MANHATTAN — Hooray for Brooklynites! Bess Wohl poses in the press room with the best play award for “Liberation” during the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Wohl said during remarks that in a field dominated by men, many years have passed since an American woman won the Best Play award. Liberation has also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Wohl is one of three woman playwrights from any country in almost four decades to win. Wendy Wasserstein won in 1989 for her play, “The Heidi Chronicles.” Yasmina Reza won twice, in 1998 and 2009.
MANHATTAN — Hooray for Brooklynites! Joe Mantello accepts the award for best direction of a play for “Death of a Salesman” during the Tony Awards on Sunday.
Mantello has worked in the past with prominent Brooklyn playwright Peter Hedges, the author of “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” Mantello and Hedges studied together at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
They and actress Mary-Louise Parker founded The Edge Theater.
MANHATTAN — Hooray for Brooklynites! Lear DeBessonet poses in the press room with the award for best revival of a musical for “Ragtime” during the Tony Awards on Sunday.
The Louisiana-born DeBessonet told the Brooklyn Eagle in March that she moved to New York the day after she turned 22.
Her 2025 debut production as artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater was “Ragtime,” for which Joshua Henry won Best Leading Actor in a Musical and Kai Harada won “Best Sound Design of a Musical.”
NORTH KOREA — One sees the powerful influence of the U.S. on the far east — dark business suit and tie: In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, center left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watch a march-past during a welcome ceremony in Pyongyang, on Monday, June 8, 2026.
During the two-day visit, Xi and Kim expect to foster their nations’ traditional friendship and discuss the development of bilateral relations. Both communist-led states, China and North Korea, have developed political and ideological differences over time.
While China is now considered the world’s second-wealthiest nation, North Korea has isolated itself and is one of the poorest countries.
KASHMIR — Hanging glacier that offers stunning views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks: A stream flows near Thajiwas glacier in Sonamarg, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday.
This year-round glacier is situated roughly 3,300–3,900 meters above sea level. However, stunning it looks, Thajiwas has lost almost 90% of its ice volume due to warming, climatologists warn.
They are urging the Indian government to adopt some of the strategies that European nations like Switzerland and Iceland have taken to restore the Alps and Arctic regions.
INDIA — All over the world, organized sports are so much healthier than war: India’s Manav Suthar, center, is congratulated by teammates after taking his fifth wicket of the innings on day three of the cricket test match between Afghanistan and India in New Chandigarh, Monday.
India won the test match by an innings and 300 runs.
GERMANY — Important botanical business happens in tiny places: A bee flies over a field with flowers in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Monday.
Germany’s federal agriculture ministry supports a range of biodiversity programs aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators. Its “Bee-friendly plants” guide recommends species for balconies and gardens.
In another 2018-launched initiative, farmers work with scientists and agricultural advisors to develop insect-friendly agricultural systems, using “landscape labs.”
SYRIA — Unexploded missiles turn farmland into an odd sculpture garden: Farmers spray water in a burned agricultural field next to a projectile near the town of Najha, Monday, after debris fell in the area from Iranian missile launches during the Iran-Israel conflict.
Israel and Iran traded missile attacks, as recently as Monday, marking their first direct exchange since the fragile ceasefire was brokered in April, which both sides have accused each other of violating already.
They appeared to pause strikes following calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for an end to the fighting.
