| THE LATEST NEWS Around the World |
A rebel group in Myanmar claimed responsibility for the assassination of a high-ranking election official for the military junta on Saturday.
Barlocco Island in Scotland is hard to get to, has zero amenities and costs $186,000. Buyers are lining up.
An Italian ferry immortalized in a Leonardo da Vinci sketch has stopped running because of a drought and an abundance of bureaucracy.
Other Big Stories
The “decarb bros” want to ditch the gloom of earlier environmentalism and focus on what new technology can do.
The Red Cross expressed alarm about the health of aging prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
Britain’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, resigned on Friday after an investigation found he had bullied subordinates.
From Opinion
We must challenge the misperception that a gun in the home makes people safer, Nicholas Kristof writes.
Eating fewer animals is a good way to slow climate change, even if you don’t go vegan, Peter Singer says.
“Abortion breaks God’s heart!” Damon Winter photographed anti-abortion billboards along Florida’s highways. See the images.
A Morning Read
Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times
For centuries, families in the Belgian town of Geel have taken in people with mental illnesses. Since the 1860s, the town has had its own state psychiatric hospital, which is the anchor and the safety net for the program. It is increasingly seen as a humane alternative to the neglect or institutionalization of those with mental illness found in other places.
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
Wrexham’s Hollywood promotion: How Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s hands-on approach helped the Welsh soccer team secure promotion in a true Hollywood ending.
Twenty years on from one of the greatest soccer matches ever played: Manchester United and Real Madrid’s epic showdown in 2003 transcended the sport, and helped usher in a new era of financial might and political meddling.
Manchester United must sell players before it can spend: The Premier League club needs cash to rebuild its team. These are the options for its head coach, Erik Ten Hag.
From The Times: Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the women’s race in the London Marathon despite having trained during Ramadan, a month of fasting. Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya won the men’s race, posting the second-fastest time on record: 2:01:25.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Giacomo d’Orlando for The New York Times
Looking for darkness in the outback
Last week, I traveled to the huge and empty state of Western Australia to report on a total solar eclipse that was visible from only four places on land — including a tiny, remote town that welcomed some 20,000 astronomy enthusiasts.
A few days before the eclipse, my colleague and I drove a little way into the outback to go looking for stars in Western Australia’s pristine dark sky.
Most people live with some level of light pollution. A third of the Earth’s population cannot easily see the Milky Way, the galaxy in which we live, and for most residents of the E.U. and the U.S., what scientists know as “night” never really comes. But you don’t have to travel far in Western Australia to see your place in the universe.
After driving for 20 minutes in our rented pickup truck, we stopped at a scrubby patch of ground off the main highway. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, the Milky Way came gradually into view and more and more stars slid into sight. The three studs of Orion’s Belt sparkled like jewels. The Southern Cross reminded me where we were, down at the bottom of the Earth.
And then, out of nowhere, a shooting star.
