Trump is learning he can’t steal this election

Trump is learning he can’t steal this election

HuffPost reports: President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the 2026 elections have almost universally failed. Courts have halted his most egregious actions, Congress has rejected his anti-voting legislation and civil groups have stepped up to support election officials. The list of Trump’s failures is long. Courts blocked both of his executive orders aimed at limiting access to voting, including an effort to direct the Postal Service not to deliver certain mail ballots. His administration has lost all 26 cases…

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Trump’s approval falls to record low of 31% as midterms near, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Trump’s approval falls to record low of 31% as midterms near, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Reuters reports: President Donald ‌Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low as Americans worried about high gasoline prices and appeared ready to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday. Some 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s ​performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in ​either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed. Asked which party they would vote…

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This cybersecurity agency is supposed to protect U.S. elections. Officials fear it’s been compromised by Trump

This cybersecurity agency is supposed to protect U.S. elections. Officials fear it’s been compromised by Trump

By Andy Mannix and Doug Bock Clark This story was originally published by ProPublica A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it. The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, according to…

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The dangerous fatalism of AGI in Silicon Valley

The dangerous fatalism of AGI in Silicon Valley

Aki Ito writes: Last week, Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar mentioned something bizarre in an interview on CBS News. “So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI,” he said. Their thinking, he said, goes like this: “I believe so much in AI that it’s going to cure cancer. So I’m showing you my chips are all in.” I laughed as I read the quote. It read like a…

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The fossil fuel comeback is here

The fossil fuel comeback is here

The Verge reports: The US is building more fossil fuel infrastructure than it has in a decade while renewable energy growth slows down, a new report shows. Electricity demand is also climbing faster than it has in more than a decade with more data centers, factories, and electric vehicles plugging into the grid. Despite those growing demands, the Trump administration has sought to hobble the wind and solar industries in favor of fossil fuels. America’s energy landscape is already shifting…

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French government cracks down on mass protests over cost of living, education cuts

French government cracks down on mass protests over cost of living, education cuts

  Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in over 140 cities across France on Saturday, demanding relief from the high cost of living, more funding for public services and improvements to deteriorating schools, among other grievances. The demonstrations were the latest — and largest — in a series of protests that began in September with high schooler-led demonstrations against overcrowded classrooms and crumbling school infrastructure. Some cities saw property destruction, arson and theft on Saturday, with city halls and other…

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The Wayback Machine is one of journalism’s most important investigative instruments

The Wayback Machine is one of journalism’s most important investigative instruments

Brewster Kahle writes: In 1996, during the early years of the web, I could see that those of us who were participating online were creating an extraordinary new record of human activity—and allowing it to disappear almost as quickly as we made it. The web was becoming the place where government officials made promises, journalists published information in the public interest, and ordinary people shared ideas and documented their lives. Yet it was fragile—equal parts consequential and ephemeral. Many people…

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Farmers’ loyalty to Trump frays in the absence of any real incentive to vote

Farmers’ loyalty to Trump frays in the absence of any real incentive to vote

The New York Times reports: Economic anxieties are testing the loyalty of rural voters to the Republican Party, expanding the electoral battlefield into some of the most traditionally conservative districts across the nation and raising Democratic hopes. For a decade, farmers and ranchers have been a core part of President Trump’s coalition, voting for him by double-digit margins in all three of his presidential races. But as the impact of his tariffs and the war in Iran fuel discontent in…

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Obama denounces Trump administration’s legal threats against Rep. Ilhan Omar

Obama denounces Trump administration’s legal threats against Rep. Ilhan Omar

Axios reports: Former President Barack Obama issued a forceful denunciation of the Trump administration’s legal pursuit of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over suspicions she fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship decades ago, an allegation the Minnesota lawmaker has called “disgusting lies.” Why it matters: Obama — who faced false claims for years from Donald Trump that he wasn’t an American citizen — is selective about when he weighs in on political issues or the president. His decision to speak out reflects his…

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Vance considers the standard way out of politics — more time with his family

Vance considers the standard way out of politics — more time with his family

The New York Post reports: Vice President JD Vance revealed “there’s a chance” he won’t run for president in 2028 — and second lady Usha and the couple’s four young kids could help make the decision for him. Vance — the frontrunner to succeed Trump as Republican nominee — acknowledged during a CBS News town hall in Michigan that he could sit-out the next election. “Of course there’s a chance,” Vance said. “We’ve got four little kids, my wife has…

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‘We are suffocating’: Protests spread to Lisbon and Milan as housing and living cost tensions intensify

‘We are suffocating’: Protests spread to Lisbon and Milan as housing and living cost tensions intensify

The Guardian reports: The angry protests that have convulsed Spain and France in recent weeks have spilled over to Italy and Portugal, with rioters clashing with police and setting property on fire in Milan, and a tent encampment springing up in Lisbon over the weekend. A march in central Milan on Saturday to protest against rising living costs began peacefully but ended with masked rioters throwing stones, paving blocks and other objects at riot police and setting fire to barricades…

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How the climate crisis has fueled the youth protests roiling France

How the climate crisis has fueled the youth protests roiling France

Inside Climate News reports: By the time Cléo made it to Greek class, she had gone completely pale. It was a Wednesday in June during France’s second consecutive heat wave this year, and the 16-year-old was struggling to cope with the rising temperatures. She pushed through, thinking she was just tired. But the following day at her sweltering high school on the eastern edge of Paris, nausea and a desperate thirst gripped her. The school nurse, recognizing the signs of…

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What are self-replicating ‘AI worms’, and why is Anthropic worried about them?

What are self-replicating ‘AI worms’, and why is Anthropic worried about them?

The Guardian reports: Warnings about what artificial intelligence might do in the future – together with alarming reports of what it has gotten up to already – are being issued so quickly that even security experts have difficulty triaging what to worry about. Yet a report this week from Anthropic’s offensive research team grabbed attention by describing a new, practical threat, one devoid of human characteristics or apocalyptic musings. The red team, as such internal testers are called, said it…

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Walking: Moving your body may help free your mind

Walking: Moving your body may help free your mind

Richard Sima writes: What do Albert Einstein, Virginia Woolf, Stephen King, Henry David Thoreau and Friedrich Nietzsche have in common? They all credit walking as essential for helping their creative thinking. Though walking may seem mundane, it has many health benefits, including improving longevity and making your brain younger. Research also shows that walking helps people come up with an essential ingredient for creativity. “It really helps you generate ideas, novel ideas, original ideas,” said Alex Thabane, a researcher at…

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