The Mainstreaming of Anti-Indian Bigotry

A Republican schism over a social-media post by a Texas politician revealed that the party’s defense of a color-blind meritocracy has its limits.

The Atlantic

Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses

Proposition 40, which will be on the ballot in November, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on California’s 200 billionaires, with 90% of the revenue from the proposed measure going toward the state’s health care program and 10% going toward education, food assistance, and administration. Brin, with a net worth of nearly $260 billion, could owe about $13 billion as a result of the tax.

Fortune

Eight Years On, Cambridge Analytica Scandal Catches Up With Meta in Santa Fe

“We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record,” Meta spokesperson Alex Burgos said in an email to The Associated Press. “Meta’s platforms are forums for free expression. We have a First Amendment right to manage those platforms in a way we believe best serves the interests of our community. This means prioritizing free speech, protecting our users’ information and giving them control over their data.”

Tech Policy

As anti-Hindu rhetoric grows, Texas Hindus rethink public celebrations

‘I enjoy celebrating your culture, religion, whatever your faith is, but everything has a limit,’ said Irving resident Seema Ashar. ‘You cannot disturb other people, and it’s getting wilder and wilder every year. You have to respect everybody around you.’

Religion News Network

In Texas, Something Seismic Is Happening—and It’s All Trump’s Fault

Thanks to the economy and ICE, Trump has lost Texas Latinos. And James Talarico is developing a humane pro-immigrant message that’s resonating—even in this ultra-Trumpy state.

New Republic

What to know about the investigation into Cornell University gang rape allegations

James, a Democrat best known for tangling with President Donald Trump, suggested at a news conference Friday that her investigation wouldn’t be rushed. She described it as a monthslong process, with no predetermined outcome.

Chicago Tribune

Trump posts GOP Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number amid daylight saving time fight

The Sunshine Protection Act, which would have Americans spring forward one last time and never fall back, passed the House in July, but has run into delays in the Senate. On Saturday, the debate over the time change reached a new level with Trump’s apparent doxxing of his fellow Republican.

The phone number he posted had an Arkansas area code. However, a call by the Associated Press was not answered and the voicemail box was full.

Fox6 News

Christa Pike’s lawyer says she has not regained consciousness since her failed Tennessee execution

Little has been released about Pike’s condition since Wednesday night’s execution attempt. She has since remained hospitalized under guard as doctors try to get the massive dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital out of her system.

PBS

Russ Vought Insists He Has a Neat Trick to Override Congress. It’s More ‘a Confession,’ Experts Say

“It’s more like a confession of a crime rather than some neat trick,” Devin O’Connor, senior fellow on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ federal fiscal policy team, told TPM.

Yahoo News

A Reckoning in Springfield

A truck driver out on his route confronts what the country has become.

The Atlantic

He Wanted to Modernize the Military. Pete Hegseth Forced Him Out

Dan Driscoll speaks for the first time since resigning as Secretary of the Army amid the Pentagon’s purge of military leaders

Rolling Stone

In Wisconsin, Two Sheriff Races Test the Future of Local ICE Cooperation

Wisconsin’s Sauk and Winnebago counties joined an ICE program to boost immigration enforcement. Candidates running for sheriff have vowed to quit it if elected next month.

Bolts Magazine

U.S. Marine arrested for alleged murder of a woman in Okinawa, Japan

The Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested a 20-year-old Marine stationed at the Futenma Air Station on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old local woman at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday.

NPR

A Girl Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk.

California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But that’s not what happened.

ProPublica

Trump tomato tariffs could spell the end of free chips, salsa at restaurants

The 17% tariff on Mexican tomato imports, combined with bad weather in Florida and Mexico, has caused the price of salsa ingredients to spike in recent months.

Houston Public

Nearly 200 People Under Observation After Irkutsk Lab Worker Dies From Plague

Alexei Tsydenov, head of the neighboring republic of Buryatia, confirmed that the woman had died from an unspecified form of plague. Irkutsk officials had previously described the illness only as a “particularly dangerous infection.”

The Moscow Times

When telcos shut down the internet, they shut down protests for the government

When the streets become too dangerous, dissent often migrates online

Global Voices

Researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies of ‘unknown’ infection

It is unclear exactly what was released, according to the state agency that handles infectious disease, Rospotrebnadzor. One person – a laboratory worker – is said to have died in the incident after being diagnosed with a pneumonia of “unknown” origin.

CNN

Russia has destroyed “one third of all the books printed in Ukraine this year.”

This attack is but the latest in a pattern. Russia has been targeting presses and publishing houses across Ukraine for the past month, in a campaign that’s increasingly concerned with decimating Ukrainian culture.

Literary Hub

UAE had shared details about FlyDubai flight with Israel, including pilots’ names and nationalities, officials tell AP

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shared with Israel a list of passengers and crew ahead of the FlyDubai flight on which a pilot attempted to seize control of the Israel-bound aircraft and crash it, regional officials said Sunday, raising new questions over how the attacker evaded detection.

AP News

Germany’s Merz announces new aid for Ukraine in Kyiv as Russia steps up attacks

About €1 billion ($1.1 billion) of the package is military aid, including long-range strike weapons, combat drones and satellite technology, “so that Ukraine can also target Russian launch pads,” Merz said at a news conference. Germany is also providing some €350 million ($395 million) in energy aid ahead of winter for generators, substations and repair work, he said.

Chicago Tribune

Dodik declared Bosnia ‘dead’. Irrelevant rhetoric or serious threat?

Bosnian Serb leader’s controversial comments ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s high-stakes elections.

AlJazeera

Brazilians voted for next president as Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro hope for first round victory

Bolsonaro, 45, is the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt and an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Lula, who at 80 is one of the world’s oldest heads of state, is running in his seventh presidential election and has strengthened Brazil’s ties with Beijing.

PBS

When the right to protest remains, but demonstrating comes at a price

Climate activists are particularly vulnerable to arrest and persecution

Global Voices