Reports of President Donald Trump’s total capture of the Republican Party may be premature. Faced with plummeting popularity and whack-a-mole crises, the president has clashed with some of the most powerful members of his own coalition, Senate Republicans.

Whether this conservative revolt becomes a logjam for the White House remains to be seen. As Republicans face midterm headwinds to keep their congressional majorities, is this nascent push for senatorial independence for real, or will Republicans once more adopt the MAGA party line?

‘Relationship appears to be fraying’
Trump has “enjoyed unbending loyalty” from GOP lawmakers for years, said NPR. But the “strength of that relationship appears to be fraying,” particularly as some “departing members feel more uninhibited to push back” and others begin to imagine a post-Trump Washington. 

Senators whom Trump had “written off, alienated or even helped defeat” are now opting to support “Senate traditions over his political demands,” said Axios. And the president’s decision this week to cancel the planned signing of bipartisan housing legislation “further inflamed weeks of tumult” that have marked an “increasingly bitter relationship between” him and high-profile Republican senators, said The New York Times. 

During a closed-door lunch on Wednesday, which Republican senators hoped would “clear the air” between them and Trump, the president instead “vented his frustrations with the senators for more than an hour, leaving them no closer to detente,” said Politico. Trump “said something negative about me” in an attempt to “bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know,” said outgoing Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy to the outlet, after reports of an intense argument between him and the president during the meeting. “I’m not going to be bullied.”

‘Altar of Trump’
Senate Republicans that same day “proved yet again that their spines are made of pudding,” after both Cassidy and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul bowed to White House pressure and flipped previous votes to kill a resolution limiting Trump’s Iran war powers, said The New Republic. The waffling shows some conservative lawmakers who “claim to have principles” will “gladly sacrifice them at the altar of Trump.”

Western Europe is experiencing a heat wave that has caused over 50 deaths in France alone. These unprecedented high temperatures, which can affect human, animal and plant health, as well as several industries, are due to a weather phenomenon known as an omega block.

What’s an omega block?
The weather pattern forms the shape of the Greek letter Ω, with a “bulge of warmer, settled high pressure held between two cooler low-pressure systems,” said Reuters. The high-pressure warmth is “blocked” by the low-pressure systems around it. As a result, “hot, still air gets lodged over the same area.” This high pressure also “suppresses cloud formation, resulting in sunny skies.” Omega blocks usually last between three ​and 10 days but can go on for longer.

With the current omega block, a “surge of hot, dry air from North Africa has become trapped in the atmosphere over parts of Europe,” said Time. France “recorded its hottest day since records began nearly 80 years ago,” said CBC. In Paris, temperatures hit a June record of 105.62 F.

Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. are also experiencing temperatures much hotter than normal. Across most of Western Europe, this month has been “warming faster than any other month,” said an analysis by World Weather Attribution. “Extreme heat is already reaching the limits of our societies’ ability to cope.”

How will heat affect the future?
Scientists have “not yet agreed upon how climate change is affecting the frequency of blocking events,” said Reuters. But the “consensus is ⁠clear” that climate change is “increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves.”

While temperatures are increasing everywhere, Europe is “heating up twice as fast as the global average,” said the BBC. And the current heat wave is the “most severe and widespread” to have “ever affected this large a region” on the continent, said Theodore Keeping, an extreme weather research associate at Imperial College London, to The Guardian.

Extreme heat, especially when mixed with high humidity, poses “risks for public health and infrastructure, as well as transport, energy and water supply,” said Time. Many industries, including tourism, have been impacted. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, for instance, “announced early closing times,” said CBC.

A wedding couple poses for photographs on the promenade in Istanbul, Turkey, with the Ortakoy Mosque and Bosphorus Bridge in the distance. Completed in 1856, the mosque is “renowned for its elegant blend of baroque, rococo and neo-classical architectural styles,” said Travel Curious.
Emrah Gurel / AP Photo

There are plenty of chances to see some impressive live comedians this summer. Get a laugh or two with these talented stand-up comics currently zigzagging across the States.

Mo Amer
Amer’s shows are popular, but if you can’t get tickets, don’t panic. You can still enjoy his comedy in his critically acclaimed series “Mo” or his three specials on Netflix. Plus, there may be another chance to see him onscreen, said the Houston Chronicle, as Amer (pictured above) recently “teased plans for a feature-length film set in his hometown” of Houston, Texas. (through November)

Ilana Glazer
Well-known for their acclaimed Comedy Central series “Broad City,” Glazer has recently talked about how current events inform their stand-up. “We are in this anti-human, techno-fascist moment in the United States,” they told the Irish magazine Hot Press. The U.S. “feeds so much of global culture that I feel like it’s urgent to start having international conversations between real people in this way.” (through August)

Emil Wakim
Wakim endeared himself to fans during his turn on “Saturday Night Live” despite being on the show for only one season. He was also notably the first “SNL” cast member of Lebanese heritage. If you can’t catch him live during his current tour, you can see him on television soon enough, as he’s recording his first stand-up special for Netflix this fall. (through October)