Good morning. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. While those of us in America celebrated the nation’s birthday, my colleagues in London, Lauren Jackson and Lara McCoy, kept track of the news. (They got an assist from Tom Wright-Piersanti, our resident soccer expert.) I’m going to let the team get us started with a buffet offering of all the latest, and then we’ll explore some cultural happenings and a fine recipe for Seattle-style chicken teriyaki. Let’s go!
A funeral in IranIn Iran, a funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — who was both revered and resented as the country’s supreme leader for decades — is entering another day. The caskets of the ayatollah and several of his family members are on display in Tehran, months after their deaths in airstrikes as the war began. Tens of thousands of Iranians have come from across the country to mourn and pray. Foreign officials, many from authoritarian nations, are using the gathering to hold diplomatic meetings in the city. Our colleagues traveled to the country, too, for the first time since the war started. They called the funeral “part farewell, part spectacle and part turning point.” (This link is free for you to read, along with some others in the newsletter.) Khamenei’s successor, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, is now in charge, but he has not been spotted at the funeral — nor seen in public since he was named supreme leader. While his government is trying to use the funeral’s pomp and circumstance to project strength, the city is pockmarked by damaged buildings, and Iranians are facing water shortages and electricity blackouts. Read more about the funeral here.
Looser gun rulesThe Trump administration is making it easier to own and use a gun. It is rolling back more than three dozen gun regulations, and its changes are expected to:
These moves aren’t a surprise. President Trump promised before the 2024 election to be “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.” Now, he is effectively restoring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to how it operated in his first administration. (Joe Biden signed new gun regulations after a series of mass shootings, and Trump is reversing them.) Still, critics say the changes will make Americans less safe. The moves, they worry, come as the bureau has already been weakened, with hundreds of its officials diverted to immigration enforcement. Read more about the changes here. (This link is free.)
Soccer shockerThe United States plays Belgium tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, in the World Cup’s round of 16. And in a surprise, the Americans’ top goal scorer at this tournament, Folarin Balogun, can be on the field. Balogun, who received a red card after a video review of a tackle during the Americans’ last match, was supposed to be suspended for the Belgium game. But Trump called Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, after the game and asked him to review the decision. Yesterday, FIFA announced it was setting aside Balogun’s suspension. “The reversal is highly unusual,” our colleagues write. It’s the first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear when he would have been suspended after a red card in a World Cup game. Belgium’s soccer federation reacted with fury and said it was “astonished by FIFA’s decision.” It has been granted the right to appeal the ruling. Infantino has spent years trying to curry favor with Trump. Last year, FIFA created and gave Trump a peace prize after the president’s failed public campaign to win a Nobel. More on the World Cup
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Dating a co-worker can be messy. It’s still worth a shot, Juno Kelly writes. A.I. won’t give us a four-day workweek — but executives could, if they valued employee satisfaction, Joanne Lipman writes. Barack Obama and Donald Trump represent completely different views of what makes America great, Ezra Klein writes. America needed an election between them. (This link is free.) Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today.
More than nostalgia: Members of China’s Gen Z are coping with high unemployment and low wages by posting hazy, low-res scenes from the 2000s online. It’s a new genre called Chinese Dreamcore. Click the video above to see more. Deep thinkers: A.I. companies are recruiting philosophy majors to help their bots and society navigate each other. (This link is free.) “Muslims Only”: A Texas mom wanted to throw a pool party where her community would feel comfortable. The response ravaged her life. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the movies that define America. Metropolitan Diary: A spontaneous parade. Influential chef: Bertrand Grébaut’s restaurant Septime changed the trajectory of French cooking, bridging the gap between formal haute cuisine and traditional bistro fare. He died of cancer at 44.
14— That is the weight, in pounds, of Mike Wallace’s three-volume unvarnished history of New York. The first volume, “Gotham,” written with Edwin G. Burrows, won the Pulitzer Prize. Wallace died yesterday at 83.
Women’s tennis: Naomi Osaka defeated Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to move into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time. Swimming: Summer McIntosh of Canada broke the longest-standing world record in women’s swimming, raising the bar in the 200-meter butterfly. Ocean rowing: Kelsey Pfendler became the first American woman to row solo from California to Hawaii. The journey of more than 2,300 miles took her more than 43 days.
I dig this recipe for a Seattle-style chicken teriyaki because it’s a little more glam than the traditional Japanese preparation. There’s cinnamon and pineapple in the sauce, along with sugar and soy sauce and a lot of garlic and ginger. Cornstarch gives it body. With rice and steamed greens, it makes for an excellent meal.
Most museums have a cardinal rule: No touching. London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, popularly known as the V&A, just introduced a big exception. When the museum opened an additional building last year, it decided to create something that would allow visitors “radical access” to its collections. Visitors to the V&A East Storehouse can roam the aisles looking at items displayed on shelves, or book one-on-one time with an artifact. Among those who visit the space: David Bowie fans. The museum acquired his archive in 2023. (This story is free to read.) More on culture |
