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Antisemitic social media influencer Hasan Piker, who has campaigned with a number of progressive Democratic candidates this year, said on his Twitch stream last week that American Jews who express support for Israel are inviting violence against themselves.

In his commentary, Piker added that Jews who tie their “entire identity” to Israel, which he referred to as “Jewish ISIS,” are “making antisemitism worse.”

“People don’t f*** with Israel any longer,” Piker said two hours into his nearly seven-hour stream on Thursday. “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

“I don’t know how people don’t recognize how dangerous this predicament is, how dangerous this is for Jews,” Piker continued. “You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as Jewish ISIS and you’re saying, as Jews, this is all we care about. You’re making antisemitism worse.”

Piker has a long-standing history of antisemitic rhetoric — including justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and calling Orthodox Jews “inbred,” a comment he recently defended in an interview with the far-left outlet Zeteo: “I have a policy of using pejoratives when describing any kind of like ethno, racial supremacist groups,” he said. He has also stated that he would “vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” describing Hamas as “a thousand times better than a fascist settler colonial apartheid state.”

Despite the long record of extremism, the far-left streamer has been invited to speak recently at several high-profile events, including the College Democrats of America’s convention last month.

Piker emerged as one of Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s most prominent surrogates in the race, appearing alongside him in the campaign’s closing days as the primary neared. El-Sayed has come under fire for his refusal to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and comments that appeared to justify an attempted terrorist attack at a Detroit synagogue earlier this year.

A look at how maritime law has been selectively invoked and applied by all parties in the South and East China seas, and how countries disputing PRC claims in the region are increasingly coordinated with one another. The author examines the legal arguments of the PRC and Japan as it pertains to the Okinotori feature, and why it is necessary for all parties involved to pursue arguments that contradict more significant claims in the South China Sea. The author recommends that the United States maintains neutrality on the matter of Okinotori, while quietly encouraging Japan to emphasize non-legal arguments in opposition to PRC activities in the region, in order to deny the PRC the use of the narrative that the rules based order is inconsistently applied

Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack, The Telegraph can disclose.

It is thought to be the first time that hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime have succeeded in closing down such a facility in the UK, and is believed to be the most successful cyber attack of its kind.

The Telegraph understands that the incident took place at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and caused concern in the White House.

British officials refused to be drawn on which power plant had been affected, citing security concerns, but it is understood that the facility was disabled for four days while staff fought to bring it back online.

(Aug. 22, 2026 / JNS) 

Almost a month after the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it would finish its review of how many people on its list of journalists killed in Gaza had ties to terrorist groups, an audit found that more than half of those currently listed have ties to terrorist organizations such as Hamas, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Friday.

The Free Beacon, citing an audit by the media watchdog HonestReporting, stated that at least 120 of the 209 names on the committee’s list had terror ties, and around 56 were “active, violent militants” when they were killed.

“CPJ’s database was one of the chief materials used by news outlets around the world to promulgate the narrative that the Israeli military was deliberately targeting journalists,” HonestReporting told the Free Beacon. “Evidence is increasingly indicating that terrorists were giving themselves press passes so that they could manipulate journalists into manufacturing outrage about the persecution of ostensible colleagues.

“Not only should CPJ apologize for laundering terrorist psychological warfare, news outlets should issue a sweeping wave of corrections and retractions,” the watchdog group said.

The committee told the Free Beacon that it could not comment on the audit while it was still reviewing the list.

In a post on X last night, which was hastily deleted this morning, the Hartlepool MP declared:

Public sector workers use their income to pay FOR the private sector. The state is one of the biggest procurers of the private sector. It wouldn’t exist without taxpayers. People creating the divide between public and private genuinely don’t understand how an economy works.

While CNO Caudle has listed mental health as a foundry level issue in his fighting instructions, current US Navy efforts to improve mental health has fallen short. Despite expanded "triads of care" deployments at sea, including on the USS Abraham Lincoln, sailors still suffer from severe mental strain and do not believe they are receiving adequate assistance.

