The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on an excessive-force lawsuit. A unanimous ruling Thursday revived the civil rights suit against a Texas police officer who killed a man during a traffic stop over unpaid tolls. The justices ordered the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reexamine the case of Ashtian Barnes, who died in his rental car in April 2016 in Houston. Lower courts had dismissed the lawsuit filed against Officer Roberto Felix Jr. by Mr. Barnes’ mother, Janice Hughes. – The Associated Press

The Trump administration said it will restore some key datasets. Content including funding resources and information about rural clean energy projects had been removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website earlier this year as part of an effort to scrub references to climate change. A coalition of farming and environmental nonprofits had sued the administration to reinstate the material, which they said included such essential tools as flood-zone maps. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice wrote in a court filing that the material should be back online within about two weeks. – Staff

Mali dissolved all of its political parties. The president of the African nation’s transitional government signed a decree doing so against a backdrop of pro-democracy opposition. The decision this week by Gen. Assimi Goïta came amid a surge in kidnappings of pro-democracy activists in the capital, Bamako, and just days after a demonstration by pro-democracy activists. Mali has been under military rule since a 2021 coup led by Mr. Goïta. – AP
Related Monitor story: In 2023, we wrote about a string of coups in Africa, including in Mali, and what they said about dependence on foreign powers.

The FAA met with airlines to address Newark airport issues. The two-day meeting, which ended Thursday, came as a series of equipment outages and staffing issues affecting Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the United States’ busiest, has caused episodes of travel chaos. The Federal Aviation Administration also cited ongoing runway construction at Newark that regularly forces the cancellation of dozens of flights and delays hundreds more. – Reuters

Harvard learned that it holds a (very) rare document. The university for decades assumed that a faded document it had bought for less than $30 was a copy of the Magna Carta. This week, two researchers concluded that it has a rare version issued in 1300 by Britain’s King Edward I. The original Magna Carta established in 1215 that the king was subject to law. It formed the basis of many constitutions. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were thought to be only six of the 1300-issued version. Harvard reportedly has no plans to sell it. – AP

Amid the fanfare – and controversy – over President Donald Trump’s business deals in the Middle East, it was possible to discern the outlines of an emerging Trump foreign policy. It scales back commitments, resorts to military intervention rarely but with overwhelming force when applied, and sees foreign partners in terms of what they can do for America. “They are trying to do fewer things, but trying to do them more forcefully – and looking for partners to fill in the gaps,” says Daniel Benaim, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula Affairs.

Donald Trump has spent the first four months since his return to the White House pushing as fast, and as far, as he can to achieve his policy goals through executive power. Now, he’s going to need help from Congress. The president’s “big, beautiful bill,” a catchall that aims to incorporate nearly all his legislative priorities, including tax cuts and immigration enforcement, is moving through the House. But significant disagreements remain among Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill.

The American atomic bombs that ended World War II 80 summers ago led to a collective determination by world powers to avoid the use of nuclear weapons forever, and to tightly limit their possession. Today, that achievement is coming under strain as never before. Amid America’s changing approach to postwar alliances, France and Britain have raised ideas about extending their protective nuclear umbrella to the rest of the continent. On the Asian subcontinent, conflict over Kashmir has drawn rivals India and Pakistan closer to the nuclear brink.

Political transformations raise sensitive questions about the meaning of the past. That’s one reason countries emerging from conflicts turn to truth commissions. Shared narratives lay foundations for shared values like justice and equality. A student-led revolution in Bangladesh last summer has opened a vigorous national debate about its founding story. “No society can really progress without knowing its own history and learning something from it,” notes one observer of the South Asian country.

Exhibitors spend months preparing for the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show. There are war stories here. “The first orchid I ever had was a gift,” says one attendee, “and I promptly murdered it.” That turned out to be the first step to becoming a certified master gardener. This massive four-day event celebrates the challenges and payoffs of gardening. Attendees vote on intricate arrangements. They ooh and aah at landscape installations. And they pack lectures on composting, beekeeping, and backyard conservation. Our photographer went in for some color. 

Low-key. Honest. Humble. Egalitarian. Such descriptors abounded from leaders around Latin America after the death this week of José “Pepe” Mujica, Uruguay’s leftist-rebel-turned-philosopher-president.

These traits could also be applied to Uruguayan society more generally. And they offer clues to why this small South American nation is a bastion of democracy in a politically unstable region.

With a tinge of wistful envy, other Latin Americans jest that Uruguayans lack “drama.” Tongue in cheek, a Peruvian novelist observed in Vanity Fair, “Whenever [Uruguayans] have a national conflict, they solve it by referendum.” A journalist from more volatile Argentina has joked, “I don’t know how they put up with us as neighbors.”  

In a more serious vein, a Panamanian analyst ranked Uruguay’s democracy as “among the best in the world.” A leading Chilean university hosted a conference on Uruguay as a model of strong economic growth alongside strong social protections.

Mr. Mujica once told The Economist that the “enormous advantages” of democracy is that “It doesn’t believe itself to be finished or perfect.” 

The country enjoys relatively high per capita income, low inequality, and high social cohesion. Like elsewhere in Latin America, it is confronting rising crime from drug-related cartels. And like its neighbors, Uruguay has experienced civil war (though not since 1904) and nearly 12 years of military rule (which ended in 1985). It emerged from both with foundational reforms, including free education.

With voting compulsory, all Uruguayans are “forced to have a role in the democracy,” the Harvard International Review noted in March. High participation, it said, “translates into more confidence in political institutions.” Which, in turn, appears to foster trust in leadership, whether the president of the moment is from the far left, as Mr. Mujica was; from the conservative end of the spectrum, as was his rival, Julio María Sanguinetti; or left-leaning, like recently elected Yamandú Orsi.

An unwritten rule in Uruguay, Mr. Orsi told Americas Quarterly, is respect for the opposition. Mr. Mujica often voiced another one: “No one is better than anyone else.”

In fact, he and Mr. Sanguinetti made a conscious effort to model what civility can look like. Once sworn enemies, they bridged some divides, agreed to disagree on others, and even wrote a book together.

“There’s nothing special about Uruguay,” Mr. Sanguinetti has said, with that characteristic national modesty. “I think others can do this too.”