Sydney Sweeney is once again discovering that modern celebrity culture has an unusual rule: women are encouraged to celebrate their independence, confidence and control over their own image — until they make a choice that certain corners of the internet dislike. The 29-year-old actress has become the center of another social-media storm after appearing in a provocative advertising campaign for sports prediction platform Novig. The campaign features Sweeney posing with footballs, basketballs,...

NEW YORK — Marta Kostyuk is turning her attention toward New York after another strong showing on the North American hard courts, with the Ukrainian star arriving at the U.S. Open buildup as the world No. 11 and one of the most dangerous players outside the very top tier of the women’s rankings. Kostyuk’s latest tournament ended Saturday in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, where American Coco Gauff produced a commanding 6-2, 6-2 victory. The score was one-sided, but the defeat did little to...

LOS ANGELES — The NBA is pushing back forcefully against an ESPN report claiming investigators found no evidence that Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer used team sponsors to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard in an effort to evade the league’s salary cap. The unusually public disagreement between the NBA and its biggest sports-media partner has injected fresh uncertainty into an investigation that has followed the Clippers and Leonard for nearly a year. ESPN reported on August 17 that three...