US TV, JP ex-PM, outer space, and politics of IN, US, UK top charts for July

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Roe v. Wade	1,864,660	Fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the most famous example of common law still rings.
2	Stranger Things (season 4)	1,294,797	Netflix's ode to 80s adventure and horror closed its fourth season with two episodes that require quite the availability from viewers, given one lasts 90 minutes and the other surpasses two hours.
3	Stranger Things	1,073,055
4	Elvis Presley	1,041,655	Baz Luhrmann chronicled the life of the King of Rock n' Roll, through the eyes of his con man of a manager Colonel Tom Parker, in Elvis, which thanks to the blend of an amusing and emotional story, Luhrmann's frantic style, and a great cast (not to mention a soundtrack of classics), has been showered with critical praise and has earned almost as much money as Rocketman.
5	The Umbrella Academy (TV series)	885,438	One of several superhero topics here, season 3 of the TV series about a family of superheroes returned to Netflix last week.
6	Top Gun: Maverick	839,779	The 49th movie to earn over a billion dollars worldwide. One of the few to do it without China. Like many of them, it's a sequel, albeit without superheroes - but still some unbelievable stunts, mostly done on camera to fit Tom Cruise's perfectionism.
7	Deaths in 2022	839,580	Given #4; When the king died He was all alone I heard that when he died He was sitting on his throne
8	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	803,366	Two differentiated approaches to superhero adaptations on streaming. Disney+ gets the movie that just got passed in the box office by #6, an attempt to add some horror to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Prime Video releases new episodes of the show depicting how horrifying the world would be if inhabited by violent and all-around unpleasant powered people.
9	The Boys (TV series)	798,842
10	R. Kelly	747,663	The day after Ghislaine Maxwell got 20 years in prison, the once-lauded-now-infamous R&B artist got 30, which given his age is effectively a life sentence. It's an ignominious end that came far too late, given people have known about his underage sex crimes since the '90s, and he was previously charged in 2002 but was somehow acquitted. Still, at least it happened; powerful men have been getting away with this stuff for way too long.

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

Roe v. Wade

1,864,660

Fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the most famous example of common law still rings.

Stranger Things (season 4)

1,294,797

Netflix's ode to 80s adventure and horror closed its fourth season with two episodes that require quite the availability from viewers, given one lasts 90 minutes and the other surpasses two hours.

Stranger Things

1,073,055

Elvis Presley

1,041,655

Baz Luhrmann chronicled the life of the King of Rock n' Roll, through the eyes of his con man of a manager Colonel Tom Parker, in Elvis, which thanks to the blend of an amusing and emotional story, Luhrmann's frantic style, and a great cast (not to mention a soundtrack of classics), has been showered with critical praise and has earned almost as much money as Rocketman.

The Umbrella Academy (TV series)

885,438

One of several superhero topics here, season 3 of the TV series about a family of superheroes returned to Netflix last week.

Top Gun: Maverick

839,779

The 49th movie to earn over a billion dollars worldwide. One of the few to do it without China. Like many of them, it's a sequel, albeit without superheroes - but still some unbelievable stunts, mostly done on camera to fit Tom Cruise's perfectionism.

Deaths in 2022

839,580

Given #4;

When the king died
He was all alone
I heard that when he died
He was sitting on his throne

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

803,366

Two differentiated approaches to superhero adaptations on streaming. Disney+ gets the movie that just got passed in the box office by #6, an attempt to add some horror to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Prime Video releases new episodes of the show depicting how horrifying the world would be if inhabited by violent and all-around unpleasant powered people.

The Boys (TV series)

