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Scientists just discovered a lost branch of Australia’s marsupials

Fossils from Queensland suggest a newly recognized marsupial order may have survived in Australia for around 35 million years, rewriting part of the story of how the continent's unique mammals evolved. The discovery challenges the idea that Australia's marsupials all came from a single straightforward ancestral lineage.

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Jul 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Sports Illustrated Is Right: Drew Mestemaker Could Be the Most Impactful Transfer in the Big 12

Sports Illustrated is right to call Drew Mestemaker the Big 12's most impactful transfer. Oklahoma State doesn't just need a productive quarterback—it needs someone capable of changing the direction of the program. If the Cowboys bounce back in 2026, it will likely start under center.

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Jul 18 • 6:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
<i>The Odyssey</i> Is Perfectly Tolerable Entertainment

The movie is enchanting despite its frustrating qualities.

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Jul 18 • 5:03 PM EDT • Entertainment • nationalreview.com
Is Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) Undervalued After Its CTF Life Awards Deal?

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) is back in focus after CTF Life agreed to become the exclusive title sponsor of the 2026 TMElive International Music Awards, bringing the event to Hong Kong for the first time. See our latest analysis for Tencent Music Entertainment Group. Despite the CTF Life partnership putting Tencent Music Entertainment Group back in the headlines, the stock’s recent performance has been mixed, with a 1 month share price return of 4.95% contrasting with a year to...

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Jul 18 • 3:20 PM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
The anti-aging industry promises to extend life. Here's the reality

The fear of aging is driving a wave of biohacking businesses promising to help restore youth and fight disease. Four Corners investigates the race to reverse the aging process.

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Jul 18 • 3:00 PM EDT • Science • abc.net.au
How a science experiment to grow native plants on Copper’s slopes is inspiring collaboration in the ski industry

Katherine Riesberg, a graduate of Middle Park High School in Grand County, has been skiing since the age of two. Riesberg said her love for outdoor recreation is a big part of what led her...

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Jul 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • aspentimes.com
How a science experiment to grow native plants on Copper’s slopes is inspiring collaboration in the ski industry

Katherine Riesberg, a graduate of Middle Park High School in Grand County, has been skiing since the age of two. Riesberg said her love for outdoor recreation is a big part of what led her...

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Jul 18 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • postindependent.com
Wisconsin Farm Tech Days highlights grain bin safety, farm history, health screenings, and volunteers

Wisconsin Farm Technology Days is wrapping up its three-day event in Stratford, showcasing the latest technology in the agriculture industry. The event was held at Redetzke’s No Joke Dairy.

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Jul 18 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • weau.com
Everyone’s Watching Women’s Sports – The ESPYs Breakthrough Award Proved It

Olympic Champion Alysa Liu won the 2026 ESPY Best Breakthrough Athlete award, marking a historic five-year win streak for female athletes in an evolving sports industry.

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Jul 18 • 7:30 AM EDT • Sports • forbes.com
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AMC (AMC) Stock Trades At A Discount On Its 99% Five Year Slump

AMC Entertainment Holdings stock now trades around US$1.94 after a long slide in which shareholders have seen the value of their investment fall about 99% over five years, while some valuation checks still suggest the shares are not clearly expensive on current metrics. Over the past five years, AMC Entertainment Holdings has declined about 99%, which means any fresh move in the share price carries outsized importance for existing holders. Recent balance sheet moves to refinance high...

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Jul 18 • 2:26 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
Broken streetlights causing frustration for St. Paul business owners
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Jul 17 • 8:51 PM EDT • Business • cbsnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
‘Extremely frustrating:’ Alpharetta businesses fed up with years-long Highway 9 construction project

The project includes widening Highway 9 to four lanes.

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Jul 17 • 6:56 PM EDT • Business • wsbtv.com
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'Support us' | Madeira businesses feel strain as road construction projects intensify

Major road projects in Madeira are disrupting traffic and frustrating business owners who say construction is keeping customers away.

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Jul 17 • 5:54 PM EDT • Business • wcpo.com
How a science experiment to grow native plants on Copper’s slopes is inspiring collaboration in the ski industry

Katherine Riesberg, a graduate of Middle Park High School in Grand County, has been skiing since the age of two. Riesberg said her love for outdoor recreation is a big part of what led her...

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Jul 17 • 5:33 PM EDT • Science • steamboatpilot.com
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Did this scientist solve humanity’s biggest mystery? The surprising theory explained - Futura-Sciences

From behind the Iron Curtain Gánti was born in Vác, Hungary, on September 10, 1933. He grew up during World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation. Though he trained as a chemical engineer and worked in industrial biochemistry, his lifelong obsession was a fundamental question: what actually defines something...

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Jul 17 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
The Bull Case For Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) Could Change Following Its TMElive Awards Push Into Hong Kong

CTF Life recently announced a long-term partnership with Tencent Music Entertainment Group to bring the TMElive International Music Awards to Hong Kong for the first time in August 2026, with CTF Life as exclusive title sponsor. This collaboration positions Tencent Music to extend its brand beyond online platforms into a large-scale international live festival, deepening its presence in the fan-driven music ecosystem. We’ll now examine how hosting the TMElive International Music Awards in...

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Jul 17 • 11:29 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
Industrial projects set the stage for future retail development in Ascension

Industrial investment is fueling commercial real estate growth in Ascension Parish as developers and retailers prepare for continued population and job expansion, Ascension Business Report writes. According to Charlie Colvin, president of Momentum Commercial Real Estate, major projects such as CF Industries and Hyundai’s investments are bringing new workers to the area, which is increasing […]

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Jul 17 • 10:26 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com
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World Cup had a big impact on the LA restaurant industry, numbers show

Overall revenue rose significantly

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Jul 17 • 9:30 AM EDT • Business • spectrumlocalnews.com
What is democratic socialism and how does it differ from forms practiced elsewhere?

