Today's Liberal News

Photos of the Week: Portland Moms, Beach Astronauts, Fire Whirl

A cheetah at rest in Kenya, flamenco dancing in Spain, tennis at a Berlin airport, a giant spoon on an English trail, a baby hippo in Mexico, an online mud festival in South Korea, the night sky above Syria, wildfires in Greece, concerts in Australia and Germany, a Chinese mission to Mars, and much more.

Federal judge issues restraining order against Trump’s federal agents in Portland

Six days after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon added agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and United States Marshals to its existing lawsuit against the City of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Donald Trump-deployed secret police. 

The original class-action lawsuit was filed June 30 on behalf of journalists and legal observers.

Listen: $600 a Week

In a few days, 30 million Americans will lose the $600 boost in unemployment insurance they’ve depended on every week. What happens next?Annie Lowrey, staff writer and author of Give People Money, joins to explain. Listen here:Subscribe to Social Distance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published.What follows is an edited and condensed transcript of their conversation.

The Atlantic Daily: The Pandemic Population Lull

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.SHUTTERSTOCK / THE ATLANTIC1. The pandemic, and its aftereffects, could stifle U.S. population growth.The country’s birth rate, for example, will likely decline. “Between births and deaths, we’re talking about more than half a million people missing from the U.S.

A Faraway Solar System Is an Uncanny Reflection of Our Own

ESO / Bohn et alAstronomers have a saying about how difficult it is to see a distant planet outside of our own solar system: It’s like spotting a firefly next to a lighthouse.Stars are so luminous that they block our view of planets that might be orbiting nearby, so astronomers have to work around them. They use special instruments on telescopes to block the light coming from these celestial beacons. With the glare gone, they can detect something else: heat radiating off of planets.

‘We’re Talking About More Than Half a Million People Missing From the U.S. Population’

Three variables determine the fluctuations of a country’s population: births, deaths, and migration flows. The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting all three.The forces that have begun acting on America’s population are dramatic departures from the norm. Every year for the past 100 years, the population of the United States has grown. During that time, though, its growth rate has slowed as birth rates have fallen.