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Monday, August 17, 2026
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Good Morning! On this day in 1978, three balloonists from Albuquerque, New Mexico, touched down in a French wheat field after 137 hours in the air, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic by balloon after 17 earlier attempts had failed.
Today in Finance, we meet an 18-year-old who buys abandoned storage units without knowing what is inside, then sells whatever he finds. He brought in about $135,000 last year. Let us know in today’s poll whether you rent one, and be honest about the last time you opened it.
How does the military decide who’s tough enough to become a Navy SEAL? Why does it take a full year to train someone to fly a plane that never leaves the ground? And what exactly happens inside the school that teaches Americans how to survive being captured? The military doesn’t advertise most of this, but the answers are out there, buried in Navy attrition reports, Army training records, and firsthand accounts from the people who made it through. Today on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla digs into what that paper trail reveals about how America really forges its warfighters. Tune in here!
Today’s sponsor, Frontieras North America, is developing patented technology designed to transform America’s abundant coal resources into valuable products without burning them, targeting what the company says could be a $2.1 trillion energy opportunity.
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 Lala Kills 1, Sweeps Away Hawaii Homes
Tropical Storm Lala killed at least one person and cut power to more than 200,000 customers across Hawaii after its eyewall brushed the Big Island on Saturday evening.
The storm passed offshore as a Category 1 hurricane without making landfall, but flash floods swept homes off their foundations near the island’s southern tip and high winds ripped roofs from buildings across the state.
By Sunday morning, roughly 197,000 customers were without power, with Oahu hardest hit. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green declared a state of emergency, and about 100 mainland utility crew members are due Tuesday.
Lala weakened to a tropical storm Sunday and continued tracking west of the islands. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for Maui County, Oahu, and Kauai County, with another 2 to 4 inches of rain possible across much of the island chain and isolated totals near 6 inches.
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Commander Visits Strained USS Lincoln
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, spent several hours aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday and acknowledged mental health problems on the carrier after nine months at sea.
The carrier has been in a combat zone for more than 200 days with a single two-day port call, and phone calls home were restricted when the threat level rose.
At a San Diego town hall, one spouse said her husband messaged that “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.” Families also described moldy showers, broken toilets, and soap shortages.
Cooper said the carrier has one of the lowest numbers of mental health cases in the fleet, though “this doesn’t mean that all is perfect.” The Lincoln was due home in May, and the carrier is finally heading back.
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Eight Nations Fault Israel on Gaza
Hamas leaders told Jared Kushner they remain committed to disarming Gaza in a 90-minute meeting in Egypt on Sunday, the first such talks since October’s ceasefire. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also attended.
Hours later, eight countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Indonesia, blamed Israel for obstructing the peace plan and urged Washington to enforce Israeli compliance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the 15-point disarmament framework last week and says Israel won’t withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is completely disarmed, leaving the two sides at an impasse.
Hamas avoided the word disarmament in its own statement, describing weapons as being handed to mediators for transfer to a Palestinian committee. Kushner meets Netanyahu today.
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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:
➤ Navy SEAL candidates cover more than 200 miles on roughly four hours of sleep, and most still don’t finish. (Hear Toughest Training)
➤ Two million American raccoons have taken over Germany, and the Nazi commander blamed for it didn’t do it. (Hear Real Culprit)
➤ Your beach read reveals which of four anxieties is quietly driving you. (Hear Your Type)
  
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➤ Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House. He said President Trump should have input on individual cases. (More)
➤ House Speaker Mike Johnson launched a website and a 34-district tour arguing that socialism has taken hold among Democrats ahead of November’s midterms. (More)
➤ South Carolina will hold the first Democratic presidential primary of 2028 on Jan. 22, under a calendar the party approved Saturday that drops Iowa from the early window. (See Details)
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➤ Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday by eight strokes, shooting a final-round 66 to finish 17 under. The victory was the world No. 1’s 21st PGA Tour title. (More)
➤ Marcus Ericsson won IndyCar’s inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, charging from fifth to first after a late pit stop. The victory was Ericsson’s fifth career IndyCar win and his first since 2023. (More)
➤ Former MLB pitcher Tommy John died Saturday at his home in Florida. The four-time All-Star played 26 seasons and became synonymous with the elbow surgery that extended his career and later became common across baseball. (More)
➤ Joshua Baez became the first player in MLB history to homer in each of his first three career at-bats Saturday. Baez went deep on the first pitch he saw in the majors and again in his next two trips to the plate. (More)
➤ Novak Djokovic said an undisclosed health condition that has affected him for several years contributed to his second-round loss at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The 39-year-old struggled in the heat and humidity, requiring a medical timeout during the match. (More)
➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | Golf | IndyCar | WNBA | Tennis | Soccer
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➤ Keto ice cream brand Rebel Creamery filed for bankruptcy after a federal judge ordered it to pay $23.8 million for copying rival Van Leeuwen’s pastel packaging. (See Packaging)
➤ The latest Spider-Man film passed $2 billion worldwide, making it the fourth-biggest domestic release ever and the second-fastest movie to hit the mark. (See Numbers)
➤ An 18-year-old buys abandoned storage units around New York and resells what’s inside, bringing in about $135,000 last year. One $450 unit held art that sold for $36,000. (See Details)
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Flying together with our sponsor
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➤ Pushing a stroller while running may cut injury risk by 55%, a survey of 249 parents found. Just 19% of the stroller runners reported running injuries, compared with 30% of the parents who ran without one. (See Report)
➤ A new moon map released earlier this month by China lays out a new timeline of lunar history and fresh detail on the far side, along with a homegrown mapping standard that points to bigger ambitions for charting the solar system. (See Map)
➤ More than 10,000 handmade clay cats in Union and Confederate uniforms reenact Civil War battles at a Gettysburg museum. The Little Round Top scene alone took 11 years and 3,000 cats. (See Cats)
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➤ “Impossible” Bone Density Improvements Linked to Overlooked Protein. Doctors are doing double takes at recent DEXA scans showing unprecedented improvements in bone density among women over 60 after adding this protein to their diet. The stunning results have doctors questioning if their equipment is malfunctioning, but the explanation lies in a revolutionary protein compound that provides what calcium supplements alone cannot. (Learn More)
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Beyond Our Borders is brought to you by:
➤ Iran’s parliament voted to criminalize interviews with U.S. and Israeli media. A photojournalist was sentenced this month to 15 years under a similar law for talking to foreign outlets. (More)
➤ Moroccan police arrested nearly 300 migrants headed for Spain’s Ceuta enclave on Saturday after online posts urged a repeat of last month’s crossing, which killed at least 96 people. (More)
➤ A Polish village of fewer than 150 people unveiled Europe’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary, a 182-foot figure paid for by a local businessman and his wife. (See Statue)
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➤ America’s best pizzeria is in New York, but an Italian guide’s new top 50 also includes shops in Cleveland, Madison, Louisville, and Winston-Salem. (See Rankings)
➤ A corgi race in Lithuania’s capital drew 150 dogs from nine countries for sprints, costumes, and a loudest-bark contest. An American corgi named GG won the main event. (See Corgis)
➤ Two loose goats wandered into a Portland, Oregon, transit station and briefly boarded a bus. Transit officials asked on social media whether the pair had valid fare. (Watch Goats)
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 Daily Quote
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“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era.”
— Adm. Brad Cooper, the U.S. Central Command commander, to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln after 200 days in a combat zone
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 Today’s Trivia
Before any human flew, three animals rode the first hot air balloon in 1783. What were they?
Show me the answer
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