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Man extends an open invitation for people to eat apples with him in the park; hundreds of people show up. (More) Bystander wades into a creek to save a 60-year-old man who fell 120 feet in Glacier National Park. (More) Startup matches college students in need of housing with aging homeowners who need an extra hand. (More) A 66-year-old job seeker encourages other older Americans not to give up after landing a job following a 16-month search. (More) Former gang leader opens a nonprofit boxing gym to provide an outlet for young people. (More) Today, we're sharing a story from reader Lorie D. in Utah. "I had an emergency appointment with a specialist doctor in an unknown part of the city. As I followed my GPS, my phone died. I ran into a store and asked a kind woman if she would look up the doctor's address. But I had his name spelled wrong, as well. The woman called several specialists until she found the right place and name, and they agreed to see me. Then the woman went the third mile, and led me in her own car to the doctor's office! The over-stressed doctor saw me, though I was half an hour late getting there."

Depression stops the formation of new brain cells, according to new study. New neurons appear to stop forming in the hippocampus of adults with major depressive disorder. Because the hippocampus plays an important role in memory and emotional response, researchers believe this lack of new neurons may make it harder to adapt to stress. The finding challenges a long-held belief that depression stems solely from an imbalance in neurotransmitters and points to a potential new therapeutic target. (More)

Rare tornadoes hit New York City area amid East Coast storms. Tornadoes struck southern Queens, Long Island, and Delaware on Thursday night, damaging cabanas and buildings at a Long Island beach club. Two to three inches of rain were also reported across the area, with several reports of people trapped in their cars by flooding. No serious injuries have been reported as of this writing. Tornadoes are rare in the area because the Atlantic Ocean typically limits atmospheric instability. (More, w/video)

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO mentally fit to stand sex trafficking trial. A New York judge yesterday ruled that Michael Jeffries is competent to stand trial after being hospitalized for months with dementia and Alzheimer's symptoms. The 82-year-old is slated to go on trial alongside two codefendants in late October on allegations that they promised modeling jobs to lure men into drug-fueled sex parties. Jeffries led Abercrombie from 1992 to 2014. (More)

People age 100 and older appear to have elevated levels of a rare immune cell that kills cancerous cells, according to a study published this week. The finding suggests that late-age immune adaptations may play a role in longevity. Researchers in Japan tested blood samples from 28 adults divided into three age groups: 70 to 99, 100 to 109, and 110 and older. They found that the older participants, on average, exhibited a higher ratio of CD4 CTLs, a rare immune cell also found in people fighting cancer (immune system 101, w/video). However, these older participants showed no signs of cancer. The researchers believe elevated levels of CD4 CTLs may signal a new stage of immune development that emerges around age 100 and helps the body eliminate abnormal cells, which become increasingly common with age. Yesterday was the 117th birthday of the world's oldest living person, an Englishwoman named Ethel Caterham. The oldest living person on record died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. Explore how cancer develops and the future of treatments with 1440's expert-curated resources here.

‘They’re thinking about the likes’: deadly TikTok motorway trend horrifies Ireland Videos often begin with the camera panning across a glowing dashboard as a gloved hand starts the ignition. The camera turns to show figures with masked faces in the rear seat, who are also filming, and swivels back to show the windscreen. Beyond it, a dark cityscape. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/22/deadly-tiktok-motorway-driving-trend-horrifies-ireland?

Trump says he views strait of Hormuz as ‘American territory’ Donald Trump called the strait of Hormuz “an American territory” on Friday, as the US continues its military blockade of Iran’s shipping and ports while Trump’s administration struggles to end its war with the country. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/21/trump-strait-of-hormuz-american-territory? ps:How pathetic is that?? IndyCar race hits the streets around DC's National Mall this weekend. The first-ever motor race in the nation's capital is part of celebrations for the US' 250th birthday. Top drivers, including 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist, will race 147 laps around a 1.66-mile course at speeds up to 180 mph (take a ride along the track here). Preservationists have raised concerns that vibrations from the race could damage paintings in museums and historic buildings. (More)

‘She’s not afraid of anyone’: the prison writings of one of Hong Kong’s last outspoken democracy activists Chow Hang-tung has been detained since 2021, and written about everything from clothes to Tiananmen Square and the meaning of freedom https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/22/chow-hang-tung-tiananmen-prison-writings-hong-kong?

As Russian missiles rain down on Kyiv, casualties mount and the mood darkens Ukraine’s military has run out of US Patriot interceptors to repel ballistic attacks, which have one aim, the capital’s mayor says: to destroy morale https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/22/russian-missiles-kyiv-ukraine-casualties-mood-darkens?

