海角大神

President Donald Trump notched some holiday weekend wins. He signed his tax-and-spend bill into law July 4 and opened a controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades. Mr. Trump spoke Friday with Ukraine鈥檚 President Volodymyr聽Zelenskyy, a day after a 鈥減roductive call鈥� with Russian President Vladimir Putin and in advance of what could be more European summitry, though Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone strikes again Sunday. On trade, the president said he had signed letters on tariffs that would be sent to a dozen countries today. 鈥� Staff

A Gaza ceasefire proposal gained momentum.聽The Israeli prime minister鈥檚 office said Sunday that Israel will send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar as the prime minister headed to Washington.聽Mr. Trump had made a 鈥渇inal proposal鈥� for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. The militant group said this weekend that it was prepared to negotiate. A Palestinian official from a group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, and a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals. 鈥� Reuters, The Associated Press

More help arrived to assist with central Texas floods. The Houston Fire Department sent members of its Tactical Deployment Unit to Kerr County over the weekend, The Houston Chronicle reported. Others joined with Texas A&M Task Force One, under a search-and-rescue arm of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Flash flooding after heavy rains Friday has killed more than 80 people in Texas Hill Country and left many unaccounted for (see our story below). The risk of more flooding persists, but a National Weather Service expert told The New York Times Sunday that a reservoir downstream from the worst flooding should limit new flooding lower in the river basin. 鈥� Staff

Key oil producers plan to increase output. Eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries said they will boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in August in a move that could further reduce gas prices this year. The group, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, made the decision at a virtual meeting Saturday. They cited a 鈥渟teady global economic outlook鈥� and low oil inventories. Oil prices spiked last month during the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran then fell as the U.S. helped broker a peace deal. 鈥� AP

The U.S. completed deportation of 8 men to South Sudan. The men, from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam, and South Sudan, had been held under guard at an American military base in Djibouti while their legal challenge played out. This weekend they reached the Trump administration鈥檚 intended destination, a country that the State Department advises against travel to due to 鈥渃rime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.鈥� 鈥� AP

Scientists developed a paint that cools homes even in humidity. Most commercial cooling paints are less effective in humid places. So researchers in sticky Singapore set about finding a new solution. By reflecting sunlight and slowly evaporating water, the paint needs up to 40% less electricity for air conditioning than other paints. So-called passive cooling is one way to address heat waves around the world. See our coverage from a very hot Paris. 鈥� Staff

In March of 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a bill banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. That set the stage for a pivotal legal battle involving two unreconciled ideals: the separation of church and state and the Bible as a standard of instruction in public institutions. A century later, the Scopes 鈥淢onkey Trial鈥� 鈥� as journalist H.L. Mencken called it 鈥� still resonates in modern cultural debates over religion, education, and parental rights.

The decision by Israel and the United States to bomb Iran recently raises a high-stakes question: Will Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, now forswear building a nuclear weapon, given the danger that a further U.S. strike would pose to his country and his regime? Or will he draw the opposite conclusion: that only possession of a nuclear weapon would reliably dissuade the United States 鈥� or indeed Israel 鈥� from attacking Iran again? The future of nonproliferation may hinge on his decision.

The flood that tore through Kerr County in Texas over the weekend was caused by an alignment of conditions. Heavy rains hung over the area after a period of drought that left hard-packed ground unable to absorb water quickly. The storm intensified overnight, swelling the Guadalupe River by 26 feet in less than an hour in early morning hours while people slept. Warnings came too late, many residents say. Although President Donald Trump declared a 鈥淢ajor Disaster鈥� in the area, mobilizing federal emergency resources, experts say the tragedy underscores a need for local municipalities to build better action plans to meet the challenges of a warming atmosphere.聽

Southern Lebanon has been a crossroads of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran, for so long that it is known to the outside world as little else than a battlefield. Yet through this intimate portrait of Ashoura, an annual 10-day religious ceremony among Shia Muslims, a village called Burj Qalawayh reminds us that places are defined by the people that live in them, rather than by the forces that overrun them.

Nine years ago, Valerie Castile lost her son Philando in a fatal encounter with a police officer. She has since turned her mourning into a journey of healing and uplift for her community. As the cafeteria manager at a Montessori School, Mr. Castile had a reputation for making sure no child went hungry. Reflecting his sense of community service, his mother founded the Philando Castile Relief Foundation and has raised more than $200,000 in donations to remove student lunch debt. Her work inspired Minnesota to become the fourth state to pass a free breakfast and lunch program in all public schools.

Gulab Singh, a former aspiring cricketer, is a police constable for the Punjab Police. In 2019, he began coaching three girls on the terrace of his house. As more girls joined, he converted his farmland into a cricket ground. 鈥淢y uncles were furious and said I had ruined the land,鈥� says Mr. Singh, who once dreamed of wearing the Indian jersey and hopes he can help his 16 athletes succeed where he did not. 鈥淏ut I told them, watching these girls grow in the game is my first priority.鈥�

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama, announced July 2 that a charitable nonprofit, located in India as is he, will pick his successor after his death 鈥� and do so outside the control of the Chinese Communist Party. The decision, made just before his 90th birthday, has set off political fireworks in Beijing. The ruling party claims only it can make the selection for some 7 million Tibetans in China.

Yet there are several challenges for the party in its attempt to control the future of Tibetan Buddhism 鈥� along with many other popular faiths in China.

First, among China鈥檚 majority ethnic Han, the practice of this brand of Buddhism has become very popular. The nation鈥檚 drive for materialistic wealth has left a spiritual void for many in the middle class.

鈥淎s China鈥檚 cities have become more atomized and social trust has eroded,鈥� wrote John Osburg, a scholar at the Asia Society Policy Institute, 鈥渕any affluent Chinese are drawn to the sense of community provided by faith-based groups.鈥�

鈥淢embers of China鈥檚 elite who convert to Tibetan Buddhism say they value its purity and intellectually rigorous philosophy,鈥� he stated.

Second, a model for community charity with Buddhist roots in Tibet 鈥� a practice known as kyidu, which the party banned there in 2018 鈥� has spread in China, helping drive an increase in private giving outside state control. From 2013 to 2023, the country saw a 388% rise in the proportion of people who donated money, according to the Charities Aid Foundation. Much of that giving was informal and local.

Third, the current Dalai Lama has often seemed little worried about Beijing鈥檚 attempts to control a religion that鈥檚 well entrenched in much of Asia.

鈥淏uddhism has existed for thousands of years and the Dalai Lama institution for just a few centuries,鈥� he told the India news site DNA nearly a decade ago. 鈥淚nstitutions, such as the Dalai Lama鈥檚, are not set in stone and can be discontinued 鈥� there鈥檚 no problem with that.鈥�

鈥淚t seems the Chinese communist government is more concerned about the Dalai Lama institution,鈥� he added.

As with China鈥檚 many popular beliefs, from Confucianism to Buddhism to 海角大神ity, people practicing them do so for internal motivations, such as spiritual growth. As the Dalai Lama stated in his July 2 decision, he has been clear as far back as 1969 鈥渢hat concerned people should decide鈥� if the tradition of a dalai lama should continue. Followers of Tibetan Buddhism, he stated, requested a successor for him.