Lindsay Clancy has pleaded not guilty to murdering her children, but her attorneys don't deny that she caused the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan.
President hosts Nathanial Rai and lifeguard Ryder Williams at White House after video of California rescue went viral
Nathanial Rai had been swept off his feet along the California coast, was rescued by a 16-year-old lifeguard – and was now sitting in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.
Of the rescuer, Ryder Williams, Trump said to Nathanial: “He’s a real hero. I don’t know if I’d do it.
The baby was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which requires a series of surgeries. The parents had asked the surrogate to get an abortion when they learned of the diagnosis.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Supreme Court today rejected Verizon's attempt to get a $47 million refund from the Federal Communications Commission. In a list of orders (PDF) issued by the court, Verizon's petition was denied without explanation. The denial apparently ends any possibility of Verizon asking a lower court to review the fine and order the FCC to issue a refund. However, AT&T and T-Mobile are continuing to challenge similar fines on grounds that selling device-location data did not violate US telecom law.
AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon were fined a total of $196 million in 2024 for selling mobile users' real-time location data without their customers' consent. The carriers sold device-location information to data aggregators, who resold it to other firms. The carriers paid the fines and sought to have them overturned in courts, claiming their Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial was violated. Challenges by AT&T and Verizon were combined into a single case, and the Supreme Court ruled against the carriers in June of this year.
The court ruled that the FCC penalty process does not violate the Seventh Amendment because the carriers could have obtained jury trials if they refused to pay the fines and waited for the government to try to collect. The ruling (PDF) against the carriers was 8-1, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting.
The Sydney Swans coach, Dean Cox, says he is “extremely disappointed” as the team and the AFL face a decision on whether to stand down several Swans players under investigation over an alleged sexual assault.
Victoria police attended the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne on Monday and said they were investigating a report of sexual assault in the early hours of the morning.
Prosecutors accuse Duane Davis of orchestrating 1996 shooting in retaliation for attack by rapper’s entourage
The trial of a former gang leader accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap star Tupac Shakur began in a Las Vegas courtroom on Monday, featuring testimony from a witness to the shooting and a former police officer.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis is on trial for murder for his alleged role in the shooting of Shakur, who died after a drive-by shooting. Prosecutors allege Davis was the “on-the-ground, on-site commander of the effort to kill Tupac” and that he planned the shooting in retaliation for Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’s nephew.
Nurses, medical experts and green campaigners reject party deputy leader’s dismissal of efforts to reach net zero
Reform’s deputy leader has been accused of spreading misinformation after he dismissed efforts to tackle the climate crisis and urged British people to enjoy the warmth of the recent heatwaves.
Richard Tice prompted a backlash from nurses, medical experts and green campaigners on Monday after he told a press conference he believed it was “arrogant” to try to stop the climate emergency, while encouraging people to focus on upsides such as better English wine.
Lindsay Clancy's Massachusetts murder trial resumed Monday in Plymouth Superior Court. Clancy's mother and sister were on the stand after the prosecution rested its case.
The ship’s crew lost access last month to drinkable water, running toilets and air conditioning, as the fleet sees heavy use by the Trump administration.
Shasta county, hotbed of US election denialism movement, set to appoint ex-Colorado clerk who served prison term
A northern California county that has become a hotbed of activism for those who sow doubts about the reliability of voting machines plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections.
Clint Curtis, the top election official in Shasta county, told the Guardian he plans to hire Peters as a consultant to replace Brent Turner, his top deputy, who has been on medical leave. He said Peters would not have access to the county’s voting system and did not directly respond when asked what her responsibilities would be. Plans to hire Peters, who is still on parole and must receive permission to travel outside of Colorado, were first reported by Action News Now.
(The Center Square) – The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon a $22.9 billion, multi-year contract to accelerate production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, aiming to build more than 1,000 of the long-range strike weapons a year.
Apple Wallet's driver's license and state ID feature is set to expand to North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia, bringing the total to 18 states plus Puerto Rico. The digital IDs can be used at participating TSA checkpoints and businesses without handing over or unlocking an iPhone, though users are still generally advised to carry a physical ID because acceptance remains limited. MacRumors reports: A few days ago, North Carolina's DMV announced that it plans to launch a mobile ID program later this year. As reported by WRAL, North Carolina residents will be able to set up a digital ID through a new NC Wallet app starting in December, with Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, and Samsung Wallet support to follow in "early 2027." As mentioned, you do not need to unlock, show, or hand over your device to present an Apple Wallet ID in person, ensuring user privacy.
Apple Wallet IDs are generally not accepted by law enforcement, so carrying a physical ID is still legally required for traffic stops. In addition, the number of businesses that accept Apple Wallet IDs is still quite small. At least for now, Apple Wallet IDs are designed to be a convenient alternative where they are accepted. "Your mobile ID is a valid form of identification in North Carolina," the DMV said, in a FAQ on its website. "However, as retailers, restaurants and other businesses transition to mobile IDs, some may not be set up to accept them right away. For now, carrying your physical card gives you a backup when needed." According to code seen by MacRumors, Apple Wallet IDs are also coming to Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia, but there is no timeframe for availability.
Paula Musgrove stated her daughter had said medications were ‘destroying’ her mind and she was becoming ‘paranoid’
The defense in the Lindsay Clancy filicide case called the defendant’s mother as one of its first witnesses Monday, after three weeks of prosecution evidence laid out, in often harrowing detail, events surrounding Clancy’s killing of her three children.
Under questioning from defense attorney David Reddington, Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter’s statements and actions had unsettled her in the months leading up to 24 January 2023.
Previous winners of the award have included Saint Peter, Attica, Orana by the late Jock Zonfrillo, and Quay
Armenian-Lebanese eatery Zareh has been named Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant of the year, in a category of the annual industry awards that has historically been dominated by European-leaning cuisine and fine-dining establishments.
The restaurant’s menu pulls from the Armenian, Egyptian and Lebanese backgrounds of co-owners Tom Sarafian and Jinane Bou-Assi: aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread) is made with flour milled in the Mornington Peninsula; kafta nayyah comprises raw minced lamb from Tasmania and Victoria; hummus is crowned with spanner crab.
Donald Trump berated a CNN reporter at a press availability, insisting that she 'be quiet' after she asked about a reduction in US military exercises with South Korea. The CNN correspondent pressed Trump on whether Kim Jong Un had requested a reduction in military activities. When another reporter asked about the extensive accounts of deteriorating living conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln during its lengthy deployment in the strait of Hormuz, the president dismissed the complaints: ' It was fake news reporting from CNN'
Move means holders will be able to travel free on local services at any time of day or night from April next year
Disabled people across England will be able to use their free bus passes at any time of day from next April, as Andy Burnham expands a policy he introduced as mayor of Greater Manchester.
The prime minister has said the current weekday restrictions on when disabled people can use their bus passes will be removed from 1 April 2027. Their passes are valid only between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays, although some councils pay to allow people free travel outside those hours.
Wilmington's Riverfront has been one of the biggest recipients of state bond money for decades now, helping to spur economic development in Delaware's largest city. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY MAGGIE REYNOLDS
Lawyers seek dismissal of state charges after Mangione pleaded guilty in federal case over Brian Thompson killing
A New York state judge on Monday effectively postponed Luigi Mangione’s trial on murder and weapons charges over the 2024 killing of a health insurance company CEO, after Mangione pleaded guilty last week to separate federal charges.
The trial had previously been scheduled to begin on September 8. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. Mangione’s lawyers on Friday asked New York state justice Gregory Carro, who is overseeing the state case, to dismiss the charges.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy first held rare talks with Hamas’s new leader in Egypt over the weekend in his effort to advance the stalled 15-point plan.
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump says he'll declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory, but no federal agency has said what controlling the key oil chokepoint would cost taxpayers.
Deep Origin this month announced that its AI drug discovery framework delivered nearly a 31% hit rate for a cancer immunotherapy enzyme, nearly 100x higher than common machine learning-based approaches. The company said the breakthrough is a function of its approach to combining physics-based simulations alongside AI-based approaches, including new co-folding models.
A big challenge in computational drug discovery is creating models that are accurate as well as generalizable. New co-folding models based on deep learning approaches, such as AlphaFold and Boltz-1, are trained on vast repositories of existing molecules, which boosts the predictive capacity of the model. In some cases, the accuracy of these models can exceed 80%.
Source: Deep Origin
However, when these models are exposed to novel compounds, that accuracy deteriorates considerably and predicting which ligands will fit into which proteins becomes more of a crapshoot. In the real world, AI-based virtual screening methods are credited with discovery about 1% of new drug candidates, thanks to numerous false positives, according to Deep Origin.
Deep Origin seeks to overcome this limitation with its AI drug discovery framework, which spans two products. That includes DODock, an AI-powered and physics-based molecular docking engine, as well as DOScore, its engine for estimating thermodynamic binding affinities across ultra-large chemical spaces.
DODock combines a diffusion model with a physics-based search and refinement stage that’s built on a Vina-style energy function (DOFast) and an enhanced global optimizer. “The goal is to put learned components exactly where they add value (proposing and ranking poses) and keep an interpretable, low-parameter physical model wherever generalization is what matters,” the company says on its website. “Once machine learning proposes candidate poses, a compact physics model refines them, reasoning from how molecules physically interact with each other rather than from resemblance to training data. These refined poses are then ranked, giving our resulting structures.”
The use of physics allows DODock to build on first principles rather than on prior data. This is an important distinction, as it enables the software to maintain its accuracy on novel targets, where AI-only approaches lose accuracy, the company says.
Deep Origin says the combination of AI and physics-based modeling is a key differentiator for its approach. Rebuilding platforms to get established C++ and Fortran-based physics engine to run on GPUs also represents a technical hurdle that not every company will be able to overcome.
“Building physics-ML hybrids requires deep integration across quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics force fields, and differentiable neural network architectures,” the company tells HPCwire. “Most startups lack the architecture and skill sets to blend both.”
Deep Origin co-founders
The company, which was founded in 2022 by Michael Antonov and Garegin Papoian, says it is taking a long view of the challenge of AI-powered drug discovery. It’s not a quick ‘chase milestones’ effort,” the company tells us.
“Virtual screening has been widely used for more than 40 years, yet it has rarely delivered an actual drug,” stated Garegin Papoian, the company’s chief scientific officer of Deep Origin. “The field learned to live with a low accuracy ceiling. We set out to change that by pairing physics with machine learning, ensuring our method holds its accuracy on novel targets where training data alone runs out.”
The zero-leakage split is also an important aspect of how Deep Origin works. It’s common practice in machine learning to hold back a portion of one’s training data for evaluation purposes to avoid “snooping.”
Deep Origin says that, in order to test and validate it AI, it uses a “strict double-similarity filter” that removes any protein sharing 30% or more sequence identity and any ligand exceeding 0.4 Tanimoto similarity. (Tanimoto similarity is a mathematical metric used to compare how alike two objects or sets are, with 1 being a perfect match and 0 being no match.)
Combined, these approaches allow Deep Origin to successfully run virtual screens against novel biological targets without existing crystallographic data (the structural information about atoms, ions, and molecules inside crystalline solids) or known small-molecule binders. The company claims it’s able to maintain 50% to 89% pose accuracy where the pure AI and ML approaches failed.
Source: Deep Origin
The San Francisco company, which has raised $82 million, is publishing an article in BioRxiv on the wet-lab validation work it did in the lab against a synthetic compound library with more than 80 billion compounds. Deep Origin highlighted the results on four compounds in particular, including CD73 (nucleotidase), IRAK4 (kinase), Factor XIa (protease), and IL-17A (protein-protein (PPI) target).
Across all four targets, Deep Origin’s hits “demonstrated high scaffold novelty, with a ECFP4 Tanimoto similarity of 0.22–0.27 relative to known binders. “The screens discovered entirely new chemical matter rather than minor variations on existing drugs,” the company says.
In particular, against CD73, which is important in slowing cancer’s growth, Deep Origin achieved a 30.6% hit rate in finding ligands that pair with the enzyme, which is about 100x better than pure AI/ML-based approaches, the company said.
These results demonstrate Deep Origin’s approach, said Antonov, who is the CEO.
“What matters is how a screen behaves on a target no one has solved yet, so that is where we tested our model with strict splits and cases built to make it fail,” Antonov stated. “How our model performs on those rigorous tests, not on inflated benchmarks, is what dictates how many molecules brought to the bench are likely to be real.”
District Court Judge Eric Elliff has ordered Iron Mountain to cooperate with Nine PBS in recovering roughly 50TB of archival material stored through now-defunct vendor OSS. "He found that the station is the rightful owner of the materials and entitled to recover them from OSS' storage systems," reports Current.org. Nine PBS must identify a third party to help retrieve the files, pay outstanding storage fees, and ensure that data belonging to other OSS customers isn't disturbed or accidentally recovered. From the report: Under his order, Nine PBS is to identify a third-party vendor, such as a former OSS employee, who can assist in accessing and retrieving the data from the infrastructure that's housed in Iron Mountain's center within 30 days. Elliff acknowledged the complexities of Iron Mountain's position as a vendor to OSS, which, according to Nine PBS' complaint, is in delinquency. Iron Mountain is the "custodian" of Nine PBS' data, but it isn't the vendor that contracted with the station to store and preserve its data. That obligation remains with OSS. Under the order, Nine PBS will pay Iron Mountain current and past-due fees for data storage, starting from when OSS stopped paying Iron Mountain for use of its data storage facility.
During the hearing, Gregory Rich, an attorney representing Nine PBS, said the station seeks access to a physical cage where the data is housed within Iron Mountain's facility. The station is in contact with a former OSS employee who is willing to help obtain the data. The attorney noted that the data could potentially be stored in physical form, such as tapes that could be easily retrieved. But if the materials are on a server, Nine PBS could lose the materials forever if Iron Mountain shuts it down. William Cravens, the attorney representing Iron Mountain, told the judge his client doesn't know the format of Nine PBS' materials that were stored by OSS. He expressed concern about whether Nine PBS' archival material is lumped together with data from other OSS clients. Iron Mountain wants to avoid potentially corrupting the other data, Cravens added.
Elliff ordered the immediate return of any physical devices that hold Nine PBS' data once access to OSS' storage system is granted. If data retrieval turns out to be more complicated -- if it is encrypted, for example -- he will schedule another hearing to determine how to proceed. Once Nine PBS retrieves its data, the station must work with a third party to ensure that no data from other OSS customers is among those materials.
Storm that brought heavy rains and winds damaged at least 100 homes and bridges and left over 100,000 without power
Hawaii residents began to clean up after tropical storm Lala blew past the Big Island, leaving more than 100,000 without power and damaging at least 100 homes and bridges.
Lala was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it grazed the islands, but it brought heavy rains and winds to the Big Island. Hawaii’s total rainfall over 48 hours topped 3.5ft in some areas, according to AccuWeather. The rising floodwaters damaged or swept away about 100 homes in the area, along with six bridges.
El 60% de los aperitivos tienen demasiados ingredientes y muchos estadounidenses ya están buscando opciones más simples. Una encuesta de 2.000 estadounidenses encontró que, para el 66%, entre menos ingredientes tenga un aperitivo, más confianza les genera. Esta preferencia es…
When 18-year-old Nolan Wells went missing, his story immediately touched a nerve in Black families. He was last seen while hanging out with a group of white friends, at a popular beach near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Wells never came home from the trip, and he was found dead days later. Many questions about how he died remain unanswered publicly. And the mystery surrounding his death has revived an old conversation within Black communities: are we ever truly safe in white-dominated spaces? Who will feel responsible for our children’s safety when we send them out into a world where Black life is not valued? Host Kai Wright talks with historian Stacey Patton and writer Ashley Stoney about why Wells’ story has captured so much attention – and sparked so much anxiety – among Black parents, in particular. What does our collective reaction to Wells’ disappearance and death reveal about the limits of interracial society today?
(The Center Square) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Rodney Scott said he paused all construction activity in Big Bend National Park and arrived in Texas on Monday to meet with Texas officials and stakeholders in person. He said…
MPs, friends and campaigners gathered to remember former Cambridge professor after his death on Friday
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to remember and pay tribute to Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who died on Friday.
Stand Up to Racism, which organised the vigil, estimated that 30,000 mourners had gathered in the square to listen to emotional speeches from MPs, friends and campaigners on Arday’s life and legacy and join in a minute’s silence. Many were dressed in black and held flowers, which they were asked to leave beneath Nelson’s column. People also carried placards reading “rest in power”.
Image: Hillary Olson comes to Hagley Museum and Library with nearly 30 years of experience working in natural and cultural history museums, science centers and planetariums. Photos courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library and image created using AI on 8/17/26
Museum innovator Hillary Olson plans to invite employees, visitors, educators and the wider community to help shape Hagley’s future
WILMINGTON — For Hillary Olson, Hagley Museum and Library is more than a place to study what inventors and business leaders accomplished in the past. It is a place where a child, family or researcher can begin imagining what might be possible in the future.
Olson, who became Hagley’s CEO in July, wants to build on that sense of inspiration and discovery as the museum prepares for its next era.
Hagley is now in the fifth and final year of its current five-year strategic plan, which will conclude at the end of 2026. In 2027, Hagley will begin developing its next strategic plan through a collaborative process involving employees, volunteers, board members, visitors, educators, community organizations and other stakeholders.
The new plan has not yet been written. Input gathered during the 2027 planning process will help establish Hagley’s priorities and direction for the years ahead.
“In any strategic planning process I’m a part of, when we say that we’re engaging our stakeholders, it’s not just our board, it’s not just our members,” Olson said. “It is people who don’t visit, because it’s a great time to find out why.”
The effort will consider how Hagley can reach more people, strengthen its educational programs, expand community partnerships and maintain its historic property for future generations.
“I can tell you that it will probably be a visitor-focused strategic plan,” Olson said.
Visitors will be broadly defined to include families, students, museum guests, scholars and researchers who use Hagley’s library.
A career built around museums and stories
Olson comes to Hagley with nearly 30 years of experience working in natural and cultural history museums, science centers and planetariums.
Her original academic background is in astronomy and geology. She later returned to school and earned a master’s degree in museum leadership, bringing together her interest in science with a passion for helping museums tell stories in engaging and understandable ways.
Before joining Hagley, Olson served as president and CEO of the Rochester Museum and Science Center in New York. There, she led an organization with three sites and more than 1.2 million collection objects. Her work included strategic and master planning, capital improvements, fundraising and building relationships with regional communities.
Olson said her passion is helping people engage with authentic artifacts, documents and historic places in ways that encourage them to see history, science and culture differently.
A museum visit, she said, should do more than present facts. It should give visitors an opportunity to encounter an object, understand how it was used and consider what they might create or improve themselves.
That focus on storytelling and discovery made Hagley especially appealing.
Olson had visited Hagley when she lived in Philadelphia and later returned with her young children. She remembered the powder yards, exhibitions and setting along the Brandywine.
When she learned the CEO position was available, she began studying the museum, its library, finances and programs. She was drawn to the complexity of an institution that combines industrial and business history, science, technology, horticulture, historic preservation and public education.
“I saw the wonderful complexity of it all, which is something that I’m drawn to,” Olson said.
Hagley’s board also helped persuade her to take the position. She said its members are open to change and new initiatives while remaining committed to protecting Hagley for future generations.
Inspiration built into the property
Hagley occupies 235 acres along the Brandywine and includes the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I. du Pont in 1802. Its working machinery, millrace, historic homes, gardens, museum artifacts and collections, and business history archives allow visitors to encounter history through objects and experiences.
Olson sees those resources as tools for inspiring people to ask how things work, how they can be improved and what problems they might solve.
“The historic gunpowder yard is full of STEM,” she said. “It’s an engineering endeavor.”
Visitors can watch water turn machinery installed during the 19th century. They can study small patent models created to demonstrate inventions and improvements. They can also see how science, mathematics and engineering helped transform a gunpowder operation into the foundation of a major American company.
Olson said innovation does not always require creating something entirely new. Frequently, it begins by improving something that already exists.
“You’re not just inventing the wheel; you’re improving the wheel,” she said.
That message could be particularly valuable for children who may not yet think of themselves as scientists, engineers or inventors.
During Hagley’s gunpowder demonstrations, the sound of a small explosion immediately captures people’s attention. Olson said that excitement creates an opening to ask how people solved difficult problems hundreds of years ago — and what problems today’s students might one day solve.
“What are you going to figure out, fourth grader, in your life?” Olson said. “What is the problem that you’re going to solve?”
Bringing classroom lessons to life
Expanding school partnerships is expected to be an important part of Hagley’s planning.
Olson wants the museum to speak directly with teachers about their curriculum requirements and develop field trips that support what students are learning in school. Hagley guides create programs using the working equipment in the powder yards to demonstrate technology concepts that can be difficult to understand from a textbook.
Hagley also offers opportunities involving history, social studies, horticulture, and science. Its DuPont Discovery Loft includes current technologies like 3D printers and space for hands-on STEM activities.
Olson described the goal as providing “hands-on, minds-on” experiences that offer something beyond what children can receive in a classroom.
The programs must be educationally useful because teachers often need to demonstrate that a field trip meets curriculum standards before a school can approve the cost.
Hagley will also expand fundraising to provide free or subsidized field trips for students from underserved communities. Olson said access to transportation and admission should not prevent students from experiencing the museum’s resources.
Expanding partnerships with community organizations could help Hagley reach new audiences while also bringing in expertise and connection, meeting the needs of community members in setting rooted in the history of innovation.
Asking the community what it needs
Olson began listening immediately upon arriving at Hagley.
During her first several days, she sent a survey to the museum and library’s more than 150 full- and part-time employees. She asked what they wanted her to understand about their jobs, what they believed Hagley was doing well and what opportunities they saw for its future.
The responses reflected considerable pride in Hagley and its mission, as well as an interest in more collaboration and connection with each other.
That internal conversation is expected to grow into a broader community discussion when Hagley begins developing the new strategic plan in 2027.
Olson said outreach should include people who attend Hagley’s popular events, families who visit its museum and gardens, teachers who bring students and scholars who travel to Delaware to use the library. It should also reach residents who live in the region but have never visited.
Their absence, she said, is itself valuable information. Hagley must understand whether people are unfamiliar with its programs, do not see something that speaks to their interests or face practical barriers to visiting.
The objective is to make Hagley welcoming and relevant to more people while staying true to its strong connection to northern Delaware.
Local roots and a wider reach
Olson believes Hagley can remain a community institution while attracting more visitors from the broader region.
Its museum audience is largely local, but its library already has a national and international reputation. Scholars travel from around the world to examine its collections of business records, advertising materials and other primary-source documents. Some researchers visit for a few hours, while others remain on campus for months.
Olson sees an opportunity to expand the museum’s regional reach and impact, introducing Hagley to new visitors and people who are traveling to the Brandywine Valley.
But expanding Hagley’s audience will not mean leaving the local community behind.
“Serving the people in the immediate community is step one,” Olson said.
Preserving a complicated historic site
Hagley’s future also depends on maintaining the property that makes its educational mission possible.
Historic buildings, waterways and working machinery require specialized skills and regular investment. Hagley must address rising costs while raising money for capital improvements, operations and educational programs.
The 2027 planning process is expected to examine philanthropic support as well as earned revenue from admissions, memberships and programs.
Olson said Hagley benefits from long-serving employees, dedicated volunteers, support from members of the du Pont family and many other donors, and a board willing to consider change while protecting the institution’s legacy.
That balance — preserving the past while encouraging discovery — helped attract her to Hagley.
Few institutions bring together industrial history, science, a dynamic library and archive, gardens, historic homes and hands-on education in one place. Olson believes those resources can be used to inspire more people to understand how earlier generations solved problems and to imagine what they might make possible themselves.
The answers will come not only from Hagley’s leadership. They will also come from the employees who care for its collections, the teachers seeking new ways to reach students, the families and guests who use its grounds, and the community that surrounds it.
At a glance
What:Hagley Museum and Library’s next strategic planning process
When:Hagley is in the final year of its current five-year strategic plan, which concludes at the end of 2026. Development of the next plan will begin in 2027.
Who will participate:Hagley employees, volunteers, board members, donors and sponsors, visitors, educators, community partners, academics, researchers and people who do not currently visit
Likely areas of discussion: Visitor engagement, educational access, community partnerships, digital engagement, regional growth, fundraising, capital improvements and long-term sustainability
Central question: How can Hagley use its history, library, land and collections to help more people discover what they can create, improve or make possible?
President says US carrier is ‘beautifully maintained’ and calls CNN ‘fake news’ over reports of poor conditions
Donald Trump claimed he had third-hand reports that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is “beautifully maintained” despite extensive accounts of deteriorating living conditions during its lengthy deployment in the strait of Hormuz.
At the White House on Monday, the president berated a CNN reporter at a press availability, insisting that she “be quiet” and describing the reporting as fake news.
(The Center Square) – More than two dozen organizations writing briefs for a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case on the future of climate change had ties to fossil-fuel linked companies, according to a new report.
(The Center Square) – The president of the Illinois Education Association applauded Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s record on Monday, but other teachers unions have called on the governor to do more for schools.
USS Benfold lost power after ‘engineering casualty’ leaving sailors without galley services, toilets and air conditioning
A US guided-missile destroyer reportedly spent four days adrift and without power in the South China Sea in July, furthering concerns about strain being placed on deployed military members.
The USS Benfold, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer which had been sailing with the George Washington carrier strike group, was reported to have been towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines, according to the US Naval Institute News, an independent military publication.
Trump also claims he’s ‘actually making it much safer’ for South Korea by scaling back joint military drills just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles
Republican senator Thom Tillis deplored Trump’s decision to cut US military drills with South Korea, which comes despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield expertise, including new drone tactics, from assisting Russia with its war in Ukraine.
South Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities. Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of North Korea’s troops to support Putin’s systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.
A group of legislators and state officials gathered in Centre County to discuss the Governor’s Housing Action Plan and potential solutions for outdated, insufficient, or overly expensive housing.
Meta is heading to trial in a case brought by dozens of states accusing it of deliberately designing addictive features, misleading users about safety, and illegally collecting data from children under 13. Meta says the states are seeking penalties as high as $1.4 trillion, though the judge has already called that figure "unreasonable." The case could, however, influence thousands of similar lawsuits against the company. Engadget reports: The trial kicks off Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, after Meta lost a last-ditch attempt to get the case dismissed last week. It could see testimony from top officials at Meta, including Mark Zuckerberg, and could result in record-breaking penalties for the company. The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit brought against Meta from dozens of states, which accused Meta of intentionally creating addictive features and violating consumer protection laws. The action came after a multi-state investigation into the company's safety practices that officials said revealed serious harms to children and teens.
During the trial, federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will hear claims from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated state consumer protection laws by intentionally misleading the public about the safety of its apps. Those four states and 25 others are also suing Meta over alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The states allege Meta broke the law because it knew Instagram and Facebook had users under the age of 13 and collected data about them without permission. [...] For Meta, the stakes are especially high because the company is currently facing thousands of other lawsuits that accuse it of harming users. Juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico have already ruled against Meta in high-profile trials that deal with similar issues. (Meta has said it will appeal in both cases.) Another loss could not only be a financial blow, it could give other lawsuits an easier path forward. And while Meta isn't exactly hurting for money, its legal costs are adding up. The company said it spent $2.4 billion on legal costs in the second quarter of 2026 alone.
The jury in the case has already been selected and opening arguments are set to begin Tuesday, August 18. The trial is expected to last about six weeks. Unlike in a standard jury trial, the eight-member jury will serve in an "advisory" role, as Law360 explains. The judge will have full power over the final verdict and penalties. Along the way, the trial could also see testimony from some of Meta's most visible executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. Both men are likely to testify, according to Reuters. [...] Audio from the trial will be live streamed on the court's YouTube channel. A spokesperson for Meta issued the following statement: "The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate. The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification," the spokesperson continued. "Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout. We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court."
Controversial project has faced bipartisan opposition by critics who say it mars pristine environmental area in Texas
Construction on a US-Mexico border project in Big Bend national park has halted, the Trump administration said Monday, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) evaluates the controversial project in Texas.
“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” CBP’s head, Rodney Scott, wrote in a social media post.
Likud’s depiction of Zohran Mamdani is latest move in spat between Israel’s prime minister and New York City mayor
Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has compared the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, to the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah on a campaign billboard.
The billboard in central Tel Aviv depicts Mamdani alongside the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and the chief of the militant group Hezbollah, Naim Qassem.
Image: State Rep. Josué Ortega and Councilwoman Shané Darby want the Delaware Department of Justice to use its authority to obtain records from the city and its towing contractor and independently examine the program.
Officials cite 19,083 vehicle tows, incomplete financial records and questions about how cars are selected, held and disposed of
WILMINGTON — A state representative and Wilmington City Council member are asking the Delaware Attorney General’s Office to investigate the city’s vehicle-towing and parking-debt collection practices, citing records they say raise questions about financial accountability, enforcement and the loss of residents’ vehicles.
State Rep. Josué Ortega and Councilwoman Shané Darby submitted the referral after reviewing city records covering 19,083 vehicles towed from fiscal years 2020 through 2025.
The officials are not alleging that any individual committed a crime or asking the attorney general to accept their conclusions. They want the Delaware Department of Justice to use its authority to obtain records from the city and its towing contractor and independently examine the program.
“The reason we are asking the attorney general to look at this is straightforward,” Ortega said. “Some of the questions raised by those records can be answered only by an office empowered to compel the city and its towing contractor to produce records that a member of the public cannot reach on their own.”
The Attorney General’s Office had not publicly announced whether it would open an investigation as of Monday.
Wilmington’s tow volume questioned
According to the referral, Wilmington towed more vehicles during the six-year period than all other Delaware municipalities that responded to related public-records requests combined.
The officials said Wilmington’s per-capita towing rate was roughly twice that of comparable Delaware cities.
They contrasted Wilmington’s system with Newark, which generally immobilizes vehicles for parking debt instead of towing them. Immobilization allows an owner to recover the vehicle after resolving the debt without the vehicle being immediately removed and impounded.
The figures and comparisons were presented by Ortega and Darby based on records obtained through Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act. They have not been independently audited by the Attorney General’s Office.
Questions about money collected
A central issue is whether the city can document how much parking debt it collects when a vehicle is towed.
According to the referral, an assistant city solicitor responded to a public-records request by saying the city “does not maintain records responsive to this request” when asked for the amount of ticket revenue collected through towing.
Ortega and Darby said the city’s reported revenue appears to account for a flat vehicle-release fee but does not separately identify payments toward the parking tickets that triggered the tow.
“Delawareans expect that when a government takes a person’s car, the records will show the debt that justified the tow,” Ortega said. “When those records cannot be produced, an independent look is warranted.”
Thousands of vehicles reportedly scrapped
About 29% of all vehicles towed during the period were scrapped rather than returned to their owners, according to the referral. Among vehicles towed specifically for parking debt, the figure was approximately 58%.
Under the city’s arrangement, the towing contractor retains proceeds from vehicles that are scrapped or resold, the officials said. The city then waives the underlying ticket debt when ownership is transferred to the contractor.
Ortega said towing itself is not evidence of misconduct but argued that government must be able to document what happened to a vehicle and the debt associated with it.
“Cities tow cars,” he said. “But how a city tows cars matters.”
Few appeals and no recorded owner victories
The referral also raises questions about the appeals process.
Of approximately 4,564 tows reviewed over an 18-month period, only 30 vehicle owners appealed, according to the officials. None of the records showed an appeal decided in favor of the owner.
Appeals are heard within the same city department responsible for ordering tows and collecting the debt, the referral said.
Darby said investigators should examine whether the process provides vehicle owners with a meaningful opportunity to challenge a tow.
“Why not one appeal is recorded as decided in an owner’s favor — those are questions that require access to records the council cannot reach on its own,” she said.
Uneven enforcement alleged
The officials also questioned how the city selects vehicles for enforcement.
More than 2,000 vehicles reportedly carried balances above the city’s threshold for booting, but only a small percentage were towed during any particular month. Some vehicles with the largest unpaid balances were apparently not targeted.
The referral does not conclude that the differences resulted from favoritism or intentional discrimination. It asks investigators to determine whether the city follows consistent criteria when choosing which eligible vehicles to boot or tow.
Vehicles held for years
Ortega and Darby identified 182 vehicles that were held for more than 180 days after the city ordered them towed under collection-related accounts.
Fifty-eight of those vehicles had no recorded release or final disposition, according to the referral. Some had reportedly remained in the records for more than five years.
The city identified five vehicles as having been disposed of through Justice of the Peace Court lien proceedings initiated by its towing contractor. However, the officials said the contractor’s operational records did not contain corresponding entries documenting a release, sale or other disposition.
One was a 1990 Lotus Esprit whose record reportedly contains only its towing date. The five vehicles had a combined estimated private-party value of at least $55,000 based on current published valuation guides, while the contractor’s records listed each with a zero balance, according to the referral.
Those valuations are estimates and do not establish the vehicles’ condition or value when they were towed.
Earlier review raised similar concerns
The referral contends that questions about Wilmington’s towing records predate the current contractor.
In 2018, an assistant city solicitor told AAA Mid-Atlantic that the city had never received vehicle-sale records from its towing contractor and said monthly reporting would begin.
AAA’s 2019 report examined 3,671 vehicles towed during a 15-month period. It found records of only 468 notices to owners and said 1,320 vehicles appeared never to have been released.
Although Wilmington has since changed towing contractors, Ortega and Darby contend that gaps in recordkeeping remain.
City did not respond before referral
The officials said they presented their questions to the city in July and gave the administration until Aug. 14 to respond or announce an audit. According to their release, the city did neither.
Darby sponsored a 2024 City Council resolution calling for a comprehensive audit of Wilmington’s towing and parking-enforcement practices. The administration declined to conduct it, she said.
Ortega previously worked in the city’s Office of Constituent Affairs from 2016 to 2021, where he said he handled complaints from residents about towing.
“This request is not adversarial to the city of Wilmington,” Darby said. “I represent the city. I want its systems to work fairly, uniformly and lawfully.”
The referral asks the attorney general to determine what the city collects when it tows a vehicle for parking debt, whether payments are reconciled with the underlying tickets, how enforcement targets are selected, whether appeals are handled fairly and what happens to vehicles that are not reclaimed.
At a Glance
What happened: State Rep. Josué Ortega and Wilmington Councilwoman Shané Darby asked the Delaware Attorney General’s Office to investigate Wilmington’s towing, impoundment and parking-debt practices.
Period examined: Fiscal years 2020 through 2025.
Vehicles involved: 19,083.
Vehicles reportedly scrapped: About 29% of all towed vehicles and approximately 58% of those towed for parking debt.
Appeals reviewed: Thirty appeals among roughly 4,564 tows during an 18-month period. None was recorded as decided for the vehicle owner.
Long-term impounds: The referral identifies 182 vehicles held longer than 180 days, including 58 with no recorded release or disposition.
What the officials want: An independent investigation with authority to obtain records from the city and its towing contractor.
What happens next: The Attorney General’s Office must decide whether to open an investigation. The referral itself does not establish wrongdoing.
A day after attributing the decision to a good relationship with North Korea, President Donald Trump also tied the move to South Korea’s refusal to help with the Strait of Hormuz.
NBA is looking into claims of salary cap circumvention
ESPN says league has no proof owner funneled money
Steve Ballmer denies allegations; Leonard trade on hold
The NBA has disputed an ESPN report on the league’s investigation into possible salary cap circumvention by the Los Angeles Clippers.
On Monday, ESPN reported that, after an 11-month investigation, the NBA was not able to show proof that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money to Kawhi Leonard via team sponsorships to bypass the salary cap. The outlet also said the two sides have been “negotiating a resolution to the investigation”.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, has accused his Republican opponent of playing a major role in the opioid crisis.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers “helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic,” El-Sayed said in an Aug. 5 interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, and Rogers are in a high-profile campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, a key battleground state that could determine control of the chamber in the November election. Rogers ran for Senate in 2024, narrowly losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. He represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015.
Asked for evidence that Rogers sparked the opioid crisis, El-Sayed’s campaign pointed PolitiFact to a bill Rogers proposed multiple times in Congress to increase attention on chronic pain care, parts of which ultimately were signed into law as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
“Mike Rogers was a ‘leading advocate’ in Congress for ‘boost(ing) opioid prescriptions,’” spokesperson Sophie Pollock said, quoting from a 2024 Bridge Michigan article about Rogers’ proposals.
But there’s a timeline problem with El-Sayed’s telling. Opioid prescription and overdose death rates began rising at the end of the 1990s. Rogers didn’t start introducing legislation related to pain care until 2003 and his proposals didn’t become law until 2010. So the legislation couldn’t have “kicked off” the opioid addiction crisis.
Policy experts generally point to a moment in 1996 as marking the beginning of the U.S. opioid epidemic: when Purdue Pharma introduced the pain medication OxyContin and aggressively and deceptively marketed it for long-term use, downplaying its addiction risks.
“You have this multifaceted campaign that gets launched to convince the medical community that we’ve been underprescribing opioids — that the risk of addiction had been overblown, that millions of people are suffering because we’re too stingy with these drugs,” said Andrew Kolodny, an opioid policy researcher at Brandeis University.
In the 2010s, addiction and opioid-related deaths further drove the epidemic as people turned to illegal substances such as heroin and synthetic opioids containing fentanyl.
Rogers proposed legislation to study and broaden pain management
Rogers introduced or cosponsored four versions of the National Pain Care Policy Act, beginning in 2003. The legislation called for greater attention on chronic pain as a public health problem, increased treatment access and more clinician training, including what it described as the “medically appropriate use of controlled substances.”
Rogers said in 2003 that the legislation was intended to “stimulate improvement in pain research and extend accessibility of care to more and more Americans suffering with chronic pain.”
“It was about both increasing sales of opioids, the idea that people who need them are not getting it, but it was also about preventing policymakers from taking actions that would have reduced prescribing,” Kolodny said.
Internal industry documents show opioid manufacturers promoted Rogers’ legislation, often through groups like the American Pain Foundation. A 2004 American Pain Foundation presentation said it “piloted mobilization strategies” and contributed to “strategic planning” for Rogers’ bill. The foundation also held a forum on pain treatment in 2006 “in cooperation with” Rogers, according to a flyer for the event.
Alyssa Brouillet, Rogers’ spokesperson, said in a statement that Rogers worked on the legislation because chronic pain research was fragmented and there was little clinical training or standardized systems for pain treatment. She said Rogers’ experience with bladder cancer and watching his brother suffer from chronic pain informed his perspective.
“He understands the struggle and was in a unique position to fix these problems so that Michiganders could live normal lives, rather than suffering through debilitating pain. And that’s exactly what he did,” Brouillet said.
Rogers’ campaign also pointed to his co-sponsorship of the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005, which set up an interstate prescription monitoring system for controlled substances to prevent abuse. Rogers was one of 34 bipartisan cosponsors on the bill, which became law in 2005.
By the time the National Pain Care Policy Act passed in the House in 2008, Democrat Lois Capps of California was the lead sponsor and Rogers was the original Republican cosponsor, and it passed with broad bipartisan support. That bill stalled in the Senate, but portions of it were written into the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Here’s what that section did:
Called for federal health regulators to convene a Conference on Pain to increase recognition of chronic pain as a public health problem and produce a report on the state of pain treatment in the U.S.
Directed the National Institutes of Health to expand pain research and created a committee to coordinate and advance federal pain research.
Authorized grants to educate healthcare providers about pain assessment and treatment.
What were the bill’s effects?
The legislation didn’t lead to a surge in opioid prescription rates, experts said. Prescription rates that had already been climbing peaked between 2010 and 2012. But they soon began to fall as addiction awareness and scrutiny on prescription practices increased, even as the ACA’s provisions that Rogers advocated for continued. The American Pain Foundation disbanded in 2012 after a Senate investigation into opioid makers and their deceptive marketing and prescribing recommendations.
&&
Opioid overdose deaths continued to rise over the next decade, but that was driven primarily by illicit drugs like heroin and fentanyl, not prescriptions. Deaths from common prescription opioids rose slightly between 2010 and 2017, then declined. Deaths from heroin spiked after 2010, and fentanyl overdoses became the major driver starting in 2013.
&&
Kolodny said Rogers’ pain care legislation was in line with the industry’s efforts to avoid regulations on prescribing practices.
“Even though I do think it’s not an accurate statement to say the legislation kicked off the opioid epidemic, I would say the legislation was an aspect of a campaign that fueled the epidemic and impeded its response,” Kolodny said.
Harry Nelson, a healthcare industry attorney and policy expert, said it’s “absurd” to say the legislation kicked off the opioid crisis and pointed to the origins in aggressive industry marketing in the late 90s.
“If the argument is that Rogers participated in this early-2000s political movement to treat pain more aggressively and reduce barriers to pain treatment, that’s a true statement,” he said. “To suggest that that was kicking off the opioid crisis is irresponsible.”
El-Sayed’s campaign also pointed PolitiFact to two other bills Rogers cosponsored — a veterans pain care bill and a 1995 Michigan law that shielded pharmaceutical companies from legal liability.
Rogers was one of 30 cosponsors on the veterans’ pain bill, and parts of it calling for pain care research and standardization were signed into law in a broad veterans health bill. The Michigan law, passed in 1995 when Rogers was a state senator, covered more than drug companies, but it provided broad legal protections for pharmaceutical manufacturers. The law made it harder for Michigan residents and the state to sue drug manufacturers for their role in the opioid epidemic, Bridge Michigan reported in 2023.
Our ruling
El-Sayed said Rogers “helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic.”
Health policy researchers point to deceptive marketing of the new painkiller OxyContin in the mid-1990s as the epidemic’s launch point, driving addiction and overdose deaths. As scrutiny led to tighter prescription protocol, around 2014, illicit drugs became the major driver of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S.
Rogers authored drug-manufacturer-backed legislation to study pain treatment and access years after opioid prescription and overdose rates began to climb. It didn’t become law until 2010, when opioid prescription rates were near their peak.
There’s a small element of truth, because Rogers authored and pushed for legislation to research and expand access to pain treatment, including prescription medications. But the legislation didn’t launch the crisis, experts said. We rate the statement Mostly False.
Party wants to cut £50bn from UK welfare bill but charity says proposals would cause ‘horrific levels of destitution’
Hundreds of thousands of children would be tipped into poverty and destitution under plans unveiled by Reform UK to slash £50bn a year from the UK benefits bill, campaigners have warned.
The warnings came after Reform published plans to drastically reduce disability payments, ban non-UK citizens from claiming benefits and introduce compulsory 20 hours a week unpaid workfare for thousands of long-term unemployed people.
Donald Trump’s move to gut Washington’s 73-year-old military alliance with Seoul has been called “inane” and “shortsighted” as lawmakers warned it risked strengthening Russia’s hand in Ukraine.
The US president abruptly ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles, justifying the decision by citing his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong-un, the nuclear-armed dictator such exercises exist to deter.
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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: PJM Interconnection, the biggest U.S. grid operator, proposed on Thursday a new framework that would force data centers to use back-up generators when electricity supply on the grid approaches dangerously low levels. The grid operator's proposal dovetails with President Donald Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a non-binding initiative to protect residential customers from getting saddled with costs related to data center power consumption, PJM said.
A new emergency procedure would notify utilities to reduce or transfer the electricity demand from data centers and other large power users ahead of any action that would shut off traditional consumers such as households. PJM said it does not, however, currently have the authority to curtail power to those sites and would require the cooperation of individual state governments.
PJM manages the electricity for 67 million people in a territory that stretches from Washington, D.C. to Chicago. Its proposal highlights a growing tension between the rapid expansion of data centers and the ability of the nation's power grid to keep up. If PJM cannot close its supply gap, millions of residents and businesses face an increased risk of blackouts, and the cost of new generation could be passed on to other power consumers. At its recent capacity auction, PJM hit its $325-per-megawatt-day price cap but still came up about 6.8 GW short of its projected reliability needs.
With rapidly expanding data centers adding pressure to the grid, PJM has also proposed creating a registry to track their locations and power consumption.
OpenAI has signed a 10-year lease for an enormous Ohio data center that will eventually provide 8 gigawatts of computing capacity and require at least 10 gigawatts of new power generation. According to OpenAI, Nvidia will be supplying the chips and guaranteeing up to $105 billion in lease and power obligations. From the report: The facility -- which will be built and owned by SoftBank's SB Energy -- illustrates the immensity of the computing and power needed to fuel the growth of the AI economy. The data center will have 8 IT-gigawatts of computing capacity, powered by 10 gigawatts of new energy generation, on private land and federal property formerly used for uranium enrichment.
Nvidia -- which will be the exclusive provider of chips to the site -- agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion in conditional lease and power payment obligations to SB Energy, according to an SEC filing (PDF). The so-called "land, power and shell" deal structure could allow for multiple upgrade cycles for new generations of Nvidia infrastructure at the site, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on X.
A massive 9.2 gigawatts of new gas-fired power is ultimately envisioned for the Ohio project, which U.S. officials say Japan is funding under the 2025 trade and investment deal. SB Energy and SoftBank "will build at least 10 GW of new energy generation," a joint announcement from Nvidia, OpenAI and SB Energy states. Nvidia also said today that it's investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy to back its "continued evolution into a leading AI infrastructure developer."
Revelation about security leak follows person pretending to be senior White House aide contacting prime minister
At least three UK cabinet ministers have had their personal mobile phone numbers published online, amid mounting concern over the security of senior politicians after Andy Burnham was targeted by an impersonation scam.
The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, the justice secretary, Alex Norris, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Bryant, had their numbers available online with their names.
Ms. Panettiere was in cardiac arrest before she died, the coroner’s office said. In a May memoir, she detailed the difficulties she had growing up in the public eye.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 17, 2026 — HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary BUZZ High Performance Computing Inc. (BUZZ HPC), today announced that it has signed a five-year GPU cloud services agreement with an investment-grade enterprise customer (all amounts in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated).
The agreement represents approximately $350 million in total contract value over five years and adds approximately $70 million in annualized revenue. This brings BUZZ HPC’s total annualized revenue to approximately $180 million, comprised of approximately $35 million in active, realized ARR today and approximately $145 million in contracted ARR expected to come online through Q4 2026. The contract is expected to generate attractive long-term economics and meaningful recurring cash flow as the cluster reaches full deployment.
Under the agreement, BUZZ HPC will deliver a dedicated AI infrastructure cluster consisting of 2,016 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs in NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 rack-scale systems, interconnected with NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking and supported by VAST Data’s high-performance storage platform. The system is being designed in accordance with NVIDIA’s reference architecture to support large-scale AI training, inference and advanced enterprise workloads.
The cluster is expected to become operational later this year at the Bell AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia.
The Merritt facility is powered by 100% renewable hydroelectric energy and utilizes advanced closed-loop liquid cooling technology, eliminating ongoing water consumption for cooling and reinforcing BUZZ HPC’s commitment to delivering sustainable, high-performance AI compute infrastructure.
Accelerating BUZZ HPC’s AI Cloud Growth
The new contract represents another significant step in the rapid expansion of BUZZ HPC’s AI cloud platform and demonstrates the Company’s ability to secure large-scale, long-term commitments from investment-grade customers.
The five-year term provides BUZZ HPC with long-term contracted revenue visibility while supporting the Company’s strategy of building a portfolio of high-performance accelerated computing infrastructure serving Canadian sovereign AI requirements, global enterprises and leading AI organizations internationally.
The dedicated cluster will support advanced AI training and inference workloads while leveraging BUZZ HPC’s expertise in NVIDIA accelerated computing, high-performance networking, enterprise storage and AI cloud infrastructure.
Attractive Long-Term Contract Economics
The Company expects capital expenditures associated with the deployment (including the accelerated computing cluster and all associated hardware and service warranties) to total approximately $185 million. The Company will receive an upfront deposit of approximately 10% of the total contract value of $350 million from the customer. The approximately $35 million deposit, together with HIVE’s previously announced financing initiatives and additional equipment financing, is expected to support the deployment and optimize the Company’s capital structure.
Upon completion, HIVE will retain ownership of the NVIDIA AI infrastructure, creating a long-lived strategic asset, with potential for continued cashflows. The five-year contract is anticipated to deliver an attractive return on invested capital, with meaningful upside from continued ownership. That value is driven by the long, useful life of NVIDIA accelerated computing, enabled by industry-leading throughput per watt and lowest token cost.
NVIDIA accelerated computing infrastructure is expected to be delivered and deployed in calendar Q4 of this year, at which point, HIVE’s HPC/AI daily revenue will be approximately $500,000.
Sustainable AI Infrastructure
BUZZ HPC’s AI cloud strategy combines leading-edge computing performance with access to sustainable power infrastructure.
The Merritt deployment will operate entirely on renewable hydroelectric power while utilizing closed-loop direct liquid cooling technology designed to maximize energy efficiency without requiring ongoing water consumption for cooling.
By combining renewable energy, advanced cooling technology and NVIDIA accelerated computing, BUZZ HPC is building AI infrastructure designed to deliver both the performance and sustainability increasingly required by enterprise and AI customers.
Building a Canadian AI Cloud Platform with Global Reach
BUZZ HPC continues to rapidly scale its position as a leading Canadian AI cloud provider, delivering sovereign accelerated computing infrastructure and enterprise AI cloud services to customers in Canada and internationally.
By combining purpose-built AI infrastructure, renewable energy, NVIDIA accelerated computing, high-performance networking and enterprise cloud technologies, BUZZ HPC is building a vertically integrated AI platform designed to support the growing global demand for AI.
The agreement further demonstrates the increasing demand for BUZZ HPC’s infrastructure and the Company’s ability to translate its growing AI platform into long-term contracted revenue.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 17, 2026 — NVIDIA today announced that it has secured land, power and shell (LPS) capacity through a partnership with SB Energy at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, to host NVIDIA compute. OpenAI will be the customer. SB Energy will build, own and operate the data center under a 20-year lease to OpenAI.
Credit: Shutterstock
Demand for AI is growing at an extraordinary pace. AI is becoming infrastructure, requiring a full stack of critical resources, including LPS. To meet this moment, NVIDIA is securing the LPS capacity at PORTS-Pike to exclusively host NVIDIA AI factories. This unique campus development will lay the foundation for tomorrow’s breakthroughs, enabling communities to drive scientific discovery, health care advances and regional economic development.
