A glorious farewell to the 2024 Olympics
It’s time to say au revoir to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. During the spectacular closing ceremony, the indie group Phoenix and the R&B singer H.E.R. rocked out for the crowds. Tom Cruise, symbolizing the handover to the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, rappelled down into the stadium, accepted the Olympic flag and sped away on a motorcycle.
The performance then transitioned back to a live feed in Los Angeles, where the Red Hot Chili Peppers played “Can’t Stop” at Venice Beach. They were followed by performances by Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg, who also brought out Dr. Dre to play “The Next Episode.”
Two basketball gold medals for Team USA
Team USA eked out close wins in the men’s and women’s basketball finals, taking gold in the final weekend of the games.
Steph Curry’s late-game heroics denied France its storybook basketball ending Saturday night as he scored a team-high 24 points in a 98-87 win. The men’s team, which included all-stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, brought home the fifth straight Olympic title for the Americans.
Sunday’s win by the women’s team was its eighth straight Olympic gold. The game went down to the wire, with France putting up a formidable fight down to the last second. But, anchored by WNBA champion A’ja Wilson, the U.S. won 67-66.
The women’s victory helped the U.S. tie with China for the most gold medals won by any country, the first Summer Games draw in Olympic history. Overall the U.S. won the most medals, with 126 total, while China came in second, with 91.
Jordan Chiles must give back her bronze medal
U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal in the floor exercise, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday, upholding findings that a coach’s appeal that got her on the podium was submitted four seconds too late.
USA Gymnastics rebutted the claim, saying head coach Cecile Landi filed for the inquiry in 47 seconds, within the one-minute window. The organization said it has submitted time-stamped video evidence.
In the meantime, Romanian Ana Bărbosu is now the floor exercise bronze medalist.
Macron celebrates unity at Paris Olympics
Speaking Sunday with NBC News, President Emmanuel Macron expressed pride in how the French people brought their traditions and enthusiasm to show the world what a great nation it can be.
Paris hosted the Games just weeks after France was plunged into deep political tensions, held a snap election and ended up with a divided Parliament. The U.S. is approaching its own national election. Asked how important the American vote is to the rest of the world, Macron said U.S. leadership sets a tone for many other countries. Using U.S. athletes as an example, he praised them not just for their impressive medal count and sportsmanship but also for the values they displayed on the world stage.
“I would never dare to give advice to somebody in your country, but I think it should clearly send a message that big things with fraternity and joy are still possible in our world,” he said.
Other Olympic highlights:
- The U.S. and China each won 40 gold medals in the first Summer Games draw in Olympic history.
- If American women were their own nation, they would have won the third-most medals, behind only the U.S. and China.
- The U.S. women’s soccer team won gold, defeating Brazil 1-0. The result returns Team USA to the summit of women’s soccer, with its fifth women’s gold medal overall and its first since the 2012 London Games.
- Lin Yu-ting captured featherweight gold Saturday, defeating Poland’s Julia Szeremeta and shaking off more than a week of specious allegations that she shouldn’t be fighting women.
- Boxing champion Imane Khelif has filed a legal complaint in France for online harassment after a rain of criticism and false claims about her sex during the Olympics, her lawyer said.
Trump campaign says it was hacked
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has said it was hacked by an Iranian group.
The hack, not verified by NBC News, was first reported by Politico, which said it had received emails from an anonymous account sharing internal documents from the Trump campaign.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said in a statement that the hack took place in June, “which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a Vice Presidential nominee.”
Cheung pointed to a Microsoft report released Friday, which said an “Iranian group, this one connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign.”
Politics in brief
Campaign chants: At recent rallies, supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris have broken out in “lock him up” chants. Harris has been quick to shut them down — for a legal and practical reason.
Trump’s plane claim: A former Trump Organization executive disputed Trump‘s account that Trump rode with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing in the 1990s.
My heart won’t go on: Céline Dion’s management team and record label said the use of her song at a Trump campaign rally in Montana was “unauthorized.”
No tax on tips: Harris has pledged to eliminate taxes on tipped wages for service workers, matching a proposal from Trump.
White House ‘deeply concerned’ at reports of mass casualties in Israeli strike
An airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 100 people and injured dozens more Saturday morning, according to Gaza’s civil defense, in what would be one of the deadliest attacks in the 10-month war as mediators discussed ongoing efforts to de-escalate soaring tensions in the region. The White House says it is “deeply concerned” about reports of civilian casualties in the strike and urged Israel to take measures “to minimize civilian harm.”
The IDF issued several statements insisting the strike targeted a Hamas command center embedded in the compound, as well as disputing the death toll and the scale of the strike’s impact. Hamas has denied having a command center in the school, and it called Israel’s claim that 19 militants were killed in the strike “false and baseless.”
Many young children in Gaza are coming down with ailments associated with drinking or bathing in contaminated water, according to families, doctors and humanitarian groups in the area. Common issues include hepatitis and skin infections. Gaza’s water system relies heavily on wells and desalination plants, but much of that infrastructure has been devastated.
Uvalde shooter’s uncle begged police to let him talk to the gunman
The uncle of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022 begged police to let him try to talk his nephew down, according to a 911 call included in a massive trove of audio and video recordings released by city officials.
“Maybe he could listen to me, because he does listen to me — everything I tell him, he does listen to me,” the man, who identified himself as Armando Ramos, said on the 911 call. “Maybe he could stand down or do something to turn himself in.”
The recordings also include frantic 911 calls made as the shooter, Salvador Ramos, arrived on the Robb Elementary School campus. “Oh, my God, they have a gun,” a woman tells dispatchers, adding: “Please hurry!”
Gen Alpha’s new slang baffles parents
It started with “slay” and “tea” from Gen Z. Now it’s “sigma,” “gyatt” and “fanum tax.” Gen Alpha, children born after 2010, are the internet’s newest darlings, but many parents feel like intergenerational conversations are getting less and less intelligible. Some Gen Zers have even taken to dubbing this Gen Alpha speak “brainrot.”
A 45-year-old parent says his 9- and 11-year-old daughters baffle him with some of their slang. “I try to get them to explain what they mean, and I usually end up still totally confused,” he said.
In case you missed it
- More than 76,000 people have been evacuated from Russia’s Kursk region, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops had crossed the border and were fighting in “the aggressor’s territory.”
- A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city’s police station Friday night during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a pivotal moment in the national Black Lives Matter movement.
- The New York apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer was vandalized with red paint and crickets, police said.
- A man arrested in May after he was accused of fatally punching a driver has now been charged in the murder of a beloved neurosurgeon found dead in his home.
- At least four people whose homes burned down in this summer’s Park Fire in Northern California had also lost their houses to another wildfire in the same area six years ago.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order requiring state agencies to remove homeless encampments on public property has divided local officials and advocates.
- Across Florida, aging condo buildings face rising expenses and millions of dollars in structural repairs to comply with new regulations. The costs are pushing some condo owners to the financial brink.
- A new short documentary explores the nationwide debate over “Drag Story Hour” reading events — focused on the perspective of the kids who attended them.
- In the Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively box-office showdown, both husband and wife came out winners. “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained the top movie in North America for the third straight week. It was closely followed by “It Ends With Us,” the romance drama starring Lively, which had a stellar $50 million debut.
- Here’s how you can get a good look at the annual Perseid meteor shower tonight.
