Grand

At the start of this year, many wondered when Venus Williams would announce her retirement.

Now she is set to grace her home Grand Slam tournament for a record-extending 25th time.

Earlier this season, Williams became considered an inactive player, having gone a whole year without competing.

Then, out of nowhere as the eyes of the tennis world were trained on Wimbledon, she announced she was ready to play in Washington.

It begged two obvious questions. Why? And why now?

Williams put the timing of her return down to her love for the game and her love of the hard courts.

That shone through when she arrived in the US capital.

Williams had often been curt and closed when speaking to the media, but spoke warmly and openly in her first pre-tournament news conference.

Hitting “big” – the brand of tennis with which she emerged as a superstar in the late 1990s and early 2000s – was still her plan.

Williams proved she still had that ability as she swept aside Stearns.

While she lost in the next round to fifth seed Magdalena Frech, and was also beaten by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the Cincinnati first round, they were competitive enough to earn her a US Open wildcard.

Some will argue giving a spot in the 128-player draw to a veteran with one victory in more than two years blocks the development of a younger player.

Others will say an all-time great should always be offered the chance to play.

Could it be the perfect place to retire and have a glitzy farewell like her younger sister Serena did in 2022?

Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles has revealed she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis – a neuromuscular autoimmune disease – three years ago.

The 51-year-old has chosen to go public with the rare long-term condition, which causes muscle weakness, to raise awareness before this month’s US Open.

Seles first noticed symptoms of the condition, which can affect most parts of the body – including the muscles that control the eyes, around five years ago.

“I would be playing [tennis] with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball,” former world number one Seles told The Associated Press.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, I see two balls.’ These are obviously symptoms that you can’t ignore.

“It took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it’s a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot.”

Seles decided to reveal her condition in the hope of using her platform to educate people about the disease, for which there is currently no cure.

The American won eight major titles by the age of 19, after capturing her first aged 16 at the 1990 French Open.

But she won just one more after she was stabbed with a knife by a fan during a match in Hamburg in 1993 and took time away from the sport to recover.

Seles played her last match in 2003 having won 53 tournaments and spent 178 weeks at number one.

Aug. 11 (UPI) — A New York judge on Monday rejected a request by the federal government to unseal grand jury records in the federal case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell after the Trump administration signed off on her prison transfer.

“The court’s review confirmed that unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence,” U.S. Judge Paul Engelmayer of New York’s Southern District wrote in his 31-page ruling denying a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to unseal the grand jury material.

Late last week, the Justice Department asked to unseal further evidence in the case, saying it wanted to shield “personal identifying information” but argued that the circumstances of Maxwell’s case had warranted the unusual legal maneuver.

A grand jury’s proceedings and its corresponding evidence typically stay secret.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her December 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges, but has since appealed her guilty verdict.

Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, said the government’s invocation of the special circumstances surrounding the case engulfing the White House “fails at the threshold” to explain a need to release the docs.

“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.”

Maxwell was transferred in early August from her Tallahassee prison in Florida to a cushy low-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, with little reason in another unusual legal move.

“It’s entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false,” the judge said Monday.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur injected some perspective into Hamilton’s situation.

“For sure when you are seven-times world champion, your team-mate is in pole position and you are out in Q2, it’s a tough situation,” Vasseur said.

On the race result, Vasseur pointed out that Ferrari had gambled on a one-stop strategy starting on the hard tyre on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, and it “didn’t work”.

“I can understand the frustration from Lewis,” he said, “but this is normal, and he will come back.”

Vasseur, who was instrumental in persuading Hamilton to leave Mercedes to join Ferrari for this season, pointed out that the results in Hungary made his driver’s weekend look worse than it was.

Yes, Hamilton had been 0.247 seconds slower than Leclerc when he was knocked out of qualifying after the second session. But Leclerc himself had found it hard to progress, and Hamilton had been just 0.155secs adrift of his team-mate in the first session.

The past two races have seen a stall in the positive momentum Hamilton had been building after a difficult start to his Ferrari career.

Since Miami in early May, there has been little to choose between the two drivers in qualifying, and Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc in three of the four races before Belgium, a week before Hungary.

Two errors of different kinds in the qualifying sessions for the sprint and grand prix at Spa made Hamilton look uncompetitive when he was anything but.

Hamilton was a match for Leclerc on pace in Belgium, but an off followed by a spin caused by a combination of factors relating to a new braking material saw him out in the first session in sprint qualifying. And the same thing happened when he misjudged the exit of the 180mph+ swerves at Eau Rouge and went slightly outside track limits in qualifying for the grand prix.

Even with the problems in Belgium and Hungary, and the need to adapt to a new car of very different characteristics at the start of the season, Hamilton’s average qualifying deficit to Leclerc is 0.146 seconds this year.

That’s not what Hamilton would expect of himself, but it should be viewed in the context that Ferrari – and many others in F1 – regard Leclerc as the fastest driver over a single lap in the world.

Hamilton’s critics point to his struggles against George Russell in his final season at Mercedes last year.

