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Parting shot: Bavarian Alps bliss Photo: Nancy Russo Our kinda recess: Reader Nancy Russo of Neenah, Wis., sent us this sunset over Mount Watzmann, seen from the picturesque village of Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps.

Recess makes a comeback Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images After decades of schools squeezing playtime out of the day, recess is back in play, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum writes. 🎒 Why it matters: Recess may look like a break from learning. But researchers say free play helps kids return to class healthier, calmer and more ready to focus. "Recess refreshes you. Recess helps you feel a little bit less cynical about what's going on," says psychologist Peter Gray, author of the forthcoming book "Restoring Childhood." 🧩 By the numbers: As of December, 12 states and Washington, D.C., had mandated school recess, while another 12 states required some form of physical activity, according to Johns Hopkins research. And recently, a new Oklahoma law requiring 40 minutes of recess each school day took effect in July. 🧠 The big picture: Unstructured play helps children practice social skills, manage stress and build stronger connections to school. Research has also linked recess to better behavior, attendance, classroom motivation and academic performance. 🤸 Reality check: Not all movement is recess. Broader "physical activity" laws can include after-school sports and gym class. Advocates say children also need time to play without being told how to do it. "Anyone who's ever spent even a day with a kid can recognize that if you kept them sitting all day, they'd go insane — they'd drive everybody else insane," says Hannah Thompson, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Zoom out: The decline in recess since the early 2000s is often tied to the testing-focused era that followed the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, when schools devoted more time to reading and math rather than play. Weekly recess time in U.S. schools fell by an hour between 2001 and 2019, according to education consulting firm EAB. 🔔 But the pendulum is swinging back. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently expanded its recess recommendation beyond elementary schools, calling for middle and high school students to get at least 20 minutes, too. Parent-led group Say Yes to Recess has become a national nonprofit, while support for the cause now stretches across the political spectrum. The bottom line: "More recess" isn't just a student council campaign promise. It's increasingly an essential part of the school day.

🚨 Johnson's latest September problem Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) is heading toward what Republicans see as an almost inevitable censure after the House Ethics Committee concluded he violated House rules over sexual harassment toward staffers. ⚡️ Why it matters: Unlike past censure fights that devolved into partisan warfare, Republicans see little path for Edwards to avoid punishment. House GOP leadership has not formally weighed in on the Ethics report released today, but in May, Speaker Mike Johnson called the allegations "serious" and "concerning." 💬 "Whether you're talking about a Republican or a Democrat, everyone is due due process. If an allegation is made against someone, that is not reason for expulsion or disciplinary action, people get a chance to present their case." "That's what the House Ethics Committee is all about," Johnson told reporters at the time. 🚗 Driving the news: The House Ethics Committee found Edwards violated House rules by "failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers," according to its 25-page report. The findings follow our reporting that Edwards singled out two young female staffers in their 20s for special attention that multiple sources described as inappropriate. The bipartisan committee recommended that Edwards be censured after concluding he "violated the Code of Official Conduct by failing to act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House." That vote is likely to happen after the House returns from recess on Aug. 31. What they're saying: Republicans are signaling the outcome may not be in much doubt. One House Republican, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), told us she will vote to censure Edwards. "Sexual harassment is completely unacceptable," Luna said. A House GOP leadership aide told us they don't see a path in which Edwards isn't censured. Zoom out: Sabato's Crystal Ball shifted Edwards' reelection race in North Carolina's 11th District from "lean Republican" to "toss-up" Thursday. House GOP leaders are closely watching the race, a source told us, and Democrats view it as a prime pickup opportunity. "If a bipartisan ethics committee has acknowledged that there was some wrongdoing, I think it's going to be problematic for his campaign," retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters. 🗳️ Democratic challenger Jamie Ager has significantly outraised Edwards, and a censure on Edwards' record could further complicate his reelection prospects. ⏰ Flashback: The last time the House Ethics Committee recommended censure was in 2010 for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). The bottom line: House censures have become increasingly common in recent years, and they're typically partisan exercises. Edwards' case could be different, with bipartisan support appearing likely after the Ethics Committee's findings. — Kate Santaliz

