All Activity

🏆 Tourists discover America Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images The World Cup is generating an army of modern-day Alexis de Tocquevilles discovering America — a huge moment for U.S. soft power as the country nears its 250th birthday with a mixed global reputation at best, Alex Fitzpatrick writes. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Boston welcoming Scottish fans is the off-the-pitch story of the tournament so far. The Scots seem enamored with Beantown, and vice versa. They drank the Sam Adams brewery dry. They brought soccer superfan energy to Fenway (one lad took home a souvenir). They're cleaning up after themselves, too. 🇩🇪 Then there's "Freddy," the Germany fan whose low-budget odyssey across America has gone viral. His awe-inspired takes on U.S. arenas, food and even gas stations (Buc-ee's and Waffle House got rave reviews) have captured the hearts of millions of Americans, helping us see ourselves only the way an open-minded tourist with fresh eyes can. Scotland soccer fans cheer on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park last Sunday. Photo: Natalie Reid/MLB Photos via Getty Images 🇯🇵 A Japan supporter has racked up over 16 million views on their downright poetic missive about free chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant. "In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling." "Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner. This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: We trust you. Eat." ♻️ Like the Scots, Japanese fans are also winning over hearts and minds with their tradition of cleaning up arenas after games.

🇨🇳 Trump's ode to Xi President Trump had glowing praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping in his interview for "The Axios Show," calling him one of the world's greatest leaders, Axios' Josephine Walker writes. Trump told Axios' Marc Caputo that all great leaders share one trait: intelligence. He singled out Xi as especially sharp. "They're all smart," Trump said. "You can't get to that level without being smart. You know who is very smart ... President Xi of China. He's a very smart man. You don't get to those levels where you are running a country, even if it was a small country, you have something special." 💪 Trump praised Xi for being a "strong man. He's no games. He won't sit down and say: 'Oh, what a beautiful day. ... Look how beautiful. Look at the sunshine.' There's none of that stuff. It's like all business, which I like. I think it's great." "[H]e's got a great look. Looks don't matter, right? ... They say: Don't talk about looks. But he's tall. He's 6-foot-2. He's got a great stature. He's got great confidence, and he is smart." Reality check: Xi is usually described as being around 5-foot-11. 🎬 Watch the episode.

Tech moguls as heads of nation-states Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images It was a historic, even jarring, scene that captures a once-unimaginable geopolitical ordering. The world's most powerful heads of state gathered in the French Alps this week for the annual G7 summit, with the CEOs of America's dominant AI companies seated and treated like heads of nation-states themselves. Why it matters: This is the future many leaders and AI CEOs envision — heads of state and the masters of tech in constant discussion, and sometimes conflict, over who controls AI, its rules, and its application to governing and world security. Think of Anthropic vs. Trump as merely a small test run of this dynamic, with governments battling private companies over their products' threat to U.S. or global security. AI CEOs sat around the table with leaders of the world's democracies, treated as peers. The companies, creating the world's future economy and security infrastructure, are now the equivalent of nation-states. 📷 In the photo above, you see President Trump (upper left above) flanked by OpenAI CEO Altman at his right and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, a Nobel laureate, on his left. The G7 host, French President Emmanuel Macron (upper right above), is flanked by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. 🕶️ Altman was swarmed on Wednesday as he entered the summit room in Évian-les-Bains for a working lunch with the heads of actual states, with ministers and cabinet members from around the world straining for a look. Altman held bilateral meetings — bilats, in diplomatic shorthand — with many of the heads of state. He heard again and again that the countries want the AI companies as dependable partners. "Do not cede your responsibilities to AI labs like mine," Altman said in closed-door remarks. He later added: "No single lab should be making the decisions." Amodei, Altman and Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang each posed with Macron for bilat photos with the French flag behind them, in the chair typically occupied by a president, prime minister or chancellor. 🎤 The working lunch was closed to the press. But I've confirmed remarks by the three AI titans. Each urged Western powers to work together to be sure democracies continue to dominate AI. Keep reading for a quote from each. 📱 Go deeper: Watch Marc Caputo's post-G-7 interview with President Trump.