The 40-year-old has found the ground-effect cars introduced into F1 in 2022 do not fit his late-braking style as well as the previous generation of cars. And it does remain a mystery that he has not been able to adapt as well as would have been expected, or apparently as well as other drivers.

But Vasseur rejected any idea that he might be worried about Hamilton’s situation.

“He’s demanding,” Vasseur said, “but I think it’s also why he’s seven-times world champion, that he’s demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself also. But first of all he’s very demanding with himself.”

Piastri had demonstrated how difficult it is for the driver on pole to lead by the end of the first lap at Spa by losing the sprint race win to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman slipstreamed past Piastri up the hill to Les Combes, and then held the McLaren at bay for 15 laps, while Norris followed closely in third.

In the grand prix, it was Norris in front, with Piastri in second and Piastri had been thinking about the opportunity this presented him since losing out on pole the day before.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said: “This weekend, Oscar, if anything, the only inaccuracy was in qualifying, where his laps weren’t perfect.

“At the same time, we have to say that after the sprint qualifying, he said, ‘Yeah, I’m in pole position, but maybe this is not the right place to be in pole position.’

“And as a joke, after the qualifying yesterday, he said, ‘That was not my best lap in Q3, but perhaps this is the best place not to have the best lap in Q3.'”

Sure enough, Piastri took the lead on lap one of the grand prix, just as Verstappen had the day before.

“I had a good run out of Turn One,” he said, “and then tried to be as brave as I could through Eau Rouge and was able to stay pretty close. After that, the slipstream did the rest for me.

“When I watched the onboard back, it didn’t look quite as scary as it felt in the car. I knew that I had to be very committed to pull that off.”

But Norris could have done a better job. For a start, he failed to build himself a gap over the finish line by arguably going too early at the restart. Then he made a mistake at La Source, which allowed Piastri to be right on his tail approaching Eau Rouge.

“I didn’t have the best Turn One,” Norris said. “So it’s hard to know how much that played a part. At the same time, Oscar came past me pretty easily. So even if I had a better Turn One, his run and the slipstream probably still would have got me.”

Stella said: “It would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position starting first at the safety car restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn’t help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line.”

Oscar Piastri controlled the rain-delayed race, extending his F1 Championship lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri passed McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with a bold early move to win the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend his Formula One lead to 16 points.

Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari on Sunday, as reigning champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row.

The race at Spa-Francorchamps was red-flagged after an initial formation lap and delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to the weather, with standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility.

Piastri was in no mood for hanging around when the racing got going with a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car to check conditions.

The Australian slipstreamed Norris through the daunting Eau Rouge section of the track and then scythed past down the Kemmel straight into Les Combes in a move of total commitment in the treacherous conditions.

“I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn One; lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge,” he said.

“The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control.”

The win was his sixth of 2025, making the 24-year-old the first Australian – on a list that includes past world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones – to win that many races in a single F1 season.

Norris had a slight battery issue, with the Briton asking over the radio why he had “no pack”, before his race engineer assured him it was coming back, but he was not looking for any excuses afterwards.

“Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run,” he said.

“So, nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today.”

Two-horse race

Piastri now has 266 points to Norris’s 250. The Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen is third but 81 points off the lead. The championship is more than ever a two-horse race, with Hungary up next weekend before the August break.

McLaren lead the constructors’ standings, with 516 points to Ferrari’s 248, while Mercedes fell further behind their Italian rivals on 220.

Piastri pitted on lap 12 of 44 to switch from intermediates to medium tyres on a drying track. Norris followed a lap later, but he opted for the hards and rejoined nine seconds behind.

The Briton might have hoped Piastri would have to pit again, but the Australian made the tyres last to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy.

Piastri crossed the line 3.415 seconds clear of Norris, who had been chasing a third win in a row, and managed to reduce the gap in the final laps before late mistakes left the ever-calm Australian under no pressure.

Saturday sprint winner Verstappen finished fourth in his team’s first Grand Prix since the dismissal of team boss Christian Horner, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes.

Williams’s Alex Albon held off Ferrari’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton – last year’s winner with Mercedes – to secure sixth.

Hamilton had been one of four drivers due to start from the pit lane, but given a big boost by the switch to a rolling getaway and a fresh engine installed overnight.

The Briton was also the first to make the decision to switch to slicks and pit, gaining six places.

Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls, with Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Sauber and Pierre Gasly securing the final point for Alpine.

A judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, though a similar request for the work of a different grand jury is pending in New York.

U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach said the request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public.

The Justice Department last week asked the judge to release records to quell a storm among supporters of President Trump who believe there was a conspiracy to protect Epstein’s clients and conceal videos of crimes being committed and other evidence.

In 2008, Epstein cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche had asked judges in Florida and New York to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, saying “transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration.”

Federal grand juries hear evidence in secret and then decide whether there is enough for an indictment. Experts say the transcripts probably would not reveal much because prosecutors typically try to present only enough material to get charges and don’t introduce the entire investigation.