🔥 Senate's SAVE snub Senate Majority Leader John Thune is trying to pack the Senate's final week before the August recess with votes. One item missing from his agenda: President Trump's top legislative priority, the SAVE America Act. Why it matters: Schedules reveal priorities. Thune and Trump's are misaligned. "I don't think my leadership wants to do it," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said of a third reconciliation package, which would include parts of the SAVE Act. "I think they're making a huge mistake." Thune, for the most part, is deferring to new Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who will meet with committee Republicans tomorrow morning. Johnson is also keeping his options open, telling us it's "possible" a vote on a budget resolution could happen this week. Some of his committee members are prepared to go further. "I will do everything possible to have a vote on the budget resolution," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told us. "I think we need to stay here until we vote on it and figure out a way to get it across the finish line." Driving the news: Thune told reporters today that his immediate focus is avoiding a shutdown. First up: A short-term funding bill through Dec. 11. Then: A package of 74 nominees, a bipartisan Russia sanctions package and the crypto market structure CLARITY Act. "And then we'll see from there," he said. 👀 What to watch: The question is whether pressure builds to add a vote on a budget resolution, which would kick off another reconciliation process and include elements of SAVE. The resolution also includes farm aid and defense funds for the Iran conflict. The White House has been pushing the Senate to get it done. ⚖️ Leaders will have to weigh whether demands from the White House and the base are enough to force a vote, even if it fails. 🌎 Zoom out: In March, Trump called for the SAVE Act to "go to the front of the line." Last week, he demanded that Thune cancel the August recess unless the act passed, openly wondering whether Thune was the right majority leader if he couldn't deliver the bill. "Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!" Trump said on Truth Social. 🔎 Zoom in: Thune says his August agenda is dictated by Senate reality, not White House urgency, deferring to Johnson on the likelihood of a budget resolution moving this week. And he is strongly hinting at keeping senators in D.C. to vote into the weekend — or even next week — if Democrats and Republicans don't come together on agreements to expedite their priorities. If they run out of time, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to officially take the position could slide until September — as could other priorities like a bipartisan college sports package. The bottom line: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been threatening to put GOP senators on the record about whether they want to leave town without moving on a third budget reconciliation bill. But Thune is keeping his options open. Asked if he'll face such a vote, he demurred. "That's a good question. We'll find out," he said. — Hans Nichols and Sted W. Kight

The New Era That Wasn’t View in browser Fundamental realignments in the way Americans vote are rare, but predictions that they have occurred are not. Nearly as soon as Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential race in November 2024, people started saying the election represented a new era. “Trump just realigned the entire political map. Democrats have ‘no easy path’ to fix it,” announced NBC News. The election had been very close. Trump won slightly more electoral votes than Joe Biden had in 2020 (312 to 306), but he also won fewer total popular votes and a smaller percentage of the vote. This was still significant because it was the first time in three tries that Trump had captured a plurality of the electorate, but the case for realignment hinged less on raw numbers than on demographic breakdowns. The Republican Party had strengthened its grip on the white working class and had done historically well with young voters—young men in particular—and Hispanic voters. Writing in The Atlantic in May 2025, the pollster Patrick Ruffini argued that a new era of politics had dawned, in which Trump had broken Democrats’ solid grip on minority voters. “The realignment of the working class, which helped Trump win in 2016, would not stop with white voters. In 2020 and 2024, the realignment came for nonwhite voters,” he wrote. “In an era of nationalized politics and growing polarization, the social basis for Democratic majorities is looking more and more tenuous.” The Democratic Party’s problems remain very real, but for the moment, Trump and the GOP have more serious ones. The most glaring one is Trump’s deep personal unpopularity. In the current polarized and dyspeptic political environment, all presidents seem to be unpopular, but Trump is in a different league. A CNN poll released last week measured Trump at 34 percent support, matching the low he reached in that poll following the January 6 insurrection. Still, that was better than his showing in the AP-NORC survey, which found his approval at 33 percent, just one point above a 2017 low. Quinnipiac University found Trump at 32 percent, the lowest ever in that poll. These broad strokes are ugly enough, but digging into polling results shows particular deterioration with the particular groups that were supposed to be at the center of the Trump 2024 realignment. Consider young voters. Kamala Harris won a slim majority of them in 2024, a huge drop from the 25 percent margin that Biden enjoyed four years earlier. The Yale Youth Poll found in May that 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 22 and 72 percent of voters ages 23 to 29 disapproved of Trump. Echelon Insights also found that younger voters disapprove of Trump more than the general population—the number has fallen 37 percent since the start of this administration. Polling from the Harvard Institute of Politics found that young voters are especially skeptical of expanded presidential power and claims of “national emergency”—two staples of Trump’s approach to governance. One reason Trump’s numbers have sunk so much among young people is his poor performance among young men. A popular explanation was that a feminized, woke Democratic Party had driven them away and into the arms of Trump and a growing manosphere of influencers. To the extent that that was true, it was ephemeral. These voters are still wary of the Democrats, but they’ve soured on Trump as well. The Yale Youth Poll found that men under 30 were one of the two groups that had turned the most against Trump since last fall. Trump is also bleeding support among Black and Hispanic voters, and especially men, as Bloomberg Government reports. In 2024, Trump won almost half of Hispanic voters, but polls show Republicans drawing 27 to 35 percent support in the midterms, which would be their worst performance with the group since the Democratic-wave year of 2018. Equis, a pollster focused on the demographic, finds Latino approval of Trump is lower than that of non-Latino voters. A May poll found that a quarter of Hispanics who voted for Trump in 2024 wouldn’t do so again. The decay has even reached Trump’s core supporters. A New York Times review of polling data found in June that white working-class voters’ views of the president’s handling of the economy were tanking. During the first two years of his first term, these voters rated him higher than the overall population; now they rate him much worse. In February 2016, Trump boasted about his backing among the least-educated voters, saying, “I love the poorly educated.” They don’t love him back: Echelon finds his approval down to 41 percent among those with a high-school education or less. Polling from the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism finds a shrinking Trump base and less personal connection to Trump, which is a particular problem for a personalist leader and movement. Republican strategists are now worried that even consistent GOP voters might not turn out in November, according to The Washington Post. As the poll analyst G. Elliott Morris has written, several convincing explanations existed for Trump’s 2024 victory that didn’t involve realignment, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, global anti-incumbent sentiment, and the peculiar dynamics of Biden’s ill-advised decision to run and his late exit from the race. But the foremost was inflation. Americans were angry at the Democratic Party because of persistently higher prices. Now Trump is losing support for the same reason. Not only has Trump not ended inflation, as he promised—in June, it ran at 3.5 percent—but his decisions, especially the Iran war, have driven prices higher. Voters were willing to give Trump a chance because of their disgust with Biden. Now they’re seeing the results, and they don’t like them. This was perhaps foreseeable. Although some observers believed a sea change had occurred, the Brookings Institution scholar (and Atlantic contributor) Jonathan Rauch concluded on November 9, 2024, that the result did not represent “a pro-MAGA realignment or a sweeping repudiation of Democrats. Rather, this was an ordinary election.” He added, prophetically, “While the Republicans undoubtedly scored a clear victory, they may be tempted to claim a stronger mandate than the voters intended to deliver—and they may respond with policies that are more extreme and disruptive than the public wants or expects.” Now the realignment looks nearly as moribund as GOP chances in the midterms. Related: Patrick Ruffini: American realignment Trump crashes into reality

