What is the best pub snack?

As Andy Burnham and John Healey took up their positions in No.10 and No.11 last week, they took a break from the minutiae of running the country to discuss the biggest question potentially facing Brits today. They did so in a video released to promote their announcement of a 20% cut in pub business rates, which racked up two million views across Instagram and TikTok.

The change in government has seen a new media strategy that is already winning much praise. “Labour’s comms has been in another league this week compared to what went before,” said The News Agents’ Lewis Goodall in response to the pub snacks video on X.

“That is certainly true”, said The Spectator’s Gareth Roberts, but it's “a bit like saying that a packet of Scampi Fries is, as a pub snack, in another league from a handful of gravel.”

What did the commentators say?

In 2026, “TikTok and Instagram are the most important stages that any politician who cares about reaching Gen Z, who don't read newspapers or listen to the radio, must master”, said LBC’s Issy Clarke. Many of Burnham's critics “will be precisely those who decry the lack of political engagement among Gen Z”, all the while “forgetting that the best remedy is to meet young people where they are”. Burnham “is the first British PM who has managed to do it”.

When it comes to his social media output, it has “an authenticity” to it, Bruce Daisley, the former boss of Twitter in the UK and Europe, told The Times. “And he is getting the cut through as a result.” Burnham is a politician who gets it and uses “a template of frequent, human communications”. In a way “it’s almost over-communication, but that way the message gets across”.

After years of gloom, “the chirpy bonhomie can’t help but appeal”, said The Spectator’s Roberts. “Here is somebody saying that Britain isn’t broken, isn’t collapsing, and look, here’s a few little extra pennies for you.” It is the reason the polls are shifting effectively because “it’s so nice to see somebody with a smile on their face, even a gormless smile that defies reality”.

Yet the new PM’s “apparent openness to people he meets on the street has not, so far, been extended to lobby journalists”, said Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin in The Guardian. “Aides insist there is no deliberate effort to avoid scrutiny and can point to how he spoke at length to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg”, but in hoodwinking the lobby over the appointment of Healey as chancellor “there appears to be more than a little satisfaction about the lobby’s humiliation within the prime minister’s wider circle”. It is a dangerous tactic “from a new administration that will need to be trusted by the more responsible end of the Westminster media when, inevitably, the going gets rough”.

What next?

Burnham’s social media appearances “are a good way to signal to a large audience that the Labour government has changed”, said the FT’s Stephen Bush. But “while it allows the prime minister of the day to evade direct scrutiny and difficult debates, it also makes it harder for them to put their opponents under the microscope”.

It also means “neither Burnham nor his opponents are guaranteed a proper comeback when a rival is speaking”. Effectively, we are heading towards “a highly polarised country where political advertising is almost inescapable and neither side can be guaranteed the pain of scrutiny or the consolation of a rebuttal”.

Labour looks set to pass its first test with voters since Andy Burnham took over as prime minister, with the party’s candidate the favourite to succeed him as Manchester mayor in today’s by-election

The race to replace Burnham has been somewhat “overshadowed by events in Westminster” over the past week. But the region’s two million voters go to the polls today to take part in “the biggest by-election in British political history”, said The Guardian.

Who’s running?

Bev Craig, current leader of Manchester City Council, is standing for Labour against Reform UK councillor for Baguley, Sian Niamh Astley, in what has been a heated contest between the two parties.

Other names throwing their hat into the ring include Altrincham councillor Geraldine Coggins, representing the Green Party, Bowdon councillor Phil Eckersley for the Conservatives, and Didsbury West Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Kilpatrick. Marlon West is standing for Restore Britain, with former mayoral candidate Marcus Farmer running as an independent.

How does the vote work?

UK mayoral elections use a system known as supplementary voting that gives voters the option to choose their first- and second-choice candidate.

If any candidate secures more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they will automatically be elected mayor. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the contest moves to a second round between the two candidates who received the most first-choice votes. All other candidates are eliminated, and ballot papers are counted again factoring in second-choice votes.

What do the polls say?

When Burnham declared his intention to return to Westminster, “the prospect of Labour losing control of Greater Manchester was used as an argument to keep him in post”, said Dan Haygarth in The Independent. After the mayoral by-election was announced, some bookmakers even made Reform the early favourite, but polls suggest that Labour will retain the mayoralty with “relative ease”, leaving Reform and the Greens to battle it out for second place.

YouGov polling from 17 July had Craig on 38% to Astley’s 24%, with Coggins in third on 17%. But in a second-round run-off, the Labour candidate would trounce Reform’s 62% to 38%

With both the Greens and Reform offering radical alternatives to a deeply unpopular Starmer government, this election could have been “a mighty close battle and very difficult for Labour to hold on”, Jon Tonge, professor of politics at the University of Liverpool, said in The Independent. But now voters are less likely to be “looking for an alternative to Labour; they’re prepared to support Labour, for now at least, across Greater Manchester”.

What’s at stake?

The winner of Thursday's race will take control of the biggest mayoral authority outside London, with a £3 billion budget and wide-ranging powers across housing, health, policing and transport. But the race also has deep implications far beyond Manchester.

Professor Rob Ford, of the University of Manchester, said in The Guardian that the real mark of success would be whether Labour was able to push back the Green tide in Manchester and close the gap in Reform-leaning areas such as Wigan and Bolton.

Whatever the result, Greater Manchester will be “very close to the heart of power given the location of Number 10 North”, Professor Andrew Russell, from the University of Liverpool, said on the BBC. “Not for the first time of late, all eyes will certainly be on the city.”

Three British superhero actors have spoken out against the proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and urged the culture secretary to block the deal.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong, both of whom appear in Marvel’s Doctor Strange films, and Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler in the X-Men series, have written in The Guardian warning the Paramount-Warner Bros. tie-up “threatens to inflict immense harm on the British public”.

The $110 billion (£83 billion) deal is being led by Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder and close ally of Donald Trump. It would create one of the world’s most powerful media empires, bringing together HBO, CNN, TNT Sports, Channel 5, Paramount+, as well as the DC Universe, Harry Potter, “Game of Thrones” and “The Lord of the Rings” franchises.

‘Minded to intervene’

Among a host of issues, Cumberbatch, Cumming and Wong cite concerns over the livelihoods of British film and TV crews, independent film financing, and the consolidation of news publicatins. “The UK is being threatened by a media merger that would harm our workers, our culture and the public – but we can stop it,” they say.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “minded to intervene” in the deal on public interest grounds. “I am conscious that the proposed acquisition is global in nature. In reaching this decision, my focus has been, and will remain, on the UK public interest and the range of services available to UK audiences,” she said in a letter to the current and proposed owners of Warner Bros. Discovery.

While Paramount has said it remains “confident that our proposed transaction does not pose any media plurality issues”, were the UK government to issue a public interest intervention notice it would trigger further scrutiny from media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Depending on her decision, Nandy “could end up upsetting or possibly ingratiating virtually all the major US studios, streamers and tech giants”, not to mention the Trump administration, which is strongly backing the deal, said Deadline. This makes her “one of the most consequential culture secretaries in recent memory… in America that is.”

‘Bad for everyone’ except billionaires

The call for the British government to intervene comes after 12 American states, led by California, sued to try to block the merger, warning it would raise prices, shrink the number of films made and fall foul of strict anti-trust laws.

Last week a US district judge temporarily paused the merger to consider the lawsuit. This prompted Paramount to agree not to close the deal until June 2027 or five days after the court issues a ruling on the case, whichever is earlier.

For Paramount, the delay “may prove costly”, said The Hollywood Reporter. The merger agreement says Warner’s shareholders are owed roughly $650 million per quarter, or $6.9 million per day, if the deal is not completed by 30 September.

More than 1,000 leading industry professionals from US film and TV signed an open letter in April warning of the impact of “media consolidation” that prioritises “the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good”.

Mark Ruffalo, one of the actors leading the campaign against the merger, said it “will mean less films, less TV, less creativity, less of everything from the people who make the decisions. This merger is bad for everyone except the billionaire class.”

Get the kids out of the house and keep them entertained this summer with these fun, memorable activities around the UK.

Bat punting, Cambridge

Although bats are associated with Halloween, the best time to see the nocturnal creatures “fluttering around” is actually in the summertime, said The Guardian. One of the “most atmospheric ways” to see bats is on the Bat Safari Punting tour along the River Cam. Catch a trip with a local wildlife guide on a Friday or Saturday evening until the end of September for a chance to hear the “clicks and squeaks” of the pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bats. In late July and August, you might even spot “mothers and pups in tandem flight in the night sky”.

Family tickets from £63 (50% of ticket sales goes to the local Wildlife Trust)

Dolphin watching, Moray Firth, Scotland

For marine life lovers, the Scottish Dolphin Centre in Spey Bay is a great place to spot the “hardy bunch” of bottlenose dolphins who live in the waters north of Inverness, said The Guardian. In the summer months you are more likely to spot them “throwing fish and leaping from the water”. The centre, a former fishing station, is also a “hub of marine learning” offering tours of the old ice house, an interactive exhibition, summer “river rambles” and “nature-themed holiday clubs”.

Entry is free

Winnie the Pooh celebration at Tatton Park, Cheshire

This summer, Tatton Park is celebrating 100 years of the “whimsical world of Pooh and friends”, said The Telegraph. Visitors of all ages will be “charmed” by the garden story trail and the accompanying exhibit. Look for Christopher Robin in the maze before popping into the secondhand bookshop.

Tickets from £12 for children aged four-15; £20 for adults

West Midlands Safari Park, Worcester

If you’re looking to push the boat out with an overnight trip, consider staying in the “stunning” lodges at West Midlands Safari Park, said Stylist. A night here is “unfiltered magic” that “layers nostalgia with science” and “theatre with husbandry”, said The Standard. You can still see rhinos, meerkats, elephants, and more at the park even if you just decide to visit for the day.

Day tickets, £17.40; lodges from £500 per night

World of Beatrix Potter museum, Cumbria

For anyone who read Beatrix Potter’s beautifully illustrated books as a child, or who reads them to their own children or grandchildren now, this museum brings “Peter Rabbit’s world to life”, said The Telegraph. The attraction also offers themed afternoon tea and live shows.

Summer saver tickets from £6.83 for children aged three-16; £11.03 for adults

Crabbing, Cromer, Norfolk

For a “quintessentially British day out” go crabbing at the “gorgeous” Cromer beach in Norfolk, said Stylist. There's no better place to “pull up a chair and sink your bait” than the “home to the world championships of crabbing”. For even more fun try visiting in August to catch the Cromer Carnival that’s “old-school bucket-and-spade fun”, said The Telegraph. It’s a “gloriously traditional seaside” event with a “funfair” atmosphere. The best part? Taking part is free.

This week’s question: A Japanese company is offering a new way to beat the heat: A one-person “human refrigerator” that blasts the sitting occupant with 41-degree air during a 5- to 10-minute session. In seven or fewer words, come up with an advertising slogan that could be used to pitch Americans on this cooling invention.

How to enter: Submissions should be emailed to contest@theweek.com. Please include your name, address, and daytime telephone number for verification; this week, please type “Human refrigerator” in the subject line. Entries are due by noon, Eastern Time, Tuesday, Aug. 4. Winners will appear on the Puzzle Page of the Aug. 14 issue and at theweek.com/contest on Aug. 7. In the case of identical or similar entries, the first one received gets credit. All entries become property of The Week.

The winner gets a one-year subscription to The Week.

Click or tap here to see the winner of last week's contest: Million beers

If navigating an airport with your partner has caused an argument, an airport divorce may be the right kind of divorce for you. Contrary to the name, an airport divorce is not a divorce or breakup.

Rather, it is when a couple decides to go their separate ways in the airport to tackle preflight activities and tasks before reuniting to fly together. The separation can keep stress to a minimum and allow both people to regulate their emotions before a trip.

See you later

At the airport, “we transmute, werewolf-like, into unrecognizable beings,” journalist Huw Oliver, who coined the term “airport divorce,” said in a column for The Times in 2025. Airport divorces are ideal for people who travel differently. “One traveler wants to browse every shop, while another seeks a quiet seat. One arrives hours early, the other prefers last-minute entry,” said Yahoo. “In that pressure cooker, minor disagreements can quickly spiral out of control.” Instead opting to separate, “couples can avoid friction before it begins, and each party retains control of their airport experience.”

Despite its name, airport divorce is “remarkably domestic,” said Travel Noire. Giving each other “space during the part of a trip that exposes every difference in timing, hunger, anxiety and tolerance for crowds” can make travel more peaceful.

The science supports it. One person’s tension and stress can spread to the people they are with through “interpersonal physiological synchrony,” which can lead to the “coupling of autonomic nervous system signals such as heart rate,” said a review article in Nature Reviews Psychology.

Reassuring a partner also “compounds the problem rather than solving it,” said Forbes. “Calming an anxious partner draws on the same limited pool of attention and patience a person needs for everything else that day, and that pool depletes with use.” Instead, going separate ways, temporarily, allows both people to stabilize their nervous systems before the flight. Both partners “arrive at the gate having actually rested rather than one having spent the wait managing the other’s nerves.”

Carrying the luggage

While there are benefits to an airport divorce, it may not be for everyone. It works best for “experienced travelers who communicate well and understand each other’s habits,” said Travel Noire. It can also “solve practical mismatches when one partner has TSA PreCheck or Global Entry and the other moves at a different pace.” There are many cases, however, in which splitting up is not an ideal situation.

Ideally, a “successful airport divorce divides responsibility as well as physical space,” said Travel Noire. “Parents managing children, first-time flyers, couples carrying shared medication or documents, and anyone needing mobility support may gain more from staying together.”

Airport divorce, in addition, often “exposes invisible labor when the same person still tracks boarding, carries the passports and sends every location update,” said Travel Noire. Both partners should be capable of keeping track of their belongings and the time independently.

Those skeptical of the arrangement argue that being unable to maneuver an airport with your partner does not bode well for the rest of the relationship. Those in favor emphasize the importance of space in relationships and not strictly while traveling. “People love to consciously uncouple,” whether it is going to bed at different times or taking part in activities separate from your partner, said PureWow. “In that stretch between check-in and takeoff,” said Yahoo, “sometimes a separation is the key to appreciating each other’s company again.”

Foreign students at American colleges and universities were thrust into uncharted waters this month after the Department of Homeland Security released new guidelines to severely restrict how and how long international students can study in the United States. While the White House says the change is necessary for national security, higher education advocates claim the new rules are a body blow to America’s role as an international academic powerhouse.

What did the commentators say?

Under the new rules, students on F-1 visas that for decades had allowed them to stay in the U.S. “as long as they maintain a full course of study” will now be limited to just four-year terms, said Bloomberg Law. The new rule also restricts shifting academic plans and “reduces the grace period” that visa holders have before they face deportation.

The new guidelines are the “latest” White House policy change “buffeting the roughly 1.2 million international students pursuing degrees in the U.S.,” said Bloomberg. The new rules also affect J-visas that “allow visitors on cultural exchange programs to work in the U.S.,” and I-visas for “members of the media,” said USA Today. For international graduate students, the policy also prohibits changing focus mid-program and bars transfers to other schools without authorization.

The policy changes also “reach beyond the classroom” to the government’s “Optional Practical Training” program, through which F-1 visa holders could “work in the U.S. for a year after finishing a degree” — or longer, depending on the area of study, said the Los Angeles Times. Now, that time “counts against the four-year cap.” Foreign students already in the U.S. will be subject to the new rules “automatically,” and their time will be “capped at four years from the rule’s effective date during the fall semester.”

These changes come as international student enrollment in American schools has “already plummeted” in President Donald Trump’s second term thanks to “new visa restrictions” targeting specific countries, “harsh immigration enforcement,” and the “prosecution of foreign students who engage in political activity that the administration disagrees with,” said The New Republic. This, in turn, has resulted in a “big drop in revenue” for American schools “which have had to cut programs” and “negatively impacted a major economic engine for the U.S.” Not only do international students “bring diversity and alternative worldviews,” said NPR, but they also “contribute heavily to colleges’ financial health” because, being ineligible for federal aid, “many pay full tuition.”

Placing “clear, finite limits on these visas” allows the U.S. to “properly screen, vet and monitor individuals within our borders,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a statement. International students will now focus on their “primary purpose: completing their studies and returning home.” But international education experts have “warned that these actions could lead to a decline in international enrollment,” said Inside Higher Ed. The outcome, they say, will be institutions that “struggle to meet enrollment and revenue goals,” as well as disruptions to the nation’s “ability to recruit top students and scholars to contribute to American research and innovation.”

“I can’t graduate early by cramming my coursework” and “there’s no guarantee I’ll pass” the requisite American licensing exams, said nursing student Kim Se-hee, currently studying in Chicago, to The Korea Herald. After years spent “working toward building a life in the U.S.,” being sent back to Korea “right after getting my U.S. nursing license, it would all be for nothing.”

The new guidelines are “far more” than changing a visa rule, said immigration attorney Tahmina Watson to Business Insider. “It’s an economic policy” under which the U.S. “risks becoming a less attractive destination for the world’s brightest minds.” The result will hurt “universities, businesses, innovation, local economies” and, ultimately, “America’s long-term global competitiveness for generations.”

What next?