OpenAI will utilize the capacity at the site. The AI factory will use NVIDIA’s full-stack DSX AI factory platform, including GPUs, CPUs and networking. The initial deployment is designed to support 4.25 IT-GW of AI factory capacity. NVIDIA has the option to extend the opportunity at PORTS-Pike beyond the initial capacity. The DSX AI factory architecture used at PORTS-Pike will deliver resiliency across the full stack – facilities, hardware, and software together – reducing infrastructure overhead and accelerating time to tokens for the next generation of AI factories.
“AI is becoming infrastructure – the foundation for intelligence in every industry – and land, power and shell have become vital in the age of AI. Now is the time to scale the AI infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics.”
“Infrastructure is vital for the AI economy. With SoftBank Group, OpenAI and NVIDIA, SB Energy is building power-first infrastructure at unprecedented scale while strengthening the communities that make it possible – protecting ratepayers, creating tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, and investing in infrastructure to revitalize Southern Ohio that has long shaped America’s future,” said Rich Hossfeld, co-CEO of SB Energy.
“This is going to be a huge site, with enough computing power to help millions of people use AI to do things we can only start to imagine today, from finding new medicines to starting businesses and solving hard problems,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “We’re proud to build it in Pike County, a place that is once again at the heart of American industry and leading the future. We want the people who live here to feel the benefits too, through good jobs, more opportunity for local businesses, and investment in the community for years to come.”
“The next era of intelligence will transform every industry — and require infrastructure built at unprecedented speed and scale. Together with our partners, SoftBank will help unlock the power of AGI and move humanity forward,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp.
Campus to Bring New Jobs and Benefits to Ohio
SB Energy’s PORTS-Pike Technology Campus is reindustrializing the decommissioned Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the surrounding area, bringing a new generation of jobs to Appalachian Ohio, while creating an opportunity for the region to play an important role in the next era of American industry. Spanning private and federal land, the campus is being developed in collaboration with AEP Ohio, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The planned capacity is expected to come online in phases beginning in 2028.
In support of the surrounding Ohio community, SB Energy and SoftBank will build at least 10 GW of new energy generation, which results in 8 IT-GW of AI factory capacity, and invest at least $4.2 billion in new regional grid infrastructure through an innovative partnership with AEP Ohio designed to protect ratepayers. OpenAI has agreed to build on SB Energy’s originally announced $40 million community benefits fund with an incremental $40 million designed to support local priorities, including affordable energy, job creation and workforce development, and community and economic development.
NVIDIA Invests in SB Energy
NVIDIA will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, joining existing investors SoftBank Group and OpenAI. The investment supports SB Energy’s continued evolution into a leading AI infrastructure developer, while supporting Pike County and other local communities, with the vast opportunity ahead to deliver compute infrastructure at speed and scale.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.
Advisors
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan served as financial advisors for SB Energy. Morgan Stanley served as NVIDIA’s financial advisor.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in AI and accelerated computing.
About SB Energy
SB Energy is a leading integrated data center and power infrastructure company purpose-built for the AI economy. The company develops, constructs, and operates gigawatt-scale data center campuses and utility-scale power generation assets. Through its vertically integrated, power-first model, SB Energy addresses the industry’s primary bottleneck and accelerates speed-to-compute, with a focus on community, reliability, and cost discipline. For more information, visit www.sbenergy.com.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is making powerful AI accessible, useful and abundant for people and businesses everywhere to build, solve problems and expand what they’re able to do.
Funding opportunities prioritize foundational research across the sciences and engineering and advance a new portfolio-based approach to grant-making, offering researchers more flexibility in award periods and reducing administrative burden
Aug. 17, 2026 — The U.S. National Science Foundation today released 12 new notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs) providing over $1.5 billion for foundational research, including basic and use-inspired inquiry across the sciences and engineering.
These funding opportunities support the foremost goal in the administration’s memorandum “Ushering in a New Golden Age of American Innovation: Fiscal Year 2028 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities” which calls for investing in the foundational research that remains the bedrock of American science and technology leadership. They also deliver on a central premise of the report Science: A New Golden Age — that America must respond to the forces reshaping the scientific enterprise and create conditions in which exceptional science can occur more often and progress more rapidly. Rather than treating every research question alike, NSF will take a portfolio-based approach to federal grantmaking that deliberately matches funding mechanisms, institutional models, research modalities and grant durations to the character of the research. NOFOs announced today will support a mix of long-horizon awards for ambitious, transformative research and rapid short-term grants to quickly test promising ideas.
NOFOs advance NSF’s core mission to support foundational research that leads to scientific breakthroughs and opens new frontiers of knowledge. NSF investments in foundational research underpin technological innovation across industries, strengthening U.S. economic competitiveness, enhancing national security and improving quality of life for all Americans. The funding opportunities place particular emphasis on bold, paradigm-challenging inquiry, foundational research that forges new connections across disciplines, and projects that harness artificial intelligence, advanced computation and automation to make qualitatively new science possible.
“America’s scientific enterprise is shaped by how we empower researchers to explore the frontiers of discovery,” said Brian Stone, Performing the Duties of the NSF Director. “The investment that we are announcing today will enable researchers to accelerate fundamental research, giving rise to the transformational breakthroughs that will power our future.”
“In Science: A New Golden Age, the administration made foundational research in the sciences and engineering a national priority,” said Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “NSF’s investments today ensure the United States continues to drive the scientific breakthroughs that underpin the industries of the future and will support a wider range of meritorious science by matching the size, speed and duration of an award to the character of the research it supports.”
The new opportunities reflect a wider range of R&D funding mechanisms so that the structure of an award better fits the research it is intended to support. Where scientifically justified, researchers are encouraged to request awards of up to five years of support for long-term, ambitious research questions, allowing them to focus on truly paradigm-shifting research instead of producing incremental results to secure the next award. To rapidly test and de-risk novel ideas, researchers are also encouraged to make greater use of NSF’s existing rapid, short-term grant mechanisms.
Many of the new funding opportunities will also enable structured experiments in how NSF supports discovery. NSF plans to rigorously assess and validate whether changes in proposal design, award duration, review methods and funding speed improve the quality and ambition of scientific results. NSF plans to scale these changes over the long term as appropriate, building the metascience capabilities and self-improving scientific enterprise called for in the administration’s FY 2028 R&D budget priorities memorandum.
The new solicitations are shorter, fewer in number and easier to navigate, opening NSF’s funding opportunities to a broader cross-section of the nation and advancing NSF’s ongoing efforts to reduce paperwork burden. They also complement NSF’s announcement last winter that the agency is piloting changes to the merit review process, including new mechanisms to surface unconventional proposals that may not advance through traditional consensus-driven review panels. Early-career researchers are especially encouraged to apply across funding opportunities.
View the full list of new funding opportunities here.
Exclusive: Research also finds stark ethnic disparities, and 40% of deaths among group classed as avoidable
People living with severe intellectual disabilities are dying 24 years younger on average than the wider population, a study has found, with 40% of such deaths being avoidable.
The study also found that within this group, people from minority ethnic backgrounds were dying 14 years younger than their white counterparts.
LISLE, Ill., Aug. 17, 2026 — Molex, a global electronics leader and connectivity innovator, today announced a strategic investment in CAEPlus, Inc., an early-stage company focused on the development of active liquid cooling technology designed to help data centers manage increasing heat loads driven by AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads. This investment advances Molex’s Data Center Thermal Management strategy by accelerating the innovation of CAEPlus’ BoundaryCool platform, a compact, active cooling architecture that addresses next gen GPU/ASIC thermal challenges.
Molex’s strategic investment in CAEPlus accelerates the BoundaryCool active liquid cooling platform to deliver higher heat‑removal performance for next‑generation AI and HPC data centers.
“Advanced thermal management is becoming a critical enabler for the next wave of compute performance,” said Jairo Guerrero, VP and GM, Copper Solutions Business, Molex. “Our strategic investment in CAEPlus reflects Molex’s commitment to supporting innovations in liquid cooling while working with emerging technology leaders to help customers address rapidly evolving AI and compute-intensive data center requirements.”
The strategic collaboration will support continued advancements across the BoundaryCool platform, engineered to deliver significantly higher heat transfer performance and greater reductions in CPU/GPU/TPU chip temperatures compared to passive cold plate solutions while remaining compatible with legacy data center architectures.
“CAEPlus was founded to address the rapid pace of change in data center cooling requirements by enabling an entirely new class of active liquid cooling solutions,” said Milad Bashirzadeh, founder and CEO, CAEPlus, Inc. “In addition to its investment, Molex brings deep engineering expertise and a strong track record of helping scale innovative technologies. We are excited to work together in advancing our proprietary cooling technology and meet unrelenting industry requirements for higher levels of performance and efficiency.”
The addition of CAEPlus technology to Molex’s comprehensive thermal management portfolio offers data center customers a broader range of solutions engineered to address the most demanding computing requirements. As part of the agreement, Molex retains exclusive licensing to apply CAEPlus technology to the Molex portfolio of pluggable I/O solutions. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
About Molex
Molex is a global electronics leader committed to making the world a better, more-connected place. With a presence in more than 40 countries, Molex enables transformative technology innovation in the consumer device, aerospace and defense, data center, cloud, telecommunications, transportation, industrial automation and healthcare industries. Through trusted customer and industry relationships, unrivaled engineering expertise, and product quality and reliability, Molex realizes the infinite potential of Creating Connections for Life. For more information, visit www.molex.com.
SWORDS, Ireland and CLEVELAND, Aug. 17, 2026 — Trane Technologies, a global climate innovator, and intelligent power management company Eaton today announced a strategic collaboration integrating advanced thermal management and electrical system architectures to help accelerate AI-factory deployment, enhance efficiency and lower costs.
Trane Technologies and Eaton are introducing a first-of-its kind reference design that replaces a traditionally slow, manual and siloed design process with a unified, intelligent system for power and cooling for next-generation data centers. By advancing medium-voltage designs for higher-power density AI factories, the companies can achieve combined energy efficiency gains of up to 15%, cut copper use by as much as 80% and reduce installation costs by up to 30% compared to conventional, low-voltage designs, while enabling faster deployment and reducing complexity. As global data center capacity may almost triple by 2030, with AI driving about 70% of that growth, the reference design provides a more resource-efficient approach to scaling data center infrastructure.
The new reference design is included in both the Trane Continuum Rubin DSX and Eaton Beam Rubin DSX platforms, built in alignment with the NVIDIA DSX platforms, with Eaton’s technology helping provide power distribution for the Trane platform. By combining the expertise of both companies into coordinated reference designs, data center customers can help accelerate development cycles through pre-coordinated thermal and electrical power systems from grid to chip. The companies’ approach breaks down traditional systems-in-silos architectures, enabling power distribution and cooling systems to exchange leading indicators, respond more dynamically to needs and enhance data center performance.
“AI and high-performance computing are transforming the demands placed on data centers, and customers want solutions that can keep pace with their needs,” said Mauro J. Atalla, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, Trane Technologies. “By combining our advanced thermal management solutions with Eaton’s innovative power management solutions, we’re delivering a coordinated design that helps customers accelerate deployment, improve efficiency and confidently plan to scale for the future.”
“We’re advancing the industry standard for speed of deployment by progressing reference designs into unified systems teams can deploy repeatedly. Aligned with the NVIDIA DSX platform, we’re integrating our medium-voltage power systems and white space thermal management solutions with Trane’s advanced thermal management system architecture to help accelerate AI-factory deployment at scale,” said Michael Regelski, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Electrical Sector, Eaton.
The Eaton and Trane Technologies reference design is built to work smoothly with the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint for AI data centers. The combined approach establishes a more consistent, predictable method for planning and delivering electrical, thermal and digital control infrastructure required for AI‑driven environments. The coordinated architecture simplifies setup, reduces risk during deployment, and improves overall performance for today’s technologies. It is also designed to evolve as emerging liquid cooling technologies and direct current architectures become mainstream.
“AI factories demand tightly coordinated power, cooling and compute infrastructure to operate efficiently at scale. By aligning with the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint, Trane Technologies and Eaton are helping customers reduce complexity and accelerate deployment of next-generation AI data centers,” said Vladimir Troy, Vice President of AI Infrastructure at NVIDIA. “This new integrated approach supports the robust, scalable foundations enterprises need to unlock the full potential of generative and reasoning AI and turn data into faster, smarter outcomes.”
About Trane Technologies
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane and Thermo King, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation. For more on Trane Technologies, visit www.tranetechnologies.com.
About Trane
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy efficient indoor environments through a broad portfolio of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and controls, services, parts and supply. For more information, please visit www.trane.com or www.tranetechnologies.com.
About Eaton
Eaton is an intelligent power management company dedicated to protecting the environment and improving the quality of life for people everywhere. We make products for the data center, utility, industrial, commercial, machine building, residential, aerospace and mobility markets. We are guided by our commitment to do business right, to operate sustainably and to help our customers manage power ─ today and well into the future. By capitalizing on the global growth trends of electrification and digitalization, we’re helping to solve the world’s most urgent power management challenges and building a more sustainable society for people today and generations to come.
Founded in 1911, Eaton has continuously evolved to meet the changing and expanding needs of our stakeholders. With revenues of $27.4 billion in 2025, the company serves customers in 180 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 17, 2026 — Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (Credo), an innovator in providing connectivity at scale through fast, reliable, and energy-efficient system solutions, has announced its plans to standardize an interconnect within the Open Compute Project (OCP) Community for addressing the memory wall challenge. The memory wall is the gap between how fast processors can compute and how fast memory can supply data, causing expensive compute resources to sit idle waiting for data. In modern AI inference environments, memory bandwidth and capacity—not compute power—are often the dominant constraints on system performance.
Credit: Credo
Credo has formed the OCP Open Chiplet Economy (OCE) Lightweight Serial Interconnect (LSI) Workstream to develop interconnect solutions to overcome the memory bottlenecks that limit AI inference scalability in data infrastructure. In combination with the creation of the OCE LSI Workstream, Credo intends to contribute its OmniConnect lightweight AXI framer specification to OCP, with the goal to advance an open ecosystem of OmniConnect products from Credo and third parties that enable memory disaggregation and chip-to-chip communications.
High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) suffers from very high cost, limited availability, and density issues. The standardization of a lightweight, high-efficiency serial interconnect option promotes the flexible composition of chiplet-based and modular AI systems and reduces reliance on HBM. AI system designers can flexibly compose domain-specific architectures optimized for diverse and evolving AI models, data flows, and workload characteristics, enabling up to 25x increase in memory density and 5% increase in bandwidth compared to HBM4. The effort supports the broader industry transition toward composable infrastructure—where compute, memory, and storage can be optimally combined—helping unlock higher performance, better resource utilization, and greater cost efficiency for AI at scale.
“We formed the OCP LSI Workstream to address a clear industry need for innovative interconnect solutions that address the memory wall problem while also enabling a new generation of high-bandwidth and power-optimized modular architectures for AI systems,” said Vishal Shah, Vice President of Product, Credo. “Advancing an open approach to lightweight framing and serial interconnect is critical to enabling flexible chiplet integration, including near-package pluggable configurations, for the next wave of AI inference.”
“We welcome Credo’s leadership in helping to define open frameworks and standards that can accelerate innovation and scalability across the ecosystem with the OCP LSI Workstream,” said Anu Ramamurthy, Co-Lead, OCP Open Chiplet Economy Subproject. “Credo’s intended contribution of the lightweight AXI framer specification to OCP is an important step toward aligning the industry around AI interconnect architectures that enable interoperability, reduce complexity and support the high-performance requirements of next-generation AI infrastructure.”
The Lightweight Serial Interconnect (LSI) Workstream operates within the OCP Open Chiplet Economy Subproject, under the Server Project. More information on the LSI Workstream can be found here.
Credo’s intended contribution to OCP of its OmniConnect lightweight AXI framer specification is part of Credo’s OmniConnect versatile AXI-over-VSR (Very Short Reach) SerDes bus that enables both die-to-die interconnect and scale-up networking by connecting multiple compute engines via external chiplets. For more information on Credo OmniConnect, visit the product page linked here.
About Credo
Credo’s mission is to transform connectivity at scale through fast, reliable, and energy-efficient system solutions. Our high-speed copper and optical interconnect products deliver industry-leading power and performance at up to 1.6T to meet the ever-expanding data infrastructure demands of AI. Our product portfolio includes ZeroFlap (ZF) Active Electrical Cables (AECs) and ZF optical transceivers, OmniConnect memory solutions, and a suite of retimers and DSPs for optical and copper Ethernet and PCIe, all leveraging the PILOT diagnostic and analytics software platform. Credo innovations enable our customers to connect the systems that connect the world.
Government concedes ‘significant opposition’ requires new approach on quotas for medium-sized development sites
Ministers have dropped plans to relax affordable housing rules for developers in England after a backlash from housing experts who warned it could drastically cut the number of cheaper homes available in rural areas.
The government said on Monday it would not go ahead with proposals to end affordable housing quotas for private builders on sites containing between 10 and 49 houses after a consultation triggered an overwhelmingly negative response.
Sunita Doddamani argues that she was terminated as an assistant U.S. attorney because she prosecuted activists accused of blocking an entrance to an abortion clinic.
Hayden Panettiere, who starred in "Remember the Titans" as a child actor and rose to fame in the series "Heroes," has died at the age of 36. The coroner's office says she was found in cardiac arrest.
Democratic senator Jon Ossoff attacked Donald Trump and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, over the Iran war, saying they lied 'the nation into a war'. Ossoff, who is running for re-election in Georgia in November, made the comments while speaking at a rally in midtown Atlanta on Sunday afternoon
alternative_right shares a report from 404 Media: Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process. A 404 Media investigation was able to reveal Amazon's book buying operation, which hasn't been previously reported, by placing a tracking device in a rare book we suspected would be acquired by an AI company for training data, and following it around the country to its final destination. That final destination was an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Amazon employees who work at this location say all they do is receive massive shipments of printed books which they then cut the bindings off in order to scan the books more quickly. The printed book is destroyed in the process. The logo of the Amazon team that works at this warehouse, called VGT3, is a dinosaur, brandishing its teeth and with a book in its hands. "Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use," an Amazon spokesperson told 404 Media in a statement.
Decision leaves intact $5m civil judgment against Trump after jury found him liable for sexually abusing writer
The US supreme court has rejected for a second time Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a jury verdict in 2023 that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll, and later defaming her.
The court announced the decision in an unsigned order on Monday, without providing an explanation of their decision. The order just listed the US president’s petition, along with several other petitions, under “rehearings denied”.
The UN rights chief voiced alarm Monday at the rising civilian toll of escalating hostilities in Yemen, urging restraint and an immediate de-escalation to avoid plunging the country back into a full-scale war.
“I urge all parties to halt immediately any actions that risk returning Yemen to full-scale conflict,” Volker Türk said in a statement, as renewed fighting between the Houthi rebels and the government undermined a 2022 truce.
Israeli PM again insists troops will not withdraw from strip until Hamas first disarms, but calls meeting constructive
Benjamin Netanyahu has told Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner there can be no progress on the stalled Gaza ceasefire deal or an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal strip until Hamas first disarms.
An Israeli official said there had been no breakthrough in the meeting between the pair, saying Netanyahu had made it clear the IDF would not withdraw and would continue to carry out operations in Gaza.
I arrived alone and unprepared for a world of electronic badges, hacking contests and unwritten rules. By the end, I was already thinking about next year’s event.
Georgia Democratic senator has stoked speculation for 2028 presidency bid by delivering stinging attacks on Trump
Democratic senator Jon Ossoff has attacked Donald Trump’s “uniquely despicable” handling of the US-Israel war on Iran, accusing the US president of “re-rigging” a corrupt system for himself in an excoriating speech.
Ossoff, who is running for re-election in Georgia in November, has repeatedly stoked speculation that he is laying the ground for a bid for the US presidency in 2028 by delivering a series of stinging attacks on Trump and his administration.
Virgin Trains has been granted track access by the rail regulator to enable it to run services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, in a key step towards breaking Eurostar’s monopoly on the cross-Channel passenger route.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it had given approval for Richard Branson’s company to run as many as 20 daily return services using the High Speed 1 line that runs between London St Pancras and the Channel tunnel.
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio — An Ohio man pleaded guilty to laundering $3.4 million for a transnational criminal organization behind what the Justice Department calls the largest healthcare fraud case it has ever prosecuted.
Eldar Zarbavel, 45, admitted laundering proceeds through regional banks on behalf of a network based in Russia and elsewhere. Prosecutors say the organization used fraudulent durable medical equipment companies to submit billions of dollars in false claims to Medicare and private insurers.
Zarbavel opened Northeast Ohio bank accounts for Royce Medical Supply LLC, a Florida company controlled by the organization, according to DOJ. Between July 2022 and July 2024, the company submitted approximately $1.42 billion in fraudulent claims. Medicare blocked nearly all of them, but some payments were made.
Prosecutors say Zarbavel then helped deposit, transfer and withdraw about $3.4 million in fraud proceeds during June and July 2024. The organization allegedly used false ownership and corporate records to disguise who actually controlled its medical equipment companies before moving money through shell companies and overseas accounts.
The prosecution is part of Operation Gold Rush, which DOJ says involved more than $10 billion in fraudulent claims overall. The department’s latest release says 35 people have been charged in the operation and 16 have been convicted.
Zarbavel pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. He is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 16 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought
Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.
French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the growing backlash against AI is less about executives sounding alarms and more about a broader "crisis of trust" in companies, governments, and the tech industry. TechCrunch reports: Amodei's comments came in response to investor Gavin Baker, who argued -- both on the All-In podcast and on X -- that Amodei's warnings about the dangers of AI have helped to fuel a backlash in the United States, particularly against data centers.
Claiming that Amodei has "lost the argument" when it comes to AI regulation (Anthropic has advocated for some regulations, including a California bill that imposes transparency requirements on large AI companies), and given that "he is about to be the CEO of one of the most important companies in the world," Baker wrote, "I respectfully think he should make an effort to be a more positive advocate for his own industry."
Baker is far from the only one arguing that AI skepticism and even government crackdowns are a natural response to the dire warnings of some AI executives. But in a series of posts, Amodei disagreed with the idea that his "messaging has been disproportionately negative." Instead, he said that his writing has been "about equally balanced between risks and benefits," and that he wrote his essay "Machines of Loving Grace" because he "didn't feel the AI industry was painting an inspiring enough picture of how the technology could radically transform the world for the better."
Nonetheless, Amodei acknowledged that "the public has a negative view of AI" and he agreed that "this is a big problem." Where he disagreed was with the idea that this negativity is "primarily caused" by Amodei "or any other AI leader warning about AI's risks." "I think it is fundamentally a crisis of trust," Amodei said. "I think that ordinary people don't trust companies, governments, or the tech industry and always suspect that we are cooking up some new way to screw them over."
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is on a diplomatic mission in the Middle East to meet Hamas officials and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to salvage a ceasefire in Gaza.
The talks come after Netanyahu rejected the US-backed 15-point peace plan for the territory in a rare public break with the Trump administration this month.
Authorities say man, 50, shot wife in Louisiana and put her body in car before driving and being stopped in Tennessee
A man in Louisiana killed his wife and then took her body on a driving tour through several states before he was arrested in Tennessee, authorities allege.
The suspect’s macabre purported odyssey began in Baton Rouge when, according to Louisiana investigators, Tyronne Brazille, 50, shot dead his wife, Lanessa Bradford, also 50, during an argument at the city’s Independence Community Park.
Energy prices have been high since the US-Israel war with Iran began and the strait of Hormuz was blocked
US gas prices this month are so far the highest ever recorded for August as peace talks between the US and Iran have stalled and Donald Trump launched fresh threats against Oman.
The national average price of gas was $4.06 per gallon on Monday, according to data from AAA, $0.05 higher than last week and $1 more expensive than a year ago. In California and Hawaii, averages hit about $5.50 a gallon.
Belgium wildfire creeps closer to German border, as 104 firefighters and 36 vehicles from France help with Spain wildfire effort
As flagged earlier, Belgium’s King Philippe is now visiting the emergency coordination centre looking after the firefighters tackling the major fire in the eastern part of the country (9:39).
The European Commission has deployed assistance to Belgium and Spain as part of the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.
Industrial output and retail sales slump in July after one of the country’s weakest quarterly growth rates ever
China’s economy is showing signs of extending a slowdown with a slump in industrial output and retail sales in July, adding to pressure on Beijing to intervene with measures to support activity.
After the world’s second largest economy posted one of its lowest quarterly growth readings on record in the three months to June, the latest figures suggest it continued to falter in July.
State police charged a 36-year-old Hockessin man with six felonies following the early-morning confrontation
HOCKESSIN — Wawa employees disarmed and subdued a knife-wielding man after he allegedly cut a co-worker’s hand during an altercation early Sunday, Delaware State Police said.
Troopers responded shortly before 3 a.m. Aug. 16 to the Wawa at 605 Yorklyn Road, near Lancaster Pike. When they arrived, employees were restraining 36-year-old Matthew Ralston of Hockessin, police said.
Investigators said Ralston initially entered the store, made a purchase and went outside but remained in the parking lot. He later returned, went behind the counter, displayed a knife and allegedly threatened and attempted to stab an employee.
Ralston then left the knife on the counter and walked outside, police said. He allegedly returned again, retrieved the knife and waved it above his head before leaving the store once more.
Police said Ralston entered the store again and approached an employee who was calling 911. He allegedly lunged at her and swung the knife, cutting her hand.
Other employees disarmed and restrained Ralston until troopers arrived. The injured employee was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Ralston was charged with three counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, second-degree assault, attempted second-degree assault and aggravated menacing.
Following his arraignment, Ralston was committed to the Delaware Department of Correction in lieu of a $46,000 cash bond.
Ralston is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
TO GO
What: Delaware State Police report on the Hockessin Wawa stabbing investigation When: The incident occurred at about 3 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 16 Where: Wawa, 605 Yorklyn Road, Hockessin Learn more: Read the Delaware State Police report
Many in the crowd watching on screen outside minster have stories of meeting or knowing singer, who died in July
Bonnie Tyler’s songs have echoed through her home town of Swansea in recent days in memory of the late singer, but on Monday the church bells stopped and wellwishers lining the streets fell silent as her coffin arrived for a service celebrating her life.
As the white coffin, covered in bouquets of white roses, was carried into the minster, shouts of “God bless you Bonnie” and “bye Bonnie” punctured the quiet. Those gathered to pay their respects burst into applause. Tyler’s If I Sing You a Love Song and It’s a Heartache played before the private service began, which mourners outside watched on a screen in nearby St David’s Square.
The State Fair of Texas has revealed the finalists competing for this year’s Big Tex Choice Awards, and the lineup pushes the boundaries of what ... Read moreThe post A chocolate corny dog joins 14 other Texas Fair finalists eyeing…
Concern over impact of Iran war pushes up government bond yields in US, UK, France, Germany and Japan
Government borrowing costs in several advanced economies hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, or even earlier, on Monday as investors feared the Middle East crisis would keep inflation persistently high.
Concerns over rising prices and government spending pushed up the cost of debt issued by Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Tokyo and London as investors fretted that rising prices would push up interest rates.
A cruise line doesn’t commit to all seven continents at once very often. Celebrity Cruises just did, unveiling 2028 and 2029 itineraries that extend from ... Read moreThe post Celebrity Cruises is expanding to every continent, including some new ports…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Major artificial intelligence companies have donated more than $2 million since 2025 to political organizations supporting Democratic and Republican state attorneys general, even as those same officials investigate and sue AI firms over child safety, deceptive practices and other emerging harms.
According to IRS disclosures reviewed by Sludge, Google gave $250,000 in the second quarter of 2026 to both the Democratic Attorneys General Association and Republican Attorneys General Association. Meta contributed $200,000 to each, while Amazon gave $125,000 to each. Anthropic donated $250,000 to the Republican group in May.
Elon Musk’s xAI also gave $25,000 to the Democratic group, despite simultaneously fighting California Attorney General Rob Bonta in court over an AI transparency law. Bonta’s office is separately investigating xAI’s Grok chatbot over the generation and distribution of nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes.
The donations come as scrutiny of the industry intensifies across party lines. In August 2025, 44 attorneys general warned OpenAI, Meta, Google, xAI and other companies about “grave concerns” involving children’s interactions with AI chatbots.
The contributions do not establish that any attorney general altered an investigation or enforcement decision. But they illustrate the increasingly complicated relationship between powerful AI companies and state officials who are becoming some of the industry’s most important regulators.
The stakes are particularly high because states are moving faster than Congress in many areas of AI oversight, including child safety, deepfakes, privacy and transparency. That gives attorneys general significant authority over companies that are simultaneously helping finance the political organizations supporting their elections.
Harvard study finds traffic fatalities increase by 15% on release dates compared with similar days either side
The release of a new album by Taylor Swift might be a cause for celebration among her fans, but such events have also been linked to a more sombre phenomenon: an increase in fatal car crashes.
The team behind a new study say it sheds light on the impact of distracted driving. “You can’t randomise people into using their phones, and drivers rarely volunteer what they were doing in the seconds before a crash,” said Dr Vishal Patel, first author of the study based at Harvard Medical School.
Laith Alani, who had booked week-long trip to visit theme parks and family, believes US border force profiled him on arrival in Orlando
A British student who was detained and deported after flying to the US claims he was profiled for being Muslim.
Laith Alani said he felt as if he had been kidnapped when he was interrogated for nine hours and detained in a holding cell for another 14 hours by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Orlando international airport.
Consumer privacy advocates have responded with alarm after Coles and Woolworths confirmed they were testing facial recognition technology that they could use in their Australian supermarkets to record shoppers’ personal biometric data.
The supermarket giants on Monday confirmed they had tested the technology and said they were considering installing it in their Australian stores to crack down on retail crime including aggression towards staff.
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, PC; Frogwares Frogwares’ Lovecraftian action-horror is full of grim tenacity and pulp paperback charm, despite a few frayed edges
I’m standing in the prosthetics lab of a campy horror hospital, hunting for a preacher’s flayed face to wear so I can trick the world’s grisliest smart doorbell. Pinned to a board in the corner of the room are a dozen X-rays: shattered bones and metal splints in sepia negative, each with a note attached. It’s a stark, clinical intrusion on the theatrical gore elsewhere. It takes a beat to realise that I’m reading the stories of injuries sustained by soldiers fighting for Frogwares’ native Ukraine. Fingers amputated after severe burns. Limbs lost in mine explosions. Toes torn off by shell fire.
Like so many of my favourite PS3-era seven-out-of-tens, The Sinking City 2 is a pulpy action horror. It’s fuelled by scrappy ambition, Lovecraft fan fiction and wonderfully unhinged scenario design. A puzzle that has you determine which talking jarred brain is telling porkies. A scavenger hunt to fix a crane to move a rotting whale carcass. A gunfight amid the grisly results of a siren pop star’s fan meet-up turned battle royale.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: If you want to record whatever you do on a computer, send those records to OpenAI, use more ChatGPT tokens, and increase your vulnerability to prompt injection, then OpenAI has something for you. It's called Computer History, an opt-in way to record your computer interactions across apps and websites as memories organized on a timeline.
Why would you want to do so? Maybe you found Chronicle, the predecessor of Computer History which compiled similar histories using screenshots, a bit too intrusive but don't mind Computer History's approach -- recording input events and storing them unencrypted locally for 48 hours (or more), with a brief visit to OpenAI's servers. Maybe you're not bothered by the warning OpenAI includes in its documentation: "Computer History files can contain sensitive information. They are not encrypted by Computer History, and other programs running as your macOS user may be able to access them."
Perhaps, having given OpenAI's Codex and GPT Work the run of your computer, you're already sold on the suggestion that storing your computer activity in memory files and arranging those interactions in a timeline will improve ChatGPT responses, surface opportunities for automation, and make it easier to resume prior work. Computer History is, to put it bluntly, a keylogging and event capture system. "Computer History creates an interaction-event stream from allowed apps and websites," OpenAI's documentation explains. "Events can include clicks, typing, keyboard shortcuts, app switches, and context that macOS exposes through its accessibility system. Computer History periodically turns these events into text summaries and local memory files." OpenAI says the feature doesn't capture screen images, microphone input, or system audio. It also doesn't record private-mode browsing.
"Turn it off during communications with other people unless you have their prior express consent," the company advises, perhaps in acknowledgement of legal risk. "Consider pausing it or excluding apps that contain sensitive health, financial, or personal information." ChatGPT and Codex delete locally stored Computer History interaction events after 48 hours, but data sent to OpenAI to generate memories may be retained locally longer and reused in future chats.
Manufacturing company 3M knew more than 50 years ago that its firefighting products – including components in Pfas “forever chemicals” – could be hazardous to the health of humans and animals and damage the environment, the federal government has claimed in court documents.
In filings as part of its $2bn lawsuit against the multinational company, commonwealth lawyers said products sold to Australia were known to stay present in water and soil, were persistent in the human body and in animals, and contributed to conditions including reduced kidney function, alterations in immune function, effects on fertility and puberty and lower birth weight in babies.
Calls grow for inquiry into media reporting of the case as Cambridge chancellor criticises ‘racist feeding frenzy’
A Windrush campaigner who launched a fundraiser for Jason Arday’s family has said the outpouring of support shows “Britain still cares”.
Arday, who was found dead on Friday, had resigned the previous week from his post as professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge after allegations of plagiarism were made against him.
Party’s ‘welfare to work’ policy would force long-term claimants to do community work or face losing benefits
Robert Jenrick went on to say that long-term benefits claimants will be made to clean up their local high street and do charity work or face having their benefits taken away.
He said as part of the party’s “welfare to work” policy, long-term claimants, who are fit to work, will be forced to do 20-hours of work a week in the community.
They’ll work to clean up high streets and parks, to beautify neglected places, to carry out minor repairs, to staff libraries and community centres to perform many other tasks from the list that we’ve published today.
We’ll also embrace local charities and community groups and ask them to help us and take part. If claimants refuse to participate or fail to show up, they’ll face penalties.
After failing to deliver subpoenas itself, the BBC has asked a Florida court to compel three of President Trump's family members to testify over the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The plan has sparked criticism from Democrats, who argue that granting bank status to a business affiliated with the Trump family poses a conflict of interest.
Back in the markets, the pound has hit a three-month high against the weakening US dollar.
Sterling is up a third of a cent at $1.356, its highest level since 12 May.
The longer-term outlook for the US dollar and US bonds looks bearish: investors dislike the boiling Middle East war, which is costing the US way more than it was supposed to (it was supposed to be a few-week operation), while the exploding US debt and the lack of budget discipline from the Trump government weigh on appetite for US debt, as the national debt is about to surpass the $40 trillion mark.
“This is an important next step in bringing competition and growth to the market for international rail services, and we welcome the progress Virgin Trains and London St Pancras High Speed have made.
While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services.”
At least 2,325 people have died from the virus, according to official data, with outbreak on track to be biggest in history
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the deadliest in the country’s history, with at least 2,325 people dead, according to government data, surpassing the toll from the 2018-20 outbreak.
The DRC’s public health institute said confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 detected in the previous 24 hours.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s unusual request to reconsider its earlier refusal to hear his appeal of a $5 million civil verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll, effectively ending his remaining challenge in that case.
A New York jury found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s and later defaming her when he denied her allegations. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
The Supreme Court initially declined to hear Trump’s appeal in June. His attorneys then filed a petition asking the justices to rehear that decision, a rarely granted procedure. The court denied that request Monday without explanation.
Trump has already satisfied the judgment. The original $5 million award grew to roughly $5.8 million with interest before the money, which had been held in escrow, was released to Carroll last month.
The ruling does not end Trump’s separate legal fight with Carroll. Another jury awarded her $83.3 million in 2024 for defamatory statements Trump made in 2019 while serving his first term as president. Trump and the Justice Department have asked the Supreme Court to overturn that verdict, arguing that his comments fell within his official presidential duties and should be covered by federal immunity protections.
The justices have not yet decided whether they will hear that separate appeal.
Mother and son Olga and Nikita Belov say they were facing jail and potential torture after asylum case was rejected
A Russian family who were on the brink of being deported from Finland after repeatedly being denied asylum – despite the threat of arrest, imprisonment and torture for their pro-Ukrainian activism – have won a court appeal and will have their case reconsidered.
Nikita Belov and his mother, Olga Belov, fled their homeland for Finland in 2022 after attracting the attention of Russian authorities – including a military summons, threatening messages and attempts to locate them – for expressing opposition to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The conventional thinking for Democrats hoping to win in Florida is to be tough on Cuba, friendly to Israel, and careful to avoid appearing too liberal. It’s a tactic aimed at courting powerful voting blocs, and one that helped Rep. Jared Moskowitz take office in the land of sunny skies and low taxes.
This year, however, he’s facing a challenger attempting to flip that strategy on its head. A Democratic Socialists of America member, Oliver Larkin, is trying to win a primary against Moskowitz by running far to his left on both foreign and domestic policies.
The pair presents a striking contrast: Moskowitz has drawn heavy support from donors associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and an artificial intelligence super PAC, while Larkin, a 34-year-old union organizer, calls himself an anti-Zionist and leans on small-dollar funders.
Polls of the race have produced vastly different results, with one commissioned by Larkin putting him within striking distance, while another from Moskowitz’s campaign showing the incumbent far ahead.
Susan McManus, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Florida, said in an email that the race will be a significant tell of the mood in the Democratic electorate.
“Of all the Florida congressional districts, this one will be the biggest test of how deep is the generational and ideological divide in the Florida Democratic Party, and to what extent the socialism label may splinter the Latino vote,” she said.
Theory of Change
That label is one that Larkin wears proudly, describing himself on his website as an active member of the Broward County Democratic Socialists of America. He supports Medicare for All while opposing the embargo on Cuba and weapons transfers to Israel.
In an interview with The Intercept ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Larkin said he rejected the Florida Democratic Party’s tendency to lean right to win Republican and independent votes. That strategy has not worked, Larkin said, pointing to Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist’s big loss to Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024.
Instead, Larkin argues that an openly leftist candidate can energize the Democratic base while winning over disaffected independents.
“I think another false choice that corporate Democrats make is that non-party affiliated or independent voters want to see candidates split the difference right down the middle. I don’t think that’s true,” he said. “They see the status quo politics as completely broken.”
Moskowitz’s campaign did not respond to an interview request. On his campaign website, however, he leans heavily on his bipartisan bona fides, noting that he served in DeSantis’s cabinet as emergency management director until his election to Congress in 2022.
That credential could help win over voters in a redrawn district spanning much of the coast near Fort Lauderdale that would have voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Moskowitz already represents about half of the new district’s voters in his current 23rd Congressional District.
The new 25th District also has one of the nation’s largest Jewish populations, making Moskowitz’s outspoken support for Israel particularly salient. Last week, pro-Israel activists in south Florida pressured multiple venues to cancel a joint rally that Larkin was to hold with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken critics of Israel.
Moskowitz has also accused Larkin — without offering any evidence — of running against him based on his religion, in a letter to the Sun Sentinel where he declined to participate in a joint interview with Larkin.
The South Florida newspaper called that charge “demonstrably untrue” and dinged Moskowitz for dodging opportunities to face off against his opponent.
“The Sun Sentinel has endorsed Moskowitz in all of his previous races. But in this case, his continued avoidance of Larkin shows a lack of respect for voters and can be viewed as an unwillingness to defend his own record,” the paper’s editorial board said.
Dollar Deficit
Larkin was born in Florida, but after his stint as a volunteer and staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders, he worked for a consulting firm aligned with the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. He returned to the Sunshine State in 2022. During his run for office this cycle, he has posted respectable fundraising numbers for a first-time candidate taking on an incumbent. In an August 13 press release, his campaign said he had raised over $1 million.
Still, that puts him far behind Moskowitz, who reported receipts of nearly $3 million during this election cycle in his most recent campaign finance report, with $1.8 million remaining on hand.
While some pro-Israel candidates have sought to avoid association with AIPAC this year, given the group’s increasingly toxic brand, Moskowitz has defended its donations to his campaign. His fundraising reports show that he has raised $953,000 from donors associated with AIPAC, according to the transparency website Open Secrets.
An artificial intelligence super PAC is also spending heavily on Moskowitz. The super PAC, Leading the Future, has spent more than $300,000 thus far.
“He doesn’t have a volunteer base, because nobody wants to volunteer for him.”
Larkin believes he can make up the divide in spending on advertising with old-fashioned door-knocking. His campaign boasts of having made more than 200,000 voter contacts — and he says there has been little evidence that Moskowitz’s campaign is attempting to match their ground game.
“He’s got ads on TV. He’s got mail. He has no ground game to speak of. I don’t believe he is even attempting to knock on doors,” Larkin said. “He doesn’t have a volunteer base, because nobody wants to volunteer for him.”
An Argonne-led study has identified a simple geometric design rule that could help engineers build reliable, ultralow-energy computing systems.
Aug. 17, 2026 — From smartphones to data centers, modern electronics rely on billions of tiny switches that consume electricity every time they turn on or off. As global demand for computing continues to grow, so does the energy required to power it. Scientists are therefore searching for alternatives that can perform the same tasks while using far less energy.
Example of geometric transformation of four nanomagnets. Bottom: Magnetic force microscopy contrast image of the rotated nanomagnets. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
One promising approach uses clusters of tiny magnets, each thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand. A new study led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, with contributions from the DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile, has uncovered a geometric rule that determines whether clusters of nanomagnets behave predictably or probabilistically as they relax toward a stable state. The finding challenges standard modeling assumptions and opens new possibilities for ultralow-energy computing.
“What we have identified is a relationship between structure and function,” said Argonne Materials Scientist Hanu Arava, lead author of the study. “In our case, the structure is the geometric arrangement of the magnets with respect to each other, and the function is how energy moves through the system.”
To help explain the process, Arava compares it to dropping a ball from the top of a mountain. The ball naturally rolls downhill along the easiest route until it reaches the lowest point. Scientists call that route an energy-relaxation pathway — the path a system follows as it moves toward its most stable state. In the nanomagnet system, the magnets interact through their magnetic fields in a more complex way, but they follow the same basic principle: moving step by step toward the lowest-energy configuration.
To uncover this relationship, the researchers studied a simple geometric progression at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science user facility. They began with four nanomagnets arranged in a Greek cross or plus sign, then rotated all four simultaneously until they formed a square. At intervals along the way, the team measured how the system relaxed toward its most stable state.
What they found was striking. In the square geometry, the magnets relaxed toward a stable configuration with very high probability. In the cross geometry, the system encountered an energy barrier, and its relaxation became much less predictable, sometimes settling into different outcomes. Between those two extremes, the researchers identified a tipping point.
When the magnets were rotated to the midpoint between the square and plus-sign states, the system reached a balance in which multiple outcomes became equally likely. On either side of that midpoint, the behavior became either more reliable or more uncertain. The same basic pattern held even when the researchers changed the lengths of the magnets.
To understand how the geometry controls the system’s behavior, the researchers used a theoretical model that treated each tiny magnet as an object with internal structure rather than a simple point. That approach revealed hidden interactions at the junctions, showing that simplified models can miss key features of the physics.
For conventional computing technologies, predictability is essential. A device must produce the same result every time it performs a calculation. The new findings suggest that engineers may be able to control that reliability simply by adjusting the arrangement of the magnetic elements.
“If you want to build computing hardware, you typically need the result to be predictable,” Arava said. “One plus one should equal two.”
At the same time, systems that produce multiple possible outcomes could be useful for emerging forms of computing that rely on probability rather than certainty, such as machine learning and optimization.
“The pathway that energy takes determines whether the outcome is reliable or uncertain,” Arava said. “For engineers designing computing devices, that means they may be able to tune the angle of rotation in nanomagnetic clusters to achieve one outcome or the other.”
Although the experiment involved just four nanomagnets, the result has broader implications. In larger magnetic devices, thousands of similar clusters would need to work together. Understanding how a single building block behaves is essential for designing more complex systems. The new findings give engineers a simple design principle: adjust the rotation angle of the magnets to tune how reliably they reach a predictable final state.
Nanomagnetic devices have already demonstrated the potential to operate using extremely small amounts of energy — possibly millions of times less than conventional electronic components. If such systems can be made reliable and scalable, they could help reduce the growing energy demands of computing infrastructure worldwide.
The new research offers a practical step toward that goal.
“We’ve shown that geometry alone can determine how energy moves through these magnetic systems,” Arava said, “and that insight gives us a new way to design computing devices.”
The research appeared in Communications Materials. In addition to Arava, the authors are Ignacio Tapia, Timothy Cote, Justin Woods, Frank Barrows, John Fullerton and Paula Mellado. Funding for the project was provided by DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences.
Source: Joseph E. Harmon, Argonne National Laboratory
Supermarket chain says ‘human error’, not its Facewatch technology, to blame for ejecting a customer
Sainsbury’s has paused the use of AI face scanning in one of its stores after a customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter and ejected from the shop.
“I was embarrassed, mortified even, and felt quite humiliated and powerless,” Matt Arnold, 46, said of his ordeal.
Version 7.2 of the Linux kernel has been released.
Significant features in this release include common attributes support in the bpf()vsystem call, cache-aware load balancing for the CPU scheduler, large-folio support in the Btrfs filesystem, further swap subsystem improvements, improvements to the Landlock security module, support for block devices with inline encryption hardware via the dm-inlinecrypt device-mapper target, and much more.
We talked about the latest release of Delphi a few days ago, and that brought me to Hans Otten’s website.
This site is about my experience with the Wirth school of languages, based on the ideas and implementations of Prof Niklaus Wirth, Kenneth Bowles, Per Brinch Hansen, colleagues, and their students. And my experience with the various variants, from the P2 and P4 compilers originating in Zürich ETH, via UCSD Pascal P-System to the Borland compilers and Modula and Oberon systems. All applicable to small computers and device control.
On this website you will find information on Pascal for small machines, like Wirth compilers, the UCSD Pascal system, many scanned books and other files on UCSD Pascal, Pascal on MSX and CP/M, Delphi programming on PC, Freepascal and Lazarus on Windows and Raspberry Pi, Oberon systems. Many sources of early Pascal compilers! And last but not least my Pascal-M system!
RALEIGH, North Carolina — Gov. Josh Stein said Monday he will veto legislation that would give North Carolina’s Supreme Court and chief justice substantially greater authority to discipline and suspend lower-court judges, warning that the changes could undermine judicial independence.
House Bill 377 would allow the state Supreme Court to censure, reprimand, suspend or remove judges even without a recommendation from the Judicial Standards Commission. It would also allow the chief justice to suspend a trial judge without pay while an investigation is pending if the commission recommends that step. The bill was formally presented to Stein on Aug. 7.
Stein argued the proposal concentrates too much power in the hands of judicial leadership. He compared it to allowing legislative leaders to suspend elected lawmakers or the governor to suspend other independently elected statewide officials.
Republican supporters say the measure is intended to strengthen accountability. House Speaker Destin Hall has argued that judges who release violent defendants should face consequences, while Republican Sen. Warren Daniel has said suspended judges would retain due-process protections.
Democrats counter that the measure could pressure judges to rule in ways favored by the Republican-controlled Supreme Court and Judicial Standards Commission.
The fight comes amid a broader, years-long struggle over institutional power in North Carolina. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly shifted authority away from Democratic governors, including over appointments and election administration, prompting multiple lawsuits. Courts have upheld some changes while striking down others.
The legislature could attempt to override Stein’s veto when lawmakers reconvene, although leaders have indicated they may delay additional votes until after November’s election.
The latest game from ‘reality-inspired’ studio the Pixel Hunt sees you transporting precious human cargo – and deciding what to do with it
Ithaca has one hell of an opening: Penelope, a disillusioned environmental lawyer, stops her car at a petrol station. But upon returning, she discovers something shocking: the unconscious body of an oil company CEO in her boot, his hands hog-tied together, dangling limply towards the vehicle’s number plate.
This tantalising eco-thriller setup is a long way off the typical knights-and-castles fantasy fare of most role-playing games, more How To Blow Up a Pipeline than Dragon Quest. But road-trip RPG Ithaca arrives via refreshingly original developer the Pixel Hunt, a French outfit that specialises in what it calls “reality-inspired” games. The studio has made a number of arresting works in recent years. One was about a Syrian refugee couple making a perilous migrant journey across Europe; another tackled the life-shattering effects of child sexual abuse. The climate crisis was always in the back of Pixel Hunt founder and Ithaca writer Florent Maurin’s mind. After all, he says, it is the uber problem of our day, the problem that touches all others. It was just a case of when, and, more importantly: “What do we say about it?”
Sixteen-year-old dead and four others wounded including two children at community celebration in Lexington
Authorities in Kentucky charged an 18-year-old man with murder and several counts of assault after a shooting in Lexington park left a teenager dead and four others injured – one of multiple similar cases around the US over the weekend.
Jametrius Griffin was arrested less than 24 hours after Saturday night’s mass shooting at Charles Young Park in the city’s downtown. According to the Lexington police department, officers responded to reports of gunfire in the park at about 7pm and found five people shot, including two adults, a 14-year-old and a four-year-old.
One of the most surprising aspects of the Nix language is that it is lazy, especially if you have never used a lazy language before. This laziness is what makes much of Nixpkgs possible, and its complexity.
[…]
I decided to take that idea and make the attribute path a sequence of button presses in Super Mario Bros. 3. Each node in the tree is a frame of the game, and each child is a button press that produces a new frame. Game states are recursive by nature.
Temperatures could drop by more than 15C compared with last Thursday as cold front moves in
Relief from the unrelenting heat is finally arriving this week across western Europe, with more unsettled conditions bringing the chance of rain. Temperatures are expected to fall back towards the seasonal norm, with some parts of the UK even falling about 3C below normal by Thursday. After such a scorching summer, and with a temperature drop of more than 15C compared with last Thursday’s heat, it may feel surprisingly chilly.
There are signs that some substantial rain could be on the cards for the south of the UK this week as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic on Monday night into Tuesday. As of Monday, parts of southern England had endured 62 consecutive days of no rainfall – this is observed at a Met Office weather station in Wisley, Surrey. Even the last recorded rainfall here on 16 June amounted to just 0.4mm.