FAA certifies Boeing's new 737 Max 7 jetliner for flight after years of delays The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday approved the smallest model of Boeing's Max jetliners for commercial service nearly a decade after the aircraft manufacturer first unveiled the plane. Read More.

🍿 1 fun thing: Spidey beats Avengers Left to right: Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon at last week's L.A. premiere of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" swung to a record-setting $360 million domestic opening weekend, topping the $357 million mark set by 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" (not adjusted for inflation). The Tom Holland-led flick finds the webslinger protecting New York City with renewed anonymity, new powers and new enemies. 💰 "Brand New Day" looks likely to overtake "Toy Story 5" for the top-grossing movie of the year, with Woody and Buzz's latest adventure sitting at $461.7 million. Go deeper.

🕯️ Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the first Republican woman to represent Texas in Congress, has died at 83. N.Y. Times obit (gift link).

🤖 The White House said today that it met its deadline to establish a voluntary framework for evaluating advanced AI models. But it won't say what the framework contains, who's seen it or when companies will start using it. More from Maria Curi. 25 states sue over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old ones WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-25-supreme-court-import-taxes-120895adbee7ae06157cd5f4bf5c7583? Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool standards, leaving states to set the rules President Donald Trump's administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, upending the hallmarks of the early education program for impoverished children, two people familiar with the deliberations said. Read More. Trump accounts were closed in 2021 due to concerns over possible money laundering, Capital One says Bank accounts held by President Donald Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend. Read More.

🦠 Two people in Michigan have died in connection with the multi-state cyclospora outbreak — the first confirmed deaths related to the microscopic parasite. Officials said that both people had underlying health conditions. Get the latest. Michigan reports the first 2 US deaths related to a diarrhea-causing parasite DETROIT (AP) — Two people have died in the cyclospora outbreak in Michigan, state health officials announced Monday, the first deaths confirmed in the U.S. related to the microscopic parasite. https://apnews.com/article/michigan-cyclospora-outbreak-deaths-cf058908cdfd1bfd405d15e7079bed14?

⚽️ FIFA drop-kicks private equity plan Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images FIFA has dropped plans to form a commercial subsidiary backed by up to $4.2 billion in private investment, Axios' Dan Primack reports. The deal was subject to ratification by FIFA's 211 national football governing bodies, but it never got to a final vote. Instead, it was preemptively rejected by regional confederations in Europe (UEFA), North/Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC). 💰 The deal would've been led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Eternal, which believed it would provide more financial resources to smaller and/or poorer countries. But Thrive misread the politics and the psychology involved, including a lack of trust in FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Go deeper.

Mega-swings for mega-caps Data: S&P Capital IQ, Wharton WRDS. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios SpaceX lost $773 billion in market capitalization from June to July, Axios' Emily Peck and Erin Davis report. That's the biggest month-to-month drop for any company dating back to 1970. Reality check: SpaceX's market cap is still relatively high, at $1.4 trillion. 🖼️ The big picture: This isn't simply about CEO Elon Musk. The stock market is in a mega-cap era, and it's dealing with lots of volatility. Thirteen U.S. public companies now have a market cap of $1 trillion or more, mostly in the tech sector: Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, etc. When the numbers are that big, so are the losses and gains. 🌊 What's next: SpaceX faces two big tests this week: reporting its first financials as a public company, and potentially coping with a flood of unlocked stock. Starting Thursday, SpaceX employees and some early investors will be able to sell 911.5 million shares. That's 12% of the total — and more than the 640 million shares currently available for trading. Go deeper.