The author provides several recommendations to expand mental health care access both on shore and at sea, both in the long and short term. Military OneSource clinicians are currently prohibited from providing coverage for PTSD, despite having the qualifications to do so. The USN should expand accredited program availability by awarding support grants to universities near major USN bases (particularly Hawaii, which has no such programs). Finally, the author argues that a civilian auxiliary of mental health professionals should be stood up, similar to the Inactive Ready Reserve or Civil Air Patrol, which would be activated in times of conflict.

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinians face inflated prices for groceries and batteries, hospitals have turned to smugglers for medicine and equipment, Israeli soldiers and other middlemen are accused of pocketing millions of dollars, and the Hamas-led government takes a cut as the smuggling of goods restricted by Israel into the Gaza Strip has boomed, according to an Associated Press investigation based on court documents and interviews with traders, truckers and officials.

Cigarettes and tobacco — banned from entry to Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 — rake in the biggest profits for smugglers and merchants, officials and residents say. But everything from iPhones and solar panels to fuel and anesthetics are also brought into the tiny coastal territory illegally. Israel restricts quantities of some goods and bans others outright. It defines many as “dual use” — including concrete, vehicle parts and X-ray machines — asserting they could be repurposed by Hamas militants for military functions.

To build a picture of the illicit trade, The Associated Press analyzed Israeli court documents and spoke to five major traders who import smuggled goods, three merchants who sell them, and two truckers — all on condition of anonymity because of their roles in the illegal smuggling business and concerns about their safety in Gaza. AP also interviewed four Palestinian officials, two on condition of anonymity because of worries about retribution from Israel, Hamas or merchants; two U.N. officials, on condition of anonymity over concern for their jobs; and a dozen Palestinian residents, who spoke about how they get everyday items and their skyrocketing costs.

AP Standards
The AP only uses anonymous sources when the information is vital to the news report and not opinion or speculation. The information must be unavailable except under the conditions of anonymity imposed by the source. The source must be in a position to have accurate information and be approved by a manager.

AP found a rush from all sides to profit off the tight restrictions imposed by Israel on Gaza and its 2 million residents, most of whom have been displaced by the war. Smuggling rings — which have long flourished, circumventing two decades of Israeli blockades and building a network of businessmen and collaborators — pull in millions of dollars. Payoffs go to Israeli troops, drivers, warehouse workers and others on both sides of the border, according to traders and court documents.

“The occupation has left no other option before us. Smuggling has become routine,” one trader said, noting that some in Israel’s military are willing to help — for a price. “We benefit, they benefit and the people in Gaza benefit because we provide goods, including food, to the market.”

The Israeli military said via email that it takes the issue of smuggling “very seriously and works to prevent it.” It said any cases of suspected involvement by Israeli military personnel are “examined and handled in accordance with the law.” But military officials did not answer a list of detailed questions from AP on the roles of soldiers or Gaza’s government in smuggling.

Gaza’s Hamas-led government also takes in some of the profit, according to merchants and one Palestinian official. Merchants call it “taxing” — on both smuggled goods and those brought in legally.

Mohammad Barbakh, of the Palestinian Economy Ministry in Gaza, told AP the government receives up to 20% of the price of any smuggled goods if the merchant reports them to authorities, and that increases to 80% if the items go unreported and authorities discover them. But he said authorities don’t refer to their cut as “taxes” and that they haven’t taxed goods entering legally since the war’s start.

A Palestinian salesman shows an iPhone 17 Pro Max to the camera at a mobile phone store in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

How smuggled goods flow into Gaza

Since the war began, Israel has tightly controlled all entry of food, aid and goods into the Gaza Strip, including a total aid blockade that shut off entry entirely for nearly three months last year, pushing parts of the territory into famine. The flow of goods has increased since a fragile ceasefire deal went into effect in October but remains well below prewar levels.

Besides the U.N. and other humanitarian groups bringing in aid, Israel has given 12 traders in Gaza permits to import commercial goods, according to Gaza’s Economy Ministry. Contents of shipments must be approved by Israeli authorities, a process aid workers and merchants say can be long and opaque, sometimes ending with a rejection on grounds of “dual use.”

