Author: Michelle Korhonen
The United States is in a moment of democratic crisis, and the Supreme Court has no idea what to do.Today, the Court held in Trump v. Anderson that Colorado cannot disqualify Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot as an insurrectionist, a decision that functionally dooms the existing efforts to bar Trump from the presidency under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. On its face, the ruling is straightforward. All nine justices agreed that states do not have the power to disqualify candidates for federal office. Looked at more closely, though, that seeming unanimity papers over a roiling disagreement among…
Queen Camilla will become the first consort to hand over Maundy gifts when she stands in for King Charles at the annual service this month.Camilla, 75, will deputise for Charles, who is continuing to receive treatment for cancer, when the ancient ceremony is held at Worcester Cathedral on March 28.At the service, the Queen will present ceremonial coins to 75 men and 75 women on Maundy Thursday, as per Easter tradition, in recognition of their community service.It will be the most significant royal event the King has been absent from to date. Since his cancer diagnosis, Charles has postponed all public-facing…
OPill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill available without a prescription, is shipping to retailers nationwide.
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.In our April cover story, my colleague Franklin Foer explores how anti-Semitism on both the right and the left threatens to end a period of unprecedented safety and prosperity for American Jews—and the liberal order they helped establish. Frank and I chatted last week about the past and future of anti-Semitism, and about some lesser-understood moments in American Jewish history.First, here are four new stories…
Electric vehicles may release more pollution than petrol-powered vehicles, according to a report that has recently resurfaced.The study, which was published in 2022 but has begun circulating again after being cited in a WSJ op-ed, found that brakes and tyres release 1,850 times more particulate matter compared to modern exhaust pipes which have filters that reduce emissions.It found that EVs are 30 percent heavier on average than petrol-powered vehicles, which causes the brakes and tyre treads to wear out faster than standard cars and releases tiny, often toxic particles into the atmosphere.Hesham Rakha, a professor at Virginia Tech told Dailymail.com that the…
A patient is transferred to a hospital after receiving medical care at an improvised military aid station set up to treat suspected cases of dengue fever in the administrative region of Ceilandia, on the outskirts of Brasilia, on Feb. 6. Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images A patient is transferred to a hospital after receiving medical care at an improvised military aid station set up to treat suspected cases of dengue fever in the administrative region of Ceilandia, on the outskirts of Brasilia, on Feb. 6. Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images It…
The justices did not want to throw Trump off the ballot, and so they didn’t.Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty.March 4, 2024, 3:15 PM ETIt was always unlikely that the Supreme Court, with its right-wing majority, would uphold Colorado’s ruling throwing Donald Trump off the ballot merely because he tried to execute a coup after losing the 2020 election. As the unanimous per curiam ruling issued Monday overturning Colorado’s decision suggests, a Court made up of nine liberal justices may not have done so either.That’s because sustaining the Fourteenth Amendment’s bar on…
The Old World has new problems. Over the course of 2023, the European economy saw close to zero growth. The continent’s two largest national economies—Germany and the U.K.—may both be in recession. Flagship European companies such as Volkswagen, Nokia, and UBS have collectively announced tens of thousands of layoffs. Angry farmers are currently blockading roads in and out of Paris, and tens of thousands of German transport workers have recently walked off the job. The approval ratings of some European heads of state make Joe Biden look like JFK. And recent polling shows that support for far-right parties is surging…
Dec Donnelly fought back tears during a heart-warming moment where he was shown never before seen pictures of his late father on Capital Radio.When TV duo Ant and Dec appeared on Roman Kemp’s Capital Radio Breakfast Show on Saturday it was straight into game mode.Dec was put directly in the hot seat, with the radio host, 31, asking him to guess which staff member was his long lost relative. However, the TV presenter quickly became teary-eyed after old photos of his deceased father Alphonsus Donnelly, unexpectedly emerged in the guess who game.Dec’s father, 78, passed away in hospital on August 19, 2011 after a…
The first time I heard about the jhanas, they sounded too good to be true. These special mental states are described in the sacred texts of an ancient school of Buddhism. Today, advanced meditators usually access them by concentrating on something: a flame, their breath, the sense of loving kindness. The meditators unclench their minds bit by bit, until they reach a state of near-total absorption. If they direct that focus in just the right way, a sequence of intense experiences ensues, beginning with bliss and ending with full-body peace. The jhana bliss state is not like the little uptick…