Full Horror of Trump’s Giant Vanity Project Exposed A federal review names no fewer than 37 landmarks that the president’s vainglorious “triumphal arch” would harm. Donald Trump’s own officials just listed almost 40 landmarks in and around the nation’s capital that his tacky “triumphal arch” would adversely affect. The gilded monument, nicknamed the “Arch de Trump” after France’s Arc de Triomphe, is destined for Memorial Circle, the roundabout leading to Arlington National Cemetery. It’s set to rise to 250 feet, dwarfing the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac River. Trump, 80, is racing to get it built before his term ends in January 2029. The updated roster of sites it will negatively impact, reported by The New York Times on Monday, comes from a review by the National Park Service under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Roger W. Kirchen, Virginia’s state historic preservation officer, wrote to the agency in June that the damage promised by the arch is the whole point of the project. It is “intended to dominate the surrounding landscape,” he said. Officials who reviewed the plans found the structure would obscure what mourners see from the Eternal Flame marking President John F. Kennedy’s grave. It would also sever the planned axis linking Arlington House, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s former home, with the Lincoln Memorial—a corridor laid out to mark national healing after the Civil War. The arch would also push into the frame at the Jefferson Memorial’s steps, on Georgetown’s waterfront and from the top floors of the U.S. Capitol. Ed Stierli, vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, told the Times that the designs mean “you’re building something that will irreversibly harm the experience in these other locations.” Outside groups have until Thursday to file comments before the review is finalized. Final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which Trump has filled with allies, could come at a meeting scheduled for Sept. 3. The Park Service did not respond to the Times’ questions about how the review has been run. Gary Langston, a retired U.S. Army colonel who has objected at the project’s public hearings, asked officials to picture a veteran at a service member’s grave. “You’re going to see this thing looming over you,” he told the paper. Veterans also warn that building work, forecast by the administration to run 20 hours daily over several years, will intrude on funerals. The White House is standing by the project. “It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery,” spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to the newspaper. The Daily Beast contacted the White House for further comment. Ingle said “the Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world.” The arch is one thread in a wider redecoration of the capital. Trump tore down the White House East Wing to make way for a $600 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, with taxpayers covering more than half. His $14 million “American flag blue” refit of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool succeeded only in turning its waters a brilliant, algal green that the president has claimed is the work of vandals rather than the contractors he hired for the job. His handpicked Kennedy Center board voted in December to put his name on the building. A judge later ordered it stripped from the facade. He has also put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, paved over the Rose Garden lawn, and unveiled a $22.5 billion overhaul of Washington Dulles International Airport—the same airport he had earlier pushed to have renamed for himself. The Daily Beast contacted the Department of the Interior for comment from the National Park Service. “Great nations build beautiful structures and works of art that cultivate national pride and love of country,” a spokesperson said, calling the arch “a project that all Americans can be proud of.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/full-horror-of-trumps-giant-triumphal-arch-laid-bare-in-national-parks-service-review-of-vanity-project/?

Trump Suck-Up Begs White House Goons to Help Save His Job Gianni Infantino is facing an open revolt over his failed bid to sell off World Cup assets to private investors. Donald Trump’s pal, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, is appealing to top administration officials to help him keep his job as he faces a mutiny over his failed plot to sell a stake in the World Cup to a firm connected to the U.S. president’s inner circle.FIFA executives and regional soccer associations alike are calling for Infantino’s removal over his plan to sell a $20 billion minority stake in the World Cup to a group of investors led by Thrive Capital, which is run by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s younger brother Joshua. The deal would have reportedly netted Infantino a commissioner role with a $30 million salary—or five times his current salary of $6 million—but was abandoned after near-universal outrage. Faced with an open revolt against his leadership, Infantino, 56, is now hoping Trump insiders can prevent his ousting, The New York Post reported. He has repeatedly tried and failed to reach Trump, 80, by phone since the deal collapsed on Friday, and has instead scheduled a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio for Monday. “He wanted to get online with the secretary and talk about how soccer can be a form of soft power for America,” an insider briefed on the matter told the Post. “But we all know that it is about job protection. It is not about anything else at this point.” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson denied the report in a post on X. “There are no plans for @SecRubio to speak with Infantino and there is no call this morning,” he wrote. “@nypost should check their sources or they could have just asked us.” Rubio joined Trump and Infantino for this year’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Swiss-born soccer administrator has been friends with the president for years and spent much of the lead-up to this year’s World Cup flattering the president. He held press conferences in the Oval Office, allowed Trump to keep last year’s Club World Cup champions trophy, and even invented a fake FIFA “Peace Prize” specifically for Trump. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. All of that courting was intended to guarantee a smoother World Cup, which was held this summer in cities across North America, but has so far failed to stop the fallout from the privatization plan. The powerful Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body for 55 national soccer associations, has called for Infantino to resign, and officials at FIFA have launched a campaign nicknamed “Project Kill the Monster” to force him out, according to the Post. FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour told the AP on Friday that he wasn’t aware of the secret talks to create a new subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise to manage the privatization plan, and that he felt “deceived” by Infantino. UEFA has also threatened legal action and demanded that Infantino and other FIFA officials “preserve all documents” related to the abandoned deal, the BBC reported. When reached by the Daily Beast for comment, a spokesperson for FIFA said the organization “does not comment on speculation regarding internal relationships.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/fifa-boss-gianni-infantino-begs-white-house-goons-to-help-save-his-job/? ps:Well when you get in bed with a criminal you get what you deserve! And I won't be surprised if he throws him under the bus also!!!!!