798,842

R. Kelly

747,663

The day after Ghislaine Maxwell got 20 years in prison, the once-lauded-now-infamous R&B artist got 30, which given his age is effectively a life sentence. It's an ignominious end that came far too late, given people have known about his underage sex crimes since the '90s, and he was previously charged in 2002 but was somehow acquitted. Still, at least it happened; powerful men have been getting away with this stuff for way too long.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Shinzo Abe	3,777,595	In 2006, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan became prime minister after winning his party's leadership. A year later, he was gone, election losses and poor health having hampered his premiership. Yet in 2012, he returned, defeating the beleaguered DPJ government and becoming prime minister again. Shinzo Abe soon made his mark in the world with an innovative economic policy, a successful Olympic bid, and a controversial shift towards rearmament and Japanese nationalism. He became the longest-serving Japanese prime minister ever, serving until ill health once again forced his resignation. Afterwards, he assumed an elder statesman role, until this week, when he was fatally shot. (#8)
2	Georgia Guidestones	2,673,003	In 1980, an anonymous donor erected six huge stones beside the road in Elbert, Georgia, covered in multilingual instructions for humanity. Well, this week someone blew them up, presumably motivated by the many conspiracy theories surrounding them that paint them as a Satanist site.
3	Thor: Love and Thunder	2,292,600	Thor: Ragnarok was much complimented, so Taika Waititi's return to the God of Thunder did not stray far from that movie's blend of comedy, action and a serious villain, only adding some sad elements about grief and mortality. Hence reception has been mixed for feeling too familiar, even if it still provides the same fun expected from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Love and Thunder opened to $302 million globally, so it will shock the box office as much as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
4	James Caan	2,066,046	An actor with a long and storied career, highlighted by his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, who just died at the age of 82.
5	Stranger Things	1,400,123	Netflix and The Duffer Brothers (pictured) struck gold in 2016 with this revival of 80s adventure and horror where a small Indiana town is invaded by a dark dimension, and have since released three more seasons. The fifth one in 2024 will be the last, as after all the characters have suffered enough and the teen cast has grown too much.
6	Boris Johnson	1,296,443	Bye-bye Boris Boris, goodbye Bye Boris, Boris, bye-bye Bye-bye Boris No one will cry Bye Boris, Boris, bye-bye Speaking of people who have suffered enough... Boris Johnson's premiership was already flagging, to put it mildly, with the scandal of him and members of his cabinet partying during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions (Johnson would be given a fixed penalty notice, making him the first British prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law while in office) and him being involved in numerous other scandals, but he managed to survive a vote of no confidence from Conservative MPs and said he would "get on with the job." He also ironically teased the prospect of winning a second and third term and being in office until the 2030s, which would have made him one of the longest serving Prime Ministers. But after it turned out his deputy chief whip was a groper and he completely mishandled the whole thing, a mass exodus from his government began, starting with the resignations of Rishi Sunak (#17) and Sajid Javid on Tuesday. The most extraordinary 48 hours in recent British political history followed, with dozens of ministers resigning and the PM refusing to do the same (which drew comparisons to Donald Trump's refusal to concede after Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election) despite most of his cabinet coming to his house to tell him the jig was up. He finally resigned on Thursday, setting the stage for a potentially bruising leadership contest to succeed him as PM, with Johnson remaining in office in a caretaker position until a new leader is elected in the autumn. Johnson will leave office as one of the shortest serving PMs, being surpassed by his predecessor Theresa May.
7	Stranger Things (season 4)	1,157,964	Back to the Upside Down, which finished its most recent season with two extra-long chapters - the two hour finale is one of those cases where tensions run so high that time seems not to pass. This season will also be remembered for giving Kate Bush another Number 1 with "Running Up That Hill", which in the show apparently makes you float in the air and look like Jesse Pinkman when he was high on drugs that one time. It also marks the second time a character in a Netflix show nicknamed "Number 1" was revealed as a major villain, the first being Squid Game.
8	Assassination of Shinzo Abe	1,104,347^[a]	On 8 July the former Japanese prime minister (#1) was campaigning in Nara for local candidate Kei Satō when a gunman with largely unknown motivations shot him. He was airlifted to hospital but died later that day. His assassination was the first of a former Japanese prime minister since Saitō Makoto and Takahashi Korekiyo during the February 26 Incident in 1936.
9	Cameron Norrie	1,021,137	Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon for the seventh time, but let's talk about who he had to go through: the semifinal had local player Cameron Norrie in two and half hours, and the decision had Australian Nick Kyrgios in three, both reaching that phase in a Grand Slam for the first time.
10	Nick Kyrgios	1,013,063

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

Shinzo Abe

3,777,595

In 2006, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan became prime minister after winning his party's leadership. A year later, he was gone, election losses and poor health having hampered his premiership. Yet in 2012, he returned, defeating the beleaguered DPJ government and becoming prime minister again. Shinzo Abe soon made his mark in the world with an innovative economic policy, a successful Olympic bid, and a controversial shift towards rearmament and Japanese nationalism. He became the longest-serving Japanese prime minister ever, serving until ill health once again forced his resignation. Afterwards, he assumed an elder statesman role, until this week, when he was fatally shot. (#8)

Georgia Guidestones

2,673,003

In 1980, an anonymous donor erected six huge stones beside the road in Elbert, Georgia, covered in multilingual instructions for humanity. Well, this week someone blew them up, presumably motivated by the many conspiracy theories surrounding them that paint them as a Satanist site.