Democratic socialism overlaps with social democracy on many policy goals but often advocates for a larger role for public ownership or worker ownership in certain industries, particularly sectors viewed as essential public services.…

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Jul 17 • 7:59 AM EDT • Politics • baltimoresun.com
Maximum Entertainment’s U.S. Subsidiary Agrees to Cathay Bank’s Request for Stipulation of a Receiver

Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2026 - Maximum Entertainment AB (Nasdaq: MAXENT B) (“Maximum Entertainment” or the “Company”) today announces that its U.S. subsidiary, Maximum Entertainment, LLC (the “Borrower”), has agreed to stipulate to the appointment of a court-supervised receiver as requested by…

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Jul 17 • 7:46 AM EDT • Entertainment • tradingview.com
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Following Lake Tahoe Relaunch Has Fair Value Back In Focus

Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has drawn fresh investor attention after unveiling Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino and completing a multi phase refresh of the former Harveys Lake Tahoe with updated rooms, gaming, dining and entertainment. See our latest analysis for Caesars Entertainment. Recent events, including the Lake Tahoe relaunch and a board resignation announcement, come as Caesars Entertainment’s share price has a 90 day share price return of 9.88% and a year to date share...

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Jul 17 • 7:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
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Nominate Wisconsin business leaders for Marian awards by July 31

Marian University will host its 45th Business & Industry Awards on Oct. 21.

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Jul 17 • 5:12 AM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
Rimington, Frazier and Suh make Sports Illustrated's college top 50

Sports Illustrated released its top 50 best players of all-time list. Three Huskers made the list.

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Jul 17 • 5:09 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
More Trust and Estate Disputes Are Becoming Business Litigation

As more families transfer business interests, commercial real estate, and other complex assets, trust and estate advisers may need to brush up on partnership law, corporate governance, contractual rights, tax planning, or real property law, FBFK Law’s Holly Gilani says.

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Jul 17 • 4:30 AM EDT • Business • news.bloombergtax.com
Admin. Officials, Energy Industry Execs. & Business Leaders Attend Iraq Business Summit

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi join administration officials, energy industry stakeholders and business leaders at the U.S.-Iraq High-Level Business Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.

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Jul 17 • 12:00 AM EDT • Business • c-span.org
Hochul drums up support for data center moratorium

The roundtable included perspective local government leaders, those in the agricultural industry, and utility advocates who stressed the need to plan ahead

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Jul 16 • 9:14 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Sports without politics is a fantasy and the World Cup proves it

