Business
Divided Fed Holds Rates as Three Dissent
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 Wednesday to keep its benchmark rate at 3.5% to 3.75%, with three members dissenting in favor of an increase over inflation concerns.
You’re reading the edition from Thursday, July 30, 2026. Read today’s
Thursday, July 30, 2026 · 4-minute read
US Strikes Iran Targets, Fed Holds Rates, and Queen Hits 1 Billion Views
US strikes hit dozens of Iran targets, a divided Fed keeps rates steady, and archaeologists uncover hundreds of ancient earthworks in the Amazon.
Need to know
Politics & World
US Strikes Dozens of Iran Targets After Jordan Attack
The U.S. military hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets inside Iran late…
Sources: BBC World, The Hill, Stars and Stripes
Politics & World
Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment Over 100 Times
Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times at a Senate hearing on his COVID-era…
Sources: AP News, RealClearPolitics, USA Today
1billion
YouTube views for Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now,’ reached 47 years after the song’s release. It marks the band’s second entry in YouTube’s Billion Views Club.
Source: Billboard
In the know
Worth a longer read
Is it safe to drink Red Bull and vodka? Questionable research tied to energy drink giant has shaped policy
How questionable research tied to Red Bull has shaped policy on mixing energy drinks and alcohol.
STAT News · Sasha Chavkin, Ashley Okwuosa, Fernanda Aguirre Ruiz, and Romina ColmanSubscription
A Civilian Plane Crashed in New Mexico. Was the Military’s Tech to Blame?
Why a civilian plane crash in New Mexico is raising hard questions about the military’s technology.
Wired · Jeff Wise
Samsung’s chip workers are jumping ship to rival SK Hynix
Why Samsung’s chip workers are jumping ship to rival SK Hynix — and what the exodus signals for the memory-chip giant.
MIT Tech Review · Michelle KimSubscription
- This weekend
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ opens in theaters this weekend, with Sony targeting 2026’s biggest box office launch for the Tom Holland-led film.
- Coming soon
Winamp plans its comeback with a new Deezer-powered streaming music player, betting 1990s nostalgia can cut through a crowded market.
- 2027 awards season
The 2027 Grammys will introduce a new Asian pop category — without BTS, which has declined to submit its songs for consideration.
Etcetera
- Ben Affleck won ‘Millionaire’ for charity — one year after Matt Damon did
- The premature baby giraffe defying the odds after an unprecedented C-section
- The medieval belief that a corpse could identify its own murderer — in court
- The Mac Racken bridge crosses the Mayenne river, in Mayenne, in Mayenne
- A boy came home from baseball practice to a gift box with a kitten inside
- Curiosity spotted a field of giant honeycomb on Mars (mud, not space bees)
Today’s clickbait, so you don’t have toForget Bears — This Is the Animal Most Likely to Attack You at a National Park
On this day · July 30
The Historybook- 1930Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup, beating Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo
- 1965President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Medicare and Medicaid into law
- 1966England wins the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley
- 1975Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears from a Detroit-area restaurant parking lot
- 2003The last classic Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line in Mexico
Compiled by the Desk, not linked to a source · Report an error
Quote of the day
“Make art. Make art.”
— Glen Hansard, accepting the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song; the Irish singer-songwriter died this week at 56
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