Good morning, and welcome to Newsweek's summary of Monday's national, regional and international newspapers.
USA Today
USA Today leads on a story about Texas' new national historic landmark, Rio Vista. The Rio Vista Farm Reception Center in Socorro, which was established in 1942 to process millions of Mexican workers who had come to the United States, was last year designated a national historic landmark. The story looks at how, since then, Rio Vista has become a battleground in the culture wars, marking a dividing line between competing visions of America's past as a nation of "glory and exceptionalism," and a nation with a dark history of racism.
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal reports that officials are warning telecommunications companies that undersea internet cables across the Pacific Ocean could be vulnerable to tampering by Chinese ships. State Department officials have said that a state-controlled Chinese company that helps repair international cables, which is partially owned by companies such as Google and Meta, appeared to be "hiding" its location from radio and tracking satellite services. This "defied easy explanation," the State Department said.
The New York Times
The Times leads on a story about rising threats of violence against U.S. lawmakers. Last year, more than 450 federal judges were targeted with threats, a 150 per cent increase from the previous year. It comes after Donald Trump refused to rule out violence if he loses the presidential election in November. "It always depends on the fairness of the election," he said. The New York Times front page also features a picture of the helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, before it crashed over a mountainous northwest region of Iran on Sunday, killing both men.
The LA Times
The LA Times reports that asparagus production is falling in California due to rising labor costs and foreign competition. In 2000, farmers were harvesting 37,000 acres of the vegetable. Twenty four years later, there are fewer than 3,000 acres left of asparagus in the Golden State, according to the latest data.
The Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle focuses on the heated Democratic primary runoff election between Shawn Thierry and Lauren Ashley Simmons. Thierry and her supporters have accused Simmons of supporting the castration of Black boys, the sterilization of Black girls, and the genocide of Black Americans, to win her support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth. However, Thierry said she had nothing to do with the "Stop Genocide of Black Children" signs that have popped up around South Houston in the last month. Simmons has denied supporting genocide, calling Thierry's use of inflammatory language "disappointing".
New York Daily News
The New York Daily News reports that NBA player Jalen Brunson suffered a fractured left hand that forced him to leave in the third quarter of Sunday's Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers. It was the latest in a long line of injuries for the New York Knicks, who lost 130-109 in Sunday's game.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post front features a story about Parson Island, which is the only remaining island in Maryland's Eastern Bay. The island could offer tantalizing clues about when and how humans first made their way into North America, coastal geologist Darrin Lowery told the Post. The story of the first Americans has long been a point of disagreement among historians and scientists, but Parsons Island has now yielded evidence that humans were present in the U.S. more than 20,000 years ago. The Post's front page also highlights the upcoming inauguration of Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te, who has called on China to end its threats and intimidation against the country.
The New York Post
The New York Post reports that several Morehouse College staff turned their backs on President Biden as he gave the commencement speech at the historically-Black university's graduation ceremony on Sunday. Dozens of Morehouse staff voted against giving Biden an honorary degree at the ceremony amid protests at universities around the country over his handling of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