From ancient Greece to Nazi Germany, sport and politics have long been intertwined. Nevertheless, we still imagine that international sport can be kept above the fray and serve as a neutral arena where nations compete on merit alone. In this article, diplomacy scholar Geoffrey Allen Pigman argues the 2026 FIFA World Cup shows this is a dangerous illusion. When international sport is left entirely to revenue-maximizing private bodies like FIFA, it doesn't escape politics, but rather surrenders to its worst expressions. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, the IOC must decide whether to learn that lesson or repeat the same mistakes. The largest and most lucrative FIFA World Cup ever draws toward its climactic conclusion amidst a swirl of controversy. Team members, staff, fans, and spectators have been denied their right to enter the United States to participate, and US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to overturn a referee’s call that Trump believed disadvantaged the US national team. It is a moment to step back and reflect on what the purposes of international sport mega-events like the World Cup, and international sport more broadly, are, and what they should be. Does international sport serve public purposes? Is there a public interest? Or is it primarily a private endeavor organized by commercial enterprises to entertain the global public (and generate profit in the process), which is occasionally used by governments and leaders for raisons d’etat? Central to the idea of sport is the principle of fair play, which in the international context demands that games be free from political interference. However, it is impossible to separate sport from politics, all claims to the contrary notwithstanding. The most positive political use of international sport through the millennia has been to facilitate diplomacy. The use of international sport for diplomatic objectives has existed since at least the time of the ancient Olympic Games, around which was instituted the custom of the Ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, between participating states to facilitate fair competition and diplomatic achievements by ensuring that participants could travel safely to the Olympiad. In his seminal work On Diplomacy (1987), diplomacy scholar James Der Derian characterized the objectives of diplomacy as overcoming alienation and mediating estrangement between governments and between peoples. One increasingly important diplomatic tool in the technology-infused media environment over the past century has been public diplomacy, under which governments and non-state diplomatic actors (e.g. transnational corporations) communicate to global publics about their international policy objectives and to shape their global brand image. Political scientist Michał Kobierecki, in his important book Sports Diplomacy (2020), views sports diplomacy as falling broadly within the ambit of public diplomacy, as international sport intimately involves the participation of global publics as spectators and consumers of global media. Diplomacy scholar Stuart Murray and this author, in a 2013 article, distinguish between international sport used for diplomatic purposes and international sport-as-diplomacy, which encompasses the range of diplomacy that occurs as teams and competitors, spectators and fans, and government officials all converge for international sporting events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Diplomacy scholar H.E. Chehabi, in a 2001 article on US-Iran sports diplomacy, describes the interaction between spectators and fans at international sporting events as “people-to-people diplomacy,” in which relationships develop independently of governments and their objectives. Diplomacy by the aforementioned definitions is often unsuccessful. Moreover, all too often the tools of diplomacy may be employed by governments and other actors to thwart or oppose the objectives of diplomacy as characterized by Der Derian. Governments routinely use the tools of public diplomacy to disseminate propaganda, spreading misinformation in the attempt to deceive global publics about their objectives and to create misleading impressions about their brand identity. Within sports diplomacy, the term “sportswashing” has been coined recently to describe how governments invest in and promote international sport to create positive global public impressions of their nations and, in doing so, to distract the global public from their deficient records in areas such as human rights and democratic governance. Murray, in his 2018 book Sports Diplomacy: Origins, Theory and Practice, introduces the concept of sports anti-diplomacy, wherein governments intentionally use international sport to advance aggressive and nationalistic objectives. Obvious historical examples include Hitler’s use of the 1936 Berlin Olympics to glorify his Third Reich and the 1969 El Salvador-Honduras football “war.” SUGGESTED READING The beautiful game made ugly By Emily Ryall FIFA argues that it is and seeks to be apolitical in its stewardship of international Association Football (soccer). FIFA policies governing bids to host the World Cup require uninhibited and non-discriminatory access for players, team staff, and spectators of all participating countries to host nations and venues. It became clear soon after Trump returned to power in the United States in January 2025 that Trump’s political intentions and objectives to limit non-US citizens from living and working in the United States and, in numerous cases, even visiting the country, would collide with FIFA’s host nation policies. Beginning soon after the start of the second Trump administration, US federal authorities imposed restrictions on entry to the United States of citizens of between 20 and 40 countries for any purpose, with only limited exceptions. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began arresting non-US citizens in the United States, including persons with and without legal status, holding them in jails, concentration camps, and other detention facilities until they were deported to their home or third countries, where they faced substantive risks to their personal safety. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, in an effort to ensure the most successful and lucrative World Cup in history, engaged diplomatically with President Trump in an attempt to facilitate entry to the US for World Cup participants. Infantino did all in his power to ingratiate himself with Trump, to the extent of creating a FIFA “Peace Prize,” which he awarded to Trump in December 2025 at a ceremony in the then Trump-controlled John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the World Cup draw. The prize was an ersatz consolation for someone who aspired in vain to win the rather more prestigious and well-known Nobel Peace Prize. And in the run-up to the World Cup, conditions became worse. In February 2026, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war of aggression against Iran, illegal under international law, under the false pretence that Iran’s government was preparing to attack the United States and Israel. During the US aerial bombardment of Iran, US planes bombed Azadi Stadium, the facility where Iran’s national football team trained. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, it was clear that Infantino’s efforts had been for naught: the Trump administration would not adhere to FIFA policies governing access to World Cup host nations. World Cup referee Omar Artan, a citizen of Somalia, was denied a US visa to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup. Trump’s government only granted US visas to Iran’s football team ten days before they were scheduled to arrive for the tournament. Numerous members of the support staff for Iran’s team were denied US visas. Iran’s team, which had been scheduled to train in Arizona, was directed to shift its training site to Tijuana, Mexico, notwithstanding that all three of their group stage matches took place at US venues. The US Department of Homeland Security only permitted the Iranian team to enter the US on the day before each scheduled match and then to return to Mexico immediately after playing. Members of Iraq’s and Switzerland’s football teams were delayed for hours by US officials at the US border, and an Iraqi team photographer was refused entry. Spectators and fans from Haïti and Iran were denied entry to the United States altogether. A large number of fans from a range of countries had their applications for US visas rejected. There were multiple off-ramps through which participants could have avoided the negative consequences of Trump’s decisions for the 2026 World Cup. Once it was clear that the Trump government intended to violate the established expectations for World Cup hosts, FIFA could have shifted the matches scheduled to take place in the United States to Mexico and Canada. The three nations were already designated as co-hosts, and host cities and venues had been selected. Once it was clear that FIFA, governed by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s dependent and dysfunctional relationship with Trump, would never consider this option on its own, it fell to the national football federations to act. The national federations, particularly some combination of federations of the leading contenders (France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, England, Germany, etc.), could have refused to participate under the US-imposed conditions or, at the least, demanded an ironclad agreement with the Trump government that FIFA policies on access would be respected. ___ International sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. ___ Why did neither FIFA nor the national football federations act to protect the interests of players, team staff, referees, fans, and spectators? In essence, the relentless engines of capitalism prevailed over norm observance, ethics, and fair play. The revenue interests of FIFA, sponsors, global media, and host cities won out. FIFA’s managers viewed hosting another World Cup principally in the United States as a veritable pot of gold for FIFA and its collaborators. FIFA has estimated its own revenue over the 2023-26 budget cycle, which includes the 2026 World Cup, at $13 billion, revised up from an initial projection of $11 billion, and 72% higher than the previous revenue cycle. Of that total, FIFA is estimated to have generated $8.9 billion from the Cup itself in revenue from TV rights ($3.92 billion), sponsorships ($2.69 billion), ticket sales ($3.1 billion), licensing rights, and other sources. A joint study by FIFA and the World Trade Organization estimates that the World Cup will contribute over $40 billion to global GDP, including nearly $14 billion in direct visitor spending in the three host countries (but principally in the United States, which hosted the lion’s share of the matches). The FIFA World Cup is now reportedly “the single most lucrative recurring commercial property in global sport.” And yet, notwithstanding the Trump government’s uses of the World Cup for sports anti-diplomacy, and the climate of anxiety that this created for participants and spectators, diplomacy that did not depend upon governments was able to thrive at the World Cup. Examples of successful people-to-people diplomacy were legion, as citizens of towns and cities across the States, as well as in Mexico and Canada, welcomed team members, their families and supporters, to training sites across North America. Fans of different teams joined together in person in stadiums for matches, at watch parties and bars, and at welcome events sponsored by host cities. The joy and camaraderie shared between the citizenry of Boston and Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of fans is but one example of how the “Beautiful Game” brings people together. Friendships forged across continents are likely to endure well beyond the Cup final. Even those achievements cannot be seen as unalloyed, however. As South African football fan Byron Pillay commented to Al Jazeera, “Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people. But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, especially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.” Ultimately, the experience of the 2026 FIFA World Cup illustrates that, as international sport is inextricably entangled with diplomacy of different sorts, for good or ill, it cannot be considered to be in the purely private realm and left to revenue-maximizing private actors. As long as there is the possibility of diplomatic progress in mediating estrangement between governments or between peoples, there is a broad and overarching public interest in international sport. Likewise, as it would be difficult to put on an international sport mega-event without international sporting organizations like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), global media firms, and companies purchasing sponsorships, public and private interests in international sport must coexist, most likely somewhere on a shifting spectrum between partnership and rivalry or cross purposes. As the World Cup wraps up, the IOC needs to consider its lessons before the scheduled 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if they want to avoid a media-hyped Trump version of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. The IOC and the National Olympic Committees need to set conditions on and make demands of Trump’s government with clearly articulated consequences for non-compliance, up to and including cancellation of the Games. Time is running out for the IOC, as unlike with the FIFA World Cup, there is no at-the-ready alternate venue for Los Angeles.

