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Greece pushing for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade to Celtics
Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to be traded to his new team before the 2026 NBA Draft starts. The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics reportedly are the finalists to land the Milwaukee Bucks forward. His home country, Greece, made its pick…
Scientists open a million-year-old time capsule hidden beneath New Zealand
A cave in New Zealand has yielded fossils from a lost ecosystem that existed about 1 million years ago, including a possible flying ancestor of the kākāpō. The discovery reveals that volcanoes and climate upheaval were reshaping the country’s wildlife and driving extinctions long before humans arrived.
Hungary’s PM launches drive to free country from Orban’s ‘mafia’
The raft of proposed changes includes a new constitution and anti-corruption office, and the ousting of the president.
Schuylkill student places first at Future Business Leaders of America conference
Penn State Schuylkill student earned national recognition at the Future Business Leaders of America's National Leadership Conference, held June 6-8 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Carter Strouse, a third-year corporate communication major with a minor in business and the sports certificate, earned first place in Business Communication, outperforming competitors from colleges and universities across the country.
Mayor Mamdani faces political strength test with Tuesday’s congressional primaries
Mamdani has cast the contests as a referendum on what it means to be a Democrat in New York City and across the country.
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association et al. v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. et al.
The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) and its member, the Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania (FHCCP), sued the Trump administration to protect the integrity of the Title X family planning program. Title X is the country’s only dedicated federal program for family planning services. For more than 55 years, the program has provided access to effective contraceptive methods, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for STIs, and other preventive services, with priority given to patients with low incomes.
Antoine Semenyo, Ghana's man on the inside and England threat
Antoine Semenyo knows better than most what to expect from England at the World Cup, as the Ghana forward seeks to lead the Black Stars to a surprise win over the country of his birth.Despite spending his entire life in England, Semenyo said there was no question about representing Ghana.
Wright State University and Premier Health – Nursing and Health Careers Camp teaches high school students about healthcare careers
High school students from around the country learned lifesaving skills and explored careers in healthcare during Wright State University and Premier Health’s Nursing and Health Careers Camp. Continue reading →
“Criminal Approach to Politics”: Trump Ally Abelardo de la Espriella Wins Colombian Presidency
Right-wing Trump ally Abelardo de la Espriella has clinched a narrow victory in Sunday’s runoff presidential election in Colombia, defeating leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, an ally of current President Gustavo Petro. De la Espriella ran a fearmongering, “tough-on-crime” campaign, promising to build mega-prisons inspired by El Salvador’s authoritarian President Nayib Bukele, to bomb “narcoterrorist camps” and to abandon Petro’s peace efforts. His reported victory is also a win for U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration is waging an intensifying “war on drugs” across Latin America, targeting left-wing leaders like Petro with false allegations and threats of military intervention. “De la Espriella clearly represents a criminal approach to politics: lying, propaganda, coordination and collusion with criminal narcotrafficking, restriction of rights, and money laundering,” says longtime Colombian activist Manuel Rozental. With his victory, says Rozental, “We expect to have military operations and a U.S. intervention within the country. We expect to have human rights abuses. We expect to have militarization. And it’s all for the extraction of resources and the link of drug trafficking to the U.S. government, U.S. interests and global mafia.”
A look at Virginia athletics under Carla Williams
Earlier this month, Silver Waves Media named the University of Virginia’s Carla Williams as one of its 70 top athletic directors in the country who are “leading the way through exceptional leadership, vision and a dedication to elevating the student-athlete experience.” Williams, who joined Virginia athletics in the fall of 2017, has led a transformative […]
The feds promised Minnesota’s rural hospitals grant money to ease massive Medicaid cuts. Hospitals are still waiting.
Rural health care providers in Minnesota and across the country are bracing for heavy Medicaid funding cuts next year.
Business Meets to Discuss Intervention in Johannesburg Crisis
Business Leadership South Africa, a lobby group that counts many of the chief executive officers of the country’s biggest companies among its members, said it will meet this week to discuss support for Johannesburg, which is struggling to pay its bills.
How to watch, what to know for 2026 Memorial Health Championship
Here's what to know and how to follow the Memorial Health Championship at Panther Creek Country Club this week.