Epstein, a wealthy financier, years later was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, and Maxwell was charged with helping him abuse teenage girls.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York City about a month after he was arrested. Investigators concluded he killed himself. Maxwell later was convicted at trial and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The case attracted attention because of Epstein and Maxwell’s links to famous people, including royals, presidents and billionaires. It also led to some of the biggest conspiracy theories animating Trump’s base.

The furor over records has been stoked by the Justice Department. In February, far-right influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified.” The binders contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain.

The department on July 7 acknowledged that Epstein did not have a list of clients. It also said no more files related to his case would be made public.

A two-page memo that bore the logos of the FBI and Justice Department, but that was not signed by any individual, said the department determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

White writes for the Associated Press.

A federal judge in the United States has rejected a request from the Department of Justice to release transcripts from a grand jury investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg of Florida indicated her hands were “tied” in the matter.

The unsealing of grand jury testimony is relatively rare, given the need for secrecy in such sensitive criminal investigations.

There are only narrow exceptions to federal criminal procedure that would allow for the transcripts to be released, and Judge Rosenberg indicated that those were not met by the Justice Department’s requests.

The request Judge Rosenberg received was one of three issued by the Justice Department, as it seeks to tamp down outrage from President Donald Trump’s base about the lack of recent revelations in the Epstein scandal.

Epstein scandal fuels conspiracy theories

In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi played up the impending release of a trove of documents related to Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender whose entourage included high-profile figures.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial in New York, fuelling conspiracy theories that his death might have been a cover-up orchestrated by powerful, shadowy figures.

But the nearly 200 pages Bondi and the Justice Department ultimately published failed to produce any major new revelations. It also notably lacked the “client list” that Bondi told Fox News was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.

Some of President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters had pushed the idea that paedophiles had infiltrated the highest levels of government and popular media, and that Epstein kept a client list in order to blackmail those power brokers.

Even Trump’s appointee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, and his second-in-command Dan Bongino had promoted the conspiracy theories, claiming there was a “black book” or “list” in the government’s possession that would prove the Epstein rumours.

But the FBI and the Justice Department have since attempted to quash that speculation. In July, the agencies released a joint memorandum denying the existence of such a list.

“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” it read.

Scrutiny on Trump

That, however, did little to abate the outrage, and scrutiny has since turned to President Trump’s own relationship with Epstein.

The Wall Street Journal this month published a report alleging that Trump had signed a birthday note to Epstein featuring a suggestive message, alongside a doodle of a naked woman. Trump denied ever writing or drawing such a birthday message, and he has since sued the newspaper and its parent company.

But on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal continued its coverage of the Epstein scandal with an article that alleged the Justice Department knew Trump’s name appeared multiple times in files related to the sex offender.

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, called the latest report “another fake news story”.

Trump has called for all the Epstein transcripts to be released, calling the ongoing scandal a “scam” and a “hoax”. He also repudiated any of his supporters who believed the rumours.

“My PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull****,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote on social media on July 16. “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work.”

While the Justice Department has argued there is “extensive public interest” in releasing the grand jury transcripts, experts say those testimonies are unlikely to contain the full extent of the evidence in the Epstein case.

Federal grand jury testimonies are usually brief, supplying only enough information to secure an indictment.

One former federal prosecutor, Sarah Krissoff, told The Associated Press the transcripts are likely to be a “distraction”.

“The president is trying to present himself as if he’s doing something here, and it really is nothing,” Krissoff said in an interview published earlier this week.

Democrats seek advantage

Democrats, meanwhile, have sought to highlight the lingering questions about Epstein in a bid to damage Trump’s reputation with his supporters.

In the House of Representatives, for instance, Democrats on the Committee for Oversight launched a bid to subpoena the Justice Department for all its Epstein files.

Rather than risk a vote to push for further Epstein records, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the chamber early for its six-week August recess.

Democrats like Representative Summer Lee seized upon that manouevre as evidence of complicity.

“They’re fleeing our work, our job and sending us back home because they don’t want to vote to release these files,” Lee said.

But Johnson defended the move this week, saying Trump officials were “already doing everything within their power to release them”.

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and Bryce Harper capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth, carrying the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-5 win over the Angels on Saturday night.

Schwarber’s shot to right field off reliever José Fermin was his eighth career grand slam and 32nd homer of the season.

Taylor Ward and Jo Adell hit back-to-back home runs for the Angels in the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead that wouldn’t stand after Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi left after five solid innings.

The Phillies ruined what could have been a big inning in the first, when Schwarber and Trea Turner got caught in rundowns and were tagged out on the same grounder by Harper. Nick Castellanos followed that with a two-out, RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

The Angels turned it around in the fourth on Ward’s and Adell’s home runs. Zach Neto also plated a run with a single that inning but the Angels left the bases loaded.

The Phillies got a run back on Turner’s RBI single in the fifth. Yoan Moncada hit a home run in the sixth to restore a two-run Angels lead.

