NEW YORK (AP) — The Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest marks the United States’ 250th birthday with chomp and circumstance Saturday after an eventful year for the annual wiener showdown and one of its stars.

Contest sponsor Nathan’s Famous was sold in January to packaged meat giant Smithfield Foods. A few months later, reigning men’s champ and record-holder Joey Chestnut was accused of slapping a man in an Indiana bar and pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor battery charge.

But the frankfurter fest rolls on, with Chestnut and Miki Sudo set to defend last year’s wins in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.

Competitors consume as many hot dogs and buns as possible in 10 minutes, usually dunking the wieners in water first to make them easier to swallow.

Sudo is an 11-time winner and holds the women’s record of 51 dogs.

Chestnut has taken the so-called Mustard Belt 17 times and notched the men’s record: 76 franks. He’s still on probation in the battery case but is allowed to travel outside Indiana. His lawyer has said that what happened in the bar was a misunderstanding and that Chestnut accepted responsibility for his actions.

Hot dog contest organizer Major League Eating, which oversees the Nathan’s Famous contest, said the criminal case didn’t affect Chestnut’s eligibility for the competition.

The event, which dates to 1972, is held in front of the original Nathan’s Famous’ restaurant in New York’s Coney Island.

Meetings at City Hall had to be rescheduled due to the violence in mid-June

We’re only a third of the way through summer 2026, and already Belfast has seen some of its most darkly momentous events since the post Troubles era. And just as everyone across the city was in some way affected by the violence in the middle of the month, so was business at City Hall.

There were cancellations of meetings, rescheduling of business and events, and shockingly, threats made against the Lord Mayor Róis-Máire Donnelly.

But business was attended to, and the city bounced back. The council is currently winding down, with only one meeting, a special Licensing Committee for the Fleadh, on the calendar for the whole month of July.

Here is your latest round up of Belfast Council matters so far this summer:

Shankill left out of ‘Brand Belfast’ claims councillor

A DUP councillor said at the start of the summer, at the full council meeting on June 1, that the Greater Shankill area is being left out of “Brand Belfast” when it comes to tourism in the city and is not receiving the funding it should.

DUP Councillor Ian McLaughlin, representing the Court district electoral area, failed in an appeal for a tourism grant worth £50,000 for the Shankill at City Hall.

Councillor McLaughlin made the proposal in regards to the council’s Neighbourhood Tourism Programme, a strategic initiative aimed at spreading the economic, social, and cultural benefits of the visitor economy beyond the city centre into local neighbourhoods. It is part of the council’s “Make Yourself at Home” 10-year tourism plan.

Read more here

Spate of new care home approvals in Belfast vital for “chronic shortage” planners say

June was a big month for the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, where four major applications were approved relating to care homes and assisted living quarters for the elderly – three of those pertaining to East Belfast, one at the old Netherleigh House, two at Stormont Hotel, and one at Halifax House, the Gasworks, South Belfast.

The spate of newly approved Belfast care homes were “vital” to address an ageing population across the city, particularly in East Belfast, planners explained at City Hall.

One of the planners involved with Netherleigh House said there “was a chronic shortage” of beds for “an ageing population,” and said the city is already 820 beds short for those elderly members of the public in need.

Read more here

Two more hotels approved for Belfast City Centre – one without windows in its rooms

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Also at Planning, two more new hotels were approved for Belfast city centre, despite questions being raised over one of the proposed hotels not having windows in some of its bedrooms.

The first was at the five storey Lindsay House, on Callender Street, behind Marks and Spencer. It involves the change of use from a fast food unit, restaurant, retail and office to a 76 bedroom hotel with associated restaurant and bar areas, as well as a lobby and reception area. Elected representatives heard from officials that there would be 12 bedrooms on the first and second floor which would “have no access to windows.”

The second was a new 30 bed hotel at 20 Rosemary Street, off Royal Avenue. Works will involve the retention, conversion, refurbishment and change of use of the existing office building and two vacant retail units, including the extension of the fifth floor.

Read more here

Irish signs to be put up in unionist parts of Belfast streets after U-turn

The dual language street sign debate shows no sign of losing its intensity, and the most recent saga lasted for weeks, from June to the start of July, focusing on two “long roads” in North Belfast. The council saw a June committee decision flipped at the full council on July 1st, on the strength of Green Party votes.