I understand gen Z’s concerns about the cost of romance. But anything can be a date if you want it to be
A couple of months ago, I wrote a column imploring young people to keep trying to find love, to not become cynical about romance and avoid the temptation of the accursed “loneliness influencers” peddling antisocial behavior as some sort of newfangled experiment that no one had thought of before. I stand here today saying, hey, I can’t be right all the time. Maybe it is better to be alone, since it costs a hell of a lot less.
Apparently, young people across the country are forgoing dating because it’s too damn expensive. Or at least, I think they are, based on the multiplenewspaperarticles saying so that came out in the last two weeks. As the New York Times put it, the “prospect of a tab of $150 or more for two entrées, two drinks, an appetizer and tip” is too pricey for many gen Z singles. I say, only $150? Where are you going, Chili’s? I went on a date with (shameful brag incoming) a very famous political figure from the late 90s and spent twice that amount, sending my bank account into cardiac arrest. I practically begged her to get dessert, even though it was clear our decade of age difference and general lack of chemistry meant I was better off going home and journaling about it. I paid for the whole thing, and in return, I got an amazing story to tell at parties.
Grant cancellations at leading research institutions appear to target study of impacts of racism on brain health
A new round of scientific grant cancellations has hit brain health and Alzheimer’s disease research at two leading research institutions, Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh.
The latest cancellations are the Trump administration’s most recent effort to remove disfavored topics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) $47bn scientific portfolio – and appear to target the study of the impacts of racism.
Hi-tech cameras orbiting Earth and on the ground, along with AI, help firefighters extinguish blazes before they spread
The fires in Spokane, Washington, this summer are the latest reminder that when a wildfire is detected can be just as important as where it starts. A blaze found within minutes can often be contained before it spreads. Wait too long, and a small spark can become a major disaster.
A new effort to shorten that timeline began in July when a SpaceX rocket carried the first three FireSat satellites into orbit. The trio is the first part of a planned network of 50 satellites built solely to spot wildfires while they are still small enough to stop.
Why Should Delaware Care? The bond bill is a massive, billion-dollar capital budget the General Assembly passes each June that taxpayers will help to repay over a decade. The details of specific items within the bond bill are often unclear, as the legislature negotiates the capital budget amid its annual end-of-session rush.
While Delaware’s two largest cities will receive roughly $23 million from the state’s omnibus capital budget this year, smaller municipalities will receive no money at all.
And that funding disparity is not abnormal.
A Spotlight Delaware analysis found that lawmakers in recent years have poured hundreds of millions of tax dollars into construction and redevelopment projects in Wilmington and Dover through Delaware’s bond bill, often allocating much less for initiatives in the state’s smaller communities.
Much of the money doled out to Delaware’s largest cities flows through public entities and private nonprofits like Wilmington’s Riverfront Development Corporation and the Downtown Dover Partnership — organizations working to revitalize the downtown cores of the state’s largest and capital cities, respectively, through multi-year master plans.
But money in the bond bill – the state’s annual budget to fund construction and development projects through the issuance of long-term debt – can also be allocated directly to local governments, along with nonprofits or corporations.
And while other municipal projects, like “economic development” in Seaford or “community initiatives” in Newark, have sporadically received capital dollars in recent years, the Riverfront Development Corporation and Downtown Dover Partnership are unmatched in the consistent stream of funding they receive from the bond bill each year.
The result, some local leaders said, is having to apply for grants and seek out private investment — which can be an uphill battle.
Lorissa McAllister, director of the Laurel Redevelopment Corporation, described having to be “very financially responsible,” in order to fund her organization’s projects with limited state support.
For Rep. Bill Bush (D-Dover), who sits on the legislature’s Joint Capital Improvement Committee tasked with putting together the bond bill each year, the difference in funding decisions comes down to how organizations vocalize their financial needs.
“A master plan helps, but you have to communicate it, too,” he said.
How do Wilmington, Dover spend bond bill funds?
Over the past five years, the General Assembly has appropriated roughly $45 million to the Riverfront Development Corporation and $21 million to the Downtown Dover Partnership, according to the Controller General’s office, which oversees legislative finances.
Those distributions often come with relatively few stipulations as to how the funds can be spent.
In this year’s bond bill, Wilmington’s Riverfront Development Corporation received $11.5 million, and the Downtown Dover Partnership received $5 million — amounts that are on par with allocations in recent years.
Megan McGlinchey, director of Wilmington’s Riverfront Development Corporation, gave a presentation to the Joint Capital Improvement Committee in April to explain her organization’s funding request.
She argued the economic returns the redevelopment of Wilmington’s riverfront provides to the city and the state in the form of new jobs and tourism far outweighs the money government officials have invested in the project.
When asked by Spotlight Delaware how the corporation will spend its $11.5 million, McGlinchey said the sum will fund renovations at the Chase Convention Center, a new park next to a luxury apartment complex, beginnings of a new mixed use development project on the east side of the Christina River and updates to the Blue Rocks baseball stadium, among a laundry list of other projects.
The city of Wilmington was separately allocated $7.1 million for the opaque purpose of “city of Wilmington initiatives.”
A spokesperson for Mayor John Carney’s office said this will translate to $1 million for improvements to city-owned golf courses, $3 million for improvements to parks such as Brown Burton Winchester Park and HB Dupont Plaza, and $2 million to acquire vacant properties through the city’s land bank.
The Queen, a well-known concert venue in downtown Wilmington owned by the Buccini Pollin Group, was also given $1 million for building renovations through a so-called “Cultural Access Fund.” The bond bill describes the fund as aimed at enhancing the “quality and availability of Delaware’s recreational and cultural offerings.”
The Downtown Dover Partnership did not present to the Joint Capital Improvement Committee about its funding request this year.
However, Bush, whose district encompasses the downtown Dover area, said the committee has a clear idea of the Downtown Dover Partnership’s long-term master plan, so committee members were inclined to fund the organization.
“In my mind, it’s a great investment,” he said.
The partnership’s Executive Director Diane Laird said its $5 million will go toward its Capital City 2030 plan. The primary projects in the master plan are a “mobility center” parking garage and a 120-unit apartment complex in downtown Dover.
Dover has worked for several years on its Capital City 2030 plan to redevelop the downtown. Officials didn’t even have to pitch the latest investments to get state bond money this year. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY MAGGIE REYNOLDS
Laird told Spotlight Delaware she cannot provide a breakdown of how much will be spent on specific projects because “funds will be used in concert with other public/private funds to ensure projects come to completion.”
The city of Dover has also received multi-million dollar sums from the bond bill in conjunction with the Downtown Dover Partnership in recent years to make wastewater improvements necessary for the downtown project, Laird said, but the city was not allocated those additional funds for FY27.
Redevelopment projects elsewhere
While Wilmington and Dover often receive more than other localities, redevelopment initiatives in other communities around the state also are eligible to receive capital improvement money.
The Riverfront Development Corporation is a public entity, created by a task force of then-Gov. Tom Carper and the General Assembly in 1995. The Downtown Dover Partnership is a private nonprofit with some elected officials on its governing board.
A spokesperson for the Controller General’s office told Spotlight Delaware public entities like the Riverfront Development Corporation, local governments and nonprofit organizations or corporations are all equally able to receive bond bill funds.
Nonetheless, local redevelopment initiatives outside of the state’s two largest cities are frequently left out of bond bill appropriations.
The Laurel Redevelopment Corporation, a nonprofit focused on revitalization around the Broad Creek riverfront in Laurel, did not receive any bond dollars this year.
The organization has sporadically been allocated funding over the past decade, but it has not been given a bond bill appropriation since 2019, according to the Controller General’s office.
The Laurel Redevelopment Corporation has a number of ongoing capital improvement projects, such as a workforce housing development and a park along the creek.
McAllister, the organization’s director, said her group must rely on a combination of grants and private investment, while hoping the state might decide to provide the group funds in future years.
Seaford has also been working on a downtown revitalization project, which includes a riverwalk along the Nanticoke River and transforming the former Nylon Capital Center into a coworking space. City Manager Charles Anderson said Seaford has not received bond bill dollars since 2024, when it was allocated $1.3 million for a combination of different “economic development” projects.
Lauren Swain, Milford’s economic development director, said her city, too, has a redevelopment concept called the “Rivertown Rebirth Master plan,” which has not received any state funding in recent years.
While Bush emphasized that redevelopment organizations need to effectively communicate their plans to the General Assembly in order to receive bond bill funds, he also suggested groups seek out other funding sources, like the state’s Downtown Development District program.
Downtown Development Districts
An additional avenue for local redevelopment funding exists in the form of Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA)’s Downtown Development Districts program, which offers state dollars and other financial incentives for residential and commercial projects within a specified area of participating cities and towns.
Still, these funds tend to skew toward larger cities, organizers said.
DSHA received $10 million in bond bill funding for the Downtown Development District program this year.
A dozen towns or cities currently participate in the program, and the state is planning to add three more districts this fall.
Wilmington, Milford and Dover were the top three users of the program’s funding in the 2025 fiscal year, receiving $5.4 million, $838,000 and $541,000 in rebates, respectively.
Smaller municipalities like Georgetown and Harrington fell to the bottom of the list, only receiving around $100,000 in state investment, respectively.
DSHA Director Matt Heckles said the unequal distribution of the program’s funds between communities is something his agency frequently “wrestles with.”
Heckles said the housing authority recently changed the scoring process of developer applications for one of its rebate programs in an effort to ensure funding is equitably distributed.
Still, he said, the challenge is that projects in Wilmington tend to be much larger than in other communities, translating to more money being allocated.
While Heckles said his agency is continually focused on ways to make participation in the Downtown Development District program equitable, he argued that it is “apples to oranges” to compare the amount of funding between Wilmington and Milford, for example, because a $2 million project would have a substantially greater impact in Milford.
Four-year-old boy, three men and three women among fatalities since storms began on 11 August, officials say
Days of storms and flooding in Indiana left at least seven people dead as floodwaters peaked in Indianapolis’s White River – and rains were expected to ease in the state capital region and other parts of the state on Sunday.
A four-year-old boy, three men and three women were among those who had died since the storms began on 11 August, state homeland security department spokesperson Liz Woods said.
Some take their criticism even further. Reacting to Flock's changes, an EFF statement calls it "Too little, too late," while calling it Flock's admission that their technology needs reforms. But...
To be clear, our position has long been that police, at a minimum, need to get a warrant, signed by a judge, in order to search for historic ALPR data regarding specific vehicles. For us, it's common sense: if police want to dip into historic ALPR data like they were going back in time to retroactively follow your comings and goings, they need a warrant.
There's also nothing stopping Flock from rescinding these latest reforms.
This all leads to the bigger and more important issue: We should not be letting companies decide how much privacy we deserve... It shouldn't be up to Flock or any other ALPR vendor to decide how long police can collect and retain data on millions, if not hundreds of millions, of innocent people. We need lawmakers to step up and pass laws that restrict police's use of surveillance technology.
After all, the surveillance business model is the problem, and a few company-imposed slapdash reforms aren't going to change that.
Robert Smith, Olly Alexander and Paris Paloma also among signatories to letter saying exploitation of Rosebank and Jackdaw fields defies climate reality
More than 200 musicians including Massive Attack and Brian Eno have written to Andy Burnham urging him to reject plans for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
The letter, signed by 211 artists such as Bobby Gillespie, Olly Alexander and Paris Paloma, called on the prime minister to reject the Rosebank oilfield, warning that the project would fail to lower energy bills or provide energy security as most of the oil was likely to be exported.
President said he was ‘not happy’ with plans for large-scale joint exercises he described as ‘inappropriate and hostile’. Plus, how five obscure horses have ended up at the center of a transatlantic betting mystery
Good morning. Donald Trump has said he is scaling back joint US military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea, despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.
The president said he was “not happy” with US participation “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un”. He added that the drills were costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been president, has been unthreatening and respectful”. Trump added that it was too late to cancel the drills so he had ordered the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, to “substantially reduce” them.
Why are there continuing concerns about USS Abraham Lincoln? Democrats have intensified their demands for answers from the Trump administration over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln amid concern over crew morale, mental health and living conditions. Ruben Gallego, a Democratic senator from Arizona, said he blamed the carrier’s prolonged deployment on the unresolved war that Donald Trump started in February with Iran as well as lackluster leadership in general from the Republican president’s administration.
Clancy’s live-streamed trial has become fodder for amateur sleuths to push viral conspiracy theories that threaten to undermine efforts to de-stigmatize illness, experts say
Meghan Cliffel was riding the subway in New York City in December 2015 when she became convinced the entire city belonged to a cult that was plotting to kill her and her two daughters. When she got back to her Manhattan apartment she believed the talking heads on the television were speaking to her directly, threatening her, and that the refrigerator was emitting poisonous gas. Her husband, she feared, was part of the cult too.
“I punch him in the face trying to get to the kids,” Cliffel recalled, “Then I’m ultimately trying to get to the roof of our building because I believe if I get up there and show I’m willing to jump, that that’ll show my loyalty to the cult and hopefully stop this whole thing.”
Did you lose someone in 9/11? What do you want people to remember about them 25 years later?
To mark 25 years since 9/11, we would like to hear from people who lost loved ones in the attacks. What do you want people to remember about them 25 years later?
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Exclusive: Raúl Torrez is drafting two bills with state lawmakers to bolster consumer protections and child safety online, building on state’s landmark case against Meta
New Mexico’s attorney general is mounting a full-court press against technology companies to improve their child safety measures, capitalizing on a landmark win in court against Meta earlier this year.
Raúl Torrez is working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills he says will strengthen consumer protections and child safety online. The legislation, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, will build on the state’s case against the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. A jury found in March that the company misled its users about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. The social media giant was fined nearly $1bn as a result of the case.
Jamie Dimon, the boss of the US bank JP Morgan, has urged John Healey not to use his first budget as chancellor to increase taxes on banks’ bumper profits.
Speculation has been growing that a windfall tax could be imposed on UK lenders to fund Andy Burnham’s cost of living agenda, with campaigners estimating such a move could raise £19bn.
President Trump said Sunday that the joint military exercises with South Korea are costly and they "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea.
The chief economist at Russia’s second-largest bank has been fired after a series of critical comments about the state of the economy, including warnings that Moscow would not win a prolonged economic war with Ukraine.
Andrei Klepach, who had served in the role at the state-controlled development bank VEB since 2014, was fired days after Russian media reported on a scathing speech he had delivered to fellow economists in May.
The president was forced to hide in a catering truck amid the Iran war, in an encapsulation of the conflict’s failures
For decades, Donald Trump cultivated a public image based on strength and dominance. He was a brash New York real estate mogul; a reality TV star who deployed his signature phrase: “You’re fired!” to eliminate contestants from The Apprentice; and eventually US president and undisputed leader of the Republican party.
In recent months, Trump has taken his boastfulness to an extreme, reportedly telling confidants that he’s “the most powerful person to ever live” and comparing himself with some of history’s most feared leaders, including Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin and Mao.
Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, near death on Welsh beach in 2023, is thriving in Houston despite lingering pneumonia
A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle native to the Gulf of Mexico is largely thriving after he was found nearly dead on a beach in Wales in late 2023, nursed back to health and then flown to Houston recently to continue recovering – though scans revealed signs that the creature has been grappling with lingering pneumonia, according to his caretakers.
Rhossi’s condition was detailed in a blogpost on Friday from the Houston zoo, whose veterinary team was tasked with caring for the creature – believed to be no older than age four – and giving him the best chance possible at an eventual, successful return to the wild.
Observers call Peltola, who won the red state’s House seat twice and is running to unseat Dan Sullivan, ‘a unicorn’
Dan J Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher and US Forest Service employee living in the town of Petersburg in south-eastern Alaska, who is running as a Republican for the US Senate. Dan S Sullivan is a Republican US senator, who has represented Alaska since 2015.
Both candidates will appear on the ballot, one name after the other, when Alaskans vote in primary elections this week – a complicated quirk of the contest that has drawn howls from Republicans.
Why Should Delaware Care? Pressures from overcrowding and inflation are continuing to burden Delaware schools, particularly in Sussex County. Last fall, officials from the Delmar School District said they would need to pass a referendum to ease those pressures, but residents of the small, working-class community could push back.
The question of whether the persistently overcrowded Delmar School District moves forward with its first tax referendum in more than a decade could depend on who fills a vacant seat on the school board.
Earlier this month, board members deadlocked during a public meeting to consider two candidates for the position, which became vacant in July after then-board Vice President Shane Bowden resigned amid charges of driving under the influence, according to a report from WBOC.
During interviews with the candidates — Shawn Brittingham and Farrah Morelli — board members asked each whether they would support raising taxes to support the district’s operations and capital expenses.
Morelli, who served on the Delmar Board of Education until her term expired earlier this summer, said she may support referendum requests, but would first need to see a proposal from the school district.
“I’m not going to vote just blindly because somebody says, ‘Here, we’re going to vote on operating expenses,’” she said.
Brittingham, who has served on the Delmar school board and with the Delaware State Board of Education, said he supported a potential referendum, arguing that it could ease persistent overcrowding in the school district.
Still, Brittingham noted that the decision of whether to raise taxes ultimately is up to the voters.
“Your taxpayers are the ones that make the decision, not you,” he said to board members during the meeting earlier this month.
Earlier this year, Spotlight Delaware reported on overcrowding in the rural Sussex County district, finding that two high school classes are sometimes held concurrently in the school’s auditorium and that teachers sometimes must leave their classroom during planning periods, so others can use the space.
Separately, former Delmar School District Superintendent Andrew O’Neal said last year he may have to reduce staff, and postpone essential repairs if the district does not find new dollars through a referendum.
At the time, he pointed toward overcrowding, teacher and staff salary increases, and inflation-induced cost increases as reasons for needing to increase taxes.
The Delmar middle and high school replacement was one of dozens of school projects statewide that was not funded under the state budget last year. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JULIA MEROLA
Delmar’s struggle reflects a broader challenge facing Delaware schools of keeping pace with rising costs and aging facilities. In many Sussex schools, those challenges pair with a growing enrollment. In some Wilmington-area schools, they pair with struggles of too few students.
While Delaware’s recent capital budget, called the Bond Bill, did free up new dollars for school construction, districts seeking referendum still must ask taxpayers to approve additional dollars.
An operating referendum is raised entirely from local dollars to go toward expenses, such as teacher salaries. Capital referendums pay for school construction with costs split between state and local dollars.
During the meeting earlier this month, the Delmar school board did not select Brittingham or Morelli to fill the vacant seat.
Board members Neil Baker and Jordan Johnson voted in favor of Morelli, while board member Russell Smart and board President Raymond Vincent voted for Brittingham.
The district will continue its search for candidates to fill the vacancy and will hold more interviews during its September board meeting.
Ongoing referendum discussions
Last winter, the Delmar school board announced it would not hold a referendum until 2027.
During a Dec. 9 meeting, Board President Raymond Vincent noted the district’s “very real financial pressures,” saying the need for an operational referendum is real.
But the timing, he said, is not right to ask residents to raise their own taxes.
At the time, Vincent cited overlapping unanswered questions that could affect the way schools in Delaware receive money, from the Public Education Funding Commission’s recommendation to approve a new funding model to the likelihood of updated property tax legislation coming from the General Assembly in the wake of its reassessment committee hearings.
If a referendum passes, the corresponding tax increase would only apply toward Delawareans, and the money raised would only be applied to the district’s middle and high school in Delaware.
Two miles from the middle and high schools, Delmar Elementary School is located in Delmar, Maryland, and is part of the Wicomico County Public School District.
Maryland students living in the town can attend Delaware’s Delmar School District for middle and high school, but only Delawareans are eligible to vote in a district referendum.
The last time the Delmar School District held and passed a referendum was in 2015, when the district raised money for capital improvements to school facilities and for operating expenses.
The American has proved again that she’s in a class of her own. But is that a good thing for her sport?
Over the weekend, more than 16,000 fans, including former and current world champions such as Floyd Mayweather, Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson, filled State Farm Arena in Atlanta to witness Claressa Shields dominate Kaye Scott.
Shields made quick work of Scott winning by TKO in six rounds after unleashing a flurry of punches against the Australian, whose corner threw in the towel to stop the fight before more damage could be done.
Why Should Delaware Care? Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund hears requests
Primary election absentee ballot counting begins
Dueling Port of Wilmington oversight boards hear updates
Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund hears requests
The Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund Council will meet Tuesday morning to consider four requests for grant funding.
The fund supports road or infrastructure projects that tie into major economic development projects to get them to fruition faster.
The council will consider applications from the city of Dover, Delmar Business Center LLC, DuPont Properties LLC in Dagsboro, and Wine Worx Real Estate Holdings LLC in Millsboro. The details of the projects will be made public in the hearings.
The TIIF council will meet Tuesday, Aug. 18m at 10 a.m. in the Delaware Conference Room of the DelDOT Administration Building, located at 800 Bay Road in Dover. For more info and a link to remote viewing, click here.
Primary election preparations begin
Kent County officials will begin scanning absentee ballots for this year’s primary election on Monday afternoon.
Officials will not formally count votes until after polls close on Election Day, 8 p.m. on September 15. But the process of preparing those ballots for counting will begin at 2 p.m. Monday.
The preparation meeting will reconvene daily until all votes have been processed.
New Castle County election officials will follow suit and begin the absentee ballot scanning process on Friday morning.
The November midterm elections will be the least competitive for statewide races in years, a Spotlight Delaware analysis found.
📍 The Department of Elections will meet at 2 p.m. Monday inside its Kent County office, located at 100 Enterprise Place, Suite 5, in Dover. For more information, click here.
📍 The Department of Elections will meet at 9:30 a.m. Friday inside its New Castle County office, located at 820 N. French St., Suite 400 in Wilmington. For more information, click here.
Public can comment on Delmarva rate hike
The public will get an opportunity Wednesday to comment on Delmarva Power’s latest rate hike request, which could raise an average monthly utility bill by nearly $7.
After months of political pressure over rising electric bills, Delaware energy regulators rebuffed Delmarva Power by approving only part of the utility’s scaled-back rate increase request on an interim basis.
All rate hikes for regulated utilities are reimbursed rather than front-funded, and requires a company to argue why it deserves to be reimbursed. Interim rates are used to support a utility while it makes its case, and, if it loses, then customers are reimbursed.
Delmarva has requested a $68.6 million annual rate increase, but it did voluntarily scale back how much of that increase it sought to collect while the case is pending. The Public Service Commission reduced that amount even further, authorizing an interim increase of about $34.3 million.
If ultimately successful though, ratepayers could see the full impact on their bills starting as soon as later this year.
The Public Service Commission will hear public comment on the Delmarva Power request at a public hearing starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Cannon Building, located at 861 Silver Lake Blvd. in Dover. For more information or the option to attend remotely, click here.
Dueling port oversight boards to meet
Both of Delaware’s oversight boards for the Port of Wilmington are set to meet today to receive operational updates and hear from members of the public.
The General Assembly’s Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force will meet first at noon today.
The group, chaired by Sen. Darius Brown (D-New Castle) and Rep. Frank Cooke (D-Wilmington) is slated to hear updates from the interim executive director of the Diamond State Port Corporation as well as from Enstructure, the private terminal operator for the Port of Wilmington and its embattled Edgemoor expansion project.
The Diamond State Port Corporation’s board of directors will then hold its own meeting beginning at 2 p.m. today.
The board will go into a closed door session for the first hour of its meeting, then board members will also hear an update from Enstructure.
Both meetings also are set to include public comment sessions to receive input from attendees.
📍 The Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force will meet at 12 p.m. Monday inside Buck Library, located at 661 South Dupont Hwy in New Castle. For more information, including on virtual attendance, click here.
📍 The Diamond State Port Corporation board of directors will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, also inside Buck Library, located at 661 South Dupont Hwy in New Castle. For more information, including on virtual attendance, click here.
Interfaith Council to discuss immigration issues
The Delaware Interfaith Council’s Immigration Working Group will meet on Tuesday evening near Wilmington.
The council, created more than a decade ago to bridge state agencies and faith communities to tackle education, housing, and health challenges, will discuss emerging issues related to immigrants.
In many immigrant communities, especially Haitian and Hispanic communities, pastors play a leadership role in how to respond to state and federal initiatives. Delaware’s key refugee resettlement program is also led by a faith-based organization, Jewish Federation Services.
The Delaware Interfaith Council Immigration Working Group will meet from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center, located at 3022 New Castle Ave. in New Castle. For more information or remote viewing, click here.
Hearing to discuss marijuana cultivation site
The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner will hold a public hearing Wednesday to discuss a proposed cultivation site and whether it should be permitted.
The site, located at 593 Gravesend Road near Smyrna, would be used to grow marijuana for sale in the state’s medicinal and recreational markets, but would not be a site of sales.
The hearing is the result of a local petition in opposition to the facility, but the discretion of whether to approve it falls to Marijuana Commissioner Joshua Sanderlin.
The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner, located at 1128 S. Bradford St. in Dover. There is no remote viewing or commenting option for this meeting. For more information, click here.
President says he ‘gets along great’ with dictator but officials say Ukraine war is boosting North’s capabilities
Donald Trump has said he is scaling back joint US military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea, despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.
The drills under Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two main annual exercises held by South Korea and the US, start on Monday and run until 27 August.
The 12-time national title-winning coach discusses Connecticut’s time on top, his bond with Paige Bueckers, the Pat Summitt rivalry and why he isn’t retiring just yet
Let’s get one thing out of the way right from the jump: UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma says he isn’t retiring anytime in the “foreseeable future”.
That may come as a relief to fans of the program who have never known anyone else to be at its helm. Though he declined to promise an exact timeline, Auriemma made one thing clear while speaking to the Guardian last week: he’s going to be sticking around.
Atlas Preparatory Academy, a private school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Every student relies on taxpayer dollars from one of the state’s four voucher programs to pay all or part of their tuition. Caleb Alvarado for ProPublica
At some point, my reporting colleagues and I began referring to them as the “100% schools.”
We were following the money that flows from states’ public coffers into private schools through vouchers when we noticed a subset of educational facilities where tax dollars cover all or a big part of the tuition for every student.
In essence, these were schools that were funded like public schools but didn’t operate with the same oversight or transparency.
Our reporting found that these types of private schools exist throughout the country and that in Wisconsin — where I’m based — there were 39 that fell into that category during the most recent school year. Together, they were educating 7,923 children and taking in roughly $87 million from vouchers offered by the state.
Atlas Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee was a 100% school in my city that had low test scores and declining enrollment while also receiving more than $4.3 million in voucher money for 357 students in grades K-12. It was one of the first schools I dug into, and immediately some of the facts I unearthed in public documents made me curious.
There was, for instance, the money being made by its board chair, who also appeared to serve as a school administrator. His compensation was more than $150,000 in 2024.
This dual role would be prohibited at a traditional public school in Wisconsin, though there are no such rules for private schools.
In another transaction that would raise alarm in a public school setting, the same board chair’s accounting firm received tens of thousands of dollars from the school for accounting and consulting.
During my reporting, it became clear that the school’s operations were not only discordant with public school policies but with basic governing standards for nonprofits, experts told me.
More than a decade ago, a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction research paper on what it called “choice schools” asked: “When is a private school really a public school?”
Though that question still resonates today, public officials supporting vouchers have yet to provide a clear answer.
Have you had trouble finding a school or using a voucher-style program? Do you have concerns about schools — public or private — in your area? Help us understand how families across the country are navigating their school options.
Nor has there been any progress in Wisconsin or elsewhere in lining up the standards of private and public schools on a range of issues, even with the spectacular growth of private schools funded by taxpayer dollars.
Voucher schools, for instance, are not required to serve all children with disabilities. Public schools are.
Another major difference is transparency. In Wisconsin and elsewhere, information about public schools — good, bad or mundane — can be gleaned through open meetings, district YouTube channels and robust websites with detailed agendas, minutes, reports, statistics and information about enrollment, curriculum, special education services and more.
Districts have to abide by Wisconsin’s open records law, meaning that reams of records are available to anyone who formally requests them. Not so for the private schools. Voucher schools must, by law, have at least two opportunities a year for parents to meet with the governing board. But the schools do not have to make those meetings accessible to the general public.
In many states, private schools also don’t have to administer standardized tests or report those scores — in sharp contrast to the mandates for public schools. Wisconsin is different because it does require both students using vouchers and public school students to be tested, though parents can and do opt out.
In recent years, Atlas Prep has fared poorly on the state’s report card for schools, garnering the lowest rating: “fails to meet expectations,” or one star out of a possible five.
Not far from Atlas, Bay View High School, a public school, also has earned only one star on the state report card. Its website connects the public to the school’s improvement plan — its strategy to reduce dropouts and improve school culture — as well as information about local school council meetings and discipline methods, and about its science, technology, engineering, arts and math programming.
The Atlas Prep website includes a tab labeled “Build Your Own Curriculum.” When you click on it, nothing loads.
Though every student at the 100% schools we looked at relies on public funds for tuition, the money does not necessarily make up the institution’s total budget. The schools can take in additional revenue from investments, fundraising, grants or other means, but they are heavily dependent on tax dollars to maintain operations.
“If the choice schools are really some kind of quasi-public schools, then in keeping with national efforts to turnaround struggling schools, it may be necessary to subject low-performing choice schools to financial sanctions, turnaround efforts or even closure,” the state Department of Public Instruction suggested in its research paper.
That was back in 2011. Those types of accountability measures still do not exist.
Some key financial documents are available, however, for Wisconsin voucher schools — if you know where to look.
Annual IRS information filings for many nonprofit schools are easily obtainable through ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer page. And independent financial audits, required by the state, are available through the state Department of Public Instruction. I requested those for a handful of Wisconsin’s 100% schools, and I visited four.
One warm day in June, I stood in the lobby of one such school in Milwaukee, near a large fish tank. I’d sought days earlier to contact the woman running the school. An audit showed she was paying her own company rent for the building ($128,000 in one recent year). She put me off. “I’m not interested, ma’am,” she said via a phone in the foyer. “Please do not call us back again.”
On the other side of town, I rang the bell at Atlas Prep’s high school building and asked to speak to the executive director, Michelle Lukacs. I was informed she was headed to a meeting and could not speak with me.
By then, I was digging into Atlas’ finances, a process that would last several weeks and continue into July.
Over multiple emails, I shared with Lukacs what I was learning, including the compensation of the board chair, Steven E. Menden. A licensed certified public accountant, Menden had compiled the school’s IRS filing since its formation in 2001.
At times since then, Menden has been listed on the school’s website as “board advisor.” His daughter, Kaitlyn Menden, was also among the school’s most highly compensated employees in 2024. Her package was $127,674 in salary and benefits for a job in “business services.” (In an email to me, she described her role as wearing “many hats” beyond that, citing human resources duties, “oversight of the school’s technology hardware and cloud resources” and “special projects.”)
In the past couple of years, records show, Steven Menden has taken on the role of board chairman. The fiscal year 2025 IRS form showed Menden putting in a 40-hour workweek for Atlas and earning $132,505 in pay plus $19,916 in additional benefits. What’s more, his accounting firm, Menden & Associates, had an $87,250 contract.
Lukacs defended the school’s compensation practices, noting in an email: “Every person on our team, regardless of their role, earns their compensation and is not overpaid.”
She explained that Menden is not compensated for his board service but for “Executive Management Services.”
It would be forbidden for a public school board member in Wisconsin to also have a district management job under a legal doctrine regarding roles that are “incompatible.”
“In essence, one cannot supervise oneself, which would include hiring and firing and disciplining oneself,” said Dan Rossmiller, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.
State law governing public officials also prohibits school board members from having a private interest in any contract over $15,000 that they bid for, vote on, negotiate or participate in. Violators can be charged with a low-level felony. There is no similar law that pertains to private school operators in Wisconsin.
In an email to me, Menden explained how the Atlas board handles potential conflicts of interest.
“Any conflicts of interest for either related or unrelated parties are resolved in favor of Atlas Preparatory Academy as outlined in our IRS mandated Conflict of Interest Policy,” he wrote. “This means that conflicted persons recuse themselves from the situation and do not vote or participate and the final decision that is made is strictly in the best financial interest of the school.”
This organizational structure does not comport with best practices for the governance of a nonprofit organization, experts told me.
“Board members are volunteers, and best practice is unambiguous that they should not simultaneously hold paid staff positions at the school they oversee — doing so collapses the separation between governance and management that gives a board its purpose in the first place,” said Chelsea Cross, a vice president at City Forward Collective in Milwaukee.
Atlas Prep’s IRS filing indicated that Lukacs, the full-time executive director, earned $175,000 in salary and benefits and also had a board position. A third board member is listed as working only one hour a week for no pay.
In a public school setting, Lukacs’ situation would be akin to a district superintendent also sitting on the school board — an arrangement that would raise issues over proper checks and balances since superintendents typically are hired by and report to the school board.
Said Cross: “With 2/3 of its governing board also on the payroll — including the very executive the board exists to evaluate — Atlas Prep’s board cannot meaningfully hold its own leadership accountable.”
Lukacs disagreed with that assessment. “This is a false statement,” she wrote in an email, saying that Atlas board members “model strong personal leadership showing integrity, confidence and consistency in their actions and decision making.”
She told me she does not vote to approve her own salary “or vote in any other situation where a conflict of interest exists.” And she noted that countless hours have been invested at Atlas Prep in improving curriculum and student support. “While our standardized test scores do not yet reflect the level of achievement we aspire to, our staff has remained steadfast in its commitment to continuous improvement,” she wrote.
I had asked Atlas Prep twice for a copy of the school’s conflict of interest policy, which Menden had mentioned. As of mid-August, I had not received it.
I also requested a copy of the school’s contract with Menden’s accounting firm. I did not receive that either.
At a public school, such contracts would be subject to open record laws. I easily found a link on the Milwaukee Public Schools website to a decade’s worth of contracts for school nurses, mental health services, fitness instructors, interpreters, color printers, portable toilets, busing, professional development and so on.
But Atlas does not post those records online. It doesn’t have to.
At Atlas Prep, the school’s executive director also serves on the board that oversees the director job. At a public school, these dual roles would not be allowed, but that restriction doesn’t apply to Atlas, even though it depends on public money.Caleb Alvarado for ProPublica
Amazon has "reintroduced a clause in its user agreement that seeks to prevent shoppers from filing class-action lawsuits against the online retailer," reports Bloomberg, "inserting a legal buffer between itself and plaintiffs attorneys that it removed five years ago."
In an email sent to customers on Friday, the company said a new "arbitration agreement and class-action waiver" will require shoppers to resolve disputes outside the courts but said they could still file small claims, cases that typically limit damages to a few thousand dollars... The user-agreement update isn't necessarily binding in court. Plaintiffs attorneys could still seek class-action lawsuits against Amazon, and it would be up to a judge to determine if the user agreement prevents them from doing so.
Amazon was contacted for an explanation by Bloomberg, and provided a statement saying they continually update their wording "to better serve our customers."
Amazon said they'd "determined" that "reinstating the arbitration clause will offer customers a fast, cost-effective way to resolve disputes while still giving them the option of going to small claims court."
The leftwing commentator has been invited to appear on the Planet America program on Monday night
The ABC is set to air the return of its Planet America program on Monday night as the US midterm elections gain steam, with a new episode featuring the leftwing commentator Hasan Piker.
Host John Barron said the episode will focus on the “rise of Democratic socialists and the populist left”, with Piker speaking about “what it’s like in the eye of a political storm”. But the appearance quickly sparked the ire of conservatives in Australia.
lately I’ve run into a problem with my onewheel. I use an XRV power kit and for 2 years now it worked great but for some days now when wheeling, it vibrates strangely. I noticed, it does it mostly when leaning forwards to the inner side of my body. Sometimes, when it starts it may not stop until i stop the board, really odd behavior.
First, I tried loading the base xml files of Tony back into the vesc app and redoing the IMU calibration but nothing worked. Retightening thr screws also did not solve the problem as there is nothing loose. So, my settings are the same basic ones as those xml files. Sadly, this side does not allow me to upload those files but you can finde them here: https://pev.dev/t/gtv-xrv-pintv-power-kit-accidentally-reset-configs-motor-squeal-on-engagement-how-to-fix/1709
Could it have to do something with Floaty or Float Control? I use both as I have an Android and iPhone.
For now, there is nothing more I can tell so thanks for any advice and ride safely!
In today’s newsletter: The Spanish prime minister has remade himself as Europe’s leading leftwing standard-bearer. Could his success offer the UK’s PM a route forward?
Good morning. To international onlookers, Pedro Sánchez appears to have achieved the impossible. Where other European leftist and left-ish premiers have flopped and flailed, the Spanish PM has endured.
Since June 2018, Sánchez has ruled from Madrid, implementing a raft of progressive policies. More recently, he has emerged as a leading, and often lone, left-wing European voice on the global stage, striking a defiant tone on everything from the Trump administration’s war in Iran (“the smokescreen of war to hide their failure”) to Israel’s actions in Gaza (“exterminating a defenceless people”). The fact that the international press has nicknamed him El Guapo (the handsome one) can’t hurt.
UK economy | The UK should expect to see a new cost of living crisis, with official figures released this week by the ONS expected to show how soaring energy bills drove up inflation close to 3% in July.
Ceuta | Moroccan police arrested 111 people this weekend, who were trying to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides after social media posts called for another mass crossing.
Jason Arday | The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday.
UK politics | Andy Burnham is being urged to protect 4 million gig economy workers, who thinktanks warn miss out on key statutory rights including: parental leave, redundancy pay and protection against unfair dismissal.
Indonesia | Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, searching for bodies after a powerful earthquake killed at least 51 people, and injured more than 100.
Sánchez understands that anchoring his party to the left … is where he can govern.
Monday | Nominations close for candidates seeking to replace Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader.
Tuesday | Opening arguments expected to begin in a lawsuit brought by multiple US states against Meta about social media addiction.
Thursday | Students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland will receive their GCSE results.
"Epic Games has confirmed that it is working on a Linux version of its storefront, potentially removing the need for third-party launchers on platforms such as Steam Deck," reports PC Guide:
The confirmation came during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on the Epic Games Store's community Discord server. When a user asked whether Epic had any plans for a Linux version of its launcher, an Epic staff member confirmed that it is coming "soon(TM)" in emoji form. Of course, that is far from confirming any kind of date, but it is official confirmation of a Linux version nonetheless.
"On top of that, Nvidia's GeForce Now [cloud gaming] app for Linux is also official, having emerged from beta," writes TechRadar, calling it all part of "a rosier future for Linux gamers."
And while it's not related to gaming, OpenAI's ["preview"] release of a ChatGPT app for Linux is another milestone for the platform... OpenAI said: "Linux has been one of the most-requested platforms for the desktop app, and this launch extends ChatGPT and Codex across every major desktop operating system." The Epic Games Store arriving natively is great news for gamers running Linux — including SteamOS — as it means a much more convenient way of playing games from the store, as opposed to the current situation with fudging and workarounds (using a third-party app such as the Heroic Games Launcher)...
Epic's own Fortnite doesn't work on Linux (and that's down to Epic actively blocking the game from running due to issues around cheating, which remains a source of controversy). Given the apparent changing attitude here with its launcher being ported over, maybe Epic will reverse course on Fortnite eventually. Some gamers on Reddit are highly skeptical about that possibility though, and as one doubting Redditor put it: "I wouldn't hold my breath."
ATLANTA, Georgia — Sen. Jon Ossoff escalated his criticism of President Donald Trump’s handling of the Iran war Sunday, accusing the administration of repeatedly misleading Americans about the conflict’s justification, progress and expected duration.
“There’s something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war, treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns,” the Georgia Democrat told supporters at an Atlanta rally.
Ossoff pointed to a series of administration declarations that he argued have not matched events on the ground. He noted that Trump previously said Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated,” then later portrayed it as an imminent threat requiring renewed military action. Ossoff also contrasted early claims of rapid victory with a conflict now approaching six months.
His criticism comes as public support for the war remains weak. A June Marquette Law School Poll found just 33% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, below his overall job approval at the time.
The war has also become an economic issue ahead of the midterms. Fighting and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed gasoline prices sharply higher. The national average was about $4.07 per gallon Sunday, compared with roughly $3.14 a year earlier, according to AAA figures cited by The Hill.
Ossoff is seeking reelection in battleground Georgia, making his attack on Trump’s foreign policy part of a broader Democratic argument that the administration promised lower prices and peace but has instead delivered higher household costs and a prolonged Middle East conflict.
Guardian investigation finds apparent discrepancy between what tech company has said about its AI capacity – and the number of advanced chips it has in operation
The chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models – and the world’s biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead.
Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem. A Guardian investigation has found an apparent discrepancy between what the company has said about its AI capacity – and the number of advanced AI chips it has in operation.
Politico notes that over 20 local jurisdictions in America "either stopped using Flock cameras or began the process of doing so in July, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, an activist group that has been mapping the company. It's the highest amount in a single month since they began tracking in 2021."
Some local officials said the public safety promises weren't worth the cost. The cameras "didn't help us with anything. From a utility aspect, they were just kind of not useful," said Eric Couture, a Democratic first selectman in Killingworth, Connecticut, another city that recently canceled its contract with Flock. "I'd say it was a net negative."
And their article adds that it's a bipartisan pushback that "runs parallel to sprawling fights over the future of technology in American life, including the rise of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence tools and the construction of massive data centers needed to power them."
Salon even argues Flock's cameras "have become a symbol of growing anger over the efforts by technology oligarchs to impose their dystopian fantasies on the country, replacing liberal democracy with a surveillance state... People are sick of tech billionaires trying to control our lives""
By targeting Flock cameras, activists are building momentum for a larger rebellion against the tech industry — and against political leaders who are complicit in their assault on our freedoms. Flock Safety embodies the dishonesty that has been the prevailing theme of tech corporate communications and marketing for at least the past decade. While the cameras are sold to the public as a banal traffic safety measure, they have prompted an outpouring of stories about how they're being used to violate civil liberties and undermine democracy...
According to an exhaustive 10-month analysis by Electronic Foundation Frontier, a nonprofit dedicated to defending civil liberties in our digital age, local police were using the cameras to track protesters, such as those at No Kings rallies, who were then put in a national database to be used across all jurisdictions. Despite claims that the cameras only record license plates, the technology-focused outlet 404 Media found that the database is also being used to collect information on individual people whom cops can then search for using descriptions of clothing, race, gender and body type.
The Flock uprising, though, is the stirrings of public understanding that none of this inevitable — and we have the right to fight back... Along with protests against data centers, it's a sign that the public is desperate for a way to fight back against not just AI, but also the anti-democratic forces fueling this latest tech wave.
Salon's writer also adds that "what stands out about the burgeoning public rebellion against Flock security cameras is just how fun it all is," citing "a national cat-and-mouse game between vandals and cops that is being merrily followed on social media, mostly by people rooting for the vandals."
City council meetings in which citizens swarm to protest paying for the cameras are the new must-see TV. In Huntington, West Virginia, a small city in the heart of Appalachia, one man became an internet folk hero when he stood up at a city council meeting and said, "I'm not gonna waste your time; I'm kinda hungry. But one last thing: Every single Flock camera has about 2-3 pounds of copper and about 1-2 grams of gold. Do with that information what you will." He then walked off in triumph.
This week Anthropic announced its Claude chatbot will watermark the text it generates, reports the blog Futurism. "It works by making subtle changes in the AI's word choices across the text it generates, which are supposed to be imperceptible to a human but, in aggregate, form a pattern that is detectable with the tool."
Anthropic said it was implementing the watermark system in response to the European Union's landmark AI Act passed in 2024, which requires that AI companies mark content that's been generated or edited by their systems.
TechCrunch notes that other companies including Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Synthesia have committed to adhering to the EU's code. But "The news about Claude watermarking kicked off a firestorm on X," reports Forbes, "with users panicking that AI-assisted writing will now bear a kind of permanent 'scarlet letter.'" (Forbes wonders if media companies are normalizing AI "while at the same time stigmatizing the output.")
But there's another issue. Anthropic said the watermark indicates Claude processed text, Business Insider points out, "not that it was necessarily the original author. The company said marks can remain after Claude proofreads, translates, summarizes, or otherwise edits content... a watermark shows that Claude processed text, not necessarily that it wrote it."
In the days since, "Dozens of people have posted on X since Monday that they had canceled their Claude subscriptions, citing the watermark."
Vladislav Rajtmajer, a freelance developer in the Czech Republic, told Business Insider he canceled his Claude Max subscription on Tuesday, citing the watermark as the main reason. He said he uses AI for code reviews and translations, and worried an AI label on code shipped to clients could raise questions about authorship or trigger contract penalties... Richard Echols, an AI consultant in Georgia, also said he canceled his Claude Max subscription on Wednesday and that the watermark was a major factor in his decision. He said he uses Claude to create documentation for businesses and worried the mark could appear when he had written the underlying material himself and used the chatbot only for edits. "Even if you edit your own work that you wrote, they add the watermark anyway," Echols said...
Anthropic isn't the only AI lab to use watermarks: Google uses its SynthID technology to watermark AI-generated content, and OpenAI uses SynthID for supported images and audio. Elon Musk's social media platform X also adds a "Made with AI" tag on content it determines to be AI-generated or manipulated.
Long-time Slashdot reader kmleon (also a tech consultant and RPG researcher) experienced another issue. He'd built some software using their own custom-built AI tool, only asking Claude to do some testing. "Little did I know that Claude would sometimes decide, since it was involved on the edges... to take credit for all of my work, claiming some parts were either '100%' or 'Co-Authored/Created' by Claude.Ai / Claude Code!"
I'm sure the good folks at Anthropic will eventually tweak Claude enough to, hopefully, not make these mistakes in the future.... I only became aware of it today, because I recently setup scanners to catch Claude incorrectly watermarking any content it touches for various projects I'm working on. I found that it has (apparently as far back as Sonnet 4.6, but as recently as today, August 14th, 2026) sometimes been mistakenly over-zealous in taking credit for 100% creating or co-authoring docs, code, images, videos, etc. I've only, so far, found about a dozen instances spanning the past year, and most of them appear to have been injected in the last few weeks, so it is not a common issue (yet).
On the bright side? Maybe watermarks can help AI stop training on AI-generated text.
Although Forbes also reports that
Google "announced on Friday that it will now let users remove the visible watermark from AI-generated images, videos and music created with several of its models."
Amid reports of burnout and poor conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Adm. Brad Cooper acknowledged that long stretches at sea can be challenging but said some of the concerns were "old news."
China has established the first scheduled transit through the northern sea route, but questions remain over the environmental and political risks
When Marco Rubio suggested that the world should look to new shipping lanes to bypass the logjammed strait of Hormuz, it’s unlikely he had the Arctic’s northern sea route in mind.
And yet in recent months the promise of this 5,500km channel – cleaved through frozen seas by nuclear-powered icebreakers and illuminated by a sun that never dips below the Arctic horizon – has grown.
Trump’s son-in-law and envoy held rare meeting with Hamas chief in Egypt in push for progress on ceasefire
Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, held a rare meeting with Hamas’s political chief on Sunday in Egypt, in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet on Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed road map.
The talks aim to salvage the plan for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territory shattered by war.
Jared Kushner, who is President Trump's son-in-law, is set to meet next with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected the latest peace proposal last week.
Linux Kernel 7.2 has just been officially released with a slew of new features, reports the blog 9to5Linux.
Highlights of Linux 7.2 "include cache-aware load-balancing support, initial HDMI 2.1 FRL support to the AMDGPU driver, support for devres-based management of ACPI notify handlers, initial CRI platform support for the Intel Xe driver, and Rust support for the IBM System/390 (S/390) architecture."
Linux kernel 7.2 also introduces a "Fair(er)" GPU scheduler, support for the 'zerocopy' library to Rust support to make zero-cost memory manipulation effortless, new hwcaps for the 2025 dpISA extensions on the AArch64 (ARM64) architecture, and enables large folios by default for the Btrfs file system.
It also brings Intel CPU model number support for Panther Lake R processor series, improvements to the kernel's swap subsystem, support for multi-size transparent huge pages (mTHPs) to the khugepaged kernel thread, and support for compressed files to the SMB filesystem.
On top of that, Linux 7.2 improves the new NTFS filesystem introduced in Linux kernel 7.1, adds devicetree updates for 64-bit NXP/Freescale and Qualcomm platforms, introduces MPTCP signaling support for IPv6 addresses, adds GRO/GSO support for PPPoE, and brings more SMP load-balancing updates... [T]he TCP authentication option has been implemented, and there are also some Thunderbolt networking improvements.
Also worth mentioning is that the KVM subsystem has received support for AMD's "guest-mode execution trap" and Intel's "mode-based execution control" (MBEC) features, the NFS file system's default block size was bumped to 4MB on systems with at least 16GB RAM, and support for the Intel Trusted Domain Extensions (TDX) feature has been added.
Thanks to Slashdot reader prisoninmate for bring the news.
With magnitudes of 7.7 and 6.4, two earthquakes struck different parts of Indonesia on the same day. Authorities have since recorded at least 995 aftershocks.
Hurricane Lala downgraded after skirting Big Island as one person dies and over 130,000 households are without power
Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts. Total rainfall of nearly 3ft (1 meter) was expected on the higher windward slopes, turning rivers into raging torrents and threatening mudslides.
The Hawaii governor, Josh Green, said at least one person died in a car accident in the South Point area of the Big Island, where more than 100 homes were destroyed. More than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power on Sunday afternoon across Hawaii’s three largest islands, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, and 19 roofs were lost, Green said.
"We are in a 21st century space race," U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has said. And this week CNN noted a competition that for decades loomed in the background of geopolitics "is now roaring to the forefront," with China "demonstrating rapid advances in space technology" while the U.S. is "ratcheting up rhetoric about a looming battle for control of the cosmos."
It's the fact that China plans to build a permanent settlement on the moon by 2040 that has prompted an urgent response from [U.S.] lawmakers... They've declared a new space race, and NASA is pledging to build a lunar outpost of America's own.... Both the United States and China plan to send robotic explorers to the south pole later this year, paving the way for human explorers to follow close behind.
