海角大神

2025
June
27
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

June 27, 2025
Loading the player...
Linda Feldmann
Washington Bureau Chief

It鈥檚 been a big news week: President Donald Trump made it to the NATO summit at The Hague, but not before he reprimanded Israel and Iran for violating their ceasefire. Now he鈥檚 fighting his own political war at home, trying to overcome a leaked early U.S. intelligence finding that the attack on Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities set the nation鈥檚 program back by only a few months. In New York City鈥檚 Democratic primary for mayor, the victory by Zohran Mamdani, a charismatic young democratic socialist, over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo made waves of its own. And at the Supreme Court, Planned Parenthood sustained a major defeat in a ruling that further narrows abortion access three years after the landmark Dobbs decision, which overturned the nationwide right to abortion. In Congress, President Trump鈥檚 budget bill aims to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.


You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.

News briefs

Iran鈥檚 supreme leader made his first statement since the ceasefire. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei downplayed last weekend鈥檚 U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, saying President Donald Trump 鈥渆xaggerated鈥 their impact and warning against further U.S. attacks. Iran retaliated Monday with a missile attack on the U.S. base in Qatar, which caused no casualties. Since a ceasefire with Israel, life has been gradually returning to normal in Iran. 鈥 The Associated Press
Our coverage: With Israel, Iran, and the U.S. each declaring victory, we look today at what has changed after 12 days of war.

The Supreme Court narrowed access to abortion. The ruling Thursday came three years after the landmark Dobbs decision, which overturned the nationwide right to abortion. It broke 6-3 along the court鈥檚 ideological divide, holding that states cannot be sued if they choose to block Medicaid funding to abortion providers. The question is 鈥渇or Congress, not the courts鈥 to decide, the majority opinion said. The Supreme Court is meeting today to decide the final six cases of its term. 鈥 Staff

The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter. It shrank at a 0.5% annual pace from January through March as President Donald Trump鈥檚 import taxes at least temporarily disrupted business, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. First-quarter growth sank under a surge of imports as companies rushed to bring in foreign goods before Mr. Trump could impose tariffs on them, the first time in three years that the economy contracted. Meanwhile, President Trump said Washington has signed an agreement with Beijing on trade and expects to soon have a deal with India. 鈥 AP

Germany will not fund private migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean. The nation has been spending 鈧2 million ($2.3 million) annually on such efforts. Its new foreign minister has argued they encourage immigration and human trafficking. The move is part of a promised tightening of immigration standards, including border checks, by the conservative government. 鈥淕ermany remains committed to humanity and always will be,鈥 Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 believe it is the foreign office鈥檚 job to use funds for this type of sea rescue.鈥 He added, 鈥淲e need to be active where the need is greatest,鈥 citing the humanitarian emergency in Sudan. 鈥 Staff

Thailand is restricting cannabis sales. It was the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022, boosting tourism and farming. But public backlash has followed with allegations that under-regulation has made the drug available to children, caused addiction, and boosted cross-border smuggling. Shops will be allowed to sell a limited amount of cannabis only to customers with a prescription.聽鈥 AP

The Sweden Democrats made an apology. The right-wing party apologized Thursday for past Nazi links and antisemitism, part of efforts to present a more moderate, mainstream image to voters ahead of a national election next year. A specially commissioned study found Nazi and antisemitic views to have been common at party functions and in their printed materials in the 1980s and 1990s. 鈥 Reuters

The International Space Station welcomed its first astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary. The crew will spend two weeks at the orbiting lab, performing dozens of experiments. The space station鈥檚 commander, Japan鈥檚 Takuya Onishi, said he was happy to finally see their smiling faces after 鈥渨aiting for you guys so long鈥 because of delays. They were ferried there by SpaceX on a private flight; NASA plans to abandon the ISS in 2030 and is encouraging private ventures to replace it. 鈥 AP


Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters
An Iranian woman flashes the victory sign outside a house damaged in an Israeli strike on a building Monday, amid the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025.

The shooting between Iran and Israel may be stopping, for now, but the conflict is far from over. Among key uncertainties is the fate of Iran鈥檚 stockpile of 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity 鈥 a short technical step from weapons-grade 鈥 which Iran says it successfully moved before it was attacked. A central question is whether postwar diplomacy, if and when it resumes, returns to square one. Iran insists it has a right to enrich uranium on its soil, and the United States and Israel insist it does not.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Evelyn Davis Alfred is the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city of Vallejo, California, which has tried to evict her from her 鈥渂ungalow,鈥 a tent she has lived in for two years.

One year after the Supreme Court made it easier for cities to remove encampments and makeshift shelters, California鈥檚 homeless people face more sweeps and fewer solutions. With homelessness in the state reaching a record high of 187,000 people last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom urges local leaders to 鈥渢ake back the streets [and] sidewalks.鈥 And with growing pressure to 鈥渃lean up鈥 encampments, cities risk swapping long-term solutions for short-term optics 鈥 and sidelining the very people these efforts claim to support.

