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📉 Biggest violent-crime drop in 90 years Data: FBI. (2021 data was estimated due to a low number of agencies reporting.) Chart: Noah Bressner/Axios Axios' Russell Contreras, who closely tracks criminal justice data, writes: The U.S. violent crime rate plunged 9.7% last year — the largest annual drop since the FBI's national estimates began in 1936 — according to the bureau's data released last week. Why it matters: The data underscore the historic scale of America's crime decline — a trend that appears to be continuing in the first half of this year. 💡 Between the lines: Experts note that the nation's violent crime rate (now the lowest since 1956) has been dropping since 2022. The reasons for the decrease, which is widespread geographically, are unclear: Rates are falling in cities with different public safety strategies, economic conditions and political leadership. A leading theory: U.S. drug overdoses, alcohol consumption and firearms purchases — which helped spike the homicide rate when they were going up — are all down. And post-COVID, cities returned to more stable routines and employment. President Trump takes credit for the decline, pointing to his National Guard deployments in D.C., Memphis and other cities. 🧮 By the numbers: Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter dropped 18.1%. Robbery fell 18.5%, rape 7.6% and aggravated assault 7.2%. The U.S. murder rate decreased 18.5% to 4.1 per 100,000 residents, tying 1955 and 1956 for the lowest rate since FBI national estimates began. Property crime declined 12.4%, led by drops in motor vehicle theft (22.7%), burglary (15.8%) and larceny-theft (9.8%).

👀 Political dirty tricks upend midterms Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images This year's midterms are becoming a watershed election for primary meddling, mysterious super PACs, alleged straw candidates and all manner of political shenanigans, Axios' Andrew Solender and Stef W. Kight write. Why it matters: With fewer battleground House districts after redistricting and the fight for the Senate extremely tight, each of these schemes could have an outsized impact on control of Congress. 🟢 Green Party spoilers: Democrats are accusing the Green Party nominee in Pennsylvania's 7th District of trying to aid Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) by siphoning progressive votes from Democrat Bob Brooks. Lawsuits allege the candidate, Andrew Tupone, was a registered Republican until February and had help from Republicans getting on the ballot. 👯 Seeing double: In Alaska's primary today, there will be two Dan Sullivans on the ballot — Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska) and former teacher Dan J. Sullivan. 🫏 Democratic dropouts: Democratic Senate candidates in Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota have dropped out at the last minute to lift independent candidates' chances of ousting Republicans. ⌛ 11th-hour switcheroos: Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) both drew criticism for dropping their reelection bids just before the filing deadlines to ensure their chosen successors would not face primary opposition. 🎯 Primary meddling: Federal Election Commission filings revealed Republicans were behind a series of "pop-up" super PACs with names like "Lead Left PAC" and "Progressive Champions PAC." The groups bought ads propping up left-wing or scandal-tarnished Democratic primary candidates. 🇮🇱 AIPAC: The pro-Israel group, whose brand has become reviled by Democratic primary voters, also supported candidates through obscure super PACs. In Illinois, it boosted a preferred House candidate through groups called "Chicago Progressive Partnership" and "Elect Chicago Women."

Trump torches allies Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images President Trump has a new rule for America's partners: Cross him in one theater, and the consequences will follow you into the next, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: Trump has spent his second term battering U.S. allies, humiliating their leaders, and using decades-old security relationships to settle personal and political scores. The Iran war has only deepened those impulses: Trump is growing angrier at allies that stayed out of the conflict — and punishing them as he struggles to end it. 🔎 Zoom in: South Korea — recently hailed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a "model ally" — is the latest and most surprising casualty in Trump's retribution campaign. On Sunday, Trump ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" an annual military exercise, citing the cost and his "very good relationship" with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Trump noted in his Truth Social announcement that he "recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'" For years, Europe has borne the brunt of Trump's assault on American alliances. As the Iran war has widened those transatlantic fractures, his pressure campaign has become more systematic. Bloomberg reports the Pentagon sent NATO allies a survey probing their loyalty to Trump's foreign policy as it weighs where to keep — or withdraw — U.S. troops. Between the lines: Allies that departed from that submissive posture have already paid a price. The Pentagon moved in May to withdraw roughly 5,000 troops from Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly savaged Trump's Iran strategy. Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain after Madrid denied U.S. base access for strikes on Iran. Even Oman — the key intermediary trying to broker a Hormuz deal — is now in Trump's crosshairs. He threatened yesterday to "bomb the sh*t out of" the longtime U.S. partner if it "gets in the way" of an agreement with Iran. 🔭 Zoom out: The same war fueling Trump's fury at U.S. allies is also exposing the limits of American hard power. The 60-day deadline Trump and Iran set for a final peace deal expired yesterday with no agreement — and the two sides further apart than when they signed their June memorandum of understanding. The Strait of Hormuz remains a stubborn monument to that impasse after months of U.S. military and economic pressure. The Navy is pulling the USS George Washington from the western Pacific to relieve the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln, temporarily leaving Asia without a U.S. carrier.

