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Pandemic or Not, Hot Dogs Eaten, Records Broken on New York’s Coney Island

Commerzbank Fined 650,000 Euros for Deals With Defunct Cypriot Bank

Cyprus’s securities regulator on Friday imposed a 650,000-euro ($730,800) fine on Germany’s Commerzbank for its role in transactions carried out by a local bank that collapsed during the country’s 2013 financial crisis. The country’s CySEC commission said Commerzbank had been sanctioned over investment operations conducted by the now-defunct Laiki鈥攁lso known as Cyprus Popular Bank鈥攊n 2011, following Laiki’s merger with Greece’s Marfin-Egnatia Bank. Commerzbank declined to comment on the case, which followed an eight-year probe by Cypriot authorities. The investigation, which was launched following calls by left-wing AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides, looked into whether the Cypriot deals may have broken laws prohibiting a company from buying its own stock. CySEC said Laiki invested in two structured products issued by Commerzbank in 2008. Marfin-Egnatia, which was at that time a Laiki subsidiary,…

Pandemic or Not, Hot Dogs Eaten, Records Broken on New York’s Coney Island

NEW YORK—A global pandemic could not stop Coney Island’s venerable fourth of July hot-dog eating competition from going ahead on Saturday, or its reigning men’s and women’s champions from setting new records in their respective divisions.

In fact, men’s winner Joey Chestnut said, moving the Nathan’s Famous event to a climate-controlled indoor setting to keep the coronavirus from spreading among hundreds of spectators who would normally pack the often-sweltering boardwalk gave him the edge he needed.

“This is a crazy year and I’m happy to get a record,” the 220-pound (100 kg) Chestnut told ESPN after the 10-minute eating frenzy at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog mecca.

The 36-year-old competitive eater from San Jose, California, came back from a slow start and rallied to down his record-setting 75th hot dog and bun at the buzzer.

The 13-time “Mustard Belt” winner, whose intake included the 1,000th competitive dog of his career, topped his previous best 74 and left his four competitors far behind.

As a safety measure, Nathan’s Famous moved the annual Independence Day tradition inside under controlled conditions that included social distancing, masks for non-eaters, and plastic partitions between contestants.

In the women’s division, returning champion Miki Sudo topped a field of five by devouring a record 48.5 Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and buns. The 132-pounder (60 kg) from Torrington, Connecticut, easily beat her previous personal best 41 and shattered the previous women’s record of 45.

The Coney Island contest has been going on each July 4th since Nathan Handwerker opened his world-renowned seaside restaurant in 1916, according to Major League Eating, the stomach-centric sport’s governing body.

By Peter Szekely

Focus News: Pandemic or Not, Hot Dogs Eaten, Records Broken on New York’s Coney Island

Lucky Brand Files for Bankruptcy as Latest Retail Casualty of Coronavirus

Apparel company Lucky Brand Dungarees is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it said on July 3, becoming the latest retailer to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic. The firm said it had entered into a “stalking horse asset purchase agreement” with SPARC Group LLC, which owns brands such as Aeropostale and Nautica, for the sale of “substantially all” its operating assets. Such a pact sets a starting bid or minimally accepted offer as a threshold for other potential buyers if they want to bid. Lucky Brand estimated both assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million, its filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware showed. A view of a temporarily closed JCPenney store at The Shops at Tanforan Mall in San Bruno, Calif., on May…