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Hallie Shoffner, a farmer, is running against Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. in Arkansas.

The State Of Democracy

After eight consecutive years of declining scores, the 2025 EIU Democracy Index showed a stabilization of democracy around the world.

In the latest edition, almost 75 percent of countries either saw their score improve or remain stable compared to 2024, as the global average score across 167 countries and territories improved slightly to 5.2 out of 10.

You will find more infographics at Statista

The index, which assesses electoral processes, governance, civil liberties, political participation and political culture classified 26 countries as full democracies, including all Scandinavian countries, several other European nations as well as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mauritius, Taiwan, Japan and Latin American countries Uruguay and Costa Rica.

However, as Statista's Felix Richter reports, notably absent from the top category was the United States, which saw its score fall from 7.85 to 7.65 and was once again classified as a "flawed democracy".

Once considered a shining example of democracy in the world, the country now ranks 35th between Poland and Botswana, as its civil liberties score deteriorated under the Trump administration and its political culture was rated badly due to the intense polarization in the country.

Globally, the three worst-rated countries remained unchanged, with Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea at the bottom of the table for non-existing civil liberties, electoral process and pluralism. At the other end of the scale, Norway, New Zealand and Denmark were ranked as the most democratic countries in the world, with Norway rated particularly highly for electoral process and pluralism, political participation and civil liberties.

While the decline of democracy at the global level has been stopped, the share of the world's population living in full democracies is still remarkably low at just 6.6 percent. Meanwhile, 39 percent of the world's population live in countries rated as authoritarian, with China and Pakistan the most populous examples.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 04:15

Three assailants shot at least 11 people to death in a mass shooting at a house party in South Africa, police said Wednesday.

"I think that's my food right there. Is it f---ed up for me to walk across and pick it up?"

Flash In The Pan Already Burned Out: German Economy Loses Its Hormuz Boost

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

That Was a Short-Lived Boom.

After just a few weeks, the special economic effect of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already evaporated, according to Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. In its monthly report, the ministry states that energy-intensive sectors and companies in German industry benefited from a massive disruption of supply chains in Asia following the closure — a one-time opportunity to temporarily offset the competitive disadvantages at home by shutting out the competition and moving into the business vacuum that had emerged.

Companies in the chemical and metals industries in particular benefited from this special situation, which generated robust growth in the second quarter, the ministry said.

Ultimately, the effect faded faster than expected. After just a few weeks, the German economic miracle was over — and the gray reality has returned. According to the ministry, the German economy continues to lack growth impulses. The stagnation is therefore continuing.

Bad news for the German government, and even worse news for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is desperately hoping for economic figures he can use as campaign ammunition rather than going into the next election with completely empty hands when voters hand him another political rebuke in just a few days. Pressure on the unpopular chancellor is also growing within his own party. Merz should actually be delivering something substantial by now — after more than a year of his debt orgy. He should be spreading hope of an impending upswing. Instead, his artificial economy, bloated with ever more debt, keeps collapsing like a soufflé.

The figures from the economy show that this soufflé will not rise again anytime soon. Industrial production is currently 3.3 percent below its level a year ago. Energy-intensive industries in particular, which are falling back into their old apathy after the Iranian special boom, reported a 1.7 percent decline in July. No stimulus can be expected from German consumers — real retail sales fell by 3.4 percent from the previous month in July. Inflation is eating into household purchasing power, and the weak labor market is showing its teeth.

Given the dramatic state of German industry, no one should expect an upswing in the German labor market. A total of 144,000 industrial jobs have been lost in the past twelve months alone. In August, the number of unemployed stood at 3.06 million — although statistical manipulation involving unregistered unemployed people in job-creation programs, short-time work or early retirement conceals the true state of the labor market. The naked truth about the German economy is also hidden in basic income support and other social programs — underemployment is a far greater problem than the statistics allow us to see.

Compared with the previous year, Germany’s job centers count 226,000 fewer people employed in the German economy. The German state’s reforestation program in the public sector will do little more than provide cosmetic relief. The decline is real, and it is reflected in corporate insolvencies, which this year are at their highest level since 2013.