Days of Incoherence (Anna Moneymaker / Getty)   View in browser A memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, reached in June and intended to provide breathing room to end the conflict between the two countries, expired today. The agreement will be little missed: A cease-fire had effectively ended within about three weeks of its signing, and the MOU had failed to produce fruitful negotiations or a real opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The president’s actions in the days leading up to the deadline demonstrate that his approach to the world, always contingent and improvisational, has lost its last shred of coherence. The White House cannot agree on the goals of the Iran war, much less on how to achieve them. The president is clashing with long-standing allies, in conflict with his vice president on the aims of the war, and publicly at odds with uniformed commanders over conditions for American troops stationed abroad. Trump on Friday called on Americans to accept higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He posted this morning that the “number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon”—even though his administration assessed before the war that Iran was not actively building weapons, even though the White House hasn’t offered any explanation for how the war will prevent the regime from restarting its weapons program, and even though the war may make Iran’s desire for a nuclear arsenal only more urgent. Meanwhile, Vice President Vance says that lowering fuel prices is actually now “goal No. 1” of the war. In practice, the real aim of any diplomatic or military action now is resuming ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran seized early in the conflict—a risk foreseen by many analysts but not by Trump. For weeks now, Trump’s basic choice has been clear: Either launch a much larger military operation, including ground troops, or else surrender de facto control of the strait permanently. The president refuses to accept this. He continues to complain that the Iranians are bad-faith negotiators, which is surely true but was well known before the war. During a speech on Friday, Trump said that “pretty soon, I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.” This is dishonest, delusional, or both. Such a declaration would contradict Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s insistence on the neutrality of the strait as well as Trump’s repeated statements that the U.S. should not act as a global policeman. But it’s also beside the point, because the United States has no means to control the strait. The conditions for those U.S. troops already in the region are reportedly awful. Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been at sea for nearly nine months, sailors report shortages of basic supplies, malfunctioning systems, and faltering mental health. When Trump was asked Friday about service members’ families who have publicly voiced their worries, he insisted that they were not concerned: “No, they’re not,” he said, adding that the ship’s deployment had not gone on “nearly long enough” yet. In a sign that military brass takes these worries seriously, the admiral overseeing the war visited the carrier this weekend and acknowledged mental-health issues. With the U.S. unwilling or unable to break the Hormuz deadlock, Oman has embarked on negotiations with Iran to create a toll system for ships. This morning, Trump threatened to expand the war with strikes against that country. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” he told Fox News. Trump’s frustration with Oman is understandable, yet a threat to attack a venerable regional ally is still shocking. This kind of public conflict with allies has become typical. Over the weekend, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner—who has no official government post—met with Hamas officials in an attempt to revitalize an administration plan to disarm the group and rebuild Gaza. That plan is struggling for several reasons, including a flat rejection from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long been close to Trump and reportedly talked him into the Iran war. Meanwhile, Trump announced yesterday that he was curtailing joint military exercises with South Korea, “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea.” This supposed friendship has produced a splashy 2018 summit and flattering correspondence that Trump purloined from the White House after he lost the 2020 election, but it has done nothing to advance American interests. Most important, it has done nothing to curtail North Korea’s nuclear program. At the same time that Trump is fighting a war in Iran that he claims will prevent nuclear proliferation, he’s bestowing a favor on North Korea, which has offered no concessions and many threats. But Trump also gave another reason for his snub, noting that South Korea—like every other major U.S. ally—has declined to get involved in the Iran quagmire. Throughout Trump’s two terms, many analysts have sought to discern some sort of guiding doctrine to his foreign policy. The incoherence of his actions in the past week alone should provide further evidence that looking for a framework is futile. Earlier this year, my colleagues Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker reported that the White House’s foreign-affairs philosophy was “Fuck around and find out.” Administration officials meant this as a warning to the leaders of other countries. But as the current crisis festers, they, too, are finding out. Related: The fuck-around-and-find-out presidency Trump will make South Korea pay for his Iran humiliation.

ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers who make immigration arrests U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. https://apnews.com/article/ice-liability-insurance-misconduct-civil-lawsuit-af330d49dcb9e40295c1fea4fc9ae6f6?

Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial postponed indefinitely amid double jeopardy fight Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which was slated to begin Sept. 8, has been postponed indefinitely as his lawyers seek to have the case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds following his guilty plea last week to federal charges. Read More. Mom and sister testify about Lindsay Clancy's declining mental state before she killed her children Lindsay Clancy's mother and sister took the stand Monday to recount how they saw her become increasingly anxious, paranoid and suicidal in the months before she killed her three children. Read More.

Democratic primary turnout has soared in some states. Can it carry over to November? Democratic voters are showing up for this year’s primaries in numbers not seen in decades, a pattern emerging across several states that has the party optimistic about its prospects in November when control of Congress will be at stake. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Florida’s state primary Florida voters will select nominees Tuesday to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and to complete the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s unexpired U.S. Senate term. The state also will hold its first congressional primaries since adopting a redrawn district map designed to boost Republican candidates in November. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Alaska’s state primary Alaska voters will narrow down a long list of contenders Tuesday for a competitive U.S. Senate seat that’s expected to play a pivotal role in determining which party will hold a majority in the chamber next year. Crowded fields of candidates for governor, U.S. House and the state Legislature will also compete for spots on the general election ballot. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in California’s special congressional election Four months after Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations that torpedoed his campaign for California governor, his former Bay Area constituents will pick a replacement Tuesday to serve out the rest of his term. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Wyoming’s state primary Wyoming voters will choose nominees for an unusually high number of open-seat races in a state primary Tuesday, thanks to two prominent Republican officials whose retirement announcements set off a scramble for contests throughout the ballot. Read More.

Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak becomes the country's worst with over 2,300 dead Congo’s fast-moving Ebola outbreak has now killed over 2,300 people and become the deadliest outbreak of the disease on record in the Central African nation. Read More.

🚁 Uber wants 1 million drone deliveries a day Image: Uber Uber is investing in drone delivery company Zipline and aiming for 1 million daily Uber Eats drone deliveries by the end of 2029, Axios' Joann Muller reports. Zipline drone delivery via Uber Eats will begin in Houston and Dallas before the end of the year, then expand into dozens of other U.S. cities. 🚛 The big picture: The deal is part of Uber's effort to build a flexible delivery network of couriers, sidewalk robots and drones. Zipline, a San Francisco-based drone company, got its start delivering medical supplies by drone in Rwanda. It now serves medical facilities, retailers and small businesses. Go deeper ... Read the announcement.

Book that solo trip Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Traveling alone is having a moment: More people are comfortable booking adventures without their friends, family or partners, Axios Richmond's Sabrina Moreno reports. Google searches for "solo travel" hit a record high this year as more people embrace the freedom of going wherever they want, whenever they want — without waiting for someone else to align their time off. ✈️ By the numbers: In Hostelworld's recent survey of 3,300 solo travelers, 64% said freedom and spontaneity were among the best parts of traveling alone. Solo doesn't necessarily mean lonely: 58% said they wanted to meet new people while traveling, up from 43% in 2024. 63% of first-time solo travelers said they planned to do it again. (Explore the results.) 🎒 Younger travelers are driving much of the boom. Yet tour operators like Collette see growing demand from older travelers, particularly women 50 and over. Some couples are even vacationing separately, per The New York Times, which profiled spouses who happily take trips apart (gift link). 💭 Sabrina's thought bubble: I've solo traveled for the past five years. My company along the way has included a 75-year-old in Iceland who was a week from hiking Kilimanjaro and a cow named Tulip on a farm in Bedford, Va. Go deeper.

Trump administration briefly pauses contentious border project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an “on-the-ground evaluation.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-big-bend-national-park-immigration-c8439ceed11ff5e7f3ca95fa0003327b? 🇮🇱 President Trump adviser Jared Kushner told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that the U.S. wants Israel to take "small steps" in Gaza to test whether Hamas' commitment to start disarming is genuine. More from Barak Ravid. 🧑‍⚖️ The Supreme Court once again declined to take up President Trump's attempt to toss a jury's $5 million finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. Get the latest. 🏗️ The Trump administration temporarily paused border wall construction at Big Bend National Park in Texas while U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott visits the site. Go deeper.

Trump’s Embarrassing Bioweapon Reversal Exposed Maybe all those White House researchers dedicated to biological security shouldn’t have been fired. The Trump administration is in a full-on scramble to bandage the deep cuts it made to research staff as fears grow that AI could supercharge development of new-age weapons straight out of a horror movie. President Donald Trump, 80, has scythed away at the number of White House researchers dedicated to biological security since retaking office last year, The Washington Post reports. Under President Joe Biden, up to 30 experts worked on how best to protect the U.S. from deadly pathogens being weaponized by the nation’s adversaries. Under Trump 2.0, their number has shrunk to the point that, at times, no one has been committed solely to these threats, according to the newspaper. “They have kneecapped themselves in their ability to create any policy that would have staying power,” one former official, who withheld their name for fear of retaliation, told the Post. “That’s the risk, they’re not playing the long game.” Biological security has never been the responsibility of a single federal authority. The White House team under Biden, made up of leading experts in the field, instead helped coordinate between multiple agencies with overlapping mandates. One of Trump’s first moves after retaking office was to throw out a 2023 presidential order on artificial intelligence that explicitly called for stronger measures against biological threats. He has instead relied on what the Post describes as “a small revolving cast of employees,” among them a “junior fellow without a security clearance,” an Air Force doctor otherwise working as “a consultant to the White House medical office,” a part-time researcher, and “a pair of CIA staffers with little expertise in the field.” The newspaper adds that Trump has shut down a unit at the National Security Agency specifically “dedicated to health security,” along with breaking up teams at both the Department of Homeland Security and at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who had worked on these types of threats. The president has stripped back regulations in an effort to boost the tech and particularly the AI sectors during his second term, a move panned by many critics as pandering to the Big Tech interests that have given generously to pro-MAGA causes over the past few years. Ever more advanced AI models have shown aptitude for highly complex biological research, prompting fears even within the industry that those capabilities could, in the absence of safeguards, potentially “aid even a relative amateur in carrying out a biological attack” or be used to develop weapons that “set off a new pandemic,” the Post reports. The administration now appears to be taking that threat more seriously. Efforts to engage with the danger have included “a recent string of briefings on biological risks between OpenAI and the White House and half a dozen agencies,” the newspaper reports, citing a source with knowledge of those talks. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story. “The administration’s commitment to addressing AI and biological safety risks is clear and ongoing,” a spokesperson told the Post. “The White House has been developing policy for over a year, including in our AI Action Plan last summer.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-launches-embarrassing-bioweapon-reversal-after-firing-researchers/?