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Jul 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • iai.tv
Tiffany Naiman Breaks Down the World Cup Halftime Entertainment Show - The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

The 2026 World Cup brought a renewed focus on entertainment. Tiffany Naiman, director of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center, explores why music has become central to FIFA's global strategy and examines its partnership with the Recording Academy.

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Jul 16 • 11:25 AM EDT • Entertainment • schoolofmusic.ucla.edu
SUD Industry Optimistic Despite Reimbursement Woes

This is an exclusive BHB+ article. A few months ago, I was moderating a panel on M&A in behavioral health, and a theme emerged: savvy buyers could get

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Jul 16 • 10:46 AM EDT • Business • bhbusiness.com
LSU students build AI solutions to help Baton Rouge businesses work smarter

LSU students showcased practical artificial intelligence solutions for four Baton Rouge organizations during the Spring 2026 LSU AI Showcase, the culminating event for a selective capstone course that partners technically advanced students with industry sponsors to solve real-world business challenges. Throughout the semester, student teams worked closely with representatives from MMR Group, Baton Rouge Community […]

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Jul 16 • 10:31 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com
San Util Design gears up for move to Washington, announces business model changes

This article ran in the June issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry NewsWINTER PARK, Colo. — San Util Design, a company that handcrafts bags and gear for backcountry travel, bikepacking, and mountain biking, is moving operations from Colorado to Bellingham, Washington. The move, which was planned for the end of June, coincides with changes to San Util’s business model.

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Jul 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • bicycleretailer.com
Progressive uprising divides Democrats up and down Michigan's ballot

Amid voter frustration with the \

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Jul 16 • 12:02 AM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
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Beck the Lead Author of Article Published in <em>Quaternary Science Reviews</em>

“Pleistocene record of a dynamic, fluctuating lacustrine margin from the Turkana Basin, Kenya,” co-authored by Associate Professor of Geosciences Catherine (Cat) Beck, appears in the October issue of Quaternary Science Reviews from Elsevier.

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Jul 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • hamilton.edu
AGC NYS: Data center moratorium a 'missed opportunity' for construction industry

Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York will “lead the way in creating the strongest standards in the nation for data center development,” but critics say this will hurt the Empire State’s bottom line.

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Jul 15 • 6:55 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Japanese business delegation tours Wood County industrial sites in economic development push

Region's industrial leaders hope visits lead to new business investment

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Jul 15 • 5:15 PM EDT • Business • wtap.com
DJ shares journey to getting into the entertainment industry

Visit the post for more.

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Jul 15 • 4:49 PM EDT • Entertainment • kfor.com
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era

(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?

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Jul 15 • 4:48 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
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Employer, Business Groups Back Northrop Grumman in 4th Circuit 401(k) Forfeiture Appeal

The use of forfeitures to offset contributions continues to draw industry support.

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Jul 15 • 12:58 PM EDT • Business • plansponsor.com
Alpharetta business owners slam road construction project delays

Alpharetta business owners say they are frustrated that a road construction project has been delayed for years, citing damaged driveways, lane closures and other issues that hinder customers from reaching them.

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Jul 15 • 9:44 AM EDT • Business • wabe.org
Dead Space series co-creator and industry veteran Glen Schofield announces his retirement in emotional video

Glen Schofield, whose name should be familiar to fans of the many major games he's helped create, is ending an almost four decade run in the games industry.

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Jul 15 • 8:29 AM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net
The 2026 Sports Humanitarian Awards honored Stephen Curry, Jeffrey Lurie, Laurie Tisch, the Baltimore Ravens & more

Tuesday, July 14, athletes and celebrities gathered at Gotham Hall in New York City to celebrate and honor athletes, teams, leagues and members of the sports industry who use the power of sport to make a positive impact on society for the 12th annual Sports Humanitarian Awards.

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Jul 15 • 8:29 AM EDT • Sports • espnpressroom.com
Industry partnerships, hands-on experiences turn waterways into science labs for biology graduate students

Biology grad students dive into hands-on research on local waterways, transforming them into science labs while forging valuable industry connections.

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Jul 15 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • news.columbusstate.edu
Patient records stolen in cyber-attack on Australian healthcare provider

Partnered Health says personal information and medical details and notes were breached in the attack on 21 clinics

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Jul 15 • 6:41 AM EDT • Health • theguardian.com
Meet IndyStar intern Lucy Tobier

IndyStar's Pulliam fellows have gone on to rich careers in Indianapolis and across the news industry. Meet 2026 intern Lucy Tobier.

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Jul 15 • 6:01 AM EDT • Politics • indystar.com
Tell us what science you need to know to be 'cultured'

What ought a cultured human know of science? Robert P Crease seeks your ideas

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Jul 15 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • physicsworld.com
‘Give while you live’: Who is Museum of Science and Industry founder Julius Rosenwald?

The museum was renamed in 2024 to highlight megadonor Ken Griffin. Its original founder did not want to put his own name on the institution.

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Jul 15 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • wbez.org
What to watch as Apple, OpenAI face off over trade secret claims

A lawyer says a lawsuit between OpenAI and Apple over trade secret theft could set the stage for a legal battle that may reshape tech industry norms.

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Jul 15 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
ESPN's 2026 Sports Humanitarian Awards honors people using power of sports for good

The 12th annual award ceremony celebrated athletes, teams, leagues and members of the sports industry who use the power of the sport to make a positive impact on society and communities.

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Jul 14 • 11:36 PM EDT • Sports • 6abc.com
ESPN's 2026 Sports Humanitarian Awards honors people using power of sports for good

The 12th annual award ceremony celebrated athletes, teams, leagues and members of the sports industry who use the power of the sport to make a positive impact on society and communities.