With the rule change set to go into effect in mid-September, schools are “scrambling to figure out” what this means for their “international student offices, their Ph.D. programs and admissions,” said NPR. The “fallout” from the changes “could be considerable,” said Forbes. The message globally is that America has become “less welcoming, less predictable and less committed,” said NAFSA: Association of International Educators Executive Director and CEO Fanta Aw in a statement.

A mathematician has somewhat unceremoniously announced that he has disproven an almost 90-year-old problem — with the help of Anthropic’s artificial intelligence model. The announcement sent waves through social media and the inner circles of mathematics, as the latest in a series of AI-driven mathematical achievements that shook the field and called future math into question.

What math problem did AI tackle?

The Jacobian conjecture is “false,” Harvard University mathematician and Anthropic employee Levent Alpoge said on X, thanking his “close friend Akhil for asking about it” and his “other close friend Fable” for “working during the World Cup final.” Attached was a mathematical formula, a counterexample to the decades-old problem. Despite the fact the problem “bedeviled highly accomplished mathematicians for almost 90 years,” the conjecture “proved no obstacle” for Anthropic’s “latest frontier AI model,” said Mashable.

A conjecture is an “idea that some mathematicians believe is true,” but nobody has been “able to prove or disprove,” said mathematician Melissa Lee at The Conversation. This algebraic geometry theory suggests that a “certain type of mathematical function would also work in reverse” and was “formally set out” by Ott-Heinrich Keller in 1939, said New Scientist. It was one of 18 “fiendishly difficult problems for mathematicians to tackle in the 21st century,” according to a list curated by mathematician Stephen Smale in 1998.

The AI-generated counterexample that Alpoge shared online is the “latest in a series of AI-driven mathematical breakthroughs,” said Fortune. The technology’s “progress (or assault)” on unsolved mathematics has “compounded rapidly since mid-2025,” when models first solved “five of six problems” at the International Mathematical Olympiad.

After that, OpenAI’s model disproved an “80-year-old Erdos conjecture on combinatorial geometry” in May. In June, more than a dozen researchers from 15 universities published a declaration on AI and mathematics, urging their colleagues to “set guardrails around transparency, attribution and peer review” before AI “reshapes what mathematical knowledge even means,” Fortune added. Mathematicians, “relegated to the role of shepherd,” are left to watch AI “close these questions one-by-one, reaching places where the human mind can’t follow.” The mathematicians’ reaction is a “now familiar mixture of dread and amazement.”

What does this mean for the future of math?

The significance of the AI’s discovery varies depending on whom you ask. The counterexample did not “cause me to update my priors about what AI can and can’t do," professor and mathematician Andrew Blumberg said to Mashable. This is “exactly the kind of thing I would expect AI to be able to do.”

The counterexample to the Jacobian conjecture is still a significant achievement for AI in mathematics, Blumberg said, but there’s a difference between providing proof of a mathematical problem and showing a singular counterexample that disproves it. In other words, the counterexample “tells us essentially nothing.” Just that there are a lot of polynomials (a math equation that has numbers and letters representing variables). It’s “hard for people to check them all, but it’s not hard for machines.”

Among other “recent AI-assisted breakthroughs,” the Jacobian conjecture counterexample stands out for being “remarkably simple,” Lee said at The Conversation. The difficulty in finding the solution seems to have “lain not in an intricate construction or a lengthy proof” but rather in finding a good way of “navigating an enormous search space of possible polynomial mappings to find one with the right properties.” AI, this suggests, may “prove to be just as valuable for discovering unexpected mathematical objects as it is for constructing proofs.” What this means for the “future of mathematics and human mathematicians” remains to be seen.

For some, the recent developments with AI foreshadow a future of “increasingly capable AI models that will solve ever more complex problems,” said New Scientist. AI can “already produce master’s degrees in mathematics,” mathematician Ivan Fesenko at Westlake University in China said to the outlet. In a year, it will produce “Ph.D. degrees in mathematics.” Then the question arises, “do we really need so many mathematicians around if AI can do such things so nicely?”

Picking up the phone and realizing a debt collector is on the other end is a stomach-dropping experience. It is also a conversation that can have numerous potential implications, which is why it’s essential to know ahead of time how to navigate the call when the time comes.

Unfortunately, these conversations are becoming more prevalent amid soaring credit card bills and unpaid medical debt. “Lawsuits filed by debt collectors over unpaid credit card bills and other outstanding balances have surged to their highest levels in years,” said the Pew Charitable Trusts, per The Wall Street Journal. Here is how to prepare.

You have a right to know the facts.

Believe it or not, “many sold debts have errors about the amount owed or even who owes it,” said NerdWallet. So, as soon as you hear from a debt collector, first verify all of the details to ensure they are accurate.

When a debt collector contacts you, they are legally required to provide you with certain information about the debt within five days. But do not just take their word for it — you should also “gather your own records, including information on the original creditor and your history of payments,” said NerdWallet.

You should be cautious about what you share.

Watch what you say when speaking with debt collectors, as it could work against you later. For instance, avoid offering personal financial information, including your bank account number or details on your assets, as this “might be used to collect from you through a wage garnishment, bank levy or property lien if the creditor or collector gets a judgment against you,” said Nolo.

Similarly, avoid making any promises regarding the debt. “Your acknowledgment of the obligation might revive the statute of limitations” or the length of time the creditor has to take legal action to collect the debt, said Nolo.

You should absolutely keep detailed records.

As you navigate communicating with debt collectors, make note of what is said and who you talk to, as well as the date and time of the call. This is important because it “will help you determine who’s calling you from where and what debt each collector calls about,” said Nolo. You can also “track how often a particular collector calls and document inconsistencies in what collectors say to you from one call to the next.” You will be glad to have this info in case you need to file a complaint or you end up in court.

You can tell a debt collector to stop contacting you.

While working with a debt collector can help you resolve your debt, if it feels overwhelming or you have any hesitations, you have the right to ask them to stop contacting you. You can draft a letter saying as much using one of the forms on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) website, and the debt collector is obligated to comply. Just keep in mind that if the debt is yours, “stopping communication with a debt collector doesn’t make the debt go away,” said the CFPB.

You have protection against certain types of communications.

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors cannot harass or threaten you. Prohibited behavior ranges from “repeatedly calling you at any time, day or night or before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.” to using “any false, deceptive or misleading representation,” said Experian. If you think a debt collector may have violated your rights, be sure to submit a complaint with the CFPB.

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Repeat after us: There is no paucity in veganism. Plant-based eating — phenomenally delicious plant-based eating, that is — has long existed in many of the world’s great cuisines. As with any kind of cooking, how a dish tastes is all in how it is cooked. Cook it poorly, with mediocre ingredients, and you get an insipid meal. Prepare it with care, smart technique and sublime ingredients? Welcome to the world of top-tier vegan cooking. These six cookbooks all show you how to achieve that goal, from six different angles.

‘Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking With the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, With 125 Recipes’ by Joe Yonan

An adeptness, a fluidity, a knowingness with beans is a godsend when cooking vegan. It is akin to learning a new alphabet, then hurtling toward fluency using that new language’s architecture. With “Cool Beans,” the author, Joe Yonan, convinces you to “handily add beans to your cooking arsenal,” said Eater. Over the course of the book, he “evokes the incredible versatility of the bean,” said Daniel Modlin at The Daily Beast, with recipes like Nigerian Stewed Black Eyed Peas with fried plantains, Tunisian Chickpea Stew that “will change your winter” and Cuban Style Black Beans that will have you gladly not “make any other kind of black beans” again. ($33, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen’ by Joanne Lee Molinaro

If you pay the slightest attention to food or cooking on social media, you may already know Joanne Lee Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan. Her lush videos lure and enjoin viewers to try their hand at her style of vegan cooking.

Molinaro, in her debut, namesake book, “masterfully intertwines delicious recipes with intimate moments from her life, sharing how her Asian American identity has been shaped by her family’s cooking,” said Julia Duarte at Bon Appétit. Americans might think of Korean food as meat-centric, but Molinaro learns from a Korean monk that “Korean plant-based eating is not a new idea. Korean temple food, the cuisine prepared by Korean Buddhist monks, has been around for a thousand years, predating Korean BBQ and bibimbap.” Korean vegan food being novel or a bastardization? As if. ($37, Avery, Amazon)

‘Provecho: 100 Vegan Mexican Recipes to Celebrate Culture and Community’ by Edgar Castrejón

Let us begin with aguachile. Bright, supple and plucky, it is a staple seafood treatment in some coastal regions of Mexico. Author Edgar Castrejón, when he decided to no longer consume animal products, realized an apt substitute for fish, shrimp and their kin is young coconut. The same slip and bite, nary an animal employed.

Such is the galvanizing approach that anchors “Provecho,” a book that proclaims the monumental possibility of Mexican veganism. There are jackfruit tacos, cauliflower roasted in the semi-style of carne asada, pozole rojo loaded with mushrooms. These are “quick, relatively straightforward recipes,” said Library Journal, that are a “solid starting point” for people who want to play in a vegan remodel of the Mexican-cooking playground. ($35, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘Superiority Burger Cookbook: The Vegetarian Hamburger Is Now Delicious’ by Brooks Headley

Come for the recipe for the New York City restaurant’s legendary vegetable burger, stay for the monstrously delicious dishes that orbit that burger’s well-deserved fame. What with a battery of ingredients, making the burger is an ordeal of sorts, but the result is a paragon of the genre: “crisp outside and a soft but not-boring inside that’s lightly spiced and spicy, with plenty of vegetables and meat-free umami,” said Josephine Scott at Edible Manhattan.

Not every recipe in the text is vegan, but most are — or can be made so. Dishes like burnt broccoli salad, salt-and-vinegar string beans and BBQ carrots with cashew cream and corn chips are “infinitely craveable, combining textures and flavors in unexpected ways,” said Library Journal. 224 pages of incontrovertible evidence that vegan cooking can electrify. ($30, Norton, Amazon)

‘The Vegan Chinese Kitchen: Recipes and Modern Stories From a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition’ by Hannah Che

Hannah Che discovered that her present-day vegan approach to eating has a centuries-old history in China. The book she created as she pulled the thread from her present to her ancestral past is “as much a cookbook as it is a historical document and educational resource to turn to time and again,” said Dayna Evans at Eater.

There is, of course, a chapter on tofu that shows readers how to treat it like both a hearty stew and an invigorating salad, among endless other treatments including an additional chapter on tofu skin. Bonus: “Many of the dishes are served room temperature or cold — which means that not only are they great for do-ahead entertaining, but also that they’re great for summer picnics and potlucks,” said Leslie Brenner at Cooks Without Borders. ($35, Clarkson Potter, Amazon)

‘Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes’ by Bryant Terry

In “Vegetable Kingdom,” Bryant Terry, a food justice advocate and author, skips across the Black and African diaspora, pulling inspiration from boundless sources. Spinach salad with blackened chickpeas, a panko-crusted cauliflower take on the Kenyan chicken and coconut curry called kuku paka, jerk tofu enveloped in collards — this is a book for “anyone who wants to expand their vegan cooking repertoire and make their beans and greens more exciting,” said Bettina Makalintal at Bon Appétit.

For people with children, know this: Terry wrote “Vegetable Kingdom” in part to show kids, including his own, how thrilling vegetables can be. The book is a tool to “provide a few recipes for vegetables — something that’s simple and easy — that might be a way to sneak a vegetable in as an initial contact” for picky kids, he said to The Kitchn. ($30, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘India’s Gen Z just made Modi blink’

Rana Ayyub at The Washington Post

What “began as outrage over dysfunction in India’s college exam system built into something much larger — the first sustained, youth-led movement in years to force India’s powerful central government actually to concede ground,” says Rana Ayyub. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “government has seemed to elevate itself beyond the reach of dissent,” but the “critical mass that formed last week was something new.” It managed to “turn Modi himself into a subject of derision and satire.”

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‘America’s housing boom risks creating tomorrow’s housing crisis’

Elizabeth Carmichael at Newsweek

America is “racing to build millions of new homes,” but in the “rush to solve today’s housing shortage, we’re creating neighborhoods that could become tomorrow’s financial and environmental liabilities,” says Elizabeth Carmichael. The “country needs new homes,” but “building faster won’t solve America’s housing crisis if we’re filling neighborhoods with developments that cost more to maintain, consume more energy, undermine residents’ health and require expensive retrofits.” Americans “should be treating every new development as infrastructure for the next century.”

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‘The hidden cost of stress at work’

Lilly Springer, David Slusky and Anupam Jena at Time

Americans “work more hours per year than those in similar countries. Working is, in a sense, an American pastime,” say Lilly Springer, David Slusky and Anupam Jena. Many “jobs are stressful or physically demanding, imposing a toll on both mental and physical health.” The “question of how work affects our health is incredibly important.” Workplace conditions “can impact the health of not only workers themselves, but also their children,” as the “effects of work may reach beyond an individual employee.”

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‘Trump’s Iran war casualty numbers don’t add up’

Renée Graham at The Boston Globe

After “four U.S. service members killed this month in the U.S./Israel war against Iran received a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, their names disappeared from the Pentagon’s public tracker for military casualties,” says Renée Graham. President Donald Trump is “cooking the books again, this time with the numbers of Iran war dead.” Even in an “administration where mendacity is policy, reclassifying war deaths to manipulate public opinion for this deeply unpopular war is unconscionable.”

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What happened

Former trillionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company x.AI has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota’s “first-in-the-nation law” banning programs and applications that “create and post deepfake videos or images of people naked without their consent,” said MPR News. Those found in violation of Minnesota’s anti-nudification rule risk fines of “$500,000 for each unlawful access, download or use,” per the law’s text.

Who said what

The AI company did not dispute that the state has “valid interests” in barring the “dissemination of artificially generated nude images of people without their consent,” said Bloomberg Law. Rather, it argued that Minnesota’s rule goes “far beyond that goal” and exposes a “wide array of protected speech to civil liability and government sanctions.”

What next?

Musk’s suit holds that Minnesota’s law is “unconstitutional” and should either be “placed on hold while the case proceeds” or “struck down entirely,” said MPR News. The provision is set to go into effect on August 1. If and when it does, x.AI has threatened to “limit services for users in the state.”

What happened

Search teams have rescued eight people from the ruins of a shopping center after a powerful earthquake struck the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Recovery operations continued overnight at the Aeon Mall in Kumamoto Prefecture after part of the building collapsed and an explosion followed the initial quake.

The earthquake was initially measured at a magnitude 7.1 before being revised to a 6.8. It was followed by more than 60 aftershocks and together, they sparked fires, damaged roads and cut power to thousands of homes. At least 18 people are known to have died, and the death toll is expected to rise.

Who said what

“Although more than 20 hours have passed since the earthquake, there are those still in need of help,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said during a press conference. “This is truly a race against time.”

The earthquake has “rattled a region still marked by one of the country’s deadliest recent disasters,” CNN said. In 2016, a series of massive earthquakes killed 275 people, injured thousands more and caused widespread devastation, with more than 200,000 homes damaged.

What next?

Emergency workers continue to look for people who are trapped or missing, as engineers assess the damaged infrastructure. The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of landslides and further aftershocks over the coming week because the quake is still “triggering seismic activity in the area,” said The Guardian.

What happened

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Tuesday it will end a Medicare subsidy program aimed at lowering prescription costs for some seniors at the end of 2026, one year ahead of schedule. The Medicare prescription drug benefit, which is expected to cost the government some $3.6 billion in subsidies this year, was introduced by former President Joe Biden in 2024. It shields some 25 million people with “Part D” Medicare plans from steep insurance premium hikes.

Who said what

Characterizing the government subsidies as a “bailout” that “gave BILLIONS of taxpayer money DIRECTLY to Big Insurance Companies,” CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said on social media that the administration is “stabilizing the market.” All but a quarter of Part D enrollees are likely to see their premiums rise next year as a result of the change, some by $20 a month, an anonymous Trump administration official told The Wall Street Journal.

The change could “inflame the debate” about healthcare costs at a time when “voters’ concerns about the cost of living are a top campaign issue,” Bloomberg said. Republicans could find this “politically damaging” ahead of the November midterm elections, The New York Times said.

What next?

CMS will release the new monthly Part D premiums in September, which means Medicare users could be in for some “sticker shock while shopping for next year’s drug plan,” the Times said.

“From today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap,” wrote Andy Burnham in The Times. The prime minister’s new government has unveiled “fundamental changes” to England’s curriculum and education system.

From the age of 14, pupils will be able to combine technical subjects like manufacturing and AI with core subjects like maths and English. They will also be able to get experience with local employers, to give them a clearer pathway into work. “For too long, we’ve built a school system around the idea that there’s only one route to success: university, a degree, a desk,” wrote Burnham. But in “the age of AI”, practical and technical skills have “become more valuable than ever”.

‘Westminster will be less involved’

Burnham is “on a mission” to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neets) – more than one in eight of the UK’s 16- to 24-year-olds: the highest level in more than 12 years. This overhaul “doesn’t actually do anything about Neets, in that it will not be of any benefit to them”, said The Times’ sketch writer Tom Peck. But in theory, it will help “prevent the emergence of the next generation of Neets”.

It also “gives Burnham a chance to distance himself again” from previous politicians, said Politico’s London Playbook. Because “we’ve heard this type of thing a lot over the last few years”. But the difference now, Burnham argues, is that “Westminster will be less involved”; the new routes will be shaped by local mayors, schools and employers.