Deranged Trump Threatens to ‘Bomb the S**t’ Out of Key Ally With friends like Trump, who needs enemies? Donald Trump has threatened to “bomb the s--t” out of a key ally. The president said on Monday that if the Gulf state of Oman interferes with his war with Iran, he would drop bombs on it. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s--t out of them,” the 80-year-old said in an interview with Fox News. Longtime U.S. ally Oman has served as a backchannel intermediary during the conflict, which began in February. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz since the bombs first fell, causing gas prices to rise and putting pressure on Trump, and helping to crater his public support back home. Iran said it had been working with Oman to find a way to reopen the lane, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows during peacetime. Trump threatened Muscat with military action in May after it discussed regulating the flow of traffic with Iran. “Nobody is going to control it,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.” Although it’s classified as an international strait and open to international navigation, most of it lies within Iranian and Omani waters. Little progress has been reported in reaching a peace deal since Trump signed a memorandum of peace at Versailles. That agreement set an ambitious 60-day deadline to agree a broader peace deal. Day 60 was reached on Monday with the two sides no closer to an agreement. The U.S. has sought to regain control of the narrow waterway with a strong naval presence. However, fuel flow remains slow. “Despite President Trump claiming total control over the strait, traffic has slowed really to a trickle,” Fox News host Bret Baier said live on air last week. “If you look at this, before the conflict, more than 100 vessels a day were crossing. Monday, eight vessels crossed. Yesterday, 14.” The USS Abraham Lincoln has led efforts to reopen it. The aircraft carrier has, however, become a source of pressure on the president, as she and those who serve on her endure their ninth month of a grueling deployment. Conditions are feared to have deteriorated on board, with reports citing crews’ family members suggesting some have attempted to go overboard. The attack on Iran has also raised concern that the U.S. is burning through its munitions stockpiles at an unsustainable rate. Asked about this during the same interview with Fox News, Trump said, “What we’ve used is peanuts. We have a lot of mid-level weapons.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that the U.S. has enough for this war under all circumstances, but the concern is that it could create a future shortage in conflicts down the road. https://www.thedailybeast.com/deranged-trump-threatens-to-bomb-the-st-out-of-key-ally/?

