July 17, 2026 – Short News

Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber Sells for a Record Price and Rewrites Movie History

For many people, it was just a movie prop. For collectors, it's a piece of cinematic history. The original lightsaber used by Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back has been sold at auction for $3.75 million. Never before has a screen-used prop from the Star Wars universe brought in a higher price. Experts had expected far less. The auction house originally estimated it would sell for between $1 million and $2 million. In the end, several bidders kept outbidding one another until the hammer finally came down at $3.75 million.

The lightsaber comes from one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. It is the very weapon Luke Skywalker carries during his duel with Darth Vader before Vader cuts off his right hand and delivers the line that remains one of the greatest twists in cinema history: "I am your father." The sale also broke the previous Star Wars auction record. That record had belonged to the original X-Wing fighter model used in the first film, which sold for about $3.1 million in 2023. The auction lot even included the artificial severed hand from the movie's final scene. It was created by legendary British makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, who also designed Yoda and Chewbacca for the original trilogy.

The auction was part of a major Hollywood memorabilia sale. Alongside the lightsaber, bidders competed for props from The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and Back to the Future Part II. The record once again shows just how powerful the Star Wars saga remains nearly half a century after it first began. The winning bidder was no longer buying a prop made of plastic and metal. They were buying an authentic piece of modern movie history, forever tied to one of the most unforgettable scenes ever filmed.

Andy Burnham Takes Over Britain and Runs Straight Into the Same Wall as His Predecessors

Andy Burnham moves into Downing Street on Monday. His promise sounds ambitious, but the British people have heard it all before. Once again, the economy is supposed to grow. Once again, everyday life is supposed to become more affordable. The difference this time is not another multibillion-dollar spending program, but a decision London has avoided for decades. Burnham wants to hand power back to cities and regions, allowing them to make their own decisions about their economic future. His experience comes from Manchester. After years of decline, the city managed a remarkable comeback with new investment, jobs, and stronger productivity. Burnham believes that model can be expanded across the entire country. Local governments would gain greater responsibility for transportation, housing, education, and economic development instead of depending on London for every major decision.

But the reality he is inheriting is far from encouraging. Britain's economy has barely grown since the financial crisis of 2008. Economic output per person is only slightly higher today than it was back then. At the same time, high public debt, stubborn inflation, and weak investment continue to weigh on the country. Brexit is still leaving its mark on the economy, while many consumers are choosing to save their money instead of spending it. Burnham is also limiting his own room to maneuver. He has pledged not to raise the country's biggest taxes while keeping existing fiscal rules in place. That leaves very little financial flexibility for sweeping reforms. His strategy therefore relies more on shifting responsibility than on pouring billions of pounds into new government programs. On top of that, there are global events no prime minister can control. The war that followed the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran pushed energy prices higher once again. Hopes for lower interest rates disappeared almost overnight. Burnham is taking office at a moment when he must not only deliver on his own promises but also deal with international crises beyond his control. If he fails to deliver meaningful improvements in living standards, his government could run headfirst into political reality much sooner than he expects.

Trump Is Dismantling America's Election Security Piece by Piece

Donald Trump keeps saying he wants to make American elections more secure. At the very same time, his administration is shrinking the very agencies that have spent years protecting them. The contradiction has become impossible to ignore, even in Washington. The biggest blow has hit the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, better known as CISA. Since the attacks on the 2016 election, the agency has helped states protect their voting systems by providing warnings, security guidance, and intelligence about foreign interference. Since Trump's return to the White House, CISA has lost roughly one third of its workforce. Election security was one of the first areas to come under pressure.

More than a dozen employees were placed on administrative leave last year. The investigation into the agency's own election security division created deep uncertainty inside the organization. To this day, CISA still has no Senate confirmed director. One of the country's most sensitive security agencies is operating without permanent leadership. Other federal agencies have also scaled back their election security work. The FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence both reduced their efforts, while the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked foreign election interference, was largely dismantled under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Another layer of America's election security system has quietly disappeared.

There is also a personal conflict that continues to shape events. Christopher Krebs, CISA's former director, publicly confirmed that the 2020 election had been conducted properly. Trump fired him afterward and is now calling for criminal investigations against him. This month, Trump also removed the final three remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission. The independent commission had supported states with election administration and cybersecurity. While the president publicly promises stronger election security, more and more of the people, expertise, and institutions responsible for providing it are disappearing behind the scenes.