It’s modelled on his Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc, which he launched as mayor in 2024, said the BBC’s education correspondent Hazel Shearing. The MBacc “may well be scalable”, but “there will be challenges”. Will kids living in deprived areas, without thriving industries, have fewer options?

Neets ‘downstream of economy, not classroom’

I agree that England “has never built a technical education system worthy of the name”, said Joshua Vallance, vice principal of Trinity Academy, Brixton in Schools Week. But should children “begin sacrificing a broad academic education at 14” to get one? “As a Labour member and teacher, I think they should not.”

Telling kids to organise their curriculum around a “presumed occupational destination” means we “narrow their field of possibility before either they or we can know what they might become”. Plus, one of “the beauties of our education system” is “common academic entitlement”: that children at a Brixton academy “have access to the same knowledge as the children at Eton and Harrow”: a “great leveller in society”.

In Burnham’s system, more well-off children at independent or selective schools will still study languages, history and sciences “before deciding what to become”. Poorer children will be “asked to decide first”, with “fewer options”.

England’s education system isn’t perfect, but “the focus on a knowledge-rich curriculum” has led to “better outcomes for most pupils”, said Stephen Bush in the Financial Times. We’ve climbed international rankings in both literacy and numeracy, and the proportion of kids getting good GCSE results has risen while grade inflation stayed “relatively low”.

Unless John Healey “does something very radical in the Budget”, Burnham’s overhaul has to be “balanced by cuts elsewhere in the schools budget”, which imperils a “genuine public policy success”, but “to no good end”. Because the Neet problem is “not a consequence of our education system”: it’s “rooted in the labour market”.

Kids are “twice as likely to become Neet in the northeast of England than the southwest”, not because schools in the southwest are better at tailoring education to “the needs of local businesses”. The rate of young people who become Neets is “downstream of the strength of their local economies, not the curriculum”.

After a World Cup dominated by hydration “ad” breaks, political interference and match-rigging conspiracies, football’s biggest prize really is, “it seems, for sale”, said Alyson Rudd in The Times.

Under plans drawn up by Fifa President Gianni Infantino, football’s world governing body would retain majority control of the tournaments it runs, including the men’s and women’s World Cup and Club World Cup, under a new company, the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).

But a minority stake would be offered to each of Fifa’s 211 member associations and, controversially, to private investors. Infantino would be installed as “commissioner” when his term as Fifa president ends in 2031, a role that “could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds”, sources have told The Times, which broke the story.

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” European football’s governing body Uefa said in a statement. “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially.”

What did the commentators say?

For once, public outrage at the proposals is entirely justified and understandable “because it ties together so many of the extremes that have been pushing, pulling and twisting football, let alone the world, for so long”, said Miguel Delaney in The Independent.

To muddy the waters further, the Financial Times has reported that Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is being lined up to lead the $20 billion commercial part of the deal through his Thrive Eternal investment fund.

Infantino “understands political and commercial power”, said the FT. And “in the latest battle for football’s soul and spoils”, the 56-year-old Swiss “has a key ally in Trump and, many suspect, the support of Fifa members around the world”.

Purists may decry the commercialisation of the beautiful game, but this has been happening for decades. Football’s “owners and exploiters have long seen the matches themselves as mere 90-minute sections of legacy content”, said Marina Hyde in The Guardian. These “would be far better relegated to the second, third or even fourth tier behind such always-on output as branded content, shareable clips, behind-the-scenes footage, lifestyle and commerce”.

Others will say that what Fifa is proposing is “no different to the commercial entities that the likes of the French and Spanish leagues have created and sold stakes in to private-equity funds”, said Matt Slater on The Athletic. The German and Italian leagues have debated “the same move for several years” too, and the strategy has been tried in other sports such as Formula 1 and golf’s PGA Tour.

What next?

Fifa insists the plans are still in the consultation phase, but “if this escapade succeeds, the trickle-down effect would be unpalatable”, said Rudd in The Times. It would, for example, “reinvigorate those who wanted a breakaway European Super League so feared by the fans and then so valiantly protested against”.

Selling off a slice of the World Cup “should be the cue for outright rebellion”, said Oliver Brown in The Telegraph. Given European teams made up six of the eight men’s World Cup quarter-finalists this year and three of the four semi-finalists, Uefa “should have the courage of its convictions and issue a warning to secede”.

That “will almost certainly never happen”, though. “These scandals follow a time-honoured pattern: politicians fulminate, a few federations speak out, and then Infantino ploughs ahead regardless.”

The school holidays are here, marking the start of the Summer Reading Challenge for four- to 11-year-olds. Kids up and down the country are being encouraged to sign up online or visit their local library to get involved. For every book they read, they’ll be rewarded with stickers and character cards, and if they tick off six titles they can expect a certificate and medal.

Whether your little one has signed up for the challenge, or you’re looking for the perfect present for your niece or nephew, here are some fun, absorbing books to help spark a love of reading.

Dogs and bears by Max Porter, ages 3-6

“KRUMP! POFF! The dogs and the bears are brawling again,” said Imogen Russell Williams in The Guardian. “What will it take to cool off their combat?” Dorotheé de Monfreid’s “vigorous” illustrations combine perfectly with Porter’s “wittily portentous text” in this “highly original” book about squabbling animals.

Who Says Moo? by Axel Scheffler, ages 3-6

The latest board book from Scheffler, illustrator of “The Gruffalo”, will instantly draw in younger children, said Emily Bearn in The Telegraph. Follow Little Calf as she meets different animals on the farm: will she ever learn to say “moo”? Scheffler’s sheep, ducks, pigs and cockerels are “expressive and instantly legible, inviting even the youngest children to point, name and imitate”.

Monsieur Mustard by Charley Rabbit, ages 5-9

When Fabio Fangtooth goes missing from his restaurant, it’s up to the “charming mouse detective”, Monsieur Mustard, to figure out what happened, said Anna Bonet in The i Paper. But he soon gets “tangled in an even bigger mystery”. Bringing together “graphic novel elements with classic detective storytelling”, this beautifully illustrated book is a “witty and inventive” read.

Detective Thingy Majiggy by Cecelia Ahern, ages 7+

The bestselling author of “PS, I Love You” has written her first book for children. It's about “a 10-year-old girl who can hold conversations with inanimate objects”, said Bearn in The Telegraph. When Mia is accused of starting a fire at her school, can a “broken toaster” help to “prove her innocence”? The “chatty, accessible” narration will help Ahern’s book find “wide appeal”.

The Common Criminals’ Club: Death Before Detention by Alison Weatherby, ages 9+

This cosy murder mystery is set in a rural Irish Catholic boarding school. When a dead body is discovered in the kitchen, “Mae and her friends are determined to solve the mystery”, said Russell Williams in The Guardian. “Funny” and “twisty”, with an “irresistible heroine and a fantastically distinctive voice”, Weatherby’s book is perfect for fans of bestselling children's author Robin Stevens.

The Not-So Great Escape by Emma Green, ages 9+

When tragedy strikes, “risk-averse” 12-year-old Hedley finds himself on a road trip adventure with his younger sister Lilly, “troublemaker” Aiden and a “stolen alpaca”, said James Lovegrove in the Financial Times. “Silly” and fun with a “heart-rending twist” at the end, it’s a gripping read.

As tens of thousands of people continue to be evacuated from parts of southern France ravaged by wildfires, firefighters are facing a new threat never seen before in the region in the form of “fire clouds”.

Described by Nasa as the “fire-breathing dragon of clouds”, pyrocumulonimbus formations are the result of extreme heatwaves and can lead to wildfires.

Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the Gironde in Bordeaux at the epicentre of recent blazes, told Le Monde the “incredible, unprecedented, unknown phenomenon” meant we are “entering a new dimension” when it comes to fighting the effects of global warming.

How are they formed?

Pyrocumulonimbus or cumulonimbus flammagenitus – more commonly known as fire clouds – are created by intense heat from the Earth’s surface. This is usually caused by volcanic eruptions or large wildfires where temperatures can reach as high as 800C.

The rapidly rising plume of air cools and forms fire clouds, which, when combined with enough moisture and strong updrafts, can develop into so-called “fire storms”. These produce downdrafts that spread burning embers and dry lightning that starts new fires; and they can even form dangerous fire tornadoes.

The result is so intense, they effectively create their own internal weather systems.

Are they getting more common?

Fire clouds have become increasingly common in the US, Canada and Australia, where the 2019-20 “black summer” bushfires killed at least 33 people and destroyed more than 11 million hectares (27.2 million acres) of bush, forest and parks.

Fire officials in New South Wales reported that embers from the fire storm were landing 18 miles ahead of the front, three times more than the usual distance, said the BBC. But until now, there have been no documented cases in France or northern Europe.

Given pyrocumulonimbus are more likely in extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, strong winds and little moisture, scientists have warned climate change is likely to increase the chance of them forming.

How can they be stopped?

With the advent of devastating fire clouds, French authorities have “reached a point of ‘operational impossibility’ that requires us to accept the need for strategic retreat”, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Brocardi, spokesman for the National Firefighters Federation of France, told Agence France-Presse.

These fires are convective, which is a problem because they create their own winds “that constantly shift direction, unlike a standard fire that spreads in a conical pattern”. This makes the movement of the blaze “completely unpredictable” as it spreads outwards and becomes impossible to fight head-on.

“It’s a David-versus-Goliath scenario: the idea is that, at some point, we’ll find a weak spot and strike there”, said Brocardi.

“Salvation will come either from the sky – in the form of rain, though it would need to pour heavily for three days – or by finding a way to steer the fire towards a place where it will die out on its own. The sea, for example.”

Look closely and you’ll notice a tiny imperfection inside the freshly refurbished Oliver Messel Suite at The Dorchester, on London’s Park Lane. A hairline crack, less than an inch long, is just perceptible in the corner of a mirrored door leading through to the drawing room. But that isn’t because the five-star hotel has scrimped on the restoration work – far from it.

Dreamt up by master theatre designer, Oliver Messel, in 1953, the breathtaking suite is Grade II listed, which means nothing can ever change. Specialist decorators have spent thousands of hours painstakingly refreshing the paintwork, reupholstering the furnishings, and replacing the silk wall-hangings with fabric that matches the designs from over seven decades earlier.

Tearing out an entire mirror, however, isn’t possible. So you’re left to ponder which of the suite’s famous guests could be responsible for this miniature flaw… could it have been Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton during a fiery outburst? Or did Kate Moss knock against the door during a wild party in the 1990s?

Whoever it was, it’s a charming reminder of how time has stood still here. And really, that’s the suite’s key draw: whether you’re getting ready for the evening in the gilded bathroom or lying in bed staring up at the yellow canopy, you can’t help but feel like a Hollywood star.

Messel’s playful design details

You know you’re staying somewhere exclusive when all of the other rooms on the floor are numbered, but your door is embossed with gold lettering proudly announcing The Oliver Messel Terrace Suite. But the most memorable moment comes as you step inside for the first time and catch a glimpse of the Regency-era inspired reception room with its thick red carpet and floral chairs. Beyond it, the long white corridor beckons and you wonder: how big is this place?

Enormous, it turns out. Exploring our lodgings in amazement (I brought my mum along with me), we discover the corridor leads to a bright, spacious drawing room. Decorated in shades of green, yellow and pink to mimic an English garden, there are gold details at every turn, an imposing marble fireplace and freshly cut roses in a vase on the mahogany dining table.

Everything has been carefully curated by Messel himself, from his own 18th-century-style landscape paintings that decorate the walls to the playful shelf of leatherbound book spines that turn out to be a mirrored cabinet filled with glassware for entertaining. There are subtle modern additions too, including a flatscreen TV hidden beneath one of the paintings.

The drama doesn’t end there. Curved French doors open onto your own private terrace that wraps around the suite and looks out over the city’s rooftops. Up on the seventh floor of the hotel, it’s so peaceful and quiet that it’s hard to believe the busy thoroughfare of Park Lane is just below. My favourite detail of the space, dotted with pots of flowers, shrubs and garden furniture, is the reclining green wicker chair topped with yellow cushions: you can imagine Marlene Dietrich lounging in the sun here with a whiskey sour.

Hollywood glamour in spades

A knock on the door turns out to be our butler, Richard. Anywhere else this would be completely surreal but here, in this lavish setting, it almost feels as if you’ve been expecting him.

Charming and fun, he instantly puts us at ease, telling us about the suite’s distinguished guests (Whitney Houston, Diana Ross and Prince, to name a few), sharing fascinating historical titbits, and even helping us to open one of the windows. “Every last detail is exactly the same as it was all those years ago,” he says with a grin, and then he leaves as discreetly as he arrived, telling us his team of butlers is at our disposal any time day or night.

By the time we venture into the bedroom, we’re both at a loss for words. Dreamlike and cosy, almost everything in sight is a warm, golden yellow, from the curtain tassels to the imperial yellow Ottoman silk canopy above the enormous (and very comfortable) king-size bed. Framed costume designs by Messel line the walls, and the skirted dressing table is topped with a vintage perfume atomiser with a puffy spray bulb and, of course, a bowl of yellow roses.

The Hollywood glamour spills into the bathroom next door where you’ll find a bathtub with gold-plated taps in the shape of a stylised dolphin, a green marble shower, and a dizzying infinity mirror. You can feel how much fun Messel had here. His trademark mischievous touches are everywhere: the gold Rococo toilet seat shaped like a giant scallop shell is sure to raise a few eyebrows – which is exactly the point.

London is filled with luxury hotels. But this felt different: spending the night in the Oliver Messel Suite isn’t just about extravagance (which it is – very much so!). This is a rare opportunity to step back in time and escape, just for a few hours, into the whimsical world of a stage designer. There is nothing else quite like it.

Irenie was a guest of The Dorchester; dorchestercollection.com

If you have watched Christopher Nolan's adaptation of “The Odyssey” and feel inspired to embark on an epic journey of your own, consider visiting these stunning locations where key scenes of the movie were filmed. The director and his crew shot in six countries to bring Odysseus’ voyage to life, from the sand dunes of Morocco to the rugged cliffs of Scotland.

Italy

Begin your journey where it started for Odysseus, at his home, Ithaca. Instead of filming on the actual Greek island in the Ionian Sea, Nolan chose to shoot the scenes on Favignana, off the coast of Sicily. Known as the “butterfly island” because of its shape it’s an “easy” ferry ride from Sicily’s Trapani port, said Wanderlust.

The 15th-century “ruined fortress” on the top of the hill “made for the perfect stand-in” for Odysseus’ palace. It had the “most epic landscape” where you could “see the water everywhere you were and the ships [used for filming] could pull up”, said the film’s production designer, Ruth De Jong, for Condé Nast Traveler. However, getting these shots of the water and ships required a 30-minute hike. Despite the “daily challenge”, the crew soon “got into it”. The actual interior for the film’s palace was a set in Los Angeles.

Greece

If you’re reliving a Greek epic, a visit to Greece is, of course, a must. For those feeling brave, visit Nestor’s Cave in the Peloponnese region, which was the filming site for the Cyclops sequence. The crew had to “haul a 60-foot animatronic monster” up to the cave every day because of Nolan’s “aversion” to using green screen, said Wanderlust.

The homecoming of King Agamemnon was filmed in areas outside Messenia and near Athens where the windiness “worked well” with all the flags and the banners in the sequence, De Jong told Condé Nast Traveler. The area gives visitors a holiday that “blends history, mythology, nature and luxury”, with “dramatic beaches” and “ancient palaces”, said Travel and Tour World.

Morocco

Next stop were the “undulating sand dunes” and “mud-brick buildings” of Morocco, said British Vogue. The country brought an “authentically ancient atmosphere” to the film, with the Unesco-listed village of Aït Benhaddou, used as the city of Troy. The group of “earthen buildings surrounded by high walls” has been a “desirable” filming location for many other historical blockbusters including “Gladiator” and “Lawrence of Arabia”.

Scotland

Even though Odysseus “would never have gone to Scotland”, the location “just happened to have the look that we liked”, De Jong told Condé Nast Traveler. The “craggy rocks” and verdant cliffside just outside Cullen in the Highlands, were the perfect place for the witch Circe’s home. And the “atmospheric ruins” of the Findlater Castle, by the Moray Firth, became the backdrop for one of the “most unnerving scenes” of the film when Circe “turns Odysseus’ crew into gluttonous pigs”, said Wanderlust. Visitors can see the site by walking the Moray Coastal Trail. Consider heading west to the sprawling Culbin Forest, too. Although you won’t encounter Laestrygonian giants, you can still enjoy the “wonderful views” and “biodiversity”.

Iceland

This was the one country Nolan knew he wanted to “shoot in from the jump”, said Condé Nast Traveler. The “black sands” and caves of the Hjörleifshöfði mountain were perfect for the “remote” and “otherworldly scene” where Odysseus “journeys to the underworld to consult with the blind Theban prophet, Tiresias”, said British Vogue.

An anonymous phone call may soon be a relic. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed requiring a host of personal information in order to enable someone’s phone service. While the new rules are an effort to stomp out pesky robocalls, they may cause more harm than peace.

