"Iphigeneia" Hong: Was Bernie and AOC’s Selective Distance a Political Calculation?

Opinion: Yiannis Damellos

August 12, 2026

Why does Francesca Hong’s loss on Wednesday remind me of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia in Aulis? It's as if the ships of change need winds to sail, and the Oracle ordered Hong to be sacrificed because Troy can't wait. All the evidence points to this tragedy called politics: being sacrificed for the greater good.

The two main actors here, Bernie Sanders and AOC, who, had they rallied once on her behalf, would have seen her win in a landslide, never really backed her campaign; yet, I would not interpret her non-endorsement primarily as an ideological break with her. The evidence so far points much more toward electoral strategy, candidate vetting, and protecting their broader coalition.

Former deputy mayor and now Mamdani nemesis sued the city’s pied-à-terre tax rollout. The city froze the judge’s pause within hours

 FORTUNE 

Catherina Gioino

Updated Tue, August 11, 2026 at 11:53 AM PDT

9 min read

The city's pied-à-terre tax received a stay on a temporary restraining order on Monday

There's no business like show business, and there's no city like New York City when it comes to getting sued. The ongoing saga of New York's pied-à-terre tax continued this week, when attorney Randy Mastro, the former first deputy mayor under Eric Adams, filed a lawsuit last week challenging the city's rollout of the tax. But after a judge sided with him on Monday, the city filed an appeal hours later that automatically put the ruling on hold.

What to know about the Bald Range fire and B.C.’s wildfire emergency

Aug 11, 2026 | 3:59 PM
Here are key facts about the Bald Range wildfire that exploded within hours of its detection in British Columbia’s south Okanagan region on Aug. 7.

B.C. officials declared a provincewide state of emergency the next day, with Premier David Eby saying it marked a significant shift in the province’s wildfire season.

Progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan wins Minnesota Democratic Senate primary

Aug. 11, 2026, 8:25 PM PDT

By Bridget Bowman

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has won the Democratic primary for the Senate in Minnesota, NBC News projects, notching another major victory for her party’s progressive wing.

Flanagan defeated moderate Rep. Angie Craig in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith, who endorsed Flanagan along with Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other progressive leaders. She would be the first Native American woman in the Senate if she is elected in November.

What If the Threat Was Real? Were the President’s Journalists Treated as Collateral Damage?

Trump Administration

August 11, 2026

Trump’s Secret Plane Switch Raises Serious Questions About His Responsibility to the Journalists Covering Him

President Donald Trump’s secret decision to leave Turkey aboard a different aircraft while journalists and some White House staff remained on the presidential plane raises a troubling question that goes beyond the extraordinary nature of the deception: Why were the journalists who accompanied him not told about a potentially serious security threat?

Earth’s molten core suddenly reversed direction — and scientists don’t know why

Date: August 7, 2026

Source: European Space Agency (ESA)

Summary: Earth’s molten iron core unexpectedly reversed direction beneath the Pacific, revealing a dramatic change in the hidden engine that creates our planet’s magnetic field. Satellite data suggest the surge is already weakening, raising the possibility that the deep-Earth upheaval is part of a mysterious natural cycle.

Jeff Bezos consortium ‘nears deal’ to buy significant Liverpool stake

Story by Jamie Braidwood
Mon, August 10, 2026 at 3:35 AM PDT·

The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is part of a consortium that is nearing a deal to buy a minority stake in Liverpool, according to a report. Sky News reported on Monday that the consortium, led by Amit Bhatia, the British-Indian millionaire and former co-owner of QPR, is close to buying a "roughly one-third stake" in the Premier League club.

THE SEMI-NEGOTIATION ZONE: Trump’s Road to Nowhere

August 10, 2026

Source: CBS News, Axios, Reuters

We have now entered what might be called the Semi-Negotiation Zone — a strange political realm where diplomacy exists mostly as a word, threats substitute for strategy, and every contradiction can somehow be presented as a victory.

The Egyptian trumpets that lay silent for over 3,000 years

Curio
Style Arts

4 min read
By Sheena McKenzie
16 hr ago

On an April evening in 1939, an estimated 150 million listeners from across the globe tuned in to a remarkable BBC radio broadcast that even now evokes wonder.

“The trumpets of the pharaoh Tutankhamun!” booms the BBC announcer. A short intake of air and then — the blare of a trumpet which for more than 3,000 years had lain silent inside the boy-king’s tomb. For the next minute, the military-like fanfare travels from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, out across the airwaves of the world.

