A deadly apartment fire in Antwerp led Europe’s grim headlines, with several people killed and many injured after flames tore through a 10-storey residential block housing more than 200 residents. In Spain, the toll from a record June heatwave climbed past 1,000 heat-related deaths, underscoring the human cost of a year already running as the country’s hottest first half on record and sharpening the climate debate across the continent. In New York, a very different spectacle unfolded as two masked climbers scaled the Empire State Building, unfurled a pro-peace banner, reportedly got engaged, and were promptly taken into police custody. Elsewhere, sports veered between commerce and chaos: CBS Sports rolled out early 2026 NFL betting previews, while at Fenway Park tempers boiled over in a benches-clearing clash between Boston’s Willson Contreras and Washington pitcher Cade Cavalli.