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German far right set for first major electoral victory since World War II

German far right set for first major electoral victory since World War II

Politico reports: Germany’s far right looks to have claimed its biggest electoral success since World War II, winning a regional vote in the country’s East on Sunday, according to an initial projection. Triumph for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), in a region that was under communist control during the Cold War, is a huge blow for Germany’s political center — not least for the three parties in the coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which appear to have suffered significant…

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The hidden story of how ancient India shaped the West

The hidden story of how ancient India shaped the West

William Dalrymple writes: In 628 AD, an Indian sage living on a mountain in Rajasthan made one of the world’s most important mathematical discoveries. The great mathematician Brahmagupta (598–670) explored Indian philosophical ideas about nothingness and the void, and came up with the treatise that more or less invented – and certainly defined – the concept of zero. Brahmagupta was born near the Rajasthan hill station of Mount Abu. When he was 30 years old, he wrote a 25-chapter treatise…

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Trump contorts himself on abortion in search of political gain

Trump contorts himself on abortion in search of political gain

Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman write: At the age of 53, in a 1999 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Donald J. Trump described himself as “very pro-choice.” In 2011, without any explanation about the change, he informed a packed room at a conservative conference that he was now “pro-life.” In 2016, as a Republican candidate for president, he told the MSNBC host Chris Matthews that he had become so ardently opposed to abortion rights that he would even support…

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Trump calls the press the ‘enemy of the people’ and minutes later a man storms the rally’s media section

Trump calls the press the ‘enemy of the people’ and minutes later a man storms the rally’s media section

Vanity Fair reports: A man attending a campaign rally for Donald Trump on Friday stormed the media section, attempting to climb up the side of the enclosed area, before being tasered by law enforcement on the scene, according to a video posted to social media by a reporter for CBS News. Less than ten minutes before, the former president called journalists the “enemy of the people.” Trump claimed that the New York Times is losing “reader after reader,” which brings…

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‘Dangerous and un-American’: New recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration

‘Dangerous and un-American’: New recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said that professional women “choose a path to misery” when they prioritize careers over having children in a September 2021 podcast interview in which he also claimed men in America were “suppressed” in their masculinity. The Ohio senator and vice-presidential candidate said of women like his classmates at Yale Law School that “pursuing racial or gender equity is like the value system that gives their life meaning … [but] they all…

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Counting the Vote: A Firing Line special with Margaret Hoover

Counting the Vote: A Firing Line special with Margaret Hoover

  In this one-hour documentary, Margaret Hoover embarks on a journey to explore voting systems across the United States. She examines methods to increase voter confidence and sheds light on states that face challenges in their vote count processes as the 2024 election approaches. “Counting the Vote” looks back at two of the most bitterly contested elections in American history—2000 and 2020—and examines subsequent efforts to make the casting and counting of ballots more efficient and inclusive. Several pivotal swing…

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‘Israelis are frustrated, but do they want to stop the war? Not exactly’

‘Israelis are frustrated, but do they want to stop the war? Not exactly’

+972 Magazine reports: Nearly a year on from the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, the Israeli army continues to wage a devastating war in the Gaza Strip with no apparent end in sight. There is now abundant evidence that senior political and security figures failed to heed warnings in the lead-up to the Hamas-led October 7 attack, and the army has acknowledged that it was too slow to respond. Investigations have confirmed that senior commanders employed the infamous “Hannibal directive,” permitting Israeli forces to endanger the…

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Gov. Gavin Newsom has the chance to make AI history

Gov. Gavin Newsom has the chance to make AI history

Vox reports: Advocates say it is a modest law setting “clear, predictable, common-sense safety standards” for artificial intelligence. Opponents say it is a dangerous and arrogant step that will “stifle innovation.” In any event, SB 1047 — California state Sen. Scott Wiener’s proposal to regulate advanced AI models offered by companies doing business in the state — has now passed the California State Assembly by a margin of 48 to 16. Back in May, it passed the Senate by 32 to 1. Once the…

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The asteroid-in-spring hypothesis

The asteroid-in-spring hypothesis

Kerry Howley writes: It remains a matter of dispute when and where and with what antecedent Melanie During came up with the idea for determining the season the asteroid killed the dinosaurs. But the idea was this: Sturgeon bones grow like tree rings, and the bone cells grow thickest in summer, when food is most plentiful. A slice of bone, then, should reveal a succession of seasons. Months of plenty would be thicker, as the fish grew fat on plankton….

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Trump in damage-control mode over abortion backlash from the right

Trump in damage-control mode over abortion backlash from the right

NBC News reports: Former President Donald Trump is in damage control mode on abortion after telling NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure. The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking losing support from a key bloc of the party’s base. Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of…

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The GOP is making false claims about noncitizens voting. It’s affecting real voters

The GOP is making false claims about noncitizens voting. It’s affecting real voters

NPR reports: Earlier this month, Alabama voter William Pritchett received an unexpected letter from election officials telling him his voter registration was made inactive and was “on the path for removal from the statewide voter list.” He was among more than 3,200 people on the state’s voter rolls whose registrations had been flagged by Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen as part of a new initiative to identify possible noncitizens. Yet Pritchett was born in Alabama and has always been…

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Ultrawealthy donors quietly push Harris to drop tax on ultrawealthy

Ultrawealthy donors quietly push Harris to drop tax on ultrawealthy

The New York Times reports: Donors to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign are pushing her to reconsider supporting a proposed tax on the wealthiest Americans, as some Wall Street and Silicon Valley executives try to reshape the Democratic nominee’s governing agenda. Ms. Harris’s campaign last week said she supported the tax increases included in President Biden’s latest White House budget proposal. One of those plans would require Americans worth at least $100 million to pay taxes on investment gains even…

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Top Brazilian judge orders suspension of X platform in Brazil amid feud with Musk

Top Brazilian judge orders suspension of X platform in Brazil amid feud with Musk

The Associated Press reports: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media giant X in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to name a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the decision seen by The Associated Press The move further escalates the monthslong feud between the two men over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be…

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‘Sowing the seeds for more hatred’ – UN’s top Gaza official speaks to Mehdi Hasan

‘Sowing the seeds for more hatred’ – UN’s top Gaza official speaks to Mehdi Hasan

  In this episode of “Mehdi Unfiltered,” a discussion about the threats facing Palestinians in Gaza in an exclusive interview with the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Philippe Lazzarini. Mehdi also explores why U.S. news organizations can’t get their coverage of Donald Trump right in a conversation with author Wajahat Ali and James Fallows, former chief speechwriter to President Jimmy Carter. The episode also looks into the situation for women and minorities in Afghanistan with Ali…

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