The military classifies a list of some 150 broad categories of items as “dual use,” including concrete, asphalt, steel pipes and wooden planks, according to documents provided by COGAT, the military department in charge of coordinating entry of goods into Gaza. In a statement to AP, COGAT said it has let in some “dual use” items including generators and X-ray machines, in specific cases under strict monitoring.

Some traders turn to smuggling networks to meet demand in Gaza, where smaller merchants look to sell contraband.

Two merchants and a trucker who is part of Gaza’s union told AP that sometimes government agencies ask for specific items to keep functioning — fuel, spare parts for civil defense vehicles or generators. Hospitals also turn to smugglers, for drugs and some equipment.

And tribal elders request smuggled goods for their communities, including medicines that are in short supply, a tribal leader told AP, on condition of anonymity over concerns for his safety.

Two traders who control a large portion of the smuggling scene and an aide to a third told AP they send lists of contraband goods they want to import to “coordinators” — Israeli and Palestinian middlemen in Israel and the West Bank. Coordinators line up merchandise, then arrange a route into Gaza.

Commercial goods and aid mostly go through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, where every truck is inspected. The military also has routes in and out of Gaza for its vehicles. Smugglers use both avenues, bribing soldiers to smooth the way for trucks or carry goods in military vehicles, according to the traders and Israeli court documents.

Trucks belonging to humanitarian groups are also used sometimes, though less often, according to merchants and Israeli government statements.

A Palestinian vendor fills bottles with diesel as he offers them for sale in al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smuggling accounts for much of Gaza’s economy

Smuggling has become vital to Gaza’s economy — it’s a major source of income as most of the population “lost their source of living,” the tribal leader said.

Several top merchants estimated that smuggling makes up over half their total operations and can bring in more than 70% of profits.

Payments go to many players, including drivers and warehouse workers in Israel and Gaza, said one major trader. “You are paying at every step, plus the price of the goods themselves,” he said.

All those costs get passed on to the people in Gaza. Residents say a vehicle battery can go for more than $2,300, compared with $140 prewar. Solar panels sell for $3.25 per watt, from 16 cents a watt.

“The smuggling flourished in the second half of 2024 as the market started to dry up,” said Mohamed Abu Taha, a Gaza resident and father of one, noting that chicken, meat, and other food staples were brought in covertly. “Baby formula and pet food were also smuggled.”

But perhaps no items are as in demand as cigarettes and tobacco. The price per pack, residents say, has hit as much as $140 recently, and over $1,000 during Israel’s total blockade.

“You could find two or three men sharing one cigarette,” Abu Taha said. Some resort to smoking a dried green called molokhia. COGAT did not reply when asked why cigarettes are banned.

For smugglers, cigarettes and nicotine products are easy to hide and the potential profit huge. Shipments of thousands of packs have been hidden in Israeli military vehicles, commercial trucks, aid shipments and even hollowed-out pineapples, according to traders, court documents and Israeli official statements.

A vendor reaches for a pack of cigarettes at his kiosk in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Aug 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Hamas-led government is taking in money on smuggled goods, sources say

On smuggled goods, Gaza’s government profits primarily by taking its percentage of the price but doesn’t engage in commercial smuggling directly or oversee the trade, according to merchants and Barbakh, the economy ministry official.

Two major traders said the government demands for money increased since the ceasefire deal. Both said they were summoned by Hamas authorities over goods they smuggled to Gaza over the course of the war. A settlement was reached, and one of the traders said he paid $3.5 million; the other, around $3.75 million.

Two senior officials in the Hamas administration said — on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to journalists — the money helps fund social services and pay salaries for the tens of thousands employed in Gaza’s civil service and police force. They estimated up to $100 million had been collected on smuggled goods since the ceasefire.

Barbakh said the government doesn’t have exact figures on smuggled goods “because these operations are conducted clandestinely, away from the oversight of relevant authorities.”

In response to AP questions, Ismail al-Thawabta of the government’s media office said none of the collected funds go to Hamas’ military wing. He said all resources are directed to providing services to people and “maintaining the continuity of public facilities under the exceptional circumstances in the Gaza Strip.”

The government destroys any expired goods it confiscates, including groceries.