Seth Johnson (1-0) struck out two in one inning of work. Sam Bachman (2-3) took the loss.

Schwarber’s 32nd homer moved him into a tie for second in the National League with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani before Ohtani hit his 33rd Saturday night. Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez hit two home runs Saturday, which gave him 33.

US president threatens to sue US newspaper for publishing details of lurid letter he allegedly wrote to deceased sex offender in 2003.

United States President Donald Trump has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to request a court release grand jury testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case, as uproar over the controversy widens.

The case of deceased high-profile sex offender Epstein has dominated news recently after the Trump administration reversed course last week on its pledge to release documents it had suggested contained damning revelations about Epstein and his alleged elite clientele.

That reversal enraged many of Trump’s most loyal followers and prompted allegations that his administration is covering up lurid details of Epstein’s crimes to protect rich and powerful figures.

Trump himself had been associated with Epstein and once called him a friend.

“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Thursday.

Shortly after Trump’s statement, Attorney General Bondi said on social media that the Justice Department was ready to ask the court on Friday to unseal the grand jury transcripts.

“President Trump – we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts,” Bondi wrote.

The latest development comes just hours after Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal after it published a story about an alleged risque letter he wrote to Epstein that featured a drawing of a naked woman. The WSJ story, which quickly reverberated around the US capital, says the note to Epstein bearing Trump’s signature was part of a collection assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.

The newspaper said it reviewed the letter but did not print an image.

“The Editor of The Wall Street Journal… was told directly by [White House Press Secretary] Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“Instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway,” he said.

“President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. [Rupert] Murdoch, shortly. The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don’t even exist,” he added.

The alleged letter, which Trump denies writing, involves several lines of typewritten text, contained in an outline of a naked woman drawn with a marker.

“The future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,” the Journal reported.

“The letter concludes: ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.’”

Trump told the WSJ: “This is not me. This is a fake thing.”

“I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”

Epstein took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 – during Trump’s first term – after being charged with sex trafficking in a scheme where he allegedly groomed young and underage women for sexual abuse by the rich and powerful.

The Trump-supporting far-right has long latched onto the scandal, claiming the existence of a still-secret list of Epstein’s powerful clients and that the late financier was, in fact, murdered in his cell as part of a cover-up.

Durham chairman Phil Collins said in a statement on the club website, external: “We support the 18-county model but, believe the current 10/8 division structure lacks meaningful fixtures as the season progresses.

“The current structure produces a plethora of games in both divisions that do not have any meaning; teams involved in mid table games in the last third of the season onwards do not have any jeopardy… the teams involved cannot get into a title or promotion race and are safe from relegation.

“We don’t believe this produces the intensity of cricket that our great game needs and is something that both players and fans constantly comment on to us.”

The proposal also suggests the T20 Blast should be reduced in size and comprise three groups of six teams each, with the entire competition played before The Hundred begins.

The county said the plans have been drawn up following a Professional Cricketers’ Association survey, which found that 83% of players think the current schedule “harms physical wellbeing”, 72% saying it “hinders high performance”, and over two-thirds claiming mental health is affected by the intensity.

The statement added that other counties have proposed alternative structures, including an 8/10 and a 10/8 division split.

Collins said the idea will be discussed at a members forum on 30 July.

“These proposals aim to reduce workload, enhance performance, and offer more compelling cricket. We believe they represent the best way forward,” he added.

The ECB has been approached for comment.

France is celebrating Bastille Day with nationwide festivities commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison, a pivotal moment in the French Revolution.

In Paris, the celebration features 7,000 participants marching along the Champs-Elysees, including troops and armoured vehicles, followed by fighter jet flyovers and a spectacular drone light show at the Eiffel Tower.

The holiday showcases revolutionary spirit and military prowess. The parade beneath the Arc de Triomphe began with President Emmanuel Macron reviewing troops and relighting the eternal flame. Each uniform carries symbolic elements, particularly the distinctive French Foreign Legion contingent with their bearded troops wearing leather aprons and carrying axes.

In his Bastille Day speech, Macron highlighted growing global threats and announced increased military spending.

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto was the guest of honour this year as 200 Indonesian drummers joined the parade. The visit is expected to yield agreements on French military equipment purchases, including Rafale jets. Finnish, Belgian, and Luxembourg troops also participated, reflecting the event’s increasingly international character.

Special guests included Fousseynou Samba Cisse, a French man who received a personal invitation from Macron after rescuing two babies from a burning apartment. The holiday period also featured prestigious awards, with this year’s Legion of Honour recipients including Gisele Pelicot, who became a symbol for sexual violence victims during a high-profile trial.

Beyond Paris, the holiday brings family gatherings, firefighters’ balls, and rural festivals throughout France.

About 50 to 80 other structures also destroyed as two wildfires burn at or near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona.

Wildfires have engulfed a historic lodge, destroying it and dozens of other structures along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in the state of Arizona in the southwestern United States, park officials say.

Rangers were forced to close access to that part of the Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday. Superintendent Ed Keable said the Grand Canyon Lodge was consumed by flames.

