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House Dems hand GOP a win on trans sports as party unity cracks
Five House Democrats broke with their party to join Republicans in passing an amendment restricting transgender participation in school sports, exposing cracks in Democratic unity on the issue. The vote came during the House’s consideration of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that sets military and national security policy, on…
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A 12-year-old casualty of war recovers in hospital: Alessio Mamo’s best photograph
Photographer Alessio Mamo recalls how he came to photograph Manal, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl recovering from severe burns sustained in a missile explosion in Kirkuk, as part of a project documenting patients at the Médecins Sans Frontières Al-Mowasah hospital in Amman. The portrait, taken while Manal underwent extensive treatment, later won an award at the…
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AMD and Anthropic reach $5 billion AI infrastructure deal
AMD has agreed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic as part of a new AI infrastructure partnership, announced on Wednesday. Under the deal, Anthropic will deploy up to 2 gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct MI450 AI GPUs via the chipmaker’s new Helios rack-scale system, adding to a growing roster of computing agreements the AI…
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Elements Music & Arts Festival Continues to Push the Boundaries of the Camping and Attendee Experience
Elements Music & Arts Festival returns to Long Pond, Pennsylvania, from 7-9 August, continuing its evolution from a Brooklyn warehouse party into one of the United States’ leading camping festivals. Ahead of the event, Dancing Astronaut spoke with co-founder Brett Herman and general manager Dan Slutsky about what keeps the festival distinct: a participatory, community-driven…
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I’m a Lego collector, and Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer is impressive, most impressive
GamesRadar+ reviews Lego Star Wars Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer (75394) positively, describing it as an especially striking display model for collectors. The reviewer considers it impressive because it recreates the imposing Imperial ship at a manageable scale, while also offering enough detail and character features to appeal to Star Wars fans. The set is positioned…
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Liverpool issue 432 life bans and seize £1.2m in ticket tout investigation
Liverpool FC and Merseyside police have carried out a joint investigation into ticket touting, resulting in £1.2m of assets being seized and 432 lifetime bans issued to fans. Described as the first operation of its kind between a Premier League club and its local police force, the crackdown focused on organised touts laundering proceeds from…
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Ben Folds Testifies Before Congress About Trump’s Kennedy Center Takeover
Musician Ben Folds testified before a bicameral congressional forum on 21 July 2026, arguing that Donald Trump’s takeover of Washington’s Kennedy Center has damaged the institution. Folds, who resigned as the National Symphony Orchestra’s Artistic Advisor over the takeover, said the once-apolitical venue had been undermined after Trump removed board members, installed himself as chairman…
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Democrats push for investigation into fired IRS lawyer who reportedly clashed with White House over audits
Senate Democrats have called for an investigation into the reported removal of Kenneth Kies, the acting chief counsel at the Internal Revenue Service. They say he was forced out after objecting to White House efforts to influence audits of particular taxpayers, raising concerns that political pressure may have compromised the tax agency’s independence. Twelve Democratic…
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Protomartyr Announce New Album Hotel Usona: Hear “Sounds We Cannot Hear”
Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr have announced their sixth studio album, Hotel Usona, alongside the release of lead single “Sounds We Cannot Hear” and its accompanying music video. It is the follow-up to 2023’s Formal Growth In The Desert and marks a return to new material after the band spent last year marking the tenth anniversary…