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Fauci repeatedly invokes the Fifth Amendment in a contentious Senate committee hearing WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer dozens of questions from senators in a Republican-led committee hearing about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://apnews.com/article/fauci-covid19-pandemic-senate-rand-paul-a774a79e46824ebec9e8e270b9cb9825? ps:I guess he had his reasons, and probably the right thing to do, but I'm disappointed!! I've said this about others if you have nothing to hide there's no reason to take the 5th!!!!!!!

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: The World Cup is for sale, Draymond's back in the Bay, the best fastball is baseball history, MLS All-Star Game, Madden's 99 Club, photo finish, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Draymond returns: Draymond Green has agreed to a one-year, $27.7 million contract with the Warriors after previously declining his player option of the same value to give the team the financial flexibility to pursue LeBron James this offseason. ⚽️ France hires Zizou: 28 years after helping France win the 1998 World Cup as a player, Zinedine Zidane has been named the new head coach of the national team, replacing Didier Deschamps. 🏈 NFL headlines: Aaron Rodgers confirmed that 2026 will be his final season; Eagles DE Jalen Carter (4 years, $152M) and Browns CB Denzel Ward (2 years, $62.2M) became the highest-paid players at their positions; Longtime Bucs DT Vita Vea requested a trade; Panthers great Luke Kuechly will be Netflix's top analyst for 2026. ⛳️ LIV to cancel finale: LIV Golf is reportedly set to cancel its season-ending $40 million team championship in Michigan next month amid its search for outside investment after the Saudi PIF pulls funding post-2026. 🏈 Tar Heels turmoil: UNC's football team is reportedly being investigated by the College Sports Commission, the entity that handles compliance and enforcement of NCAA and NIL rules. The program has also placed GM Mike Lombardi on paid leave following an HR complaint.   ⚽️ THE GLOBAL GAME FIFA PUTS THE WORLD CUP UP FOR SALE (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) Many thought that this summer's North American World Cup represented the peak of commercialization in soccer. As it turns out, it was perhaps only a plateau before a climb to much higher commercial summits ahead. Soccer for sale: FIFA, a not-for-profit institution, is exploring the formation of FIFA Forward Enterprise, an entity that would house all of the organization's commercial rights (broadcasting, sponsorships, ticketing, and licensing). In step with its formation, FIFA would sell a non-controlling minority stake in the entity to investors, with an initial capital raise up to $4.2 billion that values the organization at $20 billion. The investors: The expected lead investor is Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital vehicle recently established by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital, a successful technology-focused venture capital investor that has turned to sports in recent months. The commish: According to The Times, which broke the news, FIFA president Gianni Infantino would serve as the entity's commissioner when his term expires, potentially earning Goodell-level compensation. That possibility has invited stinging rebukes. Insurrection incoming? UEFA, the governing body of European football, voiced strenuous opposition to the potential deal. "The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially," UEFA said in a statement. "None of us are owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell." The support of Europe, home to the reigning champion and many top teams, is not an insignificant matter, and a World Cup boycott is reportedly on the table. FIFA can also expect dissent from the fan community, which has rebelled against similar commercially oriented measures in the past. In club competition, the European Super League concept was effectively squashed by fan unrest before it could achieve liftoff. Bottom line: FIFA's commercial ambition was unlikely to recede after a massively successful World Cup. However, inviting private investors into the fold charts an irreversible course toward maximizing commercial aspirations. That may be too much for some member associations and fans to stomach, setting the stage for the ultimate and definitive clash between sporting tradition and financial largesse.   ⚾️ FLAMETHROWER BEST FASTBALL EVER? NOBODY BEATS THE MIZ (John Fisher/Getty Images) It's actually not that common for the hardest-throwing starter in MLB to also be the best starter in MLB, but Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski appears to have reached that plane of dominance this season. Good luck, hitters: The NL Cy Young favorite has been utterly ridiculous all year (11-4, 1.58 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 185 K, 28 BB, 120 IP), thanks in large part to his triple-digit heater, which just might be the best fastball in the history of the sport. Wild stats: The Miz has hit triple digits on 42.1% of his four-seam fastballs this season. The only other starters who have ever reached double digits in that stat are Hunter Greene (16.9% in 2025) and Jacob deGrom (15.1% in 2023). Among starters in the pitch tracking era, Misiorowski is the all-time leader in fastballs with a perceived speed of at least 103 mph, with 710. Second-most is Jordan Hicks with… six. Jack Baer, Yahoo Sports: Misiorowski is the apex predator of pitch velocity, but that's not the only reason we're saying his fastball is better than any other in history. We can hear the coaches already, saying that fastballs are more than velocity. They're about placement. They're about trajectory. They're about movement. Well, he rates from good to elite on all of those, too. This is a pitcher who almost certainly throws harder than any pitcher in history, releases the ball as close to the plate as anyone, spins the ball as much as anyone and hits the good parts of the strike zone at a well-above-average rate. There have been other freak fastballs in history. Walter Johnson and Randy Johnson both threw elite velocities in their eras, from a place no batters were used to seeing the ball. The real key to a great fastball, or any pitch, is for it to do something the batter is not used to. And Misiorowski certainly does that in a way no other pitcher can replicate across history. Consider this: The Miz has been so good through 120 innings this season that if he posted a league-average ERA (4.21) for the remaining 42 innings he needs to qualify for the ERA title, he would still rank second in the NL in ERA and third in MLB.   💰 JERSEY SPONSORS PATCH PARTY: IRISH BEST BUCKEYES (Yahoo Sports) Ohio State unveiled a jersey patch partnership with JPMorganChase on Tuesday morning, a deal valued at more than $15 million annually, per Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. It was the richest reported school-level patch deal in college sports… for five hours. Down goes Brutus: Ohio State's reign atop the collegiate-patch throne ended on Tuesday afternoon when Notre Dame announced a patch partnership with SoFi, worth an annual average of $18 to $20 million over six years, per Dellenger. What to watch: The vast majority of schools have yet to land patch partners. While the Big 12 struck a $20 million deal with Monster Energy at the conference level, the Ohio State and Notre Dame deals represent the first credible patch numbers for top-tier schools, potentially opening the floodgates for more agreements.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 Charlotte' s Bank of America Stadium hosts North America's best tonight. (Krista Jasso/Getty Images) ⚽️ MLS All-Star Game The best of MLS (USA and Canada) and Liga MX (Mexico) will converge in Charlotte this evening (8pm ET, Apple) for regional bragging rights in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game, just days after North America hosted the World Cup. Head-to-head: The MLS All-Star roster features 29 players from 21 clubs, led by a team-high four from first-place Nashville. The Liga MX roster features 24 players from eight clubs, including five from reigning champions Cruz Azul. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Yankees at White Sox (7:40pm, Prime) … AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.70 ERA) takes the mound against Davis Martin (9-5, 3.49 ERA) and the first-place Sox. 🏀 WNBA: Dream at Wings (8pm, USA); Valkyries at Mercury (10pm, USA) … Golden State (19-8) will look to stay hot after winning 9 of its last 10 games entering the All-Star break. ⚽️ NWSL: KC Current vs. Racing Louisville (8pm, CBSSN); Bay FC vs. Gotham FC (10pm, CBSSN) … Gotham (2nd) and KC (6th) are near the top of the table, while Bay (14th) and Louisville (16th) are near the bottom. 🎾 Tennis: Mubadala DC Open (11am, Tennis) … Taylor Fritz and Naomi Osaka headline today's Round of 16 action in the nation's capital. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🎮 99 CLUB NFL TRIVIA (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) Six NFL players will boast a 99 overall rating (highest possible) when "Madden NFL 27" releases on Aug. 13. Question: Can you name all six players pictured above? Answer at the bottom.   📸 THROUGH THE LENS PHOTO FINISH (Adam Pretty/Getty Images) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Glasgow, Scotland — Swimmers compete during the Men's 100m Breaststroke at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where Australia currently leads the medal count by a wide margin (80), followed by England (44), Canada (35), South Africa (16) and Scotland (15).   Trivia answer: Clockwise from top right: Josh Allen (Bills QB), Trey McBride (Cardinals TE), Matthew Stafford (Rams QB), Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals WR), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks WR), Myles Garrett (Rams DE)

