Attacks on ships were followed by new U.S. strikes on Iran, which responded by firing at Gulf nations. The pattern of hostilities has all but collapsed a cease-fire, with little sign that either side will step back.
Tanker Attacks Risk Overplaying Iran’s Hand and Reigniting a War
Iran’s history shows it is willing to dig in, even when it may suffer big losses.
While President Trump insulted allies and demanded loyalty, the military alliance moved quietly closer to accepting more European responsibility for defense.
Censors demanded 127 cuts to the film that explores a dark period of police brutality in Punjab state. Filmmakers say it’s the latest, chilling example of entrenched censorship.
‘A Slow-Rolling Disaster’: Inside the Implosion of the Platner Campaign
Graham Platner’s bid for the Senate inspired progressive Democrats. But the campaign, which he suspended Wednesday, was messy, disorganized and ultimately doomed by a steady drip of scandal.
In case you missed Donald Trump’s triumphalist address marking America’s 250th anniversary, you weren’t alone. Lightning storms caused by an extreme heatwave sent the Washington crowds scattering and delayed the US president’s address by four hours – but it was still a trademark piece of Trumpian dystopia, a highly politicised polemic that followed on from a white nationalist march on the streets of the capital.
David Smith’s brilliant feature essay this week reveals how the US president has hijacked the country’s milestone anniversary and turned it into a joyless, farcical series of largely self-serving events. And from Moscow to Mexico City, there’s a terrific reported feature from our correspondents around the globe on how the world views America at 250 in the age of Trump.
Spotlight | At the ayatollah’s funeral, Iranians call for revenge Crowds swelled through Tehran as mourners dressed in black carried flags proclaiming: ‘We will rise’, reports diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour
Environment | The changing symphony of Britain’s dawn chorus The country has lost an estimated 73 million wild birds from its landscape over the last 50 years, but a new project aims to recreate their sound. By Sandra Laville and Madeleine Finlay
Feature | Morality and the machine Since 2017, philosopher Iason Gabriel has worked at Google DeepMind, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, can ethicists make any difference, asks Robert P Baird
Opinion | Thank heavens for the pope In a political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals and mega-corporations, the head of the Catholic church is a rare figure of moral leadership, argues Simon Tisdall
Culture | An invitation you can’t refuse Director Olivia Wilde and co-star Edward Norton talk to Catherine Shoard aboutThe Invite, their new movie about marital bed death that is the season’s buzziest, funniest release
THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE: The latest issue featuresReading shaped the modern mind. Its decline will reshape it—and transform civilization, Rose Horowitch argues in our August cover story.
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history. By Rose Horowitch
The Corner of Hollywood That’s Most Susceptible to AI
Animators are figuring out whether to fight or accept the new technology that’s coming for their jobs. By Shirley Li
Perhaps the Nazi Tattoo Was a Clue
Graham Platner’s unfitness for office was clear long ago. By Mike Nelson
“I think it’s over,” President Trump said, referring to the preliminary truce. Iran earlier said it had targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. strikes.
The notion of a “global structural crisis of capital” defining our times was first introduced by István Mészáros in the third edition of his Marx’s Theory of Alienation in 1971, and in his Isaac Deutscher Memorial Lecture, “The Necessity of Social Control” that same year.2 In 1995 in Beyond Capital, Mészáros distinguished the emerging, epochal structural crisis of capital from the cyclical and conjunctural crises that are “capital’s natural mode of existence.”
The focus of the summit is expected to be on what other countries in the alliance have done about President Trump’s demand to increase military spending.
The focus at a leaders’ summit in Turkey this week will be on building a new model for the alliance, as President Trump pushes to do less and pressures others do more.
Beijing had long tested nuclear missiles only within its borders. A rare launch over an ocean shows it is determined to narrow the gap with the United States.
Missiles were fired into Ukraine’s capital as Russia launched its second major attack in less than a week. At least 12 people were killed, officials said.
In an interview, Turkey’s top diplomat, Hakan Fidan, said the relationship between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump could ease NATO tensions.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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