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    Trump’s recent statements on the economy are even more bonkers than usual | Steven Greenhouse

    Our ‘genius’ president is revealing his ignorance of economics, fueling concerns about the threat he poses to the worldDonald Trump recently made a bold claim about his abilities, writing on Truth Social: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”But in the days before and after that post, Trump made one mind-boggling statement after another, including one that raised the possibility of cutting off all trade with dozens of the US’s trading partners. The president’s statements had many experts questioning not just his intelligence, but also whether he – and the outlandish policies he was proposing – were a clear and present danger to both the US economy and the world economy. Public respect for Trump’s economic sense has fallen so low that just 7% of Americans think he should take the lead in regulating AI, according to a recent WSJ poll. Continue reading… More

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    Monday briefing: You asked, we answered – how will the US midterms go?

    In today’s newsletter: As Americans get ready to vote on whether the Republican party remains in control of Congress, our Washington editor talks about the disconnect between Trump and his supportersGood morning. Later today, Donald Trump will be in the state of Nebraska to rev up supporters as he kicks off a campaign blitz of rallies ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November.If his early speeches are anything to go by, cornhuskers can anticipate poll denial, accusations of veganism and an expletive ratio that my nine-year-old would love. And Nebraskans may love it, too: aside from one “blue dot” district in Omaha, Republicans argue their support is steady in the state that has easily backed Trump three times.UK politics | The Greens in England and Wales have formally adopted a policy that equates Zionism with racism and calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.Schools | Lawyers and campaigners have condemned the “horrifying” scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools after a Guardian investigation revealed thousands of sexual offences against under-13s are reported to police each year.Brazil | Brazil’s presidential race will go to a second round after the far-right candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro, beat the incumbent leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but failed to secure the outright majority he needed to avoid a runoff.Environment | A study of Europe’s summer paints a grim picture for the future, with doctors and climate scientists calling on governments to stop burning fossil fuels, shade buildings, green cities, and install air conditioning in hospitals, schools and care homes.US military | The US Air Force has pulled its bombers from RAF Fairford following an investigation into an alleged planned terror attack at the base.Tuesday | ABC News is suing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its licence review, and on Thursday its hearing will take place. The broadcaster claims the review, ordered by Donald Trump in April over comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about the US president, is a “retaliatory campaign” in violation of its first amendment rights.Wednesday | Kemi Badenoch is to speak at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. This day also marks the third anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas. In London, the Met are asking organisers of a pro-Palestinian student march to move the event.Thursday | Holborn and St Pancras will hold its byelection. The seat belongs to former prime minister and Labour party leader Keir Starmer, who held it from 2015 until his resignation in September. Continue reading… More

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    White House defends new press aide who posed with rifle in ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ shirt

    Beni Rae Harmony, 24, has been ‘a trusted voice for the MAGA movement as a White House correspondent’, White House saysThe White House has defended a newly hired press aide who posed for a holiday photograph in 2021 wearing a “Fuck Joe Biden” T-shirt and holding a rifle.Beni Rae Harmony, the new assistant White House press secretary, revealed on Friday that she was going to work for Donald Trump just days after covering him as a correspondent for Real America’s Voice, a partisan rightwing outlet originally created as a video podcast platform for the president’s former adviser Steve Bannon. Continue reading… More

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    Trump names intelligence chief Jay Clayton as new White House AI czar

    Clayton had said AI was a ‘gamechanger’ but also posed ‘a threat’ during his confirmation hearingDonald Trump on Sunday named Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, to also serve as the new White House AI czar.Clayton, who leads the US’s 18 intelligence agencies, previously served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and led the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term. Continue reading… More

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    After a deadly paper mill explosion, a community in Washington state looks to a key House race

    In a district shaken by deaths of 11 workers, Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez faces a stiff challenge to keep her seatOn a misty morning in May in south-west Washington state, Laura Oltmann, a 41-year-old dietitian, had barely clocked in when an unfamiliar overhead announcement echoed through the hospital.“We get overhead pages for different types of emergencies. But this one, we don’t get very often,” recalled Oltmann. Continue reading… More

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    JD Vance flexing Maha connections as he eyes 2028 election

    Considered Republican frontrunner for presidential election, Vance is cozying up to the movement – as it splitsJD Vance, widely considered to be the Republican frontrunner for the presidential election in 2028, is aligning himself with the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement as some say it is shedding its grassroots supporters in favor of political and corporate interests.The US vice-president has positioned himself as the inheritor of Make America Great Again (Maga), and attaching himself to Maha, which many in the Trump administration believe helped to win the 2024 election, signals a greater overlap between the two movements as the administration’s popularity plummets amid the war in Iran and rising prices. Continue reading… More

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    Before Cornell turmoil, successive US administrations seesawed in attitudes towards campus assaults

    Democratic and Republican administrations have taken different tacks in addressing campus sexual assaultAmid renewed concerns about sexual assault on US college campuses following allegations that a student was gang-raped at a Cornell University fraternity, the Trump administration last week formally reversed measures from recent Democratic presidents concerning how schools should investigate such claims.A federal judge had already in January 2025 struck down Biden-era regulations that expanded Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The Democratic president tried to undo regulations established during Trump’s first term that, contrary to guidance from the Obama administration, required schools to adjudicate sexual misconduct claims through live hearings. Continue reading… More

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    Trump wants control of South America. If Bolsonaro Jr wins in Brazil, that could become a reality | Steve Bloomfield

    The US president has taken credit for far-right victories across Latin America, but those wins have had more to do with fears of gang crime than his meddlingDonald Trump has enjoyed very few foreign policy victories since returning to power. From failed wars to failed peace processes, his second term in office has been marked by one costly blunder on the world stage after another. In Latin America, though, the US president has a different story to tell.His administration’s national security strategy outlined how the US wanted to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere”. It was a brazen document, laying out how his government would interfere in the political life of countries it considered part of its sphere of influence, rewarding governments and movements that are “broadly aligned with our principles and strategy”. Continue reading… More