Elephants Hold Conversations Through the Ground That Humans Can Never Hear

To us, it sounds like complete silence. For elephants, that's exactly where the conversation begins. New research shows that African and Asian elephants can communicate with each other over distances of up to 4 kilometers. Their messages don't just travel through the air. They move through the ground beneath their feet. The animals produce extremely low frequency calls between 10 and 20 hertz. Those sounds create vibrations in the earth. Other elephants pick up those vibrations through their feet and skeletons. From there, they travel into the middle ear, where they are processed. That remarkable ability comes from the unique structure of an elephant's hearing. The tiny bones and eardrum inside an elephant's ear are much larger and heavier than those of a human, making them especially sensitive to very low frequencies that people can barely detect.

Scientists already knew that elephants could stay in contact across long distances. Now they have been able to show exactly what happens inside the ear. By examining the hearing organs of deceased elephants, researchers found that vibrations traveling through the skull create especially strong stimulation inside the cochlea, the part of the ear that converts movement into nerve signals for the brain. Elephants also have another advantage. They can partially close their ear canal using specialized muscles, making vibrations traveling through their bones and bodies even easier to detect. Humans experience something similar when wearing headphones while chewing, making their own chewing sound much louder than usual. The study shows that elephants experience the world in a way humans largely cannot. While we believe there is nothing to hear, a conversation may already be traveling beneath our feet for miles.

IBM Stumbles During Its Own Transformation and Wall Street Shows No Mercynade

IBM was trying to prove it could reinvent itself, but instead it suffered one of the worst setbacks in its history. The company took the unusual step of warning investors ahead of its quarterly earnings that the results would disappoint. Within hours, the stock had lost roughly a quarter of its value. It was the worst single trading day the century old technology giant has ever experienced. Before that decision was made, IBM's board held intense discussions. Should the company warn investors immediately or wait until the official earnings release? CEO Arvind Krishna chose the harder path. He openly admitted that IBM had fallen short this quarter and hoped transparency would strengthen investor confidence. Wall Street responded in exactly the opposite way.

Ironically, it is the artificial intelligence boom that is putting IBM under pressure. While competitors are making billions from data centers, AI chips, and cloud computing, many IBM customers are delaying investments in traditional mainframes and enterprise systems. Their money is now flowing into AI infrastructure and new artificial intelligence applications instead of upgrading existing hardware. Inside the company, there is growing concern that IBM has become too dependent on a relatively small number of large customers. Those clients can easily postpone major purchases during uncertain economic times. Meanwhile, Wall Street has already begun debating whether activist investors could step in or even push for breaking the company apart.

Yet Krishna had spent years reshaping IBM. The acquisition of Red Hat, the spin off of Kyndryl, and multibillion dollar investments in hybrid cloud, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence had put the company back on what many believed was the right path. Only a few months ago, that transformation was widely viewed as a success. Now the CEO faces the biggest test of his leadership. Investors are no longer interested in promises. They want results. If IBM delivers another series of disappointing quarters, one difficult period could quickly turn into a much bigger debate about the future of one of the world's most recognizable technology companies.

U.S. Technology Still Reaches Russia's Defense Industry Through China Despite Sanctions

Western sanctions were supposed to cut off Russia's defense industry from critical supplies. Instead, one of the most important components used in modern radar systems and electronic warfare equipment is still making its way into Russia. Investigations show that specialized laminates manufactured by the American company Rogers continue reaching the country through Chinese middlemen. Those seemingly ordinary sheets form the foundation of high frequency electronics. Without them, building advanced air defense radars, phased array antennas, or electronic warfare systems becomes far more difficult. Rogers laminates are also considered the preferred material for communication modules used in modern drones. A single sheet can cost well over a thousand dollars.

Russian engineers were already reporting shortages in 2023. Some companies had to reject orders, while others switched to Chinese alternatives that often failed to match the quality of the American product. Yet Rogers never truly disappeared from the Russian market. Before the full scale war, the materials entered Russia through official distribution channels. Today, Chinese intermediaries have taken over that role. Russian suppliers continue listing Rogers products in their catalogs while also advertising substitute materials. At the same time, the company's former official distributor still publishes up to date information about Rogers products and international trade shows.

The issue has now reached the U.S. Congress. Earlier this year, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson urged Rogers to tighten control over its global supply chain. According to his information, the company's materials are being used in Russia's S-400 and S-500 air defense systems as well as in radar equipment installed on Sukhoi fighter jets. If Western governments succeed in shutting down those supply routes, Russia's defense industry could face a significant setback. Chinese alternatives do exist, but many specialists say they still cannot consistently match the quality of the original American materials. That is exactly why every shipment that reaches Russia through indirect channels is far more than just another commercial delivery.