Trump to Supreme Court: Make Me

His new assault on birthright citizenship will test whether Supreme Court rulings mean anything when a president decides they don’t.
Kim Wehle
August 10

IN HIS QUEST TO BECOME THE KING OF AMERICA, Donald Trump made it clearer than ever last week that he doesn’t really care what the Supreme Court has to say.

Trump signs executive order aimed at reducing number of recommended childhood vaccines

By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Owermohle

Updated 16 min ago

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at reshaping the federal government’s approach toward childhood vaccines, insisting that infants should receive fewer immunizations over a longer period despite little scientific evidence supporting such sweeping changes.

The wide-ranging order proposes reducing the total number of immunizations recommended for children in their earliest years and dividing the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule into three categories.

Strong earthquake in Colombia and Ecuador as officials report deaths, injuries and collapsed buildings

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit about 250 miles west of Bogota has resulted in serious damage, with people trapped inside buildings, according to the mayor of Cali, Colombia.

Aug. 10, 2026, 6:32 AM PDT 

Updated Aug. 10, 2026, 11:47 AM PDT

By Nicole Acevedo and Maya Rosenberg

At least 111 people have been killed in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook western Colombia and the region Monday morning, Colombia’s newly inaugurated president Abelardo De La Espriella said in an afternoon news conference.

Here's what a 7.2-magnitude earthquake would do to Vancouver

A 2024 report says up to 1,350 people would die or suffer severe injuries and nearly 6,100 privately owned buildings would be heavily damaged.
 Mike Howell
Nov 7, 2024 5:00 AM
The Downtown Eastside (including Chinatown and Strathcona), downtown, Kitsilano, Fairview, Mount Pleasant and the West End were neighbourhoods cited in a new report as most vulnerable to a large earthquake. Photo Mike Howell

A new city report that examined what a 7.2-magnitude earthquake could do to Vancouver concluded that up to 1,350 people would die or suffer severe injuries and nearly 6,100 privately owned buildings would be heavily damaged.

Patriot Battery: Greek Deployment in Saudi Arabia to Be Reviewed Monthly — A Countermeasure to the “Mecca Agreement”?

There is no decision to withdraw, but the so-called “Mecca Agreement” could change the situation, and the presence of the Greek Patriot battery will now be reassessed monthly ● Opposition parties demand its immediate return

August 10, 2026, 12:05

PRINT EDITION

Antonis Telopoulos

The new defense agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan adds yet another factor to the already complex equation that Athens is being called upon to manage in the Middle East, with the deployment of the Greek Patriot battery in Saudi Arabia now subject to closer and continuous evaluation.

Unlike the annual-extension arrangement that had been in effect until recently, the continuation of the Greek mission will now be reassessed monthly, leaving open the possibility of a policy change should political or operational circumstances change.

The World's Vegetables Are Vanishing, And It's Quietly Wrecking Our Diets

 Science Alert

09 August 2026

By Jess Cockerill

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(mr_morton/E+/Getty Images)

Most of us aren't eating anywhere near enough vegetables, and we're suffering the health consequences. Meanwhile, we're also growing fewer and fewer varieties of vegetables, adding to the declining diversity in our diets.

Serbia's Vučić sends signal to Brussels and Moscow by hosting Zelenskyy with pomp and circumstance

AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic
By Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom
Published on 08/08/2026 - 16:07 GMT+2•Updated 17:04

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The talks between Zelenskyy and Vučić come as Russia's war against Ukraine once again intensifies. Despite Serbia’s historical ties to Russia, its bid to join the EU now seems to have taken the lead in considerations.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said he hopes to see an end to the war in Ukraine, but doubts it will happen soon.

Scientists descended more than 15,400 feet into the Atlantic and found more than 200,000 barrels of leaking radioactive waste

By Adrian Villellas

Earth.com staff writer

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Scientists exploring the Northeast Atlantic have directly observed heavily corroded barrels of radioactive waste. Some are in bad shape. Material has even spilled onto the seafloor nearly three miles below the surface.

Trump in a Bind: Netanyahu’s Gaza Veto Becomes Israel’s Bargaining Chip in Iran’s Hormuz Endgame

Text and Photo Editor: Yiannis Damellos

Illustration: ChatGPT

August 9, 2026

Iran appears to be playing a carefully calibrated negotiating game over the Strait of Hormuz: offer enough of a concession to keep diplomacy alive, but stop short of surrendering the strategic leverage that the waterway gives Tehran over the United States and the global economy. The emerging understanding with Oman illustrates the strategy perfectly. However, the implications of reopening the Strait are complex for Israel. Any Iranian leverage in this situation could be detrimental for Tel Aviv. This might explain why Netanyahu was quick to reject Trump's Gaza plan, potentially looking to use it later as a bargaining tool against Iran.