The Biggest American Wiener

A visit to the “Most American Pageant Ever!” and the story of a broken Jefferson statue’s quill.

The Vampire Lestat season 2 plot, cast, and possible release date explainer

Here's everything we know about when the continuation of Interview with the Vampire is coming and what it will be about

Zohran Mamdani shakes politics far away from New York City

These days, everyone wants a piece of Zohran Mamdani. Progressives hang on to his every word and say more Democratic politicians should be like him. Moderates fear him and worry he has too much control of their party. And conservative Republicans, including his frenemy

Tensions rise between GOP leader Thune, White House over stalled Trump agenda

Tensions are rising between Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and President Trump over the Senate GOP’s inability to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act or emergency funding for the Pentagon at a critical moment during Trump’s second term.

OpenAI’s breach of Hugging Face stokes fears about what’s next for AI

Washington and the technology industry are on high alert this week after OpenAI revealed that some of its AI agents went rogue and hacked into the systems of technology start-up Hugging Face. The incident bore out years of warnings from the tech and cybersecurity community

Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, Friday, July 24, 2026: Dropping below 6.5%

Japan zoo gets thousands of birthday cards for Punch the monkey as he turns one on July 26

The young macaque shot to stardom after he was seen clinging to a plush orangutan toy for comfort.

In China, AI is ‘everything, everywhere’. Is there a dark side?

From running marathons to being personalised chefs, robots are redefining life in the future.

House GOP presses Senate to act on reconciliation 3.0 framework as Thune hits pause

House Republicans are urging the Senate to move aggressively on the reconciliation framework they passed Wednesday, which tees up the party’s likely last chance to advance several key priorities before Congress becomes consumed by a September government funding fight and the

GOP hawks urge Trump to go big as he weighs 'massive attack' on Iran

Republican defense hawks are urging President Trump to unleash major combat operations as the commander-in-chief weighs a “massive attack” on Iran. These signals coincide with Trump’s escalatory rhetoric against the Islamic Republic, with negotiations completely stalled and

Democrats brush off fears within party about threat of democratic socialists

Democrats in the House and Senate are pushing back at any idea their party is in trouble because of a debate between the left and center over its direction, saying wins by democratic socialists in primaries don’t mean the party is being taken over. While divisions over Israel

Best CD rates today, Friday, July 24, 2026: Up to 4.20% APY return

'Lapdog media': Indian reporters caught in youth protest anger

NEW DELHI, July 24 - When Indian television reporter Dev Kotak went to cover a massive youth protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government this week, he planned to deliver a live broadcast, mill around and leave.

Star Wars will finally air its rarest unreleased show, but only few fans will be able to watch

Star Wars Detours, the legendary comedy animated series that was canceled before release, will air selected episodes at the Lucas Museum.

Four Palestinians and one Israeli killed in West Bank shooting

July 24 (Reuters) - Four Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in a shooting incident in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to Israeli and Palestinian health officials. The Israeli military said it had been dispatched to the area, southwest of the Palestinian city

Odysseys, Bones and Hens: What are the best movies of 2026... So far?

How many have you seen? And do you agree with our first-half of 2026 ranking?

Luxbox Acquires Documentary ‘Life of Jorge Luis Borges’ Ahead of Venice Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Luxbox Films has acquired the world sales rights to Mariano Llinás’ epic five-and-a-half -hour documentary “Life of Jorge Luis Borges,” which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Open – Non-Fiction section. The film forms a biography of Argentine writer and

New surveillance commons means the end of military concealment

On February 26, 2026 – 48 hours before the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury – Hangzhou-based MizarVision posted AI-annotated satellite imagery of F-22 Raptors at Ovda Air Base in Israel, carrier strike group positions in the Arabian Sea and AWACS aircraft

EU capitals are falling behind Brussels in staff and tech

While EU institutions experiment with AI to manage growing workloads, many national capitals still lack the staff, tools and stakeholder networks to keep up with Brussels.

Divorces in Spain fall 2.7% in 2025 as shared custody becomes the norm

Spain recorded 83,683 marital break-ups in 2025, 2.7% fewer than a year earlier. Shared custody of children has now overtaken sole custody awarded to mothers.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announces cabinet overhaul

Nina Warken is set to succeed Thorsten Frei (CDU) as head of the chancellery. Carsten Linnemann, who had been serving as the general secretary of Merz's CDU party, is then to take over Warken's role as health minister.

Microsoft pressures LG into killing unwanted McAfee ads

Microsoft has intervened to stop Windows 11 users with LG monitors from being bombarded with annoying McAfee trial pop-ups. In response to complaints about the LG bloatware, Microsoft's Windows chief, Pavan Davuluri, said that LG has agreed to immediately disable the McAfee

US and Iran trade more strikes in Gulf as fears of escalation mount

It comes as Iran condemned the US plan to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for war damages.

Forget Ultra settings, Halo: Campaign Evolved looks nearly as good with everything set to Low

From testing the game on four rigs and a handheld, I'd be picking Low.

