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King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a private church service to commemorate the first death anniversary of his mother Queen Elizabeth II at Crathie Kirk, a parish church attended by the royal family when they reside at Balmoral, in Scotland. King Charles was visibly emotional but also stopped to greet web fans who had gathered after the service.
The Friday morning service began at about 10 a.m. Others who also attended the service were great nephews of the Queen—Samuel and Arthur Chatto who are sons of Lady Sarah and Daniel Chatto, who were also present. Staff of Balmoral, the favorite residence of the Queen also attended the service.
In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us. I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all. – Charles R.@ #kingcharles#kingcharlesiii#queenelizabeeth#queenelizabethii
King Charles III wore a traditional kilt and added a light brown jacket. Queen Camilla wore a blue dress with a pattern and added a blue cardigan. She wore brown heels and carried a brown purse. She also wore earrings, two necklaces and a bracelet.
The royal couple spoke to web fans who had gathered outside the church. These people shared condolences and some also handed bouquets and cards to the king and queen. September 8 marks the first death anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, a beloved queen of the nation as well as a popular monarch across the world.
September 8 is a poignant day for King Charles III. He not only lost his beloved mother but also became the monarch as it is succession day and he has waited decades to ascend to the throne.
King Charles broke tradition as he mentioned the Queen’s “long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.”
Many web fans also watched the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace, London on the Queen’s first death anniversary. There was a gun salute at Hyde Park later in the day to mark the accession of King Charles III to the throne.
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Kroger (KO) and Albertsons (AIC) are hoping to close a major deal that would help them get regulatory clearance in the U.S. As part of acquiring clearance from regulators for their merger that would be worth roughly $24.5 billion, they are planning to offload over 400 grocery stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, according to reports from popular outlets. The sale will cost C&S almost $2 billion.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that sources informed them that there were talks of a proposed deal to offload stores to the large grocer to make it easier for the two giants to meet regulatory issues and the involvement of Soft Bank but did not mention any terms of the deal. On September 6, Reuters reported that sources mentioned the details of the above deal that could take place this week but asked for anonymity as the negotiations remain confidential.
Earlier, Kroger and Albertsons had spoken of a divesture of 100 to 375 stores and said that they would be placed in a new company owned by the shareholders of Albertsons. In a regulatory filing, Kroger had said that the maximum number of stores that could be divested would be 650.
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In 2019, Ahold Delhaize one of the largest customers of C&S Grocery, began self-distribution. C&S began to look at building its own stores as the grocery market is extremely competitive. Soft Bank is reportedly in talks with C&S to partly finance the deal with Kroger and Albertsons.
Soft Bank is expected to help in financing this non-tech-related deal as it is in a joint venture with Symbiotic Inc, a warehouse automation company whose CEO is Rick Cohen. Cohen is also an executive chairman at C&S Grocers.
Neither Kroger, Albertsons, C&S Wholesale Grocers nor Soft Bank have confirmed the deal.
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Spectrum has yet to restore ABC7, ESPN, and other cable channels. As the two companies continue to work on a new agreement, Spectrum subscribers are still unable to access ABC7 and other Disney networks like ESPN and FX. Disney’s live sports events, news coverage, and entertainment programming have been unavailable to Spectrum TV customers since August 31.
The toxicity of Jimmy Fallon‘s workplace has been alleged. According to Rolling Stone, the outwardly amiable late-night host’s “erratic” behaviour has included demeaning and belittling employees, as reported by 14 former and 2 present Tonight Show personnel. Some of Fallon’s employees have hypothesized that his drinking may have contributed to his alleged abuse of them.
On Thursday in federal court in New York, former FTX executive Ryan Salame pled guilty to campaign finance and money-transmitting violations and agreed to forfeit more than $1.5 billion.
Shares of Apple fell further today on reports that China may try to extend its iPhone ban to the country’s government. While SMIC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, designed a chip for Huawei’s new smartphone, lawmakers in the United States are pressing for extra sanctions.
