The latest issue of New York magazine features a long, bizarre, amazing story by Kera Bolonik about a hapless Harvard Law professor, Bruce Hay, who managed to get duped by two apparent grifters, Maria-Pia Shuman and Mischa Haider, one a lesbian and one a transgender woman, into believing that he had fathered a child with […]

VIENNA, W.Va. — You might think that since President Trump opposes abortion, he’d want to help young women get birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancy. You might think that someone who claims to be “pro-life” would want to help young men and women get cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. But new Trump […]

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Harvard professor and four-term United States senator from New York, famously observed, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Today, everyone is entitled to his own facts, or their own facts, since even grammar has changed. The message from the Trump White House, and from […]

More from our inbox: To the Editor: Re “Russians Hunted Election Defects in All 50 States” (front page, July 26): Why is the report from the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee so heavily redacted? Is it to try to limit speculation that Russian efforts actually changed the outcome of some 2016 elections (including perhaps the election […]

This is more of a question than a statement, more of a query than a definitive. Reading reports about B.C. murder suspect Bryer Schmegelsky‘s interest in video games, and taking the games so seriously his peers would begin to feel uncomfortable, raises the question gamers and many in the tech community express distaste for. Namely, […]

For one Kansas City family, a home renovation project became a historical discovery when they found treasure hidden in their front porch. While remodeling the front portion of their home, Danielle Molder’s family stumbled on collectible beer cans and whiskey bottles dating back to the 1940s — just after the end of the Prohibition era, […]

To the Editor: Re “Biden and Sanders Feud Over Health Care Policy, Escalating Their Attacks” (news article, July 19): With most Democratic candidates raising their hands to eliminate private insurance, and with the majority of Americans, even Democrats, fearful of such radical change, I propose “Medicare for all” with an opt-out that allows people to […]

Two pit bulls escaped from their cages overnight at an animal shelter in Alabama, killing 29 cats in a neighbouring enclosure. Staff at the Dothan Animal Shelter say they were shocked by the scene when they opened the facility on Thursday morning. “These dogs just went on a rampage,”  shelter director Bill Banks told local […]

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering Boris Johnson’s hard-line stance, a new report on Russian election interference, and the record-breaking heat in Western Europe. Boris Johnson pushes a hard line Britain’s new prime minister culled about half of the cabinet he inherited from his predecessor, Theresa May, […]

Silly season is upon us but it’s no laughing matter. It’s actually hard to describe how depressing the situation is. We live in an era that is both perilous and unpredictable in equal measure. A few weeks ago, there was an assumption in Government circles than once the Conservative leadership contest was won, Boris Johnson […]