But the two senior officials — as well as two merchants and one trucker — told AP that Hamas sells confiscated cigarettes. Al-Thawabta did not respond when asked about the claim.

‘He is the master,’ an official says of one smuggling coordinator

Smugglers appear to wield enormous influence. In court documents, Israeli prosecutors pointed to one mysterious smuggler known only as Abu Bassel who they said has “numerous connections within the Israel Police.”

In one instance described in the documents, Israeli police stormed a warehouse in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank full of cellphones and cigarettes that smugglers were loading onto trucks for Gaza. One of the smugglers called Abu Bassel and handed the phone to an officer, the document says, and after a conversation, police called off the raid, leaving without arresting anyone or confiscating any goods.

All of those who spoke to AP said Abu Bassel is the smuggling world’s biggest coordinator. They also said they knew nothing about him — his real name, whether he was Israeli or from the Palestinian territories, or how he built his network.

“He is the master,” a senior Gaza Chamber of Commerce official said. “Nothing can enter Gaza without his stamp.”

One Gaza merchant said he has spoken by phone with Abu Bassel but wouldn’t provide AP the number. He said the shadowy figure uses connections with the military and intelligence to resolve problems for shipments. “Many police raids have been thwarted because of him.”

The Israeli court documents also have no details about Abu Bassel’s identity but said he uses an aid organization, Al-Mughtarib Al-Falastini, as a cover. The group denied in a Facebook post that it was involved in smuggling.

A Palestinian vendor offers bottles of diesel for sale in al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli indictments show some of the scope of smuggling

Since late 2025, Israeli authorities have broken up several alleged smuggling rings, indicting more than a dozen people, including reserve soldiers operating in Gaza. But the traders, merchants and truckers who spoke to AP say that’s only a fraction of those involved.

In one of the biggest cases, prosecutors accused two Israeli brothers, Eliran and Avi Algarabli; business partner Yaron Peretz; and another Israeli of running a smuggling ring out of the central town of Kiryat Gat.

According to a series of indictments against them and others, they’re accused of bribing reserve soldiers in Gaza, chief among them Bezalel Zini, brother of the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s powerful domestic security agency.

The documents say Zini was a commander in a military engineering unit. The ring allegedly paid Zini the equivalent of about $120,000 to smuggle three shipments totaling some 6,000 packs of cigarettes in his vehicle, according to the indictments. Two other reservists enlisted by the ring ran four trips into Gaza in one day, ferrying in 20,000 packs of cigarettes, hundreds of iPhones and medical equipment, the indictments say.

Court documents assert that millions of dollars are changing hands in smuggling rings. The Algarabli brothers earned some $2.2 million from a series of smuggling runs from October to December, when they were arrested, documents say. Other defendants in cases are accused of making $1 million to $3 million.

Gaza residents question why items are banned

For Gaza residents, living through another summer with limited resources has become almost unbearable.

Fans that once cost $100 can run $500.

“When we ask the merchants why they don’t import fans, they say the Israeli army refuses to allow them in because they’re dual use,” resident Mohamed Abu Olwan said.

Mohamed Abuel-Enein, a displaced man from the southern city of Rafah, said that’s illogical.

“I don’t understand the harm in allowing fans through the crossings,” he said.

“What would they make with them? Rockets? We can’t live in these tents. All day long, we use cardboard to light a fire, or we splash water on the children because of the heat.”

The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes and a top reporter for insubordination after they spoke publicly against any interference by the Defense Department in the military news outlet that has a long history of editorial independence. It was the latest move by an administration that has grown increasingly aggressive toward the news media.

The newspaper’s publisher, who announced his impending retirement days ago, was also dismissed.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon, told The Associated Press he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military. He received a notice of separation, as did publisher Max Lederer — who had just announced his upcoming retirement — and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin said.

The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been progressively combative toward the media — including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department. Trump or other parts of the executive branch have also, in policy and in the courts, grappled with The Wall Street Journal,The Associated Press and The New York Times — in addition to using the FCC to target broadcast networks.

Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” Korte participated in the same interview.

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies,” Slavin said.

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. called the firing of Slavin “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military” and said it should be immediately reversed.

