Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
Canada retaliates with new U.S. tariffsThis morning, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs as high as 50 percent on hundreds of American products. The biggest blow: doubled duties on steel and aluminum. But the catalog of affected goods is huge and includes railway locomotives, smartphones, dishwashers and a variety of fishes, frozen and fresh. (Read the full list.) Over the weekend, trade talks between the two countries collapsed and President Trump, claiming Canada had mistreated the U.S., imposed a 50 percent tariff on some imports. To do so, he invoked a little-known authority from a 1930 law that some trade lawyers call obsolete. The legal fuzziness means the Trump administration may soon have to defend itself again in court. The current saga began last month, after the Canadians reached out to negotiate with the Trump administration. Read the inside story of how those talks devolved into a trade war.
Dolly Parton dies at 80Andy Warhol called her the “glittery country goddess from Tennessee.” She called herself the “backwoods Barbie.” Dolly Parton, who died today at 80, was only five feet tall, but she made herself larger than life. She was the top-ranking female singer on country radio from 1967 to 1993, with a total of 25 No. 1 country singles. Born in a one-room cabin to a tenant farmer and a homemaker, she played the Grand Ole Opry at 13, and soon became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Years later, her philanthropic organization would donate more than 200 million books to children. Parton exploited rural stereotypes and kitsch to develop a chic all her own: “a cartoon bimbo in a giant platinum wig, six-inch heels, a push-up bra and rhinestones,” writes our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman, who broke down how Parton used her clothes and body to subvert expectations. “I’ve created this and played it up,” Parton told The Times in 2002. “But,” she said, “it’s not even most of what I am. Hopefully people can see beneath the hair to know there’s a brain, beneath the boobs to know there’s a heart, and behind all the other stuff to know there’s some talent.” Parton’s family did not say how she died, but her health had been deteriorating in recent years. Read her Times obituary, and listen to 15 of her essential songs.
South Carolinians vote in Senate primaryRunoff elections tend to be sleepy affairs. But South Carolinians seem eager to vote in today’s Republican Senate contest. Follow our live coverage as the results come in. The election could bring a swift end to the congressional career of Senator Darline Graham, who is temporarily filling the seat once held by her brother, Lindsey Graham. The president has endorsed Graham and recently flew down to campaign with her. But her opponent, Representative Ralph Norman, a hard-line Republican who fell out of Trump’s favor, has been blasting Graham for her lack of political experience. He doubled down after she admitted last week that she was “not that informed on national security.” Today’s Republican primary in the Oklahoma governor’s race will also test Trump’s power as his approval slumps to historic lows. Trump has endorsed Mike Mazzei, a former state lawmaker, over the state’s attorney general. Here’s what to watch in that race. In other political news:
Brain disease looms over the N.F.L.Since the degenerative brain disease known as C.T.E. was first scientifically linked to football about 20 years ago, a haunting question has lingered: Just how many players will end up with it? New data shows that at least one in four N.F.L. players might expect to get the disease, according to a study of hundreds of cases over a recent six-year period. The actual incidence could be far higher. Related: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration aims to make workplaces safer, yet it has never made recommendations for football. Why hasn’t it intervened? More top news
Interpol looks in the mirrorAfter the Sept. 11 attacks, Interpol’s post-punk sound came to define New York City’s collective mood. The band’s 2002 debut album delivered an almost mournful love letter to a populace menaced by threats at home and wars abroad. Nearly 25 years later, America is again fighting overseas, and domestic surveillance is more sprawling than ever. On “This Mirror Weighs a Ton,” its new LP, Interpol grapples with technological “progress” that feels increasingly isolating. The cover art? A chandelier made from 14 closed-circuit cameras.
A ‘National Treasure’ superfandomChances are you’ve celebrated the Fourth of July, when America’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence. But have you celebrated Nicolas Cage’s decision to steal the document? Superfans of the “National Treasure” franchise (which features Cage as a swashbuckling cryptologist who pulls off a heist at the National Archives), gathered for three days to do just that. When the first movie came out in 2004, it was largely panned by critics. But the films have spawned an enduring subculture. Dinner table topics
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