A big merger between Kroger and Albertsons is expected to gain regulatory approval in the United States. According to several media sources, they want to sell around 400 grocery stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers as part of getting regulatory approval for their merger, which is estimated to be valued over $24.5 billion. For C&S, the price of the sale is close to $2 billion.
Premarket trading on Thursday found shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. down 4.2% from their record low close on Wednesday.
After AMC filed a prospectus for the sale of up to 40 million shares on Wednesday, the stock price of the movie theatre chain and meme stock darling plummeted 36.8 percent, closing at $8.62. On January 5, 2021, AMC hit a record low of $10.73 at the market close.
Two thousand Hilton hotels are set to get Tesla charging stations. Starting in 2019, the hotel chain in the United States, Mexico, and Canada will have access to 20,000 charging stations provided by the manufacturer of electric vehicles. The change may help Hilton win more business clients, while lowering yet another barrier to entry for Tesla.
Most English- and Spanish-speaking countries now have a search function on Threads. This week, the text-based rival to Elon Musk’s X included search, one of the most desired functions.
In the largest deal in the history of the Pinault family’s holding company Artémis, the rich French family of Pinault has agreed to purchase a controlling stake in the Hollywood talent management firm Creative Artists Agency from the private equity firm TPG.
On Wednesday, Google said that political advertisers would need to “prominently disclose” if their ad includes any AI-altered or -generated components, “inclusive of AI tools.” In November, the corporation will implement new regulations based on its existing Manipulated Media Policy.
The United Auto Workers union turned down a contract offer from GM that would have given high-earners a 16% boost. The present deal is set to expire next week, and the UAW has threatened to go on strike then.
Fears that Apple’s Chinese business may be harmed by a ban on iPhone usage by government workers and indigenous competition have made Apple (AAPL) the latest pawn in the U.S.-China cold economic war. Since Beijing announced the embargo, Apple’s market cap has dropped by over $200 billion. This is widely interpreted as retaliation for the United States’ prohibition on the use of some Chinese products by government agencies.
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service stated it would go after 1,600 high-income individuals and 75 major business partnerships collectively owing hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes. IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel has stated that the agency now has additional weapons at its disposal thanks to an increase in government money and the use of artificial intelligence to go after affluent individuals who have “cut corners” on their taxes.
Friday saw a rise in the value of the Canadian currency against the United States dollar as investors reacted positively to better-than-expected domestic employment data. This kept alive expectations for an interest rate hike from the Bank of Canada. After a range of 1.3609 to 1.3689, the Canadian dollar was trading 0.4% higher at 1.3620 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.42 U.S. cents.
App for LGBTQ singles In order to prevent employees from working remotely, Grindr made them all move. Over half of the employees have quit. Grindr mandated a September 1st, 2018 office reopening. Employees had two weeks to decide whether to relocate to the city designated as the “hub” for their team and participate in in-person meetings twice per week, or to resign with severance.
Kroger and Rent the Runway are set to report earnings on Friday.
The U.S. Open crowd was in a celebratory mood, with an all-American matchup in the final on the verge of being confirmed.
Then Aryna Sabalenka spoiled the party.
The Belarusian player, seeded second, rallied to beat 17th-seeded Madison Keys 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5) in the semifinals at New York on Thursday.
Awaiting Sabalenka in the final will be 19-year-old Coco Gauff, the youngest American woman to reach the U.S. Open final since Serena Williams in 1999.
Gauff, the sixth seed, topped 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 in the first semifinal.
Sabalenka, 25, won the Australian Open championship in January, her first appearance in a major final. Since then, she got to the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon before reaching the final in New York.
Gauff is also headed to her second Grand Slam final, having lost to Poland’s Iga Swiatek at the 2022 French Open.
