Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Aug. 26, and we really want to join this gang of six psychologists who have stayed friends since 1980 thanks to Dungeons and Dragons. Let’s catch up.
Canada struck back at the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs.
Starting Sept. 8: Canada will raise tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%, officials said yesterday. It will also impose levies of up to 50% on about 700 other U.S. products.
As the trade war escalates: President Donald Trump is considering changing Lake Ontario’s name to Lake America, he said yesterday. He cited his tariff fight in a post on Truth Social.
She made our lives better and our world brighter: Parton made her mark as a musician, actress, philanthropist, fashion icon and dreamer. See what fans loved most about her here.
Trump-endorsed candidates won two high-profile primaries yesterday.
In South Carolina: Sen. Darline Graham triumphed in a Senate primary runoff. It was a win for Trump, who invested time and money to turn around a streak of losing endorsements.
In Oklahoma: Trump’s candidate, former state senator Mike Mazzei, won the Republican nomination for governor. Find our takeaways from all of yesterday’s primaries here.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare, unannounced visit to Moscow.
A U.S. plane approaches Moscow yesterday, in a screenshot from a social media video. (Social media/Reuters)
According to flight tracking data: A U.S. government transport plane flew from near D.C. to the Russian capital yesterday. The plane departed about eight and a half hours later.
What was he doing there? Officials on both sides were tight-lipped about the visit’s purpose. The last known trip to Moscow by a CIA chief came ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The MAGA-MAHA alliance is at risk of fracturing over a pesticide.
Earlier this year: Trump expanded domestic production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, sparking fury inside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement.
It spilled into public view last week: A White House spokesperson and a MAHA influencer sparred on social media. MAHA activists are also channeling anger at Trump’s FDA nominee.
Bill Gates was an AI optimist, but now he’s scared of what could go wrong.
In a new essay: The Microsoft co-founder sounded the alarm about AI’s risks to security, jobs and children’s well-being. He also spoke about his concerns in an interview.
More AI news: The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller did not violate its policies by using AI to write a column published this week.
NASA is about to launch this new telescope to help unlock cosmic mysteries.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at Kennedy Space Center in Florida this month. (Jolearra Tshiteya/NASA)
It could set off this week: The Nancy Grace Roman telescope will go into orbit a million miles from home. It will look for new planets and answers to big questions about the universe.
The truth is out there: One of the project’s main objectives is to find out more about dark energy, the mysterious force which drives the accelerating expansion of space.
Before you go ... 10 minutes of super-slow running can benefit your brain and mood: Here’s how. Plus: This rare skin cancer is often mistaken for an itchy rash.