In 1978, Bohdan Klymchak walked out of the Soviet Union and asked for political asylum in Iran. Klymchak was Ukrainian, born near Lviv. In 1949, his family had been deported to Khabarovsk, in the Russian Far East, after the arrest of his brother as a “Ukrainian nationalist.” In 1957, Klymchak himself was arrested for “anti-Soviet agitation”; even after his release, he remained under constant surveillance.
This is an edition of the revamped Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.On Twitter and talk radio and cable TV, Americans today can easily express and hear echoes of their basest thoughts without too much difficulty—racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, the whole cacophony of hate. But at one time, really knowing what your neighbors were thinking, or seeing who was hiding under the white hood, took some investigating.
The United Nations this week released its annual report on nutrition, finding that the pandemic, extreme weather shocks and the war in Ukraine have all contributed to food insecurity around the world — now higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials estimate that the world saw an increase of more than 100 million people facing hunger in 2022 compared to 2019.
This week’s NATO summit in Lithuania ended with the military alliance agreeing to extend membership to Ukraine at some point in the future but declining to give a firm timeline. Meanwhile, Sweden is set to become the newest member, bringing the alliance to 32 countries, after it started in 1949 with just 12 founding members.
Television and film actors are going on strike after a breakdown in negotiations between the SAG-AFTRA union and Hollywood studios. More than 160,000 members of the union are taking part in the first major actors’ strike since 1980. This also marks the first time since 1960 that actors and screenwriters have been on strike at the same time, with members of the Writers Guild of America on the picket lines since early May.
Gov. Kim Reynolds immediately said she will sign the legislation.
Democrats have long wanted Biden to go after “junk insurance.
The push to own the economy, by literally branding it with the president’s name, is not without risk.
Inflation slowed to just 4% in May.
Parts of Vermont experienced their worst flooding this week in nearly a century after two months’ worth of rain fell over the course of 48 hours. Nearly 100 people have been rescued, and locals are deeply concerned for the unhoused residents. “The state has really been hammered,” says journalist David Goodman in Waterbury.
The United Nations has warned that Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fighting between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has forced over 3 million people from their homes. After multiple failed ceasefires, Egypt is hosting a summit this week with the goal to “develop effective mechanisms” with neighboring countries to settle the conflict.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz sent a scathing message to Republicans as he questioned their work with a whistleblower at a House Oversight Committee hearing.
Steven Horsford called the Florida lawmaker “exhausting” during a heated exchange.
Ronna McDaniel said she hopes Trump attends the first GOP debate, which requires qualifying candidates to sign a loyalty pledge for the party’s eventual nominee.
The attorney told the ex-president to stop posting dangerous rhetoric on social media, adding that it could bring harm to Hunter Biden and his family.
A Southern California school board had voted against an elementary school curriculum that included materials about gay rights leader Harvey Milk.
Americans’ shopping habits have made us reliant on delivery workers—and helped UPS’s business boom. Now UPS workers are threatening to strike to get a piece of that success.First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
When will the Southwest become unlivable?
Learn a foreign language before it’s too late.
The Republican lab-leak circus makes one important point.
It’s getting hard to keep track of all the overlapping climate disasters. In Phoenix, Arizona, the temperature has broken 110 degrees for nearly two weeks running. The waters off the Florida coast are approaching hot-tub hot, and before long, marine heat waves may cover half the world’s oceans. Up north, Canada’s worst wildfire season on record burns on and continues to suffocate American cities with sporadic smoke, which may not clear for good until October.
The FDA on Thursday approved Opill, the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill.
Earlier this year, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app of all time, reaching 100 million active users in what seemed like an astonishingly brisk two months. Now, just six months later, that record has been usurped: Threads got there in less than a week. According to data from Sensor Tower, a market-intelligence firm, Meta’s Twitter clone had the best launch day of any app in the past decade.The internet is moving faster than ever before.
Below is a list of ideas, arguments, and practical tips from Atlantic stories to help you navigate this heat.
What if we called it heat season, not just summer?
There’s no single too-hot-to-be-outside temperature. Trying to set one might mislead more than it would help.
Heat is becoming the 21st century’s defining human-rights issue.
The denser the city, the less greenery? Not necessarily.
Beware the “wet bulb” temperature.
Consider a white roof.
Opill is a daily pill made by the company Perrigo.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces nearly three-quarters of the world’s cobalt, an essential component in rechargeable batteries powering laptops, smartphones and electric vehicles. But those who dig up the valuable mineral often work in horrific and dangerous conditions, says Siddharth Kara, an international expert on modern-day slavery and author of Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.
After the closing of a major NATO summit in Lithuania, President Biden vowed to support Ukraine and warned the war may continue for a long time, before flying to Finland, the newest member of NATO, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia.
How careful messaging, a healthy budget and smart leadership boosted local public health funding in Indiana by 1,500 percent.
Democrats have long wanted Biden to go after “junk insurance.
Questions linger around how many patients will be able to access the drug with limited coverage from Medicare.
The Biden administration’s new proposal would place further restrictions on short-term health insurance plans.
GOP lawmakers say President Joe Biden is using PEPFAR to promote abortion rights.
The push to own the economy, by literally branding it with the president’s name, is not without risk.