Biblical Ataroth High on a ridge in western Jordan, overlooking the Dead Sea some 6.5 miles away, sits the remarkable site of Khirbat Ataruz, likely the location known in the Hebrew Bible as Ataroth. During the Iron Age, beginning in the early to mid-ninth century BCE, a remarkable temple complex flourished here, and, for a time, control of the site was hotly contested by the competing powers of Israel and Moab. In the Summer 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, archaeologists Chang-Ho Ji and Aaron Schade detail their findings from two and a half decades of excavation at the site in their article “Sacred Center: The Iron Age Temple at Biblical Ataroth.” https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/biblical-ataroth/? The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared heretic by orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, their gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/the-nag-hammadi-codices/?

Florida executes two men in one day UPDATE: The state of Florida executed 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone Tuesday evening, making him the oldest prisoner executed in Florida’s modern history. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 1986. https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/james-aren-duckett-is-executed-on-1987-conviction-for-killing-11-year-old-girl/ Judge won’t order state to implement expanded access to KidCare A state judge has refused to order Florida health care officials to implement a 2023 law that would allow as many as 68,000 uninsured children to access subsidized health insurance coverage through the Florida KidCare program. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/28/judge-wont-order-state-to-implement-expanded-access-to-kidcare/? Byron Donalds wants to ax ultra-processed foods in schools Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is advocating for a plan similar to one the Florida Legislature has declined to advance — removing ultra-processed foods from school lunchrooms. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/28/byron-donalds-wants-to-ax-ultra-processed-foods-in-school/?

Southern Europe burns as 3 firefighters die and France battles blaze 4 times the size of Paris LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — An uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge again in southwest France on Wednesday — as three firefighters died in Greece and crews across southern Europe confronted a punishing mix of heat, drought and strong winds. https://apnews.com/article/france-spain-bordeaux-wildfires-heat-wave-climate-change-c3d9c45cdbf57d19bbec46d49e5237de?

Rescuers search for the missing after powerful earthquake in Japan Soldiers and emergency workers combed through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 18 people and left many missing in southwestern Japan. Read more. What to know: Bullet train services remained suspended and some airlines canceled flights. “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.” Nearly 34,900 homes were without electricity and thousands stayed in shelters. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Aerial shots of the damage Photos show the aftermath WATCH: Part of stone wall around Kumamoto castle collapses

US and Saudi Arabia launch strikes against militias in Iraq Jordan’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country's military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. Read more. What to know: The U.S. Central Command said its forces worked with Saudi Arabia’s forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days. The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for about three days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Pentagon ties new casualty category for renewed US-Iran fighting to the end of ‘Operation Epic Fury’ Recent fighting with Iran further draws down key US air defense stockpiles, analysis says Netanyahu praises first meeting with Trump since launching the Iran war Zelenskyy has a ‘good meeting’ with Trump at the White House as he seeks more cooperation with US

