What is the 'political firewall' against Germany's AfD?

deutsche welle

Christoph Hasselbach

11 hours ago 

GERMANY POLITICS11 hours ago

Germany's centrist parties reject any cooperation with the Alternative for Germany (AfD), parts of which are classified as right-wing extremist. However, this policy is coming under increasing pressure.

A firewall is a wall designed to prevent a fire from spreading from one building to another. In German politics, the term "firewall" serves as a metaphor for a strict boundary drawn against parties regarded as extremist. Just as a firewall is intended to protect buildings from fire, the "political firewall" is intended to safeguard democracy.

Theory of Fluids Enters the 21st Century

fluid dynamics

From the 1800s to the early 2000s, physicists used the same theory to understand the behavior of fluids. Now, using a modern insight, they have redefined fluids from the bottom up.

 ByCharlie Wood, Staff Writer

August 17, 2026

In the second half of the 20th century, a conceptual tsunami swept through physics. The discovery that our world emerges from a microscopic world of molecules, which emerges from an even more microscopic world of subatomic particles (which in turn emerges from even stranger stuff) triggered the rewriting of our theories of matter.

Iranian military leader vows Tehran ‘will not submit’ as US prepares further economic squeeze

 Live Updates 

Updated 10:40 PM EDT, 

Sat August 22, 2026

Here’s the latest

• Economic pressure: A close ally of Iran’s supreme leader said President Donald Trump’s current rhetoric about the war stems from desperation, vowing Iran “will not submit.” The US is preparing to ramp up economic sanctions on Tehran, with further details set to be announced Monday.

• Strait of Hormuz: Iranian state media reports the country will allow Iraqi oil tankers to travel through the critical waterway. The number of ships using the strait stands at 20% of the pre-war average, according to a CNN analysis of figures from the UK’s maritime agency.

• US gas prices: Meanwhile, drivers are paying nearly $1 more per gallon for gas, as compared to a year ago. The national average gas price on Friday was $4.11 per gallon, up $0.97 from this time last year.

Threat to Quebec’s French language, identity key reason Carney ends trade talks with Trump

Fresh U.S. tariffs called a “worst-case scenario” for the province’s businesses

By

Harry North

August 22, 2026 at 10:44 a.m.

Last Updated: August 22, 2026 at 2:39 p.m.

By Harry North

Quebec entered a perilous new phase of the trade war Saturday after Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from talks with the United States over what he described as last-minute demands that included weakening protections for the French language and culture.

Americans revealed ‘true nature’ of Trump trade war during negotiations, Eby says

By Ian Holliday
Updated: August 22, 2026 at 1:28p.m. EDT Published: August 22, 2026 at 1:14p.m. EDT

British Columbia “will stand strong with Canada,” Premier David Eby said at a news conference Saturday after the breakdown of trade talks with the United States Friday night.

The premier said everything is on the table in terms of B.C.’s participation in the Canadian response to “unfair” American tariffs.

AXIOS: America's college enrollment map is being redrawn

 12 hours ago -Politics & Policy

America's future college pipeline is growing in the South and shrinking across the Northeast and California

• Russell Contreras

All Those Nuclear Tests Decades Ago Have Revealed Something New About Our Planet's Core

22 August 2026

ByStarre Vartan

(Rob Atkins/Getty Images)

You probably remember learning about Earth's internal layers when you were a kid in Earth Sciences class: a superhot, solid inner core, surrounded by a molten metal outer core (how metal!), and a solid-but-viscous mantle made of melted rocks.

A Natalie Harp Conspiracy Theory (Not Really)

Our Land

6 hours ago
It starts with her work at a hard-right, pro-Russia cable network
 David Corn Washington, DC, Bureau Chief Bio | Follow
President Donald Trump and Natalie Harp in the Oval Office on May 30, 2025. Francis Chung/Politico via AP

It’s very easy to be a conspiracy-monger. Let’s give it a shot.
This week, there was a hullabaloo about Natalie Harp, Donald Trump’s 35-year-old aide who’s been derisively referred to within the White House as the “Human Printer.” She’s always by Trump’s side, typing his social media posts and printing out and feeding him positive and misleading information about his presidency. (“Look, this poll shows that 110 percent of all Republican voters think you’re better looking than Jesus Christ!”) She’s also a conduit for aides and foreign leaders who want to slip Trump a message.

Your New Senator Is a Total Lightweight. She’s Perfect.