A snag in UF presidential approval process The University of Florida may get another interim president before it finally gets someone in the role full time — although he’s the same guy they approved last week for the job. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/18/a-snag-in-uf-presidential-approval-process/? To veto or not? All eyes are on DeSantis, sovereign immunity bill Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently pushed for a major overhaul of property taxes paid to cities and counties, will soon decide whether to increase the amount of money local governments and the state must pay out in negligence lawsuits. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/16/to-veto-or-not-all-eyes-are-desantis-sovereign-immunity-bill/?

Several years ago, Spectrum recommended following the lead of GLAAD in relating to homosexuality. GLAAD is a pro-gay public relations firm, among other things. GLAAD "envisions a world with 100% LGBTQ acceptance." https://glaad.org/advocacy-and-accountability/ GLAAD is/was quarreling with, among others, the New York Times, J.K. Rowling, whoever who does not support their agenda: Fact Check: The New York Times’ Response to Mom of Trans Teen in Shareholder Meeting: “What Steps Are You Taking to Be Accountable?” | GLAAD J.K. Rowling | GLAAD

Trump-Friendly Studio Abruptly Drops Movie About Tech Giant Amazon ditched a film portraying Sam Altman as a schemer after striking major deals with his company. Amazon MGM has ditched its nearly finished film about controversial OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman after becoming entangled in Altman’s company. In February, Amazon committed to investing an eye-popping $50 billion in a partnership deal that would vastly expand OpenAI’s use of Amazon Web Services and develop custom AI models for Amazon. The companies also signed a $38 billion cloud computing deal just last year. Amazon is now hunting for a “new home” for Oscar-nominated director Luca Guadagnino’s celeb-studded movie Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield, that focuses on the time Altman was briefly fired and rehired as head of OpenAI in 2023. The film had been slated for release later this year or in early 2027, and is expected to be in contention for awards season. “We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker—not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue,” an Amazon spokesperson told Variety. “We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio.” The Daily Beast has reached out to Guadagnino for comment. The director was handed the bad news by Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios chief Mike Hopkins, who decided to dump the movie. Hopkins reportedly pulled the plug after viewing a cut of the film, as Puck first reported. A draft of the script portrays Altman as a schemer intent on turning OpenAI from a nonprofit to a money-making machine, with one computer scientist describing the CEO as “one of the most manipulative people on the planet,” according to Puck. The film, written by Saturday Night Live alum Simon Rich, also stars Anora actor Yura Borisov as Israeli engineer Ilya Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit. Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, Zosia Mamet, and Ike Barinholtz (as Elon Musk) co-star. Artificial would have been Amazon MGM’s third collaboration with Guadagnino, following After the Hunt and Challengers. Amazon isn’t saying why it’s dumping the film, although the company would clearly have a conflict of interest in how it portrays a major new industry partner. The apparently dark view of Altman would also be awkward for Amazon, especially as both Altman and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have been cozying up to 80-year-old Donald Trump. Altman and Bezos are friends, and Altman attended Bezos’ Venetian wedding last year. They’re both busy cultivating a positive relationship with Trump and his administration. Altman was one of a number of U.S. tech leaders who appeared with Trump at the G7 summit earlier this week, urging world leaders to embrace AI. Amazon’s Hopkins was at the red carpet premiere of Melania, the gushing documentary on the first lady, which took place at the temporarily Trumpified Kennedy Center earlier this year. The film cost Amazon some $75 million to release—and flopped big time. https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/trump-friendly-studio-abruptly-drops-movie-about-tech-giant-sam-altman/? ps:How pathetic!!