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Jul 14 • 11:36 PM EDT • Sports • abc30.com
ESPN's 2026 Sports Humanitarian Awards honors people using power of sports for good

The 12th annual award ceremony celebrated athletes, teams, leagues and members of the sports industry who use the power of the sport to make a positive impact on society and communities.

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Jul 14 • 11:36 PM EDT • Sports • abc7chicago.com
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ESPN's 2026 Sports Humanitarian Awards honors people using power of sports for good

The 12th annual award ceremony celebrated athletes, teams, leagues and members of the sports industry who use the power of the sport to make a positive impact on society and communities.

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Jul 14 • 11:36 PM EDT • Sports • abc7.com
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Winthrop residents, business owner frustrated by repeated boil orders

Water tower work triggers three boil advisories in ten days in Buchanan County

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Jul 14 • 10:20 PM EDT • Business • kcrg.com
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Oregon business association challenging constitutionality of BOLI bill

Oregon Business and Industry and two others filed a lawsuit arguing lawmakers violated the constitution when they passed a bill to fund Oregon BOLI.

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Jul 14 • 9:13 PM EDT • Business • statesmanjournal.com
Paramount-WBD merger could impact entertainment options

California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins "Here's the Scoop" to discuss how the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery could impact the entertainment industry.

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Jul 14 • 8:18 PM EDT • Entertainment • nbcnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
FTO designation exposes compliance gaps in Brazil’s entertainment sector

Following a domestic money-laundering probe that linked funk artists to Brazilian criminal groups and the subsequent US designation of two cartels as terrorist organisations, Brazilian legal practitioners tell Latin Lawyer they are updating sanctions-screening systems for entertainment-industry clients, reassessing their own onboarding processes for artists and producers and reaching out to Mexican peers for guidance on managing the fallout.

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Jul 14 • 8:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • latinlawyer.com
Dead Space Creator Glen Schofield Announces Retirement From Gaming Industry

Dead Space creator Glen Schofield has announced his retirement from the gaming industry.

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Jul 14 • 6:31 PM EDT • Technology • ign.com
Glen Schofield Announces Retirement in Emotional Video: 'This is an Amazing Industry'

Glen Schofield has retired from making games after a whopping 35 years in the industry. He announced this with an emotional video.

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Jul 14 • 5:35 PM EDT • Technology • insider-gaming.com
Scientists are deep-freezing koala eggs and sperm to protect the species from extinction

Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia want to freeze koala sex cells in liquid nitrogen, which could preserve the DNA for decades until we need it, an expert said.

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Jul 14 • 5:15 PM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Matt Dopp

Matt Dopp has taken on the role of Plante Moran’s service industry group leader.

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Jul 14 • 4:59 PM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com
Horvath Convenes Entertainment Union Coalition to Advance Solutions for Hollywood

Supervisor Horvath met with leaders of the Entertainment Union Coalition to discuss the urgent challenges facing Los Angeles' film and television industry and identify strategies to keep production, jobs, and investment in the region.

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Jul 14 • 4:48 PM EDT • Entertainment • lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Trades Below Fair Value Following Its 62% Slump

Flutter Entertainment has had a tough run over the past year, with the stock down 61.9%, yet current valuation checks still flag it as looking cheap against its fundamentals. High profile interest from investors such as Michael Burry has sharpened the focus on whether the market has pushed Flutter too far to the downside or is correctly pricing in regulatory and competitive risks. Over the last 12 months, Flutter Entertainment's share price has fallen 61.9%, which puts recent interest from...

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Jul 14 • 4:20 PM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
NSF Seafood Engine in New England wins $15M U.S. National Science Foundation award to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture

KINGSTON, R.I.—July 14, 2026— The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a major new award to bolster the American seafood industry through the NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The NSF Seafood Engine in New England, led by the Portsmouth-based non-profit NERACOOS, is a collaboration of seafood […]

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Jul 14 • 3:54 PM EDT • Science • uri.edu
County business park to get first infrastructure, new name

New Hanover County’s Holly Shelter Business Park could be getting its first infrastructure and a new name in the coming months. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $6.5 million infrastructure construction contract and renaming on Monday. Once developed, the approximately 300-acre master-planned industrial park is expected to accommodate more than 2 million square feet of industrial space. The construction contract was awarded to Carolina Civilworks, which submitted the lowest responsive bid for the construction of the infrastructure, Akin Akinola, the county’s engineer, told commissioners on Monday. In May 2023, the county approved a development agreement with Sidbury Land & Property Company to establish the business park. The firm then conveyed approximately 52 acres to the county, giving officials the option to purchase another 200 acres, Akinola said. “The county’s role is to construct the initial public infrastructure that will make the site ready for future development,” he said. “Today’s contract award represents the first major construction phase of that project.” The first phase of development will include approximately 2,750 linear feet of business park roadway, a water main and fire hydrants, along with a sanitary sewer pump station, sewer force main and gravity sewer. Other infrastructure will include a right-turn lane on Holly Shelter Road, along with associated drainage, utilities and traffic control improvements. “Completing this work establishes the backbone infrastructure necessary to serve future development and positions the site for future economic investment,” Akinola said on Monday. County staff, in consultation with Wilmington Business Development officials, are also recommending renaming the park as the I-40 Coastal Commerce Park, said Jennifer Rigby, the county’s chief strategy officer. The new name would emphasize the park’s proximity to I-40 and its location on the coast, she said. Several county commissioners also asked to add New Hanover County's name to the business park's name to commemorate the county's contributions. “We are hoping to achieve space for our businesses to grow and expand here in New Hanover County,” Rigby said. “We’ve had great success with out Blue Clay Business Park and this is another opportunity to really provide locations for our businesses to grow and expand.”

