Sunday, June 28, 2026

One Name at a Time: How Die Zeit Built a Searchable Database of Nazi Party Members

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by Hanna Duggal, June 26, 2026

In the final days of World War II, as the German Reich collapsed, Nazi officials ordered the destruction of millions of party membership cards. The vast card index documenting membership across Germany survived largely because a paper mill operator, Hanns Huber, chose to hand the records over to the advancing US forces rather than pulp them.

“It Was Completely Shocking to Me”: Archaeologists Discover the Earliest Monumental Egyptian Hieroglyphs Written 1,000 Years Before the Pyramids


Christopher Plain·June 22, 2026
A joint expedition to the ancient Egyptian city of Elkab has unearthed several previously unknown ancient rock art inscriptions, including what the team believes are the earliest known monumental Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Written over 1,000 years before the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed, these ancient Egyptian writings, discovered by archaeologists from Yale University and the Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels), laid the foundation for the later, better-known hieroglyphic writing system.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Billionaire Leon Black Subpoenaed After Dodging Epstein Questions


Edith Olmsted  June 26, 2026/2:54 p.m. ET

The House Oversight Committee is going after Leon Black after he refused to answer questions or properly explain his $158 million in payments to Jeffrey Epstein
Billionaire investor Leon Black received two subpoenas Friday after he refused to answer questions about NDAs he’d allegedly signed with women in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit.

Trump Is Clearly Rattled by What Mamdani Just Did in New York

President Trump seems agitated after Zohran Mamdani’s big wins in New York this week—from DSA election victories to the rent freeze

Edith Olmsted
June 26, 2026/2:54 p.m. ET
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Donald Trump spoke at the Faith & Freedom Coalition policy conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday, but seemed hyperfixated on something that has nothing to do with neither faith nor freedom: New York City’s rent freeze.

The Supreme Court’s Era of Meaningless Rights

The Supreme Court is not saying people don’t have certain rights, just that no courts can help them when those rights are violated.

The six Republican appointees on the Supreme Court have made one thing clear: People may have rights, but in many cases they have no way to enforce them. Four decisions released this week have that paradox at their core.

Death toll in Venezuela quakes tops 1,400 as rescuers race to pull out survivors


 Live  Updated  20 minutes ago  BBC  NEWS 
Summary
  • The death toll from Venezuela's earthquakes is now 1,430, with 3,238 injured, according to lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez
  • He describes the incident as "the most disastrous event this republic has suffered in the last 123 years"
  • Rescuers are racing to pull out survivors as the 72-hour window nears its end
  • One family is anxiously listening for signs their loved one survived, telling BBC Mundo they heard him "groan" under the debris
  • A newborn baby is among the survivors rescued from the rubble - watch the emotional moment
  • Acting President Delcy Rodríguez says she is hopeful that teams will find survivors
  • The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit less than a minute apart while most were home for a national holiday - how locals are describing the scenes

Central Europe sizzles as heat records are smashed in Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, SYLVIA HUI 
and JOHN LEICESTER
Updated 11:18 AM PDT, 
June 27, 2026

BERLIN (AP) — Temperatures soared to record highs from Switzerland to the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as a heat wave that baked western European countries this week moved to central and eastern parts of the continent.

Unusually high temperatures were recorded even in the Nordic countries not known for sweltering summers. Denmark’s Meteorological Institute reported a record 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Ødum north of Aarhus — the warmest day since records there began in 1874.

Israel’s Vance problem is bigger than JD Vance

Story by Felicia Schwartz, Alex Gangitano 
and Dasha Burns 
3h • 7 min read

When American and Israeli warplanes struck Iran on Feb. 28, Israeli officials let themselves believe the alliance was entering a golden age. Four months later, they are bracing for a future where Israel stands more alone than ever.

The vice president of the United States set the stage last week, telling Israel it has almost no friends left in the world, and that it should think hard before turning on the one it has.

Iran’s strikes did more than $400 million in damage to the US Fifth Fleet’s headquarters — damage the Pentagon hadn’t acknowledged


National Security Journal
Story by Steve Balestrieri
Jun 26 • 4 min read • Updated 23h ago


Key takeaways

  • Massive Damage: Iranian missiles and drones caused over $400 million in damage to the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, hitting command buildings and satellite communications terminals.
  • Troop Safety Prioritized: CENTCOM moved most personnel out before attacks; only two fatalities occurred despite 8,000+ missiles and drones launched by Iran.
  • Strategic Shifts: The US is considering relocating or rebuilding bases, possibly moving some westward to Israel, and reassessing its military presence in the Gulf due to vulnerabilities exposed by the strikes.Navy Aircraft Carrier

Scientists decipher new secrets from ancient scrolls scorched by Vesuvius eruption: "Finally able to read them"

World
By Kerry Breen
Updated on: June 26, 2026 / 9:55 AM EDT /
CBS News

A University of Kentucky project using artificial intelligence to help decode an ancient Roman mystery has led to a major discovery, researchers announced Thursday.