In the late match on Thursday, Keys cruised through the first set in 31 minutes. Sabalenka failed to convert two set points at 5-6 in the second set but quickly shook off the disappointment to dominate the tiebreaker.
Both players traded service breaks midway through the third set, which went to a first-to-10 tiebreaker. Sabalenka celebrated when she won a point to go up 7-3, thinking she had won, forgetting that the final-set tiebreaker is extended.
“I’m really happy that after that reaction I was able to stay focused and I was able to stay focused because … it could be the other way around,” Sabalenka said on court postmatch. “She played incredible tennis. … It was just another level. Somehow, I don’t know how actually I turned around this match and I won it.
“It really means a lot, being in the final at the U.S. Open for the first time, it means a lot to me.”
In the first semifinal, Gauff slammed a winner at the net to end a 40-shot rally for her sixth match point. Muchova’s unforced error on the next point ended the contest.
“I grew up watching this tournament so much, so it means a lot to be in the final,” Gauff said on court in her postmatch interview. “A lot to celebrate, but you know the job is not done so hopefully (the fans) can back me on Saturday.”
The teen added that she wasn’t sure she would watch the Sabalenka-Keys match, saying she might watch some anime instead.
Muchova, who reached her first Grand Slam final in Paris this year, was hurt by committing 36 unforced errors to Gauff’s 25. Muchova’s slight edge in winners, 15-13, wasn’t enough to compensate.
Gauff continued her hot summer. Since losing in the first round at Wimbledon, she won the title in Washington early last month, got to the quarterfinals in Montreal and won the championship in Cincinnati prior to arriving in New York.
Sabalenka said of facing off with Gauff, “She’s an unbelievable top player. She’s playing really incredible tennis here at the U.S. Open. Yeah, the crowd will be really supporting her a lot. It’s something I’m expecting. This is nothing crazy.
“I’ll just go there and just do everything I can. I’ll be there. I’ll be fighting for every point. I’ll do my best.”
The Gauff-Muchova match was delayed more than 45 minutes early in the second set due to a disturbance from environmental protesters in the stands. Four people were arrested, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.
BIG and ENCE pulled off victories on Thursday to advance to the upper-bracket final of Group B at the ESL Pro League Season 18 in Malta.
In the upper-bracket semifinals, BIG swept Heroic 2-0 and ENCE beat MIBR 2-1. BIG will face ENCE in the upper-bracket final on Sunday.
In mid-bracket Round 1, MOUZ swept Evil Geniuses 2-0 and Monte defeated Rooster 2-1. On Friday, MOUZ will take on Heroic and Monte will face MIBR in the mid-bracket semifinals.
The $850,000 event features 32 teams broken up into four groups of eight. Group-stage winners advance to the quarterfinals; runners-up advance to the Round of 12 as the high seeds; third-place teams in each group advance to the Round of 16 as the high seeds; and fourth-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the low seeds.
The group stage is triple-elimination with upper, middle and lower brackets. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament runs through Oct. 1. The winner earns $200,000 and qualifies for the 2024 IEM Katowice event and the 2023 BLAST World Final.
On Thursday, BIG edged Heroic 25-23 on Ancient and 16-13 on Inferno. Karim “Krimbo” Moussa led the all-German BIG with 66 kills and a plus-24 differential.
ENCE opened with a 22-18 win on Vertigo before MIBR evened the score by taking Anubis 19-17. ENCE then clinched a spot in the final, winning 16-12 on Ancient. Guy “Nertz” Iluz of Israel posted 97 kills and a plus-33 differential to guide ENCE.
MOUZ advanced over Heroic with wins on Ancient (19-15) and Inferno (16-13) as Adam “torzsi” Torzsas of Hungary led the way with 49 kills and a plus-12 differential.
Monte lost the first game to Rooster 16-8 on Nuke but rebounded with 16-10 victories on Anubis and Mirage to advance. Sergiy “DemQQ” Demchenko led Monte with 61 kills, while fellow Ukrainian Volodymyr ‘Woro2k’ Veletniuk posted a plus-12 differential.