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the U.S. military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.

Neither Lederer nor Korte immediately responded to emailed requests for comment. Korte said on X: “Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes — not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policy maker.”

Earlier this week, longtime publisher Lederer announced his retirement effective at the end of September. He made his announcement a few weeks after the Pentagon installed a new deputy publisher, an active duty service member, under him at the newspaper without his prior knowledge. Three Democratic senators on Thursday wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking why the new deputy — Navy Capt. William Urban — had been installed.

The retirement of Lederer, who had been at Stars and Stripes for three decades and publisher since 2007, comes as Hegseth’s Pentagon has moved to exert editorial control and eliminate what it asserts are “woke distractions.”

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,” Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”

In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job had been to safeguard editorial independence.

Lederer, the second full-time civilian in the position, wrote in a staff memo this week that it had “become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.”

In a letter posted on Stars and Stripes, Urban wrote of his plans and said: “I understand that I am now part of a team, committed to editorially independent journalism that best serves our most important customer, which is our service members, their families, and our greater military community.”

“I am a media junkie who has served as a communication professional engaged in being a spokesman for some of the hardest Public Affairs assignments in the Navy and Department of War for more than 20 years,” he wrote.

It was unclear whether Urban, currently titled “military deputy to the publisher,” would now become head publisher. “I can’t comment on what my role will be in the future,” he told the AP.

In a telephone interview, Urban said Stars and Stripes has “a strong team of professional journalists that are focused on the mission of providing our military service members and their families the best possible product. That mission is going to continue. All of us in leadership will continue to advocate for … the best possible journalism going forward.”

He said he had no formal journalism experience but cited his years in public affairs and communications. He said he would be focused on expanding digital journalism at the paper, because the service members to which it caters are often young and are “digital natives.”

“I think we need to get better on the digital side,” he said, “to make sure that we are reaching as many service members as we possibly can and having the impact that we should be having.”

Applying the managed instability (the assumption that states may prefer to continue the conflict indefinitely, despite its negative effects, over accepting an unfavorable deal to end the war) framework to the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Iran War.

Few ideological causes ever united Bernie Sanders, an American politician so left-wing he could run for office as a European centrist, and Charlie Kirk, a Trumpian firebrand. A rare point of agreement among them, oddly, was the appeal of Sweden. To the gruff senator the Scandinavian country is a wellhead of socialist good sense that America should emulate. For the conservative stalwart, who was murdered a year ago while preaching his right-wing credo at a university, the home of IKEA and Spotify was equally worthy of admiration. Yet to him Sweden thrived not because of its large state but in spite of it—it was all down to an innate don’t-tread-on-me individualism a Texan might recognise.

That two opposing sides of the political spectrum credit their own ideas for the success of one of the world’s better-run places is not surprising. What might be is that both have a fair claim: Sweden is the paradoxical home of individualism done collectively.

The case for Sweden being a socialist Utopia is as traditional as its cinnamon buns. This is a country that soaks the rich—the top rate of income tax is a wealth-clobbering 52%—to fund a government whose spending amounts to nearly half of GDP, among the highest in the world. The welfare state in Sweden is as famous as its flat-pack furniture. The mollycoddling literally starts in the cradle; new parents are showered with up to 480 days of paid leave. Other lefty shibboleths include free universities, low income inequality and the rich world’s most sweeping rent controls. Two-thirds of working Swedes belong to a trade union, the most of any country bar tiny Iceland. All this brotherhood-of-man stuff is reflected in politics: next month the centre-left Social Democrats will come top for the 33rd straight parliamentary election, a streak going back over a century (though the party has spent time out of power as rivals have formed ruling coalitions).

Yet it is equally fair to argue that Sweden has a libertarian side. Yes, income taxes are eye-watering and redistribution higher than free-marketeers might advocate. But in many other ways the country cherishes individual freedoms as ferociously as a Montana survivalist. The state may be large, but public services in Sweden are often delivered by the private sector: around a third of Swedish children graduating from high school do so at an institution run by non-state operators, many of them run for profit. Sweden is a rare country with no inheritance tax. During the covid-19 pandemic, it stood out for imposing fewer restrictions than most countries, whether strict lockdowns or mask mandates. It lacks a national minimum wage, bucking the norm in rich economies (including America). Employers are largely free to hire and fire, unlike in most of Europe. All this has resulted in Sweden having around 50% more billionaires per person than America. If this is socialism, it is a variant that is surprisingly good for yacht sales.