He said a park visitor centre, petrol station, wastewater treatment plant, administrative building and employee housing were also among the 50 to 80 structures lost.

Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim. They are known as the White Sage Fire and the Dragon Bravo Fire. The latter is the one that destroyed the lodge and other structures.

Started by lightning on July 4, the Dragon Bravo Fire was initially managed by authorities with a “confine and contain” strategy. However, due to hot temperatures, low humidity and strong winds, it grew to 20 square kilometres (7.8 square miles), fire officials said.

No injuries have been reported so far.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs urged the federal government late on Sunday to investigate the National Park Service’s response to the wildfire.

“They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage,” she said in a post on X. “But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park.”

I am incredibly saddened by the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, and my heart goes out to every person impacted by the Dragon Bravo Fire near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim.

Thank you to every firefighter and first responder taking action to combat the flames.

— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) July 14, 2025

Millions of people visit the park annually with most going to the South Rim. The North Rim is open seasonally. It was evacuated on Thursday because of the wildfire and will remain closed for the rest of the season, the park said in a statement.

The Grand Canyon Lodge was often the first prominent feature that visitors would see, even before viewing the canyon.

“It just feels like you’re a pioneer when you walk through [the lodge],” said Tim Allen, an Arizona resident and yearly visitor to the Grand Canyon. “It really felt like you were in a time gone by.”

Caren Carney, another visitor to the park evacuated with her family, said she was heartbroken to hear that such a “magical place” had burned down.

Firefighters at the North Rim and hikers in the inner canyon were also evacuated on Saturday and Sunday. The park said that beside the fire risk, they could also potentially be exposed to chlorine gas after the treatment plant burned.

Aramark, the company that operated the lodge, said all employees and guests were safely evacuated. “As stewards of some of our country’s most beloved national treasures, we are devastated by the loss,” spokesperson Debbie Albert said.

One of the greatest wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a gash up to 30km (18 miles) wide and more than 1.6km (1 mile) deep.

Last year, almost five million people visited the site.

July 13 (UPI) — Two wildfires burning near the Grand Canyon have scorched more than 45,000 acres of tinder dry brush and vegetation and prompted evacuation orders for the Kaibab National Forest and north to the Utah border.

The Bureau of Land Management is coordinating with Coconino County fire officials on the evacuations of hundreds of people. Both fires continue to burn out of control and are 0% contained, officials said. Nearly 600 crews have been assigned to battle the fires.

At least 500 visitors were also evacuated from public park areas in the North Rim where the fires are burning.

The White Sage Fire has burned more than 40,000 acres near the canyon’s North Rim while the Dragon Bravo Fire has burned more than 5,000 acres, state and federal fire officials reported Sunday.

Lighting from rogue thunderstorms sparked the White Sage Fire, which spread quickly among pinyon pine and juniper trees, fanned by gusty winds and low humidity.

“On the ground resources are now focusing on a full suppression strategy to protect structures in the North Rim developed area,” Grand Canyon Park officials said on InciWeb.

Steep and rugged terrain creates a challenge for firefighters trying to reach the blazes and dry weather continues to pose challenges and a threat for the fires to spread further.

Park officials have said the closures are expected to last until Aug. 9 or until the fires are contained.

Top seed Sinner defeats Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the final to win his first Wimbledon and fourth Grand Slam title.

Wimbledon, United Kingdom – It has taken Jannik Sinner just five weeks to exact revenge against Carlos Alcaraz in their blockbuster tennis rivalry and win the men’s singles final at Wimbledon 2025.

The top-seeded Italian overcame the emotional and physical toll of losing the French Open final to Alcaraz by defeating the Spaniard 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Sunday.

Sinner turned the tables on the defending champion by overcoming a loss in the first set – and some early nerves – to win his fourth Grand Slam trophy and first on the famous Centre Court at SW19.

Two-time champion Alcaraz began the final with a strong service game, pouncing on Sinner’s nervous start in his first appearance in a Wimbledon final. The 22-year-old went on to break the world number one’s serve and wrap up the first set in 45 minutes, deploying a serve-and-volley style strategy to win the crucial points.

Sinner dug deep in the second set and was back to his ice-cool self as he applied the brakes on Alcaraz’s attempt for a three-peat of titles at Wimbledon.

The quality of tennis went up a notch as the 23-year-old matched Alcaraz shot for shot and left the crowd gasping at every other point.

Sinner didn’t waste much time in breaking back against the defending champion by deploying an excellent service game to keep Alcaraz at bay, altering his speed and delivery to ensure his opponent scurried for every point. He was soon on level terms.

The third set was, by far, the highlight of the final as both players threw everything at each other with sensational court coverage, scintillating aces, sublime drop shots and even a “tweener”.

It was end-to-end action up until the eighth game, when Alcaraz slipped up by the barest of margins but ended up having his serve broken. Sinner wasted no time to bring out his ruthless streak and finish off Alcaraz’s chances in the set.

