The Week Magazine September 23, 2022

The accolades pouring in this week for Queen Elizabeth II rightfully praised her deep sense of duty. They also mentioned her love of horses and corgis–possibly because, for Americans at least, that’s the main thing we knew about her. The late queen was a model of reticence, managing to be a very public figure for seven decades without commenting on issues of the day–except to say, sometimes quite movingly, that Britain would get through it all. Her life was an immense act of self-discipline (see Obituaries, p.39). It must have helped that she took on her role at a time when there was still considerable deference toward the ruling family, and reporters did not shove microphones in royal faces. Unlike his mother, though, King Charles III can’t simply disappear into…

What happened King Charles III assumed the mantle as Britain’s new monarch this week, vowing to uphold his mother’s legacy of “selfless service” as a stunned nation mourned the passing of Queen Elizabeth II after 70 years on the throne. After the queen’s death at 96 was announced, throngs of Britons gathered to pay tribute to the only monarch most had ever known—one who’d ascended to the throne at 25 and ruled through 15 prime ministers and 14 U.S. presidents. “It’s a massive shock to the nation,” said Adam Wilkinson-Hill, 22, one of thousands who massed in front of Buckingham Palace, crying, hugging, and piling bouquets in stacks. The head of state for more than a dozen countries from Jamaica to New Zealand, Elizabeth died two days after appointing a…

What happened In a dramatic reshaping of the battlefield, Ukrainian forces chased Russian troops out of much of Kharkiv over the past two weeks, retaking in days what it took Russia months to capture. Ukraine tricked Russia by telegraphing its plans for a major counteroffensive in the south around Kherson, causing Russian commanders to shift tens of thousands of troops to that region. Ukraine did make modest gains in the south, but the bulk of its forces burst through Russian front lines in the northeast over the past two weeks, winning back 3,000 square miles of territory—more than a tenth of Russia’s total gains since the Feb. 24 invasion. Among the dozens of settlements they liberated were Izium, Kupiansk, and Balakliya, key logistical hubs for Russian forces. The attack…

When a deaf six-year-old dog named Dave arrived at a Humane Society in Michigan, the staff set out to find him a perfect home. At an adoption event, Dave met 14-year-old Walker Cousineau, who has autism and is hard of hearing, and they became fast friends. Walker’s family brought Dave home, and they learned his commands—communicated by signs—and began teaching new ones. Walker’s mom, Mindy Cousineau, says Dave and her son are now inseparable. “Neither one can be far from the other’s sight,” she said. Since 2015, veterinarian Brad Ryan has visited 62 national parks and driven 50,000 miles with an unlikely travel partner: His 92-year-old grandmother, Joy. The pair’s adventures have taken them to Hawaiian volcanoes, Californian Joshua trees, and an Alaskan park inside the Arctic Circle. The project…

Since the FBI showed up at Mar-a-Lago searching for sensitive government documents in early August, Donald Trump has tried to hurl “one monkey wrench after another” into the investigation, said Carol Lam in NBC News. His legal team has produced a blizzard of filings in an attempt to stall the Justice Department’s probe into why the former president took the documents to his Florida home when he left the White House, why he refused to give them back despite repeated official requests, and what he did with them in the intervening year and a half. Now those desperate efforts may be gaining “traction.” Last week, despite reports that the classified documents included details of a foreign country’s nuclear program, Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s absurd request for a “special…

Good week for: Higher consciousness, when San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to decriminalize magic mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca, and other plant-based psychedelic drugs. Supervisor Dean Preston said the board was simply “following science and data.” Do-overs, with the release of iOS 16, a software update that will give Apple iPhone users up to 15 minutes to edit typos from sent text messages. Users prone to attacks of late-night nostalgia can even delete sent messages entirely, though the window to “Undo Send” is a cruelly short two minutes. Lunch, with a new study suggesting that eating only during daylight hours can substantially decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Bad week for: Inclusivity, when progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) marked the anniversary of 9/11 with a tweet remembering the “2,996 people…