Today's Liberal News
Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs
Oregon lawmakers gave it three years. Portugal’s program took longer to show results.
Justices were skeptical of abortion pills arguments. Anti-abortion groups have backup plans.
Supreme Court case is one of many tools elected officials and activists are using to try to cut off access to the drugs.
Supreme Court to anti-abortion activists: You can’t just challenge every policy you don’t like
Roughly 90 minutes of grappling over the abortion drug mifepristone produced some unusual and noteworthy moments.
Justices appear skeptical of call to restrict abortion pill
A decision, likely to come in June, would be a major victory for the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drugs and for abortion-rights advocates who have sought to protect access to mifepristone.
Supreme Court hears its biggest abortion case since the fall of Roe
This is the first major reproductive-rights case to come before the court since the 2022 Dobbs ruling, which ended the federal right to abortion.
How AI Is Reshaping Foreign-Language Education
This is Atlantic Intelligence, a limited-run series in which our writers help you wrap your mind around artificial intelligence and a new machine age. Sign up here.
When I was a kid, I felt hypnotized by the shelves in my best friend’s apartment. They contained, it seemed, endless volumes of Japanese-language books—including, most crucially to a child’s eye, comics such as Dragon Ball and Urusei Yatsura.
‘The last mile is harder’: Stubborn inflation stalls Fed rate cuts
The concern is that higher rates are putting pressure on households and businesses looking to borrow, weighing on hiring, investment and the housing market.
US employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.
The toughest pain points awaiting Biden at the State of the Union
The president’s team thinks it’s had a historically successful first term, delivering victories on the economy, climate, drug pricing and more. But many Americans aren’t feeling it.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
ESG Funds Under Attack: Why Republicans Are Targeting Socially Responsible Investing
Republicans are on a “crusade” against responsible investing, says Andrew Behar, CEO of the nonprofit group As You Sow that promotes corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy. His group was subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee this week as Republicans probe whether investments that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns violate antitrust laws. Republicans have introduced bills in dozens of states across the U.S.
“Like Lying in a Coffin”: UNICEF Spokesperson Warns of Devastating Toll on Gaza’s Children
As the death toll in Gaza tops 32,600, we speak with UNICEF spokesperson James Elder in Rafah near the Egyptian border, now home to some 1.5 million Palestinians seeking shelter from the fighting.
Protesters Disrupt Record $25 Million Biden Fundraiser in NYC as Thousands March Against Gaza War
Pro-Palestine protesters disrupted the largest one-night fundraiser in presidential campaign history on Thursday. The event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City included numerous celebrities and featured President Biden alongside former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, raising a record $25 million for Biden’s reelection campaign. The main event was an onstage conversation with the three U.S.
Building Bridges, Not Walls: Immigrant Communities Honor Six Workers Killed in Key Bridge Collapse
Search and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of two men from the Patapsco River following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, but four others remain missing and are presumed dead. All six victims were immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, part of a road crew that was filling potholes on the bridge when a cargo ship ran into one of the bridge supports, causing the entire structure to drop into the water.
The State of the Biden-Trump Rematch
Editor’s Note: Washington Week with The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here.
With just six months to go until early voting begins in some states, the Biden-Trump rematch continues to take shape, underscoring contrasts between the two candidates.
What Restaurant Behavior Says About a Person
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
“How you behave in a restaurant is how you behave in life.” Ever since I heard that observation from a friend years ago, I’ve wondered why it hasn’t become a more common aphorism. Dining out can be an opportunity to see a person at their hungriest, their showiest, their most human.
Colleges Are Facing an Enrollment Nightmare
For years, Senator Lamar Alexander was known for theatrically unfurling a paper document so long that he could hold it above his head and still see it drag along the chamber floor. It was the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a form that every college student and their family must complete to be eligible for federal grants and student loans. Detractors argued that its length (more than 100 questions) and complexity (experts joked that you needed a Ph.D.
Everything You Know About Killer Whales Is Wrong
This article was originally published in Hakai Magazine.
John Ford still recalls the first time he heard them. He’d been puttering around the Deserters Group archipelago, a smattering of spruce- and cedar-choked islands in Queen Charlotte Strait, between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. He was piloting a small skiff and trailing a squad of six killer whales.
Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs
Oregon lawmakers gave it three years. Portugal’s program took longer to show results.
Justices were skeptical of abortion pills arguments. Anti-abortion groups have backup plans.
Supreme Court case is one of many tools elected officials and activists are using to try to cut off access to the drugs.
Supreme Court to anti-abortion activists: You can’t just challenge every policy you don’t like
Roughly 90 minutes of grappling over the abortion drug mifepristone produced some unusual and noteworthy moments.
Justices appear skeptical of call to restrict abortion pill
A decision, likely to come in June, would be a major victory for the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drugs and for abortion-rights advocates who have sought to protect access to mifepristone.
Supreme Court hears its biggest abortion case since the fall of Roe
This is the first major reproductive-rights case to come before the court since the 2022 Dobbs ruling, which ended the federal right to abortion.
US employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.
The toughest pain points awaiting Biden at the State of the Union
The president’s team thinks it’s had a historically successful first term, delivering victories on the economy, climate, drug pricing and more. But many Americans aren’t feeling it.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
How AI Is Reshaping Foreign-Language Education
This is Atlantic Intelligence, a limited-run series in which our writers help you wrap your mind around artificial intelligence and a new machine age. Sign up here.
When I was a kid, I felt hypnotized by the shelves in my best friend’s apartment. They contained, it seemed, endless volumes of Japanese-language books—including, most crucially to a child’s eye, comics such as Dragon Ball and Urusei Yatsura.