Entertainment and sports offered a jolt of spectacle today, with Nintendo and Illumination’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” racing past $1 billion worldwide to become 2026’s first film to hit that mark, underscoring the enduring power of franchise animation at a relatively lean blockbuster budget. In hockey, Connor McDavid added another chapter to his already historic résumé, winning the Ted Lindsay Award for a fifth time and tying Wayne Gretzky in one of the NHL’s most meaningful peer-voted honors. Elsewhere, the business of leisure showed a more fragile side: Dubai’s luxury hotels, hit by a drop in international tourism, are increasingly courting residents with staycation packages to fill rooms and sustain high-end hospitality. The broader news cycle, however, was shadowed by violence, from a mass shooting near Ohio’s Old West End Festival to deadly gun attacks in central Israel, reminders of how quickly public celebration can turn to chaos.