Trump once again threatens massive escalation against Tehran only to walk back On Friday, President Donald Trump warned of a strong military response against Iran. But by late Saturday night, he declared on social media that there were signs of progress on negotiations and that he was calling off massive strikes for the time being. Read more. Why this matters: Trump may still come to the conclusion that a massive escalation in the conflict with Iran is necessary. But critics say his hesitation also might reflect an unspoken understanding inside the administration that U.S. military might alone may not be enough to compel Iran to back down and bring an end to a now monthslong war that Trump had earlier downplayed as a weekslong excursion. While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that is unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump says talks on Iran war will begin on Monday A timeline of Trump’s threats and olive branches in the Iran war Trump says Gulf leaders’ input weighed heavily in decision to hold off on ordering new Iran strikes

Senate showdown All eyes are on Michigan as voters head to the polls Tuesday for a marquee Democratic Senate primary that could shape the fight for control of the Senate. The contest will also offer a fresh test of the Democratic Party's direction, pitting a rising progressive candidate against a more moderate member of Congress. Democrats must first hold this open seat, vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, and then flip four Republican-held seats if they hope to reclaim the Senate majority they lost in 2025. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Michigan’s state primary Michigan voters will decide a competitive Democratic U.S. Senate primary Tuesday in a contest that not only has implications for control of the chamber next year but will also test the growing clout of the party’s progressive wing as well as that of a powerful pro-Israel organization. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Kansas state primary Kansas Republicans will narrow down a crowded field for governor in a state primary Tuesday as they look to retake the state’s top office after eight years of Democratic rule. Democrats will decide competitive primaries for governor and U.S. Senate, while Kansans across the state will consider whether to amend the state constitution to allow direct election of state Supreme Court justices. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Missouri’s state primary A St. Louis-area congressman faces a Democratic primary rematch Tuesday against the former congresswoman he previously ousted, a showdown that has again drawn the attention of a powerful pro-Israel organization. Read More. AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Washington state's primary Nine contenders for one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional seats will compete in the Washington state primary on Tuesday for two spots on the November general election ballot. Voters across Washington will also choose finalists for the state’s nine other congressional seats, as well as for the state Legislature and state Supreme Court. Read More.

Washington state fires Hundreds of homes and other structures have been destroyed as firefighters battle three major wildfires in Spokane County, Washington. No injuries or deaths have been confirmed, though officials say it will take time to assess the full extent of the damage. More than 60,000 people have been evacuated, and the fires have scorched over 7,000 acres with zero containment since igniting Saturday. Today, firefighters are expected to get their best weather conditions in days, offering a chance to slow the flames and make progress. Fires in Washington state have burned 600 structures and forced 60,000 evacuations The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city, burned about 8.2 square miles over the weekend. Read more. What to know: These blazes were among dozens of wildfires across the Western U.S. that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. Meanwhile, crews were fighting a fire that has burned nearly 525 square miles in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Spokane mayor says federal resources deployed How to protect yourself from the bad air caused by wildfires WATCH: Washington governor says he talked to Trump about wildfires Photos of wildfires in the US and Europe Water-dropping aircraft take off to tackle major Greek wildfire, after 2 killed in crash

'Anti-weaponization' fund President Donald Trump's attorney general nominee Todd Blanche said Sunday he is rescinding the president's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund after Senate Republicans threatened to block his nomination over the controversial agreement. The fund would have offered taxpayer money to people who claimed they were victims of weaponization by the federal government – including those involved with the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Blanche had already said the fund was dead, but by officially rescinding his previous order, he removes one of the biggest obstacles to his confirmation. ps:What? So he can re-bring it after his conformation?????

