Philip Gulley was 15 when the United States turned 200. His parents threw a big block party at their home in central Indiana, and Republican and Democratic neighbors alike celebrated the occasion. Everyone seemed exuberant, he remembers, with the festivities lasting well into the night. Now, as the US turns 250, Gulley, a 65-year-old Quaker pastor and writer, no longer wants to party. He’s so disillusioned by the nation’s current state of affairs that he won’t even participate in his usual July 4 family tradition of watching fireworks at the local school. When asked what he plans to do for the semiquincentennial, his reply is terse: “Nothing.” A majority of Americans seem to share Gulley’s discontent. National pride and satisfaction with the country’s direction have been on the decline for decades, and the mood heading into the 250th anniversary is particularly grim. Nearly 70% of Americans say that they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the US, while about 60% say that the country’s best years are behind it, according to the Pew Research Center. Gallup polling shows that only about half of the nation’s inhabitants say they are “extremely proud” or “very proud” to be an American, a 25-year record low. And another survey from the firm finds that more than three in four Americans say that the Founding Fathers would be disappointed in how the country has turned out.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/02/us/america-250-vibes-cec
Turkish authorities have banned a cruise ship catering to American LGBTQ+ travelers from docking in the country’s ports, citing “moral standards” and “family values,” the CEO of the events company behind the upcoming Mediterranean tour said Thursday. The “Athens to Venice” cruise, which departs from Greece on July 5, was expected to dock in the vibrant Turkish port town of Kuşadası two days later, followed by a trip to Istanbul, according to Atlantis Events, which is organizing the voyage. But in a controversial move, local authorities in Turkey said they have canceled the “event” as the ship – which is expected to host more than 1,000 passengers from the US – was chartered by groups “known for behaviors incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/02/europe/turkey-cruise-lgbtq-american-blocked-intl
As Wimbledon began this week, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka made an entrance in the high style that has become her signature: an elaborate robe by Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi, made from vintage kimonos and bridal gowns, over a white Nike tennis dress. The designer said the one-two look was a marker of the almost sacred ceremony of preparing for competition, which is shed to reveal the game-ready gear. “I wanted the garment to exist as the moment before performance,” Yagi told Vogue. “The walk-on surrounds Naomi in ceremony, while the Nike kit represents the athlete in competition. I thought about them as two chapters within the same story.” “I like to use fashion as a medium for storytelling,” Osaka added.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/02/style/style-tennis-fashion-controversy-history
An international police operation spanning seven countries has uncovered highly organized networks of offenders who drug and rape their partners and use online chat groups to aid and encourage their “horrifying” assaults, authorities said on Thursday. In most cases, the victims are women who are sedated before being raped and sexually assaulted, Europol and Britian’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said. The online groups provide a haven for predominantly male perpetrators to coordinate assaults, share information as well as post videos and photos of the abuse, they said. German and British crime agencies, with the help of law enforcement from the United States, Brazil, Canada, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Spain, have launched a joint operation to tackle the “evolving threat,” Britian’s NCA said in a statement Thursday.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/03/europe/online-drug-rape-investigations-intl-hnk
A former Olympic canoeist has been indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, Superior Court, for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. David Hearn was charged Thursday with one count of destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000, according to the indictment. The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. The indictment said a DC grand jury found that Hearn “maliciously did injure, break and destroy certain property, that is, the lining material of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.”