| Musk's Twitter Roils With Hate Speech as Trolls Test New Limits
A tide of slurs and racist memes on the platform sparked concern the site is entering an era of hateful speech. Twitter has long wrestled with how to enforce content policies fairly. But as Musk, a self-styled "free speech absolutist," took over the company, some conservative officials, partisan extremists and conspiracy peddlers saw reason to celebrate the change.  A screen grab of Musk carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. Source: AFP/Getty Images One Missile Shook Ukraine's Grain Trade. Another Might Kill It
Andriy Vadaturskyy was in France when he got the call he'd feared: A Russian missile had destroyed his parents home in Ukraine, killing them. His father was the revered founder of one of the country's largest agricultural businesses, who sought a permanent fix to Russia's hold over grain exports out of Ukraine's Black Sea ports. As Marc Champion and Daryna Krasnolutska write, that made him a target.  A portrait of Oleksiy Vadaturskyy and his wife Raisa during a commemorative service in Kyiv on August 5. Photographer: Future Publishing/Future Publishing Putin's Threats Worry NATO as Sign of Russian Desperation
Ukraine's allies are increasingly concerned that desperation in the Kremlin over battlefield failures may lead Russia to escalate its war, possibly using a massive attack on a target like a dam or even a weapon of mass destruction. For now, NATO sources say there is no sign Moscow is actually making preparations for such a strike. - Read our exclusive story on how US officials have been forced to scale back a plan to impose a cap on Russian oil prices.
- Our reporters around the world discussed the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine, and you can listen via this link.
The American middle class faces the biggest hit to its wealth in a generation going into the midterms, though it is also entering the vote richer than it has ever been thanks to a decade of cheap money and the wealth boom it fed. That's the conclusion of a Bloomberg News examination — you can delve into the data and interviews with middle-class Americans here. - Our new podcast The Big Take launched this week, hosted by Wes Kosova. You can listen and subscribe on iHeart and Apple.
Xi's Total Control in China Injects More Risk Into Chaotic World
Minutes after pulling off a power play that stunned even seasoned China experts, a smiling Xi Jinping gave an optimistic outlook for the years ahead. But, as Rebecca Choong Wilkins writes, many China watchers are now worried that nobody will tell Xi when he's wrong. - Former leader Hu Jintao's mysterious exit from the Communist Party's most important political event continues to stoke debate.
- China's marriage of communism and capitalism has long powered its economic rise and lined the pockets of money managers around the word. Those ideologies have now clashed in a spectacular stock market blowup.
- Read how Xi's leadership shakeup has shattered decades of succession rules.
Saudi Swagger Stands Apart in World of Doom-Laden Forecasts
Pessimism about the state of the world was front and center as leaders of global finance gathered in Saudi Arabia this week, but with the host nation a striking exception to the general gloom. The kingdom is enjoying its moment, with oil money driving the fastest growth rate in the Group of 20 major economies, and a sense that Saudi Arabia is in the ascendant. Suella Braverman, the self-appointed "Queen of the Brexiteers," gave Sunak key support in his push to become Tory party leader and prime minister. But as Alex Wickham lays out, it has caused him trouble ever since. Sunak controversially reappointed her as home secretary, less than a week after she was fired by his predecessor over a security breach. US Allies Fear Trump Whiplash, Eye Midterms for Political Clues
America's closest allies are nervously watching the midterms for any signals that voters could return Donald Trump to the White House in two years. Saleha Mohsin reports exclusively how officials from Europe and Asia are flying into battleground states to augment the traditional work of consulates and embassies in trying to decipher the political contests. - For months, a persistent group of election skeptics has inundated local election officials with public records requests, seeking data they believe will prove the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The requests emanate from a single home in Florida.
The last time leaders got together for a climate summit the backdrop was already tense — but that might still prove to be the good old days as Egypt prepares to stage COP27. As Marc Champion and Salma El Wardany write, Russia's war in Ukraine has supercharged an energy crisis that risks shredding COP26's most concrete achievement: a global consensus to cut down on coal. As Bolsonaro Cuts Into Lula Lead, Battle for Key State Heats Up
Minas Gerais is a must-have state in Brazil's elections, and where marketers and pollsters — and candidates — spend their time. Hundreds of miles north of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and as big as Spain, it splits Brazil down the middle. Martha Viotti Beck lays out the role the state may play in the runoff election.  Simone Andrade sells products with political motifs on the streets of Belo Horizonte. Photographer: Ana Caroline de Lima Student Debt Headaches Return for Millions Despite Biden Relief
Biden's plans to wipe out up to $10,000 on many individual federal student loans — and in some cases up to $20,000 — will be welcomed by close to 40 million Americans who are in line to benefit as soon as this month. But Mackenzie Hawkins writes that tens of millions will see a return of student debt burdens in the new year, creating more financial headaches and hardship at a time of economic uncertainty. Just six weeks before EU sanctions on Russian oil come into effect, insurers are still unclear as to exactly how they will work. At the heart of the uncertainty is a continued lack of detail surrounding US-led plans, endorsed by Group of Seven nations, to cap the price of Russian oil exports. Biden Wary of US Troops for Haiti Aid Mission as Crisis Worsen
Biden is weighing a joint effort with neighboring countries to aid Haiti, as rapidly deteriorating safety and health conditions stoke fears that intervention in the Caribbean nation may be needed to avoid collapse. Josh Wingrove and Iain Marlow report from their sources that the US is searching for options — including potentially a mission led by another country.  Haitians protesting high prices and shortages burn tires on the streets of Port-au-Prince in July Photographer: Richard Pierrin/AFP/Getty Images And finally … Surging tensions with China have spurred Taiwan to boost its defenses. Now it's heeding the lessons of the war in Ukraine to address a weakness: the fragile undersea infrastructure that connects it to the internet. Taiwan has 14 subsea cables stretching thousands of miles and directly linking Asian nations including China to the US and other parts of the world. A disruption in a conflict with China could result in Taiwan getting cut off.  Taiwan's Navy detonates explosives during a drill in July, Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Getty Images AsiaPac | 
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