July 29, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. The war in the Middle East is escalating, and missiles are flying across the region. There’s more below. But first, I want to take you to Europe. Europe’s burning The fires threatening central Spain and southwestern France over the past two weeks may be small by American standards. In Europe, though, they are tremendous. Some are the largest in their countries’ modern histories, raging in places not accustomed to fires of this scale: on the outskirts of Madrid, for instance, or near the ancient vineyards of Bordeaux. Firefighters have been struggling to contain the fires before another heat wave descends on the region today, with temperatures soaring to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Last month was the hottest June on record in Western Europe, and climate experts say the continent can expect even higher temperatures in the future. The heat dries vegetation, making it more susceptible to fire. (It also exhausts firefighters.) And more destruction may lie ahead. Last year had a record-breaking fire season across Europe, my colleagues report, with more than 2.5 million acres burned, about 60 percent of them in August. The fires of the last two weeks have put 2026 ahead of last year at the same time. These charts tell the terrible story: Source: European Forest Fire Information System, as of July 28, 2026. The New York Times ‘A wake-up call’ The fires have been particularly hard on Madrid, which in recent years has become a booming European capital. Residents can’t recall a time when such a large fire advanced so close to the city, reports Jason Horowitz, our bureau chief there: In a country led by a government that has defined itself by the seriousness with which it takes climate change, the flames have come unsettlingly close to the capital. The fires around Madrid have brought to tears the region’s president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Experts say they are a harbinger for the damage to come on the world’s fastest warming continent. “These are difficult hours,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Monday afternoon during a news conference in Castellón, on Spain’s eastern coast, where a new fire raged and forced thousands of new evacuations. “This is a wake-up call,” one Madrileño told Jason. Another said that even before the fires, weeks of record-breaking heat had exhausted her. “It just keeps spreading,” she said, looking at a sunset ruined by smoke. “Just don’t let it reach here.” ‘Be prepared’ In southwestern France. Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The fires scare people in Bordeaux as well, particularly in the region’s storied vineyards, home to world-famous appellations like Lafite Rothschild, Pomerol and St.-Émilion. Mark Landler, our Paris bureau chief, visited one of them this week, a chateau built around a castle that dates to 1365. “For the wine industry, it’s one thing on top of the other,” a director at the chateau told him. There’s been drought, heat waves, weak sales because drinking habits are changing, and President Trump’s tariffs on French wine. “It doesn’t make our lives very easy,” he continued. “In the face of that risk, we need to be prepared.” And so, Mark reports, the chateau is readying itself for the once inconceivable possibility that fire could reach its grounds and buildings, with plans to evacuate the chickens, goats, horses and llamas that live there. “The animals are living, breathing beings, unlike the vines,” the director said. “The vines are just material.” See maps and charts showing the scale of these fires. Source: VIIRS satellite fire detection data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via NASA. The New York Times LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FUNERAL Senator Lindsey Graham lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda. Kenny Holston/The New York Times World leaders and U.S. politicians gathered at the Washington National Cathedral to honor Lindsey Graham, the longtime South Carolina senator who died this month at 71. Peter Baker, The Times’s chief White House correspondent, reported from the service yesterday. He writes of Graham: He simply did not fit the cookie-cutter Washington mold. He had little time for staid, heavily edited speeches and all the time in the world for freewheeling Sunday talk shows. He liked to riff. He liked to tease. He liked to surprise and provoke. He could be funny and angry, charming and exasperating, sometimes all at once. President Trump eulogized Graham as “one of the great figures in Senate history.” Graham, he said, was “truly hawkish: He never saw a war that he didn’t like.” Some of the foreign dignitaries whose wars Graham championed were in attendance, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump met separately with both leaders, but he kept the meetings and their details private. Today, a procession and public funeral will be held in South Carolina, followed by a private burial. THE LATEST NEWS War in the Middle East The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had carried out joint strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The Iranian military said it had targeted American military assets in Jordan. The Houthis claimed an attack on another Saudi tanker, escalating its declared blockade of the Red Sea. Iran publicly hanged two protesters who participated in the country’s demonstrations in January, human rights groups said. Airports Times Exclusive: ICE has started arresting foreign citizens with expired visas, including spouses of Americans, as they travel through airports. (We’ve made this link free.) A U.S. citizen returning to the country gave customs officers a passcode that erased the contents of his phone. Now he’s been charged with a felony. Politics Representative Max Miller, an Ohio Republican, has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno — daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno — of scalding her, holding a gun to her head and fracturing their toddler’s collarbone. Miller has denied the accusations. The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the director of national intelligence. Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, called on Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has been hospitalized since June, to prove his capacity to serve, or to resign. The Democratic Party approved a new primary calendar for 2028. South Carolina will vote first. Around the World In Japan. Naoki Hiraoka/Kyodo News, via Associated Press A powerful earthquake hit southwest Japan yesterday, igniting fires and damaging buildings and highways. At least 13 people have died. Six months into the Trump administration’s oil blockade of Cuba, there are widespread blackouts. At night, Cubans struggle to sleep without electricity for fans — so they gather in the dark. In the video below, Jack Nicas explains. Click to watch. The New York Times Health Anthony Fauci’s diaries reveal an obsession with his own celebrity, even during a deadly pandemic. Dozens of states have tried to dismantle vaccine rules and undermine public trust in vaccines this year, introducing more than 200 bills for the purpose, a Times analysis found. The cyclosporiasis outbreak has sickened more than 11,000 Americans so far. Health officials insist the country’s food supply is safe. (Related: Conspiracy theories about the Trump administration’s role in the outbreak are spreading on social media.) Other Big Stories In an interview with The Times, Mark Zuckerberg took aim at Anthropic and OpenAI, which have pushed to tightly control A.I. development. Florida executed two men convicted of murder, both by lethal injection. It was the first time in decades the state executed two people in one day. (Florida has been carrying out executions at a record pace, The Times Magazine recently reported.) OPINIONS Is more data about your body actually good for you? David Wallace-Wells and Rachael Bedard debate the drive to optimize personal health. More air-conditioning can’t save France from dangerously hot summers. But real government policy could, Madeleine Schwartz writes. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS We’ve made these links free for you. Capuchinos de Taboga Project Animal intelligence: Scientists in Costa Rica are using A.I. to test the cognitive abilities of monkeys in the wild. Manta baby: Scientists in Mexico used an underwater ultrasound to confirm pregnancies in giant rays. See how they did it. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about a man who finished a 10-mile hike after impaling himself on a trekking pole. TODAY’S NUMBER 60,000 — That is how many Italian honeybees live, and work, in hives on the roof of The Times’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. Check ’em out. SPORTS FIFA: Soccer’s governing body announced plans to sell a stake in a new company that will run its premier events. A member of Trump’s extended family is expected to be involved through the lead investment firm. Women’s soccer: In Malawi’s first-ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations game, the team stunned Nigeria, the 10-time reigning champion. RECIPE OF THE DAY David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Here’s the plan. Make chłodnik litewski, this Polish chilled-beet-and-potato soup of extreme excellence, and get it into the fridge to cure so that its flavors marry and its color deepens. You’ll eat it tomorrow for dinner. While the beets are roasting and you’re cooking the potatoes, order a pizza. That’s dinner tonight. SAYING GOODBYE Marcus Maddox for The New York Times Eight seasons after its debut on Showtime, Lena Waithe’s crime-and-trauma series “The Chi,” the longest-running Black drama on cable television, wrapped up last week. Waithe sat down with The Times’s Salamishah Tillet to talk about the show’s evolution, the pressures she faced and what she was trying to achieve. “There was this desire to compare it to ‘The Wire,’” Waithe said. “There’s no greater compliment, but I’m not that interested in the system. I’m more interested in the people that have to deal with the system and what kind of impact it has on their lives.” Read the conversation. More on culture Marlon James’s “The Disappearers,” a novel about a hate crime in 1980s Jamaica, was nominated yesterday for the Booker Prize, alongside a dozen other books, including Douglas Stuart’s “John of John” and “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout. Here are all the nominees. Emily Wilson, whose translation of Homer’s “Odyssey” was a touchstone for Christopher Nolan as he adapted the story for the screen, absolutely roasted the movie in The London Review of Books. “I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script,” she writes. Whatever you think of the film, it’s fun to read. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Take the stairs — and follow eight other tips experts say will increase your longevity. Stop exchanging your grill’s empty propane tank for a “full” one. Have it refilled instead. You’ll get more fuel for less money. (There is no link. This is my learned experience.) Replace your dishwasher detergent with one of the ones Wirecutter recommends. I’m sure you like yours. But it’s doubtful you’ve done as those scullions have, and tested over 30 different varieties. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were impeding, impending and impinged. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. If you don’t already, would you consider subscribing? Subscriptions make our work possible and allow it to continue. See you tomorrow. — Sam Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

