海角大神

2025
July
30
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

July 30, 2025
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Ira Porter
Education Writer

Altruism is a theme in today鈥檚 package. Argentines displeased with rising costs of basic necessities are responding to protest crackdowns from the government by banding together to offer financial and emotional support to each other.

In Japan, people like Murai Masakiyo have dedicated decades to running toward disasters like earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis to provide food staples and necessities to their countrymen. 鈥淭hose who volunteer at a disaster site ... accumulate their experience and build a civil society,鈥 Mr. Murai tells the Monitor.

And in his latest novel, British novelist Ben Brooks weaves the tale of a father who alters the course of his family鈥檚 future by challenging it to do the greatest possible good in life.


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News briefs

An earthquake struck near Russia鈥檚 coast. A tsunami reached coastal areas of Russia鈥檚 sparsely populated Kuril Islands and Japan鈥檚 large northern island of Hokkaido after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, among the strongest this century, struck early Wednesday. Warnings were in place for Alaska, Hawaii, and other coasts south toward New Zealand. Officials urged caution, saying bigger waves could come later. 鈥 The Associated Press

Britain took a conditional stand on Palestinian statehood. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza. He called for other 鈥渟ubstantive steps,鈥 including commitment to a peace process that delivers a two-state solution, about which the U.N. General Assembly is meeting this week (Israel and the United States have boycotted). Mr. Starmer repeated U.K. demands that Hamas release the hostages it holds, disarm, and 鈥渁ccept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.鈥 鈥 AP

The EPA appears set to rescind the 鈥渆ndangerment finding.鈥 That鈥檚 the longstanding finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, and that helped build the case for tailpipe emissions standards for vehicles. The move could set off what the administration describes as the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump鈥檚 pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, announced the plan on a podcast Tuesday, saying it will save Americans money and unravel two decades of regulation. 鈥 Reuters

The New York high-rise shooter was targeting the NFL. Police identified the man who killed an off-duty New York City police officer and three other people before taking his own life at a Manhattan office tower Monday. New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that investigators believe the gunman was trying to target the headquarters of the National Football League. The NFL has paid an estimated $1 billion to settle concussion-related lawsuits with retired football players. The Las Vegas resident, who played high school football nearly two decades ago, had a history of mental illness, police said. 鈥 AP, Reuters

Los Angeles County ruled on law enforcement and masks. It passed a motion Tuesday to prohibit on-duty law enforcement officers in unincorporated areas from masking or refusing to identify themselves. The motion calls for an ordinance to be drafted and passed within 60 days. Federal officials have said the practice of immigration enforcement officers concealing their identities is necessary for protection. The question of local authority in this matter 鈥渕ight have to be decided by a court,鈥 said one of the motion鈥檚 co-authors. 鈥 Staff

Protesting rabbis were arrested at the U.S. Capitol. Representing congregations around the country, they were singing and praying for food for Gaza. The more than two dozen rabbis represented Jewish denominations including Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox, according to the Huffington Post. All are members of a campaign called Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza. They were arrested within minutes of sitting on the floor of the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Some 1,000 rabbis also signed an open letter this week, according to the Times of Israel, demanding that Israel 鈥渟top using starvation as a weapon of war.鈥 鈥 Staff

Australia set an age limit for YouTube account-holders. It announced Wednesday that YouTube will be required to ensure account-holders are at least 16 beginning in December, citing concerns about harm. The decision reverses an earlier exemption for the video-sharing service. Platforms like Facebook and TikTok are also affected. Children can still access YouTube but can鈥檛 have accounts. YouTube maintained that it is not social media. 鈥 AP


Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Honda vehicles are lined up in a storage yard at an industrial port on the day President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports, in Yokohama, near Tokyo, July 23, 2025.

President Trump鈥檚 tariff threats are in some cases turning into tariff deals. The details of the broad agreements are yet to come and may determine whether the U.S. comes out ahead.