Canada vows ‘dollar for dollar’ response as US puts 50% tariffs on some goods The US has imposed 50% tariffs on some goods from Canada, and Mark Carney, the country’s prime minister, has vowed to match them “dollar for dollar” after the collapse of trade talks. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/22/canada-tariffs-trump-trade-deal-talks-fail?

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 22 1851 U.S. wins first America’s Cup The U.S.-built schooner America bests a fleet of Britain’s finest ships in a race around England’s Isle of Wight. Today, the “America’s Cup” is the world’s oldest continually contested sporting trophy and represents the pinnacle of international sailing yacht competition. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1864 First Geneva Convention establishes Red Cross aid for war wounded American Revolution 1776 Redcoats land at Long Island Arts & Entertainment 1935 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx is born 1969 Zager and Evans end a six-week run at No. 1 with their smash-hit “In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)” Civil War 1862 President Lincoln replies to Horace Greeley Cold War 1968 Czechs protest against Soviet invasion Crime 1994 DNA testing links O.J. Simpson to murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman 1922 Irish politician Michael Collins assassinated 1911 Theft of “Mona Lisa” is discovered 1992 Shootings continue at Ruby Ridge European History 1849 Austria attacks Venice with balloon bombs, considered the first remote aerial attack 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field Inventions & Science 1962 Citroen helps de Gaulle survive assassination attempt Sports 1989 Nolan Ryan registers 5,000th strikeout 1965 Juan Marichal hits catcher with bat, instigating epic MLB brawl Vietnam War 1972 Demonstrators disrupt Republican National Convention in Miami Beach

