FIFA unveiled the official Team of the Tournament from the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday, with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha as the biggest surprise selection. Three Real Madrid players, Mbapp, Bellingham and Cucurella, featured from different nations, while Cristiano Ronaldo was excluded.

White House OSTP chief Michael Kratsios accused China's Moonshot AI of distilling capabilities from Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 to build Kimi K3, while Treasury's Scott Bessent threatened sanctions. AI researchers say the timeline makes large-scale distillation technically implausible.

WilmerHale's review found the Gates Foundation made no criminal payments tied to Epstein but documented two previously undisclosed meetings. Warren Buffett announced he would end his $47 billion Berkshire stock donation partnership the same week the foundation received legal clearance.

Jonas Vingegaard fractured his collarbone and withdrew from the Tour de France after crashing on Stage 15, ending his bid for a third title. Remco Evenepoel won Stages 15 and 16 in 24 hours as Tadej Pogacar leads by 4:32 heading into the Alpine Trilogy.

Valentin Lavin Romero, mayor of Temoac in central Mexico's Morelos state, was shot dead at his town hall on Wednesday seven months after surviving an earlier assassination attempt. His killing is the third mayoral murder in Mexico in 2026 and the fourteenth since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office.

US intelligence analysts are investigating whether Russia provided satellite navigation technology and targeting data to Iran for drone strikes on CIA stations in Riyadh and eastern Iraq. A Western intelligence memo says Moscow likely played a role.

Eighteen US service members have died and 500 have been wounded as the Iran-US war enters its twelfth night of American strikes. Military analysts say Iran's attacks on US bases haven't degraded the structural vulnerability runs deep.

Hamas political chief Khalil al-Hayya delivered his first televised address as leader on Tuesday, pledging to rebuild Gaza, free Palestinian prisoners, and establish a sovereign state, while notably excluding the United States from his list of mediators. The speech drew a direct line from al-Hayya's personal loss four children buried during the genocide ...

The Netherlands approved a ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements, effective September 22, joining Belgium and Ireland in acting as Brussels stalls. The Dutch market handles a third of all EU-bound settlement goods, making this the largest economic blow yet to Israel's occupation.

Austria officially opened Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn as a police station Wednesday, completing a 20 million renovation. The conversion aims to strip the address of its neo-Nazi pilgrimage appeal by installing law enforcement in the historic building.

A vessel carrying 160 people from The Gambia toward the Canary Islands ran out of fuel and drifted for 25 days before Mauritanian coastguard rescuers arrived, leaving at least 143 dead or missing. Among the 38 survivors, two children who lost all their family members are now recovering in hospital in Nouadhibou.

Tesla reported record Q2 2026 deliveries of 480,000 vehicles and revenue of $28.2 billion, a 26% year-on-year increase, but missed earnings estimates as margins slid and free cash flow turned negative for the first time in years. Capital expenditures surged 142% as Elon Musk funneled revenue from the car business into Optimus robotics and AI infrastructure.

Alphabet shares fell roughly 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to a record $205 billion, overshadowing a Q2 beat that included $119.8 billion in revenue and an 82% year-on-year surge in Google Cloud. Investors are concluding that the cost of AI dominance may be compounding faster than the ...

DP World and the Fujairah Ports Authority signed a 50-year concession Wednesday to build two new terminals on the UAE's Gulf of Oman coastline, including the Al Rugaylat container terminal and Dibba General Cargo Terminal. The deal treats the near-closure of Hormuz commercial shipping as a permanent shift in global trade routes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that any deployment of EU or NATO troops to Ukraine as security guarantees is 'absolutely unacceptable' for Russia, adding that such plans are 'really absolutely realistic' and not theoretical. Russia says its operations are specifically aimed at preventing such a scenario.

A Florida pastor is suing OpenAI after ChatGPT reportedly offered spiritual reassurance instead of urging him to seek emergency care for a pulmonary embolism. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, could set the first US precedent for AI medical liability.

Russia's Lavrov and US Secretary Rubio confirmed a direct bilateral for Thursday morning in Manila, placing Ukraine settlement on the agenda for their first face-to-face since the Alaska summit. Lavrov plans to press Rubio on whether Washington's Alaska proposals remain operative, while Rubio has publicly called refusing contacts 'a reckless decision.'

Elon Musk warned SpaceX short sellers on X they face a 'very low' survival probability as the stock trades below its $125 IPO price with 32% of float sold short, ahead of the company's first earnings call on August 12.

Instagram's direct messages failed for the second time in three days Wednesday, leaving millions unable to contact each other as Meta declined to publicly acknowledge or explain the back-to-back disruptions.

The Boston Red Sox matched the longest winning streak in franchise history Wednesday, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 for their 15th consecutive victory and tying a record that had stood since 1946, as Aroldis Chapman recorded the 390th save of his career.

Wonder Man #5, the final issue of Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto's four-volume run, closes Simon Williams's Hollywood reckoning with a confrontation and no clean ending. Marvel's most disciplined character study of 2026 arrives as the Disney+ series heads into Season 2 with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Olivia Miles joined Candace Parker as the only rookies in WNBA history to record at least 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a single game, leading the Minnesota Lynx to a 105-102 victory at Seattle that extended their winning streak to six games. Kayla McBride scored 33 points and Flau'jae Johnson's 26-point effort kept the Storm competitive ...

The Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to advance the Connected Vehicle Security Act, which would ban Chinese-connected vehicles, software, and hardware from US markets by 2027. The bill's 15 percent Chinese ownership threshold could also oust Mercedes-Benz, whose Chinese shareholders hold roughly 20 percent of the company.

Jason Sudeikis revives Ted Lasso with a Season 4 premiere set for August 5 on Apple TV+, built around an all-female football team at AFC Richmond. The series returns two years after Sudeikis privately admitted it was not as finished as he had publicly declared.

Thursday delivers the single most anticipated astrological shift of the entire month. Mercury stations direct in Cancer at 16 degrees and 18 minutes, ending a retrograde cycle that began on June 29 and spent nearly four weeks scrambling communication, resurfacing old emotional conflicts, and forcing every zodiac sign to slow down when all they wanted was to ...