The Changing Face of the USA
America has become much more diverse in the past decade with a wave of Hispanic and Asian populations, according to the Census Bureau. The non-Hispanic white population declined to 58 percent of the population, from 64 percent in 2010. General population growth also slowed significantly.
The number of people who said they were more than one race has more than doubled. The black population grew by 6 percent in the same period and the Asian population by about 36 percent. Hispanics have been responsible for about half of the country’s growth in the past decade, an increase of about 23 percent.
The long-awaited district-level results marked the start of what is expected to be the most sweeping realignment struggle in a generation, with control of Congress at stake.
News analysis: Donald Trump’s attempt to strip unauthorized immigrants from the census turned Census Bureau career officials against the White House. The career officials have won, our reporters write.
Extreme heat around the world
The Italian island of Sicily may have set a modern record for the hottest day ever recorded in Europe on Wednesday, with a monitoring station recording a scorching 48.8 degrees Celsius or 119.8 Fahrenheit. If confirmed, it would surpass the previous record of 48 degrees set in Athens in July 1977, experts said.
“We’re used to hot summers, but I don’t remember such unbearable heat,” said Francesco Italia, mayor of the ancient city of Syracuse. “It’s so humid that you just can’t be outside after a certain hour.” Residents have faced electricity shortages due to the large number of air conditioners operating day and night.
North America: Canada’s province of British Columbia is fighting nearly 300 wildfires simultaneously, shrouding parts of the province in opaque clouds of rising smoke. In the US, more than 150 million people are under some form of heat alarm from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast.
Australia’s struggle against the Delta variant
After an outbreak of the hyper-contagious Delta strain has put nearly half of Australia’s population on lockdown, some are taking matters into their own hands as they work to fill the gaps in the government’s rollout of spluttering vaccine.
Nearly 18 months after the pandemic, Australia remains locked in an all-out war whose odds of victory, with a return to zero Covid, have grown ever steeper. Only 24 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, placing Australia 35th out of 38 developed countries.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand is even further behind on vaccine rollouts, but has managed to keep the Delta variant at bay – for now. The country unveiled a tentative plan for reopening and pledged to maintain its goal of zero coronavirus cases even as it begins to open up its borders.
For its centenary, the Salzburg Festival delved into the story of its familiar logo, featuring the silhouette of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the regional flag of Salzburg and a Greek theater mask layered over a gold background.
What it found requires a reckoning.
ART AND IDEAS
When text takes over a photo platform
Have you seen these in your feed? Text-heavy memes make Instagram a destination for written expression, writes Taylor Lorenz of The Times.
The memes often contain random text on top of unrelated photos or gradient backgrounds. The number of followers of creators who have adopted this style has soared. “It’s like Twitter, but for Instagram,” said Mia Morongell, creator of the @lifes.a.bender account. “It’s like a blog where you put out personal thoughts and feelings.”
These pages have skyrocketed during the pandemic as young people have turned to Instagram to connect, said one social media expert, adding, “They are very representative of teens who have had to communicate exclusively over the internet for the past year.”
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook?