Caller ID

The FCC 26-27 proposal, adopted on April 30, was deemed a “know-your-customer” standard with the intention of “stopping illegal calls before they enter the phone network, requiring providers to block unwanted or illegal calls and giving consumers more information about the calls they receive,” said the FCC in a news release. Part of the proposal is for phone providers to “verify customer identities — including name, address, government ID and alternative phone numbers — before enabling service.” It sounds good on paper, but many are concerned about this measure’s breach of privacy.

The proposal is “misguided and counterproductive,” Sydney Saubestre, a senior policy analyst on the Privacy and Data Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said to Fortune. It is a “mandate that would deny access to the most vulnerable, strip anonymity from those who need it most and do little to stop the sophisticated scam operations it claims to target.” This removal of anonymity would essentially put an end to prepaid cellphones and burner phones.

Besides removing access to private telecommunications, the new proposal would do “little to combat scams and robocalls, since most people doing that will have no trouble creating fake documentation or identities,” Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said to 404 Media. “Given this administration’s crackdown on free expression, protest, immigrants and women’s health,” they “want to take away our ability to make an anonymous phone call.”

Wrong number

While burner phones are often associated with crimes like espionage and fraud, there are plenty of nonnefarious reasons someone may want one. A lack of access to private telecommunications can cause “especially acute harm and danger for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, technology-facilitated abuse and stalking,” the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence said in a letter to the FCC. Also requiring government-issued IDs is a barrier for many to obtain a phone.

As of 2024, close to 21 million voting-age U.S. citizens do not have a current driver’s license, according to the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland. Black and Hispanic Americans are also disproportionately less likely to have one. An address requirement would prevent those who are unhoused from being able to purchase and operate a cell phone.

Many also have concerns about how phone providers will handle user data. “Every other year, there’s a new data breach in which 70 million, 100 million U.S. consumers have their data exposed,” Chao Jun Liu, a senior legislative associate at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, said to CNET. “These are the people that we are trusting to collect and hold and retain information.” Those in favor of the proposal, like banking industry groups, have cited “fraud and scam losses that totaled nearly $200 billion in 2024,” said Fortune, arguing that the “financial sector already spends billions annually fighting it.”

As firefighters battle wildfires that have already burned nearly 300,000 acres in southwest Spain and France, the search is on for ways to prevent fires of this scale in the future. One solution might be in the hands – or hooves – of goats.

Why the goat is the G.O.A.T

Goats might sound like unlikely firefighters, but their role is preventative. They actually provide a “cost-effective and environmentally sound way” to clear shrubbery that would “otherwise feed a wildfire instead of a hungry herd”, said the Los Angeles Times. In California, where the size and intensity of wildfires have increased, 400 goats and 100 sheep have been deployed in Fresno to graze on yellow star thistle, a weed that can help to spread fires.

Goats are “particularly effective” at reducing flammable flora as they “happily consume” thorny shrubbery other animals tend to avoid. And sheep are good at reaching grasses and low-growing plants, said The Times of India. “Together, they provide an environmentally friendly alternative to bulldozers, lawnmowers and herbicides, especially on uneven or difficult terrain.” The animals consume seeds, as well as leaves, which limits the plant’s ability to spread further.

It is not just goats and sheep. The cow breed Cachena is making a “comeback” in northwest Spain, for a similar purpose, said Reuters. A fire in 2017 prompted the community to turn to the “centuries-old wildfire prevention technique”. These “goat-like” smaller cows “eat almost anything” and can “negotiate mountainous terrain that ​larger cows can’t”. As well as creating firebreaks, their consumption of “gorse, brambles and scrub” also helps “preserve local ecosystems”, said Deustche Welle.

‘Regulatory attack’

Certain laws and regulations could put these “most effective fire-prevention specialists” under “regulatory attack”, said Reason Magazine. California’s minimum and overtime wage laws will now apply to “goat-herding companies” which “for decades” have been “largely exempt” from these rules. Given the “round-the-clock” nature of herding, this would make employing the companies “prohibitively expensive”. Owners of herding companies cannot “sustain” this new cost along with doing “fire fuels abatement”, said Tim Arrowsmith, owner of Western Grazers.

The recent wildfires in southwest Europe have been the “most painful manifestation” of the “climate emergency”, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told a climate conference this week. If these extreme crises are “no longer an exception”, but the rule, we need to look at solutions for future prevention.

President Donald Trump has long flirted with dispatching federal forces to polling sites as part of a broader and oftentimes martial emphasis on election security. Now, with the 2026 midterms just months away and Democrats looking increasingly likely to make major (perhaps even chamber-flipping) gains in November, party figures are starting to take Trump’s threats seriously. As blue state attorneys general coordinate with one another and Senate Democrats convene high-level strategy sessions, is the party ready to face the White House’s increasingly brazen electoral saber-rattling?

‘War room’ preparations

In July, a “group of powerful” Democratic lawmakers “rehearsed for some of their darkest fears” about the midterm elections,” said MS NOW. Among those concerns: “disinformation triggering voter-roll purges,” soldiers “deployed to polling places” during open voting hours, and the “machinery of a free election seizing up in real time.” The session was “part of a broader effort” by the party to “prepare for anything ahead of November.”

Democrats are “ramping up” their efforts, said The New York Times. At a meeting in May attended by “staff members from the offices of every Democratic attorney general” and “about a dozen Democratic secretaries of state,” party officials “held tabletop exercises” to prepare for “hypothetical scenarios in the November midterm elections.”

The “sad reality” necessitating these “war rooms” is that the federal government, once a trusted election partner, is now “our biggest concern,” said Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown to the Times. It “doesn’t matter” what the White House “tries to throw at us,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a recent Senate speech. Planning sessions like these “ensure we’ll be ready to respond.” Democratic senators have also introduced legislation to “limit the potential for armed military personnel or federal law enforcement at election polling places,” said CBS News.

After Trump “declined to rule out” sending National Guard troops or DHS agents to polling sites on election day, a coalition of Democratic district attorneys calling itself the Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach also warned the White House that “any federal agents sent to polling places within their jurisdictions will be prosecuted,” said Politico. But it’s “unclear” whether that would include “working with local law enforcement to block federal agents from visiting polling places,” and what, if any, “potential consequences would be for the election” should prosecutors find evidence of “mass voter intimidation” by federal agents.

‘Unprecedented’ electoral environment

Although attorneys general and secretaries of state often work closely together in a particular state, they “rarely work” with corresponding figures from another, said the Times. Given Trump’s threats, Democratic figures say “creating a national network of these two offices is necessary.”

The “most realistic threats” from the Trump administration “create confusion, trigger litigation, delay certification or further undermine public confidence," said Ari Mittleman, the executive director of the nonpartisan Keep Our Republic election group, to Newsweek. Though such officials remain “confident in the professionalism” of the local officials tasked with overseeing the electoral mechanics of the midterm race, the “current environment is unprecedented,” said the outlet. “The guardrails are real,” said Mittleman. But they “depend on courts acting promptly, officials following the law and political leaders refusing to promote” election lies.

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A good coffee table book can spark infinite conversations, and this is especially true when the focus is on travel. Guests connect over destinations they’ve visited or dream of seeing, sharing memories and tips, and the spectacular photography might also encourage them to pick up a camera and better document their future trips. Stack these books in your living room, and see how they inspire.

‘African Adventures: The Greatest Safari on Earth’ by Aline Coquelle

Let photographer Aline Coquelle show you Africa through her eyes. The book is split into four experiences: seeing Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Great Migration in Kenya and the silverback mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

“African Adventures” features “epic” wildlife photos of baby elephants learning to walk and protective lionesses with their cubs along with snaps of the “most beautiful” boutique lodges, said Condé Nast Traveler. Coquelle’s “stunning” photography also offers a “deeper exploration” of each area’s “talented contemporary artists, artisans and conservationists.” ($120, Assouline)

‘Destinations of a Lifetime: 225 of the World’s Most Amazing Places’ by National Geographic

“Destinations of a Lifetime” combines the breathtaking photography National Geographic is known for with helpful insider information on how to visit like a local and the histories of each spot. Chapters include “Sea and Shore,” “Mountain Majesty” and “Town & Country,” showcasing different locales and pulling together itineraries that allow you to see as many of these connected places as possible. If you’re stuck on the next country or city you want to visit, flip through “Destinations of a Lifetime,” pick any page and you’ll be booking a plane ticket in no time. ($21, Amazon)

‘Dream Trips of the World’ by Lonely Planet

This comprehensive guide explores 100 spectacular travel opportunities, including witnessing the Northern Lights in Norway, cruising down the Nile River and visiting Bhutan’s monasteries. Each trip featured is accompanied by a detailed itinerary on where to go and what to see, tips on places to eat and how to pack, beautiful photography, and comments from local residents and travel experts on ways to best approach the destination. ($45, Lonely Planet)

‘Gray Malin: Dogs’ by Gray Malin

Welcome to the whimsical world of fine-art photographer Gray Malin and his model pups. Malin took his canine muses on his travels, capturing the dogs as they relaxed poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel, took a ski lift in Aspen and explored the streets of London. Use this as inspiration for places to go with your own pooch. ($50, Barnes & Noble)

‘Great Maps: The World’s Masterpieces Explored and Explained’ by Jerry Brotton

This collection of 64 highly detailed maps spanning “continents and centuries” is a “pleasure to peruse,” said Reader’s Digest. Historian Jerry Brotton digs deep, explaining why each map was created and who its audience was. The two-page spreads bring the illustrations to life, and anyone who enjoys “maps, data, visualization and history” will spend hours poring over the book. ($21, Amazon)

‘100 Hikes of a Lifetime U.S.A.: The Country’s Ultimate Scenic Trails’ by Stephanie Pearson

When choosing which quests to feature in her book, Stephanie Pearson selected some challenging ones that will test your mettle. She also included “incredible” opportunities that “aren’t necessarily long and difficult,” letting hikers of all abilities “see migrating birds, walk in the footsteps of ancient humans” or learn a “little-known slice of American history,” she told Outside. You’ll find extreme adventures, like the 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail from California to Delaware, alongside day hikes families can accomplish together. ($29, Amazon)

‘Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection’ by Slim Aarons and Shawn Waldron

After spending World War II as a U.S. Army photographer, Slim Aarons vowed to only take photos of “attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places.” He stayed true to his word, famously shooting the “playgrounds of Gstaad and Mallorca, Bali and Beverly Hills,” said Vanity Fair. “Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection” features hundreds of his renowned portraits of “socialites and literary lights, royals and moguls, ingenues and artists,” and his focus on “tiny design elements” give “each frame an extra layer of texture, color and nuance.” ($121, Amazon)

‘There and Back: Photographs from the Edge’ by Jimmy Chin

Mountaineer and “Free Solo” director Jimmy Chin doesn’t shy from extremes, and “There and Back” is filled with “jaw-dropping imagery” from his adventures around the globe, said Condé Nast Traveler. The “soaring formations” of the Ennedi Desert in Chad and “frozen expanses” of Antarctica’s Queen Maud Land are some of the “thrilling” natural wonders featured in the book, which is “sure to inspire” the “adventurer in your life.” ($21, Amazon)

‘Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America’s National Parks’ by QT Luong

Every U.S. National Park shines in “Treasured Lands.” More than 600 vivid images show off the beauty of each spot, from the tight Slot Canyons of Zion to the jagged Grand Teton peaks reflected in the Schwabacher Landing pond. Photographer QT Luong took the pictures during all four seasons and in all kinds of weather, and explains in captions how and when each stunning visual was captured. ($90, Amazon)

‘Walk With Me: New York’ by Susan Kaufman

Everyone knows what the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge look like. In “Walk With Me: New York,” photographer Susan Kaufman captures a side of the city that postcards miss, turning her camera toward colorful stoops, charming park corners and quaint storefronts. It’s a fresh look at one of the world’s most photographed places. ($26, Amazon)

‘Cracker Barrel’s CEO ouster surprised Wall Street but not women’

Beth Kowitt at Bloomberg

Though it “seemed like” Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino “saved her job,” her recent firing “left some analysts scratching their heads,” says Beth Kowitt. But “boards are moving much faster to fire the big boss when things go bad,” and the “phenomenon is even more acute for female CEOs, who have always been under more intense scrutiny than their male counterparts.” Masino’s “tenure at Cracker Barrel is a textbook example of how we’ve ended up with these statistics.”

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‘The great tick explosion: A tiny threat tests America’s love of nature.’

Patti Waldmeir at the Financial Times

It’s “easy to see why ticks loom so large in the American imagination,” says Patti Waldmeir. Headlines “portray them as a frightening new public health threat: Unfamiliar ticks turning up in unexpected places, bringing exotic new illnesses such as red meat allergies, debilitating infections and even death.” But “much can be done to reduce risk: Stick to the center of the trail, tuck socks into long trousers, check behind knees, groin and scalp after outings, wear insect repellent and use permethrin-treated clothing.”

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‘Refugee Convention at 75: The world must keep the promise that saved me.’

Yusra Mardini at Al Jazeera

This year “marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the international agreement created after one of history’s darkest chapters to ensure that people forced to flee persecution would never again be left without protection,” says Syrian ex-refugee Yusra Mardini. Too “often, however, refugees are discussed only as numbers, political problems or security challenges.” Rarely “are they recognized for who they are: people.” Every refugee “should have the opportunity to seek safety,” and “every refugee deserves dignity.”

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‘Yale loses the capitulation bowl’

Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect

Yale University’s president “got caught trying to make a deal with the Trump administration to change its admission procedures as a way to settle an administration investigation of Yale and the threat of sanctions,” says Robert Kuttner. But “instead of a deal, the secret negotiations have produced massive protests by faculty, students and alums.” Yale’s “efforts to give in to Trump blackmail are in striking contrast to the evolution of negotiations between the administration and Harvard.”

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While New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backtracked on a pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the city, those in the Big Apple remain split on the idea. Some believe Netanyahu is a war criminal who should be subject to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if he visits the United Nations in Manhattan this September. Others think it is hypocritical to focus only on the Israeli leader.

‘Not welcome in New York City’

Mamdani originally said he was looking into whether officials in New York City could arrest Netanyahu. But while the Israeli prime minister is a “war criminal,” New York City police officers do “not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani said in a video on X. “I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large.” The federal government should “join the International Criminal Court and execute both this warrant as well as any warrant the International Criminal Court holds.”

These words could inspire New Yorkers to hold “larger demonstrations against Israeli officials and supporters during the U.N. General Assembly,” given that Netanyahu is “one of many foreign officials who have outstanding arrest warrants issued” by the ICC, Elizabeth Kim said at Gothamist. Talk of an arrest also “gave the issue prominence at a time when Mr. Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza has led two independent United Nations inquiries and humanitarian groups inside and outside of Israel to accuse him of perpetrating a genocide,” say Sally Goldenberg, Dana Rubinstein and Liam Stack at The New York Times.

Some Palestinian advocacy groups are still pushing for additional action to be taken against Netanyahu by New York City officials. Palestinians “welcomed Mr. Mamdani’s statement,” but “this has never been about one individual,” Nerdeen Kiswani, the co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, said to the Times. Mamdani also admitted he “sympathized with New Yorkers who were ‘disappointed’ to hear that Mr. Netanyahu would not be arrested,” said Goldenberg, Rubinstein and Stack.

‘A selective approach’

Some feel the idea of arresting Netanyahu is unwarranted. Going after the Israeli prime minister presents a “selective approach to ICC arrest warrants,” said Zvika Klein at The Jerusalem Post. The U.N. General Assembly always “hosts the largest annual gathering of accused war criminals on Earth” who “arrive on diplomatic passports, sweep past the barricades on First Avenue, address the world from the green marble rostrum and fly home.” When the U.S. “decides a foreign leader belongs in a courtroom, it has tools,” but New York City is “not among them.” International law “survives on the belief that it applies to everyone, or it protects no one.”

Others consider a Netanyahu arrest even more risky. Lawmakers may have “advised the mayor that attempting an arrest could have subjected him and his collaborators to criminal liability,” said Paul Mauro at The Wall Street Journal. The law “explicitly states that ‘abducting’ any person who is ‘a foreign official, an internationally protected person or an official guest’ is a federal offense.” So if officials “discussed the logistics of such an operation with the mayor and either he or they took any action directed at making it happen,” they “could all have faced federal charges.”

What happened

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has hemorrhaged more than $1.2 trillion in market capital since its record-setting IPO in June, as the market scrutinizes the viability of the company’s Starship rocket. The spacecraft, which SpaceX describes as a “fully reusable transportation system,” has been “marred by reliability concerns and repeated explosions,” The Washington Post said. Following another sharp drop in SpaceX shares Monday, CEO Musk’s net worth has fallen from an estimated mid-June peak of $1.45 trillion to below $700 billion.

Who said what

SpaceX conducted a “near-perfect” Starship flight test on Friday, MarketWatch said, but it “wasn’t enough to reverse the stock’s steady decline.” The downside of being publicly traded is that “everything will be evaluated and information transmitted through market prices,” Motley Fool senior investment analyst David Meier told the Post. Musk last week posted a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement on X of his changing fortunes, calling himself a “(Former) Trillionaire.” Even with “just” $700 billion, he remains the wealthiest person in the world “several times over,” Intelligencer said.

What next?

Investors will be watching closely on August 4, when SpaceX releases its first earnings report since its IPO.

What happened

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will not return to Washington before lawmakers break for an August recess, his office said in a statement Monday, six weeks after he was hospitalized following a fall at his home.