August 3, 2026 By Evan Gorelick Good morning. President Trump said that new talks with Iran would begin today. And Ariana Grande said she’d take a break from public life after her tour ends next month. There’s more news below. But first, we’re sizing up tomorrow’s primary contest in Michigan — and what it means for the future of the Democratic Party. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Representative Haley Stevens. Nick Hagen and Emily Elconin for The New York Times Michigan looks left Democrats are focused on Israel. There are plenty of other big, thorny issues at play this primary season — health care, taxes, immigration. But for many voters, the candidates seem to come in two flavors: Israel supporters and Israel detractors. So far, the supporters are getting crushed. Voters in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and New York have rejected them in favor of progressive candidates who have called the Gaza war a genocide and campaigned on stanching U.S. military aid to Israel. Each rebuke seems to deepen the sense that the party is drifting leftward. But these tests have taken place mostly in deep-blue districts. So tomorrow, when Democratic voters in Michigan — a swing state that went for Donald Trump in 2024 — pick their candidate in a do-or-die Senate race, the entire party will be watching. The matchup On the left side of the ring is Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate in a district north of Detroit. On the further-left side of the ring is Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official and professor. They’re competing for the seat held by Senator Gary Peters, a moderate Democrat. (He’s retiring.) The winner will face the Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman. Two years ago, Rogers ran for Michigan’s other Senate seat and lost by 0.3 percent, some 19,000 votes, to Elissa Slotkin, a moderate Democrat. Haley Stevens Stevens does not believe there has been a genocide in Gaza — and has received a record $30 million in advertising help from AIPAC, the nation’s leading pro-Israel lobbying group. (She once said at a Hanukkah celebration that “Israel comes to me in my dreams.”) Yet she has sought to shift the debate away from Israel. In an interview with The Times, she made it clear that she’d prefer to talk about rising costs and the struggles of manufacturing industries under Trump. Haley Stevens Emily Elconin for The New York Times Stevens, 43, has worked in and around politics since she graduated college, and she holds relatively few public campaign events. When she does, she speaks with a thick Midwestern accent that has been shared and memed ad nauseam. She has won over many Black voters with help from an old boss, Barack Obama. AIPAC shelled out more than $6 million on an ad showing Obama praising Stevens, who once served on a task force in his administration. (Obama has not endorsed her.) Stevens says she has the broad appeal needed to beat Rogers in the general election, and she’s backed by a parade of establishment Democrats in Michigan — Peters, Slotkin, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and beyond, including Senator Chuck Schumer. Read more about Stevens. Abdul El-Sayed El-Sayed is campaigning on a sharply anti-Israel platform that also calls for abolishing ICE, raising taxes on the rich and making Medicare available to all Americans. He’s a charismatic speaker who can draw a crowd. And he’s keenly aware that Democratic voters are in an anti-establishment, Israel-skeptical mood. He has called Israel’s government “evil” and hammered Stevens for her ties to AIPAC, a newly polarizing force in the party. He has refused money from corporate PACs and pulled in nearly $15 million from individual donors. Abdul El-Sayed Nick Hagen for The New York Times A Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants, El-Sayed, 41, would be the country’s first Muslim senator. He trained as an epidemiologist, became a professor and then led the Detroit Health Department. He ran for governor in 2018 but lost by more than 20 points. Now buoyed by young, white and college-educated voters, El-Sayed rallies with progressive luminaries like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders and the leftist streamer Hasan Piker. While many of his boosters label themselves as democratic socialists, El-Sayed does not identify as one, and he hasn’t been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Read more about El-Sayed. The stakes Democrats need to keep the Michigan seat blue and flip at least four Republican-held seats in other states to win control of the Senate. For progressives pushing the party to rethink its relationship with Israel, this race matters far beyond Michigan. Same goes for establishment Democrats feeling queasy about El-Sayed’s electability — and for some Jews fearing where he could take the party. But El-Sayed may be cruising. Polls released this past week showed him with a 10- to 19-point lead over Stevens. The online prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket are bullish; as of last night, they put his odds of winning at around 97 percent. Related: In the video below, Shane Goldmacher, our national political correspondent, explains why Democrats must defend the Michigan seat and why Republicans see an opportunity. Click to watch. The New York Times More races to watch tomorrow: Michigan’s Seventh congressional district, one of the most competitive in the country, will choose between Trump’s former ambassador to Ukraine (who resigned last year, protesting the president’s coziness with Russia); a retired Navy SEAL; and a progressive organizer backed by Bernie Sanders. The winner will face the incumbent, Tom Barrett, one of a handful of Republicans who have voted in favor of checking Trump’s authority to wage war in Iran. Missouri’s First congressional district will be a rematch between former Representative Cori Bush, a democratic socialist “squad” member, and Wesley Bell, a more moderate prosecutor who ousted Bush from her seat two years ago with heavy support from AIPAC. The pro-Israel lobbying group is once again spending millions to block Bush. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Todd Blanche Kenny Holston/The New York Times Todd Blanche confirmed in writing that the Justice Department would abandon elements of the deal it struck with Trump to resolve his I.R.S. lawsuit. Two Republican senators had threatened to block Blanche’s confirmation for attorney general otherwise. U.S. officials confirmed that the Treasury Department intervened last week to prop up the Japanese yen, which had been trading near four-decade lows. The Pentagon is relying on closed-door hearings to kick out transgender service members. Here's how they work. Around the World In Venezuela. Fabiola Ferrero for The New York Times More than a month after twin earthquakes, Venezuela’s coastal region of La Guaira — once a lively beachside escape — is completely disfigured. Record heat waves have given postal workers in France an additional role: checking in on older people. Two people died in Greece when helicopters collided while fighting wildfires. Morocco has been considered a North African success story. But the rush on the Spanish territory of Ceuta raises questions about the Moroccan economy. Other Big Stories The gunman who opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, was slowed by returned fire from an off-duty state trooper and a private citizen, the authorities said. Residents of rural Florida say that a major marijuana producer with ties to Trump is polluting water and spreading smells. OPINIONS The New York Times Ezra Klein says “The Odyssey” is the political movie of the decade. He explains in the video above. Baseball should remain imperfect. Enough with the robot umpires, J.R. Moehringer writes. Daniela J. Lamas, a pulmonary and critical care physician, once delivered dire news to a patient only for the patient to improve. Doctors shouldn’t be afraid to tolerate uncertainty, she writes. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS We’ve made these links free for you. Kerry Tasker for The New York Times Promise and peril: A unique tidal bore in Alaska can carry a surfer for six miles. It can also kill. Scheming bots: A.I. is being trained to copy almost everything people do. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the machines have started lying and cheating. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about a hike planned with Google Maps that took far longer than expected. Metropolitan Diary: A beautiful baritone. Horse whisperer: Monty Roberts rejected 4,200 years of conventional wisdom to embrace humane, nonviolent methods of training untamed horses. That won enthusiastic approval from Queen Elizabeth II, who became a friend. He died at 91. TODAY’S NUMBER OpenAI $70 — That is the price, not including tax and shipping, of an official ChatGPT tie-dyed basketball. Tech companies, once known for nerdy, low-key hoodies and sneakers, are getting fancy with their merch, often creating it in collaboration with hip brands and designers. Fashion critics aren’t impressed. SPORTS M.L.B.: The trade deadline is hours away and teams are making their moves. Yesterday, the Yankees acquired the Nationals infielder Luis García Jr., the Mets dealt the starter Freddy Peralta to the Rays and the Blue Jays sent the longtime starter Kevin Gausman to the Cubs. Soccer: Europe’s governing body for soccer has threatened legal action over FIFA’s failed private investment plan. RECIPE OF THE DAY Armando Rafael for The New York Times For a summertime update on a beloved Chinese dish, Hetty Lui McKinnon freshens up cold sesame noodles with crisp cucumbers, raw corn and aromatic basil. Her minimalist dressing brings together three flavor-dense condiments: chile crisp, sesame oil and sesame paste. No sesame paste? Tahini works, too. Toss with your favorite noodles. THE VOICE OF GOD As a U.S. secretary of state in “Lioness.” Lauren Smith/Paramount+ Morgan Freeman has voiced deities and presidents, and he is the go-to narrator for your favorite documentarian. At almost 90 years old, he still can’t understand the fuss over his voice. More on culture Here’s your recap of the latest episode of “House of the Dragon.” There still be dragons! “Awake Awake,” Fiona Mozley’s confident and unsettling third novel, suggests that childhood friendships may have a greater impact on our adult life than family relationships, our reviewer writes. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area in New Mexico. Bob Wick/Planet Pix, via ZUMA Wire See natural wonders without the crowds of a national park. Our Travel desk’s picks include ice caves, rugged gorges and something called the Alien Egg Hatchery. Read one of these 22 new books that the editors on the Book Review are looking forward to this month. Spend some time with Seurat. “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” is this week’s 10-minute challenge. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were channeled and dancehall. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