August 22, 2026 Good morning. What makes a movie a summer movie? Is it the time of its release, or the way that it depicts the season itself? Or something else entirely? María Jesús Contreras Sun screen By Melissa Kirsch I saw “E.T.” at a drive-in movie theater on Cape Cod in the summer of 1982. The film itself takes place in fall (remember when they cloak E.T. in a sheet so they can take him trick-or-treating?) but it’s forever suspended in summer for me, inextricable from the sticky back seat and the sticky humidity in which I saw it. But “Die Hard,” which was released in the summer of 1988, takes place on Christmas Eve and — for me at least — is a winter movie. I’m sure I saw it the July it came out, but the film’s content transcends its summer blockbuster status. What makes a movie a summer movie? In 2000, Terrence Rafferty declared in The Times, “Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ created the Summer Movie as we know it: the action-heavy ‘thrill ride’ sort of picture, aimed at sensation-hungry younger audiences, which moves into theaters around Memorial Day and remains there, partying hard, until the school year starts up again in September.” “Jaws” continues to be as bound up in the mythology of summer as Popsicles and beach balls, though a piece by Stuart Klawans in 2002 blamed it for turning the beach into “a site of isolation, anxiety and horror,” one that foreclosed the insouciance of “Beach Blanket Bingo” and its ilk, and gave way to “Cast Away,” “Titanic” and other pessimistic seaborne tales. (Those each came out in December, for what it’s worth.) When I think about the movies that unfailingly evoke summer for me, I think of a feeling, a quality of light, an airy mood of expansiveness. The exemplar is the 1988 comedy “Mystic Pizza,” starring Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor and Annabeth Gish as three charming, brave, wisecracking pals working at their local Connecticut pizzeria the summer after high school. They each fall in love. They each have their hearts cracked, if not totally broken. They each presented to me, 14 when I first saw the movie, a romantic vision of what summer might look like when I was older, when I would have a job and go on dates and have my own heart broken. When I asked people about their quintessential summer films, the answers weren’t surprising, but, aside from “Jaws,” they also weren’t Big Movies. They were the ones with an atmosphere of summer, the ones whose mentions fairly conjure the itch of a mosquito bite and the smell of a bonfire: “Meatballs.” “Little Darlings.” “Dirty Dancing.” “Do the Right Thing.” They’re films that, no matter when you watch them, transport you to some deliciously unattainable past. Unlike songs of summer, which are artifacts of one specific year, movies of summer are perennial, evocative of every summer all at once. I haven’t seen anything yet this year that feels like it’ll enter the pantheon of eternal summer classics. “The Odyssey” probably isn’t a worthy contender, as entertaining as it is. But I’m planning to see “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” this week, which seems like it might hold genuine promise. THE LATEST NEWS Trade President Trump hit the Canadian steel industry with tariffs of up to 50 percent last year. Carlos Osorio/Reuters The United States will impose new tariffs on some $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, on top of hefty tariffs already in place on major Canadian industries, after the two countries failed to reach a deal before a midnight deadline. President Trump announced that he would allow ground beef to be imported into the U.S. with lower tariffs over the next 90 days. The news seemed to surprise and anger American ranchers. Trump Administration Chief Justice John Roberts said Trump could continue building his White House ballroom, for now, while the Supreme Court considers the case. Trump threatened to sue a liberal think tank for $5 billion for reporting that his National Guard deployments had little effect on reducing violent crime. The Trump administration has sharply slowed funding to Harvard University via the National Institutes of Health, despite a court ruling forcing the administration to undo cuts. Immigration A private prison company donated more than $1.4 million to Trump’s PAC shortly after the company was awarded lucrative government contracts to house immigrants awaiting deportation. The Trump administration approved a $5 million payment to Liberia in connection with a deal to send migrants there, internal documents show. At least five migrants deported to Liberia refused to get off the plane there. They were then taken to another country, Equatorial Guinea. More Politics The Pentagon fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet that covers the military, after it reported on deteriorating morale on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. A Times exclusive: Jessica Ramos, a New York state senator, has used campaign funds for travel while billing taxpayers for the same charges. Middle East In Tehran last month. Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times A top Iranian official said the country would seek to dampen the effect of economic sanctions after the Trump administration vowed to aggressively tighten them. The risk of a catastrophic oil spill in the Strait of Hormuz has increased as tankers navigate the waterway with their location devices turned off. A Palestinian teenager was killed after Israeli settlers entered a village in the West Bank. The Palestinian and the Israeli authorities offered conflicting accounts of the incident. Other Big Stories TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department during the Biden administration concerning the company’s collection of data from users under the age of 13. Much of Gary, Ind., has been without electricity for 10 days since deadly storms ripped through the city. Mark Zuckerberg bought an Irish castle. Giorgia Meloni reflected on her route from onetime outcast to prime minister of Italy in a rare interview with The Times. (Read takeaways.) THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV Photo Illustration by Zachary Balcoff/The New York Times. Photographs: Magnolia Pictures; Mubi; A24; Getty Images. The year of the sex mentor: In recent films, including “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” and “The Invite,” middle-aged gurus are helping younger characters relearn desire. Two (unrelated) movies about guys on a chaotic road trip — one called “Nimrods,” the other “Idiots” — are hitting theaters this month. Here’s how that happened. “It Ends,” a horror film about a road trip with no exit, is a taut, efficient thriller about the transition into adulthood, our critic writes. Music With the Kennedy Center shuttered for a two-year renovation, the National Symphony Orchestra plans to perform in six halls scattered across the Washington area. It will also embark on its first national tour in years. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is set to perform two stadium shows in St. Petersburg, Russia, this fall. The concerts would be the first in Russia by a major Western performer since the invasion of Ukraine. More Culture The New York Times A production of “Les Misérables” at Tuacahn in southern Utah, staged outdoors against the region’s dramatic landscape, may be the most successful in the theater’s 31-year history. Michael Paulson, a theater reporter, traveled there to explain why. Click the video above to watch. Our dance critic writes about the champion surfer Caitlin Simmers: “Surfing can be an art, motion turned into magic. Simmers takes that a step further by matching her personal rhythm to that of the sea.” Read her profile. Rachel Cusk’s new novel, “Life of M,” is full of details that echo the life and career of Natalie Portman — though the writer refuses to concede that it’s about her. It left our critic cold. Free this week: Play all 3 Crosswords. You can access every new crossword puzzle through August 23. Whether you have seconds or 60 minutes, there’s a puzzle for everyone. Start solving today. RECIPE OF THE WEEK Christopher Testani for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Zucchini Fritters Easy to make but hard to stop eating, Melissa Knific’s golden, vegetable-filled zucchini fritters are a great place to use up all the summer squash that’s in season right now. The trick here is to squeeze the zucchini in a kitchen towel to remove all the excess moisture. This ensures that they turn crispy as they fry, rather than steam. Serve them with something tangy on the side — either lemon wedges for squeezing or a punchy sauce like ranch dressing or tzatziki for dipping. REAL ESTATE Ann and Matt Miller Rodrigo Cardoso for The New York Times The Hunt: A pair of empty-nesters decided to relocate to Portugal, but Lisbon had become too expensive. A nearby coastal city won them over. Which home did they choose? Play our game. On the water: When three generations of the Schipper family escape their urban homes to gather at Lake Rosseau in Ontario, they don’t just live near the water — they live on it, in a boathouse. Miami millions: For the first time, living in South Florida costs more than living in the New York City area. Exhibit A: West Palm Beach has long been a working-class city. A single developer’s $10 billion construction plan is changing that identity. LIVING We’ve made these links free for you. A vintage onesie. Lexi Parra for The New York Times Vintage, baby: Parents have long dressed their children in hand-me-downs. But lately some are seeking items with a rarer provenance, and prices are becoming stratospheric. It’s still summer: A swim in wild waters can bring escape and exhilaration. Here are six places on state and national park land to backstroke, butterfly or just beat the heat. Melanoma F.A.Q.: This week, Merck and Moderna announced promising results from a clinical trial for an mRNA vaccine to treat melanoma. Here is the latest on what doctors know about the skin cancer. Always changing: Our writer noticed her feet had suddenly grown a size. Turns out, it’s a common sign of aging. Here are four other unexpected changes. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Kento Iida for NYT Wirecutter Tech tips for parents There are no universal guidelines for how to nurture kids’ relationships with technology, but after interviewing experts, combing through research and surveying hundreds of Wirecutter readers with kids under 18, we’ve compiled some advice — including when to introduce your teen to social media. Before setting up an account, start an open dialogue about how the algorithm works and how it can affect the way they feel. Turn on privacy settings. And remind your teen that future employers or college-admissions officers may look at their social media, so they should be cautious about what they post. Finally, build trust so they feel comfortable coming to you if they interact with something or someone troubling. — Ellen Lee NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was groundhog. 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 News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson

The A.D. and B.C. system was not proposed until 525 A.D. by a monk. However, it was not widely used until the 9th Century. James

US and Canada fall deeper into a trade war with new tariffs as talks collapse and blame is spread WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Canada, historic allies along an undefended border, fell deeper into a trade war Saturday marked by angry recriminations and new tariffs that are expected to raise prices for products in both countries. https://apnews.com/article/canada-us-trade-tariffs-trump-857ef76b20a766e370d70176135b678e?

Diminished Respect View in browser One of Donald Trump’s current favorite riffs is to contrast how (in his opinion) the United States was seen under his predecessor, Joe Biden, and how it’s seen now. “They didn’t respect us two years ago. They laughed at us. NATO laughed at us. Everybody laughed at us,” Trump said at a summit in Turkey with allies last month. “They don’t laugh anymore. There’s no more laughing.” He’s right. It’s worse than laughing—they’re ignoring the president of the United States altogether. Trump styles himself as an heir to Theodore Roosevelt, but where Roosevelt said that America should speak softly and carry a big stick, Trump speaks loudly and carries a small one. Roosevelt’s bully pulpit has been reduced to a bullshit pulpit. This week, Trump made two announcements that, in the past, would have shaken the globe. Speaking to Fox News’s Trey Yingst about negotiations with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.” In an ordinary world, such a threat would be a huge news event. Oman is not a hostile nation: It is one of the oldest U.S. allies in the Gulf region and has been a key intermediary in negotiations with Iran for years. Yet the news drew little governmental response. Neither Oman nor other U.S. allies in the region issued official comments or took any other action that suggested that they found the threat realistic. One possible reason for their muted response is that Trump has actually made this threat before: He said in May that if Oman didn’t cooperate with Americans’ plans for the strait, “we’ll have to blow them up.” Trump’s credibility has been undercut by his own capriciousness. Back then, he was threatening Oman over any negotiations that would imperil the neutrality of the Strait of Hormuz. On Tuesday, however, he posted a graphic on Truth Social that declared the strait a “NEW U.S. Territory.” (He’d previously said that he would soon declare it U.S. territory.) American annexation of an international waterway would represent a major shift in maritime legal precedent and require an enormous U.S.-military presence, but everyone knew that the pronouncement was nonsense. Trump has no means of controlling the strait, and The Washington Post reports that the Defense Department is actually considering a reduced regional footprint. Trump has also repeatedly promised that a deal with Iran is near completion, but after multiple false starts, these announcements fool only the markets. This is a big shift. During his first term, Trump garnered outsized attention for outrageous statements. In August 2017, for example, he created an international incident by threatening North Korea with “fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” Trump clearly delighted in how the press and global leaders would scramble to respond to these provocations, and some people argued that he was pursuing Richard Nixon’s “madman theory” of keeping adversaries off balance. One can draw a direct connection between the fire-and-fury threat in 2017 and Trump’s friendly statements about North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in the past week. But over time, the world has grown jaundiced about Trump’s threats. The good news is that few world leaders and observers feel the need to take Trump’s outbursts seriously anymore. Fire drills driven by Trump’s idle talk fatigue the media, the public, and geopolitical systems, and they distract from more important stories. But that’s also the bad news. First, some of the things that Trump says are very dangerous. His favoritism toward North Korea could destabilize the region and encourage South Korea and Japan—to say nothing of Iran and other rogue states—to pursue nuclear-weapons programs. Second, he does occasionally follow through; Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro may have thought that Trump was bluffing before he was arrested during an American incursion in January. Third, Trump needs credibility to enact his agenda, including to try to end the quagmire in Iran. On Wednesday, he said that he was “announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!” All-caps notwithstanding, this declaration didn’t receive a great deal of attention. (“They have no clear plan, unfortunately,” one Middle Eastern diplomat told NOTUS.) In order for the sanctions regime he envisions to have its greatest effect, Trump will need the cooperation of allies as well as rival powers such as China. But years of empty boasts and months of feints on Iran mean that other world leaders don’t really heed Trump’s statements. He’s failed to enlist key allies in the war effort, and China has declined to take any concrete action in the strait, despite Trump traveling to Beijing in May to pressure Xi Jinping. This diminished respect given to presidential statements is self-evidently bad for Trump, and it does nothing to make America great again. But it’s also bad for the world. Even now, no other country has the power the U.S. has to maintain order, and the closest challengers, Russia and China, pursue systems that are repressive and dangerous. The U.S. can regain credibility only by using its rhetoric more carefully and matching its actions to its words—two things that are unlikely to happen under Trump. If he wants to be believed, the president needs to either surrender some American influence or show that his threats are real, and neither option is appealing. The costs of not being taken seriously are very serious indeed. Related: Oman has gone from “indispensable” ally to target of annihilation. David Frum: Only losers play the madman.