Group B action continues Friday with two matches:
–MOUZ vs. Heroic (mid-bracket semifinals)
–Rooster vs. Monte (mid-bracket semifinals)
Stefanie Dolson came off the bench to lead a 3-point avalanche as the host New York Liberty significantly dented the Los Angeles Sparks’ playoff chances with a 96-89 win on Thursday.
Dolson made all five of her 3-point attempts and shot 6-for-7 overall to finish with 17 points in just 13 minutes of action. Breanna Stewart led New York with 25 points, Betnijah Laney posted 20 points and seven assists and Courtney Vandersloot bundled six points with 10 assists.
New York’s Sabrina Ionescu logged 16 points with five assists and four rebounds while setting the WNBA single-season 3-point record. Her triple from the corner with 7:21 left in the third quarter was her 122nd of the season, surpassing Diana Taurasi’s mark set in 2006.
The Liberty (32-7) shot 17 of 34 from long distance overall.
Layshia Clarendon, in her 10th season, scored a career-high 30 points to pace the Sparks (16-23), who were without leading scorer and rebounder Nneka Ogwumike for the third straight game due to knee pain. Azura Stevens and Rae Burrell each tallied 18 points, Dearica Hamby chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds and Jordin Canada finished with 10 points and five assists.
Los Angeles used just seven players and were outscored 25-2 in bench points.
The Sparks fell out of a tie for the final playoff position with the eighth-place Chicago Sky (16-22), who can eliminate Los Angeles with a home win over the Minnesota Lynx on Friday.
Dolson made four straight 3-pointers within a 1:47 span in the fourth quarter to flip the Sparks’ 74-69 lead into an 81-78 New York advantage with 7:23 remaining.
New York’s Marine Johannes and Canada traded layups before Laney hit from the top of the key to widen the Liberty’s lead to 86-80.
Clarendon’s layup pulled Los Angeles to within four, only for Thornton and Ionescu to respond from deep with New York’s sixth and seventh consecutive triples as the Liberty’s advantage grew to 92-82 with 3:31 left to play.
The Sparks never drew closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Los Angeles rode a 28-7 run that bridged the first and second quarters to lead 50-43 at the break.
Ionescu made all three of her 3-point attempts, including her milestone triple, as New York shot 10 of 14 from the field to begin the second half. Los Angeles kept the Liberty at bay with a string of timely triples to carry a 74-69 edge into the final quarter.
The defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces are on the verge of wrapping up the top seed in the playoffs.
The Phoenix Mercury have the worst record in the league and are not going to the playoffs.
Two teams in very different positions meet Friday night in Phoenix before ending the regular season against each other Sunday in Las Vegas.
“Everything we want to accomplish is right in front of us,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “It’s up to us to go and grab it.”
If Las Vegas (32-6) wins these two games, it will claim home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by holding off the surging New York Liberty (31-7) of the Eastern Conference.
The Aces will have had six days off since a 103-77 victory against Seattle last Saturday in which they tied a league record with their 10th game with 100 more points, but that didn’t leave Hammon totally satisfied.
“At the end of the day, I wasn’t thrilled with the defense,” Hammon said. “It was OK, wasn’t great.”
The short-handed Mercury (9-29) are coming off a 100-77 loss to the Washington Mystics on Tuesday.
“I didn’t think we gave our best effort like we usually do,” interim head coach Nikki Blue said. “But partially because I think our numbers are limited and it’s really tough as far as consistency-wise. We just don’t have enough players right now.”
Diana Taurasi is sidelined by a toe injury, Sophie Cunningham is out because of a jaw injury and Shey Peddy has been under concussion protocol since Aug. 5. All three are guards.
With so many absences, opponents have been able to concentrate more on slowing down star center Brittney Griner.