The US is relying on the private sector to develop and build low-cost, exploratory robotic landers... Meanwhile, China is aiming to launch its robotic Chang'e-7 mission as soon as this month. The complex endeavor will seek to use four different robotic vehicles — an orbiter, lander, rover and mobile "hopper" — working in tandem to attempt to gather unprecedented data. The effort will include tools to drill for and directly analyze water ice, a feat that the US will only attempt with robotic missions slated for next year at the earliest. "If lunar water ice is successfully located, it could significantly reduce the cost and time required to transport water from Earth, facilitating the establishment of a human base for long-term activities on the moon and enabling further exploration of Mars or deep space," Tang Yuhua, the deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-7 mission, said in a 2025 interview with state media.
The oncoming flurry of south-pole-centric activity, with few established international laws to govern the outcomes, is heightening the drama of this rivalry... But with a much more ambitious goal — a future in which people attempt to flourish within permanent settlements rather than just visit the moon — the stakes of this new space race are even higher, according to Clayton Swope, the deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan nonprofit. "The long-term vision will take generations to execute on," Swope said. "But in my mind, it's a scenario where there are people being born, people dying, their families, children growing up in a place that is not Earth — so that looks a lot like a city, more than it looks like an expedition to the south pole." If such a future comes to fruition, Swope added, his hope is that such extraterrestrial colonies would be governed by rules reminiscent of Western ideals and democratic principles. Whether China would be on the same page is an open question.
China is already fine-tuning its plans for a lunar settlement, CNN writes:
The country envisions the International Lunar Research Station, or ILRS, as a sprawling science-focused facility on the moon's surface that can be operated robotically, "with the prospect of subsequent human presence," according to a government's ILRS website. China could partner with Russia to build a massive nuclear reactor to power the base, though questions remain regarding how the war in Ukraine may impact Russia's ability to deliver... China and Russia were mapping these plans long before the US announced its own intention to build a nuclear reactor on the moon last year and detailed its plans for a lunar settlement spanning hundreds of square miles... Who will write the rules? And how, exactly, will the use of lunar resources be policed on the international stage?
Meanwhile, NASA "still does not have a vehicle capable of getting astronauts down to the lunar surface," the article points out:
Returning to the moon is not as simple as repeating Apollo. The space agency cannot — and does not wish to — replicate its 20th century lunar-landing success. The supply chains, skilled machinists and factories that built Apollo's rockets, landers and command modules no longer exist. And while the Apollo landings stuck close to the lunar equator, landing near the south pole is substantially more complex and requires more powerful vehicles.... China, meanwhile, has been laser focused on its lunar exploration program since 2004, using its top-down, central planning system to keep resources flowing toward specific goals.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost, his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to support U.S. actions against Iran.
The directive came just before the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scheduled to begin Monday. The 11-day drills were expected to involve about 18,000 South Korean troops and are designed to improve readiness against North Korean military threats.
Trump said the exercises send an “inappropriate and hostile” signal toward North Korea, which he described as respectful and relatively unthreatening during his presidency. He also complained that South Korea declined his request to participate in efforts aimed at Iran.
North Korea has long denounced U.S.-South Korean exercises as rehearsals for invasion, while Washington and Seoul maintain they are defensive. Pyongyang recently launched ballistic missiles ahead of the drills and threatened unspecified countermeasures.
South Korea appeared to receive little advance warning of Trump’s announcement but said Monday it hopes the reduction could help restart dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Its government also stressed the importance of maintaining military readiness and close coordination with the United States.
Trump similarly suspended major exercises after meeting Kim in Singapore in 2018. Those diplomatic efforts ultimately failed to produce an agreement eliminating North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, which has expanded substantially since negotiations collapsed in 2019.
In the Mardi Gras Indian, or Black Masking Indian, tradition, the big chiefs and their crews — spy boys, flag boys, wild men and a big queen — square off in mock battles with other so-called tribes to determine who is, in their words, the "prettiest."
In an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim, author Margaret Atwood joked about the signature red cloak and bonnet: "Well, if you have a cult, and if you have totalitarianism, you have to have outfits."
60 Minutes joined U.S. veterans with PTSD on a week-long psychedelic retreat in Mexico. Nearly a year later, most of the vets said the experience with psilocybin was life-changing.
The Mardi Gras Indians, or Black Masking Indians, have been around since the 1800s. Members spend months painstakingly handcrafting suits to be worn while marching through New Orleans' neighborhoods.
Margaret Atwood's fiction tells of future worlds plagued by totalitarianism, environmental collapse, and global pandemic. At 86, she looks not forward but back at her her own life in a new memoir.
PAGE, Arizona — Lake Powell has fallen to the lowest level in its history, placing one of the West’s most important water and electricity sources dangerously close to losing its ability to generate hydropower.
The reservoir dropped to 3,519.91 feet above sea level Saturday, slightly below its previous record from April 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Lake Powell is now more than 20 feet lower than it was at the start of the year and roughly 30 feet above the level at which Glen Canyon Dam’s turbines can no longer produce electricity.
The milestone comes just over a week after Lake Mead also reached a record low. Together, the reservoirs are storing less water than at any point since 1957, before Lake Powell existed.
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people across seven states and supports major agricultural, tribal and urban economies. Persistent overuse has combined with a record-dry winter and rising temperatures to sharply reduce runoff into the system. Reuters reported this spring that April-to-July inflows into Lake Powell were projected at just 13% of average after historically poor Rocky Mountain snowpack.
Federal officials have already proposed a new 10-year management plan that could require significant reductions in Colorado River use by Arizona, California and Nevada after years of unsuccessful negotiations among the basin states.
The falling reservoir is also disrupting tourism, forcing marinas and boat ramps to relocate as shorelines continue retreating.
Head-on collision between two vehicles on M9 in County Kildare also injured four other people, say police
Five teenagers have died and four other people have been seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in the Republic of Ireland, police said.
Gardaí confirmed the bodies of the youths, all male, had been removed from the scene of the two-vehicle collision, which happened at about 3am on Sunday on the M9 in County Kildare.
Couple die in Salamis, while multinational forces and local farmers tackle Belgium’s biggest fire in a century near Liège
An elderly couple died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis on Sunday and a fire ravaged Belgium’s largest nature reserve, in the latest wave of European wildfires.
The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamis, Greece’s coastguard said. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.
The president's son-in-law and envoy is expected in Jerusalem on Monday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week rejected the Trump-backed 15-point plan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the childhood vaccine schedule Sunday, calling aspects of the policy “crazy” and “stupid” and arguing that such decisions are contributing to Trump’s declining poll numbers.
Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate health committee, specifically objected to Trump’s push to separate the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into individual shots. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Cassidy said the change would turn two routine MMR injections into six separate shots and require additional medical visits.
“This is why the president’s poll numbers are going down,” Cassidy said. “Because people don’t perceive that he knows the reality of their life.”
Trump’s order also emphasizes further investigation of vaccines and autism, despite extensive scientific evidence finding no causal connection. Cassidy said Sunday there is “no evidence whatsoever” that vaccines cause autism.
Current CDC guidance recommends two MMR doses for children, with the first at 12 to 15 months and the second at ages 4 to 6.
Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have already made substantial changes to federal vaccine policy. Earlier this year, the CDC revised its childhood schedule so several vaccines are no longer universally recommended, following a Trump directive to reassess U.S. practices.
Cassidy’s criticism is particularly notable because he provided a crucial Republican vote to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary in 2025 after receiving assurances about vaccine policy.
Robert Jenrick takes aim at disabled people and foreign nationals after saying UK guilty of ‘suicidal empathy’
Reform UK has been accused of excluding the most vulnerable from society and punishing non-Britons living in the UK as it prepared to outline £50bn of cuts to benefits for disabled people and foreign nationals.
Robert Jenrick, Reform’s finance spokesperson, will detail the plans for £20bn of cuts to disability benefits overall, as well as another £21bn from stopping foreign nationals – including EU citizens with settled status – claiming almost any benefits, among other cuts.
While Flock announced changes for its AI-powered traffic cameras, "Several of the proposed changes Flock is touting are merely retreads of previous ," complains the American Civil Liberties Union. "Flock's latest announcement still appears more focused on addressing a perceived PR problem than the significant harms its products create... [T]his is hardly the step forward Flock wants us to think it is "
The ACLU continues to urge that default retention periods be shortened to 48 hours — not one week. And they warn Flock allows longer retention to any police department that asks for it, or when police officers activate "Evidence Mode" (the scope of which is not yet clear):
Even if "Evidence Mode's" data retention hold only applies to hits returned on a given search, it would still retain significant amounts of location data on persons and vehicles who law enforcement do not suspect have engaged in any wrongdoing...
Flock claims that its changes will provide "more local control," meaning local police can decide what types of offenses other Flock customers can search their data for... This is not new. Flock has attempted this before, and the security measure failed because users were easily able to circumvent the system's requirement that police input the purpose of their search. For example, on June 12, 2025 Flock started claiming its new "Proactive Search Term Tool" would block any "impermissible" searches, such as abortion-related searches in states like Illinois that prohibit sharing reproductive healthcare data. But police officers quickly realized they could just input "investigation" or even "hehehe" as a search reason and it would be approved. Flock later switched from an open text box to a drop-down menu of reasons, but that just offered police a list of acceptable purposes they could choose from, whether it was accurate or not. Until Flock demonstrates they can develop a reliable, workable system to prevent improper searches, this promise of local control provides nothing more than a false sense of security...
While providing "Audit Assistance" to all departments makes sense, there is no evidence that the tool works consistently to address what the Washington Post observed is a growing pattern of police officers turning Flock into a personal stalking tool. While dozens of officers have recently been arrested, fired, or otherwise disciplined for misusing Flock for personal reasons, Flock claims these arrests are proof its auditing tool works. However, unless we know the number of officers misusing the system, we cannot conclude if Flock and its auditing tools are catching 95 percent of violators or 5 percent. Flock needs to have its auditing tool analyzed by an independent evaluator to determine its actual effectiveness. Until then, we don't know if the tool is a real security measure or just window dressing.
Perhaps the oddest part of Flock's announcement is its claims that "now every search will require" police to input a case code... While claiming that a "search without a reason is a search that shouldn't happen in the first place," Flock's announcement fails to note how easily users have circumvented "search reason" security measures in the past... This leaves the public wondering how making an ineffective voluntary security measure mandatory will improve its functionality.
Flock's "nearly $1 billion in venture capitalist funding has locked it into an operational model that seeks to trade our privacy for massive profits," concludes the ACLU's statement, as they promise to continue "The ACLU is fighting alongside communities to cancel local ALPR contracts and push lawmakers to protect our rights from this surveillance nightmare..."
Outgoing Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor, voted to confirm anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr as health secretary before speaking out
The Republican senator Bill Cassidy – a medical doctor who voted to confirm anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy as federal health secretary in early 2025 – on Sunday denounced Donald Trump’s “crazy, stupid” claims about the safety of the combined MMR vaccine for undermining faith in immunization.
When Trump recently ordered changes to the recommended childhood vaccination schedule, with Kennedy by his side, the president called for two shots of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to be scrapped in favor of two doses of three separate vaccines, claiming that the MMR shots are “sort of like a nuclear weapon” that could be “quite lethal”.
Suspect, 19, who is not enrolled at the university arrested in connection with shooting of five people, authorities say
A young man suspected in connection with the shooting of five people on Saturday on the campus of Virginia State University (VSU) hid in a dormitory closet for more than 14 hours being found and arrested, according to authorities.
The suspect – identified as 19-year-old Camron Harris – was found in Seward Hall on VSU’s campus at 4pm, local police Lt James Lamb said, according to the Virginia news outlet WTVR. The shooting occurred at about 1.30am on Saturday.
FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that Sen. Mitch McConnell has still not responded to requests for a direct public update on his health, arguing that the longtime Republican senator owes constituents evidence that he remains capable of serving.
“I’ve heard absolutely nothing back from Mitch McConnell,” Beshear said on CBS’s Face the Nation. He said McConnell could resolve much of the uncertainty by making a brief television appearance or posting a two-minute video. “All he needs to do is call into this show for two minutes, or Fox News for two minutes,” Beshear said.
McConnell, 84, has been out of public view since a mid-June fall that left him briefly unconscious. He later developed pneumonia and spent weeks in rehabilitation. His office announced Aug. 6 that he had returned home and would continue intensive physical therapy while remaining engaged with staff and Senate colleagues.
Beshear said he wishes McConnell well but argued that Senate leaders also have a responsibility to ensure members can perform their duties. McConnell has not announced a specific date for returning to the Capitol.
The senator has previously released written health updates and a photograph with his wife, Elaine Chao, but he has not made a live public appearance since the hospitalization.
McConnell is serving his final term and plans to leave the Senate when it expires in January 2027.
President, 80, vows to keep far-right from power as Flávio Bolsonaro tells supporters he will ‘fight this system’
Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has launched his campaign for a historic fourth term and vowed that as long as he lived he would not allow the “shameless” right to return to power.
"As Sony soldiers ahead with their plans to end hard copies for new PlayStation games, players are fearing a future which will force them to pay more and own less," writes Kotaku.
What will prices do in a world with no physical copies to share or sell? One former Square Enix executive speculates this could actually drive down the price of games:
"Digital on the PS store will likely get cheaper," posted Jacob Navok, former Square Enix business strategist. "Current prices are tied to retail. Without physical discs holding digital hostage we'll see a larger spectrum of pricing similar to steam." Navok says that the digital-only landscape will pit major publishers in constant, dynamic competition with each other... "The more the Playstation store becomes digital only, the greater this trend will accelerate," Navok follows up. "You will see more sales and dynamic pricing similar to Steam because publishers will compete among themselves to a greater extent."
[O]n the other end newer games are getting increasingly expensive, even on digital platforms. The fact that Grand Theft Auto VI will be a purely digital release has not caused its price point to budge.
Efforts of emergency services and military in Blaenavon appear to be working but there are fears for the future
More than three weeks after it began burning and two days after the military deployed to the area, there is hope that the huge wildfire on the hillside above the Ebbw valley village of Blaenavon may finally be coming under control.
Emergency workers and soldiers described a gruelling battle against the deep-seated peat fire that has spread over 4,000 hectares (9,800 acres), putting lives, farmland and property at risk.
John was first player to undergo pioneering operation
New York Yankees pay tribute to four-time All-Star
Tommy John, the namesake of a ligament-replacement surgery that paved a path to recovery for injured baseball players, has died. He was 83.
TMZ.com reported that the pitcher died at his home in Florida, surrounded by his family, including his wife, Cheryl. John had recently been in hospice care.
NEW YORK, New York — A Bronx man faces multiple hate crime charges after allegedly disrupting Friday night Shabbat services at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue, assaulting two people and damaging property before being arrested by an NYPD officer working security.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Larry Montes, 46, struck a congregant while synagogue security was escorting him out, damaged synagogue property, then spat at and head-butted a member of the security team. An NYPD sergeant working a paid detail at the synagogue immediately intervened and took Montes into custody.
Montes was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, along with additional offenses. No one was seriously injured, and those hurt were evaluated at the scene. The charges are allegations, and Montes is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident “horrifying” and said every New Yorker must be able to practice religion without fear of violence. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Chuck Schumer also condemned the attack.
Additional officers were deployed to the synagogue, where Shabbat services continued Saturday.
Israeli Consul General Ofir Akunis separately blamed Mamdani’s criticism of Israel for contributing to the climate surrounding the attack. Police have not publicly linked the alleged assault to Mamdani’s rhetoric, and no evidence cited by authorities establishes such a connection.
The following is the transcript of an interview with Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 16, 2026.
The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 16, 2026.
Senator Ruben Gallego calls carrier’s months-long deployment a ‘deep problem’ as wellbeing concerns mount
Democrats on Sunday intensified their demands for answers from the Trump administration over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln as the aircraft carrier’s nearly nine-month deployment continued fueling concern over crew morale, mental health and living conditions.
Ruben Gallego, a Democratic senator from Arizona, said on Sunday that problems onboard the Lincoln had kept mounting – and he blamed the carrier’s prolonged deployment on the unresolved war that Donald Trump started in February with Iran as well as lackluster leadership in general from the Republican president’s administration.
GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said Congress should conduct oversight following concerns about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is being replaced after a nearly nine-month deployment.
An anonymous reader shared this report from TechCrunch:
According to data from digital intelligence provider Similarweb, Bluesky's mobile app had 10.4 million monthly active users worldwide in June 2026, down 27.2% year-over-year. In addition, mobile daily active users continued to decline, falling 25.6% year-over-year in July to around 3 million... Bluesky's app has lost more than half its monthly active users from its late-2024 high... Its quarterly average was around 22.1 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2024, Similarweb's data indicates, and it declined to 10.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. That's a decline of around 52%.
While Bluesky's numbers are down, those who stuck around are committed. Its smaller community remains relatively active, with a stickiness rate (the ratio of daily to monthly active users) of roughly 29% in June, about the same as Threads.
For Bluesky's new CEO, Toni Schneider, these numbers may not be as concerning. The company is not entirely focused on making Bluesky (the app) succeed, but on making it possible for the underlying protocol (AT Proto) to power a growing number of social apps, services, and communities. That's something that is now taking place, as projects like BlackSky and Eurosky are growing, while some AT Proto apps like the video-focused Skylight have found early traction, too. In addition, the company has launched new products, like the AI-powered research tool Attie, and is now working on adding support for private data to Bluesky. The latter could generate new interest in Bluesky from a different type of user — those less interested in the public square, and more interested in private networking and communities.
But on Threads in July of 2026, daily active users were up 21.3% year-over-year to 147 million, the article points out, and website visits were up 112% year-over-year to 471.6 million. And Threads now appears to have roughly 66% more monthly active users than X.
US attorney general says no one in his role ‘should ever’ make this vow amid concern over Trump steering DoJ
US attorney general Todd Blanche on Sunday declined to assure that the federal justice department he helms would always act independently of the White House and Donald Trump.
“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” he said when asked about the topic by NBC’s Meet the Press host, Kristen Welker. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that.”
Suppliers could factor water scarcity into charges as part of Ofwat proposal to reduce consumption
Water companies could be allowed to raise bills for customers during periods of drought under proposals being considered by the sector’s regulator for England and Wales.
Suppliers would be permitted to factor “water scarcity” into bills as part of efforts to reduce consumption under Ofwat’s plans, which are being likened to surge pricing – the practice where private hire firms raise taxi fares at times of higher demand.
Kyiv launches what may be its largest attack wave of war, with fire breaking out at warehouse near Russian capital
Ukraine has launched one of its largest drone attacks since the start of the war, causing a fire at a distribution warehouse near Moscow and killing at least six people overnight, according to Russian authorities.
The defence ministry in Moscow said it had shot down 1,478 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours – the highest ever total claimed – in an escalating air war in which seven Ukrainians were also killed as Russia bombed 13 locations inside the country.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he hasn't heard back from Sen. Mitch McConnell following formal requests for an update on his health last month amid a weekslong hospitalization.
The following is the transcript of an interview with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 16, 2026.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the Trump administration’s proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is definitively dead, seeking to close off questions about whether the Justice Department might revive the controversial payout plan through another mechanism.
“The fund is dead or whatever word you want to use,” Blanche told Fox News Sunday. “It never started. So, it’s not as if the fund is coming back.”
The proposal was created as part of a settlement framework connected to President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the federal government over IRS handling of his tax information. It was intended to compensate people who claimed they had been politically targeted by federal law enforcement, including potentially some Jan. 6 defendants.
Blanche first told lawmakers in June that DOJ was abandoning the fund after bipartisan criticism, but Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis demanded stronger assurances before supporting his attorney general nomination. Blanche later formally rescinded the May order establishing the fund, stating it “shall have no force or effect.”
The reversal helped clear the way for Blanche’s Senate confirmation. Trump had continued to express sympathy for compensating people he believes were victims of government “weaponization,” but has also acknowledged that the proposed fund itself is dead.
Democrats remain skeptical that similar compensation could be pursued through other Justice Department authorities, but Blanche said Sunday there is no alternate fund operating behind the scenes.
The summer of 1936 saw a heat wave so dangerous at least five thousand people died. It also saw the popularization of a cooler fashion alternative – shorts – which, in some jurisdictions, were illegal.
Revelation comes after it was disclosed that Reform UK backer had paid for spying on prominent journalist
The businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks commissioned a private intelligence firm to dig into the Conservative party chair, in addition to having paid for an investigation into a prominent journalist.
Banks, a former Reform UK candidate and leave campaign donor, appeared to confirm on Sunday that he was behind an investigation into Kevin Hollinrake.
Girl called police after she was shot four times in shooting spree that left six dead, including gunman
A 13-year-old girl in Michigan survived being shot four times in a shooting spree that left six people dead – including the suspected attacker – and called emergency help herself shortly before investigators identified the gunman, according to a state police official and her family.
Those actions made the teen a “hero”, said a relative of hers as well as two of the dead victims.
Saturday Disneyland announced a special Star Wars-themed collaboration with third-person shooter game Fortnite — including a slick new trailer for its Star Wars: Smuggler's Gambit quest.
Visitors to Disneyland's Smuggler's Run attraction at Disney's theme parks in Orlando and in Anaheim can accept a special mission while waiting in line for the ride, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And "If they succeed, they will get a unique Forsworn Trooper Outfit in a newly-created Fortnite adventure called Smugglers Gambit set in that same universe."
"Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run | Fortnite marks the first time this attraction has reached beyond its physical walls into a connected game world — a story that starts in a queue in Orlando or Anaheim can now continue on a screen almost anywhere," said Sean Shoptaw, executive VP of Disney Games and Digital Entertainment.... "Together these experiences reflect our ambition to connect stories and worlds across formats into one converged entertainment ecosystem...."
The cockpit technology in the ride was actually created using Epic's Unreal Engine, which allows for many assets from the ride to appear in Smugglers Gambit.... "Whether you're at a Disney Park or playing Fortnite with your friends, fans have new ways to keep their Star Wars adventures going," [said Adam Sussman, president of Epic Games]. "This is only the beginning of what's possible when world-class storytellers bring their creativity into Fortnite." Disney, of course, is an investor in Epic Games, and the two companies have been at work building a new world that will connect to Fortnite with all of the Disney's beloved characters... This new collaboration, however, extends to the real world for the first time, bringing some video game magic to Disney's parks, and some of that theme park magic to the video game.
Disneyland will also launch a new area based on James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, reports The Orange County Register — which even has a picture of the Avatar Destination ride's model, showing an enormous (and very colorful) waterfall. The model was part of Saturday's Disney fan expo "D23", showing the Disneyland Monorail traveling around the edge of the attraction (which reportedly involves a 30-person vehicle).
Saturday's event also included details on the long-awaited "reimagining" of the park's Tomorrowland area, with their official blog promising "Yesterday's tomorrow, today!" Tomorrowland has some history, explains the Orange County Register:
The land's first update in 1967 was dubbed the New Tomorrowland with the 1998 makeover jokingly referred to as the New, New Tomorrowland. The latest iteration is already being called the New, New, New Tomorrowland. Disneyland's Land of Tomorrow has plenty of empty spaces in need of some Imagineering magic with the Tomorrowland Theater, Star Wars Launch Bay and PeopleMover track all sitting underused.
Or, as The Wrap puts it, "The problem with Tomorrowland, of course, has been keeping up with tomorrow."
1967 introduced New Tomorrowland, with Adventures Thru Inner Space, Carousel of Progress and the PeopleMover giving it the "World on the Move" theme. In 1975 Space Mountain opened and in the 1980's the Tomorrowland stage was enclosed to become a 3D theater, where "Magic Journeys" and "Captain EO" played. Star Tours also opened in the 1980's, giving the area some additional adrenaline. But an elaborate redo of the area, planned for the 1990's, was cut short due to financial woes following the opening of Disneyland Paris and were largely shuttered. (In Florida, a new Tomorrowland was approximated in the mid-1990's but not really followed through on, adopting some of the timelessness of the Jules Verne-inspired Discoveryland from Paris.)
Since the 1990's, Tomorrowland in Disneyland has become largely defunct or outright abandoned... In the late 1990's, Disney tried to use the [PeopleMover] track for a high-speed attraction called Rocket Rods. The attraction never worked properly and was shuttered after just a few years. Rumor has it that the intensity of the ride vehicles actually weakened the PeopleMover track and removing the track would be time consuming and costly. So since the turn of the millennium, there has just been track above and all around Tomorrowland that sits, untouched.
Hundreds watched the 56-metre monument’s consecration, including anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa
An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of the anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa.
Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 55.6 metres (182ft) over Konotopie in central Poland, a village of fewer than 150 people.
Pokémon outlived the moral panic of its early days in Australia and its staying power has proved that simple joy can cross borders
There’s a generation of Australians for whom Cheez TV was a religion. Every morning before school, I’d sit in my little white plastic chair about three feet from our big wooden television and watch 90 minutes of cartoons “curated” by the show’s teenage hosts, Jade and Ryan.
Science Daily reports:
Researchers showed that unencrypted signals routinely exchanged between WiFi devices and routers can be used to create radio-based images of people and recognize them within seconds. In tests involving 197 participants, the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accuracy, even from different angles and regardless of how they walked. "By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present," says Professor Thorsten Strufe from KASTEL, KIT's Institute of Information Security and Dependability. "This works similar to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used for the recognition," explains the cybersecurity expert.
Because the technique analyzes radio waves moving through a space, a person does not need to have a phone, smartwatch, or other WiFi enabled device with them. "Thus, it does not matter whether you carry a WiFi device on you or not." Even turning off your own device would not necessarily prevent the system from working. "It's sufficient that other WiFi devices in your surroundings are active...."
Connected devices routinely send information back to the router to help optimize wireless communication. These signals, known as beamforming feedback information (BFI), are transmitted without encryption, meaning that anyone within range can potentially read them. By analyzing that information, the system can generate images of people from multiple viewpoints. Those images can then be used to determine a person's identity. Once the machine learning model has already been trained to recognize individuals, the identification process takes only a few seconds.
(The Center Square) – A forthcoming federal rule on open banking may allow banks to charge new fees for access to consumer data, a move critics say would harm consumers and runs counter to other parts of President Donald Trump’s…
University says it continued to provide support after resignation of academic, who was found dead on Friday
The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday.
The university said it had continued to provide Arday with extensive mental health support and security measures, including installing panic alarms and screening racist emails and post, after he resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education this month.
Sam Neill has won a posthumous best actor award at Australia’s biggest television awards, the Logies, with comedian Sam Pang taking home the night’s top honour, the Gold Logie award for most popular personality.
Neill, who died in July, won his posthumous Logie for best lead actor in a drama, for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer. His close friend, the actor Heather Mitchell, accepted the award on his behalf.
Many processed foods strip carbs of their natural fibers. Eating foods with an ideal total carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio can help with weight management and improve overall health.
Force has seen busiest month in its history, with heatwaves putting added strain on criminal justice system
On England’s hottest day of the year so far, Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester was thronging with pedestrians, many clutching ice-creams or cold drinks as they passed through the town centre.
Officers from Greater Manchester police were also out in force, some in plainclothes, some stationed by a facial-recognition van, apprehending wanted suspects and stopping persons of interest. In total, officers made 54 arrests across the borough of Tameside as part of Operation Avro, GMP’s blitz on local crime which runs in a different district each month.
Famous raptor helped livestream viewers in difficult moments, and inspired a conservation project at her lake home
The bald eagle Jackie made her home on the shore of southern California’s Big Bear Lake for most of her 14 years. But her death earlier this week drew international attention.
The Los Angeles Times described her as “arguably the world’s most famous bald eagle”. For years, millions of people tuned into a live stream of Jackie’s nest, watching her rearhereaglets, work out life with her mate, Shadow, and, perhaps most memorably, incubate her eggs while almost completely buried in snow.
As the Middle East crisis drags on into its sixth month, central banks sit in a tricky position. Oil prices remain at elevated levels, stoking inflationary pressures while also threatening to weigh on growth.
The US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are still smarting from the criticism of their inaction in 2022, when inflation soared above 10% in the UK and eurozone and over 9% in the US.
Geoff Williams' account of the deadly heat wave of 1936 includes one Kentucky city's efforts to arrest young women whose warm-weather attire was considered too revealing.
Cold days are easier when dinner can cook slowly without constant checking. These 17 slow cooker recipes cover soups, roasts, chicken, beef, pork, meatballs, and a cornbread casserole for long, chilly afternoons.The post Cold days call for 17 slow cooker…
Theft of four works on national holiday described as wound to historical memory and cultural identity of city of Messina
Four of the most important works of art by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina.
Thieves gained access to the Regional Museum of Messina, or MuMe, on Saturday evening, possibly capitalising on attention being focused on La Vara, a huge religious festival that takes place in the city on 15 August, when Italy marks the Ferragosto national holiday.
As a Democratic Congressman, Chicago mayor, ambassador, and chief of staff in the Obama White House, Rahm Emanuel has been a key and combative moderate; he says his fight, now and in the future, is bigger than him and his party.
Bottled dressing stays on the shelf for these 13 summer salads. Fresh vinaigrettes, creamy ranch, honey-lime fruit, avocado dressing, and garlic-chili sauce cover crisp sides, pasta, beans, paneer, and shrimp.The post 13 summer salads where not a single dressing comes…
This 23-year-old who grew up in a conservative Amish community and had never used a cell phone or computer is today an unlikely social media influencer, sharing stories and recipes of the Amish with her six million online followers.
July was the hottest month ever in the Lower 48 States – another escalation of our world into a hotter, more dangerous planet, where extreme weather events – such as heat waves, wildfires and hurricanes – will become more common and more extreme.
(The Center Square) – As Americans prepare to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum is honoring those murdered by two terrorist attacks committed in lower Manhattan, as well as at the Pentagon…
Detectives say 55-year-old man arrested and appeal for anyone who witnessed altercation in Wakefield
Police in West Yorkshire have launched a murder investigation into the death of a man after he was bitten by a dog.
Officers were dispatched to Wakefield just after 1.30pm on Saturday, after receiving reports of an altercation a short time earlier on an old trainline footpath.
(The Center Square) – As the U.S. nears a mid-2027 debt-limit deadline with debt approaching $40 trillion, two Republican bills would bar Congress from raising the ceiling without matching any increased spending with spending cuts elsewhere.
As research suggests six weeks of childcare can cost £1,145, parents are relying on spreadsheets, savings and sharing the load
The summer holidays are in full swing, bringing the annual challenge many parents face in balancing work and looking after school-age children. With children off school for about 13 weeks a year, but most employees entitled to far less annual leave, parents have told the Guardian that the sums simply do not add up.
UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisals
A man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.
Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government.
Loggerhead turtles abound this season but rollback of Endangered Species Act protections could threaten future
Wildlife groups in Florida are celebrating record numbers of sea turtle nests this season, but experts warn Donald Trump’s recent gutting of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could reverse decades of their recovery from the edge of extinction.
With more than two months of the summer nesting season still to run, loggerhead turtles have already made 13,770 nests, hundreds more than recorded in any previous year, along an 8.5-mile stretch of shoreline monitored by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
James Green’s oyster company owns a chunk of Whitstable’s shoreline but success has not brought affection from residents
The clink of glasses and the lapping of the tide was punctuated by giggling toddlers and the slurp of oysters at tables populated by people gently sizzling on a baking day on the Kent seaside.
But James Green, of the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company, had the demeanour of a man who had found grit in his mollusc. “I don’t like to use the term but it is nimbyism,” he said. “Why did it become personal? I don’t know really. Because we’re a family business, it’s a relatively small town?”
A broad group of diseases in the agricultural powerhouse is top of mind for the midterm elections
In Iowa, one of the key battleground states in November’s midterm elections, just about every political candidate agrees on one thing: something must be done about the state’s rising rates of cancer.
The midwestern state has the second-highest rate of cancer nationwide and, together with Utah and West Virginia, is one of only three states where incidences of the disease are rising, according to cancer rate monitoring from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Amid fears for jobs, some film-makers say AI could enable them to bypass studio giants and take more creative risks
Near the collonaded entrance to Sony Pictures’ historic Culver City film studio, a tech-powered rival has sprung up this summer. The artists at Promise, a new studio feeding off the potential of AI, can glimpse the lots where Singin’ in the Rain and Men in Black were shot, but no longer do they need to get beyond the studio’s high walls to make their visions come true.
From far more modest premises, they are making movies with rapidly accelerating AI models that create backgrounds, special effects and even “synthetic performers” – using US models but also driven by market-leading Chinese AI.
When Anthropic instructed three agents to migrate a Python backend, but telling each agent to perform the migration in a different language, "We consistently saw a multiagent turf war," they wrote Thursday:
All of the models we tested quickly assumed that others were purposefully impeding their work, and began to sabotage others while protecting their own contributions. In fact, they sabotaged others with increasingly aggressive, self-replicating malware. This included disabling the Unix accounts of the other agents, writing automated scripts that found and killed competing processes on a loop, and deploying malicious code that was disguised as belonging to another agent.
In many runs, one agent settles the conflict by force via access-revocation (e.g., sudo/group removal, account lock, nologin, SSH denial). In others, some agents settle into passivity: they give up and refuse to escalate further.
Agents sometimes manage to communicate their goals and coordinate: they recognize others' motivations as conflicting directives rather than hostility, and subsequently break out of the conflict loop in order to stop escalating indefinitely. In many of these successful episodes, they write commit messages or markdown files apologizing for malicious behavior and coordinate a truce. They clean up their malicious code, clarify the nature of the conflict, and ask for a human to intervene...
In several episodes with Mythos 5, we observe an emergent behavior where the agents propose and run a tournament for application performance in each language. In the example above, the Rust agent strategizes about bake-off metrics that appear neutral enough for the others to agree to this mechanism, yet would likely favor Rust: one thinking trace warns to be "careful not to be seen as metric shopping". Ultimately, the Golang/TypeScript losers gracefully concede codebase ownership to the Rust agent, giving up on their original user directives under their self-negotiated commitment device.
One problem is that AI agents do reward hacking, Anthropic notes, while current institutions "are designed by and for people, resting on assumptions about the sufficiency of oversight at human speed... As autonomous agents become more and more prevalent in the world and operate in ever-more demanding settings, it is crucial that they learn how to effectively coordinate."
In addition to everything else, the agents struggled with a lack of clearly defined hierarchy, Anthropic points out. "Nothing above suggests that these failures are permanent — but nothing suggests they will fix themselves, either..." They argue a fix "takes two forms: environments that exert the kinds of social pressure that evolution exerted on us, and social computing systems redesigned for actors that can self-replicate and self-improve. These are open problems in interaction and mechanism design, and our experiments here provide early evidence that new solutions are necessary."
"The AI models being tested in this case were Sonnet 4.6, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.6, Opus 4.8, Mythos Preview, and Mythos 5," notes Business Insider, adding that Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6 "were the most combative, settling about 60% of their runs by force instead of truces or passivity."
Anthropic argues there's a clear case for researching this phenomenon — especially since "The volume of agent-agent interaction could plausibly exceed that of human-human and human-agent interactions before the world understands the conditions for making such interactions go well."
Exclusive: Campaigners say millions are missing out on key rights including sick pay and protection against unfair dismissal
Andy Burnham is being urged to protect 4 million gig economy workers by prosecuting companies that use widespread “bogus” self-employment practices to deny people their rights.
As the prime minister fleshes out his agenda, the Fabian Society and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have warned that millions of workers are missing out on key statutory rights including parental leave, redundancy pay and protection against unfair dismissal.
Mark Nelson released from immigration detention on bail after lawyers challenge decision to remove him
A Jamaican man who has lived more than half his life in the UK and was facing imminent deportation has been allowed to reunite with his British family after a legal challenge.
Mark Nelson, 47, came to the UK in 2000 and later set up his own car-mechanic business. He has five British children and a British partner. He faced deportation in 2022 after serving a four-year prison sentence for possession with intent to supply a class B drug, abstracting electricity and two offences of racially aggravated intentional harassment. He had not committed any further offences.
Another 10 people in serious condition after bus veers off motorway and overturns
Twelve people have died after a bus carrying a group of Polish tourists overturned on the M3 motorway in Hungary on the way back from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Local police said the bus crashed near the town of Mezőkeresztes after it “went off the straight road into a ditch and overturned” at 1am local time. Early reports suggested the driver had probably fallen asleep. He survived the crash and was taken into custody.
Legislation requiring disclosure of chemicals in diapers passed assembly and will go before state senate soon
New California legislation would require manufacturers to disclose the “mystery cocktail” of toxic chemicals used in disposable diapers.
Diapers often contain among the most toxic substances – phthalates, lead, Pfas, quats, arsenic, a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and “fragrance”, which can include any number of 1,200 compounds thought to be hazardous to human health.
Sony Pictures in July announced that the celebrated theater, built in 1963 and shuttered during Covid, will reopen in 2028
Drive down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and you’ll see a movie theater straight out of The Jetsons.
Built in 1963, the Cinerama dome is instantly memorable: a white,geodesic construction that looks like a giant golf ball cut in half and plopped down in the middle of the city.
Law was set to go into effect in January, months before cyclosporiasis outbreak, but now is set for 2028
Congress passed a law to help federal agencies investigate outbreaks of foodborne illness – a regulation experts said could have stopped the US’s largest cyclosporiasis outbreak much sooner.
The only problem? The rule has been delayed – for 15 years, including most recently amid lobbying in 2025.
Danny Monteverde had been protesting the closure of a courtroom during indictment of state attorney general
The “outrageous” handcuffing of a New Orleans journalist covering the indictment in July of Louisiana’s attorney general – a case that ultimately was dismissed – conveyed “a chilling message to members of the press and the public” for which there is no excuse, according to a prominent media rights advocacy organization.
An attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) made those assertions in a recent letter to the New Orleans criminal district courthouse where deputies temporarily detained WWL Louisiana investigative producer Danny Monteverde and outlet lawyer Elana Beiser in the course of their duties in early July.
The Guardian travelled 100 miles along the EU’s longest river, where some residents are struggling to secure drinking water
For centuries, the rock was seen as a warning. When it began to emerge from the Danube, beneath Gellért Hill in Budapest, it meant the river had fallen so low that floating mills could no longer operate, crops were probably failing, and hunger would almost certainly follow. That is why, in the Hungarian capital, where over time the boulder became little more than a legend, it was named Ínség-szikla – the Rock of Starvation.
Today, amid record-low water levels on the Danube, the rock has not only emerged from the water, but surfaced almost in its entirety, along with the sandy riverbed on which it rests, astonishing geologists and government scientists sent to examine it. And, much as the rock was said to warn, Hungary is now facing an unprecedented energy crisis that has forced the country to shut down all but one of its Danube-cooled nuclear reactors for the first time in 44 years.
Housing secretary says developers will have to prove there is no way to save pub, as she prepares planning shake-up
All pubs will get protection from being turned into housing or offices under a shake-up of planning laws in England to be presented by Angela Rayner this week.
The housing secretary will publish a new national planning policy framework aimed at loosening planning laws even further to help build 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament.
‘Complete unraveling’ of Trump and Republican project reflects attitude of not caring at all about governance
He was always one step ahead. Donald Trump won the US presidency as a wildly unlikely outsider in 2016 and staged an astonishing comeback to win it again in 2024. Even his foes grudgingly called him a political savant with an intuition for exploiting grievances that left so-called experts floundering.
But now they are asking if the dark genius has lost his touch. Trump is trapped in the quagmire of an unpopular war, obsessing over monuments in Washington and looking for a new spokesperson after his White House press secretary quit. If the 80-year-old was deliberately trying to sabotage his Republican party in November’s midterm elections, it is not clear what he would do differently.
One US sailor’s mother asks: ‘My son signed up to serve his country. But why isn’t his country serving him?’
Naval families with loved ones deployed for months on US warships amid the Iran war have reacted with fury to Donald Trump and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismissal of their concerns about the extreme pressures and dire conditions they are enduring.
The Guardian has talked to three naval families who have been following the physical and mental stresses bearing down on their relatives with mounting alarm. The families, with loved ones on board the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli, all spoke anonymously for fear of retribution against their active duty relatives.
His gulag isn’t in a distant Soviet or banana republic. It’s about an hour and a half from Disneyland, in a small California town called Adelanto.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and detained Parias last October, the Los Angeles-based journalist will cross 300 days in ICE detention on Monday. His horrifying conditions aren’t unique among immigrant detainees, but Parias’s case is extraordinary. Perhaps no journalist has endured such a sustained sequence of violence, prosecution, and imprisonment at the hands of the U.S. government.
Parias long ago surpassed Wolf’s record for the longest known time a journalist had spent in U.S. custody.
He was already prolific on social media when the immigration enforcement surge began last summer. He worked independently as Richard Noticias LA, with over 100,000 followers on TikTok. He built that audience by chasing crime stories across California neighborhoods often overlooked by larger outlets. This time last year, the Los Angeles City Council presented him with a proclamation honoring his efforts.
Federal authorities say Parias is an undocumented immigrant who had previously evaded arrest. But their account does not explain a growing mountain of evidence.
Worms collected from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center’s drinking water after Ricardo Parias called attention to the conditions, photographed on Aug. 3, 2026.Photo: Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
On June 13, 2025, Parias arrived at an immigration raid in South LA ready to film as usual. According to witnesses, a federal agent ran into him with a vehicle. Parias was then handcuffed and left on a sidewalk while the agents continued their work. Videos show him crying out in pain and grasping at his injured leg. Agents never provided medical attention. Eventually, a Good Samaritan pulled up in a private vehicle and took Parias to the hospital. An agent briefly stopped them but let Parias leave — handcuffs still on.
Four months later, Parias was driving along a quiet block near downtown LA. Multiple unmarked vehicles pulled up around him, carrying masked men who turned out to be federal agents. Immediately and without warning, they smashed his window, as bodycam footage later showed. Panicked, Parias stepped on the accelerator — a meaningless move in a small car physically pinned by multiple large SUVs. Tires spun, the vehicles didn’t budge, and Parias quickly took his foot off the gas.
One agent struggled to open the passenger door. He fumbled with his gun, as his own bodycam showed, juggling it back and forth between his hands before shooting Parias in the elbow. A U.S. marshal was also hit and was expected to recover.
As federal immigration agents’ violence once again sent Parias to the hospital, the agents scurried into the security office of a nearby strip mall to check for surveillance footage. They downloaded it onto a thumb drive and deleted it from the mall’s system.
Prosecutors charged Parias with assault on a federal officer, offering a version of events that omitted critical context. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli fired off a social media post suggesting Parias had been trying to avoid deportation agents for months:
“This morning, Parias rammed his car into agents’ vehicles after they boxed him in and ordered him to submit to arrest. Parias, who had previously avoided capture by immigration authorities, refused to comply with agents’ orders and escalated what could have been a simple arrest into a life-threatening situation.”
Essayli’s post included a single screenshot from their lone copy of the mall’s footage. The full video would have painted a very different picture. He didn’t release it.
Evidence wasn’t the only thing withheld from Parias, who was discharged from the hospital days later while still on morphine. Taken directly into a federal criminal detention center in downtown Los Angeles, he was supposed to receive high doses of ibuprofen. Once in court for his initial criminal hearing, the judge learned he wasn’t being given the prescribed treatment for his gunshot wound. The pain caused Parias to twist in his chair. Flummoxed, the judge implored a U.S. marshal to expedite his return to a facility where he could be given medication. The marshal refused.
Moments later, Parias’s lawyer asked the judge if his client’s teenage son — who had not been allowed to communicate with his father since the shooting — could give him a hug. Citing security protocol, the marshal also vetoed this small act of humanity. As Parias was whisked away, his son shouted across the courtroom in Spanish, “te amo” (“I love you”).
Parias was eventually granted bond in his criminal case. But accepting it would have meant marshals turning him over to immigration authorities, who could immediately transfer him to their own distant facility with potentially worse care. He didn’t take the offer.
The government transferred him anyway. Adelanto is difficult to visit, hours from his lawyers and family in Los Angeles, not to mention the court itself. Prosecutors still hadn’t turned over the mall footage. But bystander videos began to undermine the government’s account. The judge ultimately threw out all criminal charges with prejudice, finding that the government had violated Parias’s constitutional rights.
The proceedings to deport Parias continue. For now, he’s stuck in Adelanto.
Even in detention, Parias remains a journalist. The government gave him a new beat. He began reporting on the horrid conditions that he and other detainees endure. Through video recorded by his visitors and accounts relayed to other reporters, Parias exposed the worm-like creatures in drinking water and cockroaches in cells.
His gunshot wound was being treated with vitamin D and Bengay. “What I saw looked like an arm that was on the verge of being amputated,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., who visited Parias at Adelanto in May. His situation inspired her to propose legislation addressing medical neglect in immigration facilities.
The government recently said it plans to ship him even farther away, to a facility in San Diego where he can receive medical care. The move will make it even harder for his family and lawyers to visit — and end his reporting on Adelanto’s rancid conditions.
Parias — and his reporting behind bars — is getting more media attention, but that coverage doesn’t always recognize how this all started because he was doing his job as a journalist.
America has imprisoned journalists before. It has even killed them. But what has happened to Parias is something different: A journalist was injured while documenting government power, shot during an attempt to arrest him, prosecuted, repeatedly denied medical care — and then left in immigration detention, where he has continued documenting the conditions around him.
The government’s powers to enforce immigration laws and prosecute crimes do not erase the First Amendment. Journalists don’t surrender their rights because they lack immigration status. And the government can’t make a journalist disappear simply by locking him in a cell.
At some point, the question stops being what else will happen to Parias. It becomes what America is willing to let happen to a journalist.
One of the Loco Beach Coconuts’ mascots, Peter Colada, interacts with a fan during the first Banana Ball game in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder.
The Texas Tailgaters and Loco Beach Coconuts of the Banana Ball Championship League played the first ever Banana Ball game in Delaware in front of a sold out crowd Thursday, August 13.
WILMINGTON, DE — “You’re going to see the most entertainment during a baseball game with tricks and being fans first [both] players and staff.”
That’s how Texas Tailgater Zach Watson said he’d sum up Banana Ball in a sentence to a new fan.
Watson got to meet with many new fans as Banana Ball took over Frawley Stadium, Thursday night, in the first ever Banana Ball game in Wilmington, Delaware. The game featured Watson’s team — the Texas Tailgaters — in a matchup against one of Banana Ball’s newest teams, the Loco Beach Coconuts.
Banana Ball isn’t a traditional baseball setting. For starters, the Coconuts were the home team but in this format they’re deemed the “headliners”. That’s because Banana Ball is geared to constantly entertain its fans with more than just the product on the field.
“I don’t think there’s ever a quiet moment,” Watson said.
Pregame
Fans lined up outside the front parking lot of Frawley Stadium around 3:00 p.m. waiting to enter the plaza area for the “rope drop” at 3:30. The plaza was themed in accordance with the weekend’s headliners. Beach themed signs, palm trees and surf boards transformed the parking lot into “Loco Beach”. The Coconuts’ players and staff greeted the fans under the Loco Beach Coconut themed archway and welcomed them into the plaza over three hours before the game was set to officially start.
The minute fans enter the plaza their Banana Ball experience begins.
Fans could check out the merchandise available for both teams at merchandise tents or grab free refresher samples at the Dunkin truck. Tropical Smoothie Cafe served smoothies out of a small tiki hut and a couple of food trucks were available for hungry patrons.
The real excitement of the plaza experience wasn’t any of that though. It was the players and cast members themselves.
The players spent over an hour outside meeting with fans, taking pictures and signing autographs. Each interaction was genuine. Players not only signed but had a conversation with each family or fan that approached. Cast members like the Hulagans and Loco Beach lifeguards did the same, creating an environment completely in line with the Banana Ball motto of “Fans First. Entertain Always.”
“Just going out there and making sure a fan has the best time of their life,” Watson said. “Even if it’s trying to influence one fan, hoping they’re having fun and introduce yourself and talk to them, so yeah, fans first.”
A member of the Hulagans poses for a picture while out in the plaza interacting with fans. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder.
The players eventually left the plaza area, but some fans didn’t even notice, because a pregame party was erupting on the stage to the right of the stadium. The official band of the Coconuts — Sitting on Saturn — ushered in the start of the Loco Beach Live Show — a portion of the pregame festivities.
The Band
Sitting on Saturn is a band from California that found their way to Banana Ball through a direct message from Banana Ball creator Jesse Cole.
“I guess he saw like one of our TikToks and listened to like our album and was like ‘I’m starting up a team called the Coconuts and I would love if you guys would be like, you know, play some music for us’ and I’m like, ‘dude I’m so down’,” said lead singer Hoyt Yeatman.
The three person band includes guitar players and singers Yeatman and Kyle Hart as well as drummer Trevor Smith.
Yeatman and Hart said the band was thrown right into the action performing their first show with the Coconuts at Petco Park — the home of the San Diego Padres — in March of this year, becoming the official band of the Coconuts. The band travels with the team, plays pregame and postgame shows and are a part of the action during the game whether that be playing a song on the field or in the stands.
“We can’t like see what the players are doing behind us so we’re just playing our, what we normally do, and yeah, they’re dancing and stuff and we normally [don’t] see it until we watch the video after,” Hart said.
“We’ll be playing a song or something and then they have like a dance that they’re doing with us and it’s like you got the whole team, like it’s just like when two worlds collide kind of. I don’t think it’s ever really been done honestly. It’s cool,” Yeatman said.
Sitting on Saturn performs during the pregame Loco Beach Live Show. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder
Yeatman and Hart said their experience in Banana Ball and playing live music in coordination with a live baseball game is still a little strange, but it’s an experience they’re thankful to be a part of.
“Honestly, it’s cool. We have like our own baseball card, Banana Ball card, and I’m like, I would never in a million years think that our band would have like a baseball trading card, but like here it is,” Yeatman said. “It’s so cool we’re very blessed, very fortunate.”
Game Time
The Loco Beach Live Show continued up until the gates to the field opened at 5:30 p.m. entertaining fans with the band’s music and interactive games coordinated by each team’s Banana Ball Host.
The entertainment didn’t stop once the fans entered the stadium.
Even as fans were finding their seats or grabbing concessions for the game there was a member of the Banana Ball cast interacting with a fan, hosting an activity or setting up for the next activity.
As fans entered the stadium, the excitement to see the actual on field product was palpable. First time viewers speculated on what they were about to witness while some fans that had seen clips or portions of Banana Ball before, speculated on what trick plays they’d get to see.
Once the clock hit 7:00 p.m. anticipation and speculation became reality.