More than 18,500 corporate failures over the past twelve months are now on the books. They are compelling evidence of the structural problems at Germany’s economic location, which could only be eliminated through a political U-turn of 180 degrees. Yet even following a political change, returning to a path of growth would probably be difficult. The collateral damage left behind by political ideologues has simply become too great.

Germany is trapped: cut off from Russian gas, caught in the grip of the emerging diesel-price crisis caused by the Hormuz closure, and dependent on the goodwill of the Americans, who have become its main supplier of fossil fuels — the German economy is stumbling toward a price shock with almost no alternatives.

Once this energy shock works its way through the economic chain and into consumer prices, many German households will be in trouble. They have already been suffering from rising prices for years. Among supporters of degrowth ideology, this fatal combination of circumstances may be cause for celebration. Everyone, however, should be aware that Germany’s deeply divided society needs a boost in prosperity more urgently than ever. And growth is only conceivable in an environment of secure and affordable energy.

Economics is the study of relationships and scarcity. Germany is competing with giants such as China and the United States. Energy prices there are now so significantly below German levels that the bleeding of domestic industry has become inevitable, regardless of how much subsidy money is pumped into the economic body through subsidized industrial electricity prices or direct aid.

Political action in these times appears bizarre. Berlin and Brussels are responding to their own interventionism, the regulatory shackles left behind by low interest rates, climate regulation and energy policy, with further regulation and strangulation of businesses. Are we really surprised by the zombification of large parts of the economy, which now has to compensate for the significant rise in borrowing costs? This policy is dangerous to society. It is destabilizing and could only be prevented by a radical return to the market economy, to a principle of limited government while mobilizing all the forces of society. Until that realization matures, it will be a long and very dangerous road for all supporters of a free society and the market economy.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, a graduate economist, has worked for or over 25 years as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 03:30

Michael Rapaport and Selma Blair pushed back against the actor for targeting the singer over her Israel-Gaza comments

Dear Abby gives advice to a woman who is upset over living with her husband's former mistress.

"Brothers" starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is a messy stew of ideas that’s occasionally amusing, but also aimless.

A Florida couple said they were attacked and pepper-sprayed by two women who were allegedly upset that they had briefly been walking in the road.

Texas investigators are seeking evidence of manslaughter in the flood deaths of 27 girls at Camp Mystic, according to court documents.

Nordics Consistently Lead The World In Gender Equality

For the 17th consecutive time, the World Economic Forum has named Iceland the most gender-equal country in the world.

This is according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2026, which was released earlier this week.

Iceland is the only country to have closed its gender gap by more than 90 percent and one of only four economies that have consistently been in the top 10 since the index's inception in 2006.

As Statista's Felix Richter reports, aside from Iceland, these are Finland, Norway and Sweden, with the former two making the top three for the third consecutive year.

You will find more infographics at Statista

European economies have consistently filled most of the top 10 spots over the past two decades, with Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom having each featured at least once in the past 20 years.

Several countries from Sub-Saharan Africa also made it into the top 10 over the years, including South Africa, ranked sixth in 2009, and Lesotho (2009, 2010 and 2011. Rwanda was in the top 10 for eight consecutive years between 2014 and 2022, partly due to the fact that it has achieved full parliamentary parity - a feat few nations worldwide have managed. Namibia first joined the top 10 in 2018, before it rose to sixth place in 2021 and climbed to a record fourth place this year.

New Zealand and the Philippines are the two countries in Eastern Asia and the Pacific to have appeared fairly consistently in the top 10 throughout the Gender Gap Report’s history, while in Latin America and the Caribbean, Nicaragua is the sole high performing country. Notably, the regions of Central Asia, Southern Asia, North America and the Middle East and Northern Africa are underrepresented at the top of the gender parity ranking.