Much has been made of the emerging 鈥淎xis of Upheaval鈥 鈥 an alliance among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea 鈥 and how it threatens the Western-dominated world order. But the recent strikes on Iran highlight some limits of this alliance. The reactions by Beijing and Moscow underscore the priority both are placing on advancing narrower national interests and avoiding entanglement in a Middle East conflict. While Russia is preoccupied with the Ukraine war, China鈥檚 priority vis-脿-vis Iran is to safeguard its investments in the Middle East and access to Iranian oil.

Colette Davidson
The Collectif Masque theater troupe is one of several that performs during the International Park Bench Festival, June 16, 2025, in Colombes, France. The banner behind the actors displays the acronym for 鈥渂anc 脿 defender,鈥 which translates to 鈥渄efend our benches.鈥

Officials in suburban Paris have removed benches to promote safety, altering public spaces in the process. Efforts to restore that seating aim to highlight how community and understanding are built. But finding the right balance isn鈥檛 easy. 鈥淧ublic space, by nature, should be a place that is accessible and welcoming to everyone,鈥 says urban planner St茅phane Malek. 鈥淏ut this concept is increasingly threatened. There is less and less tolerance for certain people to hang around. But, he adds, 鈥渨e also have to create places to sit down.鈥

In Pictures

Juan Karita/AP
TWIST AND SHOUT: Dancers perform at the closing ceremonies of Carnival in La Paz, Bolivia, March 9, 2025.

There are lots of reasons people feel like dancing. This photo essay looking at dancers around the world reminds us that we shake and shimmy in order to connect 鈥 to ourselves, to one another, to our ancestors.


The Monitor's View

Courtesy of Central Park Conservancy/April 2025
An aerial view shows Central Park's newly restored Davis Center. The oval turf field converts into a swimming pool in summer.

Early in this first sweltering week of summer, the weather station in New York鈥檚 famed Central Park recorded the city鈥檚 highest temperatures in more than a decade. Now, at week鈥檚 end, this 843-acre oasis in Manhattan marks a high point of a different sort.

On Friday, the park鈥檚 recently completed $160 million Davis Center opens an immense, newly refurbished swimming pool to the public. The facility鈥檚 soaring pavilion, lush landscaping, and inviting waters restore both beauty and accessibility to a formerly neglected and crumbling section of Central Park. The remodeled environment and infrastructure also symbolize a rebuilding of civic inclusion and trust with residents in adjacent Harlem and East Harlem.

From the mid-1970s through the 1990s, when New York City struggled to recover from near bankruptcy, this northeast corner of Central Park became synonymous with urban decay and delinquency. Perceptions of neighborhoods that were predominantly Black or Hispanic conflated poverty and criminality. In 1989, a horrific sexual assault of a woman jogger resulted in the wrongful conviction of five Black and Hispanic teenagers from Harlem. They were exonerated in 2002 and released. But a deep sense of hurt and suspicion lingered within their community.

When the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy launched the restoration after the pandemic, 鈥淭here was a lot of learning about the residual anger and disaffection,鈥 according to its president, Betsy Smith. But conversations with community representatives showed 鈥淭here are a lot of people who care about integrating this community into the park,鈥 she told Bloomberg News.

Prominent among them is Yusef Salaam, one of the wrongfully arrested teens. After his release, Mr. Salaam had written a memoir, 鈥淏etter, Not Bitter.鈥 He married and built a family. And in 2023, he was elected to the City Council.

Speaking at the April launch of the pavilion, Mr. Salaam acknowledged the 鈥渟tunning architectural accomplishment鈥 of the complex. Both the pool and the building are multiuse, multiseason marvels of design and engineering. The pool converts to an artificial turf-topped field in spring and fall, and to a skating rink in winter. The building has a half-acre green roof and floor-to-ceiling glass doors that pivot to let in summer breezes or keep out cold air.

But to Mr. Salaam, the facility is about much more than recreation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a homecoming ... a healing for me,鈥 he said, according to The West Side Spirit. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a restoration for our community 鈥 not only our land, but our dignity as well.鈥

鈥淭he shadow of injustice loomed large here. Today, we reclaim that light,鈥 he declared.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

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.

If it feels as if our lives are unraveling, this poem tells us we can turn to God鈥檚 renewing, harmonizing goodness, which brings balance and progress.


Viewfinder

Christophe Ena/AP
Faith Kipyegon, from Kenya, races in an attempt to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes, at Stade Charlety in Paris, June 26, 2025. She holds the official women鈥檚 mile world record of 4:07.64, set two years ago. And while she failed to reach her new goal, she offered hope for the future. 鈥淚f not me, then maybe someone else,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e are not limited.鈥
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

More issues

2025
June
27
Friday

Give us your feedback

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.