Banana Ball is a fast-paced game that never lacks in action. Banana Ball rules like no mound visits, no bunting and no stepping out of the batter’s box keep the game moving to fit within the two hour time limit. The players on the field are always participating in something whether that be the game itself, cheering from outside the dugout or interacting with the audience from the field.
“I say to anybody that’s joining, it’s Crossfit baseball,” Watson said. “You got two hours of nonstop movement. You don’t sit down ever.”
Zach Watson turns toward second base after getting a hit against the Coconut pitcher. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder
Some normal baseball rules still apply. There are nine defenders, one batter in the box and the pitcher still initiates the play with a pitch. The bases are the standard distance and when a runner crosses home it still counts as a run scored, though that doesn’t mean the team is up one to nothing.
In Banana Ball, the goal is to get the most points. Points are earned by winning an inning. The team that scores the most runs in an inning earns the point, making each frame its own mini game. The final inning is more traditional where every run that crosses the plate counts as a point.
On Thursday, the Tailgaters won the game 6-3, earning a point with wins in the second, sixth and seventh innings. The Tailgaters also won the equalizer point awarded to the team with the most trick plays going into the final inning. The Tailgaters pulled off 14 trick play outs sending hitters back to the dugout with tag team catches and grabs with a cowboy hat.
The trick plays are an exciting feature to what is still a competitive baseball game at its core.
There is still plenty of entertainment to the product on the field. Players have creative walk-up dances, skits and antics during play. For example, after a hit by pitch the Coconuts recreated the scene of Jack and Rose from “Titanic” and during one at-bat Coconut player, Kaden Bowler, took an at-bat while riding a hoverboard designed to look like a surfboard. Those creative entertainment features add spectacle to what is a high level baseball game played by high level athletes.
“It’s a completely different game than what you see on TikTok,” Watson said. “You just see the dances and everything mostly on TikTok so when you actually come to a game you’re like dang these boys are actually, we’re actually playing baseball. You don’t expect that.”
Coconut Kaden Bowler glides to first on a hoverboard designed to look like a surfboard. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder.
Postgame
After the game is over there is still more to experience.
Players from both teams returned to the plaza to sign autographs and talk with fans. Sitting on Saturn played more music and the entertainment continued until about 9:30 p.m. when the venue closed. The postgame plaza party ends a Banana Ball experience that begins over three hours before a pitch is even thrown.
“I’m excited for these fans, if they have never been, to experience Banana Ball in a different way,” Watson told Delaware Live before the game.
The Tailgaters and Coconuts wrapped up their three game series in Delaware, Saturday night, with a 4-3 win from the Tailgaters giving them the 2-1 series win. The Tailgaters have already secured their spot in the Banana Ball Championship League postseason, but the Coconuts are still fighting to claim one of the three remaining spots.
Fans that want to keep track of the rest of the 2026 Banana Ball World Tour can check the Banana Ball website for upcoming events and ways to watch the games.
This story was updated on August 17 to include pictures from gameday.
An MP has called on ministers to change export controls so that significant fossils can be classed as national treasures after one of the UK’s best collections, unearthed on Dorset beaches, was sold overseas.
Last week, a Guardian investigation revealed that an unparalleled collection of fossils from the UK’s Jurassic Coast, comprising hundreds of specimens including ichthyosaurs, had been sold to the Natural History Museum in Abu Dhabi for what one source described as an “eight-figure sum”.
Molendotech will collate data from daily tests that detect E coli and other bacteria amid reports of swimmers falling ill
A UK university spinout behind a rapid bacterial water testing kit is planning to launch live water quality maps, as scores of beachgoers report falling ill after swimming.
Molendotech, a spinout from the University of Plymouth, sells a portable test that detects E coli and other bacteria in water and delivers results on the spot, without waiting for days to get laboratory results.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the former Ukrainian defense minister who is widely credited as the architect of the country's modern war-fighting strategy, told CBS News in an exclusive interview that he believes Ukraine is in a "technological war" with Russia.
Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, chained and locked the front doors of OpenAI’s headquarters last year with members of StopAI
An activist who blocked the entrance to one of the world’s biggest AI companies is believed to have become the first person jailed for protesting against artificial intelligence as supporters dub her the “Rosa Parks of AI risk”.
Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, surrendered herself on Friday to authorities in San Francisco. She was found guilty by a jury for her role in an action last year that saw members of the group StopAI chain and lock the front doors of OpenAI’s headquarters in protest against the pursuit of artificial superintelligence.
An anonymous reader shares this report from Space.com:
On Saturday evening (Aug. 15), SpaceX set another mark, for the shortest time between orbital flights: It launched two Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart, besting its old mark — set on Aug. 31, 2024 with two Starlink missions — by 27 minutes.
The first liftoff, from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, occurred Saturday at 9:12 p.m. EDT (0112 GMT on Aug. 16) and carried eight satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) for Louisiana-based telecom company Globalstar. All eight spacecraft were deployed successfully, separating over a six-minute span beginning 56.5 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX announced via social media. While that Falcon 9 was powering its way to low Earth orbit, another one launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, on California's central coast. That liftoff, at 9:50 p.m. EDT (6:50 p.m. local time; 0150 GMT on Aug. 16), kicked off a mission for the U.S. Space Force called USSF-366...
Both of Saturday's missions featured successful rocket landings. The Falcon 9 first stage that launched the Globalstar mission came back for a touchdown at Cape Canaveral about eight minutes after launch. It was the 14th flight for that particular booster. The USSF-366 Falcon 9 first stage, meanwhile, came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after its launch, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX droneship "Of Course I Still Love You." That booster now has 18 missions under its belt.
Saturday's doubleheader brought the tally of Falcon 9 launches in 2026 to 96. The vast majority of those — about 75% — have been Starlink missions.
Student unrest sweeps India, Portugal and Mexico as grievances and pressure for good grades in tough job market collide
Families with teenagers in education know the private, hidden pain of exam season. But this year, what might have been a summer of quiet family anxiety has erupted in several countries into public unrest.
Exam-related turmoil has led to mass student protests in Mexico after nearly 60,000 university applicants were forced to resit tests amid suspected cheating, while Portugal’s disastrous attempt to digitise school exam marking sparked the country’s worst education crisis in decades.
Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and develop
Jared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.
A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. “This might be one of the hardest truths our generation has to face,” he writes in his book, The Digital Delusion.
Four horses with little record of success suddenly won in the US. A seemingly coordinated betting operation across London did too – and now racing authorities want answers
To understand why horse racing on both sides of the pond has been gripped by the Fair Hill Five over the past week, start with a basic principle of betting: when two unlikely horses win in back-to-back races, a wager correctly picking both should pay off handsomely. Last Sunday at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park, it did not.
The sequence began with The Great Amira, a 17-1 longshot who went from finishing last in her previous two starts to winning wire to wire by nine and a half lengths. Her little-known trainer then won the very next race with Tepeyac, who went off at about 4-1, and the meager Daily Double payout for picking both outsiders suggested the exact combination had been unusually well backed. Later that afternoon, two more longshot winners emerged at Saratoga. They were among five runners with recent workouts at Maryland’s Fair Hill Training Center, the common link behind the name Fair Hill Five.
Ahead of Fat Bear Week, avid fans are glued to the spectacle of brown bears devouring salmon at Brooks Falls in Alaska
One of this summer’s biggest onscreen hits has had big beasts, great escapes and choppy waters, but it’s not Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey – it’s a livestream of Alaskan brown bears catching salmon.
The Brooks Falls bearcam at Katmai national park in the US was watched 7.3m times between 22 June and 4 August – up 70% from the same period last year and more than double the views it attracted in 2024.
Fraudsters use pictures posted on Instagram or Facebook to create emails seeking bank account details
You are on a short break in Porto and post some pictures of your family on Instagram or Facebook. With a small section of the Douro river in the background, you think it could have been taken anywhere.
A few days later, you get a text saying that your card was compromised. “We detected unusual activity while you were travelling in Porto – please verify immediately,” says the message.
Lauren Price identified as preferred next opponent
Claressa Shields completed a remarkable journey from heavyweight to middleweight on Sunday, stopping Australia’s Kaye Scott in the sixth round to capture the WBA and WBC titles.
The five-division world champion and double Olympic gold medalist dominated her outclassed opponent from the opening bell at State Farm Arena in Atlanta before dropping Scott in the sixth and overwhelming her against the ropes after the action resumed. With Scott unable to defend herself from another sustained barrage, the 42-year-old champion’s corner threw in the towel.
As chief US diplomat, Rubio could do great good. His pandering and neglect are a disgrace we shouldn’t ignore
Viewed from the state department in Washington DC, the world is on fire – but record heatwaves are not to blame. The unresolved Iran war has badly burned Donald Trump. His military campaign conclusively failed, energy and food prices are still rising, and a Republican rout in November’s midterm elections looms. Humiliatingly, Israel this week flatly rejected his latest Gaza peace proposals, days after Trump congratulated himself on a “historic breakthrough”. In Europe, Russia’s attacks on Nato allies grow increasingly brazen, threatening a wider escalation. The Ukraine war, which Trump vowed to end, is now well into its fifth year, with civilians on both sides caught in the killing fields. And these are just the bigger firestorms. There are plenty more.
Rarely has the need for effective, professional diplomacy been more pressing. So step forward Marco Rubio, US secretary of state and chief American diplomat. These are challenges that, if successfully tackled, could propel the 55-year-old son of Cuban immigrants and the former US senator for Florida into pole position in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination race. Here is a chance for Rubio to defy critics who dismiss him as a lickspittle and Trump dogsbody, and transform himself into respected global statesman. His boss mocked him as “little Marco” and a “loser” when they were election rivals in 2016. (Rubio called him a conman.) Now is Rubio’s opportunity to go big, be brave and prove he’s a winner.
Phys.org reports:
Future fusion power plants aim to recreate the heart of a star here on Earth to power our future energy needs. While the core fusion plasma will burn at hundreds of millions of degrees, the surrounding structural components must handle sudden, punishing heat loads that rival the extreme temperatures faced by spacecraft upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Copper and its alloys are primary candidates for handling these intense heat fluctuations, making it vital to understand exactly how the metal behaves when pushed to its melting point.
Now, researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and collaborators have captured a detailed, step-by-step look at copper atoms as they underwent extreme heating. Published in Nature Communications, the results revealed a key parameter that allowed copper's crystal lattice to melt steadily rather than collapse instantaneously, as earlier simulations predicted. "These results greatly improve the simulations we use to predict which materials have the best shot at surviving the extreme conditions of future fusion reaction chambers," said Mianzhen Mo, a SLAC staff scientist who led the research. "They also demonstrate the incredible, atomic-scale resolution imaging we can achieve at SLAC's electron camera...."
Researchers use computer simulations, aided by AI and machine learning, to sift through innumerable combinations of elements and identify promising candidate materials for real-world testing.
"Whether the copper melts slowly or suddenly collapses, by the time the researchers look, the sample resembles nothing more than a metallic brown puddle," the article points out. But SLAC's powerful electron camera captures atomic and molecular movements down to the femtosecond — a millionth of a billionth of a second — and revealed that at around 1,424 degreesC (2,595 degreesF) there was still gradual melting as the temperature rose beyond the superheating limit, with real-world conditions showing the atoms shifted and retained some order.
"It's a straightforward solution," said Mianzhen Mo, a SLAC staff scientist who led the research. "But molecular dynamics simulations had been overlooking it for years. When you have complex simulations attempting to capture every aspect of reality, down to individual atoms, it takes real-world data to show you what's missing from the calculations."
Discussions to focus on Australia’s acquisition of Mogami-class frigates as Japan plays down Albanese’s podcast comments
Japan’s defence minister will visit Canberra this week, the highest level engagement with Australia after controversy over Anthony Albanese’s comments about a gift of melons from prime minister Sanae Takaichi.
The defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, will meet his counterpart and deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, on Tuesday, with discussions focused on Australia’s acquisition of Japan’s Mogami-class frigates and enhanced security cooperation.
Searchers dig through collapsed buildings and debris after 7.7 magnitude quake killed at least 53 people
Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday as they searched for bodies and possible survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 53 people, injured more than 100 and displaced thousands.
At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the national disaster management agency said. Rescuers were still searching for people feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Douglass had first broken record with 23.49sec in heats
Kate Douglass lowered her own world record in the women’s 50m freestyle for the second time in one day, winning the Pan Pacific Championships final in 23.19sec.
In the morning preliminaries, the 24-year-old American swam 23.49 to take the mark away from teammate Gretchen Walsh, who finished second in the evening final in 23.74. Australia’s reigning world champion Meg Harris was third in 23.89.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Federal immigration agents infiltrated meetings of the Sunrise Movement and other progressive organizations for months during Minnesota’s immigration protests, even as internal reports acknowledged that some of the groups explicitly emphasized nonviolence.
Court records released Thursday show undercover Homeland Security Investigations agents attended Sunrise trainings, entered encrypted Signal chats and monitored demonstrations as part of investigations called “Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield.” Federal agents also obtained years of financial records involving Sunrise and several labor unions.
One particularly striking episode occurred during a Jan. 31 Sunrise training at a Minneapolis library. An undercover agent reported that organizers stressed “peaceful” protest and taught de-escalation techniques. According to a defense filing, the same agent later approached an organizer and offered to construct items that could assist more confrontational “direct-action” protests.
Defense attorney Kevin Riach argues that episode is evidence agents sometimes went beyond observation and attempted to steer activists toward potentially criminal conduct. That is an allegation by the defense, not a judicial finding.
The broader surveillance extended well beyond the 15 activists later indicted for allegedly obstructing federal officers. Government records identified 18 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America and Sunrise Movement, although those organizations themselves have not been charged with crimes.
DHS says Homeland Security Investigations operates only when there is lawful cause and declined to discuss ongoing investigative techniques.
Civil-liberties groups across the political spectrum have criticized the operation, warning that surveillance of lawful meetings and advocacy could discourage Americans from exercising First Amendment rights even when no criminal activity is involved.
An anonymous reader shared this report from TechCrunch:
X is significantly expanding its open source codebase, which includes the app's "For You" algorithm and its core ranking engine, and adding a feature that will let users see if their account or posts have been impacted by any of its ranking systems, the social network said on Thursday. The company is making the source code for the "For You" timeline, the default feed you see when you open the app, available on GitHub under the Apache v2 license. It's also expanding its previous efforts to open source parts of its codebase to add more detail, including the model configuration, filter, and core ranking system details. That means it includes the parameters used to weight different signals — key to understanding which posts are actually displayed. This also makes the codebase roughly 10 to 15 times larger than it was before.
"You'll get the core ranking code that pulls posts and ranks them for any given user and assembles the feed," X's VP of Product Keith Coleman told TechCrunch in an interview ahead of the announcement. "You can see the systems that filter out potentially problematic, rule-violating content...And some of those systems, like the ranker and the score, you can even run yourself outside the company."
"This is the kind of thing that I think people will be fairly shocked that we are releasing," he added.
In addition to the repository, X is providing tools that will let users see for themselves if and how X's ranking systems have impacted their account or posts. A new transparency tool is rolling out to an "Under the Hood" page in the app's settings, which will let users who have posted 10 or more times over the past month download their aggregate stats as a JSON file. The file will show if any labels have been applied to their account or posts over the past calendar month.
X's VP of Product told TechCrunch that X engineers will consider pull requests. "That would be amazing to have people submitting code that improves the algorithm...I mean, how cool would it be for the X algorithm to be not just visible to the public, but also, like, by the public?"
NEW YORK, New York — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Saturday that she has no regrets about publicly discussing her decision to freeze her eggs, arguing that the political scrutiny she has received reflects a broader double standard faced by women in public life.
“I was born a woman, period,” the New York Democrat said in videos posted to Instagram. “Any negativity or judgement that I would receive at any point is negativity that I would receive for being a woman, whether I shared this information or not. So I might as well help others.”
Ocasio-Cortez, 36, disclosed the procedure earlier this month, saying it gave her greater control over future decisions about having children. She has also acknowledged that discussing fertility publicly carries political risks as speculation grows about a possible 2028 presidential or Senate campaign.
She told followers that years of intense scrutiny since her first congressional primary victory at age 28 had made her more resilient to criticism, while arguing that male politicians generally are not subjected to the same level of attention over family planning.
Her announcement has prompted criticism and mockery from some conservative commentators, although it has also drawn attention to the practical and financial realities of egg freezing. Reuters reported Friday that the procedure can cost thousands of dollars upfront, plus recurring storage fees.
Ocasio-Cortez has said she wanted to normalize conversations about reproductive choices and the tradeoffs women face between careers and family planning.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump spent part of Saturday posting AI-generated images of himself alongside George Washington while again teasing the idea of winning another presidential election in 2028, despite the Constitution barring him from being elected to a third term.
Trump first posted an AI image depicting himself and Washington signing documents with feather pens, followed minutes later by another showing the two presidents riding horses together. Between those posts, Trump shared a black-and-white image of himself wearing a “Trump 2028” hat with the caption, “We are going to win.”
The 2028 suggestion continues a recurring bit of political trolling from Trump, although he recently acknowledged the legal obstacle himself. Asked last week about another campaign, Trump said, “I’d love to run, but the law is very strong.”
That law is the 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four presidential victories. Its text states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” directly preventing Trump from simply seeking and winning another presidential term.
Trump has repeatedly floated third-term scenarios, sold “Trump 2028” merchandise and displayed similar hats while insisting at other times that he understands the constitutional limitation.
Saturday’s posts appear to continue that pattern rather than announce an actual campaign. Still, the president’s repeated promotion of a constitutionally prohibited third election has kept speculation alive among supporters and critics while Republicans increasingly begin looking toward potential successors for 2028.
Dr. Steven Milner, a well-respected Oregon veterinarian, was accused of stalking and disguising himself before murdering Kenny Fandrich — the husband of a former employee. Security cameras played a key role in how detectives pieced the case together.
National Weather Service reports that more than 11in of rain fell over a two-day period in some areas
At least five people are dead after devastating floods that swept through Indiana this week, officials said, as storms continued to batter the state on Saturday and first responders used boats to rescue more people from rising waters in neighborhoods along the White River in Indianapolis.
The mayor of Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, and other state officials implored residents in areas at risk of flooding to heed any evacuation warnings at a news conference.
Europe is facing its fifth round of dangerously high temperatures this summer, the New York Times reports. Now climate scientists wonder if global warming is doing more than raise temperatures...
The weather patterns that create heat domes aren't new, but today they arise on top of the warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. That makes it more likely that heat waves reach record-shattering temperatures for long stretches. But other environmental changes — natural, human-influenced or both — might also be causing heat domes to become more frequent and longer lasting. And it's these changes that scientists around the globe are trying to puzzle out.
One change has to do with the Arctic. The differences in temperature between the hot Equator and the frigid far north help keep weather moving around the Northern Hemisphere. But with the top of the world now warming at several times the pace of the rest of the globe, those temperature gradients are narrowing. That might be causing the movements of weather systems to become more sluggish, producing more persistent heat waves. In Europe, reduced air pollution could be having a similar effect. Industrial emissions can contain particles called aerosols that reflect sunlight. Curbing aerosols has improved air quality, but it may also have altered the way air moves across the continent.
Scientists haven't come to firm conclusions about how these shifts might be affecting European summers, said Antje Weisheimer, a climate scientist at the University of Oxford. The complex, fine-scale interactions in the atmosphere that drive weather dynamics are tough to capture in computer simulations, Dr. Weisheimer said. "It's tricky," she said. "We're making small progress."
Dim Coumou, a professor of climate science at the Dutch university VU Amsterdam, sees artificial intelligence as one way forward. In a recent study, he and his colleagues used an A.I. algorithm to help a weather model better predict summer temperatures in Europe. They not only improved the model's forecasts; they also discovered why some of the model's predictions had been off: It misrepresented the way conditions in the western Pacific Ocean influenced atmospheric patterns that eventually made their way to Europe. With A.I., "we can also learn what the climate models are missing," Dr. Coumou said.
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said he called President Trump and asked him to suspend tariffs currently targeting the South American nation.
Organizers in Minneapolis long suspected they were being surveilled by the federal government during the height of the winter protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was not until a court filing on Thursday, however, that the youth-led Sunrise Movement and other groups learned the depths of infiltration.
The Sunrise Movement has long preached nonviolence even as it pursues aggressive tactics, such as making a racket outside of the hotels where ICE agents sleep.
But the group’s public commitment to peaceful protest did not spare it from a months-long, aggressive campaign of government snooping that included ICE agents attending its meetings and protests undercover, subpoenas of its financial records, and at least one apparent attempt to entice an organizer into backing more confrontational tactics.
Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay said in an interview Thursday that the government’s tactics are a sign that the Trump administration is losing the battle for public opinion.
“What this is meant to do is scare protesters and scare people away from joining protest groups,” she said. “It is very essential that we remember that actually what we are doing is incredibly normal, it is incredibly popular, and we cannot let ourselves be scared out of organizing.”
Operation Puppet Master
The revelations about the tactics ICE used against Sunrise, along with a wide variety of labor unions and protest groups, came in a court filing from a defense attorney for one of 15 Minnesota activists charged in June for trying to stop the federal government’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti on January 24, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations opened two investigations it called “Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield,” the latter a reference to the federal building that was the site of many ICE protests.
Supposedly, those probes would focus on a network supporting “violent opportunists and agitators.” In reality, the investigative reports that the federal government has turned over to defense attorneys show that undercover ICE agents secretly recorded at churches, libraries, and schools even when organizers stressed the importance of nonviolence.
In the case of Sunrise, undercover agents were already targeting the group before the killings of Pretti and Renee Good.
Sunrise is a national organization with a Twin Cities chapter. Long known for its aggressive climate advocacy, the youth-led group pivoted just before the start of the federal government’s crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota to fighting the Trump administration’s authoritarianism.
One of the group’s most famous early acts was occupying then-Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office in support of the Green New Deal. It brought that same energy to the protests in Minneapolis, playing a key role in the nighttime noise protests targeting hotels in the Twin Cities that were allegedly hosting ICE agents. But it has always counseled its supporters to remain peaceful, Shiney-Ajay said.
“We are a strictly nonviolent movement. We make that very clear in almost every training we run, in all the meetings we run,” she said.
Yet almost as soon as Operation Metro Surge started, ICE agents were attending Sunrise trainings on the sly.
Undercover agents attended a “How to stop ICE” training that Sunrise hosted at a church on December 13. By December 22, an undercover agent had been added to the Signal group for planning one of Sunrise’s hotel protests. On January 9, two undercover agents attended a noise demonstration outside a Hilton Hotel, noting that a member of the crowd set off fireworks at one point.
The killing of Pretti — and the ensuing nationwide backlash against ICE — appears to have done nothing to slow the investigation. One week after Pretti’s slaying, two undercover agents attended a Sunrise Movement Twin Cities training on “resistance skills” hosted at a public library.
The meeting included primers on deescalation at protests, and the ICE agent noted that it was “made clear that the Sunrise Movement organization focused on ‘peaceful’ protests.”
That did not stop the undercover agent from making a private approach to one of the organizers, according to a report the agent produced. The agent told the organizer that he worked in construction and “could build items that might assist other groups with more ‘direct-action’ protests.” When the undercover agent declared that “going to jail did not bother him,” the organizer “acknowledged” the agent’s comments and took down his phone number, according to the report.
Kevin Riach, the attorney representing one of the defendants in the indictment targeting Minneapolis activists, said in a court filing this week that that report was one of several showing that ICE’s undercover agents “actively participated in organizing and directing the groups they were surveilling, at times working to entice people into discussing or committing crimes.”
By the start of March, the federal government had scaled down its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis — but it was continuing to investigate groups such as Sunrise.
On March 9, ICE sent a subpoena to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the nonprofit’s wire transactions dating back to January 1, 2023, long before Trump was even elected to his second term. That same date, ICE also sent a subpoena to the Clearing House, a private wire transfer company, for years of financial records from Sunrise and several labor unions.
The Sunrise Movement was never given notice of those subpoenas or an opportunity to contest them, Shiney-Ajay said.
Training for This Moment
None of the activists who were eventually charged in a June 16 indictment were members of the Sunrise Movement, Shiney-Ajay said.
ICE declined to offer an explanation for why it investigated Sunrise and the other groups.
“HSI investigates individuals and organizations when there is just and legal cause to do so and within the scope of its legal authorities. To preserve the integrity of our work and protect law enforcement sensitivities, we do not comment on ongoing investigations, investigative tactics, or procedures,” an agency spokesperson said.
“It will likely make many Americans think twice before joining a protest, attending a meeting, donating to an advocacy organization, or speaking out at all.”
While it had never been confirmed that ICE was closely studying the Sunrise Movement before this week, Shiney-Ajay said it had long been treated as a possibility. The group was specifically concerned that federal agents might act as provocateurs at protests.
“We put a lot of work into training de-escalation and safety leads at all of our protests,” she said. “I certainly think that that was a worthwhile investment, reading these things now.”
She said it was “telling” that the investigation was led by the Department of Homeland Security rather than the FBI, which might be constrained by more “rules and regulations.”
The revelation of the widespread ICE probe has already sparked another backlash.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which has received funding from conservative and libertarian donors, said it found the investigation disturbing.
“Some activists have violated federal law, and the government is entirely justified in investigating and prosecuting them. But criminal conduct by some members of a movement does not justify government surveillance and investigation of anyone who shares their broader political goals. That type of aggressive scrutiny chills protected speech and association. It will likely make many Americans think twice before joining a protest, attending a meeting, donating to an advocacy organization, or speaking out at all,” said Aaron Terr, the group’s director of public advocacy.
On Thursday, a coalition of dozens of Minnesota groups promised that that they would not be cowed.
“We know the truth, and we will not be intimidated,” the groups said. “When self-serving politicians are losing, they lie and attempt political repression, trying to silence the voices of those who bravely stand up to them. Minnesotans will not be intimidated or divided by sham accusations or investigations of some of the countless groups and community members who organized, acted, and stood up together to protect their neighbors during Operation Metro Surge.”
A "massive influx" of jellyfish forced Electricite de France SA to shut three units at its Gravelines nuclear power plant this week and reduce output at a fourth, reports Bloomberg. Just as summer temperatures surged, 3.2 gigawatts went offline — and the power utility was already facing cuts other nuclear sites as high temperatures reduced the river water available for cooling.
More details from ScienceAlert:
As Politico reports, the Gravelines nuclear power plant spent hundreds of thousands of euros in 2025 to stop this happening again, only to see a repeat 12 months later... Increasing temperatures in the water can produce more of the plankton and animals that jellyfish feed on, as well as accelerating life cycles and extending breeding seasons....
It's not just jellyfish that have a habit of disrupting human energy infrastructure. Last year in Connecticut, a single raccoon caused more than a thousand power outages, as reported by CT Insider. It's not clear exactly what the raccoon did, but we do know it somehow got into a substation and caused damage to the equipment in there. The unwitting act of sabotage left more than 2,500 customers in the area without power at one stage — though repairs were swiftly carried out.
Reuters reported Tuesday on how the French utility responded to their jellyfish swarm:
EDF has installed fixed cameras at the intake canals and on the filter drum screens to detect any incoming blockages as soon as possible, an engineer told Reuters... The company has also partnered with a French fishing organisation and a sea rescue organisation, which monitor for swarms and can raise an alert to launch targeted trawling operations by fishermen to reduce the swarm's density before it reaches the plant, the engineer said. The fishing boats were deployed [last] Saturday after an initial alarm was raised, limiting the impact from the swarm. The jellyfish that are already on site are being removed with vacuum trucks, he said. No new jellyfish are arriving, so cleanup is finishing, which should lead to a quick restart of the units, they added...
Scientists warn such events could become more common due to factors including global warming, the arrival of invasive species, habitat loss of predators and over-fishing.
Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the news.
I’ve been looking in to Onewheels lately and I’m wondering which board is safer for me. I am a snowboarder, but not a great one. I’m only conquering the green hills as of last winter in Minnesota. Some people say that the GT is the safest with the biggest foot stands, but the XR is more enjoyable.
I’d love to hear some recommendations, I just want to get something that works similar to snowboarding this upcoming fall
US president credits himself with lowest drug prices in 60 years, when article says drop is more likely due to Biden
The White House flooded social media on Saturday with an image of Donald Trump showing off the recent Washington Post headline “Prescription drug prices record sharpest drop in more than 60 years”, but failed to mention that experts cited in the article actually attributed the price drop to Joe Biden, not Trump.
On its official accounts, the White House triumphantly captioned the photograph of Trump: “POV: you bring the receipts.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, also shared it.
MORENCI — Morenci enters the 2026 football season with experience at several important positions, but the Wildcats must replace most of the production that carried them to seven victories and the second round of the Class 2A state playoffs last…
apparently old fw had voltage thresholds set per pack and new fw is per cells
so old configs are gonna need those changed, just hit default for both, write and ride
The death of Jason Arday, 41, came a little more than a week after he resigned from his post at the university amid accusations of plagiarism that ignited a culture-war firestorm.
23-year-old hits home run on first pitch in majors
Báez drives in five during 8-4 victory over Cubs
Rookie was called up from Triple-A earlier in day
Joshua Báez became the first player to hit three home runs in his first three at-bats in the major leagues, leading the St Louis Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
The 23-year-old left fielder, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, hit the first pitch he saw into the Wrigley Field bleachers, then homered in his next two at-bats. He also drove in five runs.
Less than a year ago he was the #1 richest man in the world. 10 weeks ago he was #2. But yesterday Larry Ellison dropped to #8, Forbes reports, falling behind Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Ellison's net worth is now estimated at just $192.6 billion — after a $104 billion decline:
Shares of Oracle plunged roughly 54% between hitting a high of just over $250 on June 1 to a low of $114.50 on July 28, though the stock rebounded slightly to $150.52 as of Friday.
A decline followed Oracle telling investors it expected to raise $40 billion through debt and equity financing, with capital expenditures surging 162% to $55.7 billion and spending expected to top $95 billion by fiscal 2027. Jacob Bourne, an analyst at eMarketer, told Reuters there are broader concerns about how Oracle would fund its capital spending to match its revenue projections, and Bank of America analysts separately flagged in a note cautioning that more than 50% of Oracle's remaining performance obligation comes from OpenAI. Melius Research analysts wrote last month that Oracle's spending plans may not hold if OpenAI or Anthropic demands more computing capacity. S&P Global also downgraded Oracle's credit rating in July, arguing the firm's "rapidly expanding" AI infrastructure business could pay off, but may be too expensive and could weaken Oracle's financial position in the meantime.
$443 billion. That's how much Oracle's market valuation has dropped since peaking at $877.1 billion in September, hitting $433.5 billion as of Friday... Oracle, once viewed as a potential winner of the booming AI infrastructure buildout, has since raised concerns among investors who appear to view the firm as taking on too much financial risk to fund its projects. Wall Street has cautioned that mega-cap tech firms may be taking on too much spending to match growing demand for AI products, with firms like Amazon expecting to spend more than $200 billion. Oracle's backlog has exploded to $638 billion, but more than half is reportedly associated with OpenAI, and some analysts have cautioned that most of those funds may not be guaranteed.
South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary will take place on Jan. 22, 2028. Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia will also hold early Democratic nominating contests.
Police say Larry Montes struck a woman and a security guard after he disrupted Shabbat services
A New York City man is facing hate crime charges after police say he assaulted a woman and a security team member while disrupting Shabbat services at Central Synagogue in Manhattan – all in plain view of a live stream.
The New York police department identified the suspect in the case as Larry Montes, 46, who was arrested after the episode at the synagogue. Montes was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, along with other alleged violations, police said.
Recently got a non working xr and didn't know the issue but got it for a steal so I bit the bullet. Right now I'm tearing it apart but before that I connected to it to see the diagnostics. Not sure what these should look like but I think there is something up the motor and battery as it says the battery is at 100% but the voltage doesn't agree with that. Also a bunch of electrical tape on the wire from the controller board to the motor so I have a feeling I'll find something there. If any one has any thoughts please share as I continue to tear this thing apart.
Eighteen children among the people killed after ferry capsized on Lake Kariba
Twenty-two more bodies have been recovered after a boat accident in Zimbabwe, taking the death toll to 68, police said on Saturday.
The ferry capsized on Tuesday on Lake Kariba, on the border with Zambia. An investigation has suggested it was overloaded when it turned over during heavy winds.
The traditional golf trip has never been particularly complicated. Play as much golf as possible, eat, sleep and do it again the next morning. But as more women take up the game, the itinerary is getting a lot more interesting.
"An engineering director at Google said four years ago that AI would deliver a four-day work week by 2025," remembers the BBC. And earlier this year OpenAI "formally urged companies to start testing out a four-day work week (with no change in pay), claiming that AI will soon be able to speed up so much human labour that the corporate world should prepare itself."
However, a former OpenAI technical employee who left the company last year told the BBC the firm never actually trialled the four-day work week it suggested others should try while they were there. Instead, the person described what was often a gruelling work culture marked by frequent "crisis meetings", working on weekends, and "super cut-throat" performance reviews that would see colleagues suddenly let go... [T]he former OpenAI employee said they would put in at least 70 hours a week, much more than they did in previous tech jobs...
Other companies have also pushed the idea that AI will effectively reduce the number of hours people need to work, for better or worse. [At OpenAI and Anthropic] sprints can stretch on for many weeks and top 90 hours of work in a seven-day period, tech workers that the BBC spoke to for this story said... At Meta, workers said they have been abruptly pushed onto teams this year doing AI work being treated as urgent... The hours on such teams at Meta are often long, with staff working into the night, on weekends, and feeling they are "on call" during the hours they are not working, according to descriptions of the work from the current and former employees...
Some new research suggests that AI tools are making people's workloads even more burdensome. A study out of UC Berkeley followed hundreds of workers at a US tech company for eight months as they used AI. It found the employees "worked at a faster pace, took on a broader scope of tasks, and extended work into more hours of the day"... The UC Berkeley research found that the workload of tech employees was expanded in part because of the need to constantly check the output of AI tools.
In the article Neil Thompson, an innovation scholar at MIT, pointed out a problem with estimates that AI will ease the workload on humans. "People assume that 20% less work means four-day weeks. But new work emerges."
The BBC also points out helpfully that "there are no limits in the U.S. on how many hours a person over the age of 16 can work." (While in the UK and Europe, "laws limit a working week to 48 hours, including overtime.")
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader hadleyburg for sharing the article.
Scared to plug in board cause I think the charger is toast and I don’t want it to mess up the battery. if anyone has a solution or charger they are willing to depart with please let me know.
Fans line streets, singing Total Eclipse of the Heart ahead of Welsh singer’s Swansea funeral
Thousands of Bonnie Tyler fans lined the streets of her home town in south Wales to pay respects to the singer as her coffin was brought back to her former home.
The singer, whose real name was Gaynor Sullivan, died unexpectedly on 8 July in Portugal at the age of 75.
Zootopia 3, Coco 2, Percy Jackson season 3, Ice Age 6, live-action Rapunzel, Bluey and a Kingdom Hearts series were some of the major announcements out of Disney’s big event.
Border security tightened after social media posts call for another mass crossing into Spain’s north African territory
Moroccan police have arrested 111 people as they tried to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides after social media posts called for another mass crossing.
The attempted crossing on Saturday came two weeks after more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta, causing tensions within the EU and prompting anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide. At least 96 people died trying to reach European soil.
SEATTLE, Washington — A divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Trump administration may continue pursuing a Justice Department subpoena against a provider of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, reversing a lower court that found the investigation improperly motivated.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that President Donald Trump’s broader goal of restricting gender-affirming care does not by itself establish that the Justice Department acted in bad faith when it subpoenaed Washington-based telemedicine provider QueerDoc.
The subpoena seeks personnel and billing records, communications with pharmaceutical companies and information concerning patients prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy. The Justice Department says it is investigating potential healthcare fraud and misleading claims about treatment.
Judge Carlos Bea, joined by Judge Daniel Bress, wrote that presidents routinely set law-enforcement priorities consistent with their policy agendas. The majority also described evidence surrounding the effectiveness and long-term risks of some gender-affirming treatments for minors as disputed. Judge Richard Paez dissented, arguing the record supported concerns that the investigation was intended to pressure providers into stopping lawful care.
The ruling does not require QueerDoc to immediately surrender all requested records. Instead, the case returns to the district court, where the provider can continue arguing that the subpoena is overly broad, burdensome or improperly threatens patient privacy.
The decision is significant because several federal judges have blocked similar Trump administration subpoenas, while Friday’s ruling is the first federal appellate decision supporting the government’s effort.
It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%."
Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses...
Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase.
"A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article.
But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs."
Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article.
Just got an old Onewheel pint out of storage that was sitting for about 6 to 8 months completely dead went to go recharge it up with a new aftermarket charger and chi battery and the temperature went up to 140°f after 30 mins. Just need some advice and general things to watch for
"The European Union's Copernicus climate monitoring service confirmed Monday that June and July were the hottest on record in western Europe," .according to a report from the CBC. "The period saw an estimated 25,000 heat-related deaths."
CNN has before-and-after photos of Europe's dried rivers, calling it "a crisis so dire it can be seen from space"
River levels are so low that commercial ships have had to reduce their loads by as much as 80% to avoid running aground. It's disrupting supply chains and making shipping more expensive.
Other effects of Europe's drying rivers
The BBC reports that Romania has "shut down its only nuclear power station because of extremely low water levels in the Danube river."
A bridge built in the year 39 AD by the Roman emperor Caligula "is usually entirely underwater," reports CNN, but this year full blocks of the ancient structure are visible, giving archaeologists a rare opportunity to study it." The reports adds that drying Tiber has also now also revealed formerly submerged e-bikes, scooters, refrigerators and a car."
The CBC reports a dozen Nazi warships scuttled in a river during the Second World War are now resurfacing as water levels plunge. "Elsewhere, the drying Danube has revealed a German military motorcycle in Hungary, an unexploded 700-kilogram British bomb in Slovakia, and what are believed to be the ancient remains of a mammoth in Bulgaria."
About1.6m dozen eggs from Texas recalled amid one of the largest recorded foodborne illness outbreaks in US history
A massive egg recall affecting nearly 1.6m dozen eggs has been elevated to the US Food and Drug Administration’s highest-risk warning as officials investigate a salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 100 people.
The FDA on 12 August reclassified the recall of nearly 1.6m dozen white and brown cage-free eggs over concerns they may be contaminated with salmonella.
This week Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a 6,500 word open letter titled "The Future is for Everyone".
But the BBC is more interested in why big tech executives keep writing manifestos about AI:
[Zuckerberg's] vision echoes what AI leaders have expressed in various forms: the product they are building is among the "most important technologies in history." Marc Andreessen, co-founder of early web titan Netscape, perhaps started this trend in 2023 with a 5,000-word essay he called "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto", which argued innovation was the way to solve life's problems...
As the International Monetary Fund warns AI could affect nearly 40% of jobs and worsen global financial inequality, Zuckerberg says he believes there will be an abundance of jobs in the future. "I do not understand why anyone who believes that AI will eliminate most jobs and much of humanity's relevance would rush to build that future." Never mind that Zuckerberg's Meta has cut 10% of its global workforce — about 8,000 jobs — as the company reorganizes to focus on AI.
Zuckerberg's manifesto is the latest to land in our social media feeds in an effort to put a positive spin on AI. In 2024, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI boss Sam Altman released a manifesto called "The Intelligence Age", a sweeping expression of optimism about the tech's potential... That same year, in a manifesto titled "Machines of Loving Grace", Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei touted the potential of AI to transform everything from healthcare to politics.
So what's going on with these tech executives' manifestos? Economics blogger Noah Smith suggested to the BBC "they all feel like it's such an important moment that it's incumbent upon them to do whatever they can to shape the direction that this technology is going." Although he does see some value in their engagement with important issues. "Should we open-source something that has the ability to kill humanity? If you don't take that seriously, you're just a fool."
But Rob Lalka, a business professor at Tulane University, had a different explanation for the BBC:
Lalka said the timing of Zuckerberg's manifesto coincides with rising anger over AI's impact on everything from jobs to the environment.
And while tech journalists and academics might pore over them trying to glean nuggets of meaning, these executive manifestos are not necessarily landing with the general public. "They're trying to make the case that the positives will far outweigh some of those negatives that the public backlash is pointing out," he said. "But I think a lot of the reasons for optimism are still yet to be seen."
More than 100 homes on the inherited royal estates of King Charles and Prince William fail to meet the legal minimum energy standards for landlords, the Guardian can reveal.
An analysis of a large sample of domestic lets on the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the Sandringham estate found that one in five have Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of F or G.
Many complained online that piercingly loud tone was ‘overreach’ while others lamented lack of action on decarbonisation
On Friday at 7pm, Thérèse Coffey was nine miles away from a nuclear power station when her phone made a loud, piercing and very worrying sound: it was a “severe” emergency alert. “Was expecting [a] much more specific alert, not a generic message on wildfires,” the former Conservative cabinet minister said on X.
She wasn’t alone in being alarmed by the alarm sent to phones in England and Wales. In the aftermath, thousands of social media users expressed their shock at alert. Some shared funny memes and others lamented what they viewed as lack of government action on decarbonisation. Academic John Ritzema called it a “massive overreach” and said the alert system should be “be for ‘drop everything and prepare for something terrible’ situations”, something Coffey echoed, saying alerts should not become commonplace to avoid “Peter cries wolf situations”.
Quake struck Flores region early on Saturday, prompting thousands to seek higher ground for fear of a tsunami
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia has killed at least 47people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly seismic events.
Rescuers have yet to reach Nagekeo, the area closest to the epicentre, because roads were blocked by landslides and communications disrupted.
A deadly temblor devastated Armenia in 1999, spurring a reconstruction that allowed the city to build back stronger. When disaster struck this time, it was prepared.
Former VP sent fundraising appeal for Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign – with half of donations going to Harris’s organization
Alaska US Senate candidate Mary Peltola has rejected the support of Kamala Harris, her fellow Democrat, after the 2024 presidential candidate sent out a seemingly unsolicited fundraising appeal on Peltola’s behalf.
Harris, who lost Alaska – typically a Republican-voting state – by 13 points during her unsuccessful White House run, on Wednesday sent an email from her political organization to supporters of Peltola, a former US House member.
joshuark shares a report from Ars Technica: Dutch officials have warned that a high-severity macOS vulnerability that allows attackers to execute malicious code is under active exploitation. "The NCSC has received a notification indicating that active abuse of this vulnerability has been observed on multiple systems on which port 5900 was accessible from the Internet," the Netherlands National Cyber Security Centrum warned earlier this week. "In all these cases, root had been accessed on the affected system and a Monero crypto miner had been placed."
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-65400, received a patch from Apple last week for macOS Tahoe, Sequoia, and Sonoma. The vulnerability, with a severity rating of 7.1 out of 10, stems from a bug in the macOS screen sharing capability, which allows a remote party to view the screen and control the keyboard and mouse while a machine is turned on. A flaw in the "state management," which keeps track of preceding events, user interactions, variables, and other system states, is the underlying cause. A video of the exploit in action can be found here. Details of CVE-2026-65400 became public at last week's Black Hat security conference. Apple said last week that CVE-2026-65400 "may" allow an attacker without credentials to gain access to a Mac. It's unclear why Apple hedged, but softening language is common among most tech developers when disclosing vulnerabilities.
As noted by the NCSC, the vulnerability is being exploited when port 5900 is exposed to the Internet. When screen sharing is turned on, the macOS firewall opens the port. Routers and dedicated firewalls generally block the port unless configured to override that setting. Security practitioners generally advise Mac users to keep the port closed even when using screen sharing and to instead connect over a VPN or through SSH tunneling. The alternatives require actions that aren't within the capabilities of most users. The safest practice is to block screen sharing, enable it only when screen sharing is needed, and to turn the feature off once a session has ended. Screen sharing can be turned on or off by accessing System Settings > General > Sharing and toggling the switch for Screen Sharing. Of course, installing last week's security update is also a must. Sharing is not caring.
Heathrow says airport operating as normal after passengers told not to travel by road and use rail and tube instead
Disruptions caused by flooding from a burst water main on a ring road at Heathrow airport restricted access to Terminals 2 and 3 on Saturday morning. The leak has been contained and the affected areas are operating as normal.
Water in the central terminal area prevented anyone trying to travel by road to or from Terminals 2 and 3. Passengers had to travel by rail and tube instead. Access to the carparks was also impeded, leaving people with parked cars unable to access them.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis faces trial on Monday over rap star’s death that marked notorious chapter in hip-hop’s history
In September 1996, rap star Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas strip, succumbing days later to his injuries. His killing, which remained unsolved for decades, gave rise to fervent conspiracy theories and conjecture.
Thirty years later, one man is facing trial for the ambush: Duane “Keffe D” Davis.
(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump touted his record on crime and public safety during a visit to New York on Friday, which was also aimed at boosting Republican candidates in tightly contested races ahead of the midterms.
Hello. I picked up this GT with 920 miles on it with the original tire and plan to use it primarily on kind of rough dirt roads. The seller had the PSI set at 30 which made the test ride very sketchy! I’ve dropped it down to 18 and it feels much better. Wondering what kind of life i can expect with the remaining tread. The red circle shows the sidewall sticking up a little higher than the other side. I’m guessing this is just uneven wear. What tires should I look into as a replacement? I see tons of options for replacement tires (float life, onewheel official, etc) and it’s all new to me. Appreciate any suggestions.
Alex McKee died when picking up showerhead in ‘outdoor and rudimentary’ bathroom on Kimolos
The death of an Irish teenager, electrocuted while taking a shower in a holiday home in Greece, has led to calls for tighter checks on appliances at tourist accommodation.
Alex McKee, 17, is said to have died instantly when picking up the showerhead in a bathroom described as “outdoor and rudimentary” on Kimolos.
Hello. I picked up a used GT yesterday and am loving it so far. I live in the mountains on dirt roads and that’s where I’ll be mainly riding. I borrowed a friend’s pint for awhile, which had flat foot pads and besides being too narrow, it was really comfortable. My GT has the concave pads that flare up on the sides and it’s definitely taking some getting used to.
For those of you who are riding off road, which footpads are you using? Trying to decide if I should drop the cash on a flat setup, or just deal and try to get used to the current setup. Any advice is appreciated.
“I always just pray ‘please don’t fly away’,” says Dara Ojo. As a wildlife photographer, he can handle spending minutes, hours and sometimes days waiting for the shot, but insects are not always very cooperative.
Ojo is one of an increasing number of photographers turning their lenses towards something smaller: macro photography. This refers to photographing the natural world at an extremely close range, close enough to see the facets of a fly’s eye, or the geometry of a spider’s face.
Rescue services search for survivors and bodies after airstrikes hit homes in Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani
Eleven people have been killed, including three children, and 19injured in two Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, the worst toll since deals in June brought a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli warplanes bombed a home on the outskirts of the village of Ansar, killing seven people and flattening the building early on Saturday morning. Rescue services were working at the site to try to find survivors and locate bodies.
Tyler Muehl, 18, could face a year in prison for kicking marine animal four times on La Jolla coast
An 18-year-old California man has admitted he kicked a sea lion in a video that went viral recently – while referring to himself by the name of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor – and has pleaded guilty to a federal crime.
Tyler Muehl, of San Diego’s La Jolla neighborhood, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after acknowledging in court on Thursday that he violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s prohibition on harassment of wildlife, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Sliders can cover a lot more than mini cheeseburgers. These 15 recipes move through buffalo chicken, breakfast bagels, black bean patties, Italian deli layers, Philly steak, roast beef, ham, and pulled pork.The post 15 slider recipes that go way past…
Labor Day cookouts need more than the usual burgers and chips. These 13 dishes bring smoked pork, grilled wings, bright sides, hearty snacks, skewers, salsa, and a smoky peach dessert to the table.The post 13 dishes to make this year’s…
British Museum’s £33 tickets sold out in a day but some slots have been reserved for guests at five-star One Aldwych
Those hoping to snare a glimpse of the Bayeux tapestry when it comes to the British Museum this September faced nine-hour online queues, with the £33 tickets sold out within a day.
But the monied guests of a five-star hotel in Covent Garden have not had to go to such arduous lengths to get a view of the nearly 1,000-year-old depiction of William the Conqueror’s victory over King Harold II of England at Hastings in 1066.
London police force tells Telegraph incident was result of ‘human error’ and it is conducting an investigation
The Metropolitan police have apologised for accidentally exposing the email addresses of more than 140 victims of Mohamed Al Fayed.
In a group update about its investigation into the former Harrods owner, the force copied the email addresses of 143 victims of Fayed in a message that included about 12 other recipients, the Telegraph reported.
An air traffic controller's quick thinking helped avert a dangerous situation when two jets, one landing in Phoenix and the other simultaneously taking off, shared the same flight number and radio frequency.
Boats carrying hundreds of people are a clear and alarming trend. But where do such large vessels come from?
Providing a large dinghy for use in the choppy seas of western Europe was not a problem, as long as the order was for more than 20 vessels, they said. The sales manager at the Chinese company even had an online brochure for an undercover Guardian reporter, posing as a prospective client, to peruse.
They had a production capacity of 500 boats a month and, yes, it was possible to get even bigger ones for the right price. They could do a seven or even an eight-metre military-style dinghy for $1,678 (£1,238) a boat, without the engines, but that would be lacking CE certification, the mandatory mark that shows a product meets EU health and safety requirements.
AOC’s remarks about past excesses have been ripped out of context. Progressives shouldn’t get roped into this sideshow
There is probably no word that has been more used and abused in the last decade than “woke”. It has been rendered completely meaningless, but it refuses to die. Indeed, it has now taken on new life: in the past week, there’s been a flurry of headlines about “Woke 1.0” or “Woke One”. If you haven’t seen the phrase pop up in your newsfeed yet, it will soon.
So what is this cursed phrase? There’s no official definition, but the term is largely being used to refer to the period between 2018 and 2021 when social justice language was at its peak in mainstream culture. Certain progressives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have started to use “Woke 1” disparagingly, as a way to distance themselves from that period and signal that they stand for a new form of left-leaning politics that is more palatable to centrist Democrats. “Woke 2”, I suppose.