Leading the final two sets to one, Sinner stepped on the gas in the fourth and ensured there would be no late Alcaraz comeback as so memorably occurred in the French Open final on June 8.

He broke Alcaraz in the third game, and the stoic Italian showed a glimpse of emotion as he looked towards his team in the stands.

Crowd favourite Alcaraz had most of the capacity crowd on Centre Court behind him, including King Felipe of Spain, but it was not enough to help him stay in the final for one more set as Sinner sealed the trophy with a faultless service game.

‘Dream of a dream’

With joy and disbelief etched on his face, and with the match now over, Sinner raised both arms with a jolt before squatting down on the court to pat the grass with the other hand, all the while hiding the emotions on his face.

Not only did he avenge his French Open final loss with a fourth major trophy, Sinner also moved to within one Grand Slam title of his great contemporary Alcaraz.

The two-time Australian Open champion has become the first man from Italy to win the Wimbledon title, a feat he described as akin to “a dream of a dream”.

“I had never thought of being in this position [to win Wimbledon] growing up so far away from here,” an unusually emotional Sinner said on court after the match.

“I had a very tough loss in Paris, but I tried to understand what I did wrong and kept working [hard].”

Sinner has now won Grand Slam titles on two of the three surfaces and said he was happy to have held his nerve while serving for the championship in the fourth set. Alcaraz, ever the gracious opponent in defeat as in victory, kept up his applause for Sinner even after returning to his chair after losing the match. But he said it was a difficult loss.

“I love playing here and I’m going to be back for sure,” the Spaniard told his fans on Centre Court.

Both players walked off to a loud round of applause after providing yet another enthralling glimpse into another “golden era” of tennis.

Sinner and Alcaraz have won all seven Grand Slam finals since the beginning of 2024, and it will only be a matter of eight weeks until tennis fans can hope to see the next instalment of their flourishing rivalry at the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.

WASHINGTON — National Guard troops and immigration agents on horseback, clad in green uniforms and tactical gear, trotted into MacArthur Park on Monday, surrounding the iconic square with armored vehicles in a show of force widely denounced as gratuitous. The enforcement operation produced few tangible results that day. But the purpose of the display was unmistakable.

The Trump administration’s monthlong operation in Los Angeles, which began on June 6 with flash raids at work sites and culminated days later with Trump’s deployment of Marines and the Guard, continues to pay political dividends to a president who had been in search of the perfect foil on his signature issue since retaking office, officials close to the president told The Times.

At first, officials in the West Wing thought the operation might last only a week or two. But Trump’s team now says the ongoing spectacle has proven a resounding political success with few downsides. Thus far, the administration has managed to fend off initial court challenges, maintain arrests at a steady clip, and generate images of a ruthless crackdown in a liberal bastion that delight the president’s supporters.

It may be premature for the president to declare political victory. Anger over the operation has swelled, prompting activism across California. And signs have emerged that the White House may be misreading Trump’s election mandate and the political moment, with new polls showing public sentiment turning nationwide on the president’s increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics.

The city has struggled to cope, hobbled by an unpopular mayor and a nationally divisive governor who have been unable to meaningfully respond to the unprecedented federal effort. But the raids have also provided California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, with an opportunity to fill a leadership vacuum as his party grapples to find its footing in the resistance.

Lawsuits could still change the course of the operation. A crucial hearing set for Thursday in a case that could challenge the constitutionality of the operation itself.

But critics say the pace of litigation has failed to meet the urgency of the moment, just as the president’s aides weigh whether to replicate their L.A. experiment elsewhere throughout the country.

To Trump, a gift that keeps on giving

Trump has succeeded in the most significant legal case thus far, with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing him to maintain control of the California National Guard. Troops remain on L.A. streets despite protests that the administration cited to justify their deployment in the first place ending weeks ago. And the administration has put the city on the defensive in a suit over the legality of its sanctuary city policy.

One White House official told The Times that the administration’s aggressive, experimental law enforcement tactics in Los Angeles have proven a “grand success,” in part because national media coverage of the ongoing crisis has largely moved on, normalizing what is happening there.

A spokesperson for the White House said the administration’s mission in the city is focused on detaining migrants with violent criminal records, despite reporting by The Times indicating that a majority of individuals arrested in the first weeks of the operation were not convicted criminals.

“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to remove dangerous, criminal illegal aliens from American communities — especially sanctuary cities like L.A. that provide safe harbor to criminal illegals and put American citizens at risk,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson.

“One month later it’s clear, President Trump is doing his job to protect American citizens and federal law enforcement,” Jackson added. “But Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have enabled violent rioters who attacked federal law enforcement, protected violent criminal illegal aliens, and betrayed the trust put in them by the American people.”

Trump’s use of Los Angeles as a testing ground to demonstrate raw presidential power has shown his team just how much a unitary executive can get away with. Masked agents snatching migrants has sent a chill through the city and its economy, but there is no end in sight for the operation, with one Homeland Security official telling The Times it would only intensify going forward.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have arrested nearly 2,800 people in the L.A. area since the crackdown began.