The top 10 nonprofit health systems by 2025 operating revenue
The 2025 fiscal year saw across-the-board performance improvements for the country’s 10 largest nonprofit health systems, if not necessarily an expansion of their business. | Operating performances may have improved across the board, but not all of the country's largest nonprofit health systems grew their businesses.
Scouting Stanford Guard Ebuka Okorie
Ebuka OkorieFrame: 6'2 185 lbsPosition: GuardTeam: Stanford Cardinals2026 Draft Age:Stats via https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/ebuka-okorie-1.html Offense Ebuka Okorie emerged as one of the most productive freshman guards in the country and quickly transformed from an under-the-radar recruit into a legitimate NBA prospect. His offensive profile is built around dynamic scoring, relentless rim pressure, and advanced shot-making ability. Few
Conservatives spent heavily in key Democratic primaries, filings show
An influential conservative nonprofit covertly funded a series of super PACs with names suggesting liberal provenance as the groups injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into key nominating Democratic contests across the country.
Sunday Sports: Victory Basketball Clinic held in Carthage
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Sunday.
Why is Iran called IRN? Explaining country code for 2026 World Cup team
Fans following Iran at the 2026 World Cup may be wondering why Team Melli are listed as "IRN" on scoreboards and standings. Here's the explanation behind FIFA's official country code.
Saturday Sports: Red & Black on the bye, plus Graf and Gaffney Awards
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Saturday.
France restricts public drinking and outdoor sports as heat wave bakes parts of Europe
The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds, among a raft of measures introduced by authorities to minimize risks. Tourists in Rome dunked in fountains. Spain’s Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events.
New report finds mental health concerns remain high among college students
May marks Mental Health Awareness Month and brings attention to the growing need for mental health across the country.
Colombia's presidential runoff election will decide how the country continues to tackle drug trafficking
As Colombia's government makes modest gains in disarming guerrillas, voters head to a runoff where the frontrunner vows to abandon peace talks and escalate a hardline war on drug traffickers.
AI giants are funding ad wars in races across the country
In some races, the AI-backed political groups have spent more than the candidates they are backing.
Starmer reflecting on political reality as he considers future, says ally
Cabinet minister Peter Kyle says the PM is "mindful of the interests of the country" amid calls for him to quit.
Adam Minter: The farm crisis demands certainty from congress now
Something is breaking in farm country, and the warning signs are growing harder to ignore. The clearest indicator arrived this spring, when farm bankruptcies reached their highest level in six
Arrakihs, a Spanish mission to illuminate the mystery of dark matter: ‘We have broken molds’
Four-telescope astronomical observatory is at the heart of the first space exploration to be led by the country
In the World Cup’s missing country, failure sparks bitter political battle - Live Updates
Giorgia Meloni’s government is keen to extend control over Italian football as fans mourn a third consecutive World Cup debacle.
Massive N.J. country music festival gets strangely emotional as 2 stars cry on stage |Review
Barefoot Country Music Festival was full of surprises this year
Kustom Entertainment's Stan Ross on 30 years of Country Stampede
Country Stampede at Azura. // photo courtesy Kustom Entertainment Country Stampede takes place at Azura Amphitheater from Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, and features Rascal Flatts, Zach Top, Treaty Oak Revival, Wyatt Flores, Scotty McCreery, and Tracy Lawrence, among others. Details on the festival here. In its 30-year history, Kansas’ country music festival, Country Stampede, has steadily moved...
‘The Cardinal Countdown: 78 Days Until Kickoff’
CHARLIE EDGEWORTH #78 Height: 6’7” Weight: 320lb Position: OL Class: Freshman Hometown: Chattanooga, TN Summary: While its not right, and should not be acceptable in our country, I’m out here fighting the good fight and have yet to gain the momentum I need to avoid this blatant hate and bias. I’m of course talking about […]
Travel mistakes I made in Italy as a first-time tourist
I spent six days exploring three cities in Italy — Venice, Rome, and Milan. It was my first time visiting the country, and I left with regrets.
Why is Ivory Coast called CIV? Explaining country code for 2026 World Cup team
Here's why the Ivory Coast has a different abbreviation than what many would have expected.
