Opinion Today: In defense of the Paramount-Warner deal
Here’s what we’re focusing on.
Opinion Today
August 4, 2026
The Paramount water tower in Los Angeles in seen over a row of bushes.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Notable

In defense of the Paramount-Warner deal. “The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions.”

— David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount Skydance

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The bridge that divides America and Canada. “Where little could stop Gordie Howe on the ice, the bridge named for him was unexpectedly slammed into the boards by Mr. Trump.”

— Paul A. Eisenstein, a journalist who covers the auto industry

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What do dictators fear most? “Nicaragua’s democracy, which so many fought to secure for so long, dies with her determination to wear the presidential sash, no matter the cost.”

— Gioconda Belli, the former president of PEN Nicaragua

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Spotlight

Illustration by The New York Times; source photographs by Abbie Parr/Associated Press and Bill Clark/Getty Images

Who Should Represent Minnesota?

Times Opinion convened a panel of experts to help voters make sense of the race.

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ICYMI

I helped run Lululemon. Companies need to stop kidding themselves about A.I. “This brings me to A.I. washing. The insidious cousin of A.I. wishing, it is when a company — under pressure to immediately show results — claims to be doing more with A.I. than it actually is.”

— Julie Averill, a former chief information officer of Lululemon

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The A.I. Giants Weren’t Prepared for This

Jasmine Sun, a writer covering technology, takes us into the backlash against A.I. data centers.

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