Trump Floats Bonkers New Theory for Reflecting Pool Disaster A video highlighting fresh problems at the algae-filled Reflecting Pool sparked an extraordinary accusation from the president. President Donald Trump has found a new suspect in the mystery of the National Mall’s struggling Reflecting Pool: ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl. The president delivered a Truth Social tirade on Friday night, accusing Karl of trying to damage the landmark after a video of the correspondent inspecting the pool circulated on social media earlier this week. “Lightweight ABC Reporter, Jonathan Karl, was seen sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface,” Trump wrote. The bizarre accusation appeared to be a response to video posted on Thursday showing Karl at the Reflecting Pool while reporting on its ongoing algae and maintenance problems. In the video, Karl can be seen reaching into the water to examine the condition of the newly renovated attraction. “The $14 million job to redo the bottom of this reflecting pool is falling apart before our eyes,” Karl said in the video. “The algae is still here, but the paint appears to be going away.” Trump responded by accusing unnamed vandals of damaging the site and pouring chemicals into the water, while also suggesting Karl himself had attempted to pull up the lining. The president offered no evidence for the claim but said law enforcement was investigating. He also insisted the algae problem was “75% gone” and would soon be fully resolved. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. The Reflecting Pool has become an unexpected headache for the White House after Trump personally championed a plan to repaint the basin in what he called “American flag blue.” The project was originally expected to cost about $1.8 million and take a week to complete. Instead, it stretched for nearly two months and ultimately cost taxpayers an estimated $14 million. The problems began almost immediately after the pool reopened earlier this month. Within days, a major algae bloom turned much of the water green, undermining Trump’s promise of a more picturesque landmark. Researchers who analyzed satellite imagery later found higher algal levels in the pool than at any point in June over the previous five years. Federal workers have since spent days vacuuming algae from the 6.5-million-gallon pool and treating the water with hydrogen peroxide. The project has also drawn scrutiny over the awarding of a $1.7 million water-purification contract to a company linked to longtime Trump donor, and convicted felon, John J. Cafaro, according to a New York Times report. Department of the Interior spokeswoman Katie Martin said the agency had no idea about Cafaro’s political ties and chose Greenwater because it “had the expertise, workforce and materials” to finish on time, she told the Times. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-floats-bonkers-new-theory-for-reflecting-pool-disaster/?

Felon Trump Pal Behind Green Slime Fiasco Exposed Questions are swirling about the process behind the award of a $1.7 million contract to a longtime Trump donor. The man whose subsidiary company was awarded a no-bid contract to remodel the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been unmasked as a two-time felon and deep-pocketed MAGA donor. A company owned by John J. Cafaro, whom President Donald Trump has called a “fantastic man” despite a pair of politics-related felonies, installed a water-purification system to prevent algae bloom in the pool—an installation that so far appears to be failing miserably. Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Hugh Dougherty and Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles broke down all the questions surrounding Cafaro and his relationship to Trump on The Daily Beast Podcast. “How could he possibly get into this?” Dougherty asked. “We don’t really know, because it is a no-bid contract that is shrouded in secrecy.” Dougherty, who notes that some are comparing a photo of a cigar-smoking Cafaro to “Fat Tony” from The Simpsons, rattled off what we do know about the businessman’s relationship with Trump. Cafaro is a longtime Trump donor with a mansion in Palm Beach, near the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate. He has been praised by Trump (he called him a “fantastic man” in 2016) despite spending time in jail for making an undisclosed $10,000 “loan” to his daughter, Capri Cafaro, during her unsuccessful run for Congress in Ohio. Cafaro spent five days in the hoosegow in 2010 over a judge’s dissatisfaction with his financial disclosures. He was ultimately released and sentenced to probation and a $250,000 fine. Dougherty’s comments follow revelations in The New York Times that Cafaro, who also once pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to bribe a congressman, has donated $350,000 to PACs supporting Trump since 2016. Cafaro’s company, Greenwater Services, was awarded a $1.7 million contract for the reflecting pool gig by the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service. The contract did not have to go through a typical government bidding process because the Trump administration deemed it a priority, allowing the president to have his “American flag blue” reflecting pool installed in time for the America 250 celebrations. Reached for comment, the White House claimed there was no favoritism in the administration’s selection of a company that has ties to a longtime donor. “This contract was awarded by the Department of [the] Interior; the White House did not play any role in the selection process,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Daily Beast. “The failing New York Times’ continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and further reinforce the public’s distrust in the news media, which is already at an all-time low.” Beyond questions about the nature of the contract are criticisms that Trump may have blown through $14 million in taxpayer dollars—more than seven times the amount initially proposed—to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, only for it to fill with green sludge two weeks before America’s 250th birthday. The pool holds about 6.5 million gallons of water, and has a surface area of more than 300,000 square feet. On Thursday, around half of the surface water remained green. Now, Park Service employees are resorting to pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool in an attempt to kill off the algae. Coles asked Dougherty if there was any chance the pool would be glistening blue in time for the July 4 celebrations. “Anything’s possible,” he said, before noting that things still appear to be moving in the wrong direction, as The Washington Post reported that satellite imagery shows there is more algae in the pool this month than in any of the last five Junes. “So can it be fixed? Maybe,” Dougherty said. “I’m not sure that the individual gallon bottles of unbranded bleach are the way. And as you see, the clock is ticking to July 4... It doesn’t look like it. [The algae] seems to be going up, not down.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-j-cafaro-felon-trump-pal-behind-green-slime-fiasco-exposed/? ps:What a pathetic group of geniuses this administration is!!

