Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball sells for £2.5m Independent (Micael T)
A museum-shelf mystery reveals 6,500-year-old human tooth pendant in Serbia PhysOrg (Micael T)
How The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Saved My Life Oldster (Micael T)
Common medications may change your gut for years Science Daily (Kevin W)
#COVID-19/Pandemic
Ebola cases in DRC hit 5,515 as Pope Leo urges global action to save lives Aljazeera
Climate/Environment
Indian elephants are being squeezed out of their habitats Economist
Climate change could triple the price of wheat EurekAlert
Climate change is raising diarrhea risk for children across Africa Earth
Millions in France report eco-anxiety after summer of heatwaves and wildfires RFI
Scorching summer triggers record rockfalls in Alps, scientist says France24
Climate Change Wreaks Havoc on Wine Industry Good Men Project
Two Atlantic tropical disturbances to watch; Tropical Storm Moke brings rain to Hawaii Yale Climate Connections
While sea surface temperature anomalies have decreased somewhat within the last week in the Niño 3.4, Niño 3 and, especially Niño 1+2 due to an enormous easterly wind burst. (that’s stronger than normal easterly trade winds) that occurred. This has caused a little bit of a little… pic.twitter.com/UWxiNtTygw
— David Schlotthauer (@Weatherunited1) August 21, 2026
Water
River salinisation is widespread across Europe Joint Research Center
Congress must act now to keep the Rio Grande flowing World Wildlife
Arizona’s chip footprint grows, but TSMC’s water demand sparks questions Arizona’s Family (Kevin W)
‘It was a tsunami’: Floods leave death trail in India’s Assam Aljazeeera
China?
China runs up against the limits of growth LBBW
China’s property crisis grinds on after Evergrande sentencing Straits Times
More than 200 Chinese ships mass near Philippine-held shoal UPI
China-linked hackers hit Taiwan in unprecedented ‘autonomous’ AI cyber attack.Financial Times
Japan
Russia conducts missile tests on disputed islands as Japan protests drills Euronews
Koreas
North Korea says record-high Japan defense budget would risk ‘turmoil’ Japan Today
Africa
Thousands flee Sudan’s Kordofan fighting for relative safety of El Obeid Aljazeera
Boat deaths fuel anger in Tunisia’s struggling border town Middle East Online
Scores of people kidnapped from mosque in Nigeria, residents say Sky
South of the Border
Tankers Wait a Month as Venezuela Hits an Oil Export Ceiling OilPrice
O Canada
As U.S.-Canada trade talks collapse, Carney says retaliatory tariffs will start Sept. 8 CNBC
Trump is threatening 50% tariffs on Canadian cars. Here’s what else he’s targeting CNN. As in an escalation.
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS I Fucking Love Australia (resilc). A must read if you want some good fun.
‘Half my business will be gone’ – firms in Canada and US fear trade war BBC. Similarly, bye bye Susan Collins’ odds of being re-elected
European Disunion
AfD co-leader calls for Germany to leave euro, Schengen Anadolu Agency
Italy Extends Diesel Tax Cut as Meloni Grapples With Fuel Prices Bloomberg
Thousands rally in Sweden to protest climate policies ahead of general election France24
Norway will drill in Arctic regardless of EU’s position, says energy minister Reuters
Old Blighty
Britain faces food shortages within months, farmers warn, as they cannot afford to plant their crops AOL
‘We’re not remotely prepared’: Labour MPs fear party has gone soft on climate crisis Guardian
Israel v. The Resistance
>Who Knew Genocide Could Be So Expensive? Karen Kwiatkowski (Chuck L)
Here, people come searching for relief from thirst. Here, precious drops of drinking water flow to fill distribution trucks. The site is unmistakably a water facility—yet Israel targeted it, further deepening Gaza’s already devastating water crisis. pic.twitter.com/ioW0SOZqvI
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) August 24, 2026
Israeli forces reportedly use phosphorus shells in attacks on southern Lebanon Middle East Eye
Israeli politicians focus on foreign threats, ignoring spiralling debt Aljazeera
Israel-Turkey tensions expose personal, strategic rivalry between Netanyahu and Erdogan LeMonde
Iran War
US can huff & puff, but without a political fix Iran won’t come down Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
What the ‘Iran Experts’ Didn’t Tell the White House American Conservative (resilc)
Syraqistan
Pakistan Army Chief says Balochistan militants are ‘foreign proxies’ The Hindu
Child stunting is Pakistan’s hidden economic crisis Asian Age
New Not-So-Cold War
From Grain to Refugees, Winter Is Coming for Ukraine This Time Bloomberg
Cash-Strapped Ukraine Gripped by Preparatory “Female Mobilization” Info-Drive Simplicius
Brief Frontline Report – August 24th, 2026 Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
The “Putin-is-Hitler, Russia-is-Nazi-Germany” game in the West, particularly in the UK, rolls on.