The People and Communities Committee decision to place Irish/English street signs only at nationalist parts of Donegall Park Avenue and Oldpark Road was reversed, as the Green Party became kingmakers in the full chamber. Both streets will now have dual language English and Irish street signage along their full lengths. Both passed the required 15 percent occupier threshold for dual language signage to be erected.

Dual language street sign policy on so-called “long roads” at City Hall gives councillors discretionary powers on whether they should receive dual language signage along the full lengths of those streets, or at sections where it would be deemed “appropriate.” Donegall Park Avenue and Oldpark Road are both seen as roads with clearly demarcated nationalist and unionist areas.

Green party Councillor Áine Groogan said: “I think it is incredibly problematic to say that the Irish language is okay in certain parts of a street, but not okay elsewhere. It creates an incredibly dangerous precedent.”

Read more here

Unionist parties stay silent at City Hall as violence condemned

The three unionist parties remained silent on the subject of the riots last month in Belfast, as other parties condemned the violence at the first full meeting of Belfast Council at City Hall since the disorder.

At the July monthly meeting of the full council, held on Wednesday evening, the majority of parties lined up to condemn the violence, as well as give support to the Lord Mayor Róis-Máire Donnelly, who received a death threat during the period. None of the unionist parties, the DUP, UUP or TUV made any remarks during the council’s public session on the violence or the death threat.

Last month saw a series of coordinated anti-immigration riots and targeted attacks against ethnic minorities between June 9 and 11 in Belfast and beyond. Some human rights groups, politicians, trade unions and others have referred to the events as “pogroms” because they involved organized mobs systematically attempting to force immigrants and non-whites out of their homes. NHS staff were also subjected to racist abuse.

Around 200 adults and children fled their homes across Belfast during the arson attacks. By June 15, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive had received inquiries from 86 households citing civil unrest, with 26 of those families making requests for temporary emergency accommodation.

Read more here

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

A TV icon posted rare throwback photos of herself while preparing for the Fourth of July holiday. 

The 84-year-old star is known for hosting her own lifestyle and cooking show which aired for over a decade. 

She also launched a quarterly magazine which would publish around 2 million copies per issue during its peak. 

The media personality has taken part in a number of business ventures over the years, including the launch of her media brand. 

The businesswoman, who previously spent five months in prison after being embroiled in an insider trading scandal, is also close pals with a number of A-list celebrities such as rapper Snoop Dogg. 

Can you guess who it is?

It is Martha Stewart, who is preparing to celebrate her 85th birthday next month on August 3. 

The TV personality took to her main Instagram page on Friday to share a throwback snap of herself posing at her Westport, Connecticut residence back in 1976. 

She could be seen donning denim overalls as well as a short-sleeved, striped shirt underneath. 

Stewart additionally sported a pair of stylish shades while leaning against a wooden wagon in her spacious backyard. 

The caption of the post read: ‘Let this 1976 snapshot of Martha in Westport, Connecticut serve as your ultimate summer inspiration.’

The grounds of the ‘farmstead property’ had been behind ‘many of our founder’s ideas and ventures, like starting her expansive all-season gardens to serving as the setting of her first book, Entertaining. 

‘And as for Martha’s well-known love for picking farm fresh eggs? Well, it’s *always* been a good thing.’ 

Just days earlier, she had uploaded another picture as she wore the same outfit on the property with geese nearby.

It is Martha Stewart, who is preparing to celebrate her 85th birthday next month on August 3; seen in February in San Francisco 

The caption of the post read: ‘Let this 1976 snapshot of Martha in Westport, Connecticut serve as your ultimate summer inspiration’

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Just days earlier, she had uploaded another picture as she wore the same outfit on the property with geese nearby

‘”Years ago at Turkey Hill, I raised these beautiful gray geese from eggs,” Martha recalls of this snapshot taken in August 1976,’ the caption read. 

The star added that, ‘”They were interesting and taught me a lot. They, and the chickens and turkeys I nurtured, infused in me a love of sustainable, organic, and carefully raised poultry and eggs.”‘

Stewart revealed that she still owns geese from ‘five different countries’ on another property located in Bedford, New York. 

The media personality was born in August 1941 in New Jersey and had been a stockbroker in the late 1960s. 

She later stepped into the world of publishing due to her ex-husband Andrew Stewart being the president of NYC publisher Harry N. Abrams Inc. 

Her first book, Entertaining, was published in 1982 and ghostwritten by Elizabeth Hawes. 

Stewart released more books throughout the 80s such as Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook (1983) and Martha Stewart’s Secrets for Entertaining (1988). 

Two years later, her divorce from Andrew was finalized in 1990. The former couple welcomed one daughter, Alexis, in 1965. 

Stewart released more books throughout the 80s such as Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook (1983) and Martha Stewart’s Secrets for Entertaining (1988); seen above in 1997

In 1990, she launched a magazine called Martha Stewart Living which issued its last print copy in 2022. The publication is now available online. 

In 1993, she began taking part in a television show based on the magazine and had the same name. 

The series notably ran until 2004. 

From 2005 through 2012, the star was also the host of The Martha Stewart Show. 

And in 1997, Stewart launched her own media brand which is called Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. 

Back in March 2004, the TV host had been found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction and two counts of lying to federal investigators when she was embroiled in an insider trading scandal. 

She served five months in prison beginning in October 2004 and was released in March 2005. 

‘I knew I was strong going in and I was certainly stronger coming out,’ she recalled to Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. ‘It was a very serious happening in my life. I take it very seriously.’ 

In 1990, she launched a magazine called Martha Stewart Living which issued its last print copy in 2022. The publication is now available online; seen in April in NYC 

She served five months in prison beginning in October 2004 and was released in March 2005; seen in 2004 with daughter Alexis at Manhattan Federal Court 

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Stewart added, ‘I’m not bitter about it, but… My daughter knows all the problems that resulted because of that. There’s a lot.’

One month from now on August 3, the cook will celebrate her 85th birthday. 

Earlier this year in January, she addressed plastic surgery rumors once again amid speculation over her very youthful appearance during an interview with People. 

Back in 2023, the author previously shared her thoughts on the rumors that she has undergone cosmetic procedures after posing for a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover.

‘Everybody insists that I’ve had plastic surgery and I have not ever had plastic surgery,’ Stewart told the outlet.

‘I’m the most honest person on earth – but if they won’t take my word for it, I don’t know. How can they not take my word for it? That’s the truth!’ the star further emphasized.

Stewart then recalled the only time that she had work done by a plastic surgeon, but said she does not consider it plastic surgery.

‘Everybody insists that I’ve had plastic surgery and I have not ever had plastic surgery,’ Stewart told the outlet

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Years earlier, the media personality remembered an incident when one of her dogs accidently hit her face as she bent down to say goodbye to one of them. 

‘She didn’t bite me. She bashed my lip into my tooth and split it from my lip almost all the way to my nose and blood started gushing out all over the dog.’ 

Stewart reached out to a hospital and after informing staff that she had a terrible ‘accident,’ she also asked for a plastic surgeon.

After driving to the medical facility in a snow storm, she received ’16 stitches in my lip.’

‘I can’t call that plastic surgery, that is a repair. It’s a terrible, terrible, terrible split lip… you cannot see. I healed so well. That is the extent of a plastic surgeon working on my face.’

While revealing to Variety that she ‘hates’ Botox, the star said that on a rare occasion she will get ‘certain fillers’ for ‘a little line here or there’; seen in January in Beverly Hills 

The businesswoman added, ‘That is the only time I’ve ever had a plastic surgeon touch my face.’

While revealing to Variety that she ‘hates’ Botox, the star said that on a rare occasion she will get ‘certain fillers’ for ‘a little line here or there.’ 

And during a 2024 episode of The Martha Stewart podcast, the star offered her thoughts when it comes to aging.

‘I don’t think a lot about age, but I don’t want to look my age at all. And that’s why I really work hard at it.’

A 54-year-old man also suffered minor injuries

A woman suffered serious injuries after a car crashed into a wall and metal gates. Emergency services were called to the A141 Heath Road, near the headquarters of Manchett’s logistics, near Warboys.

A silver Skoda Octavia crashed into a wall and metal gates. No other vehicles were involved.

A woman from Brampton, who was a passenger, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries. The driver, a 54-year-old man from Brampton, was also taken to Addenbrooke’s but with minor injuries.

Sergeant Duncan Hall said: “I would like to hear from the driver of a dark Ford Fiesta, which was not involved in the collision, but didn’t stop at the scene as they could have vital information. I would also like to hear from any other witnesses or dashcam footage of either the collision itself or the moments before.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or report it online and quote incident 98 of July 2.

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