The Sunday, July 12, 2026 Edition
This Week: Graham's death, Iran strikes resume, and a Spain trade cut-off
5 min read
The Week in Review
A Death in the Senate, a Ceasefire in Ruins, an Alliance Strained →
Sports, Entertainment & Culture
Science & Technology
20,000
The number of DNA matches to living relatives that researchers used to identify John Pumphrey, a teenager who enlisted in the Continental Army in 1777 and died in the Revolutionary War. The genetic genealogy breakthrough cracks a cold case nearly 250 years old — one older than the U.S. Constitution itself.
Source: Smithsonian
40 stories
The height of a gravity battery tower China built to store surplus wind power by stacking and dropping heavy concrete blocks. The structure scales a Swiss company's prototype concept up to skyscraper size, storing energy with gravity rather than chemical batteries.
Source: Boing Boing
$32 million
The asking price for the Pasadena estate that served as Wayne Manor in the 1960s 'Batman' TV series. The listing puts a real price tag on TV's most famous fictional mansion — Batcave enthusiasm required, Bruce Wayne-sized fortune mandatory.
Source: Deadline
Tuesday: Spain and France — neither of which has lost at this year's World Cup — meet in a semifinal showdown in Arlington, Texas.
Tuesday: France celebrates Bastille Day, its national holiday, a day that will double as a nervy World Cup semifinal watch party.
Tuesday: The June Consumer Price Index report lands, giving markets a fresh read on inflation while coffee prices whipsaw and 'funflation' hits at home.
This week: Second-quarter earnings season kicks into gear as major U.S. banks begin reporting results.
This week: A 67-million-year-old T. rex goes on sale in New York with a pre-sale value of $30 million — potentially the most expensive fossil ever sold.
Ongoing: Emmy campaign season heats up in the wake of nominations, with 'The Pitt,' 'Hacks' and 'Widow's Bay' jockeying ahead of the September 14 ceremony.
- 100 BCJulius Caesar, Roman general and statesman, is born (by traditional dating) in Rome.
- 1543King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr.
- 1862President Abraham Lincoln signs into law the measure creating the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration.
- 1962The Rolling Stones play their first-ever gig at the Marquee Club in London.
Jailers and officials at Russia's 'torture prisons' in Ukraine exposed by BBC
A BBC investigation puts names and faces to the jailers and officials running Russia's 'torture prisons' in occupied Ukraine, exposing the machinery of abuse behind the front lines.
BBC World
Burnout, frustration and heartbreak: Amazon layoffs take their toll in saturated job market
Burnout, frustration and heartbreak: laid-off Amazon workers describe the toll of job-hunting in a saturated tech labor market where the next role is harder than ever to land.
CNBC
El Niño Is Already Wreaking Havoc on Pacific Fisheries
El Niño is already wreaking havoc on Pacific fisheries, scrambling ecosystems and livelihoods across the ocean — a preview of the climate pattern's global ripple effects.
Wired · Joseph Winters
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