Delta Grounded, 19 Gold, A-Rod Out

Grounded: Delta Airlines has grounded all its flights around the world this morning because of a problem with the company’s computer system. Delta operates about 5,000 flights a day, so a lot of travellers are going nowhere. Flights that were already in the air when the glitch hit will continue on and land as scheduled.

The Games: American swimmer Katie Ledecky beat her own world record to win the 400-meter freestyle. Her time was 3 minutes 56.46 seconds. Ledecky and Italy’s Federica Pellegrini are the only two women to have finished the event under four minutes, but Pellegrini did it while wearing a buoyant swimsuit that was banned from competition in 2009.

> Michael Phelps won the 19th gold medal of his career, his 23rd medal overall, swimming the second leg in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

> Mara Abbott of the US ran out of steam in the last seconds to drop from first to fourth in the women’s bicycle road race in Rio. Abbott took the lead after the Netherlands’ Annemiek van Vleuten crashed on a curve and was left unconscious by the roadside. In the next few minutes, Abbot’s 35 second lead ticked down as a three-pack of cyclists from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy methodically chased her down and passed her with only a couple of hundred feet left in the race.

Van Vleuten was later reported to be conscious with small fractures in three vertebrae in her lower back. She could come out okay.

> Some of the biggest powers in tennis were quickly eliminated yesterday. Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the leading player in the world, lost in the first round of the men’s singles to Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina. And the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, lost to a Czech pair in the first round of women’s doubles.

In Recovery: In an attempt to change the discussion about his campaign, Donald Trump is scheduled today to deliver a speech on the economy to the Detroit Economic Club.

Campaign chairman Paul Manafort said on Fox Business, “Mr. Trump on Monday will lay out a vision that’s a growth economic plan.” He said Trump will focus on cutting taxes, cutting regulation, energy development and raising middle-class wages.

The Real Clear Politics average of polls has Hillary Clinton leading by seven points.

World: A bomb set off outside a government-run hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, has killed at least 53 people. The explosion hit a gathering of lawyers who had come to grieve the murder of a colleague whose body was inside the hospital.

> Japanese emperor Akihito addressed the country by video message today, indicating that he is preparing to step down. “I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being as I have done until now,” he said. It’s traditional for the emperor to remain on the throne until he dies.

Last Out: New York Yankee great Alex Rodriguez, one of the best to ever wear the pinstripes, has been cut from the squad at age 41 and will play his last game Friday. A-Rod, whose career was stained by a suspension for using performance enhancing drugs, will play out the remainder of his contract as a $27 million coach and special advisor for the team. “Saying goodbye may be the hardest part of the job,” Alex Rodriguez said at a press conference yesterday. “But that’s what I’m doing today.”

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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