Why the AfD’s triumph in Saxony-Anhalt is a win for Putin – and leaves Ukraine exposed

Why the AfD’s triumph in Saxony-Anhalt is a win for Putin – and leaves Ukraine exposed

Sam Kiley writes: The success of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in state elections could herald a disaster for Ukraine, a European victory for Vladimir Putin, and a stampede of greed over democracy orchestrated by one man. Kirill Dmitriev is to Donald Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, what Putin is to the 47th president – their favourite and much favoured Russian. What Putin gives Trump – the thrill of proximity to unlimited power – Dmitriev offers to…

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Investors rewarded at the expense of workers: As economy continues to grow, wages fall to a record-low share

Investors rewarded at the expense of workers: As economy continues to grow, wages fall to a record-low share

NBC News reports: It is now the least rewarding time to be a worker in the U.S. economy since the government started keeping track. The share of economic growth captured by labor in the form of compensation like wages fell to a record low last quarter, hitting 52.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which began recording the statistic in 1947. In other words, even as the economy continues to grow, worker pay comprises an ever smaller slice of…

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Iran war drives $100 billion in extra energy costs for U.S. consumers

Iran war drives $100 billion in extra energy costs for U.S. consumers

Axios reports: The war in Iran has now cost U.S. consumers $100 billion in higher energy prices, and the bill is rising another $1 million about every two minutes, per a real-time estimate from Brown University as of Monday morning. Why it matters: Energy inflation shows up across the entire economy, and the recent surge in diesel prices in particular threatens to have a dramatic impact on freight and travel in the weeks and months to come. By the numbers: The Iran War Energy…

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As farmers go broke amid rising gas prices, Secretary of Agriculture Rollins profits off them

As farmers go broke amid rising gas prices, Secretary of Agriculture Rollins profits off them

By Georgina Gustin September 6, 2026 This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. As farmers grapple with soaring diesel and fertilizer prices and the Department of Agriculture yanks support for cheaper, renewable forms of energy, the agency’s chief, Brooke Rollins, is carrying millions in highly profitable oil and gas investments. In disclosure reports filed in July, Rollins indicated that she and…

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What it took to dismantle the most powerful corporation in the world

What it took to dismantle the most powerful corporation in the world

William Dalrymple writes: At noon on Feb. 13, 1788, huge crowds gathered outside Parliament to witness members of the House of Lords process into Westminster Hall. They were there to impeach the man who ran much of India as the East India Company’s governor general of Bengal. This was the moment when the British state finally flexed its muscles to take on the greatest corporate oligarch of his day, the Elon Musk of 18th-century London. In addition to about 170…

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Nietzsche’s startling provocation: You’re edible and delicious

Nietzsche’s startling provocation: You’re edible and delicious

Nicholas E Low writes: It looked like a piece of driftwood floating in muddy floodwaters. But then it grew a pair of eyes that peered above the waterline. As the canoe came closer, the crocodile struck, attempting to topple it. Not knowing what else to do, the woman inside paddled toward a set of trees with branches hanging over the water. When she jumped to grab one, the crocodile leapt, too, pulling her underwater into a death roll. ‘That was…

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Trump is running out of time as he tries to restrict mail voting

Trump is running out of time as he tries to restrict mail voting

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump is running out of time in his quest to limit voting by mail, as a judge holds up his plans, and election officials begin sending ballots to voters in two swing states and gear up to send them across the country. Nearly a third of voters used mail ballots in 2024, and last-minute changes to how they’re handled could lead to undelivered ballots and uncounted votes. Trump has long argued that mail ballots…

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A gerrymandered flop: Republicans might still lose half the seats they’re trying to flip

A gerrymandered flop: Republicans might still lose half the seats they’re trying to flip

Politico reports: Republicans are growing increasingly worried their mid-decade gerrymandering push isn’t going to save their House majority. The norm-breaking plan hatched by the White House last summer to draw new maps to protect the party from an unfavorable midterm environment is not on track to bear the fruits they hoped it would. Two months out from Election Day, Republicans are sweating races they thought they would win comfortably when they redrew district boundaries, according to conversations with a dozen…

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West Bank settler violence is being facilitated by the Israeli government

West Bank settler violence is being facilitated by the Israeli government

Mairav Zonszein writes: Of all the fronts on which Israel is exerting force, the West Bank is where the Jewish state is the most invested, exerts the most control and has received the least American pushback. It is also where over half a million Israeli citizens live among some three million Palestinians who are under military occupation without citizenship. President Trump has not put any brakes on Israeli settlement expansion, creeping annexation, military raids, demolitions of Palestinian homes or settler…

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Iran emerges more confident after six months of war with the U.S.

Iran emerges more confident after six months of war with the U.S.

The New York Times reports: Iran has grown more confident in its ability to attack targets in the Middle East and appears determined to continue the conflict for months to frustrate the United States, according to U.S. intelligence reports in recent weeks. In many respects, the assessments reflect what has been observable on the ground as fighting erupted again after a period of relative calm. In the past week, Iran targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops…

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A political operative on the verge of self-deportation

A political operative on the verge of self-deportation

Jesús Rodríguez writes: One recent Sunday in August, Daysi González addressed a crowd of about seventy people in a sterile conference room in New York’s financial district. The people who were gathered at tables around her, eating buffet tacos and sipping cans of Coke Zero, were first- and second-generation Americans getting ready to run for office or to work on political campaigns. Some looked younger than thirty and were dressed casually, while others already looked the part of the candidate,…

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Haitians deported from the U.S. are left broke and stranded

Haitians deported from the U.S. are left broke and stranded

The New York Times reports: Dozens of deportees are arriving in the Haitian city of Cap Haitien weekly as the Trump administration pushes to remove Haitians who lack legal immigration status in the United States, and some are now marooned in an unfamiliar place. More than 80 people were returned last week, often with only the U.S. government-issued sweatpants and T-shirts, and with immigration court documents stuffed in their pockets. Many returned broke, saying their valuables had disappeared during the…

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Study outlines the five-stage pipeline Clavicular used to spread ‘diagnostic masculinity’ and looksmaxxing

Study outlines the five-stage pipeline Clavicular used to spread ‘diagnostic masculinity’ and looksmaxxing

PsyPost reports: A recent study explores how an extreme male self-improvement trend known as looksmaxxing moved from obscure internet forums into mainstream public awareness. The research suggests that this spread relies not just on social media algorithms, but on a coordinated system of controversy, short-form video clips, and mainstream media coverage. The findings were published in Journal. Media. Looksmaxxing revolves around the intense, systematic attempt to maximize a person’s physical attractiveness. Participants often scrutinize their own facial features, such as…

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