👋 Good morning! Happy Monday. MLB snapshot: If the regular season ended today, four of the five AL East teams (Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles) would make the playoffs. The only team missing? The reigning AL champions (Blue Jays), who are one game back. In today's edition: Báez blasts off, the sports moat, Scheffler cruises to victory, the longest winning streak in UFC history, Naismith Hall of Fame welcomes Class of 2026, Arsenal beats City, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚽️ The end is near: The upcoming season is "probably my last year of football," Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, said in an interview following his wedding. If that's the case, then Al-Nassr's game tomorrow will mark the final season-opener of his career. 🎾 Down goes Djoker: Novak Djokovic fell to Argentina's Thiago Tirante in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, where the 39-year-old struggled with the heat and humidity due to an unspecified health issue "that has been bothering me for the past couple of years." ⛳️ Whaley wins U.S. Amateur: England's Jack Whaley defeated California native Jay Leng Jr., to win the U.S. Amateur on Sunday. With the win, the rising senior at Florida State earned his spot in next year's Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. ⚽️ Barça land Rodri: Barcelona have reportedly reached an agreement worth roughly $88 million to sign Rodri from Manchester City. The Spanish superstar, who had just one year left on his contract, won the 2024 Ballon d'Or and the Golden Ball at last month's World Cup. 🏈 NFL headlines: Eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller is joining the Cowboys for his 15th NFL season; the Seahawks made three-time Pro Bowler Devon Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history (4-year, $132M extension); Aaron Donald worked out for the Rams again, and Sean McVay hopes for his decision "sooner than later."   ⚾️ THREE SWINGS A DEBUT FOR THE AGES (Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images) There has never, in the long and celebrated history of Major League Baseball, been a better debut than the one Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez authored on Saturday at Wrigley Field, where he became the first player ever to go deep in the first three plate appearances of a career. Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports: The 23-year-old slugger got things started with a bang, pulverizing the 0-0 pitch of his first at-bat 449 feet over the batter's eye in dead center. That sent the Cardinals' dugout into a frenzy. Players banged uncontrollably on the dugout railing. Coaches stood shellshocked, mouths agape. Báez couldn't stop smiling as he floated around the bases. It was a magnificent opening salvo for a player whose calling card is light-tower power. It was also just the start. Báez went yard again in his second trip to the dish. Savvy veteran Matthew Boyd tried to sneak a full-count changeup past Báez. The hulking slugger turned it into a souvenir, pulling the offering down the left-field line over the ivy and into the seats. And he wasn't done. With a runner on first in the top of the sixth, Báez got the better of Boyd yet again, poking an outer-half slider into the front row in right. Three at-bats, three homers, all to different parts of the yard. It was a debut beyond anyone's wildest dreams. For Báez, the Cardinals' 8-4 victory was the experience of a lifetime and an appropriate introduction to the big-league ball fans who might spend the next decade watching him turn hangers into bangers. Fun fact: Before Saturday, only two MLB players had gone yard in their first two at-bats, let alone three: Bob Nieman of the St. Louis Browns (1951) and Keith McDonald of the Cardinals (2000). That's right — three players have homered in two straight at-bats to start their careers, and all three played in St. Louis. Báez's backstory: The Cardinals' new outfielder displayed legendary power from his early days growing up in Boston   📈 MONEYBALL THE SPORTS MOAT (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) It's hard to imagine a week that could have illustrated the perceived long-term value of sports better than last week. In the span of three days, remarkable investment news swirled around three of the most iconic teams in the world. Wednesday: Apollo Sports Capital made a $2.6 billion investment in Yankee Global Enterprises, reportedly valuing the Yankees at close to $10 billion. Thursday: The Lakers sold for $12.5 billion to venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger, less than a year after the team previously sold for $10 billion. Friday: A consortium that includes Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin acquired a minority stake in Liverpool, reportedly amounting to approximately 30% and valuing the club at over $7 billion. Consider the crowd: Represented in those three acquirers, you have one of the most successful venture capitalists in tech, one of the foremost giants of private equity, and one of the wealthiest people on the planet. All of whom have decided that sports is among the best places for their capital over the coming decades as the AI age accelerates. The moat around the field: In a world awash with impermanence, sports offer the closest thing to a sense of durability that we have. Industries rise and fall, but you know what doesn't change? The Yankees take the field in the Bronx to the roars of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Hollywood's superstars find their place at courtside to watch the Lakers. 80 years ago, the average lifespan of a U.S. S&P 500 company was 67 years. As of 2023, that number had dwindled to just 15, according to Ernst & Young, and it's hard to imagine the AI era prolonging that lifespan in the years ahead. But in sports, a "Big Four" team hasn't ceased operations since the NHL's Cleveland Barons in 1978. Our teams are part of our communal fabric — part of our identity — and that's what makes them such reliable long-term bets. The more things change: The world is changing fast, and it will continue to do so. But will there ever be a world where we aren't inspired by the spirit of human achievement? Where we aren't captivated by live, unscripted competition? Where we don't revel in our collective enjoyment of those spectacles? If there is, we don't long to see it, and neither do some of the world's sharpest investors. This is an excerpt from a story that first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Read the full story.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Scheffler won the first playoff event by a whopping eight strokes. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images) ⛳️ $119.96 million Scottie Scheffler ran away with the FedEx St. Jude Championship to notch his second win of the year and pocket a cool $3.6 million, increasing his career PGA Tour earnings to $119.96 million. That's the second-most ever and roughly $1 million shy of Tiger Woods' record ($121M), a mark that both Scheffler and Rory McIlroy ($116.5M) could surpass by month's end. In and out: Sungjae Im, who finished T5, was the only golfer to jump into the Top 50 this weekend, earning a spot in next week's BMW Championship. He swapped spots with Keith Mitchell, who fell from 49th to 51st. Jordan Spieth looked like he'd be moving on, too, but stumbled after a strong start to narrowly miss the Top 50. 👊 17 straight wins Islam Makhachev successfully defended his welterweight title at UFC 330 on Saturday in Philadelphia, defeating Ian Machado Garry via unanimous decision for his 17th consecutive victory. That breaks a tie with Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history. Meanwhile, in Atlanta: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields destroyed Kaye Scott via sixth-round TKO on Saturday to pick up the WBA and WBC middleweight titles and improve to 19-0 lifetime. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) 🏊‍♀️ 23.19 seconds Kate Douglass broke the world record in the 50m freestyle — twice — on Saturday at the Pan Pacific Championships. In her preliminary heat, she swam a 23.49 to narrowly eclipse the mark (23.55) set two months ago by her training partner, Gretchen Walsh; in the final, she smashed that record with a blistering 23.19 to win gold, while Walsh took home silver. More from Pan Pacs: The USA dominated the medal table with 19 golds and 50 total medals, but the biggest individual winner was probably Australia's Lani Pallister, who won four golds and a silver, and stunned Katie Ledecky in the 400m and 800m free. The latter was Ledecky's first loss ever in the 800m free in an international competition. 🏀 12th team The Cavaliers have traded Dennis Schröder to the Hornets, which will be the 12th team he's suited up for during his 13-year NBA career. That's tied for the second-most by any player in league history, trailing only Ish Smith (13 teams). A journeyman's journey: The German point guard, a 2013 first-rounder, spent his first five seasons with the Hawks. Since then, Schröder has had stints with the Thunder (2018-20), Lakers (2020-21), Celtics (2021-22), Rockets (2022), Lakers (2022-23), Raptors (2023-24), Nets (2024), Warriors (2024-25), Pistons (2025), Kings (2025-26) and Cavaliers (2026).   🌍 SNAPSHOTS THE WORLD IN PHOTOS (Elsa/Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Springfield, Massachusetts — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame welcomed its eight-person 2026 class on Saturday. Players Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw and Amar'e Stoudemire were joined by coaches Doc Rivers, Mark Few, and Mike D'Antoni, and referee Joey Crawford in enshrinement. Who's got next? With just one NBA player getting the call this year, who could earn an orange jacket next year? Some notable names include Blake Griffin (a finalist this year), LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and Andre Iguodala. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cardiff, Wales — Arsenal blanked Manchester City, 3-0, on Sunday to win the FA Community Shield, an annual match between the reigning Premier League (Arsenal) and FA Cup winners (City). Déjà vu: The Gunners' 3-0 win was the largest margin of victory in the FA Community Shield since 2014… when Arsenal beat Man City, 3-0. (Pau Barrena/Getty Images) 🇩🇪 Düsseldorf, Germany — The USA men defeated Italy on Sunday for their sixth straight Flag Football World Championship, while the Canadian women upset the USA for their first title since 2014. Those four nations, plus bronze medalists Canada (men) and Mexico (women), all qualified for LA 2028, where flag football will make its Olympics debut. Group stage stunner: Before regrouping to win the title, the U.S. men were stunned on Friday by American Samoa and Taulia Tagovailoa (5 TD), the former Maryland standout and younger brother of Falcons QB Tua. It was the Americans' first loss in a competitive game since 2012. (William West/AFP via Getty Images) 🇦🇺 Darwin, Australia — Bangladesh pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Test cricket history on Sunday when they beat top-ranked Australia on their own soil. It was Bangladesh's first win Down Under, and nothing short of their finest victory in 26 years of playing the game's longest format. By the numbers: Australia's 48.35% winning percentage is by far the best among the 12 Test cricket-playing nations (South Africa is second, at 39.87%), while Bangladesh's mark of 17.5% ranks second-to-last.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, AUG. 17 Rookie studs Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark are leading the way for Detroit. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) ⚾️ Tigers at Pirates Pittsburgh hosts Detroit (7pm ET, ESPN) in tonight's edition of the Rust Belt rivalry, with Framber Valdez (7-8, 4.26 ERA) starting for the Tigers and Carmen Mlodzinski (6-5, 3.79 ERA) starting for the Pirates. Tigers hanging on: Despite trading away Tarik Skubal, Detroit (60-64) is right in the thick of the crowded race for the AL's final wild card spot, which features seven teams separated by just 2.5 games. It helps that the Tigers have the AL's second-best run differential (+83). More to watch: 🏀 WNBA: Wings at Valkyries (10pm, Peacock) … Tonight's lone game pits second-place Golden State (24-9) against eighth-place Dallas (20-15). 🎾 Tennis: Cincinnati Open (11am, Tennis) … Round of 32 action for Alex Eala, Jessica Pegula, Rafael Jódar, Alexander Zverev and more.   ⚾️ LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME Tommy John in Yankee Stadium circa 1987. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images) Longtime MLB pitcher Tommy John, the namesake and first recipient of baseball's most important surgery, died on Sunday after a battle with bladder cancer. He was 83. Question: Tommy John surgery reconstructs the elbow's UCL. What does UCL stand for? Answer at the bottom.   🍿 SPORTS DOC WATCH: "HOW WE ROLL" Yahoo Media Group and The Nonfiction Hotlist invited filmmakers worldwide to submit documentary shorts for recognition and distribution. Nearly 1,000 filmmakers answered the call — and now, the results are in! Five films were selected in the Sports category, and we'll be sharing one each day this week ahead of our inaugural Film Festival this weekend. Title: How We Roll Director: Anthony Ciancio Runtime: 16 minutes About the film: How We Roll takes viewers inside the Elmwood Park Bocce League, a community-run gathering place in the Chicago suburbs where neighbors of all ages come together through a shared love of the game.   Trivia answer: Ulnar collateral ligament