💰 Data du jour: Earnings bonanza Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios America's biggest companies are on a hot streak this earnings season: They're reporting double-digit profit growth in spite of high interest rates, higher energy prices and cautious consumer spending, the Financial Times reports ($). Stunning stat: S&P 500 companies are on track to report profits that are 47.4% higher than a year ago, according to FactSet. If that holds, it would mark the strongest quarter for corporate profit growth in five years — since the pandemic rebound. Nearly 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported profits that beat Wall Street's expectations.

🇻🇪 Venezuela oil logjam Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Nearly eight months after President Trump predicted U.S. companies would "rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry" to boost production, no new petroleum deals have been finalized with American firms. The U.S. Department of Energy is largely to blame, a dozen oil industry professionals, senior U.S. officials and Venezuela insiders tell Axios' Marc Caputo. 📈 Why it matters: The price of oil is climbing as the Iran war squeezes global supplies, spotlighting the absence of finalized deals in Venezuela — a nation with the highest estimated petroleum reserves on the planet. "We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem," a senior U.S. official told Axios. "The Energy Department is in charge of this and they have some explaining to do." The Energy Department and its defenders call the criticisms misleading and unfair. Between the lines: Trump's plan was complicated by two divides — one in his own government, the other in the oil industry. 🥊 Trump's administration is split between MAGA types and regulatory professionals: MAGA loyalists want Washington to heed Trump's Jan. 9 comments and force Venezuela's state-run oil company, called PDVSA, to quickly adopt common international industry contracting standards. The more cautious bureaucrats in the Energy Department, who have relatively little international oil-industry experience, advocated for a slower process, working more collaboratively with Caracas. 🛢️ The oil industry is split between major global firms that move relatively slowly and deliberatively, and smaller independent firms — nicknamed "wildcatters" — known for their speed and higher risk tolerance. The "majors," like Exxon and ConocoPhillips, publicly made clear they were cool to the idea of going back to Venezuela because of all the uncertainty. But several wildcatters were eager to get in. Keep reading.