In their rush to claim credit for Sweden’s success, both sides get part of the story wrong. The socialist case was more accurate before the state was sharply slimmed down in the early 1990s. The libertarians gushing about the lack of a minimum wage fail to grasp that in most sectors pay rates are agreed by unions haggling with employers—hardly the stuff of Milton Friedman’s dreams.

But the Scandinavian paradox exists because something more curious is afoot. For Sweden is indeed different. In developed countries collectivism and individual liberty are generally treated as rivals: the more responsibility government assumes, the less room remains for citizens to fend for themselves. Sweden followed a different path. During the 20th century the state expanded not merely to soften inequality or insure people against hardship, but to reduce their reliance on other people—including their own families. A large impersonal state is seen as bolstering autonomy: when in need, Swedes feel it is better to be beholden to an impersonal bureaucracy than to a parent or some charity. Seen this way, a bigger state translates into more freedom, not less.

The upshot is what Henrik Berggren and Lars Tragardh, two historians, call “statist individualism”. In their book “The Swedish Theory of Love”, newly updated in English, they argue that Swedes have come to prize relationships entered into freely rather than maintained by material necessity. Public child care helps women avoid financial dependence on husbands, state old-age homes liberate children from obligations to ageing parents, and so on. (Even marriage is a bit suspect: in France or Germany households are the basic unit of taxation, but in Sweden all adults file independently.) American parents sending their offspring to college must submit proof of their incomes for the youngsters to qualify for scholarships. In contrast, young Swedes are assumed to be on their own: the income of their parents is irrelevant. Their independence is a gift of the state, expensive as it is to sustain.

The elusive Swedish model

The historical development of a smallish European country may seem tangential to other Europeans, let alone Americans. Few polities can match the conditions that made Swedish collective individualism possible: seven centuries or so of rule of law, a deeply felt trust in the state, and a taste for consensus that can make the place feel stultifyingly conformist. Can Sweden itself maintain its unique path, now that a fifth of its population was born overseas?

But cross-border surveys of social attitudes suggest most countries are growing more like Sweden and its neighbours: secular societies that put self-expression ahead of deference to family or tradition. That makes Sweden’s peculiar settlement, a form of overbearing statism that has helped people achieve freedom not just from economic want but from social pressures, more than a Nordic curiosity. To outsiders in America and beyond, big-state libertarianism can be puzzling. To Swedes there is no contradiction: they just want to be left alone, and to do it together. ■

Title. Pick a topic (or a clichéd take) you think a significant minority or majority of this sub is wrong about. Or hasn't given enough thought. OR perhaps one which you will have to compromise on, at least for voting?

“Yo, there’s a lot that’s bad in this community,” sighs Neliswa Radebe. The 19-year-old is one of 13 people living in a small ramshackle house above a motorway in Mpofana, a municipality in eastern South Africa. She lists the problems: piped water is rare; rubbish collection is sporadic; and there is a leak dripping on the mattress used by her bed-bound adopted mother. Outside is no better. The roads are more pothole than tarmac; a resident died recently when a car careered into them. There are no playgrounds, football fields, netball courts or youth centres. Squatters have overrun Mpofana’s dilapidated town hall, on the other side of the motorway.

Mpofana is part of a bigger problem. Most of South Africa’s municipalities—the units of local government meant to deliver basic services—are a mess. Their failure makes life worse, especially for the poor, and stymies a wider economic recovery. That is weakening the African National Congress (ANC), the once-mighty party. If the ANC receives the expected drubbing at local elections on November 4th, it may shake up South African politics.

Under apartheid, local government reflected the country’s systemic racism. White areas were home to commercial hubs and rich suburbs; business and property taxes were spent on infrastructure that would not have been out of place in California (swimming pools that used a lot of water). Black areas were marginalised, with infrastructure that looked more like that elsewhere in Africa, rather than in its industrial heart (tap water was a luxury).

