It’s Friday, July 31. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: The meaning of the Salman Rushdie verdict. Should you skip your annual physical? How Markwayne Mullin drew the ire of President Donald Trump on July 4. Is Ukraine turning the tables on Russia? And much more.
But first: The chaos in Ceuta.
Sixty thousand. That’s how many people local authorities estimate have crossed from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta over the past 24 hours. It is, by any measure, an extraordinary figure, coming close to the territory’s total permanent population of nearly 84,000. Also extraordinary: the footage of the crossings. Droves of mostly young men jumping out of trucks at the border, swimming around breakwaters, clambering over fences, sprinting down streets. At least 18 people have died during the chaos, and the Spanish government has deployed the army to Ceuta.
The scenes recall the peak of Europe’s migrant crisis a decade ago—and underscore how little Europe’s elites have done to address the problem in the intervening years. Rod Dreher recently returned to the U.S. from living in Europe, where he watched as political leaders repeatedly refused to tackle the issue, and Europeans only grew angrier. In our pages today, he reacts to the dystopian scenes from Ceuta, and asks: What will it take to break the immigration taboo? —The Editors
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Justice for Salman Rushdie—and a Warning to the West |
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Nearly four years ago to the day, an Iranian-backed assassin nearly killed the novelist Salman Rushdie. On Wednesday, Rushdie’s would-be killer, Hadi Matar, was found guilty of all charges, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. It was an important verdict. Not only was justice done but, as we argue in our latest editorial, the verdict makes clear the nature of the threat free societies face today. | |
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You’re Doing Your Annual Physical All Wrong |
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Have you had your annual physical yet? Millions of Americans flock to the doctor’s office every year just to “check in.” But according to Charlotte Grinberg, MD, most of these appointments are a waste of time. Read her column on a better way to track your health. | |
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The End of Vocation |
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Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from the halls of the State Department, delivered a sharp rebuke to communism. “The world [communism] envisions for all of us,” Rubio said, “is small, flat, gray, leveled of all exception, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul.” It would deprive the world of great human accomplishment. Stirring words, but for Gregory Conti they didn’t recall communism but the world as imagined by the AI founders building our future. Read his chilling warning against the transhumanism now dominant in Silicon Valley—and what it takes to fight back. | |
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Exclusive: DHS Secretary Tried to Cancel 250th July 4 Celebration over Weather Concerns, Infuriating Trump |
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It’s been a rocky stretch for Markwayne Mullin, the former senator Trump tapped to calm the turmoil inside the Department of Homeland Security. He has one of the toughest jobs in the administration and has been rebuked by the president for pausing Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle stops. But, as Audrey Fahlberg writes today, cool relations between Mullin and Trump could be about something else entirely. She reports on an earlier clash with the White House—not about deportations but . . . a fireworks display. | |
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What It’s Really Like Inside Ukraine in 2026, with Aidan Stretch |
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After four years of war, Ukraine appears to have turned the tables on Russia. Its powerful drones are destroying refineries, military depots, and Amazon-like warehouses—some of them a thousand miles or more from the Russian border. Russian soldiers dread leaving their bunkers for fear of a drone killing them. But Vladimir Putin vows to fight on, and despite its recent successes, Ukraine still has plenty of its own military and political challenges. Aidan Stretch, the Ukraine correspondent for CBS News, talks with Aaron MacLean about what life is like in the country today, and what the next phase of the war is likely to be. | |
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