“The players out there are good shooters, but (defenses) are able to help off them a little more and help inside on BG,” Blue said. “With our normal starting five, we’re able to spread it out a little bit more.”
Ben Shelton has already defied heavy odds to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2023 U.S. Open.
The 20-year-old American will have to pull an even bigger rabbit out of his hat when he faces Novak Djokovic in the first men’s semifinal at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Shelton, who arrived at Flushing Meadows unseeded, knocked off two of America’s top three seeds in reaching the semis — following an upset of No. 14 Tommy Paul in the fourth round with a four-set win over No. 10 Francis Tiafoe in the quarterfinals.
It continues an impressive season for Shelton, who reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open but lost in the first round of the French Open and the second round of Wimbledon.
His Grand Slam semifinal debut will come against the man making his record 47th appearance in the final four of a slam. Other than a five-set thriller against fellow Serb Laslo Djere, No. 2 seed Djokovic has not dropped a set in his other four matches. That includes dispatching of No. 9 Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American, in straight sets in the quarters.
Shelton faces a daunting task as Djokovic has won 21 of his past 22 major semifinal matches. Djokovic also has not dropped a tiebreaker in a major semifinal since the U.S. Open nine years ago.
“Ben Shelton has been serving some bombs this tournament,” Djokovic, 36, said after his win over Fritz. “When his serve is on, he’s a very difficult player to play against, especially because he’s lefty, as well.”
That said, Djokovic is a massive -1400 favorite at BetMGM to dispatch of Shelton (+750).
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has also seen his odds of winning the men’s title shorten from +160 to begin the tournament to -125.
Should Djokovic get past Shelton, he would play the winner of the second semifinal between top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev.
Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in a five-set thriller in the Wimbledon final, has dropped just one set in cruising through his first five matches. The Spaniard is the
-375 favorite to beat Russia’s Medvedev (+290), the 2021 U.S. Open champion who has only lost two sets to this point in the tournament.
The public clearly expects to see another Alcaraz-Djokovic final, with Alcaraz holding +120 odds to win the men’s title followed by Medvedev at +900 and Shelton at +3300. Alcaraz, the defending champion, has drawn the most total bets at 26.7 percent, while Djokovic has been backed by the most money at 39.5 percent.
Though he missed the Australian Open this year due to a hamstring injury, Alcaraz has won 24 of his past 25 matches in major events. He reached the semifinals of the French Open this year before prevailing at Wimbledon.
“I’m feeling really comfortable playing on this court, playing here in New York,” said Alcaraz, the defending champion. “I’m showing my best level here on this court. …
“I’m feeling great physically. (My) game is strong enough mentally, so I think I’m ready to play a great battle against Medvedev in the semifinal.”
Washington Spirit midfielder Ashley Sanchez signed a three-year contract extension that spans through the 2026 season on Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed by the Spirit for Sanchez, who is a member of the U.S. women’s national team.
“Keeping Sanchez with the Spirit is critical for this club,” Washington coach Mark Parsons said. “Her world-class technical ability and goal-scoring quality are very important to the success of our team.”
Sanchez, 24, recorded 17 goals and eight assists across all competitions since being selected by the Spirit with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft out of UCLA.
“I’ve been fortunate to take a lot of strides in my game during my first four years in DC,” Sanchez said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my professional career with the Spirit as we build something special with this club.”
With the national team, she has 25 caps, three goals and four assists.
Two days after he was waived by the Columbus Crew, midfielder Luis Diaz was claimed off waivers by the Colorado Rapids on Thursday.
A native of Costa Rica, the 24-year-old Diaz spent the past four-plus seasons with the Crew and recorded six goals and 14 assists over 83 regular-season appearances.
Diaz also helped the Crew win the 2020 MLS Cup and was part of the team that won the 2021 Campeones Cup against Liga MX’s Cruz Azul.
Díaz has eight caps for Costa Rica, including appearances in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Nations League.