Morning Shots

Darline Graham is the very model of a modern MAGA senator

Andrew Egger, Benjamin Parker, and Jim Swift

August 21

There’s been lots of reporting lately about the breathlessly fawning personal letters Natalie Harp habitually writes to her boss. Last night, the Daily Beast released two of them in full—and they’re so, so much creepier than advertised. We don’t want you to click away, so we’ll stick them down in the Cheap Shots—and we are relying on the honor system that you won’t simply skip ahead. All we’ll say up here is: Yikes. Happy Friday.

Website behind widely shared fake election polls run by 21-year-old

 EXCLUSIVE 

Rahil Prakash tells the Guardian: ‘I wanted to see if fake polls could penetrate the ecosystem that easily’

Sophie Sullivan, Anna Betts and Sam Levine

Thu 20 Aug 2026 22.33 BST

A 21-year-old recent college graduate was behind an anonymous website that put out widely shared fake election polling in Wisconsin, Nevada and California, the Guardian can reveal.

Pentagon fires Stars and Stripes leaders amid Hegseth pressure campaign

4 min read
By Brian Stelter, Haley Britzky
Updated 1 hr 26 min ago

In a blow to press freedoms within the US military, the Pentagon has forced out several top staffers at Stars and Stripes, the military publication with a long record of editorial independence.

Canadian prime minister suspends trade talks with U.S., setting new 50% tariffs in motion

Trump tariffs

The import taxes will apply to hockey sticks, building materials, liquors and certain kinds of clothing. Prime Minister Mark Carney said “Canada will match 

those tariffs dollar for dollar.”

Aug. 21, 2026, 8:48 PM PDT / 

Updated Aug. 21, 2026, 9:36 PM PDT

By Steve Kopack

Trade talks with Canada collapsed late Friday night, setting in motion steep 50% tariffs on a wide swath of Canadian goods. The duties went into effect at the stroke of midnight.

China Is Not Rushing to Fill the Vacuum. It May Be Waiting for America to Exhaust Itself

Edited and Curated by Yiannis Damellos

August 21, 2026

As Washington spends military, economic, and diplomatic capital from Iran to Korea, Beijing appears to be pursuing a different kind of great-power strategy: building the infrastructure of the future and waiting for the strategic balance to move in its favor.

There is something almost unnerving about the timing. While Washington is demanding that China help isolate Iran, threatening its trading partners with economic punishment and fighting a war that has consumed enormous military and diplomatic resources, China is preparing to launch another spacecraft toward the Moon.

Iran Wants to End the War While It Can Still Claim Victory

August 21, 2026

Pezeshkian’s unusual message to Washington: Tehran is ready for an end to the conflict — but only if it can leave the battlefield claiming that it won

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian presented a compelling argument for ending the ongoing conflict with the United States, claiming that Tehran is prepared to negotiate peace only if it can assert that it emerged victorious. During a meeting with Iranian doctors, Pezeshkian emphasized that the current situation allows Iran to negotiate from a position of “power and dignity,” asserting that the war should end while the perception of Iranian strength remains intact.

Supreme Court allows Trump's ballroom construction to continue for now

Updated August 21, 2026 

4:38 PM ET
 Deepa Shivaram

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Trump can — for now — move forward with construction of his ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House without needing approval from Congress.

The new ballroom is estimated to cost taxpayers at least $300 million despite the president saying repeatedly that taxpayers would not foot the bill.

AI data center outrage is showing up everywhere from ads to elections

AI Age
Published Thu, Aug 20 2026 10:03 AM EDT
Updated Thu, Aug 20 2026 11:56 AM EDT

Ashley Capoot
Garrett Downs
Key Points

• With less than three months until the midterm elections, opposition to AI data centers is becoming a bipartisan rallying cry in a growing number of states.
• On a major primary election day, a pair of beverage companies seized on data center opposition and released a satirical ad about the facilities’ water usage.
• It was a key issue in Florida’s Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, which was won by Rep. Byron Donalds. Donalds was backed by major crypto PACs, but proposed restrictions on data centers in Florida.
• That same day Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order placing harsh standards on data center development in his state.

Iran-US war latest: Tehran accuses Trump of ‘economic terrorism’ after he vows to crush it with sanctions

Over 750 members of the US military have been injured since the Iran war began

Shweta Sharma

Friday 21 August 2026 06:45 BST

Iran has accused US president Donald Trump of threatening "economic terrorism" after the US treasury said it would introduce the “toughest sanctions in history" against Tehran.

Alaska was a trial run for Democrats’ Senate majority hopes. How did it go?

 By Aaron Blake
9 hr ago 

The Alaska primary on Tuesday presented us with something unusual ahead of the 2026 midterm elections: An actual matchup between the two candidates who will face off in November in a key Senate race.