THIS DAY IN HISTORY July 29 1958 NASA created The U.S. Congress passes legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1967 The Doors score their first #1 hit with “Light My Fire” 2000 Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston wed Civil War 1862 Confederate spy Belle Boyd is captured Crime 1976 Son of Sam’s first murder 1900 Italian American assassinates Italian king European History 1981 Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Inventions & Science 1909 General Motors buys Cadillac Sports 1996 Carl Lewis wins fourth consecutive long jump at 35 Vietnam War 1967 Rocket causes deadly fire on aircraft carrier 1965 101st Airborne Division arrives in Vietnam World War I 1914 Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas exchange frantic telegrams, trying to avoid WWI World War II 1921 Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party

🍿 1 fun thing: Bigger than "Hamilton" Data: Box Office Mojo. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios "Hadestown: The Musical" — a filmed version of the stage show — opened to a whopping $10.2 million domestically over the weekend, surpassing "Hamilton" to become the highest-grossing debut for a filmed stage production, Axios' Sara Fischer, Danielle Alberti and Kerry Flynn write. Why it matters: Successful box-office and streaming runs are delivering new revenue streams that can drive investment in new shows. Keep reading ...

🤖 AI spending slams chip stocks Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Investors are rethinking their fondness for the chipmakers that make up the backbone of the new tech buildout, Axios' Emily Peck writes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 briefly flirted with correction territory yesterday — a drop of 10% or more — before finishing 9.5% below its June 2 record closing high. The pullback follows renewed concerns about heavy AI spending and rising Chinese competition.

💥 Iran's surprise attack Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles toward a U.S. military base in Jordan yesterday in what U.S. Central Command called an "attempted surprise attack," Axios' Barak Ravid writes. All of the missiles were intercepted, CENTCOM said. Why it matters: This marks Iran's first ballistic missile attack against a U.S. base in the region since President Trump paused strikes Friday to give diplomacy another chance. Keep reading.

📉 Supreme Court ratings collapse Data: Gallup. Chart: Noah Bressner/Axios The Supreme Court's approval rating — long the highest among the three branches — has sunk to a record low (33%), Axios' Josephine Walker writes from new Gallup polling. Republicans drove much of this year's slide. Just 58% approve of the court this year, down from a near-record 79% in 2025. 🛰️ The big picture: The collapsing trust in U.S. institutions is persistent, and often spreading. Go deeper: Supreme Court joins Trump, Congress in job approval slump.

Anthropic's lonely island Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Anthropic spent this winter and spring as the darling of America's AI boom, conquering the frontier while casting itself as the industry's moral conscience. By summer, the Claude maker found itself alone on an island of its own principles, Axios' Zachary Basu and Madison Mills write. Why it matters: Anthropic is simultaneously the world's most valuable startup and its most isolated AI leader. The company's idiosyncrasies have strained its relationship with developers, policymakers and partners as it barrels toward a potential trillion-dollar IPO. Driving the news: Anthropic is the only frontier AI lab that didn't sign an open letter led by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urging Washington not to restrict open-weight models, a category currently dominated by China. Open-weight models are downloadable systems users can run, modify and build on without paying for a company-controlled interface — making them cheaper and more flexible, but harder to control once released. Google and OpenAI, Anthropic's two biggest closed-model rivals, joined dozens of other signatories over the weekend, leaving Anthropic alone in defending the business model all three still depend on. Zoom out: Anthropic, founded by OpenAI defectors with safety as its organizing principle, is used to playing the contrarian. But as the AI race accelerates, it is growing isolated across nearly every major policy fight: 🪖 Military use: The Pentagon blacklisted Anthropic in February after a bitter fight over whether Claude could be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons. With litigation ongoing, top Pentagon official Emil Michael lashed out at Anthropic on Friday, saying in an X post there is "no AI company more hostile to the warfighter." ⚠️ Guardrails: No lab has pushed harder for AI regulation than Anthropic, which has backed state AI laws and proposed an FAA-style regulator to screen advanced models before release. But when the White House flagged a security vulnerability this summer, Anthropic disputed its severity — triggering export controls that forced its Fable and Mythos models offline for nearly three weeks. 🧑‍🔬 Distillation: Anthropic has accused Chinese labs of training lower-cost models on Claude's outputs via "industrial-scale distillation campaigns." Critics counter that distillation is standard in AI development — and that Anthropic is an awkward messenger after settling a $1.5 billion copyright lawsuit over pirated books. For the record: In response to a request for comment, Anthropic pointed to a blog post by CEO Dario Amodei, "Our position on open-weights models." Reality check: Anthropic remains in an extraordinarily strong position — arguably the strongest of any AI lab in the world. The same qualities driving its isolation — caution, refusal to bend, insistence on being right rather than liked — helped establish its lead in the first place. Share this story. 👉 Go deeper: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, "The AI Future Is for Everyone," proposes a "philosophy based on individual empowerment as the source of prosperity, invention as the primary purpose of superintelligence, and balance of power as the foundation of safety." Gift link.