McConnell, 84, will also miss Saturday’s Fancy Farm political picnic — a “must for politicians in Kentucky” that he has attended each year “for more than four decades,” said The New York Times.

Who said what

McConnell is “not yet medically cleared” to leave the rehab facility where he is undergoing a “strenuous course” of treatment, the office of the attending physician of Congress said in an accompanying statement. McConnell has missed dozens of Senate votes since his June 14 hospitalization. All public communication with the senator has been “via email in written statements, sent by his team,” with “no traces of him on audio or video,” said WLKY. Monday’s statement from his office was accompanied by a photo of him “smiling broadly and seated in a chair propped up by a pillow,” said the Times.

What next?

McConnell, who has faced a “series of health challenges in recent years,” said Politico, is due to retire when his current term concludes in January.

What happened

The Justice Department filed an emergency application Monday asking the Supreme Court to approve President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing new restrictions on voting by mail.

The request followed a ruling by a federal appeals court on Saturday that left in place a block on key parts of the March directive, which ordered federal agencies to create voter eligibility lists and restrict U.S. Postal Service delivery of ballots not tied to those lists. More than 20 Democratic attorneys general challenged Trump’s order as an unconstitutional move that could disenfranchise voters.

Who said what

In the emergency application, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the lower court’s “indefensible” ruling prevents the federal government from “promoting election integrity in the upcoming federal elections in November.” The judges on the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in Saturday’s 2-1 ruling that Trump’s order would “sow confusion” and “threaten disenfranchisement” for many.

Legal experts question Trump’s order because the “Constitution gives power over elections to states and Congress, not the president,” The Wall Street Journal said. And despite Trump’s claims to the contrary, “independent research has found no evidence of rampant fraud in mail ballots.” SCOTUS “has shown skepticism” of his attempts to restrict mail-in voting before, said The New York Times. Last month, the justices rejected an effort to bar states from counting mailed ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive later.

What next?

The Democratic states that sued to block Trump’s executive order have until August 3 to respond to the government’s appeal. SCOTUS’s decision is “expected soon after,” the Journal said.

US Senator Lindsey Graham “relished his role as an informal envoy” between Donald Trump and foreign leaders, said The Economist. So it’s fitting that the Republican’s funeral today “will provide one final round of diplomacy”.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Benjamin Netanyahu will both attend the service for Graham, a “defence hawk” who “forcibly lobbied Washington” to back Ukraine against Russia, and Israel against Iran, said Reuters. Tonight, the Senate prepares to vote on a bipartisan package imposing sanctions on both countries that Graham “spent his final days trying to push across the line”.

Both leaders are also scheduled to meet the US president “with the goal of winning the ear of Donald Trump” at a time when US policy towards both wars is “in a state of flux”, said Robert Tait in The Guardian.

What did the commentators say?

Netanyahu will probably pressure Trump to further “escalate” the war in Iran, while Zelenksyy will “look to shore up American support” after the loss of Graham, “one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers”, said The Economist.

The two wars, taking place 1,550 miles apart, have “converged in recent days”, said Chris Hamill-Stewart on Al Jazeera. On Saturday, Ukraine attacked an Iranian tanker said to be carrying military technology and drones from Iran to Russia. Kyiv’s actions “will please” America, former US ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia, William Courtney, told the news site. But Zelenskyy is “unlikely to want to be too closely associated with the ‘unpopular’ US war on Iran”.

There are signs of “a dramatic change” in the US posture on Ukraine, said The Guardian’s Tait. Washington seems “more supportive” of Kyiv than at any other time in Trump’s second presidency. Last week, right-wing influencer Laura Loomer gave the latest “signal of a sea change” when she met Zelenskyy in Kyiv, before “recanting her previous support for Russia”. Trump and Zelenskyy’s “cordial” meeting at the Nato summit in Ankara was also “starkly” different to “last year’s bitter confrontation in the White House”.

By contrast, Trump’s relationship with the Israeli prime minister has grown “visibly strained” since they last met in February, said Tal Shalev on CNN. “Close cooperation and effusive praise” at the start of the Iran war has “given way to Trump’s expletive-laden outbursts”. Trump has said he lashed out at Netanyahu, calling him “crazy”, for continuing to bombard Hezbollah in Lebanon and endangering peace talks with Iran. He has been “resistant” to this meeting, having “little interest in resuming a full fight” against Iran before the US midterms in November, according to one Israeli source.

What next?

Ukraine and the US are moving closer towards a deal on joint drone production, which “could help the US catch up with Ukraine in this crucial military technology”, said Al Jazeera. And Trump and Zelenskyy agreed this month to allow Ukraine to jointly produce Patriot air defence interceptors, “a crucial component for the country’s defence against Russian aerial attacks”.

For Netanyahu, there’s the sticking point of Lebanon: he told his security cabinet on Sunday that the Trump administration “wants to pull Israeli forces back from positions in Lebanon, as well as in Gaza and Syria”. But, as Israel has already refused to withdraw its forces completely before Hezbollah disarms, Netanyahu “intends to oppose the idea”, said CNN’s Shalev. The Israeli PM is under political pressure ahead of elections in October: in recent polls, “he falls far short of the majority he needs to secure another term”. He knows Trump’s support “could be critical”. The stakes “are as high as ever”.

If the “gossip in publishing circles” has any merit, novelist Rachel Cusk has turned her eye to Natalie Portman for her latest book, said Leaf Arbuthnot in The Telegraph. The actor isn’t named in “Life of M”. But the similarities between the character “M” and Portman are “so glaring they become hard to ignore” – and the portrayal is far from complimentary.

An unflattering portrait

“Life of M”, which is published next month, is about a film star who allows an unnamed writer to chronicle her life. There are “certainly points of correspondence” between Portman and M in the novel, said John Self in The Times. M “played a ballerina” in a movie and is a “model for a major brand”; Portman starred in “Black Swan” and her face is splashed across billboards as the long-time ambassador for Miss Dior.

Cusk’s character was also a child actor whose first film included sexual scenes that “originally included several scenes in which the child was shown wanting or inviting sexual interaction with the central male character”. Portman’s debut in “Leon” in 1994 saw her mother step in to insist scenes with her daughter and an older co-star were removed from the film.

Cusk has remained “tight-lipped” on the rumours. It’s “handy” to generate a buzz ahead of publication and the novelist has never been shy about putting “whoever she likes into her books”. Her divorce memoir “Aftermath” explored the breakdown of her marriage to her ex-husband in vivid detail, while her “bracingly honest” book about parenting, “A Life’s Work”, was widely criticised for her unflinching portrayal of motherhood. “It has reached the stage, in fact, where an effective modern curse might be ‘May you appear in a Rachel Cusk book’”.

Portman and Cusk both live in Paris, and move in similar circles. The actor is (or was) a fan of Cusk and even interviewed the writer, picking two of her novels to discuss in her Instagram book club. But “no one in her right mind who understood Rachel Cusk’s work would allow her to write about her”, said Valerie Stivers on UnHerd. Cusk excels at “reducing the human to the mathematical product of cold existential forces” – appearing in one of her books is “never going to be flattering”.

“As literary assassinations go, Cusk’s of M is sly and subtle, but it is lethal nonetheless,” said Arbuthnot in The Telegraph. Cusk stresses M is pretty, “humble” and “gracious”, but the “unsettling argument” she carefully builds is that “M is engaged in a constant effort to seem like a believable person”. What is “cruel” about the character is the “impregnable fort of isolation she believes the actress lives within”.

A ‘delicate balancing act’

Cusk is just the latest in a “long line of writers” to cause upset by basing their characters on real people, said Self in The Times. Philip Roth was a “master” at it, first casting a “thinly disguised avatar of his wife”, Claire Bloom, in his 1990 novel “Deception”, before he “twisted the knife”, with another caricature of Bloom, this time as a self-loathing antisemitic Jewish actor in “I Married a Communist”. And Nora Ephron famously wrote about her divorce from the journalist Carl Bernstein in her novel, “Heartburn”, which features a food writer who is seven months pregnant when she discovers her husband’s affair.

Non-writers assume we novelists insert real-life people into our books out of “spite”, said Amanda Craig in The i Paper, but a novel is “what it says on the tin – a work with made-up characters and situations”. My “long-ago ex-boyfriend”, the literary critic David Sexton, thought he had been “unflatteringly depicted” in my novel “A Vicious Circle” and “threatened to sue”. I might use a line of dialogue I’ve heard “uttered by a real-life person” but most writers I know “go through agonies” to make their characters who might “have their roots in reality as remote as possible from the original”.

Creating characters inspired by real people is a “delicate balancing act”, said Marshall Fine on BookTrib. Novelists run the risk of “being accused of writing a roman à clef, in which only the names have been changed to protect the guilty”. The “trick” is to find ways of using real people in creative ways to “inspire characters who are products of your imagination”.

While there is no legal requirement to seek permission from the real person who inspires a work of fiction, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain advises that it is “good practice” to inform subjects of creative writing projects in advance, to get their “blessing” to reduce the risk of future legal action, and to remove any “identifying information”.

For now, Cusk hasn’t addressed the rumours about “Life of M”, and unless the actor speaks out to “correct the record, the truth will never be known – nor can it really matter”, said Stivers on UnHerd. “If the result of the two women’s friendship is a very strong Cusk book indeed, everyone should be happy – including, if her art-appreciation is real, Natalie Portman.”

We’ll be seeing huge numbers of colourful migrants in the UK this summer – in what is widely predicted to be the largest arrival of painted-lady butterflies for 17 years.

“We are in the midst of a miracle”, said wildlife writer Simon Barnes in The Observer. Last time there was a painted-lady spike, in 2019, they were seen in their hundreds of thousands. Clouds of the butterflies have already been spotted, as Butterfly Conservation’s annual Big Butterfly Count – the world’s largest citizen-science insect count – gets under way. Large numbers have been recorded along the east coast into northern England and, at Hickling national nature reserve, close to the Norfolk coast, 253 of them have been seen feeding on one patch of brambles.

What are painted ladies?

Formally known as Vanessa cardui, they are medium-sized orange butterflies with black markings and, on their forewing tips, white spots on a black background. Every year, in a spectacular long-distance migration, they fly from the desert fringes of North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia to mainland Europe and then Britain and Ireland. Then in September, they fly south again, completing a 9,000-mile round trip and one of the world’s longest insect journeys. “They can move from egg to adult in less than six weeks,” said Barnes in The Observer, so it might take “three or four” generations to reach the UK.

In an average year, the number of painted-lady arrivals in the UK hovers around 15,000, although, some years, hardly any reach our shores. But butterfly experts are confidently predicting such a surge in numbers this year that we’re in for “a once-in-a-decade ‘painted lady summer’”, said The Guardian.

Why are numbers spiking?

It’s down to a combination of “favourable early spring conditions in southern Europe”, the recent heatwaves and “benign southerly winds”, said The Guardian. Sightings have been increasing for several weeks but “there’s been a big recent immigration” in the past week, Dan Hoare of Butterfly Conservation told the paper. Painted ladies “grow extremely fast, feed easily and fly really well” and, after breeding particularly successfully during heatwaves in France and Spain, they have benefited from “favourable winds to get them across the Channel”.

The last time this happened, in 2019, more than 420,000 painted ladies were recorded in the UK. But that most recent summer spike pales in comparison to the record year of 2009, when more than two million painted ladies arrived in the UK over a two-day period in May. Over the course of that summer, there were a “barely credible” billion British painted ladies, said Barnes in The Observer.

What about wider butterfly numbers?

In marked contrast to the excitement about the “painted-lady summer”, butterfly numbers in the UK have long been decreasing, according to Butterfly Conservation. Sightings hit record lows in 2024, although there was “improvement” in 2025. Climate change, habitat loss, pollution and plant pesticides have contributed to a picture where more than three-quarters of butterfly species are in decline.

Warnings about the “fragility of nature in the 21st century” are the “naturalist’s lot”, said Barnes in The Observer. But the “awe and disbelief” that will no doubt greet this year’s painted-lady numbers are “symbols of hope”. The bumper success of that butterfly’s 9,000-mile intercontinental journey is a reminder that “if you give nature even the fragment of a chance, it’s always avidly seized”. If the “right decisions” are made, at local, national and international levels, British butterfly “recovery is still possible”.

“This place literally changed the world,” says guide Zach Ozburn as we tour Sun Studio, standing on the spot where Elvis Presley was discovered, where Johnny Cash recorded “I Walk the Line”, where B. B. King recorded “3 O’Clock Blues”, and where a collection of other globally influential artists made some of their earliest recordings in the 1950s (among them Ike Turner, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins). “Together, these artists transformed music – in less than 10 years.”

Elvis recorded his first hit single, “That’s All Right (Mama)”, here in 1954, Ozburn tells us. “It was so popular, notorious DJ Dewey Phillips played it on his radio station more than 10 times in one session,” he says. “Elvis was signed to a three-year contract, then sold to RCA Records for $35,000 (£26,000) 17 months later.”

Under the helm of record producer Sam Phillips, this now-legendary studio got itself a name as the “birthplace of rock ’n’ roll”, the first home of Elvis and a pioneer in blues, gospel, country music and beyond.

Today you can see the original microphone many of its artists recorded on, browse memorabilia from its 1950s heyday, and hear the tracks recorded in the building, and it’s genuinely fascinating. But it’s just one of the many sites I discovered during an eye-opening trip to Memphis, Tennessee, “home of the blues”, where history and heritage sit on literally every corner.

The Elvis effect

Elvis moved to Memphis with his family when he was 13, and traces of “the King” are still found across the city. On a visit to Graceland, I explore the mansion he lived in for 20 years after buying it in 1957. It houses a string of eclectic rooms – among them “the den”, decked out in a whimsical jungle theme, and a downstairs bar and lounge area where bright yellow and navy tones shimmer beneath a mirrored ceiling.

Elsewhere, elaborate chandeliers dangle above palatial furnishings, while an adjoining museum showcases many of Elvis’s once-worn costumes – from his renowned gold lamé jacket to the American eagle jumpsuit he wore at his Hawaii concert – alongside his suite of giant cars and motorbikes, not least the famous pink Cadillac.

Beyond Graceland, there are plenty more reminders of Elvis’ legacy. At the historic, diner-style Arcade Restaurant downtown, I tuck into stacked-high pancakes in the booth he reportedly used to sit at (“near the back, so he could come in the back entrance and escape if fans started to go wild,” in the words of my waitress).

On a music-themed circuit of the city with Backbeat Tours, I visit Overton Park Shell, the outdoor amphitheatre where the star had his first big public performance during a concert in 1954. (“His knees were shaking from nervousness and he thought the crowd was booing, when they were actually screaming”, our local musician-guide, Davy Ray Bennett, tells us, as he regales us with humorous tales.)

Later in the tour, we pass the home Elvis and his family lived in before he became famous – a small apartment in a modest block – and the high school Priscilla went to after moving here.

Beale Street blues

It was Beale Street, of course, that gave “the King” much of his inspiration. Running through the heart of downtown Memphis, this is where artists including Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters and B. B. King performed in late-night bars during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, developing the Memphis blues sound that was first pioneered here by musician W. C. Handy.

The street fell into disrepair and was largely abandoned in the late 1960s and 1970s, but it was revived in the 1980s; today, it’s the historic hub of the city and a major tourist hotspot, with neon-lit bars and blues clubs once again lining the strip, live bands playing in almost every venue from the afternoon through to the early hours.

Back in the day, Beale Street wasn’t just a spot for music, though; on a guided history tour of the city’s African American culture with local company A Tour of Possibilities (ATOP), I learn more about the street’s significance in the first half of the 20th century.

“This was known as the country’s main street for African Americans,” says our guide, Devon. “It was a pro-Black street during the era of segregation, where African Americans could enter through the front door, not the back door, with Black-owned shops, clubs, restaurants and businesses forming a vibrant hub.” It was also the home of Ida B. Wells’ anti-segregationist newspaper, Free Speech, housed in a church built for the community.

A complex history

But beyond the more positive stories, Beale Street has a complex history. I learn this is where sanitation workers marched on 28 March 1968, led by Martin Luther King Jr, in the fight for better wages and working conditions. When a group of participants began looting, violence erupted as police attacked with tear gas and shot and killed a 16 year-old amid hundreds of arrests.

King returned to Memphis six days later on 3 April to lead a second, non-violent march, delivering the famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech that was to be his last. The following day, he was shot from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he was staying.

The National Civil Rights Museum now stands on the spot where King was assassinated, and traces the history of the civil rights movement – from slavery through to the civil war, abolition and the ensuing Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation in the Southern states.

Its displays provide in-depth context to the music and culture that developed in a cotton-rich city which was at the heart of the slave trade during the mid-1800s – when enslaved people were freely bought and sold on its streets, travelling along the Mississippi River – and it’s a moving, eye-opening portrayal of the country’s struggle for equality which is, in many ways, still ongoing.

But it’s also a reminder of the power of art and music in uniting. “Music kind of transcends everything,” said Ozburn on my tour of Sun Studio, and he wasn’t wrong. Memphis’ music scene broke down racial barriers at a time of extreme division in the wider American South, integrating Black and white artists and audiences in a way that many argue was epitomised by Elvis – who took Beale Street blues for his inspiration – and also by WDIA, the radio station started by white founders for an African American audience (and drawing a mix of both Black and white listeners).