After the new U.S.-EU trade deal was announced Sunday, many Europeans felt they had come out on the losing end. But analysts say that it needs to be seen in the context of Mr. Trump鈥檚 broader relationship with Europe.

Alessia Maccioni/Reuters
Pensioners protest outside the National Congress in the weekly demonstrations against Argentine President Javier Milei鈥檚 austerity policies, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 4, 2025.

Argentina鈥檚 President Javier Milei promised to tackle inflation 鈥 and he鈥檚 delivering. Why then are so many Argentines still struggling to make ends meet?

Difference-maker

Courtesy of Hisada Mitsumasa
Volunteers and islanders are pictured on typhoon-hit Guintarcan in the Philippines in 2014.

Before the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan lacked a robust tradition of volunteerism. These days, volunteer leaders are heeding the call.

Book review

"The Greatest Possible Good," by Ben Brooks, Avid Reader Press, 336 pp.

A novelist鈥檚 task often involves holding up a mirror to society. By using humor to skewer pretensions, a good writer can both entertain and encourage empathy and self-reflection in their audience.


The Monitor's View

AP/File
In the US, school policies towards student cellphones range from outright bans to 'acceptable' in-class use. Here, a student places her cellphone into a holder before entering class at Delta High School, in Delta, Utah.

With a new academic year due to start in the United States, states and districts are seeking to manage students鈥 cellphone use during the school day. Proposals range from developing usage guidelines to implementing outright bans.

Amid the discussion over what adults 鈥 educators, parents, policymakers 鈥 should do, students are signaling their ability to exercise individual agency. And they want nuanced and flexible approaches to help balance use and manage screen time.

In a 2025 Pew survey in the U.S., 44% of teens reported cutting back on both social media and smartphone use. In 2023, that share was 39% (social media) and 36% (smartphones). A wider survey of 20,000 children ages 12 to 15 and parents across 18 countries found 40% of students taking deliberate breaks from their screens, up 18 percentage points from 2022.

鈥淐hildren have got the message 鈥 from their parents, the media, their own experiences 鈥 that too much social media isn鈥檛 always good for them,鈥 Sonia Livingstone, who heads the Digital Futures for Children center in London, told The Guardian this month. 鈥淪o they are experimenting with different ways of protecting their wellbeing, ... talking to each other about what works.鈥 Some of these measures include deactivating notifications or applying 鈥渄o not disturb鈥 settings.

When it comes to the classroom, rather than bans, some teachers are calling for 鈥渁cceptable use鈥 policies that foster real-life self-control 鈥 and harness the technology for learning.

鈥淎I is already reshaping tomorrow鈥檚 workplace, and for the sake of students鈥 success, schools have to take the fear out of technology,鈥 two Connecticut superintendents wrote on the education site The 74. 鈥淭here鈥檚 power in those cellphones sitting in students鈥 pockets and backpacks. It鈥檚 up to educators to get them to use it the right way.鈥

One example of supporting 鈥渞ight鈥 use is a student-led 鈥淪ocratic seminar鈥 in Aurora, Colorado. Colorado Public Radio reported in May how high school freshmen discuss digital connections, track their usage over several weeks, and learn about the powerful network algorithms that feed them content.

鈥淣ow I know that it鈥檚 actually designed to keep me scrolling on it ... so that they can make money,鈥 one student said. Another reported that the class caused her screen time to go down from five hours a day to just one or two.

The freshmen visit middle schools to share insights and encourage younger students to monitor their own habits. 鈥淎 teacher can say 鈥榩ut your phone away鈥 a million times,鈥 their teacher Ryan Clapp said. But, he noted, meaningful change comes when students can reflect with each other.


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.

Recognizing divine Love as the only legitimate motivator of God鈥檚 children helps us contribute to a kinder, safer world.


Viewfinder

Tom Nicholson/Reuters
Artists create portraits of tourists on the street in Montmartre, Paris, July 29, 2025.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

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2025
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