Wednesday, 26 Jun 2024

Iran, Democratic Debate, Harriet Tubman: Your Friday Evening Briefing

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. “Well, Iran did do it.”

President Trump said in an interview with “Fox & Friends” that there was no doubt that Iran was behind the explosions that crippled two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman this week. He also warned Tehran not to try to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for the world’s oil supplies.

The explosions have raised tensions yet again between the U.S. and Iran, whose relationship, our Pentagon correspondent explains, faces diplomatic, economic and military challenges. Above, an Iranian navy patrol boat reportedly approached one of the tankers.

Washington’s history of hyping intelligence is also weighing on European governments, who are suspicious of Mr. Trump’s hawkish stance toward Iran.

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2. A misinformation campaign by groups linked to Russia tried to depress voter turnout last month in parliamentary elections, a European Commission review said.

A report found “a consistent trend of malicious actors” who tried to “promote extreme views and polarize local debates.” The campaign included topics like immigration and events like the cause of the Notre-Dame fire in Paris. Above, voting last month in Barcelona.

Separately, President Trump appeared to backtrack on accepting campaign help from Russia or other foreign governments without telling the F.B.I. In an interview on Friday, he said he would “absolutely” report such an encounter.

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3. Can liberal democracy survive Europe?

It’s a question the team at “The Daily” has been tackling this week in a five-part series. After stops in Germany, above, France, Italy and Poland, here’s our reporter’s main takeaway: Europe cannot be taken for granted. But neither can its demise. Listen to the entire series here.

On Sunday, our TV show, “The Weekly,” heads to the U.S.-Mexico border, where our immigration reporter found the youngest known child separated from his parents at the border by the Trump administration. Here’s a preview.

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4. And now, back to U.S. elections.

The lineups for the first Democratic presidential debates are out, with 20 candidates split between two nights. Joe Biden will share the stage with Bernie Sanders on one night, and Elizabeth Warren will face off against Beto O’Rourke another. See the matchups here.

We’re 12 days until the first debate, and 508 days until Election Day (who’s counting?). Here are the latest data and political analysis to track how the 23 Democrats who are running are doing.

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5. We got a look at a preliminary design of the Harriet Tubman $20 bill.

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, recently delayed its release by six years, but a previously unreleased image reveals a portrait of the former slave and abolitionist that was completed in late 2016. Mr. Mnuchin told Congress that new security features under development made the 2020 design deadline set by the Obama administration impossible to meet.

Separately, Augustine Tolton took the first step toward sainthood this week. He was born a slave, fled to freedom and became the first African-American priest in the Catholic Church.

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6. Nazis killed her father. Then she fell in love with one. Now their billionaire descendants are facing the awful truth about their past.

After the war, Albert Reimann Jr.’s fervent Nazism and abuse of forced laborers did not stop his family from attaining colossal wealth. Known today as JAB Holding Company, it is worth more than $20 billion and owns Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Peet’s Coffee, Stumptown Coffee Roasters and other breakfast brands.

In response, the Reimanns have pledged to fund multiple projects that “honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and of Nazi terror,” among other initiatives. Here’s how the conglomerate flourished over the years.

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7. The Toronto Raptors’ season began with failure. It ended with the team’s first N.B.A. championship title.

Toronto’s defeat of the Golden State Warriors came after gambles that many basketball executives wouldn’t have been willing to take, our basketball reporter writes. Here’s how they did it.

So what’s next for the Warriors after a rash of injuries? It’s a little complicated.

From one championship team to another: The U.S. women’s soccer team returns to the field to play Chile. Pursuing an unusual path probably kept U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan out of the last World Cup. It has put her front and center in this one.

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8. In news from our Science desk:

Scientists have little trouble tracking a wandering herd of elephants. But hoverflies? That’s tougher. Researchers in Britain used radar to track the species, like the one above that picked up lady bugs, and discovered a vast ecological force, estimating that up to four billion hoverflies migrate in and out of southern England each year.

And killifish turn up in all kinds of strange places. One place scientists in Brazil didn’t expect to find them was in swan poop. Understanding which fish eggs can survive the passage through a bird’s gut could help with the containment of invasive species.

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9. “I want to create drag for our people.”

Ana Masreya, whose drag name means “I’m an Egyptian woman” in Arabic, envisioned a North African and Middle Eastern cabaret that would celebrate diversity and fuse her love of drag with her love of Egyptian culture. So she decided to make her own show.

But long before there was Ana Masreya, there was Mr. Dan, an impresario in Los Angeles who has been staging his own “weird brand” for 25 years.

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10. And finally, students take the helm.

The assignment seemed simple enough: Build a boat with your schoolmates that will not sink in New York’s East River.

For the better part of the year, an after-school program in New York City helped students build Optimists, or Optis, vessels a bit over seven feet long that are designed for small, light bodies. This week, a small flotilla of Optis, each one of which had been built inside classrooms across the city, set sail, holding one student-builder and one adult.

“I didn’t know I could do all this,” one seventh-grade sailor said.

Have a breezy weekend.

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