Larian could return to Baldur's Gate 3 in new series by Dark Horse and Wizards of the Coast

A new Baldur's Gate 3 comic from Dark Horse could feature the collaboration of Larian Studios.

Jon Bon Jovi Ends Madison Square Garden Show Early Due to Sinus Infection: ‘We’ll Figure Out How to Reschedule’

Bon Jovi’s penultimate show of their Madison Square Garden residency came to an early end on Thursday night after frontman Jon Bon Jovi revealed he was suffering from a sinus infection. About 90 minutes into the set, Bon Jovi told the crowd that he would have to stop the show

First take/next take/last take

Nailing it in the first take is a sign of preparation and professionalism. No need for two tries if you are clear about what you’re doing and how. The next take is where hope lies. This one was pretty good, but next time, we’ll bring it. And the last take is good enough. That’s

South Korea welcomes 10 million visitors in first half of 2026, surpassing pre-pandemic levels

The tourism boom is also reshaping where visitors are going.

Young rift flanks suggest Venus remains tectonically active

Venus is an inhospitable place, with temperatures soaring to several hundred degrees Celsius (hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit) and no oceans like those on Earth. Planetary scientists long believed Venus was geologically dormant. However, recent research indicates that Venus

Mapping project helps protect coastal world heritage sites from climate threats

A major new digital mapping project could help safeguard some of the world's most important and well-known heritage sites from rising seas, flooding and coastal erosion. Researchers led by scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), Durham University and the University

Why Japan is creating its first modern spy agency since World War II

President Donald Trump’s push for Japanese self-reliance aligns with the long-standing desire of conservatives in Tokyo to build intelligence capabilities.

Netflix viewers the world over are binge-watching South African series 'The Polygamist.' Here's why

Why is a Zulu-language drama taking the world by storm? The Polygamist mixes sex and scandal with a sharp portrait of modern South Africa.

Angry Trump Openly Urges GOP to Rig Midterms as Brutal Fox Poll Hits

Donald Trump exploded at Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday, taking the extraordinary step of demanding during a rally that Thune hurry up and railroad GOP holdouts to pass the horrific voter suppression bill known as the SAVE Act. Trump is demanding speed

10 things about Birame Diop, the incoming ECOWAS commission president

The Senegalese general, who takes up the role on 1 September, is a strategic pick for President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who himself takes on the rotating presidency of the West African organisation.

Top German court says Afghan resettlement pledges cannot be revoked en masse

BERLIN, July 24 - Germany's top court ruled on Friday that the government could not simply cancel an entire swathe of resettlement places promised to Afghans, and that each case must be considered individually.

Ukrainian drone strike ignites major blaze at Saint Petersburg warehouses

A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a major fire at a Wildberries warehouse near Saint Petersburg early on Thursday 24 July, sending thick smoke across the city and temporarily disrupting flights at Pulkovo Airport, according to Russian authorities.

France orders total evacuation of Cap Ferret peninsula as wildfire spreads

‘Intense and highly unpredictable’ blaze forces more than 40,000 people to flee popular holiday spot Europe live – latest updates Authorities in south-western France have ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast by land and sea as an

German top court says Afghan admission pledges cannot be revoked en masse

BERLIN, July 24 (Reuters) - Germany's top court on Friday ruled that a blanket cancellation of promised places for Afghans in a special intake programme was arbitrary and must be reconsidered case by case. The Federal Constitutional Court backed a complaint by an Afghan mother

House members stare down a grueling summer on the campaign trail

“We have a hell of a lot of work to do,” one House Republican said.

ASEAN reclaims its centrality as newer blocs wobble and wane

With the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) losing much of its diplomatic momentum, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been gradually reclaiming its centrality in the Indo-Pacific. The clearest evidence emerged this week as Manila hosted the ASEAN

Thousands flee wildfires in southern Europe

Luggage-clad residents and tourists fled a French peninsula by boat, and the smell of smoke drifted into parts of Madrid on Friday as wildfires swept through parts of Western Europe, triggering states of emergency and calls for EU help.

Ireland finds 'no evidence' to conclude alumina sales prop up Russia's war

The long-awaited investigation into Ireland's alumina exports to Russia has concluded on an ambivalent note, with the government neither fullying confirming nor denying any link to Vladimir Putin's war machine.

Tech titan ordered to pay ex-wife $644m in divorce settlement

The divorce, involving the chairman of one of South Korea's biggest companies, has gripped the nation.

9 in 10 Europeans would consider moving abroad – here's where they would go

After polling 2,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy and the UK, Spain emerged as the top choice for would-be expats considering starting a new life in a different country.

Kenya’s Ruto-Kindiki dilemma: Escalating pressure to drop his deputy

A high-stakes by-election defeat for the ruling party in the Mt Kenya region has ignited debate on whether President William Ruto should retain Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as his running mate in the 2027 general election. Will Kindiki survive the pressure?

Why have thousands taken to the streets? India's 'cockroach' protest explained

India is seeing one of its biggest protests in recent years. But why did it start? And why is the mascot a cockroach? Here's what you need to know.