Thor: Love and Thunder

2,292,600

Thor: Ragnarok was much complimented, so Taika Waititi's return to the God of Thunder did not stray far from that movie's blend of comedy, action and a serious villain, only adding some sad elements about grief and mortality. Hence reception has been mixed for feeling too familiar, even if it still provides the same fun expected from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Love and Thunder opened to $302 million globally, so it will shock the box office as much as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

James Caan

2,066,046

An actor with a long and storied career, highlighted by his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, who just died at the age of 82.

Stranger Things

1,400,123

Netflix and The Duffer Brothers (pictured) struck gold in 2016 with this revival of 80s adventure and horror where a small Indiana town is invaded by a dark dimension, and have since released three more seasons. The fifth one in 2024 will be the last, as after all the characters have suffered enough and the teen cast has grown too much.

Boris Johnson

1,296,443

Bye-bye Boris
Boris, goodbye
Bye Boris, Boris, bye-bye
Bye-bye Boris
No one will cry
Bye Boris, Boris, bye-bye

Speaking of people who have suffered enough... Boris Johnson's premiership was already flagging, to put it mildly, with the scandal of him and members of his cabinet partying during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions (Johnson would be given a fixed penalty notice, making him the first British prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law while in office) and him being involved in numerous other scandals, but he managed to survive a vote of no confidence from Conservative MPs and said he would "get on with the job." He also ironically teased the prospect of winning a second and third term and being in office until the 2030s, which would have made him one of the longest serving Prime Ministers. But after it turned out his deputy chief whip was a groper and he completely mishandled the whole thing, a mass exodus from his government began, starting with the resignations of Rishi Sunak (#17) and Sajid Javid on Tuesday. The most extraordinary 48 hours in recent British political history followed, with dozens of ministers resigning and the PM refusing to do the same (which drew comparisons to Donald Trump's refusal to concede after Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election) despite most of his cabinet coming to his house to tell him the jig was up. He finally resigned on Thursday, setting the stage for a potentially bruising leadership contest to succeed him as PM, with Johnson remaining in office in a caretaker position until a new leader is elected in the autumn. Johnson will leave office as one of the shortest serving PMs, being surpassed by his predecessor Theresa May.

Stranger Things (season 4)

1,157,964

Back to the Upside Down, which finished its most recent season with two extra-long chapters - the two hour finale is one of those cases where tensions run so high that time seems not to pass. This season will also be remembered for giving Kate Bush another Number 1 with "Running Up That Hill", which in the show apparently makes you float in the air and look like Jesse Pinkman when he was high on drugs that one time. It also marks the second time a character in a Netflix show nicknamed "Number 1" was revealed as a major villain, the first being Squid Game.

Assassination of Shinzo Abe

1,104,347^[a]

On 8 July the former Japanese prime minister (#1) was campaigning in Nara for local candidate Kei Satō when a gunman with largely unknown motivations shot him. He was airlifted to hospital but died later that day. His assassination was the first of a former Japanese prime minister since Saitō Makoto and Takahashi Korekiyo during the February 26 Incident in 1936.

Cameron Norrie

1,021,137

Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon for the seventh time, but let's talk about who he had to go through: the semifinal had local player Cameron Norrie in two and half hours, and the decision had Australian Nick Kyrgios in three, both reaching that phase in a Grand Slam for the first time.

