Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Trump fuels a furious World Cup debateTonight’s match between the United States and Belgium might very well be the biggest game in American men’s soccer history. Never before has the U.S. team won so many World Cup games and inspired such national glee around the sport. But the game, which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, has become the subject of an international controversy. The reason: Folarin Balogun, the top U.S. scorer, is now eligible to play after soccer’s governing body, FIFA, lifted a suspension he received for getting a red card during the last U.S. game. That extremely unusual move was quickly met with outrage in Europe and shock across the world (one American player said he initially thought it was A.I.). But debate reached a boil after President Trump’s personal intervention became known. Trump confirmed today that he had called FIFA’s leader to ask for a review, motivated in part by his belief that the referee who penalized Balogun was “suspect.” The president said he previously “didn’t know what the hell a red card was.” But then he found out: “I said, ‘You got to be kidding,’” the president added. “It wasn’t a foul.” Belgium challenged the decision, but FIFA denied their appeal. The debate over the decision is sure to continue, especially if the U.S. team wins. For many American fans, the outcome corrects what they saw as an unjust suspension. For others, Trump’s effort to exert his influence is no less unfair. For more:
Platner will take time to ‘reflect’ after sexual assault accusationGraham Platner, the Democratic Senate nominee from Maine, said today that he was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” after a report that a woman had accused him of sexual assault. He called the allegation “false,” but said he was “mindful of the political reality it will inflict.” It was not immediately clear whether Platner intended to continue his campaign to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican — a crucial contest in the battle to control the Senate. Democrats have until July 13 to replace him on the ticket, if he withdraws. Some Democrats, including Donna Brazile, a former chair of the party’s national committee, have already said today that Platner should step away.
Ukraine’s capital comes under attack ahead of NATO summitRussian forces fired nearly two dozen ballistic missiles at Ukraine this morning as part of their second major attack on Kyiv in recent days. The Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down none of the ballistic missiles, in another sign that the country is short on American-made Patriot interceptors, despite clever adaptations to use them efficiently. The attacks came on the eve of a NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey, where discussions are expected to focus in part on the alliance’s response to the war. The summit is likely to highlight Turkey’s increasing value in the eyes of NATO allies, overshadowing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on critics, who include a comedian who joked about him.
American A.I. makers complain about Chinese copycatsOne of the most prominent American A.I. companies, Anthropic, sent a letter to Congress last month accusing its Chinese competitors of unfairly copying its technology. Other U.S. labs have argued that China’s A.I. tools would be much further behind theirs if not for a technique called distillation. Our tech reporter Cade Metz explains how distillation works, why it’s a hot topic and what, if anything, can be done to stop it. For more: Philosophy degrees — once considered a ticket to underemployment — have become attractive to A.I. companies. More top news
Madonna revisits her roots in a new albumMadonna has tried for years to get a movie made about her early years, when she moved to New York from Michigan to try to make it as a dancer. In the meantime, she’s revisited those experiences, and the wounds and successes since, on her new studio album “Confessions II.” In it, Madonna teams up again with Stuart Price — the British producer and her primary collaborator on the album’s spiritual predecessor “Confessions on a Dance Floor” — and takes a tour through various dance music subgenres. Read our review.
What turns a scent into a sensation?Bath & Body Works hit the jackpot when it released Japanese Cherry Blossom in 2006. The fragrance, which smells of pear and basmati rice, has alone generated $1.5 billion in sales, making it the company’s top-selling scent. Now, as revenues have slipped, Bath & Body Works is spending millions of dollars in search of its next hit. My colleague Farah Stockman visited the company’s factory in “Beauty Park” — its tightly integrated hub of suppliers in Ohio — and talked to Mary Testa-Gough, its chief “nose,” about the process.
Dinner table topics
Bake an Atlantic beach pie to cut through the summer heat. Rewatch “Cliffhanger.” It is peak early 1990s action extravagance. Read “The Face,” a cultural unpacking of our most scrutinized organ. Focus on the ceiling at Grand Central for 10 minutes and see how it makes you feel. Take the latest Flashback history quiz. Play today’s Connections, |
