Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Iran and Israel pull backIran and Israel said today that they were halting a military escalation that had threatened to push the Middle East back into full-blown war. The two sides had traded strikes for the first time since a cease-fire was reached in April. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that its “fire is on hold” after it launched two waves of airstrikes across Iran, including against the country’s largest petrochemical complex. In a phone call this morning, President Trump had asked Netanyahu not to carry out more strikes on Iran. The president told the Israeli leader that he believed the U.S. was close to a deal with Iran, although there have been no public signs of a breakthrough. Iran, too, said that it was ceasing its attacks after it had fired ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for attacks against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. Still, both countries warned that they stood ready to resume fighting. For more:
Trump nominates Blanche for attorney generalThe president announced today that he had nominated his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as the next attorney general. As the acting head of the Justice Department for the last two months, Blanche has remained a loyal and trusted ally of the president. Blanche may not have sufficient support in the Senate to be confirmed. A recent meeting between him and Senate Republicans was described as blistering, with many of the senators sharply criticizing Blanche after he signed off on Trump’s $1.8 billion fund. In other Trump administration news:
Unraveling the scandal behind Mexico’s World Cup jerseysA recent viral social media video claimed that Adidas had exploited Indigenous women to sew Mexico’s World Cup jerseys. Many Mexicans were outraged. But when my colleagues visited the artisans, high in the mountains of central Mexico, they found a different reality. Many of the artisans, a group of 150 Nahua women, told us that the compensation for their work was just, the schedule was flexible, the location was convenient and, for now, the work was consistent. Now, they fear that the negative attention will scare away future employers.
The N.B.A. finals arrive at Madison Square GardenIt’s sure to be an exciting night in New York, where the Knicks host the Spurs for Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. We’re covering it live: Trump will be there, and so will Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Ahead of the game, my colleague Jessica Testa, a Knicks fan, sent along a postcard from the city. Here’s her dispatch: We all have our ways of coping with anticipation — that dangerous feeling of hope. Over the weekend, a young New Yorker performed a kind of public incantation, reciting “Brunson” 100,000 times outside the Garden. Knicks fans congregated at the Spurs’ hotel to heckle them. Abuelas prayed. Later this week, a Brooklyn funeral home is hosting a watch party. There seems to be a free pass on open weeping: “All the boys were hugging and crying,” my friend Sam texted after attending game 2 in San Antonio, where she sat beside a Knicks fan who told her he had spent $3,000 on airfare alone. (The fan planned to return to New York at midnight on a private jet. OK!) “It was a beautiful, beautiful sight.”
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Other Big Stories
Broadway’s biggest night was full of highlightsLast night’s Tony Awards spread the love around. “Death of a Salesman” collected the most statuettes, with six wins, including for best play revival. Three other shows won four awards, including “Schmigadoon!,” which was named best new musical. And Times readers agreed with all but one of the top awards. Also:
Should your child major in A.I.?Dozens of U.S. colleges and universities now allow students to get A.I. degrees, up from just 5 in 2021. In theory, it makes sense: Future employers may want workers who are adept at using it. But in practice, my colleague Alan Blinder found, the brand-new A.I. programs vary significantly. Alan traveled to two different universities in North Dakota to learn about their A.I. degrees. Here’s what you should consider before enrolling in such a program. Related: Doctors have started using specialist chatbots. So have mathematicians.
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