The Stax story

Perhaps nowhere was this unification better showcased, though, than at Stax Records, the storied studio that empowered Black and white artists to write and record together during the 1960s and 1970s.

Established in 1957 by founders Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton in a predominately African American neighbourhood, unity and inclusion were the ethos here; house band Booker T. & the M. G.’s brought together black and white musicians, while songwriting duo Isaac Hayes and David Porter also bridged the racial divide, composing around 200 songs here together (among them Sam & Dave’s iconic “Soul Man”).

While Stax is no longer an active recording studio, it’s now the site of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music – an ode to the label’s history, complete with an exact replica of the original studio and control room where the likes of Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd and Carla Thomas all once recorded. (Redding recorded “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” here just a few days before his sudden death in a plane crash.)

Wandering around, I have Ozburn’s words in my head about how Sun Studio “changed the world”, but it wasn’t only at Sun. Across the city, stars broke down barriers and left their mark. The struggles continued, but musicians found a parallel, underground world that didn’t differentiate, and they gained a global audience in the process.

To visit now is to walk in the footsteps of those who shaped the face of modern music and challenged the status quo on a grassroots level. This is a fascinating, many-layered city that definitely deserves your time, not only to trace the legends of the musical greats, but also to learn how their art intertwined with the battle for civil rights in a complex story that still resonates today.

Where to eat

Beyond the music and civil rights history, Memphis is home to a thriving culinary scene; here are some of our favourite dining spots if you’re heading to the city.

The city is world-renowned for its barbecue – specifically pork, slow-smoked over hickory wood and dry-rubbed with spices or doused in a tangy-sweet, tomato-based sauce. For a casual, unpretentious spot where you queue at the counter to order, head to Central BBQ downtown and try the acclaimed pulled pork sandwich, served with classic sides that range from BBQ beans to mac ’n’ cheese.

Once a 1950s salon where Priscilla Presley used to get her hair done, The Beauty Shop is well worth a visit – expect a quirky, modern-meets-retro vibe where the likes of sugar & spice duck with roasted black grapes, pork & pickled peach with mustard fennel dust, and honeynut pumpkin with salsa macha are served at booths set beneath old-school, Belvedere hooded hair dryers.

Memphis has a generous handful of fine-dining restaurants and among the stand-outs for me was Amelia Gene’s, where I tucked into asparagus panzanella with morel mushroom, a rich, buttery bucatini with salt & pepper sauce, and scallops with grits and bacon. Elsewhere, Michelin-recommended Felicia Suzanne’s was also a standout, offering a high-end twist on Southern classics (from short ribs to fried green tomatoes and shrimp and grits) and scarlet chairs and chequered floors for décor.

Where to stay

Set in the heart of downtown and a 10-minute walk from Beale Street, Arrive Memphis is a vibrant hub with an eclectic design – think exposed brick walls, jazzy black-and-white patterned bathrooms and chic light fixtures. There’s a bakery and bar in the lobby, while live music bar Earnestine & Hazel’s, the spot where Aretha Franklin, B. B. King, Tina Turner and Ray Charles all used to hang out, in classic Memphis style, is a two-minute walk away.

Laura French was a guest of memphistravel.com

From the moment you come through the gates of La Bastide, you know you’re in for a treat. Set in extensive gardens 10 miles south of St-Rémy-de-Provence, this striking old French country house is the location for one of Stirred Travels’ extraordinary culinary adventures – a fantastic luxury holiday where you can master the art of cooking simple, delicious French food with a renowned chef.

On arrival we were greeted with the warmest of welcomes with drinks and canapés – a chilled glass of champagne, homemade parmesan shortbread and tapenade crostini, an amuse-bouche of what was to come – on the charming terrace, under the shade of the huge, ancient plane trees.

We were introduced to our fellow guests, who had come from far and wide – Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Britain – a fascinating and eclectic mix of people, all with a shared passion for food; and of course the charismatic chef, Neil Borthwick, of The French House in Soho, who would be sharing his extensive knowledge with us during the week.

To whet our appetites, we were given a bound recipe book of the dishes we would be helping to prepare, plus the itinerary for the week, which struck the perfect balance between hands-on cooking and restorative down time, interspersed with interesting trips to local markets and the best restaurants and artisan producers in the area.

The location

With thick stone walls which keep it cool, the house has 11 en-suite rooms, all air-conditioned, and original stone staircases and fireplaces. There are numerous places to sit and read a book, or compare tasting notes with fellow Stirred travellers.

Outside, you can relax on a sun lounger by the pool, borrow a hat from a basket under the pergola next to it and take a stroll around the lovely gardens, or have a glass of wine in the dappled shade of the wide terrace, which is bordered by a flowerbed filled with spectacular hydrangeas with flowerheads the size of bowling balls.

Patrick Obert, who co-founded Stirred Travel in 2016, seeks out extraordinary European locations for the company’s unique culinary escapes, matching acclaimed chefs with exceptional regional food, in a relaxed house-party atmosphere. Between 12 and 16 weeks a year are hosted in luxury properties in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, with a selection of notable chefs including Spanish chef and restaurateur José Pizarro, Jeremy Lee from Quo Vadis and Jake Simpson, former head chef of Bocca di Lupo.

The cooking

Our fabulous chef Neil, who is married to the Michelin-starred celebrity chef Angela Hartnett of Murano, was a brilliant teacher, ably assisted by fellow chef Carolyn, creating delicious French food using simple ingredients, cooked well. Despite being a protégé of Gordon Ramsay, Neil is patient, calm and relaxed, and was happy to let us crack on with his recipes, each guest tackling a different part of the menu for one of the following meals, with a little gentle, positive guidance along the way.

There is no pressure; guests can do as much or as little as they want, but Neil’s passion for food is infectious, as is his respect for the ingredients. Time flew by as we chopped and stirred, listening to entertaining anecdotes of his life in busy kitchens with an array of different chefs. Every dish has a history, where he learnt to cook it, the mistakes he made along the way, which all adds to the flavour.

There is a real sense of achievement as you sit down to lunch at the long table outside the kitchen after a morning cooking, and tuck into the most wonderful baked sea bass en papillote with artichoke barigoule, a traditional Provençal recipe cooked in stock, followed by a light but chewy pavlova, which we all had a hand in preparing.

Following a relaxed afternoon by the pool and a siesta, we were invited to sit at the long bar in the open kitchen in the evening and watch, or help, Neil make dinner, a drink in hand courtesy of charming Finn, who looked after all the guests so well. He told us that a fabulous wine we enjoyed with dinner one night was made by a former fireman who learnt viticulture by watching videos on YouTube.

Every meal was delicious, without exception, and despite wolfing down everything from an incredible lobster salad or rabbit with mustard sauce to steak tartare on crostini (which I was dubious about but actually thoroughly enjoyed), thanks to some clever alchemy from Neil, you never felt uncomfortably full.

Like the holiday, the menu was perfectly balanced, with so many wonderful vegetables, beautifully cooked to bring out their full flavour; I discovered that traditional French food needn’t be rich and heavy, it can be clean and light, too.

We also learnt how to make bread, pissaladière – a fabulous caramelised onion tart – chicken liver parfait and gazpacho. Puddings were a real highlight: we made choux pastry for Paris-Brest, brioche, savarin soaked in cassis, and lemon tart. I can’t wait to recreate all the dishes at home for family and friends.

Out and about

It’s not all about the cooking though. The itinerary is carefully planned with excursions to villages such as Eygalières and Ménerbes, local artisan producers and the best eateries, including the famous Le Bistrot du Paradou.

We also went to the bustling market in the pretty town of St-Rémy, which sold an array of goodies from linen clothes and block-printed tablecloths, olive-wood bowls and lavender to fantastic fruit and vegetables, truffles, jewellery and pottery. There was enough time to peruse the vibrant stalls, have a coffee and watch the world go by, before visiting a local goat farm, where we met the cheeky livestock, learned about the family-run business and sampled amazing fresh goat’s cheese.

En route to a lovely lunch at the popular Edú restaurant in St-Rémy, our knowledgeable local guide told us about the legend of the mistral in Provence – the strong winds that follow the rain and are key to agricultural productivity as they prevent mould forming on crops. The mistral is reflected in everything from the landscape (with cypress trees planted as windbreaks) to the architecture (the houses face south with no windows on the wind-facing north side) – and even the art, as depicted in Van Gogh’s swirling clouds and wind-bent trees in works such as “Starry Night”.

The verdict

Several of the guests were solo travellers, and many were return customers. I can see why. Stirred Travel has perfected the recipe for culinary holidays: a decent dollop of cooking, a sprinkling of relaxation, a handful of conviviality, a slice of luxury and a spoonful of charm. Whether you’re a serious foodie, or just keen to brush up on your cooking skills in a relaxed and spoiling environment, with great, like-minded company, Stirred Travel’s culinary breaks will leave you hungry for more.

Xandie Nutting was a guest of Stirred Travel; stirredtravel.com

Bluffton, S.C.

This 2021 lodge-style home near the coast in the Lowcountry has a studio accessory dwelling unit (ADU) above a carriage-house garage with a covered front porch, wood floors, a full bath, and a galley kitchen.

The three-bedroom main home has marsh views, a double-height living room with reclaimed beams and a loft, and a kitchen with dolomite counters. A screened porch and balconies overlook the leafy property. $4,125,000. Amanda Cutrer, Palmetto Bluff Real Estate Company, (843) 874-3558.

Gladwyne, Pa.

Built in 1920, the Normandy-style Wooded Hill estate, on almost 7 acres in a Philadelphia suburb, has a refreshed contemporary two-bedroom guesthouse with a floor-to-ceiling art-piece fireplace, a sunroom, and a wall of windows.

The eight-bedroom central home has seven fireplaces, formal dining and living rooms, a billiards room, and a lower level with a theater and gym. The lot includes a pool, a golf green, formal gardens, and stone paths. $7,495,000. Lavinia Smerconish, Compass, (610) 547-6637.

Santa Monica, Calif.

In the Ocean Park neighborhood, this 1911 expanded and updated one-story Craftsman shares a lot with a 2004 one-bedroom modern guesthouse with polished concrete floors, a second-level deck, and oversize windows.

The two-bedroom main home has coffered ceilings, roofline windows, stained glass, and glass doors that open to a fenced courtyard with a mature sycamore and an orange tree. The Santa Monica Pier is about a 10-minute drive. $3,350,000. Mike Deasy and Sara Clephane, Compass, (310) 275-8880.

West Coxsackie, N.Y.

Haas Hill, a more than 148- acre estate in the Hudson Valley, includes a renovated twostory cottage circa 1950 with a full bath and kitchenette, plus a cabin set up as a kids’ bunkhouse. The main Englishcountry-style home has three bedrooms, a kitchen with a new AGA stove, heated terra-cotta floors, and a built-in banquette.

The wooded property features a pool, barn, and wildflower garden. $2,450,000. Raj Kumar, Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty, (201) 689-0533.

Woodbury, Ga.

The Cove, a 136-plus-acre property along the Pine Mountain Escarpment and Flint River about 45 miles from Columbus, has a main lodge and three furnished guest buildings, including the one seen here, with vaulted wood ceilings and a bay window reading nook.

The main three-bedroom has an open plan with a stone fireplace and water-facing deck. Also on the grounds are five ponds, waterfalls, a pool and spa, a tennis court, a dock, and a boathouse. $4,400,000. Jon Kohler, Jon Kohler & Associates, (850) 508-2999.

Thornton, Colo.

About 20 minutes north of Denver, this 1955 ranch home has a chalet studio ADU with a bed nook, a pass-through galley kitchen, laundry, and a deck.

Across a fenced, xeriscaped courtyard with fountains is the two-bedroom main home, which has an open living area and a kitchen with a granite peninsula and sliders to the back. A pool, community center, and park are walking distance. $515,000. Kim Davis, LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, (303) 882-0888.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul understands what her constituents want, said Sara Pequeño in USA Today. The Democrat recently imposed a one-year moratorium on the construction of large AI data centers, giving state regulators breathing space to write new rules intended to limit the effect these “gigantic eyesores” have on power grids, water supplies, and local communities. It’s the “right move—and a politically savvy one.” While many lawmakers support data center projects, claiming they’ll “bring jobs and economic activity to their municipalities,” voters aren’t buying it. They know these buildings are noisy, generate a lot of air pollution, use up tons of water, and are causing electricity bills to skyrocket. More Democrats should follow Hochul’s example, said Tressie McMillan Cottom in The New York Times. In our “virulently partisan” era, “rage against data centers” is one of the only issues that unites ordinary voters on the Left and the Right. At the grassroots level, the opposition includes eco activists, soccer moms, farmers, and hardcore MAGA types. If Democrats can harness this energy and “anti-establishment sentiment,” they could create “a political movement that wins elections.”

This resistance is about more than just NIMBYism, said The Economist. A Pew survey from April found that “Americans who have merely heard of data centers are just as opposed to them as those who live within 5 miles of one.” It’s because of the fears of what data centers represent: the growth of artificial intelligence that could “doom humanity by hoovering up all its resources and paving Earth with servers.” Tech leaders are partly to blame for this mess, because they’ve spent years warning that their AI tools will “throw most people out of work” or be used to inflict “mass harm.” Now that the infrastructure needed to achieve their AI revolution “is arriving on people’s doorsteps,” who can blame Americans for wanting to slow the progress?

But this is “blocking development that would benefit” their communities, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. New York’s green mandates and resistance to building new generation plants have reduced the state’s electricity supply and caused prices to rise—not AI data centers. Hochul also leaves out the fact that “data centers can also deliver a property tax windfall” along with thousands of jobs. AI is set to be “fracking all over again,” said the New York Post. New York banned the energy-extraction practice “on the basis of bogus environmental concerns,” and as a result the state lost out on “tens of thousands of jobs and literally trillions in wealth” that went next door to Pennsylvania. Now, billions of dollars in investment are going to AI-friendly Pennsylvania, all because “New York is banning progress.”

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may be at the center of numerous controversies, one of the most recent has gone international: The agency has agreed to a five-year contract with Canadian tech conglomerate Thomson Reuters to obtain information on alleged “voter fraud” and “immigration fraud.” Many are wary of the two parties working together.

‘Screening and vetting of individuals’

While Thomson Reuters is best known for its eponymous news agency Reuters, its data broker division has deals with several U.S. government organizations. The latest ICE contract, valued at $25 million per year, directs Thomson Reuters to assist with the “screening and vetting of individuals and entities for immigration, criminal and national security risks,” according to the contract document in the Federal Register. Thomson Reuters will also assist with identifying “violations of U.S. immigration and customs laws.”

The contract means ICE will now have access to the company’s “databases of personal data — which includes peoples’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, ethnicity, social media posts and geolocation information,” said 404 Media. By signing the document, Thomson Reuters will be “able to let ICE continuously monitor millions of people and entities of interest.” Other data sources that feed into Thomson Reuters’ program include “credit header data, which is the personal information someone provides to a financial institution to open a credit card, like their address.”

The document also says ICE has a large need to identify “unaccompanied minors,” which will help “support the presidential mandate of the identification of voter fraud, immigration fraud and national security.” But the contract “does not explain why ICE would need to identify unaccompanied minors, which is typically the remit of the Department of Health and Human Services” or how the data “would be used to combat voter fraud or immigration fraud,” said Wired.

‘My blood ran cold’

There has been significant opposition to Thomson Reuters’ partnering with ICE, including in Canada where the company is based. At least one politician, Canadian New Democratic Party Leader Avi Lewis, has urged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to block the deal. “My blood ran cold when I read about this development,” Lewis said to The Guardian. “Complicity between Canadian corporations and ICE should absolutely be illegal.”

ICE has been working with Thomson Reuters since at least 2015. But the new contract is the first to state that the “software will be used to support the Trump administration’s objectives of addressing supposed ‘voter fraud,’” said The Guardian. The company itself has denied any wrongdoing; recent media reporting “reflects misunderstandings about how our products are governed and safeguarded,” Thomson Reuters said in a statement. Its products are “provided under strict contractual terms, subject to applicable law and governed by strong safeguards.”

It seems some within the company do not agree with this assessment. Prior to the contract being signed, 200 Thomson Reuters employees wrote a letter asking the company not to renew its agreement with ICE. “We have experienced our neighbors, friends and family members undergoing arrests and detention, intimidation and harassment, and public violence,” said the letter obtained by The New York Times. “We question if our investigative products and services are being used in accordance with our mission and values, as well as in accordance with the law and our nation’s constitution.”

Politics is the art of human beings solving problems without killing each other. Sometimes those efforts fail, never more memorably than in these classic political thrillers. They run the gamut from true storytelling about presidential corruption and the rescue of American diplomats in Iran to entirely fictional yet still believable stories about predatory drug companies and communist surveillance operations.

‘Foreign Correspondent’ (1940)

Hotshot New York Globe crime reporter John Jones (Joel McCrea) is dispatched by his editor, Mr. Powers (Harry Davenport), to Europe on the precipice of WWII to figure out what is about to envelop the continent in director Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller. There Jones discovers an espionage ring bent on selling out the U.K. and the Netherlands to their adversaries.

