About three-quarters of the countries in the United Nations recognize the Palestinian state, which holds a “Permanent Observer State” status within the intergovernmental body — allowing it to be part of the proceedings but unable to vote on resolutions. Three more countries — close U.S. allies — have joined the tally in the last week. ... ... Read full Story
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The military is walking back its previously announced plans to discontinue some weather forecast data after public pushback. The Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center will still distribute data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program beyond Thursday, according to a statement. The government previously said the data would be discontinued after Thursday. The Defense... ... Read full Story
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President Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test, a controversial relic of the Cold War era that former President Obama abandoned in 2012. The executive order would create programs for schools to reward “excellence in physical education,” White House officials told CNN, and aims to address “the widespread... ... Read full Story
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New details are emerging about the deadly collision between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter in January near Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people. Three days of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings, along with thousands of pages of documents, suggest that the Black Hawk helicopter may have been relying on... ... Read full Story
A legal immigrant and chair of the Los Angeles County GOP is saying that pro-sanctuary Democrats are deliberately building a two-tiered justice system designed to trap Latinos and immigrants in a “permanent underclass." ... Read full Story
President Trump sent letters Thursday to 17 of the world’s largest drug companies, telling them to take more steps to slash the prices of prescription drugs to match the lowest price in certain foreign countries. The letters represent an escalation of the administration’s push for lower drug prices by launching a "most favored nation” model, which... ... Read full Story
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2025 is:
palimpsest \PAL-imp-sest\ noun
Palimpsest in its original use refers to writing material (such as a parchment manuscript) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased; the underlying text is said to be “in palimpsest.” Palimpsest in extended use refers to something that has usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface.
// Scholars believe the motive for making palimpsests was often economic—reusing parchment was cheaper than preparing a new skin.
// The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.
“My aim was to trace the course of … the Aqua Marcia, built between 144 and 140 B.C. by Julius Caesar’s ancestor Quintus Marcius Rex. … The original tuff arches carried the Marcia across a steep ravine. Subsequent retaining walls and buttresses have transformed the bridge into a palimpsest of building styles.” — David Laskin, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024
Did you know?
Long ago, writing surfaces were so highly valued that they were often used more than once. Palimpsest in its original use referred to an early form of recycling in which an old document was erased to make room for a new one when parchment ran short. (The word is from the Greek palimpsēstos, meaning “scraped again.”) Fortunately for modern scholars, the erasing process wasn’t completely effective, so the original could often be distinguished under the newer writing. De republica, by Roman statesman and orator Cicero, is one of many documents recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word palimpsest can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers apparent beneath the surface.