Why some Russians are breaking with Putin as Ukraine war drags on
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s iron grip on power is being challenged by the war in Ukraine and his government’s authoritarian crackdowns. He finds himself in unfamiliar political territory, questioned by some of the country’s elite and embarrassed by Ukraine’s strikes into Russian cities. Compass Points moderator Nick Schifrin discusses the state of Russian politics with Arkady Ostrovsky.
Could China make a sea-skimming hypersonic missile a real nightmare for the US?
The country’s top science institute is launching a research programme into the technology that might one day underpin such a weapon.
Jelly Roll breaks silence on Bunnie Xo divorce mid-concert: 'I wasn't going to talk about it tonight'
Jelly Roll broke his silence on his divorce from Bunnie Xo mid-concert. His comments come days after news broke that the country artist filed for divorce from the podcaster.
Italian foreign minister cancels trip to US over Trump’s comments about Meloni
US President Donald Trump’s comments to an Italian media outlet about the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have sparked a fresh diplomatic incident.
HHS announces over $700M in grants for mental health initiatives, addiction treatment and housing programs
The money includes $238.6 million to improve suicide crisis hotlines and $223.1 million to expand community behavioral health clinics. Dozens of programs all over the country are set to receive the funding.
4 SC Lowcountry restaurants got low health scores in May. See if they solved their issues
Four SC Lowcountry restaurants got low health scores in May. See if they solved their issues.
Labour's Andy Burnham wins a special election, setting up a showdown with Starmer to lead Britain
Labour's Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, has won a special election for a seat in Parliament that puts him in a position to challenge embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer for leadership of the country.
Private equity has no place in health care
By Miah Ntepp Of all the financial pressures placed on working people in this country, the skyrocketing costs of health care rank near the top. As families struggle under the cuts to Medicaid made by the Trump administration, they are now facing yet another barrier to affordable health care: the increasing incidence of predatory private […]
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.
Democratic socialists surge in mayoral races across the country as anti-Trump fervor rises
Janeese Lewis George is making waves in Washington, D.C., with her progressive agenda as she aims for the mayor's office.
Democratic Socialists Surge in Mayoral Races Across the Country as Anti-Trump Fervor Rises
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Janeese Lewis George paves a path to the mayor's office in Washington, D.C., she's told voters they could have it all. Her unapologetically expansive, left-wing agenda includes subsidized or even free childcare, increased down payment assistance for homebuyers and community ...
Driving Business Performance and Circular Water Practices at Moeve’s San Roque Energy Park
Optimizing water use through circular solutions is a key goal for Moeve as well as a strategic priority for Spain, due to growing pressure on the country’s water resources.
Major grocery operator on the hook for $40M over pharmacy monkey business; $6M windfall for whistleblower
One of the largest food retailers in the world—and the fourth biggest in this country—got itself into hot water with the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly cheating on drug prices it charges to federal healthcare programs.
Parts of Trump’s Iran deal sharply criticized by some key Republicans
GOP senators criticized provisions including the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports and a plan to set up a $300 billion fund meant to rebuild the country.
Bayer Welcomes Kacy Perry as New Country Division Head for Crop Science Canada
CALGARY, Alberta, June 18, 2026--The Crop Science division of Bayer announced that Kacy Perry has been appointed the Country Division Head (CDH) for Crop Science Canada, effective July 1. In this role, she will lead 550+ employees working at multiple sites across Canada and serves as a member of Bayer’s North American Leadership Team for Crop Science.
From Genocide to Africa’s Healthcare ‘Beacon’: Inside Rwanda's Turnaround
When global healthcare organization Partners In Health was invited to Rwanda in the early 2000s to support the country’s new universal healthcare program, it discovered a nation that had yet to recover from a 1994 genocide that killed up to 1 million citizens and decimated infrastructure. At a ...
UND Athletics, Midco Sports extend broadcast and sponsorship partnership
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota alongside Midco Sports announced on Thursday, June 18 the renewal of their Television and Multimedia Production and Broadcast Agreement, continuing a long-standing partnership that delivers high-quality coverage of UND Athletics to viewers across the country.
Obama Presidential Center opening: Live updates on star-studded ceremony
The opening ceremony of the sprawling campus and eight-story museum in Chicago celebrates the country’s first Black president.
