“Musk”: Alex Gibney on New Film, Legal Threats & Elon Musk Spending $366M to Help GOP in Midterms

Oct 13, 2026 | We speak with the Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney about his new documentary Musk, an expansive, nearly four-hour examination of the world’s first trillionaire and how he has amassed unprecedented power in business, technology and politics. The film traces Elon Musk’s early ventures and the rise of SpaceX and Tesla, examining the role of government support in their growth. It also explores his acquisition of Twitter, now X; his alliance with President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement; and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, whose cuts devastated federal programs, including USAID.

Gibney says Musk has carefully crafted an image of a “polymath” who can solve the world’s most pressing problems, but that he is really “kind of a ruthless businessman” willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, including “a series of elaborate cons” to win government support for his companies.


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We Can't Let Big Tech Oligarchs Replace the Human Race

Oct 17, 2026 | Senator Bernie Sanders is the senior senator from Vermont. He is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history and the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).

Bernie Explains Trump's Playbook

Oct 25, 2026 | For 50 years, wealth has been transferred from the bottom 90% to the top 1%.

Trump wants you blaming immigrants, trans people and other scapegoats instead of the billionaires who are rigging the economy.

That is how demagogues operate.

Steve Rosenberg: Moscow Perceives Trump Criticism of Ukraine "as a Mandate to Continue Military Pressure."

Oct 25, 2026 | How is Donald Trump’s criticism of President Zelensky interpreted in Moscow? “Moscow perceives these words as a mandate to continue military pressure,” writes one Russian paper. I ask Muscovites to name one word that’s important to them and read what Russian schoolchildren are taught about “defence of the Motherland.”

Alex Gibney on the Myth of Elon Musk

Oct 16, 2026 | Elon Musk is the world's richest man and one of the most powerful and polarizing figures on the planet. But how much of his carefully cultivated image as a visionary genius is actually true?

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney sits down with Katie to discuss his new documentary, Musk, which takes a hard look at the reality behind some of Musk's most celebrated accomplishments, his increasingly consequential role in American politics, and the enormous power he's accumulated along the way.

They discuss troubling revelations about Tesla, Musk's relationship with Donald Trump, and the questions his extraordinary influence raises about money, power, and accountability.


TW: Strong language alert!

Bernie Takes on Elon and Trump

Oct 24, 2026 | Elon Musk and his fellow billionaires think they can buy our democracy. They are wrong. Together, we will defeat oligarchy.

I have said it already UMPTEEN times before, but I will say it again: This is the man who should be POTUS, not that corrupt, crude, cruel ignoramus who currently resides in the White House. Bernie Sanders is in politics for the right reasons, not to line his own pockets. Bernie Sanders’ raison d’être is to improve the lives of the people. — © Mark Alexander

Can the World Still Trust America? | Martin Wolf on the US Midterms | Financial Times

Oct 24, 2026 | As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world.

1952 - 1953: The Cold War in Europe - ARTE

Oct 24, 2026 | 1952/53: Europe is divided by the Iron Curtain. In the East, Russia determines the development of its satellite states. In the West, the capitalist democracies embark on a difficult path, under pressure from the Americans: they are to show unity against the East. The biggest obstacle in the way is the relationship between West Europeans and West Germany.

Trump Desperate as Approval Drops to 31% and Mental Health Collapses

Oct 24, 2026 | Facing steep political headwinds, with national polls showing Democratic congressional candidates maintaining an 11-point generic ballot lead and Donald Trump’s approval rating plummeting to a record low of 31%, who are the 31% of voters that think he is doing a good job?

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« C’est le moment » : Marco Rubio appelle ceux qui veulent un changement à Cuba à coopérer avec la CIA

Le secrétaire d’État américain Marco Rubio à Mumbai, le 20 octobre 2026. Kylie Cooper / REUTERS
LE FIGARO : Le secrétaire d’État américain a invité vendredi les Cubains désireux d’un « changement positif » sur l’île à nouer un «partenariat discret» avec la CIA.

