Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) finished first in Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt, according to preliminary official results, but did not win enough seats to govern alone. The state election authority reported that the AfD received 43.8 percent of the vote and 39 seats in the 83-seat Landtag. An absolute majority requires 42 seats. The…
A municipal bylaw in Canada becomes law when the local council follows the process set out in provincial legislation and in the municipality’s own procedure bylaw. In most provinces that means three separate readings at meetings open to the public, then signatures. Some bylaws also need advertised notice, a public hearing, or provincial approval before…
The water cycle, also called the hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of Earth. The total amount of water on the planet has remained essentially constant for billions of years. What changes is its form and location. Water exists as liquid in oceans, rivers, lakes, and soil;…
A star spends its life in a contest between two forces. Gravity pulls its gas inward. Pressure pushes back—first from heat, then from nuclear fusion in the core. For most of the star’s life those forces stay in balance. Astronomers call that balance hydrostatic equilibrium. When the fuel runs out, the balance breaks. What happens…
A mini-split that suddenly blows cooler air, goes quiet outside, or sends up a cloud of “smoke” in January is usually doing its job. In heating mode the outdoor coil is the cold part of the system. It pulls heat from outdoor air. When that coil is colder than freezing and the air is damp,…
The National Basketball Association announced on September 2 that the Los Angeles Clippers violated salary-cap circumvention rules in the league’s collective bargaining agreement and imposed penalties on the franchise, owner Steve Ballmer, two team executives, and forward Kawhi Leonard. According to the NBA, a summary report prepared by the law firm Wachtell Lipton found that…
Uber Technologies announced on September 2, 2026, that it will eliminate approximately 3,300 positions, representing about 10 percent of its global workforce. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the changes in a memo to employees. The company said the cuts aim to remove organizational layers, simplify team structures, and reduce complexity that accumulated during earlier growth….
U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran at noon Eastern Time on September 1 and later said the wave of strikes had been completed. CENTCOM said the targets included air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites. CENTCOM said the strikes…
A Las Vegas jury on Monday found Duane Keith Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 drive-by shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, 63, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, was convicted after roughly three hours of deliberations. Prosecutors argued he obtained the gun used in the shooting and directed…
Compound interest is interest earned on both the original amount of money and on the interest that has already been added to it. In plain terms, it is interest on interest. This mechanism produces growth that accelerates over time because each period’s interest becomes part of the base for the next calculation. Consider a basic…