USA

Americans are radicalized, not because they care too much about politics, but because they’re bored. In our culture, stripped of meaning, community, and restraint, politics has become a substitute for dealing with yourself.

Eric Hoffer, the longshoreman, autodidact, and moral philosopher, was deeply suspicious of the hunger for belonging. In his must-read book, The True Believer, he argues that mass movements — left, right, or religious — are fueled less by ideas than by boredom, bitterness, and the desire of frustrated and shallow individuals to fulfill themselves. “Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration,” he writes. “Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual.” This is about as conservative a statement as one can make.

A US air force plane dubbed the “nuke sniffer” has landed in Britain amid growing tensions with the Iranian regime.

The USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix jet, which is used to detect radioactive particles in the atmosphere, has touched down at RAF Mildenhall, an American airbase in Suffolk.

It comes amid growing speculation that the US is considering striking Iran, following last June’s attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.

Washington has pushed back against Brussels after EU regulators fined Elon Musk’s platform X earlier this month, with U.S. lawmakers warning that the move could set a global precedent for how online speech is policed.

The dispute centres on a €120 million penalty imposed by the European Commission under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a far-reaching law that gives Brussels new powers over the world’s largest online platforms. EU officials say the fine is about transparency and compliance; critics in Washington argue it shows how European regulation can be used to pressure foreign companies far beyond the EU’s borders.