President Donald Trump’s attendance at the US Open men’s final on Sunday delayed the start of the match, as hordes of tennis fans struggled to get through tightened security checkpoints.The president joined a host of other celebrities taking in the battle between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in his first visit to the New York tournament in a decade.Trump was greeted with loud boos — mixed with a smattering of cheers — when he was shown on screen during the match, which was delayed by 30 minutes due to his presence.By the start of the second set, an AFP journalist saw roughly 250 people still waiting in stagnant lines to pass enhanced security checks to enter the venue. One couple from South Africa said they had been waiting for more than an hour. Trump has not attended the US Open since 2015 when the then-presidential candidate and wife Melania were booed on arrival by the crowd.While the Republican leader enjoys pockets of support in his native city, it is overwhelmingly Democratic.People watching the Sinner-Alcaraz showdown on television may not see any unfavorable reactions to the president, because event organizers asked broadcasters not to showcase disruptions, according to several US media reports.Spanish star Alcaraz said Friday he planned to “try not to think about” the Trump hubbub in the stands, but appreciated the attention his visit would bring to the sport.”I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it, but I think attending the tennis match, it’s great for tennis to have the president (at) the final.”Major tournament sponsor Rolex welcomed Trump into its stadium box, with the president briefly appearing alongside the company’s CEO, as well as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.The Geneva-based luxury watchmaker’s invite came after Trump hit Switzerland with a 39-percent tariff as part of his trade war, one of the highest rates on US trade partners.Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Steve Witkoff — Trump’s envoy for peace missions — were also present. – Sports fan -Trump has attended a series of glitzy sporting events since retaking office in January.He was booed at the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey but had a warmer reception at the Super Bowl and a number of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts, as well as the Daytona 500 NASCAR race.Trump says he also plans to attend the first day of golf’s Ryder Cup later this month, and preparations are underway for him to host a UFC fight on the White House grounds.Trump has hailed the 2026 World Cup — jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as part of what he claims is a “Golden Age of America” ushered in by his presidency.Both events were scheduled before he won reelection.The last sitting president to attend the tennis Grand Slam in New York — and the first in history to go to the US Open — was Democrat Bill Clinton, who watched the women’s final in 2000.Trump was there as well and had a cordial meeting with Clinton, according to pictures from the encounter.Though Trump made his name in New York, he changed his residency during his first term from Manhattan to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.The 79-year-old has only intermittently returned to New York, but spent several weeks at his luxury Fifth Avenue condo last year while undergoing a historic criminal trial mid-campaign.He is expected back in the city to attend a baseball game on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as to address the UN General Assembly on September 23.

Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early on Sunday, killing four people and setting government offices in Kyiv ablaze, an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war.Zelensky said he was counting on a strong US response shortly after US President Donald Trump indicated to journalists he might be willing to impose more sanctions on Moscow.Russia has intensified its onslaught against Ukraine since a meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on August 15 failed to make any breakthrough on a ceasefire.After Sunday’s attack on Kyiv, flames could be seen rising from the roof of the sprawling government complex that houses Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in the heart of the city — the first time it has been hit during the three-and-a-half-year conflict.Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in the Ukrainian capital, according to emergency services.Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.It said it struck a plant and a logistics hub in Kyiv, with the Russian defence ministry saying “no strikes were carried out on other targets within the boundaries of Kyiv”. “It is important that there is a broad response from partners to this attack today,” said Zelensky in his evening address, adding that Putin was “testing the world”.”We are counting on a strong response from America. That is what is needed.”- ‘Deliberate crime’ -Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video showing a damaged floor in the government building.”We will restore the buildings,” she said. “But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country.”Zelensky discussed the attack in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron and said France would help Ukraine strengthen its defence. Macron was among European leaders who condemned the attack, posting on X that Russia was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror”. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the attacks as “cowardly” while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen accused the Kremlin of “mocking diplomacy”.Earlier, his US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, Washington might slap tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil.”The Russian economy will be in full collapse. And that will bring President (Vladimir) Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC television.- European troop proposal -At least two people were killed in a strike west of Kyiv, prosecutors said.More than two dozen were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency services.Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, with doctors fighting to save her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported. Two more died and dozens were wounded in overnight strikes across the east and southeast, authorities said.Ukraine’s foreign ministry highlighted that seven horses had also been killed at an equestrian club.”The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives — human or animal — every single day,” it posted on X.The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to oversee any agreement to end the war, some of whom said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but Putin has warned that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.Trump has tried to find a way to end the war in recent weeks but has little to show for his efforts.Russia has continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles and now occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine.Tens of thousands have been killed and millions force from their homes in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.