🎤 Trump's new war pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios' Barak Ravid last night that he asked President Trump for an emergency "winter package" of Patriot interceptors to help thwart Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. Why it matters: Ukraine's stockpile of the interceptors is almost depleted, and without them, the country can't defend against ballistic missiles. While the front line remains at a stalemate, Ukraine has gained momentum with drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia, hitting oil facilities and other critical infrastructure. Zelensky said the changing war dynamic has helped his standing with Trump: "Our relations are much better and more constructive. Not so emotional like it was. And I think that it's good that it's better." Today's New York Post cover. 👀 What to watch: The Ukrainian president said he thinks Putin is moving toward further escalation and could try to provoke other countries in the region to have "a more simple victory to sell to his audience." Zelensky claimed Russia still receives weapons from Iran and is building infrastructure for 30,000 more North Korean troops to fight in Ukraine. More from the interview. ps:Sen Graham has always been one of the few senators that always used to do the right thing! Than trump came along! But one thing he never let trump do was con him about Russia and putin!! He stood up for Ukraine and its people from the beginning!!!

Thune's next nightmare Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images Senate Majority Leader John Thune has one of Washington's toughest jobs. It could get even harder next year, Axios' Stef W. Kight writes. Why it matters: Thune is one of the few Republicans who's managed to say "no" to President Trump and keep his job. But the Senate leader could enter the next Congress with diminished power, leading a conference increasingly loyal to Trump. Republican control of Congress could weaken, or disappear. The Senate's MAGA flank is poised to grow. Trump — who has been relatively restrained in criticizing Thune despite his unmet demands to pass the SAVE America Act and kill the filibuster — will have nothing to lose in the last two years of his presidency. 🔎 Zoom in: The Senate Republican Conference itself is poised for a drastic power shift away from Thune's institutionalist wing. The moderate voices of Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) will be gone after Trump undercut them. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) faces a tough reelection fight. 🔮 What's next: Hardline conservatives and MAGA voices are gaining power. Longtime thorns in leadership's side have ascended to committee chairmanships, including Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Rand Paul (Ky.). Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) is positioned to lead the powerful Judiciary Committee next year, putting the online MAGA favorite in charge of judicial nominations — including any to the Supreme Court. A surge of House-bred MAGA energy is also coming. Conservative members — including Reps. Barry Moore (Ala.), Kevin Hern (Okla.) and Harriet Hageman (Wyo.) — are all but certain to join the upper chamber.

Apple's Upgrade Push Apple yesterday announced a new option for customers to lease iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. The move came as the company briefly hit a $5T valuation after surpassing Nvidia in market value earlier this week. The program, called Upgrade, involves a partnership with buy-now-pay-later company Klarna. Customers can lease iPhones for up to two years, starting at $17.99 per month (the iPhone 17 Pro will cost up to $45.99 per month). At the one- or two-year mark, customers can purchase their existing device for an additional fee, upgrade it, or return it. Estimates show the average iPhone replacement cycle has grown to nearly four years; if the leasing option is successful, a portion of Apple’s customers are expected to upgrade almost twice as often. The program may also allow Apple to better spread out revenue across quarters. Did you know the iPhone drove 51% of Apple’s total revenue in FY2024? Here’s what made up the other 49% (w/chart).

Russia accuses Telegram CEO Pavel Durov of aiding terrorism in its latest digital crackdown Russian authorities said Wednesday they had charged Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism, the latest step by the Kremlin to bring the internet and digital communications under its control. https://apnews.com/article/russia-telegram-pavel-durov-ukraine-a6efe4692f3415c2046f0893d114174b?