This week, California Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat, introduced a bill with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey that would bar immigration officers from wearing masks and require them to display clear identification while on the job.

“They wouldn’t be saying that if they didn’t hate our country,” Trump said Wednesday, responding to the legislation, “and they obviously do.”

Trump could still face setbacks

The 9th Circuit ruling last month, allowing Trump to maintain temporary control over the California National Guard, thwarted momentum for Trump’s opponents hoping for a decisive early victory against the operation in federal court.

But a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and joined by the city of Los Angeles, set for arguments in court on Thursday, addresses the core of the raids themselves and could deal a significant policy blow to the Trump administration. The ACLU has found success in another case, over raids conducted earlier this year by Border Patrol in the Central Valley, using similar arguments that claimed its tactics were unconstitutional.

“It is far too early to say that challenge has been thwarted,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.

But Arulanantham argued that city and state officials have demonstrated a lack of leadership in the pace of their response to an urgent crisis.

“There is much more local leaders could be doing to challenge the unlawful actions the federal government is taking against their residents,” he added. “The state also could have sued but did not — they sued to challenge the guard deployment, but not the ICE raids themselves.”

The raids have generated favorable coverage for the administration on right-wing media, presenting the crackdown as Trump finally bringing the fight over immigration to the heart of liberal America. But it is unclear whether Americans agree with his tactics.

Polls released last month from Economist/YouGov and NPR/PBS News/Marist found that while a plurality of Americans still support Trump’s overall approach to immigration, a majority believes that ICE has gone too far in its deportation efforts.

Newsom, speaking this week in South Carolina, a crucial state in the Democratic presidential primary calendar, suggested he saw the president’s potential overreach as a political opportunity.

“They’re now raiding the farms,” he told a crowd. “Quite literally, federal agents running through the fields.”

The governor told the story of a teenage boy from Oxnard whose parents disappeared in a federal raid, despite having no criminal records, leaving their son helpless and alone.

“That’s America,” he said, “Trump’s America.”

What else you should be reading

The must-read: Stephen Miller finally gets his revenge on L.A.
The deep dive: Kidnappers or ICE agents? LAPD grapples with surge in calls from concerned citizens
The L.A. Times Special: Most nabbed in L.A. raids were men with no criminal conviction, picked up off the street

More to come,
Michael Wilner
—
Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

LONDON — A little more than two years ago, Amanda Anisimova took a break from tennis because of burnout. A year ago, working her way back into the game, the American lost when she had to go through qualifying for Wimbledon because her ranking of 189th was too low to get into the main bracket automatically.

Look at Anisimova now: She’s a Grand Slam finalist for the first time after upsetting No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a compelling contest at a steamy Centre Court on Thursday.

In Saturday’s final, Anisimova will face Iga Swiatek, who is a five-time major champion but advanced to her first title match at the All England Club with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Belinda Bencic.

Swiatek was dominant throughout, never letting Bencic get into their semifinal and wrapping things up in 71 minutes with serves at up to 119 mph and twice as many winners, 26, as unforced errors, 13.

So it turns out she can do just fine on grass courts, thank you very much.

“Tennis keeps surprising me. I thought I lived through everything, even though I’m young. I thought I experienced everything on the court. But I didn’t experience playing well on grass,” Swiatek said. “That’s the first time.”

She’s 5-0 in major finals — 4-0 on the French Open’s clay, 1-0 on the U.S. Open’s hard courts — but only once had been as far as the quarterfinals at Wimbledon until now. It’s been more than a year since Swiatek won a title anywhere, part of why the 24-year-old from Poland relinquished the top ranking to Sabalenka in October and is seeded No. 8 this fortnight.

Saturday’s winner will be the eighth consecutive first-time Wimbledon women’s champion.

The 13th-seeded Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida, was playing in her second major semifinal after losing at that stage at the 2019 French Open at age 17.

“This doesn’t feel real right now,” Anisimova said after ending the 2-hour, 36-minute contest with a forehand winner on her fourth match point. “I was absolutely dying out there. I don’t know how I pulled it out.”

In May 2023, Anisimova took time off, saying she had been “struggling with my mental health” for nearly a year.

Now 23, she is playing as well as ever, her crisp groundstrokes, particularly on the backhand side, as strong and smooth as anyone’s. She is guaranteed to break into the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time next week, no matter what happens in the title match.

“If you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon, I would not believe you,” Anisimova said with a laugh. “At least not this soon, because it’s been a year turnaround since coming back and to be in this spot, it’s not easy. … To be in the final is just indescribable, honestly.”

For Sabalenka, who is 0-3 in semifinals at the All England Club, this defeat prevented her from becoming the first woman to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Serena Williams won four major trophies in a row a decade ago.

Sabalenka missed Wimbledon last year because of an injured shoulder, then won the U.S. Open in September for her third Slam title.

She was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open, and to Coco Gauff at the French Open, where Sabalenka’s post-match comments drew criticism and led her to apologize privately and publicly to Gauff. Sabalenka and Gauff smoothed things over before the start of play at the All England Club, dancing together and posting videos on social media.