While the movie functions superbly as a “bold call to action to stop the looming threat of Nazism in Europe,” it also “boasts some of Hitchcock’s most memorable sequences and technical tricks, making for one set piece after another of formal virtuosity” despite the era’s technical limitations, said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (HBO Max)

‘The Conversation’ (1974)

Arriving the same year that a wiretapping scandal brought down the administration of President Richard Nixon, director Francis Ford Coppola’s quietly devastating thriller follows Harry N. Caul (Gene Hackman), a surveillance wizard hired to record a conversation between Ann (Cindy Williams) and Mark (Frederic Forrest) at the behest of the shadowy Director (Robert Duvall). Harry’s growing suspicion that the young couple is in danger fuels a twisty narrative that keeps both him and the audience guessing and appraising their relationship with technology. A film that is more than just a “product of its Watergate-era anxieties,” Coppola’s haunting masterpiece is a “chillingly prescient and masterfully crafted character study with themes that echo louder than ever in our hyper-surveilled world,” said Andy Punter at InSession Film. (Prime Video)

‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)

While it may seem quaint by today’s standards, the Watergate scandal consumed American politics for more than a year, ended Richard Nixon’s presidency and permanently decreased the public’s level of trust in the government. Director Alan J. Pakula’s film recreates the sleuthing of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) that blew the conspiracy wide open.

“All the President’s Men” mesmerizes by faithfully depicting the banal proceduralism of good journalism. A film that “intentionally underplays the enormity of the central conspiracy and eludes any histrionic moralizing,” this “subversive detective story” brilliantly “rejects mythologizing the pivotal history behind it,” said Wes Greene at Slant Magazine. (Prime Video)

‘The Official Story’ (1985)

Alicia (Norma Aleandro) and Roberto (Héctor Alterio) are middle-class Argentines with connections in government and business and an adopted daughter, Gaby (Analia Castro), that they adore. But Alicia soon begins to suspect that her daughter is one of the children grotesquely stolen from the desaparecidos, dissidents disappeared by the country’s authoritarian junta, and that her husband might be in on the repugnant scheme.

Director Luis Puenzo has made a “must-see film that, in light of the real events, paints a haunting picture of the cruelty humans inflict on one another” and also delicately “honors the memory of those affected by the tragedy that unfolded in Argentina,” said Matthew Jones at Philosophy in Film. (Tubi)

‘The Constant Gardener’ (2005)

“The Constant Gardener” is the first great paranoid thriller of the 21st century. When his wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz), dies mysteriously, British diplomat Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) gradually discovers layers about who she really was, first suspecting her of being unfaithful and then unraveling a conspiracy to test a new drug on unwitting African patients. Helmed by the great Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”), it is a “brainy thriller” whose “visuals create an overwhelming sense of the world gone mad, the world falling down around the hero just as he's beginning to understand the way it works,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Prime Video)

‘The Lives of Others’ (2006)

At once both chilling and moving, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has created what may stand as the most enduring indictment of the 20th century authoritarian surveillance state. Set in East Germany near the end of its communist regime, it is about Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe), who begins surveilling a prominent playwright, Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), and his mistress, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck).

The monastic Wiesler eventually comes to believe Dreyman is harmless and in the process doubts the very foundations of autocracy itself. A film that is “alert to the Kafkaesque absurdity of everyday life” in communist regimes, it “has a maturity and breadth of vision rarely found in a debut feature,” said Geoffrey Macnam at Sight and Sound. (Prime Video)

‘Argo’ (2012)

Ben Affleck directs and stars in this zippy thriller about the clandestine efforts to exfiltrate six American diplomats who managed to escape before they became hostages at the U.S. embassy during the Iranian Revolution. Affleck stars as CIA officer Tony Mendez, who concocts a creative cover story about how the diplomats are in Iran working on a Canadian science-fiction film. Affleck “displays a fearlessness when it comes to mixing genre” in this “part-comic, part-thriller narrative” whose mostly-but-not-entirely-true twists and turns “ensure your nails are down to the quick by the end credits,” said Amber Wilkinson at Eye for Film. (Prime Video)

‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’ (2013)

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s haunting “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” had to be smuggled into the Cannes Film Festival to protect its cast and crew, who remain anonymous to this day. It follows two government assassins, Khosrow and Morteza, who are tasked with tracking down, torturing and killing a group of dissidents suspected of distributing a manuscript.

That document pertains to what became known in Iran as the “Chain Murders,” a series of assassinations of intellectuals and dissidents in the 1990s. A “harrowing masterpiece,” it is an “unflinching look at creative oppression” that stands as an “entirely singular film experience,” said Joshua Brunsting at CriterionCast. (Prime Video)

‘Official Secrets’ (2019)

The combination of arrogance and doctored intelligence that led the United States and its allies into the 2003 Iraq War is almost made for Hollywood. In “Official Secrets,” real-life British intelligence officer Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) uncovers evidence of a joint British-American conspiracy to spy on and then pressure diplomats from countries on the U.N. Security Council to secure their votes for a resolution authorizing the war.

Martin Bright (Matt Smith) and Peter Beaumont (Matthew Goode) are journalists at The Observer who wrestle with the implications of publishing the story. The film turns a “historical footnote with potent resonance” into a “compelling tale of injustice on an individual and global level,” said Peter Travers at Rolling Stone. (Netflix)

As Social Security is on track to be depleted by 2032, the White House is seeking alternatives for aging Americans, and President Donald Trump seems enamored with one particular country: Australia. Trump is reportedly looking to Australia’s retirement system as a substitute. While some economists feel this could be an easy solution, others say it is not so simple.

What did the commentators say?

Australia’s retirement system has “three main pieces: a compulsory employer-funded retirement account, a public means-tested Age Pension, and voluntary private saving, including housing,” said Forbes. The part Trump seems to be honing in on is the first piece, called superannuation. The process works by requiring employers to contribute at least 12% of an employee’s earnings into an investment account similar to a 401(k).

In other words, Australia “does not merely tell workers to save. It makes retirement saving part of the employment system,” said Forbes. Under Australian law, an employee’s retirement account “stays open even when switching jobs, their balance remains invested, and the new employer can continue contributing to the same account” without having to cash out, said Newsweek. The superannuation plan differs significantly from the U.S., where there is no requirement for employers to “offer or contribute to any retirement plan.”

Trump has previously supported a change to this type of model if Social Security benefits run dry. “We’re going to be doing also something we’re working on later on, and it’ll be also, I think, very popular, and I guess the best definition is they have a plan in Australia, which people really like,” the president said during an Oval Office event launching his Trump Accounts for children. “We’re going to be talking about that with Congress and see if we can implement it.” Australia’s “system is on pace to be the world’s second-largest retirement plan within the next decade,” while the United States is “facing its own retirement crisis,” said Bloomberg.

It is “easy to see the political appeal of a model that mandates high contributions, expands coverage even to part-time workers, and shifts the responsibility for funding and managing the plans into the private sector, said Bloomberg. Whether the idea would actually work in the U.S. has experts divided. Since the money for the savings would still be taken out of employee earnings, it “would hurt low-income workers, who might need all of their paycheck to cover the expenses of daily life,” Romina Boccia, the director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, told USA Today.

What next?

While Trump has gotten behind Australia’s superannuation system, there isn’t a significant plan in place. As Trump’s handling of the economy gets low marks among voters, some economists say copying Australia would be a good idea. “If you were inventing a retirement system from scratch today, you would almost certainly do something like the Australian retirement system,” Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told USA Today.

But the U.S. could still be a ways away from such a system. While “access to tax-favored retirement plans is widening as more states introduce ‘automated savings’ programs,” that is still a “far cry from requiring workers to save for retirement, as Australia mandates,” said USA Today.

Wally Funk — 1939-2026

Wally Funk waited over 60 years for a few fleeting moments of weightlessness. An accomplished pilot, she longed to go to space from the moment in 1960 when she heard of a private program that put female pilots through the same astronaut fitness tests that the men were taking. At 22, Funk was the youngest of the Mercury 13, the group of women who passed the grueling physical challenges, and she was one of just two to go through two more phases of testing, including spending over 10 hours in an isolation tank. NASA didn’t sanction the program, though, and it barred women from astronaut training. Funk wouldn’t reach space for another six decades. In 2021, at age 82, she joined Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on his rocket company Blue Origin’s first crewed flight. At the time, she was the oldest person to reach space; Funk remains the oldest woman to do it. The spacecraft took her up over 60 miles to the edge of space in a flight that lasted just 10 minutes. Back on land, she spread her arms and said, “I want to go again, fast!”

Mary Wallace Funk grew up in New Mexico with parents who encouraged her daring exploits. At 5, she leaped from her barn’s roof in a cape and crashed into a haystack. “Her fascination with flying was undiminished,” said The New York Times, and while attending Oklahoma State she earned licenses to fly planes, gliders, and seaplanes. At age 20, she became the first female flight instructor at a military base—commercial airlines wouldn’t hire her, using the pretext that their facilities lacked a women’s bathroom—and later became the first female safety inspector for the U.S. government, investigating some 450 crashes. Yet “hanging over these accomplishments was her unfulfilled dream of becoming an astronaut,” said The Guardian. She applied four times, but by the time Sally Ride flew on the space shuttle in 1983, Funk was 44 and considered too old.

Still, she continued astronaut training on her own, alongside her pilot career, “undergoing centrifuge tests, entering a high-altitude chamber, and visiting a Russian training site to experience zero-gravity conditions,” said The Washington Post. She ultimately logged 19,000 hours flying, taught over 3,000 pilots, and took part in numerous flying competitions. “They said, ‘Wally, you’re a girl, you can’t do that!’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Guess what: Doesn’t matter what you are, you can still do it if you want to do it.’”

The Odyssey

Directed by Christopher Nolan
★★★★

“Modern mainstream films don’t come more daring, mammoth, and accomplished than Christopher Nolan’s latest,” said Nick Schager in the Daily Beast. But for all the IMAX-size spectacle the director has packed into his hit adaptation of Homer’s 3,000-year-old adventure tale, what makes the movie special is that “Nolan cares deeply about his story’s human element, and there’s rarely a moment when the former overshadows the latter.” A grave Matt Damon plays Odysseus, a military hero who endures a 10-year journey home after the Trojan War, though it’s Anne Hathaway who “proves the film’s emotional core,” playing Penelope, Odysseus’ faithful, agonized wife. “Many of Nolan’s set pieces are marvelous,” said Kyle Smith in The Wall Street Journal. Odysseus and his dwindling crew battle giants, match wits with a Cyclops, and are transformed into pigs by Circe, embodied, in the film’s “most beguiling performance,” by Samantha Morton. But while The Odyssey is certainly “among the year’s best pictures,” I can’t call it one of Nolan’s best. The characters are “not as sharply drawn” as those in his Batman films, the emotions aren’t as deep as in Interstellar, and his current blockbuster isn’t “as propulsively exciting or as suspenseful as Oppenheimer.” Still, Nolan’s passion for movies is evident “in every frame,” said Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. “Even when his characters don’t stir you, his filmmaking does,” and he’s “in his cinematic wheelhouse” as he slips fluidly between the story’s multiple time frames. To me, “His Odyssey is a classic in every sense, a transporting affirmation of the art and a work of pure cinema.”

Her Private Hell

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
★★

“Sex, violence, neon, and leather: Nicolas Winding Refn is back,” said Brian Tallerico in RogerEbert.com. Unfortunately, the first film in a decade from the once acclaimed director of Drive “feels like someone trying to rekindle a fire that went out years ago.” Dropping co-stars Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) and Charles Melton (Riverdale) into a bold-colored dystopia, Refn again tries to find filmic beauty in both sex and violence. “And sometimes he does,” reminding you why he has a devoted fan base. More often, Her Private Hell is merely “an echo of something better.” This “disaster” of a film doesn’t even have a story, said Owen Gleiberman in Variety. Thatcher’s Elle is trying to reconnect with her disreputable father while battling an evil stepmother and trying to avoid a brutal serial killer. Throw in Melton as a soldier trying to find his missing daughter, and the “pretentious” results play like a cross between “David Lynch at his most bafflingly obscure” and “the world’s most avant-garde perfume commercial.” Her Private Hell is “very much not for everyone,” said Chase Hutchinson in The Wrap. Instead, it’s “primarily a series of visceral, vibrant, and increasingly violent visions that you have to let wash over you.” And it helps to be a Refn devotee. “For those who’ve appreciated the way the filmmaker has increasingly stripped away plot to get right to making the equivalent of nightmarish neon paintings, it’s really something special.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “wants a manly military,” said Tom Bartlett in The Atlantic, even if it requires artificial enhancement. In his latest “tougher than thou” social media video, Hegseth recently announced that every service member over 30 will undergo annual mandatory testosterone checks; anyone deemed deficient will be given the option to receive hormone replacement therapy. Testosterone shots, he assured service members, are about “restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities.” But universal testosterone screening “is not considered standard practice,” especially for men under 50, and it appears even more pointless for the military’s 230,000-plus female service members, who will also be tested. Further, there’s no evidence testosterone injections — a favorite of the online “manosphere” —will keep troops “on the leading edge of lethality,” as Hegseth claims. It’s just more macho posturing.

As a urologist, I have been seeing a lot of patient interest in testosterone testing, said Jamin Brahmbhatt in CNN.com. The curiosity is valid: Low testosterone can be a warning sign of a deeper issue, such as obesity, heavy drinking, lack of sleep, or high levels of stress. But how and when to intervene “is the harder question.” Testosterone levels “fluctuate constantly,” with a wide “normal” range, and only those who are “truly low and symptomatic” are prescribed testosterone replacement therapy, which can modestly improve energy, strength, and physical function. But artificial testosterone shuts down the body’s own production and can result in infertility, blood clots, high blood pressure, and, “over time, shrinking testicles.” Hegseth’s “cringeworthy” obsession with manhood is not about science, said Amanda Marcotte in Salon. It’s about the “deep well of insecurity” found in so many MAGA men—and their fear of femininity. Hegseth’s insistence that soldiers need high-T “sends an unmistakable message: that women are categorically unable to serve as ‘warfighters.’” Given how disastrously the Iran war is going, maybe it’s also compensation for “his own impotence in the job.”

When I heard about Hegseth’s testosterone mandate, said Fred Kaplan in Slate, “I thought it was an internet joke.” Does the Pentagon chief even know how wars are fought today? Drone operators, AI experts, missile and aircraft operators, and battlefield intelligence coordinators require brainpower, not an “ability to drop and give Hegseth 100 push-ups.” Hegseth’s prioritization of tough-guy posturing over what the military actually needs is absurd and, “in some ways, dangerous.”

“I can’t imagine a world without books,” said Nicole Russell in USA Today. But most Americans already “live in that world.” That’s the “devastating” takeaway from a viral new story in The Atlantic, which details why “the age of reading is over.” It notes that the number of Americans who read for pleasure has dropped more than 40% over 20 years — the decline cuts across age groups, gender, and education levels — and that fewer than half of adults read a single book a year. Reading progress for elementary students has stalled and only about a third of high school seniors are “proficient” at analyzing complex fictional themes. We can blame smartphones, social media, and short-form videos, all of which deliver “perpetual hits of dopamine” at the expense of the deeper analysis and comprehension gained by reading. It’s no wonder President Trump was re-elected, said Marsha Lederman in The Globe and Mail (Canada). When the electorate relies on TikTok for knowledge, “you get today’s dumbed-down, polarized world on fire.”

Reading is not “going extinct,” said David Wallace-Wells in The New York Times. Yes, fewer Americans are reading for pleasure, but those who do are reading more. Book sales are near-record highs; there are now 70% more independent bookstores than in 2020; and the amount of time that young Americans spend reading has actually crept up from 8.4 minutes a day in 2003 to 11.7 minutes in 2022. And let’s not pretend there was ever a golden age of reading, said Joel J. Miller in his Substack newsletter. In the supposedly idyllic pre-smartphone age, the best sellers were often genre junk and millions of Americans “read nothing, read little, read badly, or read mainly to kill time.” Worrying about the future is “easy to do when you romanticize the past.”

My worry is we’re not alarmed enough, said Rod Dreher in his Substack newsletter. Hitler came to power in a highly literate Germany, but the Nazis took advantage of movies and radio to push simple messages with immediate emotional impact. We know how that ended, and in our postliterate age, a future dictator would “have an incomparably easier time of it.” Don’t believe me? Consider “the college students who are being memed into hating Jews” by social media. And things will only get worse as more people use AI to digest, analyze, and make judgments on everything from study papers to legal documents and news reports. By giving up on the hard work of reading, Americans “are training themselves not to think, but to obey.”

How many sailors are in the Gulf?

About 6,000 seafarers are stuck onboard several hundred tankers and cargo ships, many of which have been stranded in the Gulf since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran erupted in late February. “It’s as if we are trapped in a pond,” Shafiqul Islam, captain of a ship carrying some 37,000 tons of fertilizer bound for South Africa, told the BBC last month. “There’s only one way out.” That’s via the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas—as well as shipments of crucial commodities including fertilizer, aluminum, and helium—once flowed from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, and Iran to global markets. Before the war, more than 100 ships a day transited the strait, which is 21 miles wide at its tightest point. After hostilities began, Iran declared the waterway closed and launched missiles and drones at vessels trying to sail through, grinding traffic to a halt. At one point, up to 20,000 mariners and 2,000 ships were stuck in the Gulf, with only a few vessels squeezing through the strait each day.

