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The Sunday, July 26, 2026 Edition

This Week: Iran war's $37.5 billion tab, $100 oil, and tariffs on 60 partners

5 min read

The Week in Review

A War's Bill Comes Due, and the Economy Feels It

Need to Know
In the Know
Numbers of the Week

62.8 million

U.S. viewers who watched Spain's extra-time World Cup final win over Argentina -- the most-watched soccer telecast in American history.

Source: Axios

$263.7 million

Global opening haul for Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey,' the biggest debut of the director's career.

Source: Deadline

Browse the numbers archive →

What's Ahead
  • Tuesday-Wednesday: The Federal Reserve holds its scheduled two-day policy meeting, with a rate decision expected Wednesday.

  • Friday-Sunday: 'The Odyssey' faces its second box-office weekend after a record $263.7M global debut, with IMAX 70mm screenings still scarce.

  • Saturday: July closes and a new month begins Saturday, with Q2 corporate earnings season rolling on through the week.

  • Next week: The Philadelphia 76ers begin building around LeBron James after his two-year, $8 million signing -- what he called his 'last decision.'

  • Ongoing: Public voting continues on the European Central Bank's shortlisted designs for the first complete euro banknote redesign since 2002.

See the full week’s calendar →

On This Day
  • 1775The Second Continental Congress established the U.S. postal system, naming Benjamin Franklin the first postmaster general.
  • 1908The forerunner of the FBI was created when Attorney General Charles Bonaparte ordered a force of special agents within the Justice Department.
  • 1948President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the U.S. armed forces.
  • 1956Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, triggering an international crisis.

The Historybook →

Worth a longer read
  • A sobering scenario analysis of what a U.S. ground operation in Iran could actually look like -- and what it would demand of American forces.

    Foreign Policy · John Haltiwanger$ Subscription

  • A dispatch from aboard the Greenland ferry, offering a slow-moving window into life on the world's suddenly most geopolitically watched island.

    Foreign Policy · Ben Buckland$ Subscription

  • Inside one researcher's 50-year hunt for the elusive source of chronic pain -- and what the search reveals about how little we understand suffering.

    Aeon · Stephani Sutherland

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