With momentum on Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 side 鈥 and time running short 鈥 Republicans are advising former President Donald Trump to focus more on policy, less on personal attacks.听
Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we鈥檝e always been transparent about that.
The church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we鈥檝e aimed 鈥渢o injure no man, but to bless all mankind,鈥 as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.
Here, you鈥檒l find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences 鈥 a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.
Explore values journalism About usScott Peterson first crossed into Ukraine to cover its current war for the Monitor just weeks after fighting began in February 2022. He spoke with me about his war reporting from Odesa very soon after, and then joined our 鈥淲hy We Wrote This鈥 podcast in June 2023 with an update.听
What Scott spoke presciently about, both times: a Ukrainian strain of resilience that could, and ultimately would, make Ukraine a formidable foe for its Russian invaders. (See yesterday鈥檚 Daily.)
The battle has seesawed. But on the latest of Scott鈥檚 trips back, he found still more evidence of resourcefulness and grit. Scott reports today on a firefighter whose chosen work also extends to getting civilians clear of shelling. Ivan Subotin鈥檚 brand is hope.
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With momentum on Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 side 鈥 and time running short 鈥 Republicans are advising former President Donald Trump to focus more on policy, less on personal attacks.听
鈥 Elections in Kashmir: India announces three-phased assembly elections in disputed Jammu and Kashmir, the first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi鈥檚 government stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semiautonomous status and made it a federally controlled territory in 2019.听
鈥 New Thai leader: Parliament elects Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the country鈥檚 new prime minister after removal of her immediate predecessor over an ethics violation. Ms. Paetongtarn will become Thailand鈥檚 third leader from the Shinawatra family after a required royal endorsement.
鈥 Indian trainee doctor鈥檚 killing sparks outrage: Thousands of people, including doctors and paramedics, march through Indian cities to protest the rape and killing of a trainee doctor at a government hospital last week.
鈥 Reputed gang leader arrested in U.S.: Suspected in nearly two dozen killings in his home country of Peru, Gianfranco Torres-Navarro is arrested in Endicott, New York, by U.S. immigration authorities, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Ghada Abdulfattah, the Monitor鈥檚 Gaza correspondent, keeps her cool when she reports. But sometimes she feels like screaming. In this wrenching personal letter to readers, she voices her聽fear and fury at the climate of death that poisons life in Gaza. Ordered to relocate yet again, she cries from the heart: 鈥淲hy must we endure such hardship? ... Who will stop this war?鈥澛
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With inflation high on voters鈥 priority list, Kamala Harris is proposing steps to keep food prices in check. What鈥檚 behind grocery prices, how high is inflation, and can a ban on price gouging help?
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The number of baby boomers hitting age 65 peaks this year, creating an exploding market for 鈥渁ge tech鈥 innovation that serves their digital needs.
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How do you capture both the atrocities of slavery 鈥 and the dignity of the people who survived it? Our columnist visited the offerings at the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. He calls it 鈥渁n overwhelming experience.鈥澛
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To save people and property, firefighters the world over take risks, earning recognition as heroes. In eastern Ukraine鈥檚 war zone, firefighter Ivan Subotin, founder of a rescue organization, is motivated, he says, to restore people鈥檚 faith in the future.
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Since the reopening of societies following the recent pandemic, concerns have lingered that the world is unprepared for a similar health crisis. Yet lessons from COVID-19 are now shaping the response to the latest global alert. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency based on its analysis of a new strain of mpox in Africa.
The WHO has called for assistance to those afflicted countries that may lack the means to contain the outbreak. The world needs 鈥渁 tailored and comprehensive response, with communities at the centre, as always,鈥 said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
His words indicate the need for more than medical supplies and personnel. As health workers know well, dealing with the public fear of a disease requires calmness, honesty, and empathy. The risks of mpox should not be overestimated or underestimated, said Magnus Gissl茅n, Sweden鈥檚 state epidemiologist, after his country recorded one of the first cases of the strain to emerge beyond Africa. Along with other European officials, he rejected calls for a travel ban to avoid stigmatizing other countries or their traveling citizens.
In Africa, officials have so far displayed a greater degree of transparency. During past health crises, such as the one surrounding HIV, governments were often reluctant to publicly admit a problem that would require a change in social traditions. Now, more officials are concerned with helping communities work through social stigmas that might create resistance toward professional care. Officials in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, for example, say they are working together to coordinate caring responses to workers who regularly cross their borders. The outbreak has also renewed attention on the humanitarian crises in Congo, where more than 500,000 people languish in refugee camps from war.
In a 鈥渢oolkit鈥 for dealing with mpox, a WHO report urged the need for empathy to be at the center. That means 鈥渆stablishing and maintaining trust with affected communities, addressing the emotional needs of those affected, ... [and] reducing stigma and fear,鈥 it noted. In any pandemic, loving care can be a powerful antidote 鈥 and serve as a first responder.
Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.
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As we learn that God鈥檚 goodness is practical, we gain the confidence to claim it in any aspect of life.
We鈥檝e got a bonus offering for you today: The Monitor recently ran a three-part series examining three different experiments in drug decriminalization. The through line: compassion. You can hear the writers voice all three stories in this week鈥檚 episode of our 鈥淲hy We Wrote This鈥 podcast.
Thanks for ending your week with us. Come back Monday. We鈥檒l have a story on the ethics of artificial intelligence-enabled drones in war, and begin coverage of the Democratic National Convention.听