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Ukrainian troops are digging trenches in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. It’s a sign they plan to stay

Ukrainian troops are digging trenches in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. It’s a sign they plan to stay

David Axe reports: On the sixth day of Ukraine’s advance into Kursk Oblast in southern Russia, there’s growing evidence the Ukrainian invasion corps—some or all of up to five 2,000-person brigades plus at least one 400-person independent battalion—plans to stay. The Ukrainians are digging trenches. Anticipating static warfare along or near the existing front line, the Russians are digging in, too. That both sides are fortifying their positions doesn’t mean the Ukrainians are done advancing. Nor does it mean the…

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Israelis protest in defense of the right of soldiers to mistreat and even ‘rape’ Palestinian prisoners

Israelis protest in defense of the right of soldiers to mistreat and even ‘rape’ Palestinian prisoners

Protesters, politicians and TV commentators in Israel are defending the right of soldiers to mistreat and even 'rape' Palestinian prisoners in detention. Here's what you need to know ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/85dnGi8Dh5 — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 13, 2024 “Welcome to Hell” is a report on the abuse and inhuman treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. B’Tselem collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians held during that time and released, almost all with no charges. Their testimonies reveal…

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U.S. said to consider a breakup of Google to address search monopoly

U.S. said to consider a breakup of Google to address search monopoly

The New York Times reports: Google was found last week to have violated antitrust law by illegally maintaining a monopoly in internet search. Now discussions over how to fix those violations have begun. Justice Department officials are considering what remedies to ask a federal judge to order against the search giant, said three people with knowledge of the deliberations involving the agency and state attorneys general who helped to bring the case. They are discussing various proposals, including breaking off…

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Trump can’t deal with Harris’s success

Trump can’t deal with Harris’s success

Peter Wehner writes: Kamala Harris has had as good a three-week stretch as any presidential candidate in modern American history. When Joe Biden dropped out on July 21, less than a month after his catastrophic debate performance against Donald Trump, the Democratic Party was on course to be defeated in a landslide. Today, Vice President Harris is slightly ahead of Trump in national polls, and in three important swing states—Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan—new surveys by The New York Times and…

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Donald Trump is freaked out in ways he never imagined were possible

Donald Trump is freaked out in ways he never imagined were possible

Michael Tomasky writes: This is something Democrats, with some exceptions, seem not to have understood well for two generations or more. If you don’t answer the other side’s attacks, they stick. The press assumes the attacks must be valid, so they smell blood. But if you just answer and go on the offensive, you blunt the attacks right out of the box. Because all you have to do is say “bullshit” and then, in the media, it’s a he-said she-said,…

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Trump’s crucial power has been neutralized

Trump’s crucial power has been neutralized

Jeff Greenfield writes: Even apart from Trump, the American public has long shown a desire to break with “normal” politics in ways large and small. It means the voters of Alaska can send a write-in candidate to the Senate, as Lisa Murkowski proved after she lost a GOP primary. It means the voters of Minnesota can elect ex-wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor on a third party. It means the voters of California can — for the first time ever —…

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Majority of Republicans support Supreme Court reforms in Biden’s proposal, poll finds

Majority of Republicans support Supreme Court reforms in Biden’s proposal, poll finds

The Hill reports: Most Republicans support the policy proposals in President Biden’s plan to reform the Supreme Court, according to a new USA Today/Ipsos poll. Biden outlined a three-pronged approach to reforming the high court in a speech last month, calling for a binding code of conduct, 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices, and a Constitutional amendment declaring no one — not even the president — is above the law. The latest poll shows 70 percent of Republicans support…

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The most expensive political ad of all time

The most expensive political ad of all time

Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims write: In 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter, one of the world’s largest social networks, for $44 billion. From a financial perspective, it has not worked out well. Over the last two years, the value of Twitter — which Musk renamed X — has plunged. Internal documents reveal that company executives believed it was worth less than half of what Musk paid for it by October 2023. In 2024, Fidelity valued the company at…

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Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, are turned away from ERs despite federal law

Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, are turned away from ERs despite federal law

The Associated Press reports: Bleeding and in pain, Kyleigh Thurman didn’t know her doomed pregnancy could kill her. Emergency room doctors at Ascension Seton Williamson in Texas handed her a pamphlet on miscarriage and told her to “let nature take its course” before discharging her without treatment for her ectopic pregnancy. When the 25-year-old returned three days later, still bleeding, doctors finally agreed to give her an injection to end the pregnancy. It was too late. The fertilized egg growing…

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We’re entering an AI price-fixing dystopia

We’re entering an AI price-fixing dystopia

Rogé Karma writes: If you rent your home, there’s a good chance your landlord uses RealPage to set your monthly payment. The company describes itself as merely helping landlords set the most profitable price. But a series of lawsuits says it’s something else: an AI-enabled price-fixing conspiracy. The classic image of price-fixing involves the executives of rival companies gathering behind closed doors and secretly agreeing to charge the same inflated price for whatever they’re selling. This type of collusion is…

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Kamala Harris’s youth-vote turnaround

Kamala Harris’s youth-vote turnaround

E. Tammy Kim writes: Just before Joe Biden dropped out of the Presidential race, polls showed a head-spinning turn in the youth electorate. Since the Obama years, voters under the age of thirty had been a solid, enthusiastic part of the Democratic coalition. But in early July, according to Pew Research, registered voters in that age group were identifying more with the G.O.P.—and by a double-digit margin. Though some commentators tried to brush it off—“Sample noise?” an analyst at ABC…

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Walz allows for Harris to ‘turn a corner’ on Gaza and Israel policy, James Zogby says

Walz allows for Harris to ‘turn a corner’ on Gaza and Israel policy, James Zogby says

The Intercept reports: [I]t’s … worth focusing on what Walz is not, said James Zogby, especially around the war on Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, contrasted Walz with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was widely reported to be the other frontrunner for Harris’s running mate, and believes that rejecting Shapiro in favor of Walz bodes well for Harris’s approach to the world. “What we have is somebody who will…

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Ukraine aims to ‘destabilise Russia’ with thousands of troops in Kursk incursion

Ukraine aims to ‘destabilise Russia’ with thousands of troops in Kursk incursion

AFP and Reuters report: Thousands of Ukrainian troops are taking part in an incursion aiming to destabilise Russia by showing up the country’s weaknesses, a top official from Ukraine has said as the assault entered its sixth day. “We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the security official said on condition of…

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Inside Project 2025’s secret training videos

Inside Project 2025’s secret training videos

Andy Kroll, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, Documented, reports: Project 2025, the controversial playbook and policy agenda for a right-wing presidential administration, has lost its director and faced scathing criticism from both Democratic groups and former President Donald Trump. But Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track. One centerpiece of that program is dozens of never-before-published videos created…

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