The Washington Times AI News Desk

‘The Odyssey’ storms box office with $51 million opening day

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" pulled in $51M on its opening day Friday from 3,989 North American theaters, putting the sword-and-sandal epic on pace to blow past early projections and become one of the biggest debuts of the year.

July 18, 2026

Poll: Jewish Americans split on Gaza, Trump

A sweeping new survey of Jewish Americans has found deep divisions over Israel's military campaign in Gaza, with religiously affiliated Jews far more supportive of the war effort than secular Jews who identify with the faith through culture or ancestry rather than belief.

July 18, 2026

Secret Service morale strained by Vances’ last-minute travel demands, report says

REPORT: J.D. Vance's Secret Service detail is voicing frustration over a pattern of last-minute, costly travel requests from the vice president and his family.

July 18, 2026

J.K. Rowling’s sexual-violence charity threatens Amnesty International with lawsuit

Britain's charities regulator is assessing concerns over an Amnesty International report that branded a women's charity founded by "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling as "anti-rights." Rowling has been a prominent gender-critical campaigner and has previously drawn accusations of transphobia for her stance on trans activism.

July 17, 2026

Will smoke clear before the World Cup final? Even scientists aren’t sure

Wildfire smoke is clouding the countdown to Sunday's Spain-Argentina World Cup final, and it's still unclear whether conditions will worsen by kickoff.

July 17, 2026

Olive Garden’s pasta pass ID rule fuels voter ID debate

Olive Garden's Never-Ending Pasta Pass has become an unlikely flashpoint in the fight over voter identification, after conservatives seized on the restaurant's ID policy to argue it is more stringent than voting requirements in some states.

July 17, 2026

Oscar winner Brenda Fricker, ‘Home Alone 2’ pigeon lady, dies at 81

Irish actress Brenda Fricker, who won an Academy Award for "My Left Foot" and charmed generations of moviegoers as the "Pigeon Lady" in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," has died. She was 81.

July 17, 2026

Texas storms ground flights, delay thousands nationwide

Severe storms across Texas triggered a wave of flight delays and cancellations at airports nationwide Wednesday into Thursday. As of Wednesday evening, more than 3,600 flights had been delayed and 83 canceled nationwide.

July 17, 2026

‘The Odyssey’ opens with year’s best $17.6 million in Thursday previews

Director Christopher Nolan's long-awaited Greek epic "The Odyssey" collected $17.6M in Thursday preview screenings, the best preview total of any film in 2026 and a strong signal for an opening weekend that could reach or exceed $100M.

July 17, 2026

Madison Square Garden sues Wired over celebrity database report

Three Madison Square Garden corporate entities filed a defamation lawsuit against Wired, its corporate owner Advance Publications and three of the magazine's journalists, accusing the outlet of twisting hacked customer data into a false narrative that the arena tracked and discriminated against LGBTQ celebrities.

July 17, 2026

Meteorite that struck New Jersey home reveals ancient asteroid brine

A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Hillsborough, New Jersey, home in 2024 has turned out to be one of the most scientifically valuable space rocks ever recovered, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

July 17, 2026

John Leguizamo trashes Hollywood as not an ‘accepting place’ for Latinos

JOHN LEGUIZAMO on Latinos in Hollywood: "It's always been a battle. Hollywood is not the most accepting place ... Even though we Latin people are 30% to 40% of the box office and a third of streamers, we're the most aggressively underrepresented group in America."

July 16, 2026

Gallego dismisses new staffer relationship report as ‘gossip’

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego brushed aside a new report alleging he had relationships with at least two Dem House staffers while he was unmarried and serving in the lower chamber, telling reporters Thursday, "I'm not going to engage in gossip."

July 16, 2026

Americans’ confidence in Big Tech falls to lowest point on record

POLL: Americans' trust in Big Tech has sunk to its lowest level since Gallup began tracking the measure.

July 16, 2026

Richard Gere calls Trump a rogue who has caused deaths

Actor RICHARD GERE on Trump: "He's a rogue personality who's destroyed so much; he's caused so many deaths. But it will be over. He's an old man; he's a damaged personality. You can see, he must have had a horrible childhood to be the man that he is now."

July 16, 2026

Video shows Baltimore teens beating elderly man outside 7-Eleven

Baltimore police are searching for six suspects accused of attacking a 74-year-old man outside a 7-Eleven, releasing surveillance footage that shows the group knocking the victim to the ground while displaying what appears to be an assault rifle and a sword. The footage shows the suspects, described only as younger males, throwing objects at the man and knocking him down multiple times.

July 16, 2026

Ex-TD Bank employees sentenced in money laundering, fraud schemes

Two former TD Bank employees have been sentenced for separate schemes that facilitated money laundering and fraud through their positions at the bank and, in one case, another financial institution, federal prosecutors announced.

July 16, 2026

Hal Williams, ‘227’ and ‘Sanford and Son’ actor, dies at 91

Hal Williams, the veteran television actor best remembered for playing Officer "Smitty" Smith on "Sanford and Son" and family patriarch Lester Jenkins on "227," has died at 91.

July 16, 2026

Real estate agent gets prison time for $15 million pandemic tax fraud

A Las Vegas woman was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the federal government through fraudulent COVID-19 employment tax credit claims, prosecutors said. The government had recommended a 40-month sentence.

July 16, 2026

Video resurfaces of Mamdani intern’s ‘jihad’ remarks

A video showing a former intern to then-state Assemblyman and now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani invoking "jihad" while discussing her activism has recirculated on social media, reviving scrutiny of the mayor's past staffing choices. The intern said of Mamdani: "This is all jihad, this is all ibadah, this is all counted by Allah."

July 16, 2026