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Jul 14 • 3:24 PM EDT • Business • wilmingtonbiz.com
IBM shares plunge as AI spending boom disrupts business

Shares in IBM plunged 24 percent on Tuesday after the US tech giant released disappointing preliminary second-quarter results, blaming a shift in spending by customers due to expected higher prices for memory chips and other AI-related infrastructure.A global rush by tech companies to build out artificial intelligence infrastructure has sent demand for servers, memory chips and storage soaring, driving up prices and creating supply shortages across the industry.

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Jul 14 • 2:42 PM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
Work With Me Here LLC Launches Boutique Talent Consulting Firm Serving the Animation, VFX and Entertainment Industries

Work With Me Here is a new boutique talent consulting firm with a focus on animation, VFX and entertainment founded by Nellie Tehrani-Ryce.

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Jul 14 • 1:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • animationmagazine.net
Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation

The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office.

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Jul 14 • 12:35 PM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
How Georgetown Jumpstarted This Alum's Sports Industry Career

Kara Korber (B'16) could never stay far away from the pitch, even after her last soccer game at Georgetown. Discover how this alumna turned her passion for sports into a career developing business opportunities for a professional soccer team.

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Jul 14 • 11:58 AM EDT • Sports • georgetown.edu
The new trust crisis: What fraud means for media and entertainment

To fight media and entertainment fraud, CTAM's Vicki Lins and AARP's Kathy Stokes recommend making proactive consumer education, empathetic customer support, clear communication and industry collaboration a priority.

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Jul 14 • 10:38 AM EDT • Entertainment • smartbrief.com
Michael Stella

After successfully leading some of DSI’s most significant industrial developments, Michael Stella has been promoted to Director of Construction at Development Solutions, Inc. (DSI).

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Jul 14 • 10:37 AM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com
U.S. National Science Foundation Announces Transformational Award to Connecticut's Quantum Tech Sector

'NSF Engines investments in critical technologies and future industries will transform America’s innovation infrastructure for decades to come'

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Jul 14 • 10:02 AM EDT • Science • today.uconn.edu
Sports Illustrated views USC's Matt Leinart as college football giant

College football has existed for more than 155 years. USC's Matt Leinart is one of the sport's 35 best players ever, says Sports Illustrated

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Jul 14 • 9:11 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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'This was the easy part for Alonso'

The Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge is adorned with pictures of Chelsea managers holding trophies. Many of these pictures are of Jose Mourinho, but fellow Premier League winner Antonio Conte also features. Xabi Alonso motioned to these as he answered a question on his illustrious predecessors during his unveiling news conference on Monday, saying he is "really honoured and privileged" to follow in their footsteps.

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Jul 14 • 8:04 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
OnPay Named Best Online Payroll Service for Small Businesses by business.com

ATLANTA, July 14, 2026--OnPay, a leading payroll, HR, and benefits administration provider, today announced it has been recognized as the Best Online Payroll Service for small businesses in business.com’s annual review of the industry’s leading platforms.

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Jul 14 • 7:33 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
Former Xbox Dev Compulsion Games Shares Open Letter To 'Studios Across The Industry'

South of Midnight dev is back in business

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Jul 14 • 7:11 AM EDT • Technology • purexbox.com
Industry Sales Grow 2.5% in Q2 as Business Pressures Persist

Distributor growth accelerated from the first quarter, but inflation, delayed purchasing decisions and uneven performance continue to temper promo industry sales.

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Jul 14 • 4:30 AM EDT • Business • members.asicentral.com
Consumer Discretionary - Casino Operator Stocks Q1 Teardown: Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) Vs The Rest

As the Q1 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the consumer discretionary - casino operator industry, including ...

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Jul 13 • 11:35 PM EDT • Entertainment • stockstory.org
Letter to the Editor: A give-away contract with Another Planet Entertainment

The contracts proposed, between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Dept. and APE fall short of the industry standard. The APE contracts are not typical for a venue this size, potentially costing…

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Jul 13 • 8:31 PM EDT • Entertainment • richmondsunsetnews.com
Building the tools behind the science

An industry application scientist reflects on the invisible labor behind widely used lab techniques, and how iterative testing, troubleshooting and cross-team collaboration turn new technologies into practical tools for the scientific community.

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Jul 13 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • asbmb.org
Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) Could Be 15% Undervalued After F1 Afterparty Deal

Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) is drawing investor interest after announcing an F1 Afterparty collaboration with the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix. The partnership features bundled race, hospitality, and concert ticket packages at the Las Vegas Sphere venue. See our latest analysis for Sphere Entertainment. Despite the F1 Afterparty announcement, Sphere Entertainment’s recent share price has eased, with the stock down 5.4% over the past month but still showing strong year to date share...

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Jul 13 • 7:37 PM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
Empire Towers shutdown leaves Glen Burnie businesses in limbo

The lack of information has residents, small business owners, their employees' clients and customers feeling unseen, frustrated, confused and worried.

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Jul 13 • 6:25 PM EDT • Business • wbaltv.com
The ESPY Awards return to New York City this week: Presenters, attendees and more

The star-studded ceremony will celebrate major sports achievements, revisit unforgettable moments, and bring together the sports industry's fan favorites and biggest stars.

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Jul 13 • 6:15 PM EDT • Sports • abc7.com
The Quintessential Trump-era Politician