The Gender Gap Index is a means to benchmark gender parity across four dimensions: economic opportunities, educational, health and political leadership. The level of progress toward gender parity is calculated as the ratio of the value of each indicator for women to the value for men, with a parity score of 1 indicating full parity. The index also expresses progress toward gender parity as a percentage.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 02:45

Officers wearing body cameras assisted Garces Perez out of the vehicle, contradicting claims that he was pulled out by agents, before placing him under arrest.

Edwin Díaz's time closing games for the Dodgers might not be over after all.

Ritchson also claimed Amazon Prime Video killed a "Reacher" storyline involving White supremacists.

Iraqi PM Sets New June 2027 Deadline To Disarm Resistance Factions

Authored by News Desk via The Cradle,

(Photo credit: AFP)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced a June 2027 deadline for the disarmament of the country's resistance factions in comments released on 21 September, extending a previous deadline which had been set for the end of this month.

Iraq PM sets June 2027 deadline to disarm armed militias
——
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to disarm the country’s militias by June 2027, outlining the phased plan for the first time in an interview with The New York Times in Baghdad on Saturday.

“This is not… pic.twitter.com/nGNEtFQ9mp

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) September 22, 2026

The announcement came in an interview with the New York Times (NYT), carried out on Saturday, during which Zaidi detailed the disarmament plan that Washington has been pushing so heavily for.

"This is not something that is optional. It is a necessity. Others who spoke of this then backtracked. They yielded to pressure or to other concerns. For me, this issue, along with that of corruption, is a matter of honor," the Iraqi premier told NYT.

"We wish to build bridges and economic ties between Iraq and the countries of the world. Under this government, Iraq will be a meeting point, not a point of hostility. Arms have to be confined first so you can build a solid economy," he added.

Zaidi had previously announced a 30 September deadline to disarm the Iraqi factions. Yet this deadline was firmly rejected by the resistance, leading to the extension.

"There would first be a 90-day period during which the militias would not launch any attacks and be assured that they would not be attacked by US forces," Zaidi said to NYT.

"After that, the [factions] would begin handing over their weapons, with disarmament ending by 30 June, 2027."

According to NYT, the resistance is "pushing" to have the deadline extended to the end of next year.

The newspaper refers to the new date as ambitious.

"The timeline is extremely precarious" and "impossible to meet during a time of war," regional diplomats and Iraqi security officials are quoted as saying by the outlet.

Zaidi claims the plan will ensure the resistance factions "cease to exist as independent entities."

"They will join the Popular Mobilization Units as individuals and integrate into them," he went on to say.

US President Donald Trump's administration has adopted a significantly more coercive approach than its predecessors to disarming the Iraqi resistance, stepping up pressure on Baghdad in recent months to dismantle the resistance factions swiftly.

Washington reportedly froze security programs with Baghdad and blocked dollar shipments to the country earlier this year to pressure Iraq into dismantling Iran-backed resistance groups.

Iraqi resistance groups have demanded a full US withdrawal, rather than the "transitional" pullout agreed on between the US and Iraq, which will see Washington shift from a "combat" to an "advisory" role, while still retaining a military presence in the country.

At the height of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran, these resistance groups inflicted heavy damage on US assets in Iraq.

They have also supported Gaza militarily throughout the genocide and have carried out operations in response to Israeli war crimes in Lebanon.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 02:00

Page Six is breaking down all the best moments from inside the ballroom Tuesday night as the Season 35 contestants performed during Week 2 of the competition.

Page Six is breaking down all the best moments from inside the ballroom Tuesday night as the Season 35 contestants performed during Week 2 of the competition.

Jeremy Porter, 47, was taken into custody after investigators identified him as the suspect in the fatal shooting of Zah'Layah Walter.

“Coyne used a child’s aspirations as a smokescreen for a multimillion‑dollar fraud against a family. And when you prey on families, you will pay for it,” US Attorney Jerome Gorgon said.

The pull aside took place at a Trump-hosted reception at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York and marked the first meeting between the two leaders since US forces captured and deposed former Venezuelan dictator Nocolas Maduro in January.