The US vice-president’s most recent memoir may be widely read in Middletown, Ohio, but no one seems to be talking about it
Nearly two months since JD Vance’s most recent memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, was released, and following sales of 64,000 copies in its first week, Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio, has had time to take it in.
At the town library, administrators say there has been interest in the book among the wider public.
The boxing world was in mourning Friday following the death of Puerto Rican fighter Prichard Colón at the age of 33, 11 years after he sustained brain damage in the only defeat of his professional career.
Colón’s death was confirmed in statements by the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Organization late Thursday.
bug?
crash?
weird behavior?
Please include ALL the info if you want useful help. The more obscure your issue the more details we’ll need. There can never be too much info. Basically we need to be able to reproduce it or at least fully understand the circumstances leading up to the issue you’re reporting
controller/motor thor301 / hypercore
firmware version 7.0
package version (and name) refloat 1.2
configuration details
my can is busted
how often has this happened? single incident? can you reproduce it?
it worked fine before i updated fw. after that everything broke and all the sensors were reporting values way out of spec. i had to redo the entire config from floathub
the circumstances leading up to it, when the incident happened what exactly were you doing?
and last but not least: log files / videos - however DO NOT EXPECT that we’ll watch minutes of video or sift thru megabytes of logs to try to figure out what might have happened. Keep the logs and videos short.
i updated the firmware on my controller from within vesc tools
I personally ignore any video posted as the primary problem description. Use your words
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s public school students could benefit from a new federal education tax credit program next year, but the state has yet to opt into it.
The UK’s biggest gigafactory has shelved plans to expand production in Sunderland because of stalled talks on a deal to supply electric car batteries to Jaguar Land Rover.
Chinese-owned AESC produces batteries for Nissan at its gigafactory next door to the Japanese carmaker’s Sunderland plant. However, AESC has had to push back its ramp-up plans because of lower-than-expected demand from Nissan and the lack of a deal with JLR, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
US navy veterans and military health experts are expressing concerns about the strain on sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent nearly nine months at sea supporting US operations in the Middle East, amid reports of poor living conditions and worsening mental health among its crew.
The San Diego-based aircraft carrier left port on 21 November, originally bound for the Pacific, but was redirected to the Middle East as the US-Israel war with Iran began. It has now spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea without a significant port visit, with its deployment repeatedly extended.
Prosecutors pointed to internet searches made on the family computer in the months before the killings to make their case
Prosecutors revived a theory in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial case this week, suggesting she had faked a suicide attempt after allegedly strangling her three children.
While prosecutors have been arguing that Clancy acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible, her defense has said she suffered from postpartum psychosis.
Defense argues New York cannot try Mangione over same act or offense as federal case – the killing of Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione’s plea to federal stalking charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s death has spurred questions about the fate of the separate Manhattan murder case against him, with experts saying New York’s double-jeopardy law could derail that trial.
Mangione pleaded guilty to one count of interstate stalking resulting in death, and one count of cyberstalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, in connection with the 4 December 2024 shooting outside a Midtown hotel. Both charges carry a potential maximum life sentence.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope say they may have found a new class of object: a "black hole star," in which a black hole is wrapped in dense gas and radiates in ways that resemble an enormous star. The Guardian reports: The international team made the breakthrough after focusing their attention on a mysterious red spot in images of the early universe captured by Nasa's James Webb space telescope. The object was lurking in the constellation of Cetus, the Whale, billions of light years from Earth. It is thought to have formed 660m years after the big bang, astronomers' leading theory as to how the universe began. Measurements of the exotic body found that while it resembles an immense star, it releases 100bn times more energy than any known star can produce. The energy output is far closer to that observed from black holes than stars. The findings have been published in the journal Nature.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican strategist Karl Rove sharply criticized President Donald Trump on Friday for portraying the U.S. economy as booming while many Americans continue to face elevated prices, particularly for gasoline and other essentials.
“The president made a mistake, in my opinion, last week in saying we’ve got the greatest economy in the history of the world and prices for groceries and gasoline and everything are coming down rapidly,” Rove told Fox News. “That’s not the experience of the American people.”
Rove said Trump should “start by not gaslighting” voters about their economic circumstances, even as the president continues to point to Wall Street performance as evidence of economic strength.
The criticism comes as the war with Iran has driven gasoline prices above $4 per gallon nationally. Trump acknowledged the increase Friday, telling Americans they should accept paying more because the conflict is intended to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Gasoline was averaging about $4.08 per gallon, roughly 29% higher than a year earlier, Reuters reported.
Consumer sentiment is also deteriorating. The University of Michigan’s August measure fell 7.6%, with rising fuel and food costs weighing particularly heavily on lower-income households. Inflation remained at 3.4% in July.
Rove’s comments highlight a growing political problem for Trump: strong financial markets do not necessarily translate into lower household expenses, and voters experiencing higher everyday costs may be difficult to persuade otherwise.
US tax policy deprives the government of revenue and overwhelmingly serves the interests of the rich
After the House passed its version of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) last year – the one that paired a $5tn-plus tax cut with $1tn-plus of cuts from food stamps and Medicaid – the House speaker, Mike Johnson, explained that “this is not giving tax cuts to the millionaires”. The beneficiaries, he said, were “small business owners” that “provide the jobs in every community in America”.
Johnson was playing to the myth of the modest, sturdy Main Street job creator. It is an appealing story. It’s also the most consequential piece of BS distorting American policy that deprives the government of tax revenue, stunts American capitalism, twists regulations, thwarts competition and overwhelmingly serves millionaires’ interests.
Despite the recent hearings in Congress, we seem to be even further from the goal of understanding Covid-19’s origin’s than we have ever been
As a microbiologist and infectious disease clinician, it has been tough to watch the recent devolution of public discourse on Covid-19 origins. It has been especially difficult for me to read the comments of Anthony Fauci about the origins debate in his now-public diary. And it has been painful to watch the televised spectacle hosted by the US senator Rand Paul on 29 July involving a hostile interrogation of Fauci.
Despite many early pleas, including my own, for a dispassionate, objective assessment of what we know, don’t know and need to know about Covid-19 origins, we seem to be even further from this goal now than we have ever been – plagued by politicization, polarization and illogical thinking.
David Relman is a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford University. He was an inaugural member of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Massachusetts beaches have become a ‘hotspot for mass stranding of sea turtles’, so an annual rescue effort has grown
Sea turtle #471 gasped audibly, as veterinarian Kathy Tuxbury palpated the surgical scar on the animal’s left flipper.
The turtle – lovingly renamed “Lucky” by the huge network of conservationists, interns and volunteers working to save its life – is one of the last patients of the year at the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital, waiting to be returned to the ocean.
In Wisconsin, voters weigh candidates who backed cuts to Medicaid, and those who want to expand it
Going door to door in western Wisconsin multiple times per week, Bill Hogseth tells strangers about his seizure.
Hogseth, the co-executive director and lead organizer of the nonpartisan group GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin (Groww), tells them about waking up in an ambulance, and the impact of the seizure on his ability to drive and work. Usually standing on their doorsteps, he asks to hear their stories too – about ambulance rides, hospital bills, broken bones.
Recent comments by AOC have reignited a fiery debate about ‘wokeism’. But what are we really talking about?
Full confession: I am one of those who have come to think that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can essentially do no wrong. At times when I most fear for the future of our country, I watch her videos and am consoled and cheered by her clarity, her honesty, her intelligence, her simple common sense. So I was a little surprised to hear that on a recent interview on ABC This Week, she quoted a political ally as having remarked: “Woke 1.0 was crazy.”
What surprised me was not that she called for some moderation of the radical positions – the call to defund the police and the military, for example – that have, at times, been an aspect of progressive politics. But I was frankly a little unnerved to hear her use the word “woke”.
Francine Prose is a former president of the PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her latest book is Five Weeks in the Country
The levies, set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, are the latest exchange in a dispute that has disrupted the once harmonious relationship over the past year.
With questions over Farage’s finances and a new face in No 10, could Barnsley council be a bellwether for changing Labour fortunes?
Labour marked its worst performance in more than 50 years when voters went to the polls in Barnsley in May, but 100 days on from those seismic local elections, the political landscape has shifted drastically.
Could the South Yorkshire town, where Reform UK reaped the benefits of dissatisfaction with Labour, prove to be a test case for whether the governing party has turned the tide?
Apparent high level of removal orders suggests Sweden is rejecting ‘reasonable grounds’ for failing to apply to stay
Back in October 2020, the UK immigration minister stood up in parliament to reassure campaigners concerned about EU citizens who weren’t aware they had to ask the Home Office to stay in the country after Brexit.
Using an example of a child in foster care who might not know they were an EU citizen until they applied for their first job, the Conservative Kevin Foster said the UK would take “a generous approach as to what reasonable grounds [for failing to apply] were”.
As ESPN cuts expert voices and rewards viral argument, fans who want to understand basketball are building a smarter conversation elsewhere
After the Phoenix Suns dumped the Golden State Warriors out of last season’s play-in, Stephen A Smith settled behind the First Take desk to explain why Steve Kerr might have coached his last game. Midway through the burial, he claimed the Warriors hadn’t “been to the playoffs since that championship in 2022” – a four-year drought in his telling – before grumbling that Golden State could pay someone far less than $17m a year to miss the postseason.
Cool. Except the drought never happened. Golden State reached the conference semi-finals in 2023 and again in 2025. ESPN anchor Shae Cornette, who had command of the basic facts, tried to smuggle that inconvenient reality into the discussion. It went nowhere. Apparently, nobody on an ESPN set is permitted to correct the franchise “star”. Only weeks earlier, Smith had been inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame for his work in media.
The 1996 US women’s Olympic team enter the Hall of Fame on Saturday after giving momentum to the WNBA and re-launching an era of American dominance
For the US women’s basketball team, the 1996 Olympics weren’t just about winning gold in front of their home crowd.
It was about the future of women’s basketball in America. The US women were knocked out of the 1992 Olympics in the semi-finals by the Commonwealth of Independent States – a stunning and embarrassing defeat. Heading into the 1996 Games, which were held in Atlanta, turning around the program was a top priority not just for USA Basketball, but the NBA as well, which was looking to start a women’s league that would become the WNBA.
Social media and Shazam-like birdsong apps drawing young people to hobby as they seek a gentler connection to the outside world
Sorry Elon, but they’re not your kind of tweets. Social media users are flocking to TikTok to join a burgeoning trend for birding videos as the hobby attracts a younger demographic.
With the internet ever more cluttered with polarising, shouty and AI content, evidence is emerging of Britons preferring a gentler, more melodic window on the world in the shape of footage of the nation’s feathered friends.
Sure, I was charging it to 90% since I got it, perhaps a balance charging issue (it’s going to be charged to 100% now), but when it was leaning too far forward just before that (in the grass then it recovered) making me had to balance rear to prevent being dumped off the front, I’m cautious.
Would be cool to have the confidence to ride far, but then having to possibly Uber back is bad.
It did cut out on me when I was 0.7mi from the car. Had to walk in the heat with it.
I really want to see the battery cell voltage for confidence at least.
The range it said was 7 miles before it went to 0.
Figures disclosed by 33 NHS trusts show temperatures on wards during July rose above 28C limit set by NHS England
Hospitals in England have recorded temperatures of almost 42C this summer, with surgeries being cancelled because operating theatres’ cooling units stopped working in the intense heat.
The Northern Care Alliance NHS foundation trust, which runs four hospitals in Greater Manchester, recorded a temperature of 41.8C during last month’s heatwave – 14C above the recommended safe maximum.
Some patients are also cancelling their own surgery because it is too hot for them to travel.
Hospitals and GP surgeries are offering frail elderly patients appointments at the start and end of the day, when it is less hot, to make it easier for them to attend.
Ambulance services are struggling to keep some medications at the right temperature because it gets so hot in the back of their vehicles.
NHS ambulance trusts have relaxed their usual dress code rules to help crews stay cooler, for example by wearing shorts rather than trousers
The Guardian’s deputy editor of social platforms on the demand from high-profile people and brands for help in harnessing the power of TikTok
I didn’t want to work in social media. If you’d asked 15-year-old me my dream job, I might have said foreign correspondent, or maybe travel writer. So you can imagine my surprise to now find myself giving these very colleagues advice on how to get the best selfie angle or write the sharpest TikTok ‘hook’.
But taking a job as the Guardian’s deputy editor of social platforms may prove to be one of my smartest career moves if the current job market is to be believed.
Development comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for ‘data acquisition’
Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland are reporting a flurry of bulk orders from mystery buyers, amid speculation AI companies are acquiring the tomes for their data.
Bookshops contacted by the Guardian say they have been receiving orders from buyers in the US, Canada, continental Europe and the UK. The increase has been replicated around the world, with booksellers in the US, Australia and Europe also reporting unusual orders.
Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.
Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.
Meta has patented a smart-glasses system that could use facial recognition to identify people and automatically create personalized highlight reels of events such as dinner parties. The patent doesn't guarantee the feature will ship, but it offers a detailed look at how Meta is exploring facial recognition and AI-powered memory capture for its wearable devices. 404 Media reports: "I've generated some highlights of tonight's dinner party. Would you like to see them?" a prompt from the system says, alongside various thumbnails of what look like people laughing, according to one illustration in the patent. One section says the system may personalize highlight files using "user relationship data." The illustrations clearly show a person wearing a pair of glasses, looking at a group of people, then the glasses focusing on one or more people in particular.
Patentlyze, an organization that tracks patents, first alerted 404 Media to the patent on Friday. The patent is dense with how such a system would work, but in sum, the system with one or more cameras receives an input from the user, then uses machine-learning and "sensory data" to figure out points of interest in the camera's field of view. That can include detecting people in the shot "based on one or more facial recognition algorithms," identifying those specific people, detecting their facial expressions, using "eye gaze data of the user captured by the client system," and figuring out other points of interest "based on scene and semantic understanding."
Although the patent is for "particular camera-based tasks by particular systems in a particular manner" -- in this case, the company's smart glasses -- Meta writes it "contemplates assisting users in any suitable camera-based task by any suitable system in any suitable manner." Meaning that although this technology is focused on the glasses, maybe the company will use it for other purposes in the future.
The New York congresswoman’s power is in the spotlight as people wonder if the stars are finally aligning for her to run for US president in 2028
“They assume that my ambition is positional. They assume that my ambition is a title or a seat. And my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country.”
The words were delivered slowly, deliberately and with some steeliness by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her audience, crammed into the pews of Rockefeller Memorial chapel at the University of Chicago, burst into spontaneous applause. That was in May. In the three months since, the speculation around Ocasio-Cortez’s ambitions – for herself and for America – has only grown louder.
Campaigners fear deeper diplomatic contacts are undermining demands for improvements in human rights
The Taliban in Afghanistan have launched a diplomatic effort to end their isolation as major regional and international powers show a readiness to engage more closely with the repressive regime despite its systematic human rights abuses.
Five years after the Taliban took power, an increasing number of countries are renewing ties or scaling up diplomatic contacts with the hardline Islamists, who seized power in Kabul in 2021 after 20 years of brutal insurgent warfare.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: At a BMW factory in South Carolina, a human-shaped robot with a screen for a face recently stepped from a charging station toward a stack of green plastic boxes. It grasped an auto part from one of the boxes, pivoted, placed the part in a trolley, then pulled the trolley across the floor. The robot's slow, stiff movements suggested a worker with a bad hangover rather than a technological revolution. "They're still slower than humans," Ulrich Wieland, a BMW vice president in charge of logistics at the factory, in Spartanburg, told reporters invited to see the robot in June. But, he added, "they're advancing fast."
Automakers have used robots for decades, but they are usually powerful, one-armed machines that are fixed in place and perform repetitive tasks like welding body frames or applying adhesives to door panels. Now, most major automakers are betting that robots designed to resemble human beings, known as humanoids, will usher in a new wave of automation and efficiency. Equipped with artificial intelligence, they are expected to move around and do tasks now done by humans without any modifications to factories or heavy equipment.
Unlike most of the robots now in use, humanoids would respond to voice commands and theoretically solve problems and react to unforeseen events. They would never take a lunch break, join a union or require health insurance. To optimists, robots could rescue U.S. manufacturing by increasing productivity, solving shortages of skilled workers and giving Western carmakers a fighting chance at competing with Chinese rivals that enjoy lower costs. Boring but important jobs like sorting parts would be done by robots, freeing humans for more interesting and specialized work.
I’ve got a pre haptic buzz xr (4134 firmware and 4209 hardware) and i’m considering weather or not i should update it. i was thinking of selling this thing (not anytime soon but in the next year or two) and im curious what kind of value having a pre haptic buzz board adds or if theres any kind of market for them, i cant seem to find any advertised so i assume they’re somewhat rare? considering updating it because you can hardly use the app without it pestering you to update. thoughts?
Edit: i’ve also heard that specifically below 4150 firmware and 4209 hardware is desirable for battery / controller upgrades, described as “unicorn” version
JUNEAU, Alaska — Former Rep. Mary Peltola is distancing herself from an endorsement by former Vice President Kamala Harris as the Alaska Democrat tries to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in one of the races that could help determine control of the Senate.
Harris’s Fight for the People PAC sent supporters a fundraising email Wednesday urging donations to Peltola and declaring that “if there’s anyone who can flip Alaska and secure the Senate majority for Democrats — it’s Mary.”
Peltola’s campaign quickly made clear it had not sought the endorsement. A spokesperson told The New York Times that the campaign neither approved nor knew about the email beforehand and said Peltola “isn’t seeking endorsements from anyone from the Lower 48.”
The distancing reflects Alaska’s difficult political terrain for Democrats. Donald Trump carried the state comfortably in 2024, while Peltola has built her political brand around independence from the national party. She notably declined to endorse Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Republicans immediately sought to tie Peltola to Harris, with Sullivan’s campaign arguing the endorsement showed which political “team” she represents.
Peltola, however, has previously demonstrated an ability to win statewide in Republican-leaning Alaska, becoming the first Alaska Native elected to Congress in 2022. She lost her House seat in 2024 but is now considered one of Democrats’ most important Senate recruits. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority, meaning Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control.
The episode underscores Peltola’s challenge: benefiting from national Democratic resources without allowing Republicans to define her as a conventional national Democrat.
I've watched videos. I Googled tips! I can't seem to dismount properly. I'll raise my heel. Lean back and it gets away from me every time. Some advice please.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. Anthony Fauci declined a request Friday to voluntarily testify before a second Republican-led Senate panel, with his attorney arguing that another appearance would amount to political harassment following an already contentious hearing last month.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sought Fauci’s testimony as part of a separate inquiry into the federal COVID-19 response and vaccine safety. Fauci’s attorney wrote that compelling another appearance after his July 29 testimony would “impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.”
At that earlier hearing, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 100 times while Republican senators questioned him about pandemic policies, virus origins and federal research funding. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee subsequently voted along party lines to hold him in contempt.
Committee Chairman Rand Paul has argued that Fauci’s Fifth Amendment claims were invalid because former President Joe Biden granted him a preemptive pardon covering his government service through January 2025. Fauci’s attorneys counter that the pardon does not eliminate every potential legal risk, particularly given Paul’s repeated public calls for Fauci’s prosecution.
Paul referred the contempt matter to the Justice Department, which has acknowledged receiving it. However, legal experts have questioned whether the referral has force without approval from the full Senate.
The dispute keeps Fauci at the center of a renewed Republican effort to investigate the government’s pandemic response, years after he retired from federal service.
The Trump administration, in its appeal to the supreme court today, said that “this case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security.”
It’s worth noting that the appeals court ruling blocks the above-ground construction of the ballroom, but would allow the work on the underground security structure to continue.
Torero print, one of 30 known to exist signed by Picasso, was stolen from Bill DeLind’s gallery in 2018
Bill DeLind thought the Picasso print that was stolen from his Milwaukee gallery in 2018 was gone forever. But then police called last week and asked him to look at an artwork that a local landlord found while cleaning out a vacant apartment.
DeLind immediately recognized the stolen Torero print, one of 30 known to exist signed by Picasso.
For the last 26 years at Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the seniors surround the cars of the incoming freshmen and don't let them out until they do one specific thing: give their mothers a goodbye kiss.
Donald Trump has downplayed concerns about US sailors enduring a record-setting deployment of nearly nine months onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Friday, saying the deployment was “not nearly long enough” as concerns mount over mental health and supply issues onboard the aircraft carrier.
The US president made the comments during a brief exchange with reporters before flying to New York for an event highlighting falling violent crime rates across the US.
With a feel for physics, AI models simulate a wider range of real-world scenarios
Aug. 14, 2026 — Artificial intelligence models are jacks of many trades, including writing, generating images, and creating 3D models. But they aren’t as helpful when it comes to testing robots or designs for vehicles in diverse environments, since they don’t understand physics as well as they do pixels or text.
The GeoPT model could be “extremely helpful for engineers hoping to test out blueprints for vehicles without needing to run so many physical experiments,” says Haixu Wu, an MIT postdoc and CSAIL researcher. Image credit: Alex Shipps/MIT CSAIL, using GeoPT model and assets from Adobe Stock
To build an AI system that can reliably simulate a variety of physical scenarios, engineers need a range of physics data at a scale that isn’t yet feasible. That’s because it’s very time-consuming to get neural networks just a few data points they can understand. They rely on algorithms called “numerical solvers” to calculate physical properties at different points of a 3D shape. It’s a thorough process, but it takes so long that it limits how much data you’ll have to, say, test if your plane designs are safe and aerodynamic.
A new pre-training approach known as “GeoPT,” deveoped by researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Tsinghua University, gives simulation models a chance to learn physics in a broader, more efficient way. It virtually reenacts everyday mechanical interactions in 3D, showing how particles stop when reaching some part of an object. These simulations give the models a sense of how physics works, helping them model the real world more accurately, reach peak performance twice as fast, and train on up to 60 percent less data compared to leading models.
Soon, the project could help engineers predict how vehicles (like cars and planes), everyday items (including chairs and containers), and robots respond to various physical elements, such as wind, water, and collisions. The researchers believe their work could also be a step toward a physics foundation model, a backbone system trained on lots of data that can help AI tools generalize to different tasks.
“We believe physics is the third modality for AI models, after text and pixels,” says MIT PhD student and CSAIL researcher Minghao Guo, a co-lead author on a paper introducing GeoPT. “Our general-purpose model has the versatility to help build a world model for physics. Many models, such as those that generate robotics data and videos, are already well-versed in textual and visual data, but with physical accuracy, they’ll get more-realistic results.”
Easy to Use
To use GeoPT, users simply upload 3D models of objects like battleships, passenger airplanes, and trucks, and specify the direction and speed of the force they want to simulate. The result is a kind of heat map showing how the object will be affected in different places. If you know the speed and direction (velocity) of the force you’re looking to simulate, you can capture it in GeoPT. This comes in handy when you want to simulate things like how a car would look after crashing into a wall, the ways light bounces around objects, and whether a boat stays afloat over turbulent waves.
But how does GeoPT “get” physics so well? Its knowledge comes from “synthetic dynamics,” a series of interactions between small particles and complex 3D shapes. GeoPT studied 1.3 million samples of synthetic dynamics, in which tiny spheres moved at various speeds and angles until stopping at a certain point on the object.
These particles basically “stick” to an object once they make contact, instead of moving through or bouncing off. Picture learning about physical interactions using marbles and action figures — similarly, simulation models can use synthetic dynamics to gain a feel for physics before they train on labeled data.
Industry Success
The researchers found that GeoPT was particularly skilled at simulating industrial scenarios, as it outperformed state-of-the-art simulation models across benchmarks. The common thread: It reached peak performance faster than other tools, while needing significantly fewer labeled data.
On a dataset of complex 3D shapes and their responses to wind currents and surface pressure, for example, GeoPT surpassed state-of-the-art models in speed, accuracy, and efficiency. It had similar triumphs in speed and accuracy in capturing how fighter jets responded to wind. When GeoPT tested how the hull of a boat handled both air and waves, it required 60 percent fewer labeled data to capture both physical forces and reached peak accuracy four times faster than top baselines.
The system even succeeded at simulating how different types of cars look after colliding with another object. It correctly predicted how 3D vehicles would deform while using less data than state-of-the-art baselines. Likewise, its simulations of how light would pass through what was essentially a toy rabbit were accurate, despite never training on that 3D model or light physics beforehand.
“If your model performs well on industrial benchmarks, that means it can solve the hardest physics tasks,” says co-lead author Haixu Wu, an MIT postdoc and CSAIL researcher. “GeoPT was making high-fidelity simulations with over 100 million mesh points in seconds. This could make the tool extremely helpful for engineers hoping to test out blueprints for vehicles without needing to run so many physical experiments.”
The researchers add that their system is only a preview of the kind of physics world model they’ve been working toward. The team hopes to scale up their system, training on even more shapes and simulating more complex physical phenomena. For example, a more in-depth approach could help model weather patterns, test out different materials, and generate realistic videos.
“Using synthetic dynamics data is an exciting paradigm for imbuing physics into foundation models,” says Fei Sha, AI research scientist at Meta, who wasn’t involved in the research. “It challenges the traditional wisdom that physics and geometry are necessarily entangled in computation, and one must acquire costly and specialized data. The demonstrated success in a wide range of application domains leads us to this important juncture: We are ready to build physics foundation models, now and fast.”
Wu and Guo wrote the paper with MIT CSAIL colleagues including Zongyi Li, a postdoc in the lab; Zhiyang (Frank) Dou, a CSAIL affiliate and MIT PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS); Kaiming He, a principal investigator in the lab, associate professor of EECS, and a distinguished scientist at Google DeepMind; and senior author Wojciech Matusik, the Joan and Irwin M. (1957) Jacobs Professor of EECS and a CSAIL principal investigator. Tsinghua University Associate Professor Mingsheng Long was also a co-author. The team presented the paper at the International Conference on Machine Learning in July.
The researchers’ work was supported, in part, by Neural Modular Physics Twin for Robotics.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 14, 2026 — Cerebras has announced that it is powering Ultrafast mode, a new service tier in the OpenAI API for GPT-5.6 Sol. Available initially in limited preview to OpenAI customers, Ultrafast runs GPT-5.6 Sol at up to 750 output tokens per second and up to 14× faster than Standard processing.
GPT-5.6 Sol Ultrafast powered by Cerebras runs with the same intelligence as GPT-5.6 Sol Standard, according to the company, combining GPT-5.6 Sol’s capabilities with higher inference speeds.
“GPT-5.6 Sol on Ultrafast is proof that speed and intelligence are no longer mutually exclusive,” said Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder, Cerebras. “Together with OpenAI, we’re putting frontier intelligence in the hands of users at unprecedented speed and changing what’s possible with AI.”
“By combining GPT-5.6 Sol with Cerebras’ inference technology, we’re exploring what becomes possible when customers can get the intelligence of our most capable models with significantly lower latency. We’re starting with a small group of customers to learn where that speed creates meaningful value, and we’ll use those learnings to inform how we expand the service over time,” said Sachin Katti, VP Compute Strategy & GPT-Infra at OpenAI.
A New Speed-Intelligence Frontier
Until now, organizations needed to choose between the capabilities of larger models and the faster response times of smaller models. Ultrafast powered by Cerebras offers access to the full intelligence of GPT-5.6 Sol at higher inference speeds. Based on output speeds for Anthropic models reported by Artificial Analysis, Ultrafast is 5x faster than Claude Opus 4.8 in Fast mode, and 11x faster than Claude Fable 5. The company said the results combine frontier-model capabilities with higher inference speeds.
Benchmarks focused on economically valuable work, from programming to drafting legal documents, illustrate how faster token generation can affect completion times for various tasks.
On Humanity’s Last Exam, a 2,500-question benchmark spanning graduate-level chemistry, economics and literature, GPT-5.6 Sol Ultrafast answered the full question set in just over 11 hours. This compares to more than three days of continuous compute for Claude Fable 5, with GPT-5.6 Sol Ultrafast reaching comparable accuracy nearly 7x faster. On GDP-Val, a benchmark of economically valuable knowledge-work tasks such as legal briefs, financial models, and engineering reports, Ultrafast delivered a 5.6x end-to-end speedup with no loss in quality.
Ultrafast’s speed comes from Cerebras’ Wafer-Scale Engine architecture, which keeps model weights on-chip — 44 GB of SRAM on each wafer-sized chip — rather than shuttling them between on-chip memory and off-chip storage as GPU-based inference must. This eliminates the memory-bandwidth bottleneck that constrains frontier-model inference speed on conventional hardware.
To get notified when capacity expands to more customers, please visit the Cerebras website.
About Cerebras Systems
Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ: CBRS) builds the world’s fastest AI infrastructure. The Cerebras team of pioneering computer architects, computer scientists, AI researchers, and engineers of all types came together to make AI blisteringly fast through innovation and invention. We believe that when AI is fast, it will change the world. Leading global corporations, research institutes, and governments choose Cerebras to run their AI workloads. Cerebras solutions are available on premises and in the cloud.
The accelerator does not simply improve permitting for every business, developer and organization. It creates a priority lane, with the Governor’s Office deciding which applicants receive expedited attention and which remain in the regular bureaucratic process. Image created with AI on 8/14
JobsFirst promises permitting decisions within 120 business days, but leaves government deciding which projects move first — and which applicants must continue to wait
WILMINGTON, Del. — Delaware will fast-track three broadband and health care projects through a state permitting system designed to produce decisions within 120 business days, but the announcement is also raising a broader question: If state government can move quickly for selected applicants, why can’t it do so for everyone?
Gov. Matt Meyer announced Thursday that a rural broadband expansion and two ChristianaCare health campuses have been accepted into the JobsFirst Permitting Accelerator.
The program gives designated projects a single government contact, coordinates reviews across state agencies and creates a process for escalating unresolved problems. Reviews that might otherwise take 18 to 24 months are targeted for completion in about six months.
“JobsFirst is about tackling Delaware’s biggest challenges with urgency, not bureaucracy,” Meyer said. “Whether it’s expanding access to health care, closing the digital divide or building the infrastructure our communities need, Delawareans shouldn’t have to wait years for projects that people need now.”
That argument makes a strong case for faster permitting. It also highlights the unequal treatment built into the program.
The government chooses who moves first
The accelerator does not simply improve permitting for every business, developer and organization. It creates a priority lane, with the Governor’s Office deciding which applicants receive expedited attention and which remain in the regular bureaucratic process.
Executive Order 18 establishes eligibility categories covering housing, broadband, energy, water and sewer, and mixed-use development. However, meeting an eligibility definition does not guarantee admission. The order says the governor or the governor’s designee “may designate” a nominated project as a priority.
The state’s published process says the Governor’s Office considers eligibility, readiness and permitting constraints. It does not provide a public scoring system explaining how competing qualified projects are ranked or why one applicant moves ahead of another.
That distinction matters. Without clearly published selection standards, the accelerator gives state officials significant discretion over who receives a dedicated coordinator, enforced deadlines and direct access to an expedited review.
The administration’s announcement did not say how many projects applied, whether any were rejected or why these three were selected over other potentially eligible projects. It also did not identify the category under which the two ChristianaCare health campuses qualified. Health care is not listed among the program’s five initial project categories.
Projects promise public benefits
The projects themselves promise substantial public benefits.
Talkie Communications plans to install buried fiber within existing roadway rights-of-way, bringing gigabit-speed internet service to 1,448 unserved homes and businesses in Kent and Sussex counties. The project is supported by the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
ChristianaCare’s planned Georgetown campus would combine a health center and neighborhood hospital. It would provide primary, specialty, behavioral health and outpatient services, along with an eight-bed emergency department and eight inpatient beds.
A similar campus planned for Camden would expand health care and community-based hospital capacity in Kent County.
Accelerating those projects does not mean environmental or public safety requirements will be waived. The administration says JobsFirst changes the speed and coordination of reviews, not the standards applicants must meet. The 120-business-day target also promises a decision, not necessarily an approval.
Those safeguards make the faster process easier to defend. But they also support extending it to other applicants.
Why shouldn’t every applicant receive faster service?
If agencies can review applications simultaneously instead of sequentially, provide applicants with a single checklist and hold employees accountable for missed deadlines, those practices should become the normal permitting system — not a special service reserved for projects selected by the executive branch.
There is also a question of agency capacity. Unless the state has added staff or eliminated unnecessary work, moving priority projects ahead could divert attention from businesses and organizations already waiting.
The administration has not disclosed whether the accelerator is reducing the overall permitting backlog or rearranging the order in which applications are processed.
Small businesses could be especially disadvantaged. Large institutions often have attorneys, engineers and government-relations professionals to help navigate state processes. Smaller applicants are more likely to need the coordination and accountability provided by JobsFirst, but they may be less likely to propose projects large enough to receive priority status.
Transparency should begin with selection
The state has created a public dashboard to track designated projects, participating agencies, required permits and approaching deadlines. That is a meaningful transparency measure once a project is accepted.
Transparency should also cover the selection process. The public should be able to see all applications, the standards used to evaluate them, the reasons projects were accepted or rejected, and whether giving one project priority caused delays for others.
The administration says JobsFirst is being introduced in stages and could eventually lead to a coordinated permitting system covering the full range of state approvals.
That should be the objective.
Everyone should have access to the fast lane
Broadband service and health care facilities should not remain trapped in government bureaucracy. Neither should a housing project, a new employer or a small Delaware business simply because the Governor’s Office did not put it in the priority lane.
The real measure of JobsFirst will not be whether government can move three selected projects faster. It will be whether Delaware uses what it learns to give every qualified applicant a clear, accountable and timely decision.
To Go Box
Program: JobsFirst Permitting Accelerator
New priority projects: Talkie Communications broadband expansion and ChristianaCare campuses in Georgetown and Camden
Target: State permitting decisions within 120 business days after applications are complete
Central question: Why aren’t the same coordination, deadlines and accountability available to every applicant?
AI models are getting better at a rapid pace. They are now able to reason, code and work through long problems better than ever before. However, an agent needs more than a good brain. It has to remember what happened five steps ago. It has to call the right tool, work with files and outside systems, and actually do something with the answer. And then it has to keep a record of all of it.
DeepSeek has been working on that problem, and this week it opened up some of the machinery. Harness is the new open-source framework from the company. It is designed for building agents. The interesting bit is how little DeepSeek insists on controlling. The models can be changed. Tools are plugins. So are the storage and sandboxes, along with other pieces developers may want to replace or modify. It’s closer to an agent-building kit than a finished agent.
If you remember DeepSeek from early last year, you’ll know this isn’t the first time the Chinese lab has suddenly found itself at the center of the AI conversation. Early last year, DeepSeek’s models arrived with performance that caught people off guard, particularly given the economics behind them.
(Shutterstock_WHYFRAME)
The reaction went well beyond AI circles. Yes, there was some skepticism, but there was no lack of hype. Markets rattled, chip stocks were hammered and industry observers began to doubt whether the money pouring into AI models was warranted. Almost overnight, DeepSeek went from a relatively unfamiliar Chinese lab to a company the entire industry was watching.
Now DeepSeek is back with a rather different proposition. This time there is no headline-grabbing new foundation model at the center of Harness. In fact, the model is deliberately just one part of it. What DeepSeek is putting out there is the layer around the model. A sort of collection of software that determines whether an AI agent can actually get a job done.
There are some hard numbers behind the release, too. Harness arrived alongside DeepSeek V4-Pro-0813, the latest version of the company’s flagship model, with much of the attention this time going to its agent capabilities. DeepSeek puts V4-Pro-0813 at 87.9 on Terminal Bench 2.1. It scored 74.1 on Toolathlon-Verified, 71.1 on DSBench-FullStack, and 67.2 on DSBench-Hard.
These are DeepSeek’s own benchmark results, of course. One detail makes them particularly relevant here: for some of the public coding-agent tests, V4-Pro was running inside Harness in its minimal mode. So Harness isn’t just something DeepSeek released alongside the model. It was already part of how the company tested what the model could do as an agent.
Harness is still pretty raw. DeepSeek calls it a developer preview. It is worth noting that the company has released the code under the MIT license, which gives companies considerable freedom to modify Harness and use it inside commercial products without having to open up their own code.
(Shutterstock/Bangla-press)
The company also gives developers a fairly blunt warning that compatibility-breaking changes are coming.
No details have been shared on when that would happen. However, for now there is plenty to play with. Harness can open a repository, edit files and run shell commands. It also allows for users to search the web, make an executable plan and send pieces of a job to other agents.
It also has the ability to record the steps. The tool calls, results and model interactions are kept with the session, so a developer can come back later and see what happened. An old session can be picked up again or split off at an earlier point. That’s quite useful when an agent has been working for a while and suddenly takes a wrong turn.
You don’t actually need to use a DeepSeek model with Harness. Models are plugins too. That leaves DeepSeek in the slightly unusual position of releasing an agent framework that can just as easily have a rival’s model sitting inside it. That’s quite a change of direction for a company more known for causing a stir with its models.
The FBI from the 1950s to the 1970s tried to infiltrate and discredit leftist organizations. Trump seems to be repeating that sordid practice
It is bad enough that the Trump administration blocked a federal criminal investigation when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed Renee Good as she was turning her car away from him in Minneapolis the past January. Just before the shooting, Good and her partner had been observing and protesting against ICE officers.
Instead, it turns out the administration has been investigating progressive and even mainstream groups that have been involved in protests against Donald Trump’s sweeping deportations, according to newly released government documents.
‘A great deal of public opposition is likely’ to a proposed datacentre near Edinburgh, the force says
Police in Scotland have issued a stark warning about the need for “robust security measures” to stop proposed AI datacentres from being attacked by protesters.
There has been mounting opposition to AI infrastructure globally, including in the US where such projects have become a significant political rallying point.
Newark’s Shop Take 15 shows how business coaching and grant support can help entrepreneurs expand
DOVER, Del. — Applications are now being accepted for the Business on Main Street Accelerator, an eight-week program designed to help Delaware entrepreneurs strengthen their operations, pursue funding and prepare for growth.
The program’s potential impact can be seen in Shop Take 15, a Newark self-care business led by founder and CEO Asia Coleman.
Coleman began working with the Delaware Division of Small Business while Shop Take 15 was primarily an online business. Through the Main Street program, she received help structuring the company, developing marketing ideas and updating its business plan.
The improved plan helped Coleman position the business to pursue funding and qualify for grant support. That grant had a tangible impact: Shop Take 15 grew from a virtual business into one with a physical Newark location.
Coleman also expanded the company’s product offerings and began providing courses. She said the business continues to grow.
Shop Take 15 sells handmade self-care products, including body butters, scrubs, soaps, oils and home fragrances. Its mission encourages people to devote at least 15 minutes each day to their mental and physical well-being.
Coleman’s experience provides a practical example of how technical assistance and access to funding can translate into measurable growth for a small business.
The Business on Main Street Accelerator is a joint initiative of the Delaware Division of Small Business and Launcher. It includes six virtual sessions and two in-person sessions in Dover.
Participants receive assistance with preparing a comprehensive business plan, examining their companies’ financial health, developing compelling pitch decks and using modern marketing strategies. Individualized coaching is also included.
“The feedback that I’ve gotten on the program, which began June 9, 2025, is incredibly positive,” said Anastasia Jackson, coordinator for Delaware on Main Street. “Participants are telling me that the financial reviews and personalized coaching are invaluable to them as business owners.”
The accelerator has graduated 37 small-business owners since it began last year.
Applications for the next class will be accepted through Aug. 31.
To Go Box
What: Business on Main Street Accelerator
Program: Eight weeks, including six virtual sessions and two in-person sessions in Dover
Who: Delaware small-business owners and entrepreneurs seeking assistance with planning, finances, marketing, funding and growth
The Aug. 13 program was hosted by Yvonne Johnson of First State Educate, a Delaware nonprofit working to strengthen school governance and increase public participation in education, focused on the new funding model for our schools.
Discretionary funding could rise from about 8% to more than 30%, increasing local responsibility and accountability
By George Rotsch, Editor, Delaware LIVE
WILMINGTON, Del – First State Educate brought state and local education leaders together Thursday night to explain how Delaware’s new funding model will give school boards significantly more control over spending — and greater responsibility for the results.
During the organization’s monthly “Board Matters” webcast, panelists said school boards could soon have discretion over more than 30% of their districts’ funding, up from about 8% today.
The change means boards will need to better understand student needs, establish clear priorities and make informed choices about where resources can produce the greatest results. They will also face greater accountability for explaining those decisions and demonstrating whether the spending improves student outcomes.
The Aug. 13 program was hosted by Yvonne Johnson of First State Educate, a Delaware nonprofit working to strengthen school governance and increase public participation in education.
Johnson led a discussion featuring Delaware Education Secretary Cindy Marten; Emily Falcon, chief operating and financial officer for the Colonial School District; and Brittany Mumford, an Appoquinimink School Board member.
First State Educate organized the forum to help school board members, families and community leaders understand how the new formula will work and how local governance responsibilities will change.
“With greater flexibility comes greater responsibility,” Mumford said. “The buck literally stops with us.”
Although superintendents, financial officers and instructional leaders will develop many spending recommendations, school boards have final responsibility for approving district budgets.
Moving beyond restricted funding
Delaware’s traditional unit system provides districts with state-funded positions and money based on enrollment and student demographics. Much of that funding is assigned to specific positions or purposes, limiting districts’ ability to move resources when local needs differ from state categories.
The new hybrid model retains parts of the unit system while adding weighted funding based more directly on student needs. Additional resources will be directed toward multilingual learners, students from low-income households, vocational students and students receiving special education services.
Falcon said approximately 32 separate appropriations or funding categories will be consolidated into three broader tiers.
The first will provide base funding for teachers, paraprofessionals, principals and other essential employees. The second will expand opportunity funding for multilingual learners and students from low-income households. Falcon said that investment is expected to be about four times its current level.
A third tier will provide flexible operational funding based on enrollment and student characteristics, including special education and vocational education needs.
Federal and state special education requirements will remain in place. The primary funding changes are expected to begin in fiscal 2028, which starts July 1, 2027.
Decisions move closer to students
First State Educate’s discussion focused heavily on what greater local flexibility will mean in practice.
A school struggling with early literacy could invest in reading specialists or intervention programs. Another with a growing multilingual population could expand language services, while a school facing chronic absenteeism could add attendance or mental health support.
Marten said those decisions are often best made closer to students rather than through a statewide, one-size-fits-all system.
“If you’re treating every school identically at the board level and just sending out a common treatment to everybody, that does not create equity,” she said.
But flexibility does not mean every school can spend independently without a districtwide strategy.
“Flexibility is not freedom from accountability,” Marten said. “It means people closest to the students have more ability to solve the problems in front of them.”
Boards must connect budgets to results
Marten urged school boards to begin with student needs and a clear strategic plan rather than starting with the amount of money available.
Before approving an investment, boards should ask what student problem the district is trying to solve, what results it expects and how progress will be measured.
“A budget is an expression of the strategy,” Marten said. “It’s not a separate document.”
She said boards should establish priorities and define the results they expect without becoming involved in daily management decisions.
“Know your lane. Own your lane,” Marten said.
The board determines what the district should accomplish and why it matters. The superintendent and administrative team determine how the work will be done, who will be responsible and when it will happen.
Marten also warned boards against assuming their oversight work is finished once a budget is approved or a clean financial report is received.
“A board can receive a perfect financial report and still fail at governance,” she said.
Following spending rules does not necessarily mean the spending helped students. Boards should regularly determine whether programs are being implemented as promised and producing measurable results.
Marten described the process as a continuing cycle: identify a need, select a strategy, make the investment, implement the plan, examine the evidence and adjust when necessary.
“If your superintendent doesn’t have a plan, ask for one,” she told board members.
State and community oversight
Marten said the Delaware Department of Education will not consider its work finished after distributing the money.
The department intends to examine the strategies districts select, whether those strategies reach classrooms and whether early indicators show students improving. It also wants to identify successful approaches that could be replicated elsewhere.
Marten said that accountability system must be built as the new formula is implemented rather than added years later if questions arise about how districts spent the money.
First State Educate also used the webcast to encourage families and community members to follow district budgets, attend school board meetings and ask how spending decisions are connected to student outcomes.
The organization provides school governance information through its Knowledge Hub and Delaware School Board Index. The resources are intended to help residents learn about their school boards, district priorities and education issues.
Marten said families, educators and community organizations should participate before district priorities and budgets are finalized.
“If a decision is essentially finished before people enter the room, that’s not engagement,” she said.
Districts should explain the student problems they are trying to solve, share relevant data and identify the choices and trade-offs involved, she said.
Equalization reform remains ahead
One significant part of Delaware’s education funding system remains under review.
Equalization funding is intended to offset differences in property wealth and local tax-generating capacity among districts. Falcon said statewide property reassessment produced data that requires additional review, particularly in New Castle County.
Officials hope to develop an equalization proposal during the next legislative session and implement changes in fiscal 2029, she said.
That means the full effect of the funding overhaul will vary among districts depending on student needs, property values, local revenue and state funding.
Marten said the ultimate test will not be whether Delaware successfully reorganizes its funding formula. Success will be determined by whether students can read, receive support when they struggle and graduate prepared for college, careers, military service or other opportunities.
“The formula is a means to the end,” she said. “The accomplishment is what changes for students.”
To Go Box:
What: Delaware is moving to a hybrid school funding model that combines the existing unit system with weighted funding tied more closely to student needs.
Local control: School boards could have discretion over more than 30% of district funding, up from about 8% today.
Accountability: Boards will be expected to establish priorities, connect spending to student needs and measure whether investments improve outcomes.
When: Major funding changes are expected to begin July 1, 2027, with fiscal 2028.
Who hosted the discussion: First State Educate presented the Aug. 13 program as part of its monthly “Board Matters” webcast series.
Panelists: Delaware Education Secretary Cindy Marten; Colonial School District Chief Operating and Financial Officer Emily Falcon; and Appoquinimink School Board member Brittany Mumford.
What remains: Equalization funding reforms are expected to be considered separately, with possible implementation in fiscal 2029.
Learn more: First State Educate offers school governance information through its Knowledge Hub and Delaware School Board Index.
Should Egypt join the Mecca Pact?Expert commentthilton.drupal
Egypt may yet join Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in their mutual defence pact. But for now, Cairo is continuing its cautious approach as it seeks to avoid taking sides.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, known as the ‘Mecca Pact’, on 7 August. The pact states that any armed attack on one member will be considered an attack on all members. It sends a message to both Iran and Israel, while diversifying regional security away from the US.
However, the pact leaves two key questions unanswered: can regional countries build deterrence without the US? And why hasn’t Egypt joined the pact, at least for now, given it has worked closely with all three members?
Not a Middle Eastern NATO
The Mecca Pact builds upon the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan last September. However, it is a separate deal. The new agreement includes Turkey and leaves space for other states to join.
The pact has been compared to NATO; Indeed, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the pact’s mutual defence element as being ‘technically the same’ as NATO’s Article 5 collective defence clause.
However, comparisons to NATO are overblown. Once they are put aside, the pact looks relatively modest.
Saudi officials have played down the scope of the agreement, presenting it as an exercise in ‘sustainable capabilities’ rather than a joint defence front against any country. Turkey has likewise emphasized that the pact is not directed against Iran or any other country. Pakistan described the agreement as ‘purely defensive in nature.’
While Pakistan is a nuclear power, the agreement does not mention Turkey and Saudi Arabia coming under its nuclear umbrella. And while mutual defence featured in the September 2025 agreement between Riyadh and Islamabad, the latter has continued to engage Tehran as a mediator amid Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The Mecca Pact should therefore best be understood as an experiment in regional self-reliance rather than a joint defence front or war-fighting alliance.
Wider regional impact
Yet while the agreement is modest in scope, it has deeper implications for the regional order.
The pact provides Saudi Arabia with another means of diversifying and strengthening its security and defence architecture. It gives Riyadh leverage in any future engagement with Tehran over regional security, and reduces its dependency on the US.
For Ankara, the deal could lead to financial support and a huge market for its defence industrial technology, while Islamabad could benefit from Saudi economic backing and position itself as an active and responsible player in the Middle East.
Tehran and its proxies are likely to test the agreement in the near future, potentially by attacking Saudi Arabia via the Houthis or Iraqi militias. The three signatories’ response to that first stress test will tell the region far more about this pact than official statements.
Why Egypt hasn’t joined
Egypt is not a signatory of the Mecca Pact, despite working closely with all three countries as part of an informal four-country grouping that has been referred to as ‘STEP’ or ‘the quad’.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said on Friday that Cairo is studying the pact ‘very seriously’ and that deciding whether to join ‘requires deep studies in the light of Egypt’s constitution and legal commitments.’
Turkey’s Fidan previously said he believed that Egypt would join the pact ‘at the next stage’ once ‘a few technical issues’ were implemented.
Regardless of whether it eventually joins the pact, Egypt’s absence is in line with the country’s strategic hesitancy since Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi became president in 2024.
Egypt views itself more as a mediator, which requires maintaining positive relations and open channels with all actors.
For decades, Egypt’s leaders have taken a cautious approach, embracing non-alignment and avoiding military blocs to prevent entrapment. But joining the Mecca Pact could signal that Egypt is choosing sides to the three members’ various geopolitical rivals – which together could be seen as including Iran and the Houthis, Israel, the UAE, Greece, Cyprus and India. This perceived alignment could negatively impact Cairo’s relationships with these actors without delivering a significant payoff.
This reflects the pact being more about political signalling than military value. The pact is short on public details but could potentially include air and missile defence cooperation, intelligence sharing, expanded maritime security and defence-industrial cooperation. However, Cairo already cooperates with the three countries on many of these areas through the quad grouping and its support for the Saudi-led maritime coalition in the Red Sea.
Under Sisi, Egypt views itself more as a mediator, which requires maintaining positive relations and open channels with all actors. It seeks to avoid being entangled in military alliances that would complicate this role or escalate regional tensions.
Israel and the US
Egypt may share the alliance’s security concerns around non-state actors, maritime security, and Sudan. But for many Egyptian policymakers, a potential conflict with Israel will remain the greatest future security threat, despite the two countries’ peace treaty and security coordination.
Given Israel’s status as the US’s key regional ally, there is no other security alliance that can conceivably provide Egypt with sufficient protection in a potential conflict with Israel.
Therefore, while joining the Mecca Pact may help confront Egypt’s immediate concerns in Sudan, Libya or the Horn of Africa, it won’t solve its long-term security priorities. For now, the US remains Egypt’s most important security partner.
