Politics today spans culture wars, presidential spectacle, and fresh geopolitical strain. In Texas, the state education board voted to require Bible passages in reading lists for public school students beginning in 2030, a move supporters call historically grounded and critics say tests the separation of church and state—one likely to reverberate far beyond Texas through the textbook market and the courts. At the White House, President Trump leaned into symbolism, unveiling a limited-edition “Patriot Passport” for the nation’s 250th anniversary bearing his own image and the slogan, “Welcome, but be good!” Abroad, a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire looked increasingly unstable after both sides traded strikes following an alleged attack near the Strait of Hormuz, raising fears for commercial shipping and wider regional diplomacy. Elsewhere, Nigeria said it arrested seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders after their Hajj return, while Russia marked the death of former defense minister Sergei Ivanov, a longtime Putin ally.