Leap Returns to App State as Associate A.D. for Sport Psychology & Mental Wellness
BOONE, N.C. — Returning to the High Country, Dr. Parker Leap has been hired as App State's Associate Athletics Director for Sport Psychology and Mental Wellness, Director of Athletics Doug Gillin announced Thursday.
What went wrong for Italy before the 2026 World Cup?
Italy missing the 2018 World Cup was hard enough to take. Missing 2022 after winning the Euros made no sense to many supporters. Now 2026 has gone as well, and there is only so long a country can keep...
Indonesia’s MD Entertainment Bets on IP and Microdramas for Global Push
As Indonesia’s entertainment industry gains greater international visibility, MD Entertainment, one of the country’s top studios, is increasingly looking beyond local success and toward global partner...
SC Lowcountry student enjoys summer shaped by science
St. Baldrick's fellowship gives College of Charleston student time and support to take on pediatric cancer research
Margaritaville at Sea reveals entertainment for its next ship, the Beachcomber
Margaritaville at Sea's new ship, the Beachcomber, will feature three diverse musical productions: "Friday Night Country," "Red, White and Margaritaville," and "Club Fuego," showcasing various genres and theatrical elements, marking a shift towards more advanced entertainment.
Opinion | California Needs a Pro-Business Governor
The state leads the country in unemployment, poverty and the cost of living. Even Fareed Zakaria has noticed.
Politics: Can Divides Over War Be Bridged At The G7 Summit?
This week, on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, leaders of the Group of Seven countries gathered for their annual summit.There are several pressing issues that require attention including the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, the resulting economic crisis, the state of the Persian Gulf, and long term questions about the future of relations with Iran.The G7 meeting also notably brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy face-to-face with President Donald Trump. Trump told reporters that the war Ukraine was not a priority for the United States, saying that his country had “nothing to do” with a war that was “thousands of miles away.”We discuss what this 2026 G7 meeting reveals about the state of the U.S. relationship with its most important allies, especially after months of a war of choice with Iran.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Why is Trump’s threat to the Ocean Observatories Initiative so monumental to scientists?
Researchers warn that shuttering a key network of research equipment and analysis will make the country less prepared for climate crises
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management: Science, Stewardship, and Shared Successes
One of the most innovative aspects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act was the establishment of eight regional councils to manage fisheries. Across the country, regional councils are tackling their own unique challenges, each shaped by their local coastal communities and united under a shared framework.
Ukraine says even outdated drone tech can work for allies
A Ukrainian official says drone tech that is aging out of his country's fast-moving fight could still help partners preparing for similar attacks.
RFK Jr. pans processed food during visit to Charlotte's Country Mill
Secretary of Health and Human Services visited mid-Michigan on Tuesday, June 16, to tout Trump administration policies that require more fresh foods to be offered through food subsidy programs.
Letter: Love of country should trump personal politics
I was disheartened to see that Donald Trump was booed by fans at Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York City on June 8. The next day, I had an amazing discussion with a neighbor about whether Trump would be met with a standing ovation or booed by an audience here in Hawaii. I argued that we have more aloha for America than disdain to boo a president.
In the World Cup’s missing country, failure sparks bitter political battle
Giorgia Meloni’s government is keen to extend control over Italian football as fans mourn a third consecutive World Cup debacle.