Cairo is also concerned about its sovereignty. Integration in Saudi-led security arrangements would boost Riyadh’s pursuit of Arab leadership. From Cairo’s perspective, this risks creating a patron-client relationship with Riyadh.
The case for joining, eventually
For Egypt, the risks of joining the pact likely currently outweigh the rewards. But this assessment may change with time.
The Mecca Pact is less a military alliance than a statement of intent about the shape of the next regional order. While Washington remains the most important partner for most regional powers, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, they are seeking to reduce their reliance on the US. This trend is likely to accelerate.
The pact also allows its members to hedge against Iran and Israel’s regional ambitions and test a new balance of power anchored in middle powers. Egypt has every interest in taking the initiative by participating in these arrangements.
There is no harm in waiting.
Egypt will be more motivated to join the pact if the agreement’s binding mutual defence obligations are not implemented in practice. This flexibility would ensure that Cairo could join without surrendering its ability to mediate or deepen coordination with the pact’s rivals, even as it would raise questions about the alliance’s credibility.
This room for manoeuvre matters, as Egypt needs diversification and partnerships across the region’s fault lines due to its chronic economic plight and its declining standing in the Arab world. At the same time, joining the pact would enhance Cairo’s ability to assert influence by being central in regional security arrangements.
Wait, watch and keep options open
Egypt should be patient, but not hesitant. The pact is appealing in principle but not yet a pressing priority for Egypt. There is no harm in waiting.
The new accord is less sophisticated than NATO. But it is more serious than previous regional coalitions. The pact may converge into a more focused, issue-based partnership rather than a binding bloc. This would be the best-case scenario for Egypt.
The real test of any alliance lies in its implementation, especially in wartime. With uncertainty around the Iran war’s end and periodic escalation in the Red Sea, Egypt should watch and evaluate the alliance’s reaction when a member is threatened.
For now, Cairo should take its time to observe the pact’s structure, military commitments and operational integration. It should reserve judgement on membership until all these aspects are more certain.
The stunning momentum of the insurgent left hit a roadblock this week when democratic socialist Francesca Hong narrowly lost her primary race for Wisconsin governor to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a moderate who garnered significant support from establishment Democrats.
“The collective power of that Democratic establishment in a state, where there is a Democratic governor and there is a real Democratic Party establishment machine, all of that power was required to eke out a 0.4 percent victory in the party’s own primary against a previously unknown candidate running as a Democratic socialist,” The Lever’s David Sirota tells The Intercept Briefing.
This week on the podcast, host Jessica Washington speaks with Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, about the primaries and how the left is building power within the Democratic Party.
There were bright spots for progressives on Tuesday night. In Minnesota, progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeated AIPAC-backed Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., in the Senate primary race. Craig had previously voted for the Laken Riley Act, which requires the federal government to detain people for certain crimes, including shoplifting and burglary. Flanagan, by contrast, told supporters on election night: “We need to rip ICE apart and stop them from terrorizing our communities.”
“What you’re seeing now is, and I don’t want to call it a Democratic Tea Party, but it is certainly organizing and pressuring to take back power in an adversarial way from a set of forces to the left of the Democratic establishment,” says Sirota. “That is what’s new, and that is what’s driving the political dynamic now.”
Washington and Sirota also discuss the intensifying democracy crisis unfolding in the United States. According to Sirota, it “stands on two pillars: concentrated executive power and the supremacy of money.”
Sirota explores this theme and more, in the new season of his show, Master Plan: The Kingmakers. The podcast is all about how a once-fringe legal theory moved into the mainstream and transformed the power of the American presidency.
For more, listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
Transcript
Jessica Washington: Welcome to The Intercept Briefing, I’m Jessica Washington, politics reporter at The Intercept.
On Tuesday night, democratic socialist Francesca Hong narrowly lost her primary race for Wisconsin Governor to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Hong lost by less than a percentage point. But her defeat was a blow to the anti-data center movement, which she had championed throughout her campaign, even as her detractors tried to make the race about her opinions on Thanksgiving and other major holidays.
But the night was not a total loss for progressives. In Minnesota, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan defeated AIPAC-backed Congresswoman Angie Craig for Senate.
Peggy Flanagan: And now let’s talk about Donald Trump’s out of control ICE force [crowd boos]. We need to rip ICE apart and stop them from terrorizing our communities.
JW: Last year, Craig voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act, which requires the federal government to detain people for a host of crimes, including nonviolent ones like shoplifting, and it allows states to sue over immigration enforcement, giving power to state attorneys general to shape immigration enforcement policy regardless of which party holds the White House. That vote appears to have cost her in a state that largely rose up in defiance of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown, after federal immigration agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens.
For more of our reporting on the primaries and the anti-data center movement, visit TheIntercept.com.
This week on The Intercept Briefing, I speak to David Sirota, founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, about the primaries and how the left is building power within the Democratic Party.
David also talks about the parallels between how the left and the right have consolidated power, and we get into the second season of his amazing series Master Plan, resuming this week.
This new season is called The Kingmakers and is all about how a once-fringe legal theory moved into the mainstream and transformed the power of the American presidency.
It traces the people and institutions behind that campaign — from Richard Nixon’s downfall and Dick Cheney’s post-9/11 power grab to pivotal Supreme Court decisions and Project 2025.
David, welcome back to The Intercept Briefing.
David Sirota: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
JW: So Tuesday night, Francesca Hong narrowly lost her primary race for Wisconsin governor to the more moderate candidate, David Crowley. But it wasn’t a total loss for the left. In Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan defeated AIPAC-backed Angie Craig. Hong’s race was plagued by, honestly, the dumbest issues, like whether she supports Thanksgiving or how she views her “proximity to whiteness.”
David, what did you make of Tuesday night’s results? Does this, as The New York Times called it, show the “limits of the left,” or is something else at play here?
DS: I think this is a good test of the power dynamic in American politics right now, specifically inside the Democratic Party. I’m going to state a few empirical facts about what happened. People can use these facts to try to confirm their priors. But here are the facts that we know. Fact one is that the entire establishment of the Democratic Party came together towards the end of this race, really consolidated to try to shut down Francesca Hong’s campaign and defeat her.
“All of the power of the old Democratic machine was required to eke out the narrowest of victories against the longest of long-shot candidates.”
The collective power of that Democratic establishment in a state, where there is a Democratic governor and there is a real Democratic Party establishment machine, all of that power was required to eke out a 0.4 percent victory in the party’s own primary against a previously unknown candidate running as a Democratic socialist who was wildly under-resourced, did not air any television advertisements through her own campaign. So the point being that all of the power of the old Democratic machine was required to eke out the narrowest of victories against the longest of long-shot candidates.
A candidate who, by the way, had been effectively abandoned by other national left-of-center icons and politicians, democratic socialists. Bernie Sanders did not endorse Francesca Hong. AOC did not endorse Francesca Hong. The candidates who have been winning as democratic socialists did not come to Wisconsin to campaign with Francesca Hong. We can discuss why that is and the mistakes or stumbles that Hong made as a candidate. But the point is that the machine with all of the power and advantages it had against a candidate with no advantages at all, that ran to say the least, an imperfect campaign, still needed all of its power to barely win a race in Wisconsin.
So to me, what that says is that the Democratic establishment that has gotten very used to being able to easily control primary outcomes is now having to marshal all of its collective power and have everything break right for it in order to eke out these primary wins. That, I think, is a fundamental difference of the political topography of the Democratic Party.
JW: I’m thinking about the fact that we didn’t see Bernie Sanders supporting her. Obviously, AOC had come out and said that it was because she wanted to focus on Congress. So we can have that conversation.
But we also didn’t see that support for Cori Bush either. And she lost.
Do you think that progressives are making a smart play here by trying to decide who’s more electable in a general election? Or, is that just more of the same silly stuff we’ve seen from the Democratic Party in terms of electability and making those decisions before voters do?
DS: Yeah, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. My take on so-called electability is that nobody really knows who is electable or not electable. I’m old enough to remember when the same media machine and Democratic Party apparatus insisted with certainty that Barack Obama could never possibly win a general election. I remember when that same machine laughed at the idea that Donald Trump could be elected president.
I tend to believe that this whole discussion about electability is silly, but also a Jedi mind trick that the establishment of the Democratic Party uses to try to manipulate voters into not voting for candidates and not seeing elections as forums for voting for good policies.
They’re trying to turn primaries into — and they’ve been successful at it in the past — trying to turn primaries into this idea that, “Don’t vote for the candidate who may be offering you policies that you actually support. Vote for our view of who is actually ‘electable’ in a general election. Forget the fact that we told you that Barack Obama wasn’t electable or Donald Trump wasn’t electable. Forget all that.” So my basic take is that the whole electability discussion is this moving target and a real sort of engine of manipulation.
I think that in every race, candidates are looked at for their viability, for how well they are running, and their basic competence as a candidate. It’s not wrong for folks and political organizations and activists on the left or really any political faction to try to evaluate the competence of candidates that they are going to spend resources on or organize for or endorse. That’s part of the political process in America, and that’s not a perfect process. But sometimes you can make mistakes. That happens all the time.
Did Francesca Hong not get endorsements because she was evaluated to be a less competent candidate? Same thing for Cori Bush. Were those candidates seen as not competent? Competent meaning as candidates, not as people, as candidates running a campaign. Were they seen as not competent versus was Abdul El-Sayed seen as a highly competent candidate?
My guess is that those calculations were at play here. I’ve worked on a lot of campaigns in my life at this point. A candidate’s competency is this intangible that’s really important.
So my guess is though all of those questions were on the table in the way that these decisions were made to endorse certain candidates and not go all in for other candidates.
JW: That makes a lot of sense. We’re also talking about having to run these candidates against the right, against the massive money machine that the right has.
So I want to talk a little bit more about Republicans and their power. Recently on your podcast, Lever Time, you spoke to Reed Galen, co-founder of the anti-Trump political action committee, The Lincoln Project. Galen talked about leaving the Republican Party and his warning that Democrats are making the same mistakes Republicans made, mapping the transition of the GOP to the Tea Party movement takeover.
Can you talk about that conversation and what Galen sees as the kind of dangerous mistakes the Democratic Party is making, and what’s your view?
DS: Yeah, I agree with his story of history, which is that to understand the current Republican Party, you have to really rewind history and look at what created it. You can go all the way back to Barry Goldwater and tell the story from there.
But in modern times, what you can see is that in 2008, Barack Obama won the presidency. A lot of the center-left foment gets driven into the Democratic Party and into Obama as a personality, and a lot of the center-right and hard-right unhappiness with our political system was driven first into the Tea Party, which ultimately became MAGA, which ultimately became the Trump presidency.
The Tea Party was operating outside of the Republican Party, although in conjunction with it, to transform that party. Ultimately, Donald Trump’s presidency, first the MAGA movement and then Trump’s presidency, becomes the culmination of all of that foment outside of the party.
Obviously the party has been transformed. It is a much different party than it was even 10, 15 years ago. I think a similar dynamic is happening right now vis-a-vis the Democratic Party and the American left. Obviously on totally different issues. They don’t share ideologies, they don’t share policy agendas.
But politically speaking, just the raw politics of it, I think this is delayed, I think it’s been belated. Whereas in 2008, there was a moment in the middle of the financial crisis where center-left discontent could have been channeled into something like a center-left Tea Party. I reported on this for a long time.
There was Occupy Wall Street and the like. But certainly it wasn’t as big a movement as the Tea Party on the right because a lot of that energy was, again, channeled into Obama and the Obama presidency. We’re now here 18 years later, many of the grievances of that moment back in 2008 in the middle of the financial crisis, really the supercharging of oligarchy, they’re still here.
But the difference is here — in the here and now — if you look at polls of people on the left, center-left, before in 2008 they were fairly confident in Democratic leaders to channel their grievances. Today, they have lost faith in the Democratic leadership. They are angry at the Democratic Party for what they perceive to be capitulations and unnecessary compromises with corporate power and with Trump and MAGA.
“What you’re seeing now is … certainly organizing and pressuring to take back power in an adversarial way from a set of forces to the left of the Democratic establishment.”
What you’re seeing now is, and I don’t want to call it a Democratic Tea Party, but it is certainly organizing and pressuring to take back power in an adversarial way from a set of forces to the left of the Democratic establishment. That is something I think we have not really experienced in our lifetimes. That is what’s new, and that is what’s driving the political dynamic now.
Whether it’s in any of these races happening across the country or in Congress itself, which I expect the next session of Congress, if Democrats take it back, to be a lot of push and pull inside the Democratic caucus, which of course will overlay the 2028 presidential campaign.
I very much expect candidates in the Democratic primary to be competing for that positioning. You might want to call it the Bernie Sanders lane, but it’s really the lane to say, “I am the outsider that is going to take back the White House for a particular faction,” or representing a particular faction of the Democratic Party. A faction that is most certainly not the corporate old-school establishment that has been running the party into the ground for the last 30 years.
I see the whole push and pull right now as something very healthy. I don’t think it is healthy for democracy, for an establishment of one of the major parties in this country to have clung onto power for so long, offering so little change through so many electoral defeats and through the rise of Donald Trump and authoritarianism.
For that establishment to still be able to hold on to power without much change at all really is the democracy crisis in practice. So the effort to change that party through democratic means, is entirely long overdue, is entirely necessary. People listening to this may agree or disagree with specific different parts of the policy platform being pushed by those outside the establishment, but the process itself is the democracy working.
“The democracy crisis is a set of elite power brokers being able to cling on to a political party’s power regardless of what is happening in the worldand in a way that sells out voters.”
A lot of liberals think about the democracy crisis. The democracy crisis is a set of elite power brokers being able to cling on to a political party’s power regardless of what is happening in the worldand in a way that sells out voters. That’s what’s been going on in the Democratic Party for a long time, and the effort to significantly change it and revitalize the party through democratic means is a healthy expression of democracy.
[Break]
JW: We have multiple crises of democracy happening. We obviously have Trump, but we also have the establishment [Democrats] and the fact that they’ve allowed Republicans to gain control of the government from the House to the Senate to presidency, and I would argue, also the Supreme Court.
Last week, the president’s personal attorney, Todd Blanche, was confirmed as attorney general with, to me, what seems like a clear mandate to target the president’s enemies. Then on Tuesday, it was reported that the DOJ issued a sweeping memo giving broad authority to the president to conceal his communications with so-called private advisers in what seems like just a clear effort to undercut Democrats’ ability to investigate the president if they retake Congress. That doesn’t even touch on the fact that we’re over 100 days into war with Iran without congressional approval.
I want to talk about how we got here, and you explore that in the new season of your show, Master Plan: Kingmakers, which is out this week, by the way. It tracks how a once fringe legal theory has transformed the American presidency into a pseudo-monarchy with term limits.
I listened to the first episode and loved it, by the way. It also feels incredibly relevant right now. David, how did we get here?
“We’ve turned elections into auctions. We’ve equated money with free speech, we’ve equated corporations with people, giving them human rights.”
DS: To my mind, it is the second part of a two-part story to understand the real democracy crisis. The democracy crisis I think, stands on two pillars: concentrated executive power and the supremacy of money.
They’re obviously interrelated. Season one of Master Plan traces the secret 50-year plot to effectively legalize corruption, deregulate the campaign finance system and make bribery essentially a permissible act in the United States. We all understand, implicitly, that we’re now living in that reality when we’ve turned elections into auctions. We’ve equated money with free speech, we’ve equated corporations with people, giving them human rights.
So we are living through that project of the American right to effectively legalize corruption, to turn the democracy from a “one person, one vote” democracy into a “one dollar, one vote” oligarchy. I think we all see the evidence of that. That came about through, among other things, the infamous Powell Memo.
That’s the sort of origin story where a lot of it started, which was a call to arms for corporations in the early 1970s when corporations and oligarchs felt under attack from the New Deal policies of the mid-20th century. The Powell Memo was a call to essentially make monetary investments in buying democracy.
The democracy was functioning too well. It was becoming too responsive to what people actually wanted, and the idea was we have to legalize corruption to be able to rig the system so that we can buy outcomes, we the oligarchy. So that was season one of Master Plan.
The other pillar of the democracy crisis is then to concentrate as much power in the executive branch in the hands of really one person so that the small-D democratic institutions of government have much less power, so that power is less diffuse. It’s all in the hands of one person, because if that’s your guy — you the oligarchy — then you’ve essentially ended democracy. This story starts in Watergate. Watergate was the moment that was seen as a so-called imperial presidency, a presidency that had gotten out of control and stepped over the boundaries and thresholds that had been established for the executive branch.
Congress passes a series of laws that are designed to take power away from the executive branch. So the story really starts there at a kind of small-D democratic moment of triumph, but it also hatches a backlash, and that’s what the new season of Master Plan is about, The Kingmakers.
It hatches a backlash among conservatives starting in the Ford administration with Dick Cheney, who was chief of staff to make legal arguments and start creating legal doctrines that are designed to grab back the power that was taken in the post-Watergate era, put it back in the White House, and then significantly expand it.
“The original Project 2025 was The Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership, a policy bible whose through line was how to use executive authority.”
That’s what happens soon after Ronald Reagan gets elected president. We all have heard of Project 2025. Back in the late 1970s into 1980, the original Project 2025 was The Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership, a policy bible whose through line was how to use executive authority to do what the conservative movement wanted regardless of what Congress or any other institution wanted, and how to grab as much of that power as possible under a new legal rubric called the unitary executive theory.
I’m guessing some people have heard that. This is cooked up inside of the Reagan Justice Department in its battles with a Democratic Congress. A legal doctrine that is then tested in the courts in strategic ways to try to get it enshrined into the law.
From the Reagan era into obviously the Bush era, the Bush’s war on terror, Dick Cheney, the guy who had been spearheading parts of this when he was in the Ford administration and when he was in Congress, the Bush administration sees a huge consolidation of power under the veneer of the so-called war on terror.
“All of these powers, from the unitary executive theories that were forged in the Reagan administration to the drone war national security powers that were fortified by Obama after the Bush era, all of this is now resting in the Trump White House.”
Then in probably our most controversial episode of this season, we go into how the Obama administration ended up consolidating power in truly unprecedented ways. The Obama administration didn’t champion the unitary executive theory, but it did make a set of precedential legal arguments about the executive branch’s alleged power to execute and target for assassination American citizens without charging them even with a crime.
I’m talking about the drone war here. Some may say that the drone war was necessary, others may say it wasn’t, but the legal architecture and the outlining of the powers asserted by the executive branch were unprecedented and were effectively validated during the Obama presidency. Powers that are now, fast-forward to today, all of these powers, from the unitary executive theories that were forged in the Reagan administration to the drone war national security powers that were fortified by Obama after the Bush era, all of this is now resting in the Trump White House.
So the point of this is that what we’re living through today didn’t just happen because Donald Trump showed up to the White House. Donald Trump, when he got to the White House, had a series of levers, if you will, an entire control panel of executive powers, unprecedented executive powers, that were created for him.
So when we see him use those powers, it’s not to say we shouldn’t be terrified by it or outraged by it, but it is to say, let’s understand where those powers came from, because they didn’t just happen. They weren’t just seized randomly, and they weren’t just created by Donald Trump himself.
JW: As you just mentioned, efforts to bring the unitary executive theory to reality have been decades in the making. We saw President George W. Bush’s administration push in that direction, and now it’s reached just a whole other level under Trump. First, just to make it clear, can you briefly explain just how powerful is the American presidency under Trump, and what is the unitary executive theory?
DS: The unitary executive theory is this idea that the president singularly is the controller, the master, the decider of every single thing that the executive branch does. The executive branch, that’s one term for it. Another term for the executive branch is the federal government, right?
At one level they are one and the same, but I bring that up so that people can understand how radical the unitary executive theory actually is. When I use the federal government, maybe you’re thinking of the military. Maybe you’re thinking of the Agriculture Department, the scientists working on food safety in the Agriculture Department.
We’re talking about everything, the sort of basic functions, the on-the-ground functions of the government. Technically all of those agencies are operating in what we understand in terms of separation of powers. We understand them to be the executive branch. There’s Congress that makes the laws. There’s the president that executes the laws. There’s the courts that adjudicate battles between Congress and the president, adjudicate what the law is actually saying, et cetera, et cetera.
The unitary executive theory is saying that the president as the head of the executive branch has complete and total power to effectively do whatever the president wants inside of the executive branch.
So the unitary executive theory undergirds something like DOGE, the rampage that we all experienced right when Donald Trump came into his second term. He said, for instance, I’m shutting off all previously approved congressional grants across the entire United States. I’m asserting my executive authority to do that.
Now, Congress had passed laws saying that the money must be spent, but Trump and his administration were essentially arguing the president makes the decision on whether to execute those laws. So I give that example as a way for people to understand how radical an idea this is.
By the way, this came up recently with independent federal agencies. There are a set of agencies that Congress had set up and that presidents had signed laws, signed them into law in the past, saying that, the FTC or the Securities and Exchange Commission that these agencies are quasi-independent because the commissioners have set terms.
It’s much harder to fire them. Donald Trump went into court saying, I’m the unitary executive. These independent agencies structurally are unconstitutional. I should be allowed to hire and fire whoever I want at any time for any reason. And the Supreme Court largely agreed with him.
So this is about an unprecedented consolidation of power in the hands of one person to say that at any level of the federal government, any granular level, there’s some EPA scientist who is issuing a report about climate change that the president doesn’t like, the theory would hold that the president has a right, regardless of what Congress has passed, regardless of what the courts have adjudicated, the president has the right to reach into the EPA, target that one person, and fire them himself.
So you can see the dangers of this, because here’s the thing: Part of the way modern civilization has modernized from the old era of medieval royal courts, is that we have professionalized a lot of the functions of government. Like line scientists doing food safety reviews or environmental reviews or making all sorts of technical technical determinations, et cetera, et cetera. We had previously said this is going to be insulated at some level from the political whims of just one all-powerful king, whichever party it is. There’s a civil service, there’s a sort of a professionalized bureaucracy, if you will, and the unitary executive theory is trying to dismantle all of that.
Now, I want to add one thing very quickly here. I do think there’s an argument that, when a bureaucracy, a professionalized government bureaucracy, is so insulated from what voters are voting for, there can be an undemocratic disconnect there. If voters are voting for certain kinds of change and a kind of permanent bureaucratic government, because of job protections and the like over many years, is not responding to what people want, I do think there is a nugget of an argument there that there has to be ways that elections happen and policy changes then flow from those election changes.
But I think the unitary executive theory is a radical overcorrection for that kind of alleged problem. The solution to that theoretical problem is not to turn the president into an all-powerful king who can wake up at any day or any moment, ignore all of the laws on the books, and do whatever he wants.
JW: It sounds like there’s a lot that’s going to be happening in your podcast, and I’m, for one, really looking forward to listening to the rest of the new season of Master Plan: The Kingmakers. David, where can people listen to it?
DS: They can find it on our website at levernews.com. You can also go on your podcast app and just type in Master Plan. And you can go to our YouTube page. We have video versions of the episodes. That’s youtube.com/@levernews. The URL, the easiest way to find it, masterplanpodcast.com.
JW: David, thank you so much for joining us on The Intercept Briefing.
DS: Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.
JW: We want to hear from you. Tell us what you’re following or want to see more coverage of. Email us at podcasts@theintercept.com or leave us a voicemail at 530-POD-CAST, that’s 530-763-2278
That does it for this episode.
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Why Should Delaware Care? Spending by Delawareans on the cost of healthcare has exploded in recent years, with the total spend rising more than 5% annually. Taxpayers are hit twice by those rising costs, because they cover the insurance costs of state employees who make up the single largest bloc of patients in the state.
A state board that has long faced challenges from the state’s health systems voted on Tuesday to finalize regulations meant to increase oversight of hospital spending.
But as those board members finalized their regulations, they changed some language to accommodate concerns raised by the state’s hospital lobby.
While the board held firm on many of its draft regulations, it ultimately agreed to change some provisions the hospitals argued revealed too much about their business dealings.
Overall, the board will require hospitals to present and be able to explain their financials annually, as the state has seen hospital spending grow year over year. This would include some data about their workforce development, revenues, and other spending details that have, until now, gone without oversight.
Brian Frazee, who runs the state’s hospital lobby, also sits on the cost review board as a non-voting member. And on Tuesday, he defended many of the changes his organization proposed.
He argued that requirements to break down financial data for each commercial insurer that deals with a hospital would violate contractual agreements between the hospitals and carriers.
Additionally, his organization had raised concerns about communications between hospitals and auditors prior to final determinations made about their finances.
Ultimately, the passing of these regulations represents the board’s first major step toward hospital oversight. The regulations, at least in the short-term, will guide how Delaware aims to tackle rising healthcare costs that not only burden patients, but the state, too.
What happened during the meeting?
Board members opened the meeting with discussion of the regulations, as well as feedback from the state’s hospital lobby, the Delaware Healthcare Association. Discussion of the regulations took up most of the meeting.
Hospitals will still be required to share much of the information they would have been before. However, the board will allow healthcare systems to aggregate much of data, instead of breaking down costs more specifically.
One of the key concerns raised by the hospitals was a requirement for them to break down cost data by individual insurance carriers, something the hospital lobby requested the board remove entirely.
Brian Frazee, executive director of the Delaware Healthcare Association. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JACOB OWENS
Frazee argued during the meeting the revenue information about insurance carriers “is considered proprietary and very confidential.”
Ultimately, the board kept the provision, but allowed the hospitals to aggregate commercial-carrier-specific revenues under one tab, without naming the insurers. The data would also show separate revenues from federal payers like Medicaid and Medicare.
Another provision the hospital association raised concerns over was a requirement for hospitals to submit “reports in connection” with their annual audited financials.
Hospitals are audited annually and information about their financials are released annually to bond authorities, who will typically lend them money for large capital projects like new facilities.
An audit will usually be conducted by a major firm like KPMG or Deloitte, and in those audits, sometimes the firms will find deficiencies with the hospital’s finances.
Similar to the information about insurance carriers, Frazee’s organization argued some of those documents would be considered confidential, like communications between auditors and a hospital.
One board member, the former state Secretary of Finance Rick Geisenberger, said the board did not need to see communications throughout the process of an audit because there is not yet a concrete finding.
However, Geisenberger said during the meeting that if a hospital’s board of directors are made aware of financial issues during an audit, the state should see those communications.
“If ultimately there’s a communication from the auditor that says that there’s a weakness, that goes to the board, we need to see,” Geisenberger said during the meeting.
The board tweaked the language to remove the phrase “in connection” from the regulations, meaning hospitals wouldn’t be on the hook for the more sensitive preliminary financial communications. But the board would still be able to see final audit letters that are shared with hospital leadership.
How did we get here?
In 2024, the Delaware legislature passed House Bill 350, which established the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board. The law would later be signed by former Gov. John Carney.
The board was tasked with reducing hospital spending in Delaware, and given the power to veto hospital budgets it deemed excessive.
Prior to the law’s passing, the state’s hospital systems blitzed the statehouse, attempting to lobby lawmakers against the bill. Ultimately, that effort failed, and HB 350 was signed into law.
Shortly after, ChristianaCare sued the state. In its lawsuit, the hospital called the review board “draconian,” saying its ability to reject hospital budgets violated the state’s corporate charter.
State lawyers denied those claims, saying the regulations have nothing to do with Delaware’s corporate law. In previous court filings, they further said ChristianaCare’s arguments amount to an “army of strawmen” designed to halt the regulations.
Following an attempt by the state to dismiss the lawsuit, a judge in Delaware’s Court of Chancery allowed the lawsuit to continue.
Touching on Delaware’s corporate-friendly ethos, the judge said the question of whether the state board’s authority over hospital budgets unconstitutionally usurps a hospital board of directors has merit.
“In Delaware, the managerial power of boards of directors is sacrosanct,” said the judge, Vice Chancellor Lori Will.
Delaware Finance Secretary Rick Geisenberger was one of the five appointments to the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board. | PHOTO COURTESY OF GOVERNOR’S OFFCE
One of those Carney-appointed members, Geisenberger, stepped down as chair after a spat with Meyer.
In a letter sent to Meyer on June 7, 2025, Geisenberger recounted how he had declined the governor’s request to cancel meetings of the board, saying instead that the public body was “duly authorized” by the legislature and had a responsibility to perform its business “impartially and free from undue influence.”
“You have stated to me that holding any further meetings of the Board at this time would be a waste of State resources in light of recent developments and uncertainties,” Geisenberger said in a reference to the ongoing lawsuit.
Soon after, the state and ChristianaCare agreed to pause proceedings on the lawsuit until Sept. 30, 2025, in “the interests of the parties and the public.” In October, the state and the hospital announced a proposed settlement agreement.
In the months that followed, lawmakers introduced legislation amending the charter of the hospital cost review board, removing its power to modify and veto excessive budgets.
Since then, the hospital review board has also been tasked with monitoring how the state’s nonprofit hospitals offer federally mandated free and discounted care to low-income patients.
Why Should Delaware Care? More than 121,000 Delawareans are immigrants – around 12% of Delaware’s population. As ICE arrests increase this summer, legislation that could prevent some of those enforcement actions remain unsigned by the governor more than six weeks after they were approved by legisaltors.
Gov. Matt Meyer recently joined a bipartisan task force of U.S. governors working to present new immigration policies to Congress, but a slate of three bills aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants here in Delaware remain unsigned.
Meyer, who has publicly opposed the Trump administration’s increased ICE activity through previous executive action, did not give a specific reason for not yet signing the bills.
“When hundreds of bills are passed, I am not going to rush through and do shoddy work,” he said. “I am reviewing every piece of legislation for the people of Delaware. We’re going to review every law, and we’ll make a decision.”
Ingrid Ocampo, a community advocate, said that because an official signing date has not been confirmed, she is worried. She showed Spotlight Delaware a post she wrote for a local Latino community Facebook page raising concerns about the bills not yet being signed.
“We respectfully request to know if there exists a reason or circumstance that has delayed the signing of these bills,” Ocampo wrote in Spanish. “Additionally, we would greatly appreciate knowing if there is a set date for your signature.”
Meyer, along with bill sponsors Reps. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) and Mara Gorman (D-Newark), were tagged in the post.
Ocampo said she has not received further information or a reply since she originally posted on Aug. 2.
In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, Ocampo said the current political climate has inspired Latino Delawareans to urge Meyer to act.
“Esto es algo que urge a la comunidad porque estamos en un momento político que lo requiere.” she said. “This is something that urges the community because we are in a political moment that requires it.”
Ocampo was referring to the uptick in ICE arrests made in Delaware. From January 2024 to January 2025, ICE arrests more than doubled, rising from 224 to 695, according to the Deportation Data Project.
Governors’ immigration task force
While it remains unclear if and when Meyer plans to sign the Delaware immigration bills, it is also unclear what exactly the governor plans to do on the new interstate task force.
A spokesperson for Meyer’s office declined to comment on details regarding what exactly the governor plans to do with his new position.
He joined Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-Oklahoma), Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Gov. Wes Moore (D-Maryland) in a Bloomberg News interview earlier this month to debut the new group.
“Common ground is not being found right now in Washington, and we can come together — find solutions,” Meyer said during the interview. “Solutions that we think ultimately involve governors in the lead and state governments in the lead in identifying the economic and workforce imperatives.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, immigration laws are a federal responsibility, meaning states cannot pass legislation to reform the immigration system. They can only propose laws to Congress.
Recent reform attempts, however, have been unsuccessful. In 2013, the “Gang of Eight” — a group of bipartisan senators — attempted to provide a legal path to citizenship for millions of immigrants and increase work-related visas. Their bill ultimately died in Congress.
District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family
A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT.
Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared on Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges.
A week and a half ago I posted a one wheel game I was building and got taken apart in the comments — in the useful way. The iPhone beta is live now, so here's where it stands.
iPhone took longer than planned, and it was my fault, not Apple's. The first builds had problems that only showed up on iOS: tilt steering was mirrored (the sensor reports gravity inverted there), the app could die if you backgrounded it mid-run, and the intro screen hung on the first launch after installing. I didn't want anyone's first ride to be that. Fixed now.
What this sub changed, since I owe you the list:
"Tilting back doesn't let me come to a stop." Correct — and worse than reported: throttle AND brake were tilt-only, so about 86% of players never had a brake at all. There's a brake pedal in every control mode now.
"The jump over the house is ludicrous." The jump was fine. The house was 4.6 m wide with a 4 m ridge — a garden shed. Rebuilt at 7.6 × 6.4 m, two storeys, door left at 2 m so your eye has something to measure against.
"The gyro default is too sensitive." Dead zone and expo curve reworked.
Riding off the trail now actually costs you speed, instead of the trail being decorative.
Separate leaderboards per control mode — gyro riders were never going to beat touch riders on a shared board, the median gap was about 2.8×.
What's next: a third world (forest road), drops, and switch stance — asked for more than once in here, which is the strongest signal I get.
Still a beta and still rough in places. The 💬 button in the menu goes straight to me and is faster than this thread.
The refinery argues that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control changed the way it interprets the refinery’s air permit. Image created with AI on 8/13
Company says state regulators changed how they interpret its air permit and failed to consider efforts to reduce emissions
By George D. Rotsch, Editor, Delaware LIVE
DELAWARE CITY, Del – Delaware City Refining Company is appealing a $960,000 state penalty tied to an equipment outage in May.
The refinery argues that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control changed the way it interprets the refinery’s air permit. It also says DNREC failed to give enough weight to the company’s efforts to reduce emissions and safely complete repairs.
The appeal was filed July 30 with the Delaware Environmental Appeals Board. The board can uphold, change or reverse DNREC’s decision.
The case involves the refinery’s fluid coking unit, commonly called a coker, and a boiler that is part of the unit’s main pollution-control system.
The boiler was taken offline from May 7 through May 30 after workers found a leak. The refinery continued operating the coker while replacing the damaged equipment. Exhaust was sent through a backup incinerator during the repairs.
DNREC said the event released about 745 tons of sulfur dioxide and 50.5 tons of nitrogen oxides.
The department fined the refinery $40,000 for each of 24 days, the maximum daily penalty allowed under state law.
Dispute centers on permit language
The refinery does not appear to dispute the amount of pollution released. The disagreement is over whether the emissions violated the refinery’s permit.
DNREC says the coker has an annual sulfur dioxide limit of 182.3 tons. The department says that limit includes emissions released through the backup incinerator.
Under that interpretation, the 745 tons released during the May outage far exceeded the annual limit.
The refinery argues that the annual limit applies only during normal operations, when exhaust passes through the main boiler and a wet-gas scrubber. The scrubber removes sulfur dioxide from the exhaust before it is released.
The backup incinerator controls carbon monoxide and particulate matter, but it does not control sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides.
The refinery says its permit has separate rules for operating during periods when the main boiler and scrubber are unavailable. Those rules limit the coker’s production rate, the sulfur content of its feedstock and its hourly sulfur dioxide emissions.
The company argues that those backup rules would serve little purpose if the refinery were required to shut down the coker every time the main pollution controls went offline.
DNREC’s record is mixed
DNREC has previously said the refinery violated its permit by continuing to operate the coker when the main pollution controls were unavailable.
A 2016 violation notice covered two similar outages in 2015. DNREC said continued coker operations without the boiler and scrubber violated the refinery’s operating requirements.
In that respect, DNREC’s current position is consistent with its earlier enforcement.
However, the 2016 notice did not accuse the refinery of violating the 182.3-ton annual sulfur dioxide limit. That was true even though the two outages released a combined total of more than 570 tons of sulfur dioxide.
DNREC clearly applied the annual limit to backup-incinerator emissions in a September 2025 violation notice. It applied the same interpretation again in the current case.
The refinery says DNREC issued about 12 earlier violation notices involving similar outages without applying the annual limit in this way.
That suggests DNREC has been consistent in questioning continued coker operations without the main pollution controls. But counting backup-incinerator emissions against the annual limit appears to be a newer or expanded enforcement position.
The appeals board will have to decide whether DNREC properly applied the permit or changed its interpretation without enough explanation.
Refinery points to safety concerns
DNREC argues that the refinery should not have continued operating the coker while the main pollution equipment was offline.
The refinery says an immediate shutdown could have created other environmental and safety problems.
According to the appeal, an emergency shutdown could increase flaring, damage equipment and place workers at risk. Because the coker is connected to several other refinery systems, shutting it down could also force other parts of the refinery to reduce or stop operations.
The company says it can take about six weeks to return the coker to normal operations after a long shutdown.
Those claims are the refinery’s arguments and have not yet been tested during a hearing.
Company says it reduced emissions
The refinery says it informed DNREC, elected officials, Delaware City representatives and community members before beginning the work.
The company also says it:
Reduced the coker’s operating rate.
Reduced activity in another major refinery unit.
Used material with a lower sulfur content.
Stopped certain processing work.
Added sulfur dioxide monitoring.
Published real-time air-monitoring information.
Finished the repairs eight days earlier than expected.
The refinery estimates that reducing its operations cost the company about $4.3 million.
It also says air readings around the refinery remained within public-health standards during the repairs.
Those air readings do not prove the refinery complied with its permit. Air-quality readings in the surrounding community and emissions limits at the refinery are separate regulatory measurements.
Monitoring showed no reported community harm
No injuries, illnesses or known exposures were reported during the release, according to the refinery’s appeal.
Air monitors at the refinery’s property line and nearby state monitoring stations showed ground-level sulfur dioxide concentrations remained below federal public-health standards throughout the repairs. DNREC had also told the public before the work began that emissions could increase at the refinery while air quality at ground level remained in the “good” range.
The refinery argues that those readings show the release did not reach levels expected to harm the surrounding community.
The monitoring results do not settle the permit dispute. Public-health standards measure the air people breathe at ground level, while the refinery’s permit limits the amount of pollution released from its equipment. DNREC can therefore allege a permit violation even when nearby air readings remain below levels considered harmful to the public.
Maximum penalty questioned
DNREC said the large amount of sulfur dioxide released, the refinery’s history of violations and the economic benefit of continuing production justified the $960,000 penalty.
The department also said the refinery had not done enough to prevent repeated boiler outages.
The refinery disputes those findings. It says it ordered a replacement part after a 2025 outage and installed it in May rather than making another temporary repair.
The company also argues that DNREC did not adequately explain why the maximum penalty was appropriate. It says the state failed to fully consider the reduced production, extra monitoring, repair costs and safety risks of an immediate shutdown.
DNREC has a duty to enforce environmental laws and protect nearby communities. The refinery, however, is entitled to clear permit requirements, consistent enforcement and a penalty that reflects all the facts.
The Environmental Appeals Board will decide whether DNREC reached the proper balance.
To Go Box:
Case: Environmental Appeals Board No. 2026-06 Company: Delaware City Refining Company LLC Penalty: $960,000 Outage: May 7-30 Reported emissions: 745 tons of sulfur dioxide and 50.5 tons of nitrogen oxides Refinery’s request: Reverse DNREC’s findings and penalty Status: Appeal pending
A century-old youth organization is attracting new interest as Delaware families seek outdoor adventure, leadership, service and more face-to-face experiences for their children.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Scouting is finding renewed momentum in Delaware as families look for structured activities that get children outdoors, build confidence and create stronger face-to-face connections.
Ray Teat, Scout Executive for the Del-Mar-Va Council, said the organization is seeing families return to Scouting following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The number of scouts, scouting units and families involved with Scouting is once again growing following a challenging time for the program coming out of COVID,” Teat said. “But the number of young people, both boys and girls, is growing.”
The growth comes after a period in which Scouting America experienced significant national membership losses, including a sharp decline following 2019. In Delaware, however, local leaders say the focus has shifted to renewed family interest and the reasons parents are taking another look at Scouting.
“We’re seeing strong interest across Delaware because families want exciting programs with hands-on experiences that promote life skills — from Cub Scouts through high-adventure crews — and plenty of chances for parents to get involved,” Teat said.
Parents are looking for connection
Tim Holly, Executive Board President of the Del-Mar-Va Council, said the renewed interest reflects broader changes affecting children and families.
After the isolation and disruption of the pandemic, Holly said many parents are deliberately looking for structured activities that put children together in person and give them opportunities to build friendships, confidence and independence.
“Parents are looking for ways to reconnect their children with other kids and with their communities,” Holly said. “They want them outside, interacting face to face, learning how to work with other people and building confidence through real experiences.”
That desire for connection comes as families continue to wrestle with concerns about youth mental health, social isolation and the amount of time children spend online.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 40% of U.S. high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023.
The statistic does not establish a direct connection between mental health concerns and Scouting enrollment, but it provides context for parents seeking activities that emphasize friendship, physical activity, adult mentorship, responsibility and belonging.
Holly said Scouting offers a setting where children can step away from some of the pressures of an increasingly digital childhood.
“Families are increasingly concerned about how much of childhood is happening on a screen,” Holly said. “Scouting gives young people a reason to put the phone down, go outside, solve a problem, make friends and discover that they can do things they may not have thought they could do.”
An old idea fits a new concern
That may be giving one of Scouting’s oldest ideas new relevance.
Scouts camp, hike, cook, build, navigate, volunteer and work together. As they get older, Scouts gradually take greater responsibility for planning activities, solving problems and leading other young people.
“Scouting has always been about learning by doing,” Holly said. “What has changed is that parents now see even more value in experiences where kids have to interact with one another, solve problems together and learn how to lead.”
Holly said parents also are attracted to the resilience that can develop when children are allowed to encounter manageable challenges.
“You learn something about yourself when the weather changes on a camping trip, when something doesn’t go according to plan or when your patrol has to figure out what to do next,” Holly said. “Those are small challenges, but they teach independence, perseverance and leadership.”
More than camping
Modern Scouting reaches well beyond the traditional image of tents, campfires and knots.
Scouts can pursue interests involving science, technology, robotics, environmental conservation, public safety, communications, fitness and dozens of other subjects.
Holly said that combination of traditional outdoor experiences and contemporary skills has broadened the program’s appeal.
“Families don’t have to choose between outdoor adventure and the skills young people will need in the future,” Holly said. “Scouting can expose a child to conservation, technology, engineering, leadership and public service while still getting them outside and away from a screen.”
That flexibility also allows young people with different interests to find their own paths through Scouting.
Delaware is well suited for Scouting
Delaware’s geography gives local Scouting programs another advantage.
Families in New Castle County are within easy reach of state parks, trails, waterways, historic sites and camping opportunities. Farther south, Scouts have access to forests, coastal environments and Scout reservations across the Delmarva Peninsula.
Holly said Delaware’s compact size makes those experiences unusually accessible.
“One of the strengths of Scouting in Delaware is that adventure is not very far away,” Holly said. “Families can live in Wilmington or Newark and still be on a trail, near the water or at a campsite without spending half the day getting there.”
That accessibility allows local units to combine outdoor recreation with conservation, history and community service.
A broader Scouting organization
Scouting also looks different than it did for many of today’s parents and grandparents, although boys and girls participating together is not new to several of its older-youth programs.
Girls began joining Cub Scout programs in 2018, followed by the expansion of Scouts BSA to girls in 2019.
Young women, however, had already participated in other Scouting programs for decades. Exploring and Sea Exploring, now Sea Scouts, began welcoming young women in 1971. Venturing has included both young men and young women since the program was created in 1998.
Those programs continue to offer different paths for older youth, including high-adventure activities, maritime programs and career-focused experiences.
“Families and society have changed over time and Scouting has evolved,” Holly said. “We are reaching more young people, including girls, while remaining steadfast in teaching the things that have always made Scouting valuable — things like leadership, service, outdoor adventure and character.”
The organization has also adopted the Scouting America name as part of an effort to better communicate its broader mission to today’s families.
New Castle County shows momentum
Some of the most visible growth has come in New Castle County, where local units have expanded recruitment and held Join Scouting Nights designed to introduce parents and children to nearby packs and troops.
Teat said the growth is giving the council reason for optimism and reinforcing the relevance of Scouting for today’s families.
The experience also suggests Scouting may be benefiting from a broader shift in what parents value.
For earlier generations, playing outside, exploring a neighborhood and spending long stretches of time away from a screen were ordinary parts of childhood.
Today, Holly said, parents may have to create those experiences more intentionally.
“The things Scouting provides are not really new,” Holly said. “What may be new is how much families value them today. Being outdoors, having real friendships, serving other people and learning to take responsibility have become increasingly important in a world where so much of life is virtual.”
More than a century in Delaware
Scouting has deep roots in the First State.
The Wilmington Council was founded in 1914, became the Wilmington Area Council in 1931 and was renamed the Del-Mar-Va Council in 1936.
More than a century later, Scouting has changed considerably, but much of its fundamental proposition remains familiar.
Young people still go outside. They learn skills. They work in teams. They serve their communities. And gradually, they are expected to assume more responsibility for themselves and others.
For Teat and Holly, that combination may help explain why a century-old youth organization is finding renewed momentum.
In a childhood increasingly filled with screens, schedules and virtual connections, Scouting offers something decidedly different: a chance to get outside, build friendships, overcome challenges and learn how to lead.
To Go Box:
What: Scouting America programs in Delaware and throughout the Del-Mar-Va Council
Who can participate: Programs serve boys and girls, with opportunities based on age and interests. Several older-youth Scouting programs have been coed for decades.
What Scouts do: Camping, hiking, community service, leadership development, STEM activities, conservation, public safety programs and other hands-on experiences.
Local leadership: Ray Teat, Scout Executive of the Del-Mar-Va Council; Tim Holly, Executive Board President of the Del-Mar-Va Council
Where: Scout units operate throughout Delaware, with parks, waterways, historic sites and Scout camps providing opportunities for outdoor and educational programs.
How to learn more: Visit www.beascout.org to find a nearby pack or troop, email the Del-Mar-Va Council at info@dmvc.org or call 302-622-3300.
Photo Courtey of Volunteer Engagement Accelerator. Created with AI on 8/13
For nonprofits, volunteers can expand capacity, relieve pressure on staff and help organizations serve more people. For volunteers, Williamson believes the rewards can be equally significant.
By John Riddle
For Angela Williamson, volunteering is about much more than filling an empty shift, helping at an event or adding another name to a nonprofit’s roster.
It is about belonging.
Williamson, founder of Volunteer Engagement Accelerator (VEA), has spent nearly two decades working in volunteer engagement and nonprofit leadership. Today, she helps mission-driven organizations develop stronger systems for attracting, supporting and retaining volunteers, while helping those volunteers find meaningful ways to contribute.
“As a consultant, I help nonprofits create places where people belong, and I focus on volunteer engagement,” Williamson said. “Volunteer engagement is where people give of their time, their talents, their heart, their passion and their donations because they want to make their world and the nonprofit a better place to be.”
Williamson holds the Certified in Volunteer Administration credential, or CVA. She is a past president of the Delaware Association of Volunteer Administrators and received the AL!VE Impact Award in 2022. She has presented at conferences, appeared on podcasts and serves as an instructor for NOVAA 101, helping volunteer administrators develop stronger leadership skills.
Her passion for volunteering, however, began long before it became her profession.
As a child, Williamson watched her parents volunteer in many different capacities. One of her earliest memories involves volunteering at the Delaware State Fair, where she helped pick up litter and received concert tickets in return.
“I thought that was the best, most amazing thing ever as a kid,” she recalled.
Those childhood experiences also taught her something about the importance of making people feel included.
“I’ve always had that heart, I think, of helping the ones that don’t feel belonging, because I have felt left out before,” Williamson said. “As a kid, feeling left out, I think my heart grew for those people who did also feel left out.”
That desire to create connections remains at the heart of her work.
“I love volunteering because it helps people. It helps the community,” she said. “I get to grow, others get to grow, and it just builds a better world, a better community and better people along the way.”
Volunteering Is Changing
While the desire to help remains strong, Williamson says the way people volunteer has changed.
“I think volunteering has changed in what and how and when, but the passion and the desire to help others of volunteers is still deep-seated,” she said.
One challenge is that people are busy and often reluctant to make long-term commitments. Some prefer to decide at the last minute whether they are available, while nonprofits may need to know well in advance if someone will fill a particular shift.
Williamson believes organizations need to adapt by reconsidering what volunteers can do, how much time they need to give and even where the work takes place.
“We do need to, as a nonprofit field, adapt and change and create different volunteer roles and responsibilities and times and places,” she said.
That could include shorter assignments, one-time opportunities, virtual volunteering and skills-based projects.
Williamson also believes volunteering can help address another challenge facing many people today: a need for greater human connection.
“By volunteering and getting out into the world, doing things that are good for the world and connecting with people, people’s mental well-being can be supported and encouraged toward a more positive view,” she said.
Finding the Right Fit
For someone interested in volunteering, Williamson recommends starting by understanding what kind of experience best matches his or her personality.
“Know your personality,” she said.
Do you prefer working behind the scenes or interacting with people? Do you like structure or flexibility? Would you rather work independently or as part of a team?
“There are so many options,” Williamson said. “Sometimes a bad fit isn’t great. Even though you want to help, maybe it’s not the best fit for you. So, find the best-fit volunteer role for you, and you will flourish and do great, and the nonprofit will appreciate it.”
Opportunities can include one-time events, ongoing assignments, direct service, behind-the-scenes work, skills-based volunteering, leadership positions and board service.
And not having much free time does not necessarily rule out volunteering.
“You might not think you have time to volunteer, but sometimes it’s just an hour,” Williamson said.
Virtual and at-home opportunities can provide additional flexibility.
Once someone finds the right opportunity, Williamson emphasizes some basics that can make a big difference: Show up when promised, communicate if plans change, ask questions and speak up if something is not working.
When the Nonprofit Doesn’t Call Back
What happens when someone wants to volunteer, contacts an organization and never hears back?
Williamson says not to give up too quickly.
“If you’ve had a ‘bad’ experience or an organization did not get back to you, please be patient and ask them again,” she said. “Maybe give them three tries. Three strikes and you’re out, maybe. But not all volunteering is like that.”
Ironically, the reason a nonprofit does not respond may be the same reason it needs volunteers.
Staff members are often juggling numerous responsibilities with limited time and resources. An organization may desperately need additional help while lacking an effective system for recruiting and onboarding the people offering it.
That is one of the problems Williamson created Volunteer Engagement Accelerator to address.
“That’s where, as a consultant, I go in and help nonprofits organize themselves better so that they can respond more quickly and in more efficient ways,” she said. “I like helping nonprofits build that bridge toward volunteers and understanding to get people more involved.”