On Thursday, Sabalenka began her news conference with as simple a statement as can be, “She was the better player,” then laughed.

“Losing sucks, you know?” she added in response to the first question from a reporter. “You always feel like … you don’t want to exist anymore.”

Anisimova improved to 6-3 against Sabalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus, and two of the hardest hitters in the game traded booming shots and loud shouts.

They smacked big serves: Sabalenka reached 120 mph, Anisimova 112 mph. They ended points quickly with first-strike aggressiveness. And Anisimova saved 11 of the 14 break points she faced.

The average exchange was over after just three shots. By the end, 167 of the 214 total points lasted fewer than five strokes, and just seven contained nine or more.

Probably a good thing, too, given the heat.

The temperature hit 88 degrees in the first set, which was delayed twice because spectators in the lower level — with no shade — felt unwell.

As players continue to ask the Grand Slams for more prize money, the chair of the All England Club has suggested those questions would be better directed to the regular tour events.

Representatives of top 10 players met officials at Wimbledon last week to discuss increasing prize money and having a greater say in the running of the Grand Slams.

The Professional Tennis Players’ Association, meanwhile, has begun legal action against the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Integrity Agency.

It claims prize money is artificially restricted and the 11-month season is “unsustainable”.

Players have frequently pointed to the vast revenues generated by the Grand Slams, and feel they deserve a significantly larger return.

“For a lot of players, it’s playing for Slams that provides the income for [financing a year on] the whole tour – so the sport needs to look at itself,” Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, told BBC Sport.

“Something like golf, where they earn the majority of money on the tour and less at the majors, is flipped over in tennis.

“As much as we’re asked to look at ourselves, I do think the tour events need to look at themselves as well.”

The contrast to the outcome of a very similar incident in Canada two races ago between Mercedes’ George Russell and Verstappen was notable.

In Montreal, after the stewards took no action, Red Bull lodged a protest, but it was dismissed out of hand.

Piastri said: “Going back to Canada, I think he had to evade more there than he did today. So, yeah, I’m a bit confused to say the least.”

There was also the feeling within McLaren that Verstappen may have ‘gamed’ the system by exaggerating how much it affected him.

“I don’t think he had to evade me,” Piastri said. “He managed the first time.”

Team principal Andrea Stella said: “We’ll have to see also if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is.

“Because we know that as part of the race-craft, some competitors definitely have the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not.”

Verstappen said: “The thing is that it happened to me now a few times, this kind of scenario. I just find it strange that suddenly now Oscar is the first one to receive 10 seconds first.”

Was that because because there was no difference from what Russell did in Canada?

“Well, to the stewards, yes, (there was),” Verstappen said.

The end result was that Norris has moved himself on to four wins for the season, one short of Piastri.

“I felt like I drove a really strong race,” Piastri said. “Ultimately, when you don’t get the result you think you deserve, it hurts, especially when it’s not in your control.

“I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.”

Both have two weekends off to reset and refresh before battle recommences at the Belgian Grand Prix, the start of the second half of the season.

The race started on a wet track after a soaking wet morning, but with the sun out and more rain heading towards Silverstone.

Verstappen held the lead through a brief challenge from Piastri off the line but he could not shake the McLarens, and Piastri was soon challenging him hard for the lead.

Before he could try a move, though, a virtual safety car was deployed after Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed at Turn Two on lap four.

The race was restarted on lap seven, and Piastri was past Verstappen on the Hangar Straight before two laps were over, building a 2.9-second lead after just one lap.

It was then Norris’ turn to challenge the Red Bull, but Verstappen gifted him the position when he slid off at Becketts on lap 11, just as heavy rain started.

That brought the drivers into the pits for fresh intermediates. By then, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had gained time by an earlier change to soft tyres when the track was drying and emerged in fourth place, with Hulkenberg in fifth after stopping for inters on lap 10, so benefiting when others had to drive on a wet track on slick tyres and then pit.

The rain became heavier and a safety car was deployed on lap 14. The race restarted on lap 18, but a second safety car was sent out within a lap after Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar ran into the back of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes at Copse because he could not see him in the spray.

When the race restarted for the last time on lap 22, with Verstappen spinning from second down to 10th, Piastri started to try to build a lead but he was not able to get more than four seconds ahead before Norris came back at him – he was less than two seconds back by the time Piastri pitted to serve his penalty with nine laps to go.

Stroll was unable to hold on to his third place, soon being passed by Hulkenberg and then Hamilton and eventually dropping down to seventh place.

Behind Verstappen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was fifth at the restart, lost places to Hamilton and the Dutchman but was able to secure sixth place.

Williams’ Alex Albon was eighth, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was frustrated by his team’s strategy costing him places in the topsy-turvy early part of the race, and then pitted a couple of laps too early for slick tyres as the track dried in the closing stages.

That dropped him to last, but he recovered to take ninth, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who also stopped early for slicks for the final time.