Voting rights anniversary spotlights America’s enduring anti-Black contempt Civil rights stalwarts, politicians and academics held a requiem for the Voting Rights Act on its 61st anniversary last week, lamenting the neutering of a law that had propelled African Americans – especially in the South – into choosing their own leaders without fear of violence, murder or lesser polling place obstacles. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/15/repub/voting-rights-anniversary-spotlights-americas-enduring-anti-black-contempt/?

Idaho judge ruling allows abortion if it protects mother’s health, prevents self-harm A pregnant woman may receive abortions in many cases if there are serious risks to her health or if there’s a high risk she will harm herself, an Idaho federal judge has ruled. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/14/repub/idaho-judge-ruling-allows-abortion-if-it-protects-mothers-health-prevents-self-harm/?

Congressional approval not needed for White House ballroom, Trump tells high court WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to intervene in a lower court decision that halts his $400 million White House ballroom construction unless he receives authorization from Congress. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/14/repub/congressional-approval-not-needed-for-white-house-ballroom-trump-tells-high-court/? Supreme Court again rebuffs Trump’s push to toss out $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll case WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday again rebuffed President Donald Trump’s push to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. https://apnews.com/article/trump-supreme-court-e-jean-carroll-defamation-769b731baf27199224c30af55cd0a149?

DNC approves 2028 presidential nominating cycle starting in South Carolina, Nevada The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved by voice vote its lineup of six early primaries for the 2028 election cycle, kicking off with South Carolina and Nevada. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/dnc-approves-2028-presidential-nominating-cycle-starting-in-south-carolina-nevada/?

Treating opioid misuse with mindfulness therapy could save thousands of dollars, new study says A mindfulness treatment created at the University of Utah in recent years has proved to be effective at decreasing opioid misuse. Now, a new economic study found it could also save hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/treating-opioid-misuse-with-mindfulness-therapy-could-save-thousands-of-dollars-new-study-says/?

Why does Florida spend so much money on treatment for children with autism and special needs? Florida in the past two years has spent more money than any other state in the nation providing a therapy called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to children with special needs including autism — $6.57 billion between 2023 and 2025. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/17/why-does-florida-spend-so-much-money-on-treatment-for-children-with-autism-and-special-needs/? How American society shields perpetrators of child sexual abuse Widespread denial accompanied the public exposure of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse and trafficking of girls and women. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/how-american-society-shields-perpetrators-of-child-sexual-abuse/?

