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Striking new data about young voters should alarm Trump and the GOP

Striking new data about young voters should alarm Trump and the GOP

Greg Sargent writes: Something is happening among young voters in America — even if, to paraphrase the old Bob Dylan song, we don’t know what it is. Consider: Youth turnout exploded during the 2018 midterm elections under President Donald Trump. Then in 2020, energized opposition to Trump among young voters was critical to his defeat. And in the 2022 midterms, surging youth participation helped fend off the widely predicted “red wave.” Even some Republicans fear that expanding youth populations in…

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Trump is developing a new form of fascism

Trump is developing a new form of fascism

Christopher R. Browning writes: Until the final weeks of Trump’s term, the guardrails of American democracy seemed to hold firm. The institutions of the federal government remained relatively intact, and civil servants largely secure and uncorrupted. The United States experienced democratic backsliding but not democratic collapse. In a second term, however, a newly emboldened Trump could well attack democracy itself. The MAGA Republican Party of his making has openly explored ways to transform states where they control all branches of…

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Can slow breathing guard against Alzheimer’s?

Can slow breathing guard against Alzheimer’s?

Amanda Ruggeri writes: Stop scrolling. Now inhale slowly, concentrating on expanding your lungs, to a count of five. Exhale, just as slowly and deliberately, as you count to five. You might find that, in just that 10 seconds, you suddenly feel just a little bit more relaxed or centred. Follow the same practice for 20 minutes a few times a week and – according to the research – you might not just reap the benefits of feeling calmer. You may…

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Antarctic sea ice in shockingly sharp decline

Antarctic sea ice in shockingly sharp decline

ABC News (Au) reports: This winter has confirmed what scientists had feared — the sea ice around Antarctica is in sharp decline, with experts now concerned it may not recover. Earlier this year, scientists observed an all-time low in the amount of sea ice around the icy continent, following all-time lows in 2016, 2017 and 2022. Usually, the ice has been able to recover in winter, when Antarctica is reliably dark and cold. But this year is different. For the…

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When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future

When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future

Water and sediment pour off the melting margin of the Greenland ice sheet. Jason Edwards/Photodisc via Getty Images By Paul Bierman, University of Vermont and Tammy Rittenour, Utah State University About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the Sun’s rays on the island’s northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenland. Global sea level was much higher then, between 20 and 40…

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Tree keepers: Where sustaining the forest is a tribal tradition

Tree keepers: Where sustaining the forest is a tribal tradition

Fred Pearce writes: Mike Lohrengel looks up in awe at trees he has known for 30 years. “This is one of the most beautiful places I know. This forest has it all: the most species, the most diversity. Many trees I know individually. Look at this one behind us. It’s got a split way up there. I’ll never forget that tree till I die.” It is a love affair, for sure. But Lohrengel is no tree-hugger, out to preserve a…

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The OpenAI CEO’s ambitious, ingenious, terrifying quest to create a new form of intelligence

The OpenAI CEO’s ambitious, ingenious, terrifying quest to create a new form of intelligence

Ross Andersen writes: On a Monday morning in April, Sam Altman sat inside OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters, telling me about a dangerous artificial intelligence that his company had built but would never release. His employees, he later said, often lose sleep worrying about the AIs they might one day release without fully appreciating their dangers. With his heel perched on the edge of his swivel chair, he looked relaxed. The powerful AI that his company had released in November had…

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Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul victory spells a tragic, disastrous defeat for Israel

Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul victory spells a tragic, disastrous defeat for Israel

David Horovitz writes: Shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday, July 24, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition voted to approve the so-called “reasonableness” law — the first part of its plan to politicize and radically constrain Israel’s hitherto independent judiciary — and thus set in motion a process that risks tearing apart the State of Israel. The legislation was spearheaded by Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and steered through its committee stages by far-right Religious Zionism Knesset member Simcha Rothman….

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Nearly a third of Republicans now view Trump as ‘unfavorable,’ Pew poll

Nearly a third of Republicans now view Trump as ‘unfavorable,’ Pew poll

Insider reports: Former President Donald Trump’s becoming more and more unfavorable amongst Republicans as the 2024 presidential election approaches, according to a recent Pew Research poll. According to the poll, conducted between July 10 and 16, the share of Republican and Republican-leaning independents who view the former president as “unfavorable” has risen from 24% in 2022 to 32% in 2023. The poll also found that Trump’s “favorable” rating amongst Republican and Republican-leaning independents has decreased over the past year, going…

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Twitter’s rebranding is a meaningless publicity stunt

Twitter’s rebranding is a meaningless publicity stunt

Scott Nover writes: Elon Musk, the mercurial owner of Twitter, announced overnight that he is changing the platform’s name and logo to “X.” In doing so, he’s throwing away the brand name, the bird logo, and maybe even the verb “tweet,” all of which breathe financial value into the company he has bought, stripped, and suffocated. The New York Times reports that Musk spent Monday projecting the letter x in the cafeteria and rechristening conference rooms with names like “s3xy”…

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‘This is barbarism’: Shock at Russian strike on Odesa cathedral

‘This is barbarism’: Shock at Russian strike on Odesa cathedral

The Guardian reports: ‘Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.” The priest dabbed tears from his eyes as his sonorous voice emerged from loudspeakers hastily assembled outside his devastated cathedral, the incantation competing with the crash of debris being loaded into trucks and the drilling of repair works on neighbouring buildings. This was the second time that the vast, sand-yellow Transfiguration Cathedral, which sits in the heart of Odesa’s Unesco-listed historic centre, had been attacked: in the 1930s,…

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Putin tightens grip on Africa after killing Black Sea grain deal

Putin tightens grip on Africa after killing Black Sea grain deal

Politico reports: African leaders have long been reluctant to criticize Russia and now that President Vladimir Putin has killed off a deal to allow Ukraine to export grain, they know they are more dependent than ever on Moscow’s largesse to feed millions of people at risk of going hungry. Having canceled the pact on Monday, Moscow unleashed four nights of attacks on the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk — two vital export facilities — damaging the infrastructure of global…

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From scorching heat to deadly storms, Europe has no rest from ‘summer of hell’

From scorching heat to deadly storms, Europe has no rest from ‘summer of hell’

Politico reports: Europe is grappling with extreme weather from soaring temperatures in southern Italy to powerful storms in Croatia and Italy, piling pressure on emergency services and residents, and challenging tourists seeking some summer recuperation. Temperatures have consistently topped 40 degrees Celsius this week across southern and eastern European countries, and for some areas like Sicily there remains no respite. The Italian island was baking in 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the Met Office, with night temperatures of…

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In judicial overhaul protests, Israel’s soldiers face off against Netanyahu

In judicial overhaul protests, Israel’s soldiers face off against Netanyahu

The Washington Post reports: Israel’s year of chaos neared a crescendo Sunday as thousands of military pilots and soldiers threatened not to report for volunteer duty if the far-right government refuses back down from a planned vote on limiting the power of the Supreme Court. Tens of thousands of citizens filled the streets, some spending their sixth night outdoors, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital for an emergency cardiac procedure. The 73-year-old premier was still hospitalized…

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