The ugly right-wing riots that broke out across the United Kingdom over the past week have put Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a difficult position: He and his new Labour government must address the widespread concern about immigration that helped drive the unrest—not because of what the rioters have done and said, but in spite of it.
The lawlessness on display in recent days doesn’t change the fact that the British government has been mishandling immigration for years.

Kadir Caliskan / United World Wrestling / Getty
Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan celebrates winning against Tulga Tumur Ochir of Mongolia in the Olympic men’s freestyle 65-kg wrestling semifinal on August 10, 2024, in Paris. Kiyooka advances to the gold-medal match on August 11, against Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhalili.

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Kamala Harris has announced her running mate, bringing on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to join her ticket. The candidates appeared before crowds nearing 20,000 this week, drawing a stark contrast to rallies held previously by Joe Biden. Meanwhile, J. D.

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This past week, an article by my colleague Olga Khazan introduced me to a group of people called the “tightwads”: people who have trouble spending their money. Research has found that “tightwads do not scrimp because they lack money,” Olga reports.

The Paris Olympics’ picturesque marathon course will take runners past many of the city’s highlights—the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre’s glass pyramid, the Eiffel Tower. But it will miss, by miles, a plain one-block street in the 13th arrondissement named Rue Michel-Bréal. That’s a shame, given that Michel Bréal is the reason anyone ever ran a marathon on purpose.

This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine.
South of Tampa Bay, in Florida, wedged between a quiet neighborhood and a mangrove forest, custom-designed aquariums are home to thousands of sea-urchin larvae that tumble and drift through the water. Scientists with the Florida Aquarium and the University of Florida care for the little urchins, checking them daily under microscopes for signs that they’re maturing into juveniles, which look like miniature versions of the adults.