In 2020, I wrote an article about collaboration and collaborators. The title was History Will Judge the Complicit, and it started with the story of two famous East Germans, Markus Wolf and Wolfgang Leonhard, who both landed in East Berlin just after the end of the war. Although they came from very similar backgrounds, the former stuck with the regime, eventually becoming its spy boss; the latter, horrified by the brutal reality of Soviet-style communism, escaped. By way of juxtaposition, I also wrote about Lyndsey Graham and Mitt Romney. These two men also made very different decisions when confronted by Donald Trump’s assault on the ideals that they had both grown up believing: A glance at their biographies would not have led many to predict what happened next. On paper, Graham would have seemed, in 2016, like the man with deeper ties to the military, to the rule of law, and to an old-fashioned idea of American patriotism and American responsibility in the world. Romney, by contrast, with his shifts between the center and the right, with his multiple careers in business and politics, would have seemed less deeply attached to those same old-fashioned patriotic ideals. Most of us register soldiers as loyal patriots, and management consultants as self-interested. We assume people from small towns in South Carolina are more likely to resist political pressure than people who have lived in many places. Intuitively, we think that loyalty to a particular place implies loyalty to a set of values. But in this case the clichés were wrong. It was Graham who made excuses for Trump’s abuse of power. It was Graham—a JAG Corps lawyer—who downplayed the evidence that the president had attempted to manipulate foreign courts and blackmail a foreign leader into launching a phony investigation into a political rival. It was Graham who abandoned his own stated support for bipartisanship and instead pushed for a hyperpartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. It was Graham who played golf with Trump, who made excuses for him on television, who supported the president even as he slowly destroyed the American alliances—with Europeans, with the Kurds—that Graham had defended all his life. By contrast, it was Romney who, in February, became the only Republican senator to break ranks with his colleagues, voting to impeach the president. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office,” he said, is “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” In the wake of Graham’s unexpected death on Saturday, I wrote about him again. He was, in many ways, the quintessential politician of Trump’s Washington, a man who shifted 180 degrees. Graham had been a fervent American patriot, proud reserve officer and military lawyer; he became one of the most important defenders of a president who believes soldiers are “suckers and losers” and shows no respect for law of any kind. As his politics changed, his language grew coarser and his behavior grew worse: He urged Israel to “level the place” in Gaza, and insulted the Danish prime minister in Munich, prompting a colleague, Senator Elissa Slotkin, to issue an apology. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which you can read in The Atlantic (gift link here) Like his close friend John McCain, Graham believed that America should stand at the center of a broad democratic alliance. The few times I met him were in that context, at the Munich Security Conference or at other European-American gatherings, which he once attended with great regularity. He also took seriously the practice of American democracy at home. In a 2014 conversation with The Atlantic, he described himself as a pragmatic politician who eschewed populist slogans. “I know Washington is broken, but what’s broken about it is everybody yelling and nobody trying to fix it,” he said. “I’m trying.” When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood. Trump privately mocked the military that Graham loved as nothing but “suckers and losers.” He put falsehoods, cynicism, and personal greed at the center of his politics, while expressing disdain for transparency, accountability, and democracy itself. In 2015, Graham described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell.” Also as a “nutjob.” When Trump won, Graham understood, as did so many others, that he would have to make some important choices. For a while, he went silent. In the spring of 2016, I saw him at one of those conferences in Europe. He seemed too depressed to speak. But then, like many other Republicans—and, more important, like many other people who have lived under political occupation or experienced radical regime change—he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator. As I wrote in 2020, it’s very hard to look in to anyone’s heart and to understand their motivations from the outside. But it does seem that Graham had a deep need to be relevant, to be in the game, to be a player, at any cost. And that, rather than any particular achievement, is what he will be remembered for. Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc and check out the SNF Agora Institute chart) June 27 Trump diverted funds from more than 900 projects nationwide—including safety upgrades at national parks—to finance beautification projects around Washington, including $700,000 used to fix a White House walkway. June 28 After a years-long Department of Justice investigation into Abbott Laboratories over its management of a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria turned up enough evidence to criminally charge the firm, top department officials instead opted for a financial penalty—illustrating the department’s move away from strict corporate enforcement under the Trump administration. June 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stacked the Defense Policy Board—which is charged with providing independent national security recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—with Trump allies, including tech billionaire Marc Andreessen, who has invested in defense contractors like OpenAI and SpaceX, after purging the panel last year. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Axon—which makes about 90% of US tasers—two weeks before ICE solicited bids for a $220 million taser contract. The White House unveiled limited-edition US passports for America’s 250th birthday, featuring a portrait of Trump overlaid on the Declaration of Independence. June 30 Trump made around $1.2 billion from his various crypto companies last year, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial and $600 million from sales of his meme coin. Trump is considering issuing 250 pardons to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. These are expected to be largely doled out through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s informal network of intermediaries. White-collar defense attorneys say they can typically win pardons for clients for $2 million. Last year, Trump administration officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to Clark Construction for the White House ballroom—negotiations in which the president was directly involved. July 1 The Amazon MGM Studios documentary about Melania Trump earned the First Lady more than $10 million. Trump made hundreds of individual stock purchases worth as much as $12.8 million the day before his announcement pausing “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days sent the S&P 500 soaring nearly 10%—one of the largest single-day gains ever. Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral saw record surges in revenue during Trump’s first year in office, earning $77.5 million and $121.9 million respectively, compared to average annual revenues of $25 million and $75 million during Trump’s first term. Entities across the Persian Gulf paid more than $300 million to Trump’s businesses last year, including $263 million from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country’s president. Kash Patel failed to properly disclose his stock purchase of a Department of Justice contractor, MicroStrategy, worth up to $250,000 last year, despite laws requiring disclosure within 45 days of the trade. July 2 Trump has been directing administration officials to steer more government contracts—so far worth more than $2.4 billion—to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace firm, after Amazon gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, donated to the White House ballroom project, and reached a $40 million deal to license a Melania Trump documentary. Alongside the billions he made from cryptocurrency last year, Trump earned millions of dollars from real estate licensing fees, including $21 million from organizations in the UAE and $9.2 million in Saudi Arabia, along with smaller sums from merchandise sales, including $4.7 million from Trump Watches and $35,920 from 45 Guitar, a guitar brand endorsed by the president. House Democrats accused consultants tied to the Trump administration of financial fraud, alleging they gave prospective donors to America250—the bipartisan committee created by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial—the banking and routing numbers for Freedom 250, the White House’s fund for events like the UFC cage fight. Democrats also allege that Freedom 250’s CEO traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos to solicit donations from foreign government officials and business leaders. The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of gun regulations would lift the prohibition on mailing handguns to individuals, a significant win for GrabAGun—the direct-to-consumer firearm retailer on whose board Donald Trump Jr. sits and in which he holds a 1.1% ownership stake. GrabAGun currently must rely on a middleman to transfer firearms to customers. Trump’s financial disclosure revealed that he made more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, growing his investment account to at least $858 million across stakes in around 1,600 companies, compared to the 13 total trades Joe Biden made during his entire presidency. July 4 Nearly 1 million people who bought the president’s meme coin—Trump Coin—collectively lost $3.8 billion on the token, while he walked away with $636 million. July 6 Shares of Dell closed up 4.4% after Trump recommended people buy the firm’s computers during a speech announcing the launch of Trump investment accounts for children, boosting the more than $1 million worth of shares the president owns in the company. July 9 Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh named crypto investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen to a task force aimed at modernizing the Federal Reserve, including rethinking its approach to inflation—a key factor keeping interest rates elevated. Palm Beach International Airport has officially changed its name to Trump International Airport—a move that will require Florida to pay royalties to the president’s family for licensing his name. I was there a few months ago, during a trip to Barcelona. The sculptures were a revelation, I’d never seen so many together before. Each one has its own personality. Enjoy the good weather, if you are lucky enough to have it. History Will Judge the Complicit The Quintessential Politician Autocracy Inc Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Jul 13 • 4:19 PM EDT • Politics • anneapplebaum.substack.com
The Cutthroat Smartphone Industry And DRAM Crisis Force A Player Out Of The U.S. Market, Giving Apple & Samsung Additional Room To Reap Profits