How Trump’s Women Twist Themselves to Please Him “He’s a full-on misogynist, no question about that,” the president’s former adviser Anthony Scaramucci said. The women in President Donald Trump’s orbit have to lavish him with praise if they want him to treat them well, the president’s former adviser Anthony Scaramucci has claimed. Speaking on The Daily Beast Podcast, Scaramucci, who infamously lasted just 11 days as communications director during Trump’s first administration, described the women the 80-year-old president wants around him as having to be “subservient” and “more or less a lackey of his.” “Remember, people are transactions to Donald Trump—they’re not people,” Scaramucci told author Nell Scovell and host Joanna Coles, explaining that the president sees the women around him as “transactions in his field of vision.” Speaking to the Daily Mail this week, several MAGA women appeared to confirm Scaramucci’s assessment of how Trump views women, revealing that the president’s relentless pressure to keep up with the latest beauty standards—including daily blowouts and regular Botox treatments—can grow tiresome. The women spoke to the outlet after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, announced that she was stepping down to spend more time with her young children. But Leavitt was also reportedly fed up with Trump’s constant demands, a frustration the MAGA women who spoke to the Mail said they couldn’t blame her for. “You have to be exceptional at your job, which is a given, but if you’re a woman you have to look a certain way, dress a certain way and be available 24/7, because this is a President who barely sleeps,” one MAGA woman said of working for Trump. A woman Trump has increasingly appeared to like having by his side is his personal assistant, Natalie Harp, 35, who, according to the bombshell book Regime Change by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, would leave gushing letters for Trump to find in his “personal spaces” during the 2024 campaign, including one that read, “You are all that matters to me.”“If you were saying something nice about him, he would be flattering to you,” Scaramucci said of the president’s behavior, adding that if someone said something negative about him, Trump would make some type of “AI rendition” of the individual. Scaramucci referred to a “joke” the president made about CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, 34, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he singled out the journalist and said she looked like transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who prompted a Bud Light backlash a few years ago after appearing in an ad for the popular beer. During the speech, Trump also said Collins should smile more and suggested she did not deserve an award she received that day. Collins isn’t the only female journalist the president has treated rudely. Trump has had multiple incidents of lashing out at female reporters, including telling Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey “quiet piggy” last year.The president has also made a point of criticizing women who disagree with him on Truth Social, even dragging the wives of political candidates he dislikes into his attacks. Last week, he targeted Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and his wife in a post that appeared intended to compare their marriage with his own. But Trump doesn’t always hide behind social media when attacking women. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he called his opponent Kamala Harris “mentally impaired,” while in 2016 he repeatedly branded Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” “He’s a full-on misogynist, no question about that,” Scaramucci said about the president. “I look at him, and I say, this guy is weird about sex. He’s weird about women,” he added. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-women-twist-themselves-to-please-him/?

Trump Pulls Rug From Key Ally to Suck Up to Brutal Dictator The president made the shock decision at the last minute. President Donald Trump has claimed he will “substantially reduce” imminent joint U.S. military drills with South Korea while bragging about his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, were due to start on Monday and run until August 27. The drills, which happen twice a year, were expected to involve around 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside U.S. forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command. However, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that he was “not happy” with America’s participation in the drills “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un”. He added that the exercises were costly and that they “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been president, has been unthreatening and respectful.” His post stated that because it was too late to completely cancel the drills just hours before they were due to begin, he had ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them. Trump then appeared to criticize South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, adding, “While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, `No thanks!’” On Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry threatened unspecified action against the U.S. and South Korea, describing their joint military drills as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the region. “It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said, as reported by Politico. North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year.” When asked about Trump’s Sunday evening post, a spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry said: “We will proceed as previously notified and scheduled,” according to the South China Morning Post. The Daily Beast has contacted South Korea’s defense ministry and the Pentagon for comment. On Saturday, Trump shared a photo of himself with the North Korean leader taken in June 2019, with the caption “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” The 11-day military drills were designed to strengthen South Korean soldiers’ readiness against North Korean threats. The joint practices aim to “fortify the combined defense posture” and enhance Alliance response capabilities against a “spectrum of security threats.” The drills include live, virtual, constructive and field-based training, engaging personnel from various military services. Trump has long flaunted his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s supreme leader. Speaking in the Oval Office last August, Trump said, “I know him better than anybody, almost, other than his sister, his sister knows him pretty well.” He added, “I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot, because if I do then I get killed in the fake news media, but I got along with him very well.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pulls-rug-from-key-ally-to-suck-up-to-brutal-dictator-kim-jong-un/? ps:Pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

