The Sunday, August 16, 2026 Edition
This Week: Colombia's earthquake, Hormuz sanctions, and a secret plane swap
5 min read
The Week in Review
A Race Against Rubble, a Pivot on Iran and a Vaccine Order Under Fire →
Politics & WorldTrump Shifts to Sanctions as Hormuz Crisis Deepens
CNBC Top News
Politics & WorldTrump Confirms Secret Plane Swap After Iran Threat
BBC World
Politics & WorldUkraine and Russia Trade Deadly Long-Range Aerial Strikes
Reuters
healthTrump Vaccine Order Draws Alarm From Doctors, Republicans
AP News
Science & Technology
$12.5 billion
The price Josh Kushner and Bob Iger agreed to pay for the Los Angeles Lakers this week — a record price for any sports franchise, topping every previous sale in league history.
Source: ESPN
13 days
How long it took 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' to cross $700 million at the U.S. box office — the fastest any film has ever reached that benchmark.
Source: Deadline
10
Three-pointers Kayla McBride hit in a single game this week, a WNBA record, during a career-high 43-point night that helped the Lynx clinch a playoff berth.
Source: ESPN
Wednesday, Aug. 19: The Federal Reserve releases minutes from its July policy meeting, giving markets a fresh read on the rate debate heading into the fall.
Wednesday, Aug. 19: The Little League World Series opens in Williamsport, Pa., as youth baseball's biggest stage begins its late-summer run.
Thursday, Aug. 20: The BMW Championship tees off, the next leg of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs after this weekend's finale in Memphis.
Aug. 20-23: The NFL's next full week of preseason games kicks off across the league as roster battles intensify ahead of final cuts.
- 1858Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan exchanged the first official telegraph messages across the new transatlantic cable.
- 1896Gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek in Canada's Yukon territory, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
- 1948Baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53; tens of thousands of fans filed past his casket at Yankee Stadium.
- 1960Air Force Capt. Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon at 102,800 feet, setting a skydiving record that stood for more than half a century.
The Iran War Has Left the U.S. Dangerously Exposed
The war with Iran drained U.S. munitions stockpiles and left American forces in the Gulf dangerously exposed — a sobering audit of what the conflict actually cost the Pentagon.
Foreign Policy · John Haltiwanger and Rishi Iyengar$ Subscription
AI Is Changing Military Morality
As artificial intelligence takes on a larger role in warfare, centuries-old just-war principles are being tested — and the ethics of who decides to kill are quietly being rewritten.
Foreign Policy · Anthony Pfaff and Patrick Granfield$ Subscription
Inside the Experimental Traps Scientists Set for Ghostly Neutrinos
Inside the elaborate experimental traps physicists have built to catch neutrinos — the ghostly particles that stream through us by the trillions and could unlock the universe's deepest secrets.
Wired · Simon Frantz
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