An 18-year-old with a sword attacks a school in Sweden, leaving 1 dead and 2 injured An 18-year-old man with a sword attacked a school Friday in central Sweden, leaving one person dead and at least two others seriously injured, a police chief said. Read More.

National park maintenance work sidelined as Trump's Freedom 250 takes precedence The 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was just months away when National Park Service employees received a surprising directive from Washington: Maintenance projects approved for this year at sites across the nation were being relegated to a new “low priority” list. Read More.

US plans to pay $850 million of the $5 billion it owes the United Nations The U.S. government has notified Congress of its plans to pay $850 million of the several billion it owes to the United Nations, the largest payment the Trump administration would make to the world body since it demanded sweeping reforms in exchange for continued support as its largest donor. Read More.

Tesla recalls nearly 3M vehicles in China over door handle safety risks Tesla and other Chinese carmakers are making a major recall of more than 4 million vehicles over safety concerns mostly related to their door handles, according to Chinese authorities on Friday. Read More.

Uber fined nearly $1 billion by Dutch regulators over automated suspensions of driver accounts Dutch data protection authorities have fined Uber nearly $1 billion, saying the ride-hailing company used automated software to suspend driver accounts, sometimes permanently, with no human review to check for mistakes. Read More.

Cuba says US sanctions are blocking its efforts to open the economy to private investment The United States has demanded that Cuba open up to private investment, and Cuba has passed sweeping reforms to encourage just that. So Cuba’s U.N. ambassador says he wants to know why Washington keeps piling on sanctions that stymie the very economic opening it has sought for decades. Read More.

Here’s data that shows Congo’s Ebola outbreak is on track to surpass history’s largest The Ebola outbreak that is spreading at unprecedented speed in Congo has not peaked yet and could be three times the current known size, according to data from authorities and Africa’s top public health agency. Read More.

State Unemployment by Race and Ethnicity The second quarter of 2026 saw persistent racial inequality in unemployment rates across states https://www.epi.org/indicators/state-unemployment-by-race-and-ethnicity/?

In Trump’s economy, Black adults and their families face worsening job security and financial stability The Trump-Vance administration inherited a strong labor market with record employment and wage gains. But after a year of the administration’s economic mismanagement, workers are feeling more vulnerable to the softening labor market. While the president is busy touting the stock market’s performance, working people and families are expressing concerns about job security and affordability. This is evident in the Federal Reserve’s latest Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which shows an increase in the number of adults who worry about finding or keeping a job. More than 2 out of 5 adults reported concerns about finding or keeping a job in 2025, up from 37% in 2024. https://www.epi.org/blog/in-trumps-economy-black-adults-and-their-families-face-worsening-job-security-and-financial-stability/?