Trump, 80, Insults His Own Goon in Unhinged Ragepost Top prosecutor Jeannine Pirro is quickly becoming President Trump’s least favorite person. Donald Trump launched a thinly veiled dig at his own handpicked MAGA prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, in a Truth Social ragepost. Pirro, the United States attorney for the District of Columbia since May last year, is in the president’s bad books for her failure to prosecute former U.S. Olympian David Hearn for alleged vandalism to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro, one of many former Fox News hosts in the Trump administration, initially gunned for Hearn, blaming him for ripping up some of the lining Trump had laid to try to meet a July 4 deadline for his $16 million renovation of the D.C. landmark. Soon, though, she dropped the case and said the damage was due to a botched job by Trump’s own contractor. Trump publicly said he was “disappointed” with Judge Jeannine, who “folded like an umbrella.” He urged her to “revisit” the “hastily made decision.” Now, he’s taken another potshot. Writing on Truth Social on Sunday at 11 p.m., he complained about more damage inflicted by “VANDALS.” “Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” the 80-year-old moaned, sharing a picture of worn grass on the lawn near the memorial that looks like regular wear and tear, caused by footfall and high temperatures. It is also the same spot where Trump hosted crowds for a Fourth of July celebration, with a large bandstand and seating areas. After the structures were removed, photos showed the same browning grass Trump now blames on bad actors. Even still, Trump used it to swipe at Pirro—who got her JD from Albany Law School—adding, “Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” His digs come despite U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche’s insistence that Trump supports Pirro. “I absolutely support U.S. Attorney Pirro, as does President Trump,” Blanche said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” just hours before the president’s Truth Social broadside. Blanche also risked Trump’s ire, saying, “That’s different than whether ultimately we have the proof... I think judging her on a single case because of the evidence that we had is not fair.” Sources told Reuters last week that the White House asked the Department of Justice to explore new vandalism charges related to the pool, whose botched renovation cost nearly $15 million. “U.S. Attorney Pirro is doing a phenomenal job enforcing that, going after anybody who’s doing it,” Blanche said. Pirro began her legal career in 1975 as a Westchester County assistant district attorney and became the first chief of the county’s Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Bureau in 1978. She was elected to the Westchester County Court in 1990, becoming the first woman to serve as a county judge, then won election as Westchester County district attorney in 1993 and served three terms through 2005. Her growing profile turned her into a television regular, particularly during the O.J. Simpson case, and she later made unsuccessful runs for New York attorney general and the U.S. Senate. She moved fully into television in 2008 with Judge Jeanine Pirro on The CW, followed by Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News from 2011 to 2022; she then joined The Five as a co-host. In 2025, she left television after President Trump appointed her U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Pirro’s office has been contacted for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-insults-his-own-goon-in-unhinged-ragepost/?

Trump, 80, Screws Up Attempt to Insult Female Fox News Host The president’s venomous Truth Social post lost him the argument—and the spelling bee. Donald Trump bungled an online tirade torching a Fox News host who dared question one of the D.C. vanity projects sucking up all the president’s time. “Why didn’t Shannon Bream, ‘Milktoast’ to her friends, show the updated pictures instead of ones that were so old and irrelevant?” the 80-year-old raged on Truth Social after the network mainstay’s Sunday comments about his White House ballroom. The word “milktoast” does not exist. “Milquetoast,” which Trump presumably meant, comes from the comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as a “timid, meek, or unassertive person.” Bream, 55, however, enraged Trump by being assertive as she interviewed the newest Senate-confirmed member of his Cabinet. She pointed out during an interview with Attorney General Todd Blanche that the president is charging ahead with construction despite a D.C. District Court ruling earlier this month that he must either stop or get congressional authorization to continue. The White House is appealing that decision rather than taking the issue to the House. “Why not just go to Congress?” Bream asked Blanche. “We don’t believe we have to go to Congress,” Blanche, a former personal attorney to the president who’s now the nation’s top prosecutor, shot back. Trump’s post was the second part of a one-two online attack after Bream’s show aired on Sunday morning. In his first post, he moaned that “watching Fox News with Shannon Bream is always like watching the Worst of Fake News CNN” while falsely claiming that her ratings had started to “fall.” In his second, he went even further, bizarrely suggesting that “her show, Fox News Sunday, is so biased against MAGA, ‘TRUMP,’ and Republicans, that it is ridiculous!”It’s not the first time Trump has gone for the host—nor lost the spelling bee in doing so. He similarly attacked her as “Milk Toast Shannon Bream” in a vitriolic June Truth Social post for supposedly not doing enough to defend his record on immigration enforcement. He also doesn’t reserve it exclusively for her. He’s used it to go after Bream’s fellow Fox mainstay Kayleigh McEnany, who served as his press secretary during his first term. Both women are only two targets in a wider pattern of attacks on female journalists that has included calling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “the worst reporter” and telling Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey to be “quiet, piggy.” Trump’s continuing fixation with the project and other MAGAfication efforts around the nation’s capital, all deeply unpopular with voters more concerned about his war with Iran and the soaring cost of living at home, has left pundits and pollsters wondering what the president actually trying to lose GOP control of the House and Senate at midterms might look like. The Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment on Trump’s Truth Social tirade about Bream. It declined to provide one. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-screws-up-attempt-to-insult-female-fox-news-host-shannon-bream-by-calling-her-milktoast/?

Bathing Complex Discovered at Egypt’s Tel Nasser The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of a bathing complex at Tel Nasser in the Port Said area of the eastern Nile Delta. The site’s earliest occupation dates to the late fourth/early third century BCE, but the bath complex probably dates to the late first century BCE. The excavation provides new evidence for the history of settlement, architecture, and especially water management in the eastern Delta during the late Hellenistic and Roman periods. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-egypt/bathing-complex-discovered-at-egypts-tel-nasser/? Speaking in Tongues in the Bible What happened at Pentecost in the New Testament? https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/speaking-in-tongues-in-the-bible/?