Clara Wu Tsai, Liberty Co-Owner, Pursues Broader Brooklyn Cultural Ambitions Amid Personal Transition

Liberty def. Lynx 87-71
Seated w/ Meek Mill, Johnson
Liberty: 2-yr reigning champs

Clara Wu Tsai, co-owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty, attended the team's playoff game at Barclays Center as the Liberty defeated the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71. At 60, Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba, announced their separation in late July after 30 years of marriage. The Liberty, who won the championship two years ago, advanced to the semifinals before trailing the Atlanta Dream heading into a potential elimination game.

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Mike Burton, three-time Olympic swimming champion, dies at 79

Mike Burton, a three-time Olympic swimming champion, died at age 79. His son, Eric, announced the death on Facebook, noting that Burton had been battling Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Sports

Marc Overmars resigns as Royal Antwerp sports director, citing health and exhaustion

Marc Overmars has stepped down as sports director of Royal Antwerp FC, the Belgian club he joined in 2022, citing health issues and exhaustion. In a letter to supporters published Wednesday, Overmars wrote that his energy is "completely depleted" and that his doctors warned of a high risk of serious consequences if he continued working at the same pace.

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Dolly Parton, country music icon, singer-songwriter, and philanthropist, dies at 80 after brief battle with cancer

Dolly Parton died Tuesday at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville at age 80, after what her publicist Marcel Pariseau described as "a brief battle with cancer." Her death was confirmed by her nephew Bryan Seaver in a video statement and by a formal statement from her representatives. Parton's funeral will be private and intimate, limited to immediate family, per her wishes.

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Kyle Kirkwood wins inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix on National Mall streets

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar street race held Aug. 22–23, 2026, on a 1.7-mile, seven-turn circuit around the National Mall, marked the first IndyCar race in Washington, D.C. Florida native Kyle Kirkwood won the race, leading 128 of 147 laps. The event was organized as part of America's 250th anniversary celebrations.

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AP projects Oregon to win 2026 College Football Playoff, with Notre Dame and Ohio State among top seeds

The Associated Press has published an early prediction for the 2026 College Football Playoff, projecting Oregon to defeat Texas 24-20 in the championship game in Las Vegas on January 25, 2027. The 12-team playoff field kicks off with four campus games on December 18, 2026. Notre Dame is projected as the No. 1 seed, followed by Ohio State, Miami, and Texas.

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IndyCar's Freedom 250 Grand Prix brings a 1.7-mile street circuit to the National Mall for the US semiquincentennial

The Freedom 250 Grand Prix, a 250-mile IndyCar race held over August 22–23, 2026, brings open-wheel cars through a 1.7-mile, seven-turn temporary street circuit past the US Capitol, Washington Monument, National Archives, National Gallery of Art, and Smithsonian museums. The event is the first IndyCar race ever held in Washington, DC, and is part of a broader series of semiquincentennial celebrations. Penske Corporation, which owns IndyCar, is covering the majority of the race's costs, with security expenses expected to draw on a $90 million federal emergency planning fund.

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Two former NBA players declare WNBA eligibility, citing female gender identity, as league convenes task force

Earlier this month, former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White publicly declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, stating they identify as women. The WNBA convened a task force on August 12 to discuss transgender athlete eligibility but did not reach a conclusion. The league issued a statement denouncing what it called "bad-faith efforts" to use the issue to demean or marginalize others.

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UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC accuse FIFA and Infantino of 'deception' and 'breach of trust' over World Cup privatization plan

Three major soccer confederations — UEFA, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) — published an open letter Monday accusing FIFA of "deception" and a "fundamental breach of trust" over its handling of a now-scrapped proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors. The letter was co-signed by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, AFC president Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, and three general secretaries. FIFA had previously acknowledged errors in the rollout of the proposal and apologized, but has continued to defend President Gianni Infantino.

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Monty Roberts, horseman who developed the "join up" training method, dies at 91

Monty Roberts, the internationally known horseman who pioneered a trust-based approach to horse training he called "join up," died last week at age 91. Roberts, born in Salinas, California, in 1935, spent decades demonstrating that horses could be trained without pain or coercion, basing his method on the nonverbal language he observed wild mustangs using in the Sierra Nevada as a teenager. He became internationally recognized after Queen Elizabeth II invited him to work with her horses in 1989 and later encouraged him to write his memoir, "The Man Who Listens to Horses," which became a best seller in 1996.

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Vincent Pastore, 'Sopranos' actor known for playing 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero, dies at 80

Vincent Pastore, the veteran actor best known for his 30-episode run as Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on "The Sopranos," died at age 80. His manager, Bob McGowan, told the Associated Press he learned of Pastore's death from fellow Sopranos actor Vincent Curatola; Pastore was found in his home on New York's City Island after not being heard from for several days.

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