Nick Kyrgios

1,013,063

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Notes/about
1	Ivana Trump		1,894,325	This Czech-American model and businesswoman died this week of a suspected fall. Of course the main reason she's topped this list is the... prominence of her second husband.
2	Thor: Love and Thunder		1,774,346	The latest MCU film is still making a killing, despite generally being considered a disappointment compared to previous films in the series (though following up Ragnarok was always going to be tricky). It's garnering enough views it will probably make the year-end report, joining the six films that are already there (pictured is a car promoting the film).
3	Penny Mordaunt		1,578,571	The international trade secretary and MP for Portsmouth North has emerged as the unexpected frontrunner, alongside Rishi Sunak (#5), to succeed Boris Johnson as the Tory leader, and therefore as the UK's prime minister. She's attempting to run a middle line between the wings of the party, and has struggled to define herself. Given she's pitching as a unity candidate, this may be by design.
4	Nick Kyrgios		1,053,899	This Australian player saw both sides of the luck spectrum in Wimbledon: first, Rafael Nadal gave up on the semifinal due to an injury, meaning Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam final without even playing. But then came Novak Djokovic, and he couldn't repeat his upset in 2017 and lost the final after three hours of play. And he won't even get the boost in the ATP rankings given no points will be given following the decision by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to ban Russians and Belarusians.
5	Rishi Sunak		1,039,456	Alongside Penny Mordaunt (#3), the former chancellor is one of the frontrunners to succeed Boris Johnson as the Tory leader and UK Prime Minister.
6	Lalit Modi		988,609	The founder of the Indian Premier League (who is currently an international fugitive) announced a relationship with Indian actress Sushmita Sen.
7	James Webb Space Telescope		941,630	"Space... the final frontier." This week the world saw the first images from NASA's new orbital telescope, which are of light that's been travelling for 13 billion years!
8	Deaths in 2022	a	932,495	If you see him in the street, walking by himself, talking to himself, have pity, he is going through the unimaginable...
9	Shinzo Abe		784,211	The assassination of this former Japanese prime minister is still being mourned.
10	Novak Djokovic		781,002	One of tennis' greatest, even if his stance against vaccines is really contemptible. His win over #4 was his 21st Grand Slam (7th in Wimbledon), leaving the Serbian only one title behind Rafael Nadal.

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

Ivana Trump

1,894,325

This Czech-American model and businesswoman died this week of a suspected fall. Of course the main reason she's topped this list is the... prominence of her second husband.

Thor: Love and Thunder

1,774,346

The latest MCU film is still making a killing, despite generally being considered a disappointment compared to previous films in the series (though following up Ragnarok was always going to be tricky). It's garnering enough views it will probably make the year-end report, joining the six films that are already there (pictured is a car promoting the film).

Penny Mordaunt

1,578,571

The international trade secretary and MP for Portsmouth North has emerged as the unexpected frontrunner, alongside Rishi Sunak (#5), to succeed Boris Johnson as the Tory leader, and therefore as the UK's prime minister. She's attempting to run a middle line between the wings of the party, and has struggled to define herself. Given she's pitching as a unity candidate, this may be by design.

Nick Kyrgios

1,053,899

This Australian player saw both sides of the luck spectrum in Wimbledon: first, Rafael Nadal gave up on the semifinal due to an injury, meaning Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam final without even playing. But then came Novak Djokovic, and he couldn't repeat his upset in 2017 and lost the final after three hours of play. And he won't even get the boost in the ATP rankings given no points will be given following the decision by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to ban Russians and Belarusians.

Rishi Sunak

1,039,456

Alongside Penny Mordaunt (#3), the former chancellor is one of the frontrunners to succeed Boris Johnson as the Tory leader and UK Prime Minister.

Lalit Modi

988,609

The founder of the Indian Premier League (who is currently an international fugitive) announced a relationship with Indian actress Sushmita Sen.

James Webb Space Telescope

941,630

"Space... the final frontier."

This week the world saw the first images from NASA's new orbital telescope, which are of light that's been travelling for 13 billion years!

Deaths in 2022

932,495

If you see him in the street,
walking by himself, talking to himself, have pity,
he is going through the unimaginable...

Shinzo Abe

784,211

The assassination of this former Japanese prime minister is still being mourned.