How were they able to get out?

India, China, Pakistan, and other countries negotiated with Tehran for safe passage for their flagged vessels, and some tanker operators paid Iran up to $2 million for transit rights for individual ships. The logjam in the Gulf eased in June after Washington and Tehran struck a preliminary peace deal, after which about 30 ships a day were able to move through the strait. But that number dropped back to single digits earlier this month after the war restarted. For the sailors stuck in this war zone—many of whom hail from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Ukraine—the fear of death or injury is a constant. “Everyone is just exhausted,” said captain Hassan Khan, “both physically and mentally.” While standing on ships often loaded with highly explosive substances, the crews have watched missiles and drones streak overhead, and more than a dozen mariners have been killed in Iranian and U.S. strikes. Raman Kapoor, a tanker captain who had 10 days left on his tour when war erupted, watched helplessly in March as a nearby tanker exploded in flames after being hit by an unmanned craft. One crew member died. “Everyone was so scared,” Kapoor said. “We are just seafarers. We are not trained for any war.”

What are days like onboard?

Long, monotonous, and hot. While the crews work to ensure their ships remain seaworthy, and movies and ping-pong serve as distractions, staving off boredom and depression is a struggle. “We do our best to keep [up] morale,” Abhijit Chopra, the captain of a tanker that’s been stuck for more than 120 days, told Bloomberg. “But there is definitely a sense of strain and uncertainty.” To entertain themselves and add some diversity to onboard meals, some crews are catching and cooking fish; they report that dried ribbonfish is surprisingly delicious. Calls home are a boon, but infrequent, because satellite phone time is limited and expensive. To protect sailors’ mental health, captains encourage crews to do everything together and to never leave anyone alone—even when they dine or relax. Sailors report that access to knives and other sharp objects is more tightly controlled than normal, to prevent people from harming themselves or others. Meanwhile, food, water, and medicine on many vessels is running low.

Is anything being done about that?

Boats from nearby ports are delivering supplies, but prices keep going up. One Korean sailor told the BBC that it feels like suppliers “are trying to take advantage of the situation to make excessive profits.” The engineer of one ship said the cost of 180 tons of water has spiked in recent months from about $2,000 to $11,000. Price gouging isn’t the only way people are taking advantage of the stranded vessels. Scammers claiming to belong to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have also tricked shipping firms into sending hefty payments to their cryptocurrency wallets in exchange for safe passage.

Have there been any evacuation attempts?

A short-lived one. While a ceasefire was in effect in late June, the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization began ushering ships through the strait’s southern and northern corridors—avoiding the central lanes where Iran had laid mines. Some 130 ships and 3,000 sailors made it out, but the U.S.-backed initiative was scrapped within days after Iran attacked a tanker that was not taking part in the evacuation off Oman’s coast. Some sailors have taken matters into their own hands. Stuck at an Iranian port, Santosh Kumar borrowed nearly $7,000 to pay an agent to drive him to neighboring Armenia, where he boarded a flight to Dubai and then on to his native India. “My family just wanted me home alive,” he said. But such escapes have become increasingly difficult: Some Gulf Arab states have restricted short-term shore passes for sailors over security concerns. Many merchant sailors are now wondering if the profession has become too dangerous, because the Iran war is only the latest crisis to ensnare the shipping industry.

What were the other crises?

Mariners were stranded at sea during the pandemic, and drone attacks on vessels in the Black Sea have become routine since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen—who attacked more than 100 vessels during the HamasIsrael war—this week declared an embargo of Saudi Arabian shipping in the Red Sea, putting more commercial vessels in the line of fire. Merchant sailors seem increasingly wary of going to sea: Companies have struggled to secure replacement crews to relieve sailors in the Gulf whose contracts have expired, despite offering monthly salaries of up to $30,000. The war, said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, has shown that “people take seafarers for granted, they don’t value them.”

If there’s anything Donald Trump enjoys more than “relitigating the 2020 election,” said Peter Baker in The New York Times, it’s “finding ways to cast doubt on the 2026 election.” The president did both this month, giving a primetime address to the nation in which he called the U.S. electoral system “so broken and vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it.” Debuting a new conspiracy theory of how his 2020 loss was “rigged,” Trump accused China of having “bought, stolen, or hacked” millions of voter registration files in the run-up to that election. As for the validity of this November’s midterms—a likely “drubbing” for Republicans—Trump offered a grab bag of predicates for disputing the results, including the claim that at least 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in federal elections. In a curious move, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial, the White House released a trove of intelligence documents that actually undermine Trump’s claims. The reports showed that the data China acquired was publicly available, and that Beijing largely stayed on the sidelines in 2020. As for the foreigners registered to vote, that claim relies on a dataset that’s plagued with errors. So why give this speech at all? It’s too late to enact Trump’s SAVE America Act package of voting restrictions in time for the midterms, and his supporters may now be wondering whether they should bother going to the polls in November, if our elections are as “catastrophically” broken as Trump claims.

In fairness, said Tom Nichols in The Atlantic, Trump’s documents do prove that one hostile foreign power “engaged in operations against” the 2020 election. That nation is Russia, which the declassified reports state used a “range of measures” to boost Trump’s chances in 2020, from spreading rumors about Joe Biden’s supposed “criminal activity” in Ukraine to flooding social media with Trump-loving bots. Of course, our Putin-fan president didn’t mention the Russian autocrat in his speech. But he did emulate him, said Nick Catoggio in The Dispatch, issuing “fascist threats” to revoke the broadcast licenses of “fake news” networks ABC and NBC for the crime of declining to carry his lie-filled speech live.

We know why Trump gave this speech, said Brian Tyler Cohen in The Bulwark. In February, The Washington Post reported that Trump allies had drafted a 17-page executive order that would let him use the “pretext” of foreign interference to declare a “national emergency.” Trump could then dispatch troops or ICE agents to polling places, and even seize voting machines. If Democrats rush to block the order in court, Trump could point to his recent speech—its “nonsensical” content notwithstanding—as proof that he was warning of foreign meddling as far back as July.

Trump’s attempted theft of the midterms is already underway, said Zolan Kanno-Youngs in The New York Times, and he’s using “the full arsenal of the federal government.” Led by “election deniers and loyalists,” the FBI and CIA are hunting for pretexts to discredit state election officials, while Justice Department lawyers craft legal arguments to prosecute them. Even the Postal Service is floating a Trump-approved plan to roll back mail-in voting. These are perilous times, said David A. Graham in The Atlantic, but “a close election is easier to steal than a decisive one.” Trump’s speech removed any doubt that he intends to sow “chaos” in November. Instead of discouraging Americans, that should inspire us to turn out in overwhelming numbers, and vote like our democracy depends on it.

What happened

Lawmakers in Washington recently demanded that the Trump administration outline its strategy in Iran, as a war that President Trump had vowed would end quickly approached its sixth month and spread further beyond the Persian Gulf. In the first U.S. casualties since March, three American soldiers were killed in a missile attack on a military base in Jordan earlier this month. The next day, a fourth soldier died in Iraq during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone, bringing total U.S. deaths to 18. In response, the U.S. intensified its assault on Iran, hitting bridges and rail lines as well as missile and drone launch sites and air defense facilities. Iran stepped up its attacks on U.S. regional allies, striking a water desalination plant in Kuwait and a U.S. air base and an Amazon data center in Bahrain; the Revolutionary Guard also fired on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the crew to evacuate. President Trump vowed the U.S. would “destroy one bridge or power plant” each time Iran targets a ship in the waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil once flowed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was pressed on U.S. strategy during a contentious appearance before the Senate appropriations committee. Hegseth, who put the war’s current price tag at $37.5 billion, urged Congress to approve $67 billion in emergency defense funding and warned that the Pentagon would face “critical shortfalls” without the money. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Democrats would not bankroll “this war and whatever other misadventures Trump wants to get us into”; Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) called for “hard answers” about plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Hegseth insisted the U.S. had the upper hand, but Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said Hegseth and the administration had “failed” U.S. troops, adding, “You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia vowed to block Saudi Arabian ships from exiting the Red Sea and deployed drones and missiles near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, leading energy analysts to warn that oil prices— which spiked $20 this month to $95 a barrel—could go even higher. Attempts by mediators to secure a 10-day ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz made no apparent progress. Until Iran is “ready to meet in a meaningful way,” said Trump, “we have no interest."

What the columnists said

The Iran war “has entered a bleak new phase,” said Megan Messerly and Alex Gangitano in Politico. Trump allies fear the president is running out of ways to extricate America from an unpopular conflict ahead of the midterms. With average gas prices hitting $4 a gallon for the first time since June, Republicans say the war could sink them “in an election that is expected to hinge on costof-living issues.” Even among Trump’s MAGA base, 37% said in a new Politico poll that the U.S. should hold course in Iran only if it doesn’t raise costs.

Trump’s war will only “get harder and harder to defend,” said Zeeshan Aleem in MS.now. Nearly 100 troops have been injured over the past few weeks as Iran ramped up attacks on U.S. bases, and the war’s “human toll is likely to increase.” The Pentagon has been slow to release information on casualties, likely because it knows “the war will become even more widely despised as more people die.” The public will swallow casualties in a campaign they support, but won’t tolerate troops dying “for no obvious reason at all.”

Iran, it turns out, “may be stronger than we thought,” said Joshua Keating in Vox. Contrary to previous assurances by the Trump administration, Iran retains “significant missile and drone capabilities,” with 70% of its prewar missile stockpile intact, according to a recent intelligence report. Meanwhile, there are “growing questions about whether U.S. air defense capabilities are depleting.”

A Houthi blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait could widen the war and “further disrupt global oil supplies and international trade,” said Fatma Khaled and Ahmed Al-Haj in The Associated Press. Sitting at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, the strait serves as a conduit for about 12% of global trade and has become even more vital for Saudi oil exports following the shuttering of the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis say they’ll stop only ships connected to Saudi Arabia, but even the threat of attack could drive up insurance premiums and deter other ships from using the route.

The conflict now “stands on a knife’s edge,” said Erika Solomon in The New York Times. We’re at a critical moment where both sides must find a way to dial back the hostilities or “risk provoking a war that cascades beyond what they may be able to contain.” With Iran’s economy in tatters and Trump under mounting domestic pressure, “the costs of accelerating the conflict are high for both sides.” But the same factors that make escalation dangerous are “pushing them to riskier attacks,” as they seek to gain leverage.

“Trump has only terrible choices,” said Brynn Tannehill in The Atlantic. With hard-line leaders and “a captive population” accustomed to “economic pain,” Iran is unlikely to bend. Facing that reality, Trump can “stay the course,” with scant odds of success. He can declare victory and walk away. He can ratchet up the pain by targeting civilian infrastructure, which would draw Iranian retaliation against Arab states and make the U.S. a pariah. Or he can launch a ground invasion, and pay a steep price in blood. It boils down to “an unpalatable choice between accepting Iranian hegemony over the strait—or initiating cycles of escalation that cannot end well.”

When summer is sweltering, there is nothing more luxurious than a swimming pool in your own backyard. But is it actually a smart investment?

Installing a swimming pool is certainly not cheap nor is it a quick and easy project. Once it’s there, it’s hard to undo, and you will need to commit to the necessary maintenance and upkeep costs. On the flip side, how nice would it be to splash around with your kids on any given day or swim laps each morning? Couldn’t it even attract potential buyers if you decide to sell someday? Here are the pros and cons to evaluate before making the splash.

How much does a swimming pool cost overall?

The cost of a pool varies hugely depending on the type you install. “On average, expect to pay $2,146 to install an above-ground pool and $49,638 for an in-ground pool,” said Citizens Bank.

Even if you feel fine about that number, keep in mind that the costs do not stop there. You will also have to cover the expense of maintaining the pool and the higher electric bills that pool pumps, filters and heaters can generate. You will most likely also deal with a higher home insurance bill for the added coverage. And if anything goes wrong, you will need to pay for that as well. For instance, a “tear in a swimming pool’s lining is a common issue encountered by pool owners,” and “repairing it can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000 depending on how big the tear is,” said Kiplinger, based on data from HomeServe, a home repair administrator.

Can a swimming pool increase your home’s value?

It depends. A major influence is your home’s location and the climate there. “In some markets, especially those with warm climates, in-ground pools may add more value to the property than in colder climates where a pool would get only a few months use each year,” said Zillow.

The popularity of pools in your neighborhood also has a bearing. “If you live in a neighborhood where many of your neighbors have swimming pools, your investment is probably solid,” and “in those circumstances, not having a pool might decrease your home’s marketability,” said HGTV.

A lot comes down to your specific pool and its condition and features, too. “Older pools, especially those requiring significant repairs or updates, can drag down the overall value of the property,” said Zillow. By contrast, “homes with saltwater pools sell for 1.5% more than comparable homes without one — and they sell two days faster.”

What else should you consider to decide if a pool is worth it?

Before getting a pool, it is absolutely worth running the numbers, both to assess the total overall cost and to determine how much of your investment you may get back in resale. But money is not the only factor to ponder.

Particularly if you have young kids, pool safety is a major consideration. You will want to include at least a locked fence around the pool. This can add to the cost of the project, not to mention the stress of ownership.

It is also important to weigh your options for paying for the pool and the benefits or disadvantages of each of them. If you have significant equity in your home, you may be able to get a lower interest rate on a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC). A personal loan or credit card can also be an option, though you should be aware of the added cost of interest on those.

‘The drug policy debate’s common ground: better treatment and recovery’

Jim Crotty at The Hill

Few “public policy debates are as polarized as drug policy, which is often framed around two competing visions — prohibition and decriminalization,” says Jim Crotty. Both are “passionate about their positions, and both make valid arguments,” but they “frequently overlook the same prerequisite for success: a system capable of meeting the country’s growing demand for addiction treatment and recovery services.” The U.S. “must help promote careers in treatment and recovery through more competitive pay, streamlined education and licensing pathways.”

Read more

‘AI can fuel biological weapons. We must harness its power for defense.’

Annie Jacobsen at The Guardian

AI can “help bad actors generate recipes for biological weapons” but also “track disease outbreaks and deliver critical public health information to millions of people,” says Annie Jacobsen. The “question is not whether AI can do catastrophic harm in the realm of biological sciences — it most certainly can — but whether public health officials can figure out how to deploy AI as a defensive tool faster than malicious actors deploy it as an offensive one.”

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‘Joint European response to wildfires is essential’

Le Monde editorial board

The “flames currently devastating much of Western Europe are the latest, and dramatic, manifestation of climate change driven by human activity,” says the Le Monde editorial board. Beyond France and Spain, fires are “raging across Germany, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands,” and the “map clearly shows that any response must be coordinated at the European level.” The “increasing frequency of extreme weather events has forced both rapid adaptation and a global rethinking of how to respond.”

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‘We need more therapists. They need more power.’

Isabel M. Perera at USA Today

Americans “need therapy now more than ever before,” but if “you’ve tried to find a therapist recently, you know it’s tough,” says Isabel M. Perera. The “people we rely on to help us cope with life’s hardest moments are themselves unsupported.” Weak “union representation makes it difficult for them to negotiate fair pay” and “advocate for better working conditions.” From “rehab centers to school counselors, the entire mental health ecosystem suffers from underinvestment and fragmentation.”

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What happened

Ongoing massive wildfires in southwestern France and central Spain have forced nearly 400,000 people to evacuate. The French blazes have scorched an “area four times the size of Paris,” The Associated Press said, and are spreading toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. Near Madrid, the “biggest wildfire in Spain’s recent history” has burned around 200 square miles of countryside, Reuters said. Firefighters are racing to contain the fires as another European heatwave looms.

Who said what

“We don’t know how the blaze will spread, the fire front is constantly shifting,” a spokesperson for the National Firefighters Federation of France told Agence France-Presse. “It’s a David-versus-Goliath scenario.” The fires have caused “incalculable” damage to Spain’s cultural heritage, the country’s King Felipe VI told reporters. Western Europe is experiencing an “extreme summer” of intense heatwaves and dry weather, “setting the stage” for wildfire conditions, The New York Times said.

What next?

Temperatures are forecasted to again “reach abnormally hot levels” across the Spain and France fire zones this week, CNN said. “Difficult hours lie ahead,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters ahead of a crisis meeting with his Cabinet on Monday.

What happened

German police on Sunday shot and killed a man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack at Berlin’s Pride celebrations less than 24 hours earlier. Officers opened fire after Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese heritage, charged at them with a “stabbing weapon” after being tracked to a community garden in the city’s Spandau district, authorities said in a translated X post.

A van allegedly driven by Ballout rammed into a crowd in Berlin’s Tiergarten park on Saturday as partygoers celebrated Christopher Street Day, the city’s oldest Pride event. Authorities said the suspect then attacked bystanders with a machete. One woman was killed and 29 people were injured, with three in critical condition.

Who said what

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters that “everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack.” Hundreds of mourners gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to “grieve the victims of the attack and express the anger and shock over what is seen as an attack on the LBGTQ+ community,” Deutsche Welle said. It “was an attack on all of us,” one speaker said. “But we will not let it defeat us.”

What next?

German authorities will review security arrangements for major public events — including upcoming Pride celebrations — amid concerns about possible copycat attacks.