Trump’s Kennedy Center Humiliation Fuels Fresh Conspiracy Theories A week after a judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the building, massive tarps still block the public from seeing the result. President Donald Trump’s name may be gone from the Kennedy Center, but a week later, nobody outside the building can prove it. That simple fact has fueled a fresh round of conspiracy theories and accusations surrounding the president’s controversial takeover of America’s premier performing arts venue. Enormous tarps have been draped across the front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since June 13, when workers moved in overnight to comply with a federal court order requiring that Trump’s name be removed from the building’s facade. But Kennedy Center officials insist there is nothing mysterious about the cover-up. “The scaffolding and tarp will remain up as crews address maintenance needs of the marble and soffit panels,” spokeswoman Roma Daravi told The New York Times. The explanation has done little to satisfy Trump’s critics. Ohio Democrat Joyce Beatty, who helped challenge Trump’s Kennedy Center overhaul in court, accused the president of trying to hide an embarrassing defeat. “Donald Trump is embarrassed,” Beatty said in a statement to the Times. “He lost in court, his name came down, and now he is trying to hide the result from the public.” Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin went further, calling the situation “a literal cover-up.” “Trump and his team got caught vandalizing federal property by posting graffiti with his name on the Kennedy Center and a judge shut them down,” he said. Actor Tommy Gedrich, who is appearing in Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the center, also questioned the explanation. “I think it doesn’t take that long to preserve marble, but also what do I know about preserving marble?” he told the Times. Trump’s relationship with the Kennedy Center has been turbulent since he seized control of its board in February 2025 and installed loyalists who later voted to rename the institution in his honor. The move sparked boycotts from performers, donors, and audience members, while several high-profile artists publicly distanced themselves from the center. In May, a U.S. District Judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the building and all official branding, ruling that the change violated the center’s congressional charter. The ruling triggered a furious response from Trump, who accused “Radical Left Democrats” of caring more about opposing him than preserving the arts center. His allies unsuccessfully attempted to block the removal of the name before the deadline expired. By the evening of June 12, hundreds of spectators had gathered outside the Kennedy Center waiting to witness the sign come down. Instead, workers arrived in the early hours of the morning and covered the facade with giant tarps. Beatty has since asked the court to force Kennedy Center officials to explain under oath why the tarps are still in place and when they will finally come down. For now, the giant coverings have become a spectacle themselves, keeping the fight over Trump’s name alive long after the sign itself has disappeared from view. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Kennedy Center for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-donald-trumps-bizarre-kennedy-center-coverup-fuels-conspiracies/? ps:Absolutely Pathetic!!!!!

