4,000 Meters Below Sea Level, Scientists Have Found the Spectacular ‘Dark Oxygen’

What if it could solve all of our energy problems?
By Darren Orf

Published: Aug 13, 2026 

11:26 AM EDT

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: 

• Scattered across an abyssal plain known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) are polymetallic nodules that are a potato-sized prize for mining companies in search of materials needed for humanity's green energy transition.
• A study analyzing these modules reveals that these rocky lumps are capable of producing “dark oxygen” 4,000 meters below sea level where light cannot reach.
• While this discovery could upend our understanding of how life started on Earth, the study also complicates negotiations around deep-sea mining regulations as it showcases how little we really know about the ocean’s depths.

Photos: Cuba marks Fidel Castro’s 100th birthday

Fidel Castro would have turned 100 on Thursday, and his long shadow continues to loom over the island.
Al Jazeera

Published On 13 Aug 2026

Cuba has commemorated former President Fidel Castro with events including the International Book Fair, art exhibitions, concerts and gatherings of delegates from left-wing organisations across the continent.

Did Trump’s Decision to Go to War Turn a Pentagon Crisis Into a Trillion-Dollar Opportunity?

Edited by Yiannis Damellos

August 13, 2026

Donald Trump entered the war with a weapons-production problem his Pentagon already knew existed. Six months later, depleted stockpiles, an overstretched Navy and a new military-industrial buildup are turning that crisis into an extraordinary spending opportunity.

There is a question about the Iran war that Washington has so far preferred not to ask: If the United States already knew that its weapons stockpiles, shipyards and defense-industrial base were inadequate for a prolonged high-intensity conflict, why did it enter another major war without first fixing those weaknesses? The answer may be less dramatic than a conspiracy and more troubling than one. The Iran war appears to have exposed a weapons-production crisis that the Pentagon already knew existed. The war then supplied the extraordinary political justification for accelerating a military-industrial transformation that was already underway. What had been a bureaucratic problem suddenly became an emergency — and an emergency is a remarkably effective way to unlock enormous amounts of public money.

Without Solidarity, The Left Will Fail

Democratic socialist Francesca Hong was abandoned by those who could—and should—have helped her become the first DSA governor. Next time, we need to do better.

Nathan J. Robinson

filed 12 August 2026 in Politics

Francesca Hong, a State Assembly member in Wisconsin, nearly just became the Democratic nominee for governor. The 37-year-old democratic socialist, a single mom and former restaurant worker, was leading in polls, and running on a platform of universal childcare, a data center moratorium, and raising the minimum wage. If elected, Hong would have been the first member of the Democratic Socialists of America to become a governor, an extraordinary step forward for the socialist movement. Hong had an impressive background and supporters were “inspired by her atypical journey into politics, her authentic vibe and an organic approach to campaigning.” As a legislator she has been involved in efforts to introduce paid family leave, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and establish an Economic Bill of Rights.

The government is recruiting tech companies to help fight its cyber battles

The massive policy shift comes as Americans reported losing $20.8 billion to cybercrime in 2025

By John Sakellariadis and Maggie Miller

08/13/2026 12:49 PM EDT

President Donald Trump is paving a legal pathway for U.S. companies to launch cyberattacks on foreign cybercriminal gangs — a significant and potentially controversial measure that would put approved tech and cybersecurity firms on the front lines of digital combat.

FLOCK Cameras rolls out new police auditing and accountability controls following surveillance concerns

By Clare Duffy
Updated 7 hr ago
New York — Law enforcement technology company Flock introduced new safety controls on Thursday, hoping to curb growing scrutiny and fears around surveillance and police misuse of its tools.

Flock’s nationwide network of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras — mounted along public roads — capture images of passing vehicles’ plates, colors, and other characteristics to feed into a database. Police departments contract with the company to search the database, billed as a tool to help solve crimes.

US military loses 25% of its key drone fleet as Iran war shrinks stockpile: report

At least 45 MQ-9 Reapers, which cost up to $50 million each, have been shot down or crashed, for a total loss exceeding $1.3 billion

Bruce Golding

Thursday 13 August 2026 15:09 EDT

President Donald Trump's Iran war has reportedly cost the U.S. military about one-quarter of the drones that a top general recently likened to “the most valuable player” in America's weapons lineup.

Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in New York federal case

A trial is set to begin next month in Mangione’s state case in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a father of two.

Aug. 13, 2026, 9:02 AM PDT

Updated Aug. 13, 2026, 10:02 AM PDT

By Jonathan Dienst, Adam Reiss, Erica Byfield and Matt Lavietes

Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty Friday to federal charges in connection with the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Democratic senators demand answers about conditions aboard USS Abraham Lincoln

Updated on: August 13, 2026 / 2:14 PM EDT CBS/AFP

Washington — Senate Democrats demanded answers Wednesday about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, following reports of food shortages, broken plumbing and mental health crises during the aircraft carrier's record-setting deployment.

Trump says Karoline Leavitt resigning as White House press secretary

Politics & Policy

Published Wed, Aug 12 2026, 3:40 PM EDT

Updated 19 Min Ago

Dan Mangan

Key Points

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave that post by the end of August, President Donald Trump said.
• Leavitt is leaving “so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect!” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing her planned departure.
• The president said that Leavitt will become “one of my top outside advisors” and work with the Republican Party to win the upcoming midterm elections in November.

"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.