WHO Step-by-Step programme recognized as a promising innovation for mental health in humanitarian settings
WHO, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme, showcased Step-by-Step at the World Bank Group’s biennial Fragility Forum in Washington, DC. The forum convened more than 1500 representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society to advance the development agenda in the world’s most fragile and crisis-affected communities. WHO was invited to demonstrate Step-by-Step – a digital self-help intervention for depression, alongside innovations presented by Stanford University and Google. The World Bank Group selected Step-by-Step from among more than 50 innovations that they reviewed in the lead up to the Forum.About Step-by-StepStep-by-Step is a free digital tool developed by WHO in collaboration with Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme and other partners, that helps people manage depression and anxiety on their own, with light guidance from a trained supporter. It uses a picture-based story to walk users through evidence-based techniques for managing common mental health conditions. Users complete five modules, with weekly contacts – of around 15 minutes each – from a trained non-specialist helper, such as a community health worker.Evidence-basedClinical trials in Lebanon involving nearly 1250 participants – including 680 Lebanese participants and 569 Syrian participants – showed that Step-by-Step significantly reduced depression, anxiety and stress, and improved daily functioning. By the end of the programme, a reduction in depressive symptoms of more than 50% was reported by almost half (46%) of Lebanese participants and more than one third (37%) of Syrian participants compared to approximately 14% of those who did not use the programme. Cost-effectiveness analyses further suggest that Step-by-Step may offer a cost-saving response to depression in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries.Used globallyStep-by-Step is already in use nationwide in Lebanon and Thailand, as part of each country’s mental health system. In India, the NGO – Kaya Guides – has adapted Step-by-Step for delivery through a widely used messaging app. Together, these programmes have provided thousands of people with evidence-based support for depression. The content is freely available from the WHO website for any organization or country to adapt for their own context.A new implementation guideThe Fragility Forum coincided with the recent launch of WHO’s new practical guide: Psychological self-help interventions: delivering self-help for individuals, featuring Step-by-Step and Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (WHO, 2026). The guide is designed to help governments, health workers, organizations and planners bring evidence-based mental health support to more people, particularly in low-resource and crisis-affected settings.
Latvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluations
Latvia has introduced an element of citizen engagement to the evaluation of nationally funded research grants. The aim is to both create more connections between science and society, and to improve the quality of its evaluations. The move comes as research funders across Europe are experimenting with ways to improve evaluation processes in the face of a sharpened focus on science’s impact on society. Evaluators of grant applications submitted to Latvia’s Fundamental and Applied Research Programme (FLPP), the country’s main research funder, will this year have the option of consulting citizen feedback on challenges the public thinks science should focus on to inform their decisions. “In recent years, both public discussions and policy-level debates in Latvia have highlighted the importance of demonstrating how publicly funded research contributes to society, the economy and the resolution of real-world challenges,” said a source at the Latvian Council of Science (LCS), which manages the FLPP. “At the same time, research institutions themselves expressed interest in improving the project evaluation framework while continuing to ensure that funding is awarded to the highest-quality projects,” the source added. The citizen input comes from a survey that was conducted between 25 February and 16 March 2025, to which 1,737 people responded. It gathered information on what the public views as problem areas for Latvia, and the role of science and technology in providing solutions to these problems. A summary of these responses has been included as an annex to the FLPP 2026 call for proposals that evaluators can refer to, purely in an advisory manner, when judging proposals. Results from the survey show that the main problem areas identified by the public were in healthcare and public health, followed by the development of new treatment methods and medicines, and then digital technology, data security and cyber security. At the bottom of the list was research aimed at acquiring new knowledge about the universe, matter and the laws of nature. Further analysis looked at the public view of the possible role of science in solving these problems. The survey charted 4,167 individual responses based on open-ended questions that were derived from the participants’ answers. The analysis again found that medical and health sciences topped the scoring, with 788 responses referring to the field. Humanities and the arts were bottom of the list, with 625. Digging further into the details, the survey suggests citizens are aware of and concerned about a number of research areas. This includes technologies and innovation to improve the environment or reduce pollution, the development of modern military technologies and cybersecurity tools, and the development and application of artificial intelligence, among others. “We hope this initiative will help strengthen public trust in science and create a more meaningful dialogue between researchers and society,” the LCS source said, adding that it offers benefits to researchers, evaluators and to the general public. More space for citizen engagement in evaluationsThere is a gradual but increasing use of citizen engagement in research evaluation processes around Europe, especially in healthcare, but it remains relatively rare, said Henry Sauermann, a professor at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin and an expert in citizen science.