June 20, 2026 Good morning. New York City’s temporary transformation by the Knicks’ resurgence offers a glimpse of a kinder, more connected world. María Jesús Contreras Game change By Melissa Kirsch Everyone in New York City is talking about the Knicks, but perhaps as notable as the team’s winning the N.B.A. championship after a 53-year drought is the fact that people here are talking to one another at all. The city’s famous indifference, the anonymity-preserving armor that most inhabitants wear every day, has been disintegrating since the N.B.A. finals began, and seemed to disappear entirely after the Knicks won the chip. In this transformed city, previously forbidding strangers are transformed into fellow fans. A blue-and-orange hat is a symbol of fellowship, license to start a conversation in line at the deli. You could stand in silence while waiting for the elevator, or you could ask the person next to you if he saw the game. You could let the old man in the Knicks Forever tee with matching neon sneakers shamble on by, or you could nod and give him a thumbs-up, which, miraculously, is returned. The feeling is one of temporary wonder: Can you believe Brunson and Co. came through? Can you believe you and I are talking to each other right now? New Yorkers mythologize their tendency to mind their own business as a form of self-sufficiency and sophistication. Unflappable, unconcerned with others, a perfect performance of what the sociologist Erving Goffman called “civil inattention,” acknowledging strangers with a respectful glance that never engages. Elsewhere this behavior would be seen as cold, antisocial, but in New York it’s become a modus vivendi. But regardless of where you live, you’ve likely experienced that feeling of separateness from the people around you. People are going about their lives, busy with their families and jobs, often too preoccupied to acknowledge others. It’s only when that invisible armor falls — when someone ventures a “How are you?” at the gym, when the cashier asks if the probiotic soda you’re buying is any good — that you realize you’ve been keeping yourself separate. New York in the thrall of the Knicks presents this shift in the extreme. It’s a crucible, a laboratory of connection made all the more notable for the trademark dispassion it’s replaced. I want to bottle this connection, this communal experience that’s so precious because it is, as my colleague Matt Flegenheimer put it, “good, gleeful, uncomplicated.” Knicks fever has given people an entrée to communicate with people they wouldn’t otherwise, a rare pathway to intimacy. Now that we’ve experienced it, now that we’ve admitted we want to connect with one another — that it feels good to chat and high-five and smile at people we don’t know — how do we perpetuate it? The British anthropologist Victor Turner called it “communitas,” that feeling of ecstatic kinship when our usual scripts are dispensed with, when we replace society’s regular structure with this warm “humankindness.” I’m already grieving the return to normalcy that will follow communitas, the inevitable retreat back into our eyes-down, you-talking-to-me bubbles of self-regard. But Turner cautioned against trying to institutionalize the good feeling. He saw resumption of normal life, with its clear boundaries and customs, as essential for a functioning society. People, he said, “return to structure revitalized by their experience of communitas.” If we can remember what it felt like to be this uninhibited, if we can remember that the guy we’d never in a million years think to talk to was once the guy in the OG Anunoby jersey we spent 10 delightful minutes dissecting plays with at a street-corner watch party, who knows what else is possible? The new season tips off in October. THE LATEST NEWS Iran Peace Deal Aftermath of a blast in Tyre, Lebanon. Hassan Ammar/Associated Press Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran were delayed amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel later committed to an immediate cease-fire, an ambassador said. But the U.S. believes Israel is likely to continue military action in Lebanon, according to an intelligence report. The shaky peace deal and tenuous negotiations have added to the chaos and confusion for ships in the Strait of Hormuz. In his first public comments on the deal, Iran’s supreme leader said he disliked signing it “as a matter of principle.” Few nations have more to gain from the preliminary deal than India, which has been running dangerously low on fuel. Politics A National Park Service crew cleaning the Reflecting Pool on Friday. Alex Kent/The New York Times Washington’s Reflecting Pool seems to be rejecting its makeover: The water remains murky, and pieces of its new “American flag blue” coating are peeling off. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked the promotions of around 20 female and minority officers, and possibly more. That isn’t a coincidence, The Times has found. Inside Hegseth’s war on diversity. The Trump administration plans to begin phasing out AIDS funding for South Africa, according to a State Department statement. Other Big Stories The dramatic explosion of a fuel storage facility in Moscow this week, which sent its lid soaring, seemed to symbolize Ukraine’s resilient strength. But the blast may have been caused by an errant Russian defense missile. A Knicks superfan in Los Angeles cheered so loudly that neighbors reported a possible emergency. A responding police officer killed her dog. Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the season, has drenched a swath of the Southeast from Texas to the Carolinas. At least three people have died. THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV Ariel Fisher for The New York Times Matt Smith, the former “Doctor Who” star, plays a murderous prince in the upcoming season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.” Blood spatter looks great on him. “Toy Story 5” finally puts Jessie, the cowgirl doll voiced by Joan Cusack, in charge. The character was originally envisioned as a talking succulent called Señorita Cactus. Robin Hood is usually seen as a noble outlaw who confronts tyranny. But what if he was actually a marauding killer? Michael Sarnoski’s “The Death of Robin Hood” takes that idea seriously. James Burrows, a master of the TV sitcom who helped create “Cheers” and directed more than 1,000 episodes of other shows including “Taxi,” “Frasier” and “Friends,” died at 85. Music Popcast’s semiannual mailbag episode is back. Is Geese the Joe Biden of rock? Was Maroon 5 a pop-rap gateway drug? Do people think Adele is lazy? Listen here. Laufey, the Grammy-winning Icelandic vocalist, keeps dissonance at the center of her creative process. Read her essay about it. A judge ordered a man to stay away from the pop star Sabrina Carpenter for five years after he tried to get into her home more than a dozen times. More Culture Mathias Eis The American artist James Turrell invites viewers to gaze up through an opening inside a huge dome in his latest “skyspace” installation. Restorers have fixed a gap on the side of the Parthenon, the grand temple in Athens, that had been empty for more than 220 years. Subscribers always win. Here’s why. You can now save 75% on your first year of a New York Times Games subscription. Discover all of our word and logic games (and play past puzzles), earn badges for your achievements, plus more. Time is running out though, so subscribe today. REAL ESTATE Kare and Scott Beckett Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times The Hunt: With about $600,000 to spend, a couple and their two young kids searched for a three-bedroom home in Atlanta. What did they pick? Play our game. What you get for $1.875 million: a converted firehouse in Milwaukee; a 19th-century house in Salem, Mass.; or a house with water and mountain views on Bainbridge Island, Wash. For sale: One seven-story basket. Used to be a company headquarters. Asking price: $8.5 million. LIVING Karsten Moran for The New York Times Hugo spritz: Has the Aperol spritz met its match? Black market: People are buying what they believe to be a weight-loss drug from WhatsApp groups and Chinese labs. What is it, really? Male mental health: Dads get postpartum depression, too. Researchers say men are at highest risk three to six months after their babies are born. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER How to pick the perfect vacuum There are countless vacuums on the market. Selecting the right one comes down to the kind of home you live in and your priorities. If you despise lugging out an unwieldy machine, get a cordless stick vacuum. If you live in a larger home, have wall-to-wall carpeting or deal with shedding pets, a plug-in upright or canister vacuum can give you the deepest clean, removing fur and dust and filtering allergens. Finally, for anyone in a smaller, pet-free apartment with only a couple of rugs, a robot vacuum may just do the trick. — Evan Dent WORLD CUP Alex Freeman of the U.S. scores against Australia. Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press The United States beat Australia, 2-0, in a feisty and physical game before a rowdy Seattle crowd. It’s the first time since 1930 that the U.S. has started a World Cup with two wins, and the Americans are now assured a spot in the knockout rounds. They have looked so good that U.S. fans are starting to wonder: Could this team actually, you know, do it? Other results from yesterday: Morocco all but sealed its place in the knockout rounds with a 1-0 win over Scotland. Brazil earned its first win of the World Cup with a 3-0 trouncing of Haiti. Week 1 breakdown There’s lots of soccer to be played still, but we now have seen every team take the pitch at least once. The Athletic’s soccer experts reflected on the first round of group play. Here are a few of their takes: Most impressive team Simon Hughes: France. They weren’t great against a very powerful opponent in Senegal and still won, 3-1. Most disappointing team Charlie Scott: Ghana. The only way they could score against Panama was from three yards out, in front of an open goal. Best player Carl Anka: It’s still Messi. His remarkable hat trick against Algeria reminded us that he is (probably) the greatest player to ever do it. After one round, who do you think is going to win it? Jack Lang: On the basis that you shouldn’t let one result overturn an opinion you have held for months, I’ll stick with Spain. Matt Slater: Is it really being left to me to say it? Do I have to? Cowards! It’s coming home. (England.) NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was immediacy. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa 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

