Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. By Evan Osnos
The Failures of the Fauci Hearing
Senator Rand Paul may have approached the matter with theatrics and ill will, but Dr. Anthony Fauci’s decision not to testify was a loss. By Amy Davidson Sorkin
How Roy Cohn Taught Donald Trump Everything
The lawyer who showed an outer-borough striver how to ignore the rules, avoid a paper trail, and make up a good story for the media. By Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark
A 10-million-year biogeographic holding pen primed the Great American Biotic Interchange
For millions of years after the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, South America was disconnected from other landforms, a time period that has been referred to as its “splendid isolation.” This isolation allowed for the evolution of mammals with distinctive features, including xenarthrans, sprassodont carnivores, and notoungulates. The formation of the Panamanian land bridge facilitated connection of North and South American faunas, with a bias from north to south. Tseng et al. looked at fossils from low latitudes in México and found that northern mammals accumulated in the region before the connection (see the Perspective by McGuire and Williams). This allowed for more rapid dispersal south and further supports that the land bridge first formed during the Pliocene rather than the Miocene.
The Kuwaiti military said that it had detected and destroyed multiple drones in its airspace since dawn. The U.S. military did not immediately report any attacks.
Senator John Cornyn dug in his heels on Todd Blanche’s nomination, demanding modifications to President Trump’s immunity settlement with the I.R.S.
The MAGA Media Machine Is Fracturing
Once united in support of President Trump, right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections.
Tens of Thousands Crossed Into Spanish Territory, Officials Say
As many as 60,000 people were estimated to have surged from Morocco into Ceuta, the small exclave at the center of a crisis for Spain’s pro-immigration government.
Kevin Warsh has made controlling inflation his top priority as Federal Reserve chairman. But a hesitancy to embrace the prospects of higher rates has set off a backlash.
Russian missiles have briefly entered Polish airspace in the past. Investigators have yet to definitively identify the object that struck Poland overnight.
The news agenda has been so dominated for many months by a few big stories about perennial global hotspots and the biggest figures on the international stage, that one could accuse journalists of missing what was happening outside the US, Middle East or Ukraine. But as our south-east Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, explains for this week’s big story, the rapid rise and sudden explosion on to the streets of India’s Cockroach Janta party took everyone – especially Narendra Modi’s government – by surprise.
What began as a satirical protest when the chief justice of India compared the country’s unemployed youth to cockroaches has damaged prime minister Modi’s image as a “strongman” leader and loosened his grip over the media. But as Hannah explains, it’s not just that the joke has “legs” and strong visuals; young people want a viable future and change.
Spotlight | ‘Smoke covered the sun’ Angelique Chrisafis hears from people evacuated from France’s Gironde region near Bordeaux as southern Europe battles wildfires, the spread and ferocity of which have shocked everyone
Spotlight | Blue horizons for Gaza’s children Sea pools made out of sandbags and rubble are part of Amjed Tantesh’s project to give traumatised children a brief respite from war, reports his niece and our Gaza reporter Seham Tantesh
Feature | A Hiroshima journey from anger to peace Simon Hattenstone meets Koko Kondo, who survived the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and hears about the publication of her father’s long-forgotten diary written in the aftermath of that horrific day in 1945
Opinion | Andy Burnham’s ticket to major change The UK prime minister’s first policy announcement on cut-price bus fares signals more than a cheap gimmick, says Jonathan Freedland
Culture | John Carpenter interview The uncompromising film director talks to Steve Rose about his shock and horror Hollywood career and his new music album
The continent is experiencing some of its biggest fires and highest temperatures ever. Residents are fleeing, leaders are struggling to respond and “it will get worse,” one climate expert said.
We overlook the importance of insects at our peril, says Charles Harris, as he marvels at the fruit flies that share our genes and the moths that supply strands of silk
A room with a clue
Deborah Nicholls-Lee searches high and low for the concealed rooms and secret spaces that are an intriguing quirk of so many British country houses
Luxury
Facials, fragrance and bold and beautiful summer jewellery with Amie Elizabeth White, plus a few of the Duchess of Beaufort’s favourite things
Born to be wild
Charles Quest-Ritson visits East Lambrook Manor in Somerset and is heartened to find the home of Margery Fish’s ‘jungle gardening’ in good hands
Vicki Anstey’s favourite painting
The adventurer chooses a work showcasing human resilience
Country-house treasure
John Goodall surveys artworks by the Staithes Group — the first English Impressionists — at Brockfield Hall, North Yorkshire
Revival and renewal
In the second of two articles, John Goodall explores James Wyatt’s influence on the interiors at Curraghmore in Co Waterford
The legacy
Kate Green lauds Benjamin Britten’s lasting impact on Arts and culture in his beloved Suffolk
Winging it
Mark Cocker examines the folklore and infamy of the magpie
Where there’s a grill, there’s a way
John Lewis-Stempel reads the smoke signals as a barbecue fires up Neolithic nostalgia
Alders and betters
Alnus glutinosa is an ancient pioneer species with a key role to play on our riverbanks, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Interiors
Arabella Youens admires the colour and comfort added to a Jersey farmhouse and a splash of zest is best for Amelia Thorpe
Travel
Rosie Paterson enjoys an island paradise off France’s Côte d’Azur
Arts & antiques
Grégoire the grey toad brings a wealth of pleasure to Frederick Fischer, Lalique UK managing director, as he tells Carla Passino
A kind of magic
Multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist Es Devlin shares the secret of her success with Corinne Julius
Gadi Eisenkot, whose view of war is shaped by the loss of his son, is, in manner and character, the anti-Bibi. By David Remnick
The Men Who Made Theory French
French theory, as taught in American classrooms, has acquired a reputation of forbidding difficulty and hauteur. A new history seeks to surface its human side. By Dayna Tortorici
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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