“Given that we are at a point where citizen involvement is extremely limited, there is presumably space for more, but it's not that we should do it just because we want to do it,” he told Science|Business. He said some research lends itself better to having citizen input, and this usually tends to be on the applied end of the science spectrum where the public can offer useful feedback based on their experiences. He added that advising scientists on certain topics to study is also a useful approach, in the way that Latvia is doing. “The public does fund a lot of science, there's a lot of tax money going into this. We of course do want to preserve academic freedom, but it's also not unreasonable to incorporate more feedback or input from citizens where possible,” he said. Related articlesCitizen science: where, when, and how to let the public contribute to researchHow can Europe cope with a flood of AI-assisted research grant proposals?Data Corner: Horizon Europe’s AI, digital and data call success rate is 5.2%There are several ways of involving citizens in science funding. The most minimal way is having a few representatives on a panel, such as members of a patient group or union. The most direct way is crowdsourcing funding for specific projects. There is an increasing number of online platforms that allow the public to chip in to support scientific proposals.Sauermann studied this in a recent paper and found that it can have its uses, but it still is not clear if there are benefits to it. There are various assumptions linked to citizen engagement, for example that it increases public trust in science, or that it provides a representative view of what the public thinks about science. These are not necessarily true, Sauermann found. People who participate in engagement activities tend to already be very trusting of science, and, on the whole, it is generally the well-off and well educated who contribute, giving a narrow view of public opinion. On whether citizen input can help manage the increasing number of proposals that are being submitted due to assistance from AI, Sauermann is more sceptical. “The obvious answer to the flood of AI-written proposals is AI-driven evaluation,” he said, adding that it doesn’t mean citizen engagement shouldn’t be a part of evaluations in a well thought-out manner. Southern Denmark’s successful approachOne successful example of citizen engagement in science evaluations was implemented in southern Denmark. Between 2019 and 2025, citizens in the region were invited to vote to fund one of five pre-selected projects in the field of healthcare. The project, called A Healthier Southern Denmark, was a collaboration between regional authorities, the University of Southern Denmark, and two media partners. Over the seven years, there were 75,000 votes and significant public engagement online and on social media. “It was a bit of a wild project, we’d never done something like that before and we were a bit nervous about what would be said in the media about it. But actually, people were very positive,” said Anne Kathrine Overgaard, one of the main organisers of the project from the University of Southern Denmark. The university and its researchers have learned a lot from the experience, particularly about engaging with society and shaping their research to match real-world needs. This is important with Europe’s increasing focus on competitiveness and bringing innovations to market faster, Overgaard said. She hopes to see more citizen engagement in evaluation processes and in science more broadly. “For many years, citizen engagement has been a bit of an add-on to proposals, just to check a box. But I think things are changing,” she said. It’s less about citizens just gathering data and more “about the dialogue between the public and the scientists,” she said. The initiative ended last year as the team wanted to regroup to find fresh momentum. The development of AI and AI-written proposals has made Overgaard reflect on how the project could be reworked to help evaluators. She hopes to bring it back in the future. “It could be a good idea to try this initiative again in a slightly re-worked format,” she said.
2026 Governors’ Health and Human Services Policy Advisors Institute
Health and human services policy advisors from states and territories across the country gathered in New Orleans for NGA’s annual HHS Policy Advisors Institute. Over one and a half days, advisors shared priorities, surfaced common challenges, and learned from peers on topics ranging from healthcare affordability to child welfare, SNAP administration, and the use of […]
Pride and Politics at Iran’s World Cup Home Game—in Los Angeles
After an unprecedented war between a participating country and the host nation, Iran opened its campaign in a charged atmosphere with adoring fans, banned flags and players speaking out.
Entertainment lines up for festival
Saturday's Jennings Park Blueberry Festival features live country, gospel and rock performances all day plus an annual car show with registration, judging and m...
Jelly Roll reportedly files for divorce from podcast star Bunnie Xo after 10 years, 2023 vow renewal
Country singer Jelly Roll has reportedly filed for divorce from his wife, podcast star Bunnie Xo, after 10 years of marriage. The couple had renewed their vows in 2023.
Here Are Tuesday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Dynatrace, Emerson Electric, Exxon Mobil, Flutter Entertainment, Genuine Parts, nVent Electric, Palantir Technologies, Roku, and More
Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are trading modestly higher after a stunning opening to the week, as all major indices rocketed higher. The announcement of a cease-fire deal with Iran, which the leaders in that country acknowledged, called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz toll-free. While details will still be worked out over the next ... Here Are Tuesday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Dynatrace, Emerson Electric, Exxon Mobil, Flutter Entertainment, Genuine Parts, nVent Electric, Palantir Technologies, Roku, and More
With 2 New Sports, Special Olympics To Get Underway
For the first time in years, thousands of athletes with disabilities are preparing to come together from across the country for a week of competition and much of it will be broadcast.
