The Friday, July 17, 2026 Edition
Smoke Alerts Hit 20 States, AI Selloff Rocks Asia, and Pelé's $4.9M Jersey
4 min read
Sports, Entertainment & Culture
Science & Technology
16.3 million
CDs sold in the first half of 2026, as sales of the format climb again decades after streaming pushed it aside. Fans are rediscovering discs as an affordable way to support artists directly.
Source: The Verge
Sunday: Spain and Argentina meet Sunday in the World Cup final in New York, the first US-hosted final since 1994, with an NFL-style halftime show planned.
Sunday: President Trump plans to attend Sunday's World Cup final, capping the first US-hosted tournament in a generation.
This weekend: 'The Odyssey' plays its first full weekend in theaters after roughly $15 million in Thursday previews, with opening-weekend estimates arriving Sunday.
- 1918Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by Bolshevik forces in Yekaterinburg
- 1945The Potsdam Conference of Allied leaders begins in postwar Germany
- 1955Disneyland opens its gates in Anaheim, California
- 1975American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit, a Cold War first
Moroccan intelligence insider reveals widespread use of Pegasus hacking software
How Moroccan intelligence deployed Pegasus hacking software far more widely than previously known, according to an insider's account.
The Guardian · Sam Jones, José Bautista and Hicham Mansouri
A Humanoid Company Backed by Eric Trump Is Preparing Its Robots for War
How a humanoid robotics company backed by Eric Trump is preparing its machines for the battlefield.
Wired · Will Knight
Kalshi says it's not a sportsbook even as World Cup bets surge
Why Kalshi insists it's not a sportsbook, even as World Cup wagers surge on its prediction markets.
NPR · Bobby Allyn
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