Novak Djokovic

781,002

One of tennis' greatest, even if his stance against vaccines is really contemptible. His win over #4 was his 21st Grand Slam (7th in Wimbledon), leaving the Serbian only one title behind Rafael Nadal.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Droupadi Murmu	1,763,304	The Governor of Jharkhand will make history as the first person from a Scheduled Tribe to be elected as India's president (although not the first woman; that record belongs to Pratibha Patil.) She will also be the youngest president ever, because she's only 64; being president is generally seen as a final political job, and most Indian politicians are either over 50 or somebody's son.
2	Rishi Sunak	1,050,812	The Tories have narrowed the field in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election down to two, with RISH! Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer under the outgoing PM Boris Johnson, currently in first place in the MP's ballot, having been a frontrunner throughout the entire leadership content thus far. Are the Tories ready for Rishi or not? Find out in September!
3	Nope (film)	1,009,923	Splitting some British Prime Minister prospects is the return of Jordan Peele, who 3 years after Us shows that after building a career in comedy, he only wants to do scary movies, reuniting with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya to tell the story of two ranch owners who stumble upon an UFO.
4	Liz Truss	915,799	The Tories have narrowed the field in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election down to two, with Liz Truss, the number one fan of both pork markets and Margaret Thatcher, in second place in the final MPs' ballot, after overtaking Penny Mordaunt. Do the Tories want Liz for Leader or not? Find out in September!
5	Thor: Love and Thunder	914,535	#3 took the top of the American box office from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest, the return of the God of Thunder which already passed $600 million worldwide.
6	Jennifer Lopez	909,014	Twenty years ago, J. Lo and Ben Affleck became a couple while making a terrible movie, and the media overexposed "Bennifer" until they broke up. She afterwards married Marc Anthony and had twins with him, but fate eventually had her and Ben getting together again, and this week they married.
7	Deaths in 2022	906,833	Oh no It go It gone Bye-Bye (Bye!) Who I I think I sink and I die!
8	The Gray Man (2022 film)	846,311	Netflix might be losing subscribers, but is still flush with cash to spend in big action movies. This week came out a book adaptation reuniting the star, directors and writers of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and its bigger sequels), albeit Chris Evans is a bad guy as it instead follows Ryan Gosling as a convicted murderer who is taken out of prison to work as an assassin for the CIA.
9	Ivana Trump	806,050	The socialite mother of Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump (and yes, the first wife of The Donald) died after falling down the stairs in her home.
10	Ben Affleck	708,168	An actor who replaced #6 with a namesake, Jennifer Garner (the Elektra of his Daredevil, mother of his three kids), and while a return as Batman is not in the cards, one with J. Lo turned out to be.

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

Droupadi Murmu

1,763,304

The Governor of Jharkhand will make history as the first person from a Scheduled Tribe to be elected as India's president (although not the first woman; that record belongs to Pratibha Patil.) She will also be the youngest president ever, because she's only 64; being president is generally seen as a final political job, and most Indian politicians are either over 50 or somebody's son.

Rishi Sunak

1,050,812

The Tories have narrowed the field in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election down to two, with RISH! Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer under the outgoing PM Boris Johnson, currently in first place in the MP's ballot, having been a frontrunner throughout the entire leadership content thus far. Are the Tories ready for Rishi or not? Find out in September!

Nope (film)

1,009,923

Splitting some British Prime Minister prospects is the return of Jordan Peele, who 3 years after Us shows that after building a career in comedy, he only wants to do scary movies, reuniting with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya to tell the story of two ranch owners who stumble upon an UFO.

Liz Truss

915,799

The Tories have narrowed the field in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election down to two, with Liz Truss, the number one fan of both pork markets and Margaret Thatcher, in second place in the final MPs' ballot, after overtaking Penny Mordaunt. Do the Tories want Liz for Leader or not? Find out in September!

Thor: Love and Thunder

914,535

#3 took the top of the American box office from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest, the return of the God of Thunder which already passed $600 million worldwide.

Jennifer Lopez

909,014

Twenty years ago, J. Lo and Ben Affleck became a couple while making a terrible movie, and the media overexposed "Bennifer" until they broke up. She afterwards married Marc Anthony and had twins with him, but fate eventually had her and Ben getting together again, and this week they married.

Deaths in 2022

906,833

Oh no
It go
It gone
Bye-Bye (Bye!)
Who I
I think
I sink
and I die!

The Gray Man (2022 film)

846,311

Netflix might be losing subscribers, but is still flush with cash to spend in big action movies. This week came out a book adaptation reuniting the star, directors and writers of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and its bigger sequels), albeit Chris Evans is a bad guy as it instead follows Ryan Gosling as a convicted murderer who is taken out of prison to work as an assassin for the CIA.

Ivana Trump

806,050

The socialite mother of Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump (and yes, the first wife of The Donald) died after falling down the stairs in her home.

Ben Affleck

708,168

An actor who replaced #6 with a namesake, Jennifer Garner (the Elektra of his Daredevil, mother of his three kids), and while a return as Batman is not in the cards, one with J. Lo turned out to be.

US TV, JP ex-PM, outer space, and politics of IN, US, UK top charts for July

And through the walls you hear the city groan (June 26 to July 2)

A shot rings out in the Nara sky (July 3 to 9)

Now everything's about to fall apart (July 9 to 16)

Give me love, give us a kiss, and tell me your own politik (July 17 to 23)

Exclusions

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JLo picture

Guidestones