Tornado destroys Urbana business, owner says they plan to rebuild
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down Thursday evening in front of Becks Country Shoppe in Urbana. The main building was destroyed. Winds r…
Encantos Media Cracks The Code On Authentic Latino Entertainment
Encantos Media give the marketplace a glimpse of how media and content creators can leverage the country’s demographic and cultural trends to grow their businesses
Division of Biological Sciences announces five new faculty hires
The Division of Biological Sciences announced today that it has recruited five new faculty members. The incoming cohort represents the best and brightest from across the country, growing all three
Robert De Niro's message for Donald Trump on his 80th birthday: 'Shut the f--- up'
As the president was hanging with UFC fighters at the White House on his 80th birthday, Robert De Niro delivered a fiery anti-Trump speech, declaring that he wants to "love my country again."
President says 250th celebration on July 4 will be a ‘Trump rally’
The previously planned event for the country’s anniversary will feature the president’s playlist and his keynote address, he said.
Kustom Entertainment Announces Major Ticket Inventory Updates for Country Stampede Kansas 2026 in Bonner Springs, Kansas
Thursday single-day GA and Party Pit inventory is SOLD OUT; 3-day inventory is moving fast Overland Park, KS., June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kustom Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: KUST) today announced strong ticket demand for Country Stampede Kansas 2026, taking place June 25–27, 2026, at Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Ticket demand has spiked following the recent Kustom Entertainment Inc. and Gilley’s Gambling Hall Park City, KS announcement. Kustom expects a strong presence fr
Kustom Entertainment Announces Major Ticket Inventory Updates for Country Stampede Kansas 2026 in Bonner Springs, Kansas
Thursday single-day GA and Party Pit inventory is SOLD OUT; 3-day inventory is moving fast Overland Park, KS., June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kustom...
No country should have to build its digital health future alone – now none of them will
WHO/Europe and Healthcare Denmark have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate cooperation on digital health, health data, artificial intelligence (AI) and health system innovation in the 53 countries of the WHO European Region.
Oil prices fall on US-Iran agreement
Oil prices dropped on Sunday after President Donald Trump said an agreement with Iran had been reached and the United States would end its naval blockade on the country.
Sunday Sports: Two North Country athletes crowned state champions
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Sunday.
Country singer Tyler Farr cancels festival performance after motor vehicle accident on farm
The "Redeck Crazy" singer was hospitalized with a "severe concussion."
Florida High School Football: Ocala Vanguard releases slate
Florida high school football schedules for the 2026 season are coming out one-by-one out of every state around the country and one region that is always a breeding ground for college prospects is over in the North Central Florida region, with a number of squads finalizing their fall slates. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL […]
Poll: Young and old Americans are starkly divided on national pride and confidence in government
The latest NBC News poll tested Americans’ feelings about broad cultural issues shaping politics on the eve of the country’s 250th birthday.
Iranian football legend Azizi puts peace above politics amid World Cup tensions
Iranian football legend Khodadad Azizi, who played in the first World Cup meeting between Iran and the United States in 1998, has told AFP that football should promote "peace" and remain separate from politics.Azizi, 54, was speaking as Iran prepare to play their first match at the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, the country they have been at war with since February.Nicknamed Team Melli, Iran will open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on Monday, hoping to reach the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
Swiss voters reject population cap proposal
A proposal to introduce a population cap of 10 million in the country has failed. It was put forward by a hard-right party.
Swiss voters projected to reject population cap proposal
Swiss voters have rejected a proposal put forward by a hard-right party to introduce a population cap of 10 million in the country, early projections suggest.
Swiss voters poised to reject 10 million population cap in referendum, projection shows
Swiss voters were set to reject a proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million in a referendum held on Sunday, according to preliminary projections by national broadcaster SRF.
What Makes International Google Pixels Different From American Ones?
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Curaçao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany
Curaçao is preparing for its historic World Cup debut against four-time champion Germany with a sense of excitement and pride. On Sunday, the island nation of 150,000 people will become the smallest country ever to compete at the World Cup. Coach Dick Advocaat has done his best to keep his players focused and relaxed as they navigate this unprecedented experience.
