The course of human events

As we transmit this week’s member’s despatch your way, it’s Independence Day weekend in the U.S.—one of the few moments in the year when millions of Americans, possibly the most always-on people in the world, switch off; step out of their day-to-day (or even normal-weekend) routines; and, if they can, spend time with family and friends. But July 4 isn’t that exceptional this time of year, outside the American imagination: Bastille Day is is coming up in France, on July 14. In the U.K. and throughout the Commonwealth, June 14 was the King’s Official Birthday. July 1 was Canada Day—Dominion Day, as they still called it when I was a kid. And our friends in the Nordic countries celebrated the summer solstice sometime in the last week of June, depending on where. Meanwhile, politics keeps polarizing; media keeps polarizing; and everyday people keep checking out. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and feel you need to get in on that, summer might help you. If you’re in the Southern, good luck. In all events, we’re with you. No one needs the relentlessness of all of this. So kick back, read the despatch—be glad you got your head around a week of human history in such a breeze—and go away. We’ll see you Tuesday.

—John Jamesen Gould

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Developments

The world in brief, June 28–July 4

‘Vladimir, STOP!’

Russia launched its largest drone attack of the war in Ukraine against Kyiv on July 3-4, killing one person and injuring at least 23 others in a massive assault involving 539 drones and 11 missiles. The attack lasted from early evening until dawn, forcing families to shelter in underground metro stations as acrid smoke hung over the city center. Kyiv officials reported damage to about 40 apartment blocks, railway infrastructure, five schools and kindergartens, and numerous vehicles across six districts.