What we're watching today
Here's a glimpse at our top five stories, including editor commentary on each story, and a sample of our audio edition. You can test drive one edition before you’re asked to subscribe.
A threat by President Trump – repudiated even by allies – seemed to suggest that US international relationships are a one-way street: The United States gives; others receive. But the traditional view is that the US gets something back, too, in key regions of the world. Is it willing to give that up?
Let’s stay with the theme of unintended consequences. Just as a symbiosis has developed among nations, essential workers from abroad have become so deeply integrated in the United States that yanking their legal status could deliver a sharp blowback.
We’re seeing it all over: Increasing cultural sensitivity to issues of equality and tolerance can drive social evolution. Sometimes it’s grudging. In this case, it’s about self-preservation.
Here’s another piece about adaptation: Wherever you come down on genetically modified crops, it’s hard not to empathize with farmers in this central East African country. Their livelihoods have withered amid unrelenting drought, and innovation in irrigation has been too slow to arrive.
The seasonal food story is quite different in places of plenty. Christmas cookies are for many an annual indulgence. Your grandma’s offerings may still use whole sticks of butter. Your vegan niece probably subs pumpkin purée for eggs. And everyone hip is doing … herbal.
An excerpt from The Christian Science Monitor Daily Audio Edition
We think it is time to rethink the news.
News is essential. It is the fuel for a thriving democracy. It takes us to places and introduces us to people we never imagined. It defends our rights and values.
Over the Monitor’s 108-year history, we’ve built a legacy of high-quality, distinctive journalism because we recognize that news is more than facts. It’s the story of how we are each trying to make our homes, communities, and nations better. What matters are the values and ideals that drive us, not just the who, what, when, and where of the news.
When we understand that, we understand the world, and one another, better.
The Monitor gives readers that deeper insight by offering this approach to readers:
We challenge conventional thinking. As forces from politics to social media try to break us into competing tribes – political, racial, or economic – together we’ll rethink the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
We listen to you. We need you to hold us accountable – to keep us honest and grounded. To inspire us with what inspires you. Together, we can build a community of people who ask more from news.
We will change how you see news. News must be accurate and trustworthy, but facts alone can miss the whole story – the story of us. We are much better than much of today’s news portrays us to be. We will have the courage to look into both the best and the worst in us – and not to blame, but to demand better.
Journalism can be a force for good – for inspiration and progress. But only if we all make it so.
New technologies on the horizon will transform how we work and live.
Iran has achieved milestones of leverage and influence that rival any regional power in the past half-century. While there are limits to how far it can extend its authority, Tehran’s rapid rise poses new challenges to the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia as it undermines their previous dominance. How far can Tehran extend its reach?
One method of stemming greenhouse gases – by pruning excessive undergrowth that prevents forests from flourishing – is one of a slew of quixotic ideas being worked on by scientists and researchers around the world to help solve what could be the dominant issue of the next 100 years.
More and more, white Middle America is being repeopled with newcomers of color, bringing a workforce to agricultural jobs, a vibrancy to decaying towns, and a mix of welcome – and suspicion – from older residents.
In Tulsa, Okla., philanthropist George Kaiser is mounting one of the most ambitious efforts in the US to help the poor.
In 2016, more than 20 percent of American voters cast their ballots on voting machines that did not produce a verifiable paper trail. For experts, that's a gaping vulnerability, but one that can be addressed. Part 3 of 3.
Enjoy a thoughtful evening read.
Enjoy a longer, more in-depth read.