Five O'Clock Somewhere country fest benefits local businesses
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Saturday Sports: Making Dreams Come True for young athletes across the North Country
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SBA moves to revise 8(a) rules while preserving tribal, ANC eligibility
Details By Brian Edwards Native Contracting June 13, 2026 The U.S. Small Business Administration has proposed changes to its 8(a) Business Development Program that would eliminate race-based presumptions of social disadvantage for individually owned businesses while leaving eligibility standards unchanged for tribally owned enterprises, Alaska Native corporations and other Native entity-owned participants. In both the title and summary of the proposed rule published in the Federal Register, SBA emphasized that the changes only apply to individually owned firms and “do not impact entity-owned firms,” including tribes, Alaska Native corporation, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations. The proposed rule, announced June 11, would require all individual applicants seeking admission to the 8(a) program to submit evidence demonstrating social disadvantage. Membership in a racial or ethnic group alone would no longer establish eligibility, according to the SBA. For Indian Country, the agency said eligibility standards for businesses owned by federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations would remain unchanged. The proposal comes after the Department of Defense reaffirmed that participation by tribes and Alaska Native corporations in the 8(a) program is based on their political status under federal law rather than diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In a May 28 letter to Alaska's Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael P. Duffey wrote that participation by federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native corporations in federal programs is “grounded in their political status as Native Americans, not DEI initiatives.” The SBA proposal follows a 2023 federal court ruling that found unconstitutional the program's rebuttable presumption that members of certain racial and ethnic groups were socially disadvantaged. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the proposed rule would establish a single standard for individually owned applicants by requiring evidence of social disadvantage. The 8(a) Business Development Program provides participating firms with business development assistance and access to federal set-aside and sole-source contracting opportunities. The program remains a major source of federal contracting revenue for tribal enterprises and Alaska Native corporations. Native-owned firms received $16.1 billion of the program's approximately $26 billion in federal contract awards during fiscal 2024, according to data previously reported by Tribal Business News. The proposal also arrives amid ongoing concerns from Native contractors about SBA administration of the program. In May, the Native American Contractors Association and 53 Native-owned businesses urged SBA to address delays in processing 8(a) applications, saying some reviews had stretched beyond regulatory deadlines and appeared to have stalled since August 2025. The proposed rule is open for public comment through July 13. The Federal Register notice does not reference tribal consultation or indicate whether SBA determined consultation was unnecessary because tribal eligibility standards are unchanged. The SBA has not announced when the proposed rule would take effect. The agency is expected to accept public comments before issuing a final rule.About The AuthorAuthor: Brian EdwardsBrian Edwards is associate publisher and associate editor of Tribal Business News and Native News Online. He is a longtime publisher, editor, business reporter and serial entrepreneur. Subscribe Today!Other Articles by this authorDefense Department reaffirms tribal, ANC eligibility in SBA 8(a) programTribal heritage projects eligible for up to $100K in federal funding through NPS programIHS launches tribal long-term care construction initiative with three projectsIḷisaġvik College acquires site for long-planned Utqiaġvik campus This article is available to paid digital subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Judge orders Trump administration to restore signs changed at national parks
A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the Trump administration to restore all signs that were changed or removed at national parks across the country as part of President Donald Trump’s controversial directive last year.
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: a country music comeback, a surprising celebrity romance, standout red carpe...
Broncos Country highly anticipating the Davis Webb offense
It is rare in Broncos Country for fans to highly agree — other than that we hate the Raiders and Chiefs. So when a poll generates a response where 95% agree, it’s noteworthy. Based on our SBNation Reacts poll, this crowd has high expectations for Davis Webb in his new role as Broncos’ offensive coordinator, […]
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
How Iran's 'Stolen Revolution' failed to live up to its promise
Many supporters of Iran's revolution believed some form of democracy should govern the country. But over the decades, the Islamic Republic's radical religious rulers have launched brutal crackdowns on social justice and political freedom. Compass Points moderator Nick Schifrin discusses how the 1979 revolution failed to live up to its promise with Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin.
Executive Turntable: Caroline Wright Named EVP, North American Venues At Legends Global
Other highlights this week include GoDigital launching Nashville-based country imprint Orinda