海角大神

2025
August
08
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

August 08, 2025
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Linda Feldmann
Washington Bureau Chief

My introduction to the gilded style of the 47th president came in 2016, when I went to Mar-a-Lago to cover his victory celebration after the Florida presidential primary. The Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom was awash in gold filigree. His guests bespoke similar opulence.

Today, the Oval Office is also done up in gold, and a giant ballroom off the East Wing of the White House is in the works. The architect鈥檚 renderings look just like other Trump ballrooms. But the controversy isn鈥檛 in the style. It鈥檚 in the scale.听Alterations to the White House are nothing new, but having been in much of the building 鈥 including the private residence upstairs 鈥 I can say that a 90,000-square-foot addition is hard to imagine.听Here鈥檚 my story.


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News briefs

Gaza offensive: Israel鈥檚 Security Cabinet approved a plan to occupy Gaza City, after Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday he intended to take control of the entire Gaza Strip. The military expansion faces opposition at home and abroad, while the hunger crisis in Gaza continues to worsen. See today鈥檚 story.

Policing: The White House announced that federal law enforcement will have a greater presence in Washington, D.C., for at least the coming week, promising to make the city 鈥渟afe again.鈥 Some local police points to a drop in violent crime compared to last year.

Haiti: Businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr became the head of Haiti鈥檚 transitional presidential council, hours after a criminal gang vowed to overthrow the government. He faces an uphill battle toward restoring trust in the government, with gangs controlling 90% of the capital.

Alligator Alcatraz: A judge ruled that construction on the migrant detention center in Florida must pause for two weeks, as part of a lawsuit alleging the project doesn鈥檛 comply with environmental laws. The ruling does not affect immigration enforcement.

Book bans: Indian police in Kashmir raided bookshops to remove 25 books banned for promoting 鈥渇alse narratives鈥 and 鈥渟ecessionism鈥 in the disputed region. The banned authors include Booker Prize winner and activist Arundhati Roy.

Baseball trailblazer: Jen Pawol is set to make history tomorrow in Atlanta as the first female umpire in a Major League Baseball regular season game. She described herself as a 鈥渇ully charged battery ready to go,鈥 reports The Associated Press.

鈥 Staff, The Associated Press, Reuters


Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Jehad Alshrafi/AP
Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid dropped by parachute into Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 7, 2025.

After 22 months of fighting in Gaza 鈥撎齱hich has not defeated Hamas听鈥 the Israeli security Cabinet voted Friday at dawn to widen the war. Hard-right ministers overruled top military brass and Israeli public opinion.

Howard LaFranchi/海角大神
Artem Vashchilenko oversees Mykolaiv's economic diversification plan in the light of Russian control of surrounding shipping lanes.

Russia's military presence on a narrow sandbar controlling a major Black Sea access point has badly disrupted Ukraine's economy. What can Kyiv do about that?

Jacob Turcotte/Staff

Patterns

Tracing global connections

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose party has a fascist background, has proved unexpectedly ready to work with moderate European leaders. Is she shaping a new mold for far-right politicians?

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are visiting the White House in hopes of a peace deal. As power in the region shifts, the Trump administration offers a balanced approach both sides want to trust.听

In Pictures

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET: Provence, France, is known for its beautiful fields of poppies.

This summer鈥檚 Tour de France has come and gone. But memories of cycling through Provence will stay vivid for a long time.


The Monitor's View

AP
French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Saint-Eugene Cemetery in Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 26, 2022.

The French people are justly proud of much of their heritage 鈥 especially cultural icons, from the Eiffel Tower to 脦le Flottante, the 鈥渇loating island鈥 dessert. Recently, however, pride has partly given way to contriteness as President Emmanuel Macron, aware of France鈥檚 legacy as a former heavy-handed empire, has attempted to make amends for mistakes during the country鈥檚 imperial past.

In July, for example, Mr. Macron announced his intention to recognize a Palestinian state, in large part to help end the war and hunger in Gaza. Yet, in an allusion to France鈥檚 role 鈥 along with Britain鈥檚 鈥 in dividing up the region more than a century ago as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, he posted on the social platform X that he wanted France to be 鈥渢rue to its historic commitment鈥 to a lasting peace in the Middle East.

For Mr. Macron, 鈥淭his is a moral, historical and forward-looking decision,鈥 wrote commentator Sefy Hendler on the Israeli news site Haaretz. Soon after the announcement, Britain offered a similar pledge to recognize a Palestinian state. Its foreign secretary said it was doing so with the 鈥渉and of history on our shoulders.鈥

Also in July, the French leader made good on fixing the reputation of a Jewish French army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely accused in 1894 of selling military secrets to Germany during the height of European colonialism. Mr. Macron declared that, starting next July 12, the date that Dreyfus was exonerated in 1906, France will hold a memorial ceremony every year 鈥渇or the victory of justice and truth against hatred and anti-Semitism.鈥澨

Since becoming president in 2017, Mr. Macron has taken steps toward atonement with several former colonies in Africa. He acknowledged a 1945 massacre in Algeria, for example, and issued an apology for a violent repression of a 1947 uprising in Madagascar. On June 19, according to news reports, France said it is 鈥渙pen鈥 to a dialogue with Niger about the French role in an 1899 massacre there.

Mr. Macron has taken a steady but cautious approach in dealing with the demands of former colonies. Rather than relying on French pride, he is slowly encouraging his nation to look hard at its history. During a trip to Algeria in 2022, he was plain about what was needed. The time has come, he said, for humility, saying that 鈥減ainful common past ... has at times prevented us from looking to the future.鈥


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.

Out of time and out of ideas? We can turn to God, whose inspiration never runs out.


Viewfinder

Greg Allen/Invision/AP
Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, is pictured with current and past cast members on stage during the 鈥淗amilton鈥 10th anniversary Broadway curtain call at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, Aug. 6, 2025. 鈥淗amilton鈥 set records as the most Tony-nominated musical in history, earning 16 nominations and winning 11 awards in June 2016. The musical has been praised for its historical accuracy, performances, and examination of social issues.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

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2025
August
08
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