Saturday, July 26
Headlines
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World leaders tell Israel to end “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. In a joint statement yesterday, the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire and urged Israel to let aid into Gaza, a day after France said it would recognize Palestine as a state at the UN General Assembly this fall. Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have died of starvation this month, according to health officials, and the UN says a third of the population hasn’t eaten in days due to a total border blockade. Earlier this week, the UN’s human rights office said Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking aid since May, mostly around sites run by a US- and Israel-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Israel denies shooting aid-seekers, and said yesterday it would soon let countries parachute aid into Gaza, which humanitarian experts criticized as insufficient.—ML
Trump heads to Scotland for EU tariff talks and golf. President Trump is in Scotland, where he’s scheduled to visit two golf courses his family owns and to meet with world leaders. It’s possible that an EU trade deal could emerge from his meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow. The EU leader said they had “agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong,” amid reports that the two sides have been discussing a deal for 15% tariffs similar to the one the US recently made with Japan. Before boarding his plane to Scotland, Trump said the chances for a deal were “50/50.” He’ll also meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to finalize a trade deal they discussed in June.—AR
Education Dept. to release $5.5 billion in frozen funds. The Trump administration said it plans to release the grant money, which had previously been approved by Congress, but was withheld from schools as part of a funding freeze at the beginning of the month while the administration reviewed the allocation. With the new school year approaching, the money will now be available to support English language instruction, adult literacy, and other programs. Another $1.3 billion of funds for after-school and summer programming was unfrozen last week. The freeze was challenged by lawsuits, and lawmakers from both parties had also urged the funds’ release.—AR
At A Glance
Bookkeeping
> About $1.75: Bonus Ryanair staff receive for every oversized bag intercepted; could soon be more.
> Up to $3M: Expected hammer price for an original Darth Vader lightsaber when it goes to auction in September.
> 21 weeks: The gestation period of the youngest prematurely born baby to live.
Browse
> How some people don't pay any federal income taxes.
> Danish artist inspires stewardship by creating trash trolls.
> Seeded watermelon is making a comeback.
> Fully remote work is least popular among Gen Z.
> Map of the world’s firefly hotspots.
Listen
> Hacks for smarter, cheaper trips from a travel reporter.
> What makes for the perfect summer read?
Watch
> Director's take on a key scene in the new Superman movie.
> Strange and fascinating facts about human blood.
> Why lightning forms—and how to avoid being struck.
Long Read
> Reflections from the last survivors of Japanese American incarceration.
> How an ancient ice age shaped the world as we know it.
> Over 20 years later, she found the stranger who changed her life.
Most Clicked This Week: The numerous benefits of walking backward.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Comic-Con International 2025, the world's biggest comic book and pop culture convention, kicks off in San Diego; see full schedule of TV and movie panels (More)
> Chuck Mangione, two-time Grammy-winning jazz musician who released more than 30 albums, dies at age 84 (More)
> The 112th Tour de France wraps this weekend; see updated standings heading into final stages (More) | All five charged members of Canada's junior world hockey team found not guilty of 2018 sexual assault (More)
Science & Technology
> OpenAI to release GPT-5, the latest version of its flagship large language model, in August; reports suggest upgrade will include a new version of its video generator, Sora (More) | The neural network that preceded OpenAI's models (1440 Topics)
> Grand Canyon fossil discovery reveals a number of new complex species; discovery helps fill in the fossil record during the Cambrian explosion, roughly 500 million years ago (More)
> Researchers identify genes that, when "turned off," inhibit the ability of the Ebola virus to infect hosts; findings may lead to new treatments for emerging diseases (More) | What makes Ebola so deadly? (1440 Topics)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow -0.7%, Nasdaq +0.2%); S&P 500, Nasdaq close at fresh records (More) | Southwest shares close down 11% after airline trims full-year profit (More) | Intel beats Q2 revenue estimates; plans to cut 15% of workforce (More)
> UnitedHealth faces federal criminal and civil investigations over its Medicare billing practices; America’s largest private insurer also launches third-party review of its business policies (More) | Federal Communications Commission approves Skydance Media's $8B acquisition of Paramount (More)
> President Donald Trump visits Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC, to tour the central bank's estimated $2.5B renovation project; Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell publicly disagree on estimated cost (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Justice Department launches strike force to investigate claims by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of wrongdoing by Obama-era intelligence officials following 2016 election (More) | DOJ meets with Ghislaine Maxwell, former associate of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (More)
> The US cuts short Gaza ceasefire talks, accuses Hamas of negotiating in bad faith after group's response to latest proposal (More) | Two people in Gaza die of malnutrition over the past 24 hours, per Gaza health officials (More) | France says it will recognize Palestine as a state in September, first G7 country to do so (More)
> Russian passenger plane crashes in the country's far east, killing all 48 people onboard; cause of the crash was not immediately clear (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Home Ownership
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I purchased my first home in the 1970s in North Carolina via a VA loan that required no down payment. This is another reason why spending a couple of years in the military can work to your advantage.
Our first home cost $120,000 and I purchased an additional ten acres of land associated with the property but not part of the original deal. I have no idea how much it was sold for or when it was sold as a few years later, I got a divorce and moved to Tennessee.
My second home was also purchased using a VA loan but my partner and I each put $20,000 down to reduce our mortgage payments. This house purchased for $110,000 was much bigger that the house owned in NC because property values were lower in TN.
I have own five homes during my thirty plus year residency in TN, with each home selling for much more than it was purchased for making owning homes financially profitable.
Over time, home values, regardless of state markets, typically increase although they may also decline every now and then before adjusting.
Investments, including real estate usually show gains over long periods of time say ten to twenty years.
However, it takes money to maintain a home properly otherwise, the value of the home will decline regardless of how long you own it. Typically, improvements only need to be made in the bathrooms and kitchens in order to increase a home's value.
Scientists develop nuclear clock method to detect dark matter using thorium-229
For nearly a century, scientists around the world have been searching for dark matter—an invisible substance believed to make up about 80% of the universe's mass and needed to explain a variety of physical phenomena. Numerous methods have been used in attempts to detect dark matter, from trying to produce it in particle accelerators to searching for cosmic radiation that it might emit in space.
Yet even today, very little is known about this matter's fundamental properties. Although it operates in the background, dark matter is believed to influence visible matter, but in ways so subtle that they currently cannot be directly measured.
Scientists believe that if a nuclear clock is developed—one that uses the atomic nucleus to measure time with extreme precision—even the tiniest irregularities in its ticking could reveal dark matter's influence. Last year, physicists in Germany and Colorado made a breakthrough toward building such a clock, using the radioactive element thorium-229.
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