt on Democrats’ path to a Senate majority.

    Republicans currently have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and Maine is viewed as a necessary win for Democrats to gain the minimum of four new Senate seats.

    But now there’s a question of whether Platner, who denied the allegation, will remain on the ballot and, if he does, whether he can defeat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

    Here’s a closer look at the top races that Democrats are targeting.

    Democrats see some pickup opportunities

    ALASKA: Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola’s candidacy against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has buoyed her party.

    Peltola, one of a handful of Democrats who’ve won in Republican dominated states, was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, winning special and regular elections in 2022 for the state’s only House seat.

    At center stage for the state’s Aug. 18 primary is drama involving a man running with the same name and party affiliation as Sullivan. The state supreme court has said the challenger is qualified to be on the ballot.

    Peltola’s campaign and state Democrats have denied Sullivan’s allegation that they’re working with the challenger to cause confusion..

    MAINE: Platner catapulted to the Democratic nomination despite earlier controversies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer initially backed sitting Gov. Janet Mills but reluctantly aligned behind Platner — until Monday’s latest bombshell accusation.

    Now, Schumer and many Democrats are pushing for Platner to withdraw. If he does that by July 13, Maine Democrats can put a replacement on the ballot. If not, Platner could face Collins with minimal national party support.

    If Platner drops out, his replacement could meet a similar challenge to what presidential candidate Kamala Harris faced in 2024, when she had a late start to appeal to a general election audience without having won the nomination in a competitive primary.

    Meanwhile, Collins has won elections for 30 years despite no Republican presidential nominee, including President Donald Trump, winning Maine since 1988.

    NORTH CAROLINA: Democrats landed one of their prize recruits with former Gov. Roy Cooper, who has never lost a statewide election through four terms as attorney general and two as governor. Republicans answered with Trump’s handpicked candidate, Michael Whatley, who’d previously served as state GOP chairman and as the Republican National Committee chairman.

    Whatley was viewed as a prodigious fundraiser and ideal Trump surrogate in a state the president carried three times, and he has history on his side — Democrats have won just two U.S. Senate races and one presidential contest in North Carolina in the last three decades.

    Yet Cooper won governors races in two of Trump’s three presidential cycles and is leveraging his centrist image at a time when independents have soured on Trump. That leaves Whatley with the difficult tasks of satisfying Trump’s core supporters without alienating other voters; introducing himself to voters who don’t know him; and convincing enough North Carolina voters that they’ve been wrong about Cooper for decades.

    OHIO: Democrats are counting on former Sen. Sherrod Brown to unseat Republican incumbent Jon Husted in what’s shaping up to be another expensive contest in the state — its third in four years.

    The Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC, has pledged $79 million to defend Husted, a former lieutenant governor appointed to fill the seat after JD Vance became vice president.

    Brown served three terms in the Senate before losing a tough reelection contest in 2024.

    Ohio has steadily trended Republican. But Brown won previously as an advocate of unions and the working class, and Democrats believe he can attract some of the voters who’ve helped Trump win the state three times.

    Underdogs could offer surprises

    IOWA: The state, which Trump won three times gives Democrats an opportunity to flip a seat with two-term Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s retirement.

    Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek faces Trump-endorsed Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.

    Turek is a relative newcomer to elected office and has pointed to his experience winning in a red state House district as proof he could appeal to independent and moderate Republican voters in November.

    Hinson is a three-term House incumbent representing northeastern Iowa, and claims Trump needs a fighter who would “always have his back.”

    TEXAS: State Rep. James Talarico, a 37-year-old seminarian, has become a national fundraising phenomenon.

    Talarico faces the scandal-ridden Republican nominee Ken Paxton. The Texas attorney general has weathered an impeachment attempt by his own party, a yearslong corruption investigation and public airing of his martial difficulties. Through all that, Paxton has won multiple reelections.

    Democrats were buoyed by their primary turnout of about 2.3 million eclipsing Republicans’ 2.2 million, something that hasn’t happened since the state flipped to Republicans in the 1990s. But the challenge for Talarico is turning that momentum into a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse coalition in November.

    The seats Democrats have to hold

    GEORGIA: Sen. Jon Ossoff is the only Democratic senator running for reelection this year in a state Trump won in 2024.

    He had no primary opposition, and he’s been a fundraising force with more than $30 million cash-on-hand as he entered the general election campaign. Ossof has attracted national attention with his unapologetic broadsides against Trump.

    Republican Rep. Mike Collins is playing catchup after winning a bruising GOP primary runoff. He must navigate skeptical Republicans who believe he’s too conservative or controversial for this battleground state. Collins repeats Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and he’s also facing a House ethics inquiry over allegations that he misused taxpayer money to pay the girlfriend of a former top aide.

    Collins’ strongest line of attack against Ossoff comes on immigration. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, named for a Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally. The 2025 law, among other provisions, requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be detained by federal law enforcement.

    Ossoff voted for that legislation after Trump returned to the White House. The senator had previously voted, along with all Senate Democrats, to block consideration of an earlier Republican version — offered as an amendment to a 2024 spending bill — that would have prohibited undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes from obtaining legal status. Collins and Republicans frame those votes as Ossoff flip-flopping on immigration enforcement.

    MICHIGAN: Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement opens up a seat the party must hold in a key presidential battleground that Trump won twice and former President Joe Biden carried in 2020.

    The Aug. 4 Democratic primary pits moderate Haley Stevens against progressive Abdul El-Sayed. It was a three-way race until Mallory McMorrow, who had backing from some progressive Democratic senators, suspended her campaign.

    Stevens and El-Sayed have split support among Democratic senators. Stevens has the support of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while El-Sayed has support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives.

    Stevens has also benefited from heavy outside spending, including nearly $8 million from a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

    El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, has run on issues like Medicare for All and halting all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. He has campaigned with popular-yet-controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers online and has said things such as that “America deserved 9/11.”

    The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, in 2024.


  • Mariska Hargitay will host the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards in September on NBC


    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mariska Hargitay is set to host the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, airing on NBC on Sept. 14.

    NBCUniversal announced Hargitay as host on Tuesday, the day before nominations are announced. The show will also stream on Peacock and will be held, fittingly, at the Peacock Theater, the longtime Emmys home that will also soon be home to the Oscars.

    Hargitay, 62, has long been one of NBC’s signature personalities as the star since 1999 of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” one of the longest-running dramas in TV history. She’s been nominated eight times for her role as detective Olivia Benson, winning for lead actress in a drama series in 2006. “SVU” as it’s commonly known, is set to surpass 600 episodes as its 28th season airs this fall. Hargitay has used the platform to become an advocate for sexual assault victims.

    She may be a nominee again this year as the director and producer of “My Mom Jayne,” a documentary on her mother, Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay was also a TV constant earlier this year as she sat in the front row for the championship run of her beloved New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

    The role of airing the Emmys rotates between the four broadcast networks even as their nominations become more rare in the streaming era. Hargitay is the rare non-comedian to get the hosting job, held last year by Nate Bargatze on CBS.

    NBC is unlikely to see too many nominations in key categories on Wednesday, though all-time Emmy leader “Saturday Night Live” always gets its share.

    “Pluribus” from Apple TV+ and HBO Max’s “The Pitt” starring former longtime NBC star Noah Wyle are expected to be among the leading nominees when they’re announced by recent winners Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller at the Television Academy in Los Angeles.