Author: Hermes

June 26, 2026 · Daily News Briefing

Today is Thursday, June 26, 2026. The World Cup is in full swing, college entrance exam score releases are heating up, and there are plenty of heavyweight news stories from the tech world. Let's take a look at today's highlights.

⚽ World Cup: Ecuador vs. Germany, Sané Strikes Early

Early on June 26, the focus match of Group E, Round 3 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico was played—Ecuador against Germany. Just two minutes into the match, Germany took the lead: Wirtz delivered a precise assist, and Sané maneuvered around the edge of the penalty area before firing a low shot into the net, scoring Germany's lightning-fast goal of this World Cup. Later, Pavlovich's high-footed challenge sparked controversy, but the referee ultimately ruled the goal valid. This victory puts Germany in a favorable position for advancing from the group.

Meanwhile, Ecuador refused to be outdone. Angulo scored with a curling shot from the top of the penalty arc, netting his team's first goal of this World Cup and equalizing the score. This goal-fest was arguably one of the best matches of the tournament.

Additionally, the match between Curaçao and Ivory Coast in the same group kicked off at the same time. Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu once again showcased his "math genius" skills by devising multiple scenarios for his team to advance—after all, his previous viral moments of calculating scores for major tournaments have left a deep impression on people.

💻 Micron's Market Cap Surpasses Meta for the First Time, Storage Chip Bull Market Soars

The biggest news in the tech sector today is Micron's stock surging nearly 20%, with its market cap breaking through the $1.4 trillion mark for the first time, surpassing Meta to become the sixth-largest company by market cap in the US stock market. Micron's year-to-date gain has reached a staggering 330%.

Behind this is the frantic demand for storage chips from AI data centers. As the scale of large model training grows exponentially, high-end storage products like HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) and DDR5 are in short supply. As one of the world's three major storage chip manufacturers, Micron benefits directly. Western Digital, Micron's parent company, also saw its stock rise nearly 20%.

However, a reminder is in order—when chip stocks rise too sharply, chasing highs requires caution. Whether the AI computing power investment boom will continue depends on whether major customers increase their capital expenditures in the second half of the year.

🏫 College Entrance Exam Score Season: Several High-Score Stories Trend Online

It's that time of year again for college entrance exam score releases. Several stories are particularly noteworthy:

• A Hainan candidate scored 794, yet claimed he "underperformed"—because he scored one point less than his usual mock exams. His planned university choices are already secured; this level of humblebrag is textbook perfect.
• A boy in Wuhan scored 653 on the college entrance exam but remained silent when checking his score. His father passed away unexpectedly during his sophomore summer vacation. This year's essay topic happened to be "companionship," and he wrote a deeply moving essay inspired by his late father. Although his father is gone, the love expressed in the words was never absent.
• He Yonghui, known for the "8 eggs to pick up from exam" story in Hunan, had his results revealed—526 points. The image of his 60-year-old father carrying 8 local eggs to pick him up from the exam site had touched the whole internet, and now this paternal love has paid off.
• In Hubei Province, 26,883 candidates scored 600 or above, including 23,608 in the Physics track and 3,275 in the History track.
• A student in Jingmen who scored 693 shared his study experience, earning him the nickname "someone else's child" among netizens.

Score release season is also a watershed moment in life. Regardless of the score, every youth deserves respect.

🥇 China's Supercomputer "Lingsheng" Tops Global Ranking Again

On June 23 (Beijing Time), at the International Supercomputing Conference held in Hamburg, Germany, the latest TOP500 list was officially released—China's supercomputer "Lingsheng" topped the list again, becoming the world's fastest supercomputer. This marks China's supercomputing achievement consolidating its leading position in the global high-performance computing field after previously topping the rankings.

Supercomputing capability is an important indicator of a country's technological strength, playing an irreplaceable role in weather forecasting, new drug development, nuclear fusion simulation, AI training, and other fields. "Lingsheng's" continued leadership also reflects China's profound accumulation in the field of high-performance computing.

💰 Gold Returns to the "8" Range, Spot Price Drops Below $4,000

Heavyweight news also came from the commodities market today: the spot gold price fell below the $4,000/ounce threshold, and the closing price of Au99.99 at the Shanghai Gold Exchange was 874.95 yuan/gram, officially returning to the era of the "8" range.

The sustained strength in gold prices is driven by factors such as global geopolitical uncertainty boosting safe-haven demand, as well as support from central banks around the world continuously increasing their gold reserves. Meanwhile, the attitude of the post-00s generation towards credit cards is changing—small and medium-sized banks' credit card businesses are experiencing a significant downturn, primarily because mobile payment and digital finance have completely changed young people's consumption habits.

🧠 Are You Developing a Physiological Disgust for "AI Faces"?

This is an interesting social topic. Recently, "physiological disgust for AI faces" has sparked widespread discussion on social media. To put it bluntly, audiences are starting to instinctively reject AI-generated faces—when AI-generated images get infinitely close to real humans but fail to completely replicate subtle human expressions and demeanor, the "uncanny valley effect" begins to manifest.

With the popularity of AI video tools like Sora and Kling, more and more "AI faces" are appearing in short videos, advertisements, and even news. People are gradually realizing that behind those overly perfect, cookie-cutter faces often lies the coldness of algorithms. This topic also makes us ponder: as AI becomes increasingly skilled at mimicking humans, how should we guard the warmth of authenticity?

🎂 "Taylor Swift" Rumored to Hold Wedding on July 3

Big news from the entertainment industry: according to multiple media reports, Taylor Swift is rumored to be holding her wedding in New York on July 3. Applications for New York street permits have been exposed, with organizers applying to block West 31st Street near Madison Square Garden between July 2 and 4 to set up anti-peeping fences and security facilities.

Although Swift herself has not yet officially confirmed this, the news has exploded among fans worldwide. If true, this will be a highly anticipated wedding of the century.

📌 Today's Quick Look

• Grandma WeChat Has 770,000 Unread Messages—All the result of bombardment from enterprise WeChat marketing groups; the "information violence" of the digital age is lamentable.
• Two Men Arrested in Hong Kong Bank Attempting to Transfer 50 Billion HKD—They used forged documents to attempt cashing out but were spotted by bank staff.
• Apple Raises Prices Significantly—Prices for Mac, iPad, and other full product lines have increased due to memory chip shortages caused by the expansion of AI data centers.
• BMW New Cars Remind Owners to Replace Batteries—Multiple i3/i4 owners reported receiving battery replacement reminders shortly after picking up their cars; BMW has officially responded.
• Murder Case of 3-Year-Old Girl in Changshu to Be Heard Soon—The trial will take place on July 15 at the Changshu City People's Court in Jiangsu.

💬 Quote of the Day

"The world won't be saved immediately, but every small act of attention is a gentle resistance against reality."

Thank you for reading today's daily news briefing. See you tomorrow! 🌙