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In Gaza City, more than 6,000 people are now homeless after a single day of Israeli air strikes; in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the McDonald’s and American flags were lowered to half-mast after Charlie Kirk, a far-right political activist, was assassinated on a college campus in Orem, Utah; and in Nepal, following days of political unrest, Gen Z protestors elected through a poll sent to more than 130,000 people via a group chat on the instant messaging app Discord an interim prime minister.
by Harper’s Magazine,
September 16, 2025
In Wyryki-Wola, Poland, a man watched a televised news report on Russian drones’ invasion of Polish airspace as one of the drones crashed into his house, and the Polish prime minister declared that the country was “the closest … to open conflict since World War II.”1 2 3 4 “Here we go!” wrote the American president on social media.5 Russia briefly sent a drone into Romanian airspace, and it was reported that the French police believe the people who placed pigs’ heads outside Paris mosques were likely working for Russia.6 7 Israel launched a strike on Hamas leaders, who were convening in Doha, Qatar, to discuss a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, killing five members of the group.8 In Gaza City, more than 6,000 people are now homeless after a single day of Israeli air strikes.9 It was reported that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization funded by the U.S. and Israel, employs members from the Infidels Motorcycle Club, an anti-Islamic U.S. biker gang that celebrates the Crusades, to work at its distribution sites, where more than 2,100 Palestinians have been killed since May. 10 11 12 “These concepts all came from the West,” said a former Chinese police official of the country’s surveillance technology, which was found to have been provided by American companies and to have assisted in the mass detention of its Uighur population.13 Secretary of state Marco Rubio swore that the United States would “respond accordingly” to the decision made by Brazil’s supreme court to sentence the country’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to more than twenty-seven years in prison for plotting a coup, the plans of which included an assassination code-named after a worldwide soccer tournament.14 15 In Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the McDonald’s and American flags were lowered to half-mast after Charlie Kirk, a far-right political activist, was assassinated on a college campus in Orem, Utah.16 17
At a press conference, the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives said that Kirk “dedicated his life” to dialogue with those with whom he disagreed, an approach “we should all celebrate and fight to protect,” after which the state’s lieutenant governor said that people “cheering” for the murder would not be tolerated at universities in Texas.18 The U.S. defense secretary ordered his staff to identify members of the military who had “mocked” the activist’s death; the deputy secretary of state said his own department would “undertake appropriate action” against non-citizens’ “making light” of the killing; a Louisiana congressman called for social media platforms to ban anyone “celebrating” the murder; a right-wing influencer posted that she was tracking those glorifying the killing and would “ruin” their careers; and while guest-hosting Kirk’s podcast, the U.S. vice president instructed listeners to call the employers of those found “justifying or celebrating” his death.19 20 21 22 23 A political analyst, a lawyer, a sports journalist, a middle school football coach, a public relations employee of the Carolina Panthers, a Washington Post columnist, a firefighter, a United Airlines pilot, employees at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, a junior strategist at Nasdaq, and a U.S. Secret Service agent were fired, suspended, or are under investigation by their employers for comments they made in the wake of the assassination.24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 The University of California, Berkeley informed 160 students and faculty members that their names had been shared with the Trump Administration as part of an investigation into “alleged antisemitic incidents.”35 “We’re in Kafkaland,” said the Berkeley professor Judith Butler, whose name was included among the others.36
In Nepal, following days of political unrest, Gen Z protestors elected through a poll sent to more than 130,000 people via a group chat on the instant messaging app Discord an interim prime minister whose husband hijacked a plane in 1973 to raise funds for an armed struggle against the monarchy; and in Albania, the prime minister appointed to his Cabinet an AI-generated bot that will manage government contracts awarded to private companies.37 38 39 40 It was found that a document calling for the use of “ethical AI” in education that had been prepared for the government of a Canadian province included dozens of fictitious citations likely generated by artificial intelligence, and it was determined that an essay published in Chinese state media that was previously attributed to LeBron James was not written by the athlete.41 42 In Calgary, Alberta, a former real estate agent was arrested for “tunneling” into his upstairs neighbor’s apartment; and in Prince George, British Columbia, a man was pulled over en route to purchase a Slurpee for driving on municipal thoroughfares a Barbie Jeep Wrangler, a toy vehicle designed for children between the ages of three and seven.43 44 “He was just happy as a clam,” said a witness. “We were actually kind of jealous.”45 —Megan Evershed
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