Kalshi on Wednesday launched its Midterm Elections Hub, the first-ever election dashboard fueled by “the wisdom of the crowd.” The latest venture from the country’s largest prediction market features polling averages, fundraising data, historical results, and campaign news and analysis, as well as access to Kalshi’s election markets. The company says the hub will provide accurate, unbiased forecasts of midterm races based on where people are risking real money. “Prediction markets don’t care about spin or partisanship. They cut through polarization and show you what the wisdom of the crowd actually believes, backed by real money, not rhetoric,” Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour said in a press release. “That kind of clarity is rare right now and that’s what people are getting with the Midterms Hub.” Millions of Americans already use Kalshi to see what other citizens predict will happen in upcoming elections. According to the market, roughly 75% of visitors check odds while 25% are actively trading. Kalshi’s new site gives an unfiltered, view of how an election is currently taking place. The Midterms Hub will update by the second based on breaking news, speeches, polls, and more. Kalshi being powered by the “wisdom of the crowds” allows their markets to be perfectly aligned to up-to-date predictions on candidates winning their respective race, which has been proven for years. In every American election since 2024, candidates favored to win on Kalshi won roughly 90% of the time. The Washington Post analyzed hundreds of the 2026 primary races on the prediction market. It found that candidates priced “70-80%” odds on Kalshi won “75%” of the time, confirming Kalshi’s proclaimed “statistically calibrated” 2024 election markets. The Midterms Hub also builds on Kalshi’s recent release of KPOW, the American Power Index. KPOW will combine information on who currently holds seats of power with what the prediction market expects to happen next. It will give a number on a scale from +50D, full Democratic control, to +50R, full Republican control. Kalshi will mark the hub’s launch today in Washington, D.C., at an event featuring a live demonstration of the hub and a panel featuring Mansour, Republican pollster Kristin Soltis Anderson, and former White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty.

When did valuable historical artifacts become red carpet accessories? At the London photocall for the new Christopher Nolan adaptation of The Odyssey, actress Zendaya wore a pair of 3,000-year-old Iranian gold discs as earrings, intended as a nod to the film’s ancient setting and her role as the goddess Athena. The earrings were beautiful for the exact same reason they should not have been worn: these are 3,000-year-old artifacts of an ancient civilization with immense historical value. Looking at these earrings, I find myself agreeing with Indiana Jones: that belongs in a museum. Artifacts such as these gold discs ought to be protected and preserved so that we can further learn from and about them. Instead, jeweler Glenn Spiro, who openly has a lax relationship with provenance, mounted the discs onto gold and diamonds to turn them into earrings a fashion-forward starlet would be proud to wear as part of his collection, Materials of the Old World. Not only are the pieces of this collection putting at risk incredible and historically important pieces by marketing them for the type of wear that could permanently damage them, but the jewelry itself is an alteration tantamount to destruction. Zendaya did not simply carelessly wear ancient Iranian jewelry, but discs warped into earrings by contemporary hubris. After Spiro’s alteration and Zendaya’s red carpet jaunt, these discs are no longer just treasures of a bygone civilization, but also a prop in a contemporary jeweler’s collection and a celebrity’s red carpet lookbook. This addition changes their story and meaning through modernization. Maybe someday, these earrings will be seen as a compelling continuation of a beautiful object between two cultures, such as the Chalice of the Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, a stunning 12th-century French mounting of a First-century BC Alexandrian cup, but I’d be loath to compare a Medieval Cathedral’s chalice for Mass with red carpet jewelry. Now, justified or not, these pieces are a part of Zendaya’s story. Her brand can turn thousands of years of history into a fun fact, a footnote for the fashion, rather than the other way around. And this story neither begins nor ends with the earrings. There has been a long history of dealers and collectors dismantling and repurposing ancient artifacts for profit and contemporary fashion at the cost of historical context and understanding. I love estate jewelry, but there’s a huge difference between a well-preserved Edwardian ring and ancient Egyptian or Roman beads restrung into contemporary pieces. The former maintains continuity while the latter obscures the provenance of the original piece and limits, if not destroys, what archeological evidence could be found to date or further contextualize the artifacts in an effort to make them more consumable. More modern history has similarly been rifled through for one night of glamour and press attention. Kim Kardashian attended the 2022 Met Gala in the gown Marilyn Monroe notoriously serenaded President John F. Kennedy on his birthday. The gown is shifting in the cultural imagination from the iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to “that Marilyn Monroe dress Kim Kardashian borrowed.” Fears of the historic dress being permanently damaged were likewise proven justified when, after her red carpet appearance, the fabric was stretched, seams were torn, and crystals were missing. Whether they were from Kardashian’s wearing or past mistreatment from previous owners, this damage makes one fact unmistakably clear: historic artifacts are not safe on red carpets or in closets. The impulse to play dress-up with historical treasures is an understandable one, as many women who have visited the V&A’s fashion history and jewelry collections or the National Museum of American History’s First Ladies exhibition can attest. The craftsmanship, beauty, and weight of history imbue these museum-quality pieces with an unmistakable fascination. But the exact cause for the fantasy is why it ought not be fulfilled. Our understanding of world history and these long-gone cultures is strengthened and even shaped by the art and artifacts archaeologists discover and museums maintain. Well-preserved pieces such as these discs are exciting finds for collectors or curators, as their sheer physical beauty and outstanding condition just beg to be admired and studied carefully. “Grave-robbing chic” is dangerous, not stylish. Historic artifacts belong in museums where they can be properly preserved, studied, and enjoyed by the public for generations, not on a red carpet to be photographed and then forgotten. *** Paulina Enck is the account executive at Renegade DC.

A group of Republicans led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is threatening to block President Donald Trump’s push to make daylight saving time permanent.  The Sunshine Protection Act would permanently keep clocks on daylight saving time, eliminating the twice-yearly clock changes Americans currently observe each spring and fall. The legislation passed the House by a bipartisan 308-117 vote.  Cotton has argued that making daylight saving time permanent would create safety issues by delaying winter sunrises, particularly in northern states. “By moving the clock back an hour in winter, permanent Daylight Saving Time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being,” Cotton said. He also argued the change could push sunrise as late as 9:45 a.m. in parts of North Dakota, creating challenges for schoolchildren, construction workers, and farmers who rely on early morning daylight.  Despite Cotton’s opposition, Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to approve the legislation. After the bill advanced out of committee, Trump wrote that it was time for Americans to stop worrying about “the Clock” and described the current system as a “ridiculous, twