The results of Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace, Serena Williams’ Cincinnati opener pushed back, and more top news

Here’s a look at trending topics for today, Aug. 15:

Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace

Two glaring misses then a red card for a reckless headbutt.

It was a home debut to forget for Liverpool’s big offseason signing, Darwin Núñez.

Fortunately for the Reds, another South American came to the rescue at Anfield as a dazzling individual goal by Luis Díaz salvaged a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday.

In his first competitive start for Liverpool, Núñez lost control after jostling with Joachim Andersen off the ball and thrust his head into the face of the Palace defender, with referee Paul Tierney watching on close by in the 57th minute.

Read more about the matchup here:

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Serena Williams, of the United States, watches a return to Belinda Bencic, of Switzerland, during the National Bank Open tennis tournament Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Toronto.

Chris Young – foreign subscriber, The Canadian Press

Cincinnati Open

Serena Williams’ opening match in the Western & Southern Open has been rescheduled from Monday to Tuesday.

The 40-year-old Williams, preparing to retire, is set to face 19-year-old Emma Raducanu, the defending U.S. Open champion. A spokesman for the tournament said the change was “on account of a number of factors related to scheduling.”

Williams has said she wants to have another child and pursue business interests. The 23-time Grand Slam champion has not said what her last event will be, but has made it sound as if her final farewell will come at the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29 in New York.

Bryce Dallas Howard attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Universal Pictures “Jurassic World Dominion” on June 6 in Hollywood, California. Howard says she was paid “so much less” than her co-star Chris Pratt for their work in the “Jurassic World” films.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Bryce Dallas Howard

In case you were convinced otherwise, Bryce Dallas Howard reports that the gender pay gap is not extinct.

The actress, speaking to Insider, said she was paid “so much less” than her co-star Chris Pratt for their work in the “Jurassic World” films, released in 2015, 2018 and 2022.

“When I started negotiating for ‘Jurassic,’ it was 2014, and it was a different world, and I was at a great disadvantage,” she said. “And, unfortunately, you have to sign up for three movies, and so your deals are set.”

Eventually, she said, she discussed the disparity with Pratt, who took action to get his co-star equal terms on other franchise-related opportunities, like games and theme park rides.

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Get more of today’s trending topics here:

Spotted Lanternfly

Capri Sun recall

Myles Brennan

Russian news agencies reported that lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal of her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession. The case has been denounced by the United States and could lead to a high-profile prisoner swap. Griner is an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport. Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but said she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no criminal intent.

The Taliban are marking a year since they seized the Afghan capital of Kabul. The rapid takeover triggered a hasty escape of the nation’s Western-backed leaders, sent the economy into a tailspin and has fundamentally transformed the country. On Monday, bearded Taliban fighters staged victory parades on foot, bicycles and motorcycles in the streets of the capital. One small group marched past the former U.S. Embassy, chanting “Long live Islam” and “Death to America.” A year after the dramatic day, much has changed in Afghanistan. The former insurgents struggle to govern and remain internationally isolated. The economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty and even hunger, as the flow of foreign aid slowed to a trickle.

China has announced more military drills around Taiwan as the self-governing island’s president met with another U.S. congressional delegation. The announcement threatened to renew tensions days after a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi angered China. Pelosi was the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and her trip prompted nearly two weeks of threatening military exercises by China. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own. In those drills, it fired missiles over the island and sent warplanes and navy ships across the Taiwan Strait’s midline. American and Taiwanese officials have accused China of using Pelosi’s visit as a pretext for intimidating moves. China’s defense ministry gave no details about the new drills.

Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney hail from their states’ most prominent Republican families. They’re also among the GOP’s sharpest critics of former President Donald Trump, and both supported his impeachment. But their political fortunes could diverge after Tuesday’s primaries. Cheney faces daunting prospects in her effort to fend off Trump-supported challenger Harriet Hageman, while Murkowski is expected to advance from her primary. Boosting Murkowski’s prospects is a nonpartisan primary in which the four candidates who get the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Actor Anne Heche has died, nine days after she was injured in a fiery car crash. She was 53. Spokeswoman Holly Baird said Sunday night that Heche “been peacefully taken off life support.” She had been on life support after suffering burns and a major brain injury when her car crashed into a home. Heche first came to prominence on the NBC soap opera “Another World” in the late 1980s before becoming one of the hottest stars in Hollywood in the late 1990s. She was a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films opposite actors including Johnny Depp and Harrison Ford.

The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline plummeted 45 cents over the past three weeks to $4.10 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that the continued decline comes as crude oil costs also remain low. The average price at the pump is down a dollar over the past nine weeks, but it’s 85 cents higher than it was one year ago. Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas was in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $5.36 per gallon. The lowest average was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at $3.38 per gallon.

Pennsylvania state police say a man drove into a crowd at a fundraiser for victims of a recent deadly house fire. One person was killed and 17 others were injured Saturday. He then returned home and beat his mother to death. Police said 24-year-old Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes was arraigned early Sunday on two counts of criminal homicide. They allege that he told them he was upset about an argument with his mother, saw the crowd in Berwick and drove through it. Court documents don’t list an attorney for him. State police say Sura Reyes is not currently a suspect in the fire, which killed seven adults and three children.

Police say a man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself. Police say the man didn’t seem to be targeting any member of Congress. The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set on Capitol Hill. Authorities say that as the man was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. Police say he then opened fire, shooting several bullets into the air as police approached. The man’s identity hasn’t been released, but investigators have located addresses for him in Delaware and Pennsylvania and have learned he had a criminal history in the past decade.

Jury selection is underway at R. Kelly’s federal trial in his hometown of Chicago. The judge questioning would-be jurors is paying special attention to whether they watched a 2019 documentary about sex abuse allegations against the R&B singer. Kelly faces charges that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threatening and paying off a girl whom he allegedly filmed himself having sex with when he was around 30 and she was no older than 14. Jurors acquitted Kelly on all charges in that 2008 trial. Jury selection is expected to continue into Tuesday.

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Joey Logano with 66 laps to go and held off Christopher Bell at Richmond Raceway on Sunday for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory. One week after ending a 65-race drought, Harvick won for the 60th time, the fourth time at Richmond and first time on the 0.75-mile oval since 2013. He matched Kyle Busch in career victories in the premier series. Harvick’s victory also kept alive the intriguing battle for the final playoff position with two races remaining in the regular season.

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