Headless Dems Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images A special look for AM readers at Axios CEO Jim VandeHei's political briefing, published first in his weekly Axios C-Suite newsletter: You're probably 582 days from Democrats having a true leader who can show and shape the party's direction. Why it matters: Until Super Tuesday — that's March 7, 2028 — or well beyond, Democrats will be leaderless, and likely split between rising socialist energy and more traditional, establishment liberalism. 🔎 Zoom in: DNC Chair Ken Martin will likely get ousted and leave behind a hot financial mess and cashless dumpster fire, top Dems tell us. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) has a legit shot at rising to speaker. But he'd likely lack a big enough majority, as well as the instincts and ambition, to lead beyond the House. The future of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is fragile. If he doesn't win the majority, he'll likely be challenged for the top job. Then, he'll be preoccupied with AOC running for his Senate seat and ending his career. Even if she goes for the White House instead, his future at home and as party leader is in doubt. Barack Obama is the only Dem with true national sway — and he's made plain he wants to work things mostly behind the scenes (although he's headlining a redistricting fundraiser on Martha's Vineyard on Aug. 31). 👑 That leaves Bernie Sanders as the most powerful kingmaker for '28 given his network and sustained popularity. Advantage: AOC.

Winning the future Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images America has been napping or distracted by trivialities while China is racing toward the future, in part by taking advantage of President Trump's trade, immigration and budget policies. That's the eye-opening reality that Evan Osnos unfurls in a 12-page piece for The New Yorker, "The Future, Made in China." Why it matters: China could beat the U.S. to the future on a host of fronts, including engineering a cure for cancer. 🇨🇳 "For China, America's retreat comes just as decades of state investment, industrial policy, and diplomatic planning are paying off," Osnos writes. An American executive told him: "People in Washington are worried that biotech is the next E.V.s ... We've scared all of this f*cking talent back to China. If you look at the guys who are doing this, they used to work for Western pharma giants, or they were running a top university department somewhere." In a flex, China now welcomes Western influencers, investors and commentators on "tech tours" that yield "infrastructure porn" and "Chinamaxxing." 🛂 Being there: Osnos, who lived in Beijing for eight years as a foreign correspondent, returned for 10 days as part of four months of reporting. He says the capital is noticeably quieter than when he left in 2013 — "an awkward serenity to life in the capital of a high-tech, one-party state." "The vehicles, many of which are electric now, move silently through the streets, and in any case the residents have fewer reasons to go out; China has the world's busiest e-commerce market, and there isn't much that can't be delivered on the back of a scooter," he writes. "All day long, people scan each other's QR codes to swap cash on such digital-payment systems as WeChat and Alipay, feeding the algorithms an ever more intricate portrait of their movements and preferences." 👁️ The surveillance future is here: Osnos felt constantly watched — because he was, including psychologically. At an AI expo in Beijing, Osnos stood in front of a kiosk that took an emotional X-ray by measuring "micro-gestures" in his face. The results: He possesses 76.67% positive emotion and 23.33% negative emotion, split between fear and rage. The state can use such readings to zero in on potential disruptors. The same manufacturer makes a scan for schools that assigns pupils an alert level of red, yellow or blue. By the numbers: China produces 70% of the world's drones, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells, the magazine says, and "deploys more industrial robots than the rest of the world combined, and, in medicine, it has surpassed the United States in the number of registered clinical trials." China's shipbuilding capacity is 200 times that of the U.S. 💡 Between the lines: China's rulers avoid "overtly antagonizing America, because they believe that, even in decline, it remains uniquely dangerous." But Rush Doshi, China specialist at Georgetown and CFR, says that if the U.S. loses the next wave of industries — AI, biotech and robotics — as it lost on solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, "it would irreversibly change the balance of power." A think tank at Renmin University of China, in Beijing, published a report called "Thank Trump," which argues that his tariffs, attacks on allies and immigration policies have hastened the "twilight of an empire." The bottom line: A European diplomat who has attended meetings with Xi Jinping and his advisers told Osnos they're "feeling like the champions of the world." Keep reading.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 3 1958 Nautilus submarine travels under North Pole The U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1970s 1975 Boeing 707 crashes into a mountain near Agadir, Morocco Arts & Entertainment 1996 “The Macarena” begins its reign atop the U.S. pop charts 1977 “The Spy Who Loved Me” released in U.S. theaters 2008 Multimillion-dollar baby photos published Cold War 1948 Chambers accuses Hiss of being a communist spy Crime 1982 Sodomy arrest sparks controversy European History 1916 Sir Roger Casement hanged Exploration 1492 Columbus sets sail from Spain Sports 1949 NBA is born 1984 Gymnast Mary Lou Retton scores two perfect '10s' to win Olympic All-Around Gold U.S. Government and Politics 1795 Treaty of Greenville signed, ending the Northwest Indian War U.S. Presidents 1923 Calvin Coolidge takes oath of office after Warren G. Harding’s death World War I 1914 Germany declares war on France

A bolt of lightning can reach 53,540 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun, which is 10,340 degrees Fahrenheit. James