THIS DAY IN HISTORY June 20 1975 “Jaws” released in theaters "Jaws," a film directed by Steven Spielberg that made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opens in theaters. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1875 Mountain man Joe Meek dies American Revolution 1782 Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States Arts & Entertainment 1981 Stars on 45 single reaches the top of the pop charts Asian History 1900 Boxer Rebellion reaches Peking’s diplomatic quarter Civil War 1863 West Virginia enters the Union Cold War 1963 United States and Soviet Union agree to establish a nuclear “hot line” Crime 1947 Bugsy Siegel, organized crime leader, is killed European History 1789 Third Estate makes Tennis Court Oath Inventions & Science 1941 Ford signs first contract with autoworkers’ union World War I 1919 German cabinet resigns over Versailles deadlock

Communities across China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival yesterday as competing teams paddled colorful, long dragon-shaped boats through rivers and harbors before crowds of spectators. See photos here. The holiday dates back more than 2,000 years; it's traditionally linked to a poet and government official named Qu Yuan, who, according to legend, drowned himself in China's Miluo River after his kingdom of Chu fell to the rival state of Qin. Villagers raced out in boats to search for him and tossed rice into the river to protect his body from fish, inspiring today's races and the festival food zongzi, a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in leaves. Dragon boats can stretch more than 40 feet long and require crews of up to 20 people paddling in sync to the beat of a drum. The dragon symbolizes power and good fortune in Chinese culture. Watch how the boats are built here.

‘A kind of massive rave’: Paris braces for 2m revellers as Fête de la Musique returns amid heatwave warnings Officials expand safety measures as French capital prepares for huge annual street celebration https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/20/paris-braces-tourist-influx-street-festival-fete-de-la-musique?

Cabinet loyalists tell Starmer he has the weekend to set out timetable for exit Ministers say PM faces being forced out by party if he does not act, with one calling his departure inevitable https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/19/keir-starmer-pressure-andy-burnham-wes-streeting-allies-not-fight-leadership-challenge?

‘It’s Russian roulette’: alarm as Europe backs critical minerals mines in water-stressed regions Exclusive: European Commission planning to rewrite key law to allow water-intensive mines in regions suffering from drought https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/20/europe-backs-critical-minerals-mines-water-stressed-regions?

‘It’s a big mistake’: Israelis feel betrayed and angry after Iran peace deal In ‘middle Israel’ there are fears Iran could rebuild stronger – and there is particular ire for Donald Trump https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/20/israelis-betrayed-angry-after-iran-peace-deal-donald-trump? ps:And don't forget your own PM he's as much to blame as trump!! Trump hails Iran deal that fixes nothing except a problem his war caused Deal will leave things almost exactly as they were before feckless war of choice started https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/15/analysis-us-iran-peace-deal-nuclear-talks-resume? ps:Exactly!!!!!!!!!! US and Iran to talk Sunday in Switzerland as Tehran says it closed Strait of Hormuz again TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue Saturday for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop. https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-israel-lebanon-hezbollah-june-20-2026-6e23fb5f37e23427dbfc2bc80c59bda8?

We’ve been here before, and we know what comes next White supremacy has always been used to usher in massive economic inequality https://www.epi.org/blog/weve-been-here-before-and-we-know-what-comes-next-white-supremacy-has-always-been-used-to-usher-in-massive-economic-inequality/? Trump unveils new Air Force One, a converted Qatari 747 New craft, called VC-25B Bridge, had provoked protest since $400m jet wildly exceeds limit on unsolicited gifts https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/19/trump-air-force-one-qatar?

