You’re reading the edition from Sunday, August 9, 2026. Read today’s
Sunday, August 9, 2026 · 6-minute read
Happy weekend. Democrats delivered a primary surprise, Iran raised the stakes in the Strait of Hormuz, and the July jobs report came in cold. We’re recapping the week that was — plus a $355 million Spider-Man debut and the hot dog bun mystery, finally solved.
Politics & World
Progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens 48.5% to 47.5% in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, the closest-watched result on a night of primaries in four states.
Politics & World
Iran’s military said the Strait of Hormuz will reopen only if the U.S. accepts Tehran’s conditions…
Sources: AP News, BBC World, CNBC
Business
U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July, missing forecasts for a gain of about 83,000, while…
Sources: Financial Times, CNBC, Axios
Politics & World
The Senate voted 50-49 early Saturday to confirm Todd Blanche, President Trump’s former personal…
Sources: AP News, BBC World, The Hill
Politics & World
Three uncontained wildfires around Spokane, Wash., have forced 60,000 people to evacuate and…
Sources: AP News, BBC World, Axios
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s’ opening weekend haul — the second-biggest of all time — en route to becoming the fastest film ever to reach $500 million domestically.
Source: Deadline
Switzerland has been neutral for centuries — yet it has more nuclear bunkers than any country on Earth. A look at how a nation of peacekeepers became the world’s most prepared for the apocalypse.
NPR News · Rob Schmitz
Inside Fire Point, the startup drone maker powering Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign against Russia — a window into how a scrappy manufacturer became central to the war’s long-range fight.
CNBC
Photographer Joel Sartore has captured 18,000 species and counting for his ‘Photo Ark’ — a stunning archive of animal portraits and a race against extinction, one shutter click at a time.
Smithsonian
A solar eclipse arrives Wednesday — skywatchers (and at least one supersonic-jet nostalgist) will be looking up.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ heads into its second weekend after becoming the fastest film ever to cross $500 million domestically — watch for how far the record run goes.
The Women’s Pro Baseball League plays on as its inaugural season continues with the Queens, Heights, Hunters and Firebells.
FIFA fallout watch: after president Gianni Infantino apologized for ‘errors’ over a failed World Cup stakes plan, expect continued scrutiny of the campaign FIFA says is trying to oust him.
Myspace’s would-be comeback as an ‘antidote’ to social media fatigue faces its skeptics — analysts will be watching whether nostalgia can translate into users.
Pompeii’s giant lobster invasion continues: the pop art installation is the ancient city’s first contemporary sculpture exhibition in three decades.
Today’s clickbait, so you don’t have to‘I Thought the Mushroom Cloud Had Followed Me’: The Man Who Survived Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.”
— Henry David Thoreau, ‘Walden’ — published on this date in 1854
Five minutes, the facts that matter, no spin. Seven mornings a week.
