Severe weather has gripped the globe this week, with record-shattering, deadly heat in Western Europe. In the US, heat, wind and drought conditions fueled wildfires in the Southwest, while heavy thunderstorms, wind and floods caused destruction in eastern and central states.

Scientists attribute these extremes to fossil fuel–driven climate change. Europe’s heatwave would have been “virtually impossible to occur at this time of year” 50 years ago, scientists from the World Weather Attribution group reported. The project’s Theodore Keeping of Imperial College London told reporters (EuroNews, 6/26/26):

When JD Vance spoke at the Richard M Nixon presidential library last week about his new book on his journey from atheism to an allegedly devout Catholicism, he raised eyebrows by minimizing Watergate. “The idea that it [took] down a presidency is crazy,” he said. He said it was the “deep state that took down Richard Nixon”– not the 37th president’s implication in serious crimes.

Commentators were shocked. Did the vice-president not know that the investigation proved Nixon directed a conspiracy to bribe the men who broke into the Democratic party headquarters to lie in court from a secret, illegal slush fund?

We are in a health care crisis. Our system of care is beyond dysfunctional, driven by profit, and unable to serve the Americans who are the most vulnerable.

In my congressional district, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), the state’s largest safety net hospital, narrowly avoided closure last month after the Minnesota legislature reached a one-time funding deal to bring it back from the brink. That’s a huge relief for thousands of Minnesotans, but it’s just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.

Donald Trump’s visit to Évian and Versailles offered this Geneva resident an unusually close look at the American president as the local press reported on all the ins and outs of his drop-by. While much of the commentary has focused on the G7 and the very thin memorandum of understanding with Iran, what stood out was Trump’s conduct. His declaration that “I’m the boss,” his hostility toward journalists, and the pageantry at Versailles all reinforced the image of a president increasingly drawn to the trappings of royal power. Trump turned the visit into another display of self-aggrandizement, reinforcing his image as the “Ugly American.”