Nicodemus and Jesus have the famous John 3:16 conversation in this episode. The writers of The Chosen have both Matthew and Nicodemus struggling to understand what the miracles of Jesus mean. The two characters are coming from opposite ends of the religious spectrum. Nicodemus is a highly respected scholar among the Pharisees. Matthew is a tax collector who has sold his soul to Rome and willingly cooperates with them to oppress Israel. Two distinct reactions take the two characters on two different paths to the light their eyes have been opened to. Matthew immediately accepts the invitation to follow Jesus. He abandons everything. He is drawn to Truth. This is an example of a sudden conversation. The writers of The Chosen have Jesus invite Nicodemus to follow Him and that is not in the Bible. However, it does represent a class of people that hear the gospel and are slow to respond. This type of conversion is what the psychologist, William James, called the educational variety. The person approaches truth as a skeptic but with a willingness to learn and give up previous beliefs they held as true. The complete conversion of Nicodemus does not happen until much later in the ministry of Jesus. However, at this point we see the wheels begin to turn. I identify with the educational variety of conversion because that is how I came to Christ. I was raised in a back-slidden Seventh-day Adventist home. I quit attending church on a regular basis after 8th grade. I had doubts not only about Adventism but about Christianity itself. Statistically it was highly unlikely that I was born in the "true" religion and if I was, it was even more unlikely that I was born into the denomination with the most "light". I started on a spiritual quest in college that eventually brought me to the Adventist church which was not where I expected it to take me. Matthew was the great sinner. His conversion was sudden. Nicodemus was the religious scholar. His conversion took time. God is patient and His love is never ending. Both types of conversions are authentic and probably have a lot to do with the person's cognitive development in childhood and the young adult years. Those that convert suddenly need the support of friendship and to be given responsibilities in the church. They can fall away. Those that experience the educational variety of conversion need church members not to give up on them. Once their conversion happens, they do not fall away often and are very loyal believers.

PALERMO, CA – An officer with the Oroville office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has received California’s highest honor for bravery after his rapid response helped save the lives of two kindergarten students wounded during a shooting at Feather River Adventist School, according to a report by Hannah Gutierrez of KRCRTV News. https://atoday.org/chp-officer-receives-californias-highest-valor-award-for-response-at-feather-river-adventist-school/ ps:So after posting this article it seems that there's a problem clicking on the link: "according to a report by Hannah Gutierrez of KRCRTV News. Not sure if they've changed something or the article was deep 6ed??

Statues of Mysterious Classical Figures Found Near Caesarea A spectacular discovery has emerged near the town of Binyamina along the coast of Israel. Archaeologists uncovered two marble statues, known as protomes, depicting the head and upper torso of Greco-Roman figures. The statues date to around 1,700 years ago and were found in an unusual context: buried face down inside the wine pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress. Oddly, the statues were deliberately placed there, face down, when the winepress went out of use. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/statues-of-mysterious-classical-figures-found-near-caesarea/? Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible After two decades toiling in the quiet groves of academe, I published an article in BAR titled “Archaeology Confirms 50 Real People in the Bible.”a The enormous interest this article generated was a complete surprise to me. Nearly 40 websites in six languages, reflecting a wide spectrum of secular and religious orientations, linked to BAR’s supplementary web page.b Some even posted translations. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/did-jesus-exist/?

In Trinidad and Tobago Erton Köhler calls Adventists to be available for God to use them. https://adventistreview.org/news/be-part-of-gods-miracle-gc-president-tells-mission-leaders-and-hopefuls/

In general, the SDA Church welcomes all at their worship services who come in peace and do not disrupt the services. Yes, I have attended SDA Churches where such a homosexual couple came in peace and was welcomed to worship, but not to become members. Ther is an exception to the above. People convicted, or perhaps charged, with criminal activity, such as sexual crimes, may be highly restricted from worshiping in a SDA congregation. They may be allowed to attend if certain restrictions are followed. They may be restricted from all contact with children. They may be required to have an adult monitor with them at all times while on church property. They may be required to agree that their past history can be made public to all to are interested it. I agree with the above.