In 79 A.D., the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman city of Pompeii and the nearby town of Herculaneum. During a dig in Herculaneum in the 18th century, archaeologists found 1,800 papyrus scrolls in an intact ancient library, deep under the site of a villa that was destroyed by Vesuvius' eruption. But reading them was impossible: The scrolls are brittle and charred, and unravelling them turns them into ash.

Corporate profits were already at historic highs. They shot even higher in Q1.


Ben Werschkul · Washington Correspondent
Updated Fri, June 26, 2026 at 11:14 AM PDT 3 min read

US business profits are booming no matter how you measure it, with strength in US corporate balance sheets hovering above historic norms for more than a decade.

Friday, June 26, 2026

Larry Ellison quietly gave $45 million to a pro-Trump group—then Oracle landed a starring role in a $500 billion AI buildout

FORTUNE
Associate Editor
June 25, 2026, 12:00 PM ET

While many of Big Tech’s biggest names have been fairly public and open about their dealings with President Donald Trump, there’s one executive who has been more stealthy in his dealings with the CEO-in-Chief.

Larry Ellison, the billionaire Oracle cofounder, gave about $45 million to a nonprofit backing Trump’s 2024 campaign, people familiar with the fundraising told The Wall Street Journal. This funding wasn’t subject to disclosure rules, according to WSJ, and hadn’t been reported until this week.

U.S.-Iran Latest: U.S. strikes Iran after Trump accuses Tehran of "foolish violation" of ceasefire

By Alex Sundby, Mark Osborne, Khaled Wassef, Frank Andrews
Updated on: June 26, 2026 / 8:59 PM EDT / CBS News

What to know about the Iran war today: 

  • The U.S. carried out retaliatory strikes against Iran on Friday after Iranian forces hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.
  • President Trump on Friday called Iran's attack a "foolish violation" of the ceasefire, as Tehran and Washington appear to remain at odds on even basic points in their memorandum of understanding, including control of the strait and how Iran will spend its unfrozen funds.
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the framework of a deal Friday between Lebanon and Israel, but Hezbollah, which has rejected similar past deals, was not part of the negotiations.

Venezuelans take search for the missing into their own hands as earthquake death toll climbs



BY  REGINA GARCIA CANO, JUAN PABLO ARRAEZ AND MEGAN JANETSKY

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands Friday in the aftermath of back-to-back earthquakes, citing the scarcity of government rescuers, as the human toll of the disaster climbed to at least 920 dead and more than 51,000 missing.

UN agency pauses evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz after attack on vessel


June 26, 20261:36 AM ET
By The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the U.N.

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Rescuers race to find Venezuela quake victims as global relief effort gains pace

 Live Updates 

At least 235 people were killed, with thousands more injured, after two of the country's strongest quakes in over a century.

Updated 1:51 AM EDT, Fri June 26, 2026

Here's the latest

• Deadly quakes: The death toll from the twin quakes in Venezuela — a country mired in political and financial crisis — has risen to around 235, as rescuers race to reach survivors before the “golden window” closes. The second quake was the country’s most powerful in more than a century.

• Nowhere to go: Many people are missing or still trapped beneath rubble. Affected residents have nowhere to go after their homes were flattened in La Guaira, Caracas and surrounding areas.

• Global response: The US military are on the ground for rescue efforts in Venezuela – where, earlier this year, special forces conducted a deadly raid to seize President Nicolás Maduro. Relief teams from around the world are also mobilizing help, and pledges of foreign aid are pouring in.

Sweet Revenge on the Way: A 3-Star Admiral Fired by Hegseth on Track to Claim a Seat in Congress



June 25, 2026

As fate often plays its hand, what was meant to silence her has instead propelled her into the spotlight—a seat above the very chain of command that sought to dismiss her.

A retired Navy three-star admiral may be on track to claim a seat in Congress after being unceremoniously ousted by Pete Hegseth. Just last August, Hegseth dismissed Nancy Lacore with a casual flick of his wrist, no hearing, no charges, and certainly no acknowledgment of her decades-long dedication to service. Perhaps he thought he could erase her like a minor bureaucratic error—clearly, fate had other plans.

Government scientists fired by Trump launch new website for sharing climate data

Futurism
Story by Joe Wilkins 
25/06/2026

Since September of 2024, federal science agencies in the US have axed nearly 120,000 employees, in a stinging loss for public research. Some of the heaviest impact was felt by scientists studying the climate, at bureaus like the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Luckily for us, climate scientists are a resourceful bunch. A recent initiative pushed by former NOAA staffers has led to the creation of a non-profit website to share trusted climate data with the public.