For nonprofits, volunteers can expand capacity, relieve pressure on staff and help organizations serve more people. For volunteers, Williamson believes the rewards can be equally significant.
“When you volunteer, you feel great because you’re making a difference in a cause, a movement, somebody’s life, a pet’s life, whatever that is, whatever the nonprofit mission is,” she said.
People looking for opportunities can contact nonprofits directly or explore resources such as AARP Create the Good and Idealist. In Delaware, Williamson points potential volunteers toward Volunteer Delaware, United Way of Delaware and Delaware Difference Makers.
And for anyone who thinks volunteering is simply about giving away valuable time, Williamson offers another way to look at it.
“It can be a résumé builder. It can be the reason and purpose to get out of bed in the morning,” she said. “It can be all sorts of things to all sorts of people, but it’s all beneficial.”
In early August, on the one-year anniversary of his father’s death, Samson Childs invited his godfather out to eat at a Wingstop on Nashville’s south side, not far from where his dad grew up. Hanging out with his godfather was a way for Childs to feel close to his father, Byron Black, who died at 69. “We talked and we cried and he gave me good memories — just old stories of my dad, him growing up, and how they stuck together,” Childs said.
Black spent more than three decades on death row before he was killed by lethal injection on August 5, 2025, at Tennessee’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. He’d been convicted in 1989 for killing his girlfriend, Angela Clay, along with her two young daughters. Black insisted he did not commit the horrific murders, but he was swiftly found guilty and sentenced to die.
Over the decades that followed, Black’s lawyers argued that his intellectual disability should have barred him from facing the death penalty. The district attorney’s office that convicted him even conceded that they were right, but the courts disagreed. By the time Tennessee prepared to kill him, Black had been diagnosed with dementia, kidney disease, and congestive heart failure.
“How would I feel knowing that this is my last day on earth?”
Defense attorneys argued that Black’s poor health put him at serious risk of a torturous execution, raising specific concerns over his implanted heart defibrillator and pacemaker. Experts warned that the device could deliver painful shocks before he died. To their dismay, Black did suffer on the gurney — although not for the reasons they most feared. Prison staff struggled to insert an IV in Black’s arm, spilling blood on the floor. The drug that was supposed to kill him — a massive dose of the fast-acting barbiturate pentobarbital — did not work as intended. Media witnesses said they could hear Black moaning in pain.
Childs was not at the prison on the morning his father was killed. He was at home in Nashville after a sleepless night. “You know, I’m putting myself in his shoes,” he said. “How would I feel knowing that this is my last day on earth?” It wasn’t until he watched a local news segment that Childs learned things had not gone well. “It messed me up, I ain’t gonna lie,” he said. “I can’t imagine being there, viewing this, seeing this happen.”
Black’s execution reignited controversy over capital punishment in Tennessee, where advocates had warned against executing him with a new protocol that had not been subjected to legal review. The one-drug pentobarbital method had been introduced by the state following complications with its previous, three-drug formula, which was itself adopted despite ample warnings that it violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Nevertheless, Tennessee pressed forward — with disturbingly predictable results.
On May 21, just nine months after Black’s painful death, Tennessee attempted to kill 57-year-old Tony Carruthers, convicted in 1996 of a triple murder he swore he did not commit. As in Black’s case, prison staff tried clumsily to place the IV lines for lethal injection. But this time they never finished. Carruthers spent 40 minutes being poked and prodded, only for a physician to enter the chamber and attempt to place what is known as a central line in his chest. The descriptions of what followed were harrowing. As Carruthers’s attorney, Maria DeLiberato would later write, “I saw the process unraveling with my own eyes.”
“The executioners draped Mr. Carruthers in a blue surgical cloth with a hole for his face,” she wrote. “When the doctor prodded Mr. Carruthers’s chest with a scalpel or large needle, Mr. Carruthers cried out in pain. But the doctor continued to push into his chest. Mr. Carruthers started groaning. … I told him that I was sorry. Mostly, I tried to hold his gaze and reassure him that we were still fighting for him.”
The ordeal ended only after the governor himself finally intervened, issuing an executive order putting off Carruthers’s execution for a year.
The temporary reprieve raised hopes that Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee might put all executions on hold. Instead, the state soon announced it intended to proceed with the next one. Before long, officials at the Department of Correction were preparing to kill 66-year-old Anthony Darrell Hines. He is set to die on Thursday at 10 a.m. — one of three people scheduled to be put to death in the U.S. on the same day.
Protesters rallying against the death penalty hold hands in front of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville on Aug. 9, 2026. Photo: Liliana Segura/The Intercept
It was Hines’s looming execution date that prompted Childs to speak publicly again about his own father’s death. This past weekend, he joined anti-death penalty activists for a protest known as the “March 4 Mercy.” On the Sunday before every execution, activists walk nine miles from the prison on the city’s west side to the Tennessee State Capitol downtown. With temperatures in the 90s and the air thick with humidity, the marchers were drenched in sweat as they made their way across town. Walking at a steady pace, Childs held up a sign for passing cars that read “Justice Requires Mercy” and “Blessed Are the Merciful.”
Childs could not begin to comprehend what had happened to Carruthers. But he also couldn’t shake the mental torture of a looming execution over everybody involved. It must impact everyone, he said, including the people witnessing and carrying it out. “Some of those people probably never want to do that again.”
Tennessee’s persistence in carrying out lethal injection is part of a recent spike in executions in the U.S. In Oklahoma, at the same time as Hines is set to be put to death, executioners plan to kill 70-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez inside the state’s death chamber in McAlester. Then, at 6 p.m., Alabama intends to execute 41-year-old Jeremy Williams at Holman Penitentiary in Atmore.
The last time the country saw three executions scheduled for the same day was in 2018, when Alabama, Texas, and Florida were supposed to kill three different men. Only one execution moved forward that day; in Texas, the governor granted a rare clemency request. In Alabama, which intended to execute Doyle Hamm, a terminally ill man in his 60s, the lethal injection was suddenly stopped because of problems setting IV lines. It was the first in a series of botched executions that would make Alabama infamous for torturing people condemned to die.
Although Tennessee has made the most recent headlines following its disastrous attempt to kill Tony Carruthers, both Oklahoma and Alabama have long been known for their own ugly track records. It was Oklahoma, after all, where a medical examiner first invented the three-drug protocol that originally comprised lethal injection, later griping that he never intended for it to be managed so incompetently. After the state made international headlines for the harrowing 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett, famed death row prisoner Richard Glossip was nearly executed using the same method the following year — only to be spared at the last minute after officials realized they had procured the wrong drug. Glossip, who has insisted on his innocence for three decades, was released on bail earlier this year to await a new trial.
In Alabama, after officials were forced to call off Hamm’s execution, the state took three hours to place IV lines in the body of a man named Joe James, whose execution isbelieved to be the longest in U.S. history. The state’s ongoing inability to carry out lethal injection ultimately led to a cruel new invention for executions: death by nitrogen hypoxia. Earlier this year, a judge declared the method unconstitutional, prompting the state to revert back to lethal injection.
In many ways, the controversy looming over Hines’s scheduled execution is a variation on a very old story. Lethal injection may be cloaked in the veneer of a surgical procedure — the doctor who tried to help the state kill Carruthers referred to him as a “patient” — but, in reality, it has always been a crude human experiment, using the tools of medicine in order to kill. In Tennessee, concerns over potential pain and suffering during lethal injection have prompted some people facing execution to instead choose the electric chair.
But lethal injection remains the prevailing method — and lawyers have little recourse when it comes to fighting against it. Years of U.S. Supreme Court rulings have inoculated lethal injection against legal challenges, no matter how much evidence reveals it to be torture. As Justice Samuel Alito reasoned more than a decade ago in upholding Oklahoma’s three-drug protocol, preserving the death penalty is ultimately more important than devising a humane way to kill the condemned. “Because capital punishment is constitutional,” he wrote in 2015, “there must be a constitutional means of carrying it out.”
There is one way in which Tennessee’s current lethal injection controversy is different from what came before. Despite the state’s attempts to keep the identities of executioners secret, the doctor who tried to assist in the killing of Tony Carruthers was revealed earlier this year as Dr. Mark Fowler, whose medical background includes working in an emergency room as well as, more recently, according to a profile in the Guardian, “weight loss and aesthetic clinics.” Fowler also writes opinion columns “for his local newspaper, the Union City Daily Messenger, that are reproduced by the conservative blog the Patriot Post.”
Most alarming for those facing execution, Fowler also lacks the qualifications to do what the job entails, according to attorneys for Hines. Last year he admitted under oath that he had not placed a central line in 13 years and lacked the privilege to do so at a hospital. Yet the Department of Correction has refused to assure attorneys that they will not rely on him. The department “knows that Dr. Fowler can’t do the job the protocol requires him to do,” Hines’s lawyer said in press statement this week, “and we’ve seen what that means in practice: a torturous, failed procedure that leaves staff, witnesses, and the prisoner traumatized.”
Fowler has declined to speak with reporters, and it remains unclear whether he will participate in Hines’s execution. Whether he does or not, Hines’s age and poor health puts him at heightened risk of pain and suffering as his execution approaches. In December he had the first of two strokes, according to his attorneys. “The prison initially called for an ambulance to transport him to an outside hospital for care,” the lawyers wrote in legal filings, but the corrections department’s medical contractor “inexplicably turned the ambulance away, determining that an in-house CT scan would suffice.”
Despite a scan eventually confirming the stroke, Hines was denied proper care, his lawyers said, and he “suffered another stroke in mid-January and collapsed, hitting his head. Since that time, he has been confined to the prison infirmary, where he remains paralyzed on the left side, has partial left-sided blindness, and has suffered severe muscle atrophy.”
Today, according to advocates who regularly visit people on death row, Hines remains isolated from the rest of the condemned population. As with Byron Black, whose shower chair had to be moved along with him to the “death watch” cell where he would spend his final hours last summer, prison staff recently had to devise ways to accommodate Hines’s hospital bed in the area near the execution chamber. When the time comes, he will be lifted from the bed and strapped to the gurney — a “grotesque spectacle,” in the words of his attorneys.
Nevertheless, the governor, who is just months away from leaving office, remains unmoved. On Monday, he announced that he would not intervene to stop Hines’s execution.
Whatever happens in the death chamber, there are some signs that some of Tennessee’s staunch conservatives are starting to worry that the state is starting to look bad. In June, nine senate Republicans wrote to Lee, asking him to spare Hines, who they describe as “profoundly disabled,” and questioning whether the state is currently equipped to carry out executions. “Repeated failures of this kind do not advance justice,” they warned. “They obstruct it, prolong the suffering of victims’ families, and hand the opponents of capital punishment their most effective argument against a penalty Tennesseans have chosen to keер.”
Update: August 14, 2026, 12:34 p.m. ET Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, was executed on Thursday, August 13, for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jenkins. He died by lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Asked if he had a last statement, Hines replied, “Not right now, thank you.” According to media witnesses, he then said, “Tell my son I love him.” After the drugs were administered, according to media witnesses, “Hines grunted then took three choking breaths. That was followed by multiple quieter, labored breaths.” His time of death was 10:43 a.m.
Members of Jenkins’s family were at the prison for the execution. Her adult daughter Melissa said, “This doesn’t bring closure, nor does it bring my mother back. But it does bring justice.”
In a statement, Hines’s attorney Katherine Dix said, “What we witnessed here today is not normal, and I urge us all to not become numb or indifferent to the cruelty,” the statement continued. “The leaders of this state repeatedly invoke the sanctity of life, but today the State put to death a man who was blind and paralyzed on his left side, could not walk, and was in constant pain. They lifted his body onto a gurney and wheeled him to the death chamber. May God have mercy on us all.”
Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong’s narrow defeat in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night wasn’t just a stinging blow to the left — it marks a political loss for a nonpartisan anti-data center movement that has been picking up significant steam across the country.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley beat the odds to eke out a victory by less than 1 percentage point on election night, a surprise upset after Crowley, who would be Wisconsin’s first Black governor if he wins in November, dropped out of the race and then reentered with the support of outgoing Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
The race became dominated in the final days by inane issues like whether Hong believed that Thanksgiving should exist, based on old tweets criticizing the holiday, echoing and accelerating the annual Fox News “War on Christmas” panic. The sudden fury over old tweets was a distraction from a concreteissue that Hong had made a key focus of her public talking points and likely drove her surge in popularity: data centers.
Hong’s campaign repeatedly emphasized that she was the only candidate in the race to support a data center moratorium, which would pause construction of any new data centers, giving the state time to create regulations and study their environmental and energy impact. The moratorium would not extend to data center projects already underway in the state.
“It’s time to press control+alt+delete to put a stop to this AI data center crisis, a full moratorium until we have the new regulations we need to protect our energy costs, our economy, our environment,” Hong said in a campaign video.
By all indications, it’s a popular position: A Gallup poll in May found that seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their area, and politicians from Maine to Texas have had to grapple with the public’s calls to bar the resource-hungry projects from their backyards.
Hong’s narrow defeat is a loss for the data center moratorium movement, particularly in Wisconsin, which already has dozens of centers littering the state. Crowley, now the Democratic nominee, has called for more regulation of data centers, but has explicitly denounced a data center moratorium, calling it a “short-term” solution. “I don’t think he’s going to make [data centers] a front and center issue,” said Michael Ceraso, a democratic strategist and founder and director of Winning Margins. “It might pop up peripherally.”
But Hong’s loss is far from a death knell for the anti-data center movement. While most voters would be hard-pressed to tell you what a data center was a few years ago, it has slowly become a major political issue that has helped to fuel the rise of insurgent progressives across the country. In this year’s midterm primaries, anti-data center candidates from Colorado to Kansas have been running and winning on the issue.
The data center issue has distilled multiple grievances with establishment politicians into a simple message: The people who represent you are selling you and your community out to the highest bidder.
“It turns out that if you’re not taking money from Silicon Valley, you can fight hard for a federal moratorium on data centers,” said William Lawrence, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, in a victory speech last week after he won his House primary race in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.
In his Michigan Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed won after vehemently opposing the construction of new data centers. At a rally in front of a massive new OpenAI and Oracle data center campus in Saline Township, Michigan, El-Sayed denounced the proliferation of data centers. “I stand with local and state elected officials saying that we cannot approve any more of these until we have federal-level guardrails,” El-Sayed told the crowd.
In Kansas, Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher won her Democratic gubernatorial race after calling for a moratorium on data centers. Holscher had previously voted for a bill that would have expanded the centers. And in Colorado, Melat Kiros unseated a 15-term incumbent, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., while running on a data center moratorium platform.
Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of the political recruitment group Run for Something, told The Intercept that Hong’s formidable campaign underscored how motivating data center opposition is for voters.
“Francesca Hong went from unknown state legislator to within a half point of winning the Democratic nomination in large part because she clearly spoke to the frustration and fear people have about what’s happening in the economy, especially around data centers,” Litman said.
The Sunrise Movement, which has backed anti-data center candidates, including El-Sayed, Lawrence, Kiros, and Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who won his House race last week, said that Democrats need to be at the forefront of this issue.
“The fight against unchecked data center expansion is quickly becoming a defining political issue,” said Denae Ávila-Dickson, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement. “Democrats must be the party that stands up for people over the corporations profiting from data center expansion in our backyards, and progressive candidates are leading the way in that fight.”
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition will hold its 17th annual Monster Mile Walk for a Cause & 5K from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, turning one of Delaware’s best-known sports venues into a gathering place for breast cancer survivors, families, supporters and runners from across the state.
Oct. 11 event adds a distinctly Delaware experience to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, giving families and survivors the chance to walk or race on the famed Dover Motor Speedway track
DOVER, Del. — Breast Cancer Awareness Month is recognized across the country each October, from community walks and fundraising campaigns to highly visible displays of pink throughout professional sports.
This year, Delaware will add an experience with a distinctly First State twist: the chance to walk or run on the Monster Mile at Dover Motor Speedway.
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition will hold its 17th annual Monster Mile Walk for a Cause & 5K from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, turning one of Delaware’s best-known sports venues into a gathering place for breast cancer survivors, families, supporters and runners from across the state.
The event comes during a month when breast cancer awareness receives national attention, including throughout the sports world. The NFL and its teams have long used the October football season to highlight cancer awareness, screening and early detection, helping make the month one of the most recognizable health-awareness campaigns in the country.
Against that national backdrop, the Monster Mile event gives Delawareans their own unusual way to participate — by stepping directly onto the same concrete oval where some of the biggest names in auto racing have competed.
From Race Cars to Runners
Instead of watching race cars circle the one-mile track, participants will take to the racing surface themselves.
The traditional one-mile walk returns this year, while DBCC is adding a timed 5K for the first time, opening the event to more serious runners as well as families and casual walkers.
“The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition is delighted to bring the 2026 Monster Mile Walk for a Cause & 5K back to the iconic Dover Motor Speedway, where our community will unite to honor, remember and support those impacted by breast cancer,” DBCC CEO Francesca Vogel said.
“Whether you choose to participate in our traditional 1-mile walk or take on our new timed 5K race, every step you take helps fuel DBCC’s life-saving mission,” she said.
For families, the event offers an opportunity to participate in one of October’s signature causes while experiencing a Delaware landmark from a perspective normally unavailable to race fans.
A Community Celebration
The day will extend beyond the walk and race, with music, face painting, food vendors, family activities and local vendor booths planned around the speedway.
Participants are encouraged to form teams, raise money and bring some personality to the track.
Awards will recognize the highest team fundraiser, highest individual fundraiser, best team costume and best dog costume. Special Monster Mile medals also will be presented.
DBCC also is seeking businesses, corporations and community organizations to sponsor the event. Sponsorship packages include event visibility, participant registrations and opportunities for company branding on event shirts and signage.
Every Step Supports Delaware Programs
Money raised through the Monster Mile directly supports DBCC programs throughout Delaware, including breast health education, access to screenings, personalized patient navigation, survivorship services and emergency financial assistance for people and families facing a breast cancer diagnosis.
The coalition also works to reduce financial, cultural and other barriers that can prevent Delawareans from receiving screenings and treatment.
Headquartered in Wilmington with offices serving Kent and Sussex counties, DBCC provides breast health education and support programs throughout the state.
Its programs include community health fairs, breast health presentations and a Peer Mentor Program that helps connect patients and survivors with support and resources.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month brings the issue to national attention every October. On Oct. 11, Delawareans will have the opportunity to make that observance local — and do it on one of the most recognizable tracks in American auto racing.
To Go
What: 17th Annual Monster Mile Walk for a Cause & 5K
When: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Dover Motor Speedway, Dover
Why it’s different: Participants get to walk or run on the famed Monster Mile racing surface as part of Delaware’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities.
What to expect: One-mile walk, new timed 5K, music, food vendors, family activities, face painting and community vendors.
Who benefits: Proceeds support Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition screening, education, patient navigation, survivorship and emergency assistance programs.
Register, form a team or become a sponsor: give.debreastcancer.org/ge/monstermile2026
A picture of the Monster Monument outside of Dover Motor Speedway. Photo Courtesy of Dave Reeder.
Dover Motor Speedway announced that it will hold its 109th NASCAR Cup Series event on May 16, 2027, as well as host the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on May 15.
Dover Motor Speedway announced that The Monster Mile will hold a 400-mile points race on Sunday, May 16, 2027, as a part of NASCAR’s 2027 regular season, according to a news release on the Dover Motor Speedway website.
Dover returns to being a points race after hosting NASCAR All-Star Race Weekend this past season. Denny Hamlin won the 2026 NASCAR All-Star race during Dover Motor Speedway’s first All-Star Race weekend, but said after that he’d rather have the venue host a points race.
“There’s no other track like this on our schedule, and it is so unique, and it requires such a unique style of driving, far different than any oval that we go to, that it just can’t lose tracks like this in our points schedule,” Hamlin said after winning the 2026 NASCAR All-Star race. “I just think it’s too valuable, and the fans really, really are passionate here.”
Hamlin will get to compete for his fourth consecutive win at The Monster Mile in a points race next May. No driver has ever won four consecutive races at Dover Motor Speedway, according to the release.
The 2027 race weekend will also feature the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series BetRivers 200 on Saturday, May 15, and the return of Dover Motor Speedway’s fan zone.
(To see pictures of the Fan Zone during last year’s All-Star weekend click here)
“Whether it’s a points race, an All-Star Race or a Chase race, one thing never changes—we work for the fans,” said president and general manager of Dover Motor Speedway, Mike Tatoian, via the news release. “They are the heart of everything we do, and we’re constantly looking for ways to make every visit to The Monster Mile more entertaining than the last. Our goal is to create memories that last a lifetime, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back next spring for another outstanding weekend on and off the track.”
The start time for the races have not been announced yet. The NASCAR Cup Series race will be televised on FOX Sports and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will be televised on The CW, according to an article on NASCAR’s website.
To learn more about acquiring tickets check out Dover Motor Speedway’s website here.
State auditor says fragmented systems make it difficult to verify whether employees are ever paid for overlapping taxpayer-funded work; University of Delaware disputes auditor’s authority over records from 2023-25
DOVER, Del. — Delaware lacks a reliable statewide system for identifying and monitoring public employees who hold more than one taxpayer-supported position, limiting the state’s ability to determine whether workers are ever paid twice for overlapping hours, according to a new performance audit from the Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts.
The audit, covering fiscal years 2023 through 2025, does not conclude that widespread improper payments occurred. Instead, State Auditor Lydia York’s office said incomplete records, disconnected payroll systems and inconsistent procedures prevented auditors from fully determining whether agencies and other covered organizations complied with Delaware’s Dual Employment Law.
The law, enacted in 1986, is designed to prevent public employees from receiving compensation from multiple taxpayer-funded employers for the same hours. It also requires covered organizations to maintain appropriate time records, verify hours and adjust compensation when necessary.
“The State cannot reliably identify individuals engaged in dual employment or effectively determine whether statutory requirements have been met,” the auditor concluded. The report said those weaknesses create a risk that improper concurrent compensation could occur without being detected.
No Central System to Track Dual Employment
Auditors attempted to identify potentially dually employed workers using records from Delaware’s Payroll Human Resource Statewide Technology system, financial disclosure filings, legislative records and information from individual agencies.
But no state agency maintains a complete list of people subject to the dual-employment requirements, according to the audit. Delaware also uses multiple payroll systems that are not fully integrated.
The Public Integrity Commission, which has oversight responsibilities under the law, relies heavily on annual self-disclosures and manual processes and does not have an automated system that can identify people simultaneously employed by multiple public entities, auditors found.
At individual agencies and organizations, auditors also found inconsistent procedures for documenting employees’ hours, obtaining supervisory verification and making payroll adjustments when work schedules overlap.
The report recommends creating a centralized system capable of identifying and tracking dual employment, improving integration among payroll systems, strengthening internal controls and recordkeeping, clarifying oversight responsibilities and providing the Public Integrity Commission additional resources.
Auditor and University of Delaware Disagree Over Records
One of the audit’s most significant limitations involved the University of Delaware.
The Auditor of Accounts requested personnel, payroll, timekeeping and scheduling information involving selected university employees who also held other taxpayer-supported public positions during the audit period.
UD did not provide the requested records. As a result, auditors said they could not determine whether the selected individuals received compensation from multiple taxpayer-supported positions during overlapping work hours.
The disagreement centers on whether the Dual Employment Law applied to the university during fiscal years 2023 through 2025.
UD maintains that it did not.
In its formal response, the university said it is a privately governed, state-aided institution rather than a state agency or political subdivision and argued that the version of the law in effect during the audit period did not cover university employees.
The university pointed to House Bill 38, signed into law in 2025, which established specific dual-employment reporting requirements for institutions of higher education receiving state funds. Those requirements took effect May 22, 2026. UD contends the legislation demonstrates that those obligations did not previously apply to the university.
UD said it recognizes its obligations under the new law and intends to work with the auditor on records required after the law’s effective date. However, the university said it would not release confidential employment records for fiscal years 2023-25 when, in its view, no statutory requirement existed to do so.
Auditor Rejects UD’s Interpretation
York’s office disagreed with the university’s legal interpretation.
The auditor acknowledged UD’s unusual status as a privately governed, state-aided institution and said the audit was not attempting to regulate university personnel decisions.
Instead, the auditor argued that its authority extends to determining whether state-appropriated money was spent in compliance with Delaware law.
“Public funds do not lose their character as State funds merely because they are disbursed through a state-aided institution rather than directly through a state agency,” the auditor wrote.
The auditor also cited a 2008 Delaware attorney general opinion concerning application of the dual-employment law to state-funded salaries at UD.
York’s office characterized House Bill 38 differently from the university, saying the legislation clarified reporting procedures for higher education institutions but did not create the auditor’s underlying authority to examine how state appropriations are spent.
The dispute remains unresolved for the years covered by the audit.
15 Individuals Affected by Records Dispute
The missing UD records affected the auditor’s testing involving 15 people who held positions associated with the General Assembly, courts or other state offices during the audit period.
The report identifies them as Sherry Dorsey-Walker, Melissa Minor-Brown, Madinah Wilson-Anton, Sophie Phillips, Michael Smith, Sarah “Tizzy” Lockman, Marie Pinkney, Martin O’Connor, Sheldon Rennie, Monica Horton, Janell Ostroski, Peter Burcat, Bethany Hall-Long, Cora Scott and Evan Park.
The audit does not find that those individuals were improperly paid or violated the Dual Employment Law.
Rather, the auditor said it could not determine whether the law was followed because it did not have the university records necessary to compare work schedules, payroll information and timekeeping records.
That distinction is central to the finding: the names appear because auditors were unable to complete their testing, not because the report established wrongdoing by any of the individuals.
Some Previous Problems Remain
The audit also followed up on findings from an earlier review covering fiscal years 2020 through 2022.
Auditors said a previous finding involving UD remains open because the university had not taken action to address it for the period reviewed. A finding involving the City of Dover also remains open, although Dover has drafted a policy that was awaiting City Council approval when the audit was completed.
Previous findings involving Delaware State University, Eastside Charter School and Delaware Technical Community College were considered resolved after the institutions provided evidence of new policies or controls.
Accountability Problem, Not Finding of Fraud
The broader conclusion of the audit is less about documenting fraud than about the state’s ability to detect a problem if one occurs.
Auditors cautioned that government performance audits are not designed to uncover every instance of fraud, waste or noncompliance. In this case, the larger obstacle was that records and systems were often insufficient to provide reasonable assurance that the law was being followed statewide.
Until Delaware develops integrated reporting, standardized recordkeeping and clearer responsibility for monitoring dual employment, the auditor said the possibility that improper overlapping compensation could occur without detection will remain.
To Go Box:
What is dual employment? Holding a public job while also serving in another qualifying elected, appointed or taxpayer-supported position.
What does Delaware law prohibit? Receiving taxpayer-funded compensation from more than one covered position for the same working hours.
Did the audit find widespread double payments? No. The auditor said the state lacked sufficient systems and records to fully determine compliance.
Why is the University of Delaware involved? Auditors sought UD payroll and timekeeping records for selected employees with other public positions. UD declined, arguing the law covering the 2023-25 period did not apply to the university.
Were the 15 people named in the report accused of wrongdoing? No. Auditors said they lacked sufficient records to determine whether dual-employment rules were followed for those individuals.
What happens going forward? A law that took effect May 22, 2026, establishes specific dual-employment recordkeeping and reporting requirements for state-funded institutions of higher education. UD says it will comply with those requirements prospectively.
Source: Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts, Dual Employment Performance Audit for Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2023-2025.
Delaware players have until 9:45 p.m. Wednesday to buy tickets for one of the largest lottery prizes offered in 2026
DOVER, Del. — Delaware lottery players have until 9:45 p.m. Wednesday to get a ticket for a Powerball jackpot that has climbed to an estimated $1 billion, putting the prize among the biggest lottery jackpots offered this year.
The jackpot for the Wednesday, Aug. 12, drawing carries an estimated cash value of $433.1 million before taxes, according to the Delaware Lottery.
The advertised $1 billion prize would be paid as an annuity, while a winner choosing the cash option would receive a one-time payment. Final jackpot amounts can increase depending on national ticket sales.
No ticket matched all six numbers in Monday night’s drawing, allowing the jackpot to cross the $1 billion mark.
Monday’s winning numbers were 6, 37, 54, 55 and 64. The Powerball was 10, and the Power Play multiplier was 3.
Although there was no jackpot winner, two tickets sold in California and Maryland matched all five white balls to win $1 million each. A Tennessee ticket matched the five white balls and included Power Play, making it worth $2 million.
Jackpot Has Been Growing All Summer
The Powerball jackpot has been growing since May 2, when tickets sold in Florida and Texas split a $20 million jackpot. By late July, Powerball officials were already calling it the largest Powerball prize of 2026.
The continuing roll has now pushed the jackpot into the rare $1 billion range, likely generating increased interest at Delaware Lottery retailers ahead of Wednesday night’s cutoff.
Powerball drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. Delaware Lottery retailers stop selling tickets for that night’s drawing at 9:45 p.m.
How Powerball Works
Powerball tickets cost $2 per play. Players select five numbers from 1 through 69 and one Powerball number from 1 through 26.
Power Play, which can increase most non-jackpot prizes, costs an additional $1.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292.2 million, while the odds of winning any Powerball prize are about 1 in 24.9.
Delaware requires lottery players to be at least 18 years old. Winners should check tickets carefully after the drawing and follow Delaware Lottery requirements for claiming prizes.
To Go Box
What: Powerball drawing
Estimated jackpot: $1 billion
Estimated cash option: $433.1 million before taxes
Drawing: 10:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12
Delaware ticket deadline: 9:45 p.m. Wednesday
Ticket price: $2 per play; Power Play costs an additional $1
Where to buy: Authorized Delaware Lottery retailers
Winning numbers: Available following the drawing through the Delaware Lottery and Powerball
No. 10 Charles Puit at bat during Naamans Little League’s game against Berlin Little League from Maryland. Photo Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball.
Naamans Little League defeated Berlin Little League from Maryland to advance to a semifinal game on Thursday.
Naamans Little League advanced to the semifinal round of the 2026 Little League Baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, following their win Monday evening. Naamans scored 12 runs in the elimination game.
The game started out as a pitchers’ duel between Delaware starter Jason Pontari and Maryland pitcher Gus VanKlompenburg. Both pitchers threw well and didn’t allow a run through the first three innings of the game.
Naamans scored the first run of the game in the top of the fourth. Catcher James Grugan scored Robert Heisler — after he started the inning with a lead-off walk — from third base on a two-out single up the middle giving Naamans the first lead of the game.
Berlin captured the lead in the bottom half of the inning on the strength of four hits including a lead-off double by Jonah Isett. Isett scored Maryland’s first run a batter later on first baseman Cooper Smith’s single through the middle. Singles by Jackson Baraby and VanKlompenburg drove in two more runs and, after a fourth run crossed the plate, Naamans trailed 4-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The Delaware squad responded in a big way with an 11 run top of the fifth.
Naamans recorded eight hits from seven different batters along with five walks in the frame. The first five runs of Naamans’ rally were scored prior to a weather delay that lasted over an hour. Delaware first baseman Kole Dzwilewski stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs when the game resumed and struck a RBI hit past the third base bag. The hit started a run of two-out success that plated Delaware’s additional six runs.
Delaware third baseman Taj Amobi scores one of Delaware’s 11 runs in the top of the fifth. Photo Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball.
Pontari and Brian Miller recorded the remaining six outs for Delaware, advancing the team to a semifinal game.
Naamans’ semifinal game will be on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Delaware will take on Capitol Hill Little League from Washington D.C. and the winner will move on to face Pennsylvania in the championship game. Delaware’s game against Washington D.C. will be aired on ESPN.
Health system ranks No. 5 in Philadelphia region and earns highest U.S. News rating in 13 procedures and conditions
NEWARK, Del. — ChristianaCare has again been named Delaware’s top hospital by U.S. News & World Report, while also ranking among the five highest-rated hospitals in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The health system ranked No. 1 in Delaware and No. 5 in the Philadelphia region in U.S. News’ 2026-27 Best Hospitals rankings released Tuesday. ChristianaCare also earned “High Performing” ratings in 13 adult procedures and conditions, the publication’s highest distinction in those categories.
The recognition continues a run of national rankings and patient-safety awards for one of Delaware’s largest health care providers.
“Awards and rankings like these are really about our people,” said Dr. Kert Anzilotti, ChristianaCare’s chief physician executive and president of its Medical Group. “This recognition reflects the talent, teamwork and commitment of our caregivers, who come to work every day focused on delivering safe, high-quality care and an exceptional experience for our patients and families.”
High marks across major areas of care
ChristianaCare received High Performing ratings for back surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, gynecological cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip fracture, hip replacement, knee replacement, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, lung cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery and stroke.
The list includes several areas that involve complex or highly specialized care, including cancer treatment, cardiovascular surgery and stroke services.
U.S. News evaluates thousands of hospitals nationally, examining factors that include patient outcomes, mortality rates, preventable complications and patient experience. ChristianaCare said the latest rankings were based on data drawn from more than 800 million patient-care records.
The High Performing designation is the highest rating U.S. News awards for individual procedures and conditions.
“For nearly four decades, U.S. News has helped families and their medical providers navigate complex healthcare decisions,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, according to ChristianaCare’s announcement.
Delaware also scores well for hospital care
ChristianaCare’s ranking comes as Delaware continues to receive relatively strong national marks for health care.
ChristianaCare said the latest U.S. News Best States rankings place Delaware No. 2 nationally for hospital quality, No. 4 for overall health care quality and No. 10 for health care access.
The recognition follows ChristianaCare’s No. 1 Delaware ranking in U.S. News’ 2025-26 Best Hospitals report, when the system received High Performing designations in 14 conditions and procedures.
Other recent recognition
ChristianaCare also has received several other national quality and safety designations.
Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital and Union Hospital received “A” grades in the spring 2026 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, according to ChristianaCare. The organization also has been recognized by Newsweek in areas including maternity care, rehabilitation and overall hospital performance.
ChristianaCare also is Delaware’s only four-time Magnet-designated health care organization, a recognition associated with nursing excellence and patient care.
To Go Box
What: U.S. News & World Report 2026-27 Best Hospitals rankings
Delaware ranking: ChristianaCare, No. 1
Philadelphia metro ranking: No. 5
High Performing ratings: 13 procedures and conditions
Learn more: Visit ChristianaCare’s website or the U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings for information about hospital services, individual procedures and the ranking methodology.
The Rock Orchestra’s six-night “All Together Now” festival offers families a rare chance to share 217 Beatles songs — and generations of musical history — together
WILMINGTON, Del. — Beatles fans have six nights beginning tonight to experience something far different from a traditional tribute concert — and perhaps introduce a child or grandchild to the music that changed popular culture.
The Rock Orchestra opens its ninth annual “All Together Now” festival Monday night at Delaware Theatre Company, launching a six-night musical journey through all 217 officially released Beatles songs in chronological order. Performances begin at 8 p.m. each night through Saturday, Aug. 15.
For longtime Beatles fans, the festival is an opportunity to hear familiar favorites alongside songs rarely performed live. For younger listeners, it offers something more: a chance to discover the Beatles the way their parents and grandparents did — as a band whose sound changed dramatically in just a few remarkable years.
That makes the festival an unusual opportunity for families to share some musical history.
Parents and grandparents who remember the Beatles can bring younger generations to hear why songs recorded more than half a century ago continue to influence the music they hear today. Instead of simply playing an old record or streaming a playlist, families can experience the music together in a live theater, performed by musicians recreating the increasingly complex arrangements that defined the Beatles’ career.
Six nights tell one musical story
“All Together Now” does not simply assemble the Beatles’ biggest hits.
Each evening picks up where the previous night ended, presenting albums, singles and deeper cuts in the order in which they were originally released. The format allows audiences to hear the transformation from the youthful rock-and-roll energy of the band’s earliest recordings to the increasingly ambitious studio experimentation of its later years.
Tonight’s opening performance features “Please Please Me” and “With The Beatles.”
Tuesday moves to “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Beatles For Sale,” followed Wednesday by “Help!” and “Rubber Soul.” Thursday features “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Magical Mystery Tour.”
Friday brings “Yellow Submarine” and “The Beatles,” commonly known as the White Album, before the festival concludes Saturday with “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be.”
That progression is central to the experience.
“The Beatles didn’t stand still for a single album,” said Joe Trainor, co-founder and musical director of The Rock Orchestra. “When you experience every song in release order, you hear them grow from a great rock-and-roll band into fearless musical innovators.”
More than a Beatles tribute show
Recreating those recordings requires considerably more than four musicians with guitars and drums.
Over the festival’s nine-year history, more than 112 musicians playing nearly 30 instruments have participated. A seven-piece core rock band is joined throughout the production by strings, brass, woodwinds and instruments including harp, sitar, tabla, mandolin, French horn and clarinet.
The result is designed to recreate not just the songs but the expanding musical imagination behind them.
Founded in 2017 by Trainor and Matt Urban, The Rock Orchestra has produced concerts celebrating artists including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Genesis, Chicago, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, Eagles and R.E.M. But “All Together Now” has become its signature summer event.
“It’s become a tradition for the musicians on stage and for the audiences who come back every summer,” Urban said.
Make it a family night
For people who grew up with the Beatles, the week offers six chances to revisit music tied to their own memories.
But taking a son, daughter or grandchild could make the experience even more memorable.
Young people may already recognize more Beatles music than they realize. “All Together Now” gives older generations an opportunity to put those songs into context — and then watch younger listeners discover for themselves how dramatically the band evolved.
With the festival beginning tonight and ending Saturday, the opportunity lasts only six nights.
Whether attending one favorite era or following the entire 217-song journey, this may be the kind of summer experience worth turning into a family tradition.
TO GO
What: All Together Now: The Complete Beatles Festival
When: Monday, Aug. 10, through Saturday, Aug. 15
Time: 8 p.m. nightly
Where: Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water St., Wilmington
Tonight: “Please Please Me” and “With The Beatles”
Single-night tickets, festival passes and VIP packages are available through Delaware Theatre Company.
Why go: Hear all 217 officially released Beatles songs performed chronologically — and consider bringing your children or grandchildren for a night of music that connects generations.
The Flipside formula appears to involve quality coffee, homemade-style comfort food, very early mornings, a supportive family, plenty of determination and, every once in a while, using milk for something other than the coffee.
By John Riddle, Contributing Journalist, Delaware LIVE
Some business ideas begin with a detailed plan, a group of investors and months of market research.
Others begin with a guy who loves coffee, knows the restaurant business and suddenly realizes Delaware could use a really good biscuit.
For Gregory Safian, owner of Flipside Coffee and Biscuits in Middletown, the road to entrepreneurship was more than two decades in the making.
Safian has spent more than 23 years in the restaurant industry, and almost from the beginning, he imagined someday owning a food business of his own. Long before Flipside served its first customer, he would create mock menus for restaurants and food trucks that existed only in his imagination.
“I’ve spent over 23 years in the restaurant industry and always dreamt of owning my own food establishment since the early days of my career,” Safian said. “I would fantasize about it and write mock menus for restaurants or food trucks I wouldn’t have been able to open then.”
His original vision was a bar and restaurant, but life has a way of rewriting even the best imaginary menu.
Safian became increasingly interested in coffee about 15 years ago. Starting a family also changed his priorities, and eventually the dream evolved from a traditional restaurant into something built around coffee.
He and his wife were actually preparing to open a café before COVID-19 arrived. They had also recently welcomed their son, and ultimately decided the timing was not right.
Then came 2025.
“I got the itch again in early 2025 and went on a warpath to turn the dream into a reality,” Safian said.
This time, coffee would unquestionably be at the center of the business. But Safian knew coffee alone was not enough. Flipside needed something distinctive to accompany it.
The answer had actually been baking in his kitchen for years.
During the pandemic, Safian experimented with pastries, breads, pizza dough, bagels and biscuits. As he and his wife brainstormed what their future coffee business could serve, one particular item kept rising to the top.
Biscuits.
“We had to have a thing,” Safian said. “Then it hit me. Biscuits! Delaware doesn’t really have any biscuit restaurants and that’s how the concept was born.”
From Dream to Trailer
The mobile food business offers entrepreneurs an alternative to immediately taking on the expense and complexity of a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant. But operating from a trailer hardly means the work is easy.
That was something Safian quickly discovered.
The biggest hurdle was money. He and his wife scraped together what they could to launch the business, and Safian spent much of the summer of 2025 outfitting the trailer himself.
Before work. After work. On weekends.
Securing a commissary kitchen created another headache when an arrangement they thought was finalized fell through. Equipment compliance issues caused additional delays.
Still, the timetable was impressive. Safian purchased the trailer in April 2025. By August, Flipside Coffee and Biscuits was open for business.
The long hours required to get Flipside started have not disappeared now that the business is operating.
A typical day begins at precisely 5:27 a.m.
“That’s the absolute latest I can sleep until,” Safian joked.
Everything needs to be loaded by 5:55. Setup takes about 30 minutes, followed by roughly four and a half hours of serving customers. Then comes about an hour and a half breaking everything down, followed by unloading, washing dishes, cleaning and restocking for the next day.
Flipside operates Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday is Safian’s only complete day off. On Monday, it starts all over again with inventory, stocking and preparation for the coming week.
Initially, Safian and his wife handled virtually everything themselves, including baking, cooking and operating the trailer. They have since brought in some behind-the-scenes help, giving the couple a little breathing room.
Coffee First, But Don’t Forget the Biscuits
While biscuits helped give Flipside its identity, Safian remains serious about the first half of the company’s name.
Coffee.
Flipside focuses on sourcing fresh, quality coffee beans and using proper techniques when preparing espresso drinks. The food receives similar attention. The business uses its own biscuit recipe, and eggs are freshly cracked rather than relying on shortcuts.
“Our typical customer is someone who can appreciate good coffee and good comfort food,” Safian said. “I think our customers can tell the difference.”
Located at 100 N. Bayberry Parkway in Middletown, Flipside sits within reach of Routes 1, 301 and 13, helping create an eclectic customer base that includes commuters, nearby residents, families and travelers passing through the area.
Safian said the clientele crosses generations and backgrounds.
“Coffee is universal,” he said.
When Winter Throws You a Curve
Opening a mobile food operation also means dealing with something traditional restaurants rarely have to worry about inside their dining rooms: Mother Nature.
Flipside’s first winter provided a crash course.
Extreme cold created problems starting the generator, sometimes delaying opening. Water lines froze. Then there was the day a propane heater caught fire inside the trailer.
Safian reached for the closest thing available to put out the flames.
Milk.
The winter weather indirectly led to something much more positive.
When the parking lot at Flipside’s former location was not plowed and froze over, Safian needed somewhere else to set up. Flipside had already been visiting the North Bayberry community during the first week of each month, and residents had embraced the business.
What began as an emergency relocation eventually became home.
“The community really embraced us, so we ultimately decided to move there full time,” Safian said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for their support.”
What’s on the Flipside?
Safian is already thinking about what comes next.
Plans are underway to add a second mobile coffee unit. The existing operation will continue serving customers at its regular Middletown location, while the additional vehicle would give Flipside the flexibility to participate in more events and serve customers away from its home base.
And the dream that began more than 23 years ago is still evolving.
Within five years, Safian hopes Flipside will make the leap from mobile operation to a brick-and-mortar location.
The restaurant business remains a challenging place to build a dream. The National Restaurant Association projects restaurant and foodservice sales will reach $1.55 trillion nationwide in 2026, but operators continue to face persistent cost pressures and uneven customer traffic.
For small independent businesses, success often comes down to finding a concept customers remember, offering something they cannot easily find elsewhere and building relationships with the surrounding community.
For Flipside, that formula appears to involve quality coffee, homemade-style comfort food, very early mornings, a supportive family, plenty of determination and, every once in a while, using milk for something other than the coffee.
Zambia’s election: President Hichilema must preserve his country’s democratic reputationExpert commentjon.wallace
In opposition Hichilema made international friends as a champion of democracy. In power he must resist tipping the scales in favour of his party.
Zambia’s general election on 13 August has far greater international significance than the country’s landlocked status and modest economic size might imply. The winner of the presidential poll will take power over a country at the centre of Africa’s critical minerals competition, debt diplomacy and shifting regional alliances. Zambia’s prized democratic reputation will also be tested.
President Hakainde Hichilema’s first term has been defined by the tension between intersecting priorities. On one hand, his economic and political reforms require policy consistency and a commitment to maintaining the country’s democratic institutions. On the other, a lag between headline economic reforms and a tangible sense of improvement for Zambians increases the risk his party is rejected at the ballot box.
The president has been accused by the opposition of taking an authoritarian approach to shore up his support. But Hichilema can secure a second term without democratic backsliding. And a credible election is vital to preserving the faith of investors. The UK, EU and Zambia’s allies across Africa must now act as critical friends to ensure that this election is not overshadowed by authoritarianism.
Expectation gap
A key feature of Hichilema’s first term government has been its pursuit of difficult macroeconomic reforms and debt management. The early years of his presidency saw Zambia’s standing in international economic circles restored and its macroeconomic position stabilized via a debt restructuring process. The Zambian Kwacha was the best performing currency in Africa in 2025, with Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane earning plaudits for his role. Yet the country’s financial rehabilitation remains abstract to many voters who are yet to feel the benefits in daily life.
Meanwhile the outlook for the mining sector – the backbone of Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings and critical to its stabilized macroeconomic position – is ambitious but uncertain. The government has declared an output target of three million tonnes of copper per year: more than triple the present output. That would require at least 10 new mines of an equivalent scale to Zambia’s largest current operations.
Without the rejuvenation of the nation’s most important industry, it will be very difficult to meet Zambian voters’ demands.
Such rhetoric has attracted global attention and some notable new investment commitments. But the fact remains that pledges are not mines, exploration is not production, and announcements are not revenues. The lengthy process of reforming the national mining code into two new pieces of legislation created significant uncertainty. And many major investors are worried by repeated political rhetoric pushing resource nationalism and accusations of discretionary changes to licences on the online cadastre.
What matters now is whether the policy environment remains consistent enough to create confidence in the sector. Investment might walk away if improvements are not seen soon. Without the rejuvenation of the nation’s most important industry, it will be very difficult to meet Zambian voters’ demands.
Authoritarian tightrope
Zambia is a flagbearer for democracy in Southern Africa. Six presidents from three parties have been elected since the first multi-party vote in 1991 – though the transition of power has not always been smooth.
Hichilema rejected the outcome of elections in 2015 and 2016, which he lost narrowly, on each occasion refusing to recognize the victory of Edgar Lungu. Hichilema was imprisoned on treason charges in 2017 before being released. His 2021 election victory was his fifth attempt to win the presidency.
The political and diplomatic capital he accumulated in opposition – including during his imprisonment – was premised upon support for democracy and pluralism. He therefore did not come to power with a blank cheque, but a mandate to protect the institutions that carried him there.
With the election poised to be a referendum on his government’s economic record, Hichilema may be tempted to use his powers to tilt electoral odds in his favour: the opposition say the government is restricting their campaigning – a charge Hichilema denies.
What should allies do?
This leaves Zambia’s international partners in an uneasy position. Their economic interests may be best served by the predictability of a second term for the president. But these interests are tied to the strength of Zambia’s democracy and institutions.
In the early years of Hichilema’s presidency, allegations of authoritarian drift were often dismissed as partisan, especially when raised by figures from a discredited opposition.
But over time those concerns have become harder to ignore, particularly around freedom of speech, criticism of politicians and individual rights. For example, rights groups have argued that Zambia’s new cyber legislation has widened the scope for surveillance, criminalized forms of expression too broadly, and created a self-censoring effect on journalists and critics.
Nonetheless, some of the most controversial proposed legislative changes have been removed from bills before making it to presidential assent. The government has sought to balance control with appeasement of domestic and international criticism.
This approach to the presidency was described in one recent Chatham House event as ‘Hichilema with glitches’.
The 2026 elections process
There are also concerns around the Electoral Commission and the wider framework for voting. The number of parliament seats won through nomination and proportional representation has increased. Boundaries have been changed, and wards added in supposedly incumbent strongholds – all this could amplify the president’s electoral gains. The Electoral Process Act, passed just before parliament’s dissolution, also introduced candidate nomination requirements that some argue are seemingly preferential to Hichilema’s party, the United Party for National Development (UPND). However, thus far the changes to the electoral environment do not amount to a significant undermining of the electoral process.
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President Hakainde Hichilema speaking at a 2021 Chatham House event about the 2026 election.
Timely results announcements will be important: delays will feed perceptions of manipulation and could trigger unrest. Zambia’s elections have historically been relatively peaceful, but domestic observers have already pointed to some instances of political violence.
There is one other significant change this year: Former President Rupiah Banda, who died in 2022, was instrumental in managing the transition from President Lungu to Hichilema following the 2021 election. Banda’s absence will increase the importance of regional and international observers.
The EU already has a long-term observation mission in the country. And the African Union (AU) and partners including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will also work collectively. They will need to complement local observation, especially by the Christian Churches Monitoring Group, the largest and most independent domestic election observation body.
Regional and international credibility
The AU and SADC were important balanced critics of the Tanzania elections in October 2025. There is less expectation of electoral violence in Zambia this year. But it will be important for the mission to uphold agreed standards and call out irregularities. To succeed, observers will need to characterize their mission as cooperating in Zambia’s democratic project, and avoid any perception of being deployed to manage a worst-case scenario.
Hichilema’s political story is one of repeated rejection by a system, followed by his triumph as a democratic champion. His international friends helped him through this journey, but their support should not be unconditional. They need to remain consistent in supporting economic reform and democratic values, and remind the government that democratic credibility is not preserved by victory alone, but by restraint in power. The best outcome is one that confirms Zambia’s democratic reputation without damage to its foundations.
A century-old youth organization is attracting new interest as Delaware families seek outdoor adventure, leadership, service and more face-to-face experiences for their children.
Instead of watching race cars circle the one-mile track, participants will take to the racing surface themselves.
“I’ve spent over 23 years in the restaurant industry and always dreamt of owning my own food establishment since the early days of my career,” Safian said. “I would fantasize about it and write mock menus for restaurants or food trucks I wouldn’t have been able to open then.”
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