The brutality of the smartphone industry coupled with rising DRAM costs have forced one manufacturer out of the U.S. market

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Jul 13 • 4:15 PM EDT • Technology • wccftech.com
New York among 12 states challenging Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros.

The lawsuit argues that the $81 billion mega merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

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Jul 13 • 2:45 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Midwest becomes next theater in Democrats' progressive vs. moderate fight

August primaries in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota will be another gauge of Democratic voters’ frustration with the establishment.

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Jul 13 • 2:17 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
Free Mac App Unravels All Your Annoying USB-C Cable Mysteries

No more frustrating USB cable testing.

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Jul 13 • 11:54 AM EDT • Technology • petapixel.com
What Stood Out From Seattle Mariners' Frustrating First Half?
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Jul 13 • 11:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Sugar discovered floating in deep space for the first time

Similarly sweet molecules may have jumpstarted life on Earth over 4 billion years ago.

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Jul 13 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • popsci.com
Future of careers in animal science

As industry need change, so must programs and opportunities for students looking at careers in animal science.

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Jul 13 • 10:58 AM EDT • Science • feedstuffs.com
Frontline Strategies aims to lead a changing lobbying landscape

Frontline Strategies, a Baton Rouge government relations firm launched in January through the merger of Sequitur Consulting and The Tatman Group, has quickly built a diverse client base across industries including insurance, health care, education, transportation and finance. Led by Beverly Haydel, David Tatman, Doreen Brasseaux and Evan Alvarez, the firm offers lobbying, policy research, […]

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Jul 13 • 10:40 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com
AI is a business tool, not a threat to business

Kaye Whitener explains how AI can strengthen the flooring industry by supporting skilled professionals, not replacing them.

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Jul 13 • 9:00 AM EDT • Business • fcnews.net
NBAA Heads to AirVenture to Highlight Business Aviation, Association Benefits

NBAA will be front-and-center at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture, taking place July 20-26 at Wittman Regional Airport (OSH) in Oshkosh, WI - connecting with industry stakeholders and showcasing all that the association has to offer members.

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Jul 13 • 8:30 AM EDT • Business • nbaa.org
Young men report more ‘sextortion’ than any other age group, Australia’s online safety watchdog says

In six months last year, more than 2,000 such complaints were made to eSafety

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Jul 13 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • theguardian.com
New dark matter theory could solve multiple cosmic mysteries at once

Dark matter may be far more complicated than scientists once believed. A new study suggests it could consist of at least two different kinds of particles that slowly separate over time, with heavier particles sinking toward the centers of galaxies and lighter ones drifting outward. This simple idea could explain several puzzling cosmic observations that have frustrated astronomers for years, from unusually diffuse dwarf galaxies to surprisingly dense dark matter clumps that bend light through gravitational lensing.

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Jul 13 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Veteran Entertainment Executive and Industry Dealmaker Ron Bension Joins VENU as Strategic Advisor to CEO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2026--

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Jul 13 • 7:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • rutlandherald.com
Gaming is in serious trouble. GTA VI may be the nail in the coffin

The most anticipated release in gaming history could set the tone for a troubled industry.

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Jul 13 • 6:30 AM EDT • Technology • salon.com
Software engineer decided to pursue nursing after a layoff and AI

She spent a year trying to stay in tech. The industry's obsession with AI drove her to pursue a career in nursing.

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Jul 13 • 5:50 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
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Eat your ice cream for a long, healthy life? This doctor says so

Dr. Zeke Emanuel, a renowned U.S. health policy physician, takes on the wellness industry with a back-to-basics approach to optimizing good health.

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Jul 13 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • npr.org
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Metaverse Market Surge: Entertainment Industry Set to Quadruple by 2032

The global metaverse in entertainment market is experiencing rapid growth, with its market size expected to soar from over USD 30.6 billion in 2026 to more...

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Jul 13 • 4:28 AM EDT • Entertainment • globenewswire.com
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Metaverse Market Surge: Entertainment Industry Set to Quadruple by 2032

The global metaverse in entertainment market is experiencing rapid growth, with its market size expected to soar from over USD 30.6 billion in 2026 to more than USD 121.9 billion by 2032. This expansion is driven by increasing demand for interactive digital experiences and technological investments from gaming, media, and tech sectors. Mixed Reality (MR) devices are predicted to grow the fastest, enhancing digital interactions in gaming, concerts, and sports. North America is a key player, leadi

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Jul 13 • 4:28 AM EDT • Entertainment • uk.finance.yahoo.com