This month, the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment of two Russian state media employees. It alleges that they were funnelling millions of dollars into the pockets of American YouTubers, known for their contrarian viewpoints and controversial takes on the war in Ukraine. The YouTubers say they are victims of a criminal scheme and did not know they were being paid by Russia. But it’s not the first time that something like this has happened. There’s a long history of foreign adversaries covertly paying Americans to spread fake news to other Americans—it’s a move right out of Nazi Germany’s propaganda playbook.

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The massive infrastructure project NEOM sits in the Saudi Arabian desert, and the jewel in its crown is The Line, a futuristic city which looks insane. The AI-generated ads depict a car-free city, for 9 million people, housed between two mirrors. Despite promises of millions of residents by 2030, the project has been scaled back by 98 per cent. The Line will be more like a dot. So what the hell happened? And was it all just a scam?

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Russia defends its enormous borders with the threat of nuclear war. It’s this threat that has long stopped Ukraine and its allies from attacking Russia on its home turf—there are ‘red lines’ that can’t be crossed without nuclear retaliation. Yet Ukraine just invaded Russian sovereign territory and still, no nukes. Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears to be calling Vladimir Putin’s bluff. It seems the ‘red lines’ were done in red pencil, not red pen. So how does this reshape the war, and what does it mean for Putin?

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It’s a dangerous moment for the Middle East. Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire over the weekend, including attacks on a pretty unique pocket of farmland — an Israeli-annexed area called the Golan Heights. In 2019 then-President Donald Trump broke with the rest of the international community and recognised it as part of Israel. There’s even an Israeli settlement named after him. Now, the world is watching the Golan Heights closely, fearful that fighting there could escalate and become a massive regional conflict.

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A shift is on display at the Democratic National Convention—from fear of Donald Trump to mocking him. After years of arguing Trump is dangerous, the Democratic pick for Vice President Tim Walz is changing the party’s attack strategy, calling their opponents 'weird'. This potential path to victory is not seen as very presidential. But could it work?

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In the early hours of July 31 this year, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran. It's presumed Israel was behind the killing, with reports detailing a complex operation by its spy agency Mossad. So if it was Israel that did this, why did they do it in such an extraordinary manner, and in Iran of all places? The answer tells us a lot about the complex political situation Israel finds itself in, where it feels the need for revenge, but only in a way that doesn’t alienate its allies.

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Since Kamala Harris became his opponent in the race for US president, Donald Trump has argued that she is responsible for a migrant crisis. He says President Joe Biden named her the ‘border czar’, in charge of dealing with the unprecedented number of people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. It’s a policy area that the Trump campaign hopes will win him the election in November. So what’s real, and what’s fake, when it comes to Kamala Harris and the US border?

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Kamala Harris is the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. But four years ago, she didn’t even make it to the first primary vote. They needed to pick someone who would beat Donald Trump, and Harris just wasn’t ‘electable’ enough. Whatever that means. So if she wasn’t electable then, is she electable now? 

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After weeks of speculation and acrimony, President Joe Biden has abandoned his bid for re-election, and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to be his successor.

This scenario has happened once before - late in the election cycle, a President bailed out and tried to hand over power to their Vice President. The subsequent chaos at the 1968 Democratic convention is legendary, and is something the party will be desperate to avoid in 2024.

When 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at former-President Donald Trump on July 13, the American public was ready with conspiracy theories explaining how and why he did it. 

And that shouldn’t come as a shock. Most Americans think President John F Kennedy was assassinated as part of a conspiracy, either by the US Government, Cubans, or the Mafia. 

They’re primed to believe their government is keeping secrets from them—because it is. 

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