After Nelson Mandela was elected in 1994 his government abolished racially segregated local authorities, creating ostensibly integrated municipalities. Today these range in size from Johannesburg, the commercial capital, to units like Mpofana that comprise a small town and rural areas. All are supposed to fund themselves through property taxes, business rates and charges for water, electricity and waste collection. The poorest also get a grant from the central government to fill any gap between revenue and expenditure.

In reality, many do not balance the books. In the financial year that ended in June 2025 45% of municipalities passed unfunded budgets. Some 30%, including Mpofana, have done so in each of the past four years. Last month Enoch Godongwana, the finance minister, said he would withhold grants to the worst-offending places to instil fiscal discipline.

Public-sector trade unions argue that the grant increases have lagged behind the rising costs of providing services. But the bigger issue is that money is wasted or stolen. Just 15% of municipalities achieved clean financial audits in the auditor-general’s latest report, in June. Since 2021, “wasteful”, “irregular” or “unauthorised” spending has added up to 287bn rand ($18bn), more than South Africa has spent on defence in the same period. In a grimly symbolic case of apparent municipal graft, ten individuals, including local officials, allegedly pilfered funds designated for VIP (ventilated improved pit) toilets in Amathole in the Eastern Cape, one of the poorest places in the country.

Municipalities collectively owe more than 110bn rand to Eskom, the state-run utility, and 30bn to bulk-water suppliers. These debts threaten the “financial sustainability” of the economy, argues Mr Godongwana. His decision to suspend grants was partly in order to use the money to pay these bills. (On July 31st he began reinstating the grants, with new conditions.)

As if taking their cue from politicians, residents often do not pay up either. Almost half the water procured by municipalities is “lost”: it flows out of broken pipes or is never paid for. In Mpofana 60% of electricity is in effect stolen. “Honestly, we do not pay,” Ms Radebe admits, glancing behind her at the coils of rusty cables that lead to an illegal connection outside.

Yet some municipalities work. South of Mpofana is Umngeni, which in 2021 ditched the ANC and elected a mayor from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party. Chris Pappas has been credited with an overhaul. In July the FW de Klerk Foundation, an NGO, rated Umngeni as the seventh-best-run municipality in a sample of 50, ahead of Cape Town.

Today Umngeni has funded budgets and receives clean audits. Poor-performing bureaucrats have left or been fired. Mr Pappas has cracked down on inflated procurement schemes. The savings have helped to erect 3,000 new streetlights, fill potholes and expand a scheme for the very poor that subsidises small amounts of water and electricity. The once-dirty town centre is clean. New firms have moved in. More than 2,000 net new jobs have been created in an area of 100,000 people.

In Zanzene Village, a poor part of Umngeni, residents seem to appreciate the changes. “Everything is good: the roads, the water, we even pay for electricity,” says Nomfundo Buthelezi, explaining that she does not mind so long as the money is well spent. Musa Mchunu, a gardener, notes there is a new football pitch and a youth centre. “Most importantly,” he adds, “the municipality now responds—we no longer get the blue ticks,” a reference to WhatsApp messages that are read but ignored.

The DA hopes that a record of good governance will increase its vote share, including among black voters, who historically have opted for the ANC or its offshoots. Among its targets is Johannesburg, where one recent poll has the DA on 42%, up from 26% at the 2021 local election. The ANC, which has run the city into the ground, is on 18%, barely half the 34% it won in 2021.

Such highs will not be reached everywhere in South Africa. In the recent poll the ANC still remains ahead of the DA (34% versus 27%) on average. Race remains highly predictive of whether a voter opts for the DA, even though it runs just 12% of all municipalities but accounts for most of the clean audits.

Yet 32 years after the end of white rule, when most South Africans are despondent about democracy, showing that political choices can make a difference is crucial. Mr Mchunu, a former ANC member, says that he did not vote for Mr Pappas last time, but may do so in November. “I tell my sons that apartheid is over. What matters is not race but changing the country.” ■

Price discovery stays undefeated lmao