Speaking in Kyiv, UK Prime Minister Burnham compared Ukraine’s struggle to Britain’s fight against Nazi Germany:
“My nation kept the flame of European freedom alive in the 20th… pic.twitter.com/2VotTblb6m
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) August 24, 2026
Burnham to visit Ukraine with promise of boost for Kyiv’s long-range missiles Guardian (Kevin W)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Gotta scan ’em all: How Pokémon Go turned its players into Pentagon cartographers The Cradle (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Navy families evacuated from Bahrain face ‘uncharted territory’ amid bureaucratic confusion Stars & Stripes (Kevin W)
Nuclear War: Still a Possibility? Stephen Breyen
Trump 2.0
New Press Secretary To Just Be Picture Of Scott Jennings Doing That Face Babylon Bee
Trump made more than 1,000 trades in June totaling millions, financial disclosures reveal Independent
Trump’s Family Joins a Rush to Start New Banks Bloomberg
Supreme Court gives Trump an interim win on his mail voting order, but hurdles loom NPR (Kevin W)
Hundreds of America’s wild horses reportedly sent to slaughter under Trump Humane World
Democrats Suck
Jeffries UNDER FIRE For Secret Meeting w/ Kushner Breaking Points. Underlying story here. A Democrat connected contact maintained Jeffries and Republicans were scheming to execute another Grand Bargain, as in Social Security and Medicare cutting party. A Republican connected contact was unhappy about the meeting, seeing it as meaning Team Trump was already conceding that they expected Republicans to lose the House.
Our No Longer Free Press
The Info War Stack People’s Art of War (Micael T)
Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received Secret $6 Million Payment New York Times (Micael T)
Economy
Hormuz Tanker Traffic Slumps as U.S. and Iran Trade Threats OilPrice
Mr. Market is Edgy
Asian shares mostly decline as bond market pressure mounts ABC
AI
Two ways it might all fall apart Gary Marcus
An explanation of the AI business model. The point when «El Risitas» reaches the climax is well calibrated. https://t.co/14Sw3G8fDG
— Florian Oswald 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@FlorianOswald) August 21, 2026
AI Jitters Have Suppliers Preparing for Data Center Boom to Go Bust Bloomberg
The Gas Turbine Shortage Just Became AI’s Biggest Constraint Yahoo (Kevin W)
Andreessen Horowitz is shaping AI policy — while investing in a bleak vision of the future Model Republic
The Bezzle
Sports Bettingʼs Rise and the Line Between Entertainment and Problem Gambling Stanford (resilc)
GM vehicles under federal scrutiny after hundreds of reports ars technica (Kevin W)
KPMG Australia to Fire Hundreds of Workers as Crisis Deepens Insurance Journal
Class Warfare
Strengthened unemployment insurance or reduced starting wages – this is how the parties want to create more jobs Arbetet via machine translation. Micael T: “Nice overview of left-right approaches. Investments in vs punishment of unemployed and who gets the profits.”
Antidote du jour. From Cheryl K, “Gus, ever serene”:
And a bonus:
There was a stork whose mate passed away during nesting season. Unable to leave her eggs for long, she began going hungry.
Local residents started feeding her fish with a long pole so she could continue incubating her eggs. This happened in Vinnytsia pic.twitter.com/kLe3hmHFDw
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) August 19, 2026
A second bonus:
When your cat realizes there’s a new brother 😂 pic.twitter.com/Y4ZFzxrUdv
— smooth (@Smoothfund) August 17, 2026
And a third:
Baby tiger knows its milk time pic.twitter.com/cHzX4uR5ik
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 20, 2026
And a different sort of bonus:
He changes his life by touching the desent and victimized disabled person.
[📹 Lee Hutchinson / videolee] pic.twitter.com/8w3quz3WH0
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 19, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