Times Square was originally called Longacre Square until it was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly built Times Building. James

🚆 Parting shot: Mountain rails Photo: Bruce Bosse Reader Bruce Bosse and his wife, Sharon, took in the stunning scenery last weekend aboard a train in Skagway during their first trip to Alaska. Based in Knoxville, they've become avid travelers since retiring a few years ago.

The mouth-longevity link Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios "Say ahh." Nobody likes it, but your mouth may be one of the most revealing windows into how well — and how long — you live, Axios' Natalie Daher writes. The big picture: Scientists are finding that gum disease may do far more than threaten your teeth, The Wall Street Journal reports (gift link). 🪥 Zoom in: Bacteria from diseased gums and the inflammation they trigger may be linked to heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline and other conditions that shape how well we age. Stunning stat: Nearly half of all adults 30 and older have periodontitis, a serious form of gum disease that can cause bone loss around the teeth, according to the CDC. That share rises to nearly 60% for those 65 or older, just as the risk of other chronic conditions increases. 🩺 Between the lines: Better coordination between dentists and doctors could help identify health risks earlier and improve patient care. But first, the health system needs to overcome the traditional divide between medicine and dentistry through more record-sharing and cross-referrals. "We envision a future where a heart doctor asks patients if they are seeing their dentist regularly, and whether they are aware their periodontal disease could mean they have a much worse heart situation," Wenyuan Shi, head of the American Dental Association Forsyth Institute, tells the WSJ. 🦷 Friction point: Many older Americans lack dental coverage, and Medicare doesn't generally cover routine dental care. 🔬 What to watch: Researchers and startups are developing new ways to detect, prevent and treat gum disease. That includes therapies that target inflammation, AI tools for reading dental X-rays, saliva tests, and sensors that monitor changes in the mouth and even connect to wearables. A recent Journal of Periodontology report predicted those technologies could power better detection and treatment. The bottom line: Brushing and flossing aren't just saving your teeth. They're supporting your whole body.

Sen. The post What 1,141 pages of Anthony Fauci’s diary actually prove about sincerity appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Judge John P. Cronan held that the Commission’s membership satisfies the Federal Advisory Committee Act and that its record releases during the case left the plaintiffs with nothing left to win. The post Federal Judge Dismisses Interfaith Challenge to Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

🫟 House Dems' Michigan mess Sen. Elissa Slotkin has rankled some colleagues and fellow Michigan Democrats by boosting retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam in the state's 7th House District Democratic primary. Why it matters: Slotkin's support for Maasdam has exacerbated infighting between establishment Democrats, some of whom prefer Bridget Brink, a career foreign service officer who resigned in protest as ambassador to Ukraine last year. ‼️ That potentially creates an opening for William Lawrence, a progressive who many Democratic strategists and lawmakers are skeptical can win the seat in November. The three Democrats are vying to take on Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) in a district that President Trump won by just over a single percentage point in 2024. 📺 Slotkin, who represented the seat before Barrett, recruited and endorsed Maasdam — and then cut an ad on his behalf last week. She also has lent her name to his fundraising texts and paid for internal polling on his behalf, according to emails and texts we viewed and multiple sources familiar with the matter. 💬 What they're saying: Several Michigan Democrats fumed that Slotkin's support for Maasdam risks eating into the lead that Brink has held for much of the campaign and creating an even larger opening for Lawrence. State Rep. Jennifer Conlin, who described Slotkin as a mentor, told us she "found it so perplexing" the senator endorsed Maasdam, given that Brink shares her background as a woman in national security. Another local elected official expressed confusion at Slotkin's support for Maasdam because, they told us, the senator has told local allies "very plainly" that any Democratic nominee in the district "has got to be a woman." The other side: "Senator Slotkin is singularly focused on one thing: flipping her old seat from red back to blue. Her entire goal is to help win back the House and put a real check on President Trump," said Slotkin spokesperson Josh Stewart. Stewart added: "Matt Maasdam is the best candidate to do that." — Andrew Solender