Le chef de la diplomatie américaine Marco Rubio a appelé vendredi « ceux qui veulent un changement positif à Cuba » à se tourner vers la CIA, sur fond d’intensification des pressions de Washington sur l’île communiste voisine. « À ceux qui souhaitent apporter un changement positif à Cuba : c’est le moment ou jamais », a écrit le secrétaire d’État américain sur X. « Face à la déception suscitée par les promesses non tenues, la corruption et le mode de vie privilégié d’une poignée de personnes, saisissez cette occasion de créer le changement que vous souhaitez grâce à un partenariat discret avec la CIA », a-t-il ajouté. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | Samedi 24 octobre 2026

The Lincoln Project: Build

Oct 23, 2026 | Republicans control every branch of government and what did they give you? Higher gas prices. Higher cost of living. Higher healthcare costs. Higher inflation.

William Hague Declares Trump 'Worst' President of His Lifetime

William Hague declares Trump the worst president of his lifetime, and struggles to see how anyone could have a different opinion.

“You have to go back into the 19th century, Andrew Jackson and people like that, to find a worse president.”

William Hague doesn’t mince his words when he speaks of Trump and his deplorable presidency.
This is the presidency you get when you allow a felon to take charge and lead your country, giving him the keys to the White House, when you should have been turning the key to his cell in a penitentiary to lock him up!

Alas, the powers-that-be lacked the courage to do the right thing. So, the result of all this—if I am not greatly mistaken—will be World War III. Many countries are already preparing for such a bleak scenario.

If war does break out, Trump will be the cause; Trump will be to blame. However, it should not be overlooked that the American electorate will also have to share some of that blame, for being so uncircumspect, reckless, and unwise as to elect such an unqualified man to the highest office in the land!

***

Dies ist die Präsidentschaft, die man erhält, wenn man einem vorbestraften Kriminellen erlaubt, die Führung des Landes zu übernehmen – wenn man ihm also die Schlüssel zum Weißen Haus in die Hand gibt, anstatt den Schlüssel zu seiner Gefängniszelle umzudrehen, um ihn hinter Gitter zu bringen!

Leider fehlte den Verantwortlichen der nötige Mut, das Richtige zu tun. Das Ergebnis all dessen wird – wenn ich mich nicht sehr irre – der Dritte Weltkrieg sein. Viele Länder bereiten sich bereits auf ein solch düsteres Szenario vor.

Sollte es tatsächlich zum Krieg kommen, so wird Trumps mangelhafte Führung die Ursache sein; Trump trägt dann die Schuld. Man darf jedoch nicht übersehen, dass auch die amerikanische Wählerschaft einen Teil dieser Schuld auf sich lädt – dafür, dass sie so unüberlegt, leichtsinnig und unklug war, einen derart unqualifizierten Mann in das höchste Amt des Landes zu wählen!

***

Voilà le genre de présidence que l’on obtient lorsqu’on laisse un criminel prendre les rênes du pays et en assumer la direction — en lui remettant les clés de la Maison-Blanche, alors qu’on aurait dû, au contraire, tourner la clé de sa cellule dans un pénitencier pour l’y enfermer !

Hélas, les dirigeants en place n’ont pas eu le courage nécessaire pour agir comme il se devait. Résultat : si je ne m’abuse, nous risquons fort de nous diriger vers une troisième guerre mondiale. De nombreux pays se préparent d’ores et déjà à un scénario des plus sombres.

Si une guerre venait à éclater, la gouvernance défaillante de Trump en serait la cause ; c’est lui qu’il faudrait blâmer. Cela dit, il ne faut pas oublier que l’électorat américain porte également une part de responsabilité : en faisant preuve d’une telle imprudence, d’une telle légèreté et d’un tel manque de discernement, les électeurs ont porté un homme aussi incompétent à la plus haute fonction du pays ! — © Mark Alexander

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines

October 22, 2026

Witkoff telling Putin that he’s a “humanitarian” is enough to make any decent person want to vomit! — © Mark Alexander

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Europe’s Far Right Seizes on Protest Violence to Push Authoritarian Anti-immigration Agenda

THE GUARDIAN: Nationalist leaders are framing unrest as consequence of failed liberal governance and open borders

A fire burns as police officers in riot gear stand guard in Paris. Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters
Europe’s far-right leaders have jumped on the violence that rocked numerous cities last weekend, framing it as the inevitable consequence of failed liberal governance and open-border policies and insisting only they can restore law and order.

Months away from key elections in Spain, France and Italy, authoritarian nationalists are eager to weaponise the wave of street unrest, originating in peaceful protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services but hijacked by violent rioters.

Those in opposition have not held back. In France, where cities such as Paris, Marseille and Lyon faced widespread rioting and looting, the far-right National Rally (RN) has denounced centrist incompetence and promised a crackdown.

The party’s president, Jordan Bardella, said the government was “impotent”. The RN leader, Marine Le Pen, said on Wednesday the state was “collapsing” and had “lost control of everything” amid “migratory, budgetary and security chaos”.

Ahead in presidential polls and seeking voters beyond her base, Le Pen has resisted explicitly racialising the unrest, but has framed it more broadly as a result of state and policy failures leading to “anarchic immigration” and “a total loss of authority”.

In Germany – where there were no major protests – the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has stoked fears rioting could spill over the border. Its co-leader Alice Weidel said France’s “violent excesses” were a “warning for Germany”.

Weidel also linked the unrest to immigration, posting: “The dangerous mix of mass migration and leftwing extremism threatens to lead to civil war-like conditions here too … There will only be a turnaround on migration with the AfD!” » | Jon Henley and Guardian correspondents | Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines

October 21, 2026

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When Trump was talking about Ilhan Omar, I thought he must surely be talking about himself! 😊 — © Mark Alexander

Brexit: Der größte Fehler der Briten, Ulrike Herrmann?

Der Brexit habe in Großbritannien Schleifspuren hinterlassen, sagt Wirtschaftsjournalistin und Bestsellerautorin Ulrike Herrmann. Sie erklärt, warum die Rechnung der Briten beim EU-Austritt nicht aufgegangen ist und es der Bevölkerung schlechter geht, als eingangs erwartet.
Ulrike Herrmann zeigt, wie der Brexit den Briten geschadet hat.

The Billionaires Have Enough Money to Buy Both Sides' — Interview with Gil Durán | DW News

Oct 21, 2026 | US Author Gil Durán warns that Silicon Valley “billionaires have enough money to buy both sides" in any US election. In his book „The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy,“ Durán pieces together public statements from powerful tech investors like Peter Thiel that amount to a chilling attack on democracy as we know it. Durán criticizes both Republicans and Democrats for refusing to take on the big money in tech.

AfD’s Alice Weidel on Ukraine, Migration and Germany’s Future | The Economist

Oct 21, 2026 | Alice Weidel is one of the most important politicians in Europe today. She is the co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the right-wing populist party which is leading in Germany’s national polls and came top in two recent state elections. Ms Weidel is skilled at voicing Germans’ frustrations with mainstream political parties. Less clear is her alternative vision for the country. What does she really believe in? And how would she govern?

In conversation with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, in the Bundestag in Berlin, Ms Weidel discusses the AfD’s economic plan, its stance on Russia and Ukraine, and whether she supports—or even recognises—the extreme elements in her party.

Steve Rosenberg: What Are the Russian Papers Saying ahead of Steve Witkoff's Meeting with Vladimir Putin?

Oct 21, 2026 | Steve Witkoff's in St Petersburg to meet President Putin: what are this morning’s Russian newspapers saying about the visit? Plus, an interesting editorial…with a warning for the Russian authorities.

Putin’s ‘Stuck in a Dangerous Place’ as Ukraine Scorches Russian Economy | Bill Browder

Oct 20, 2026 | “The Ukrainians have a way of fighting back to scorch his economy.”

Putin is “stuck” in a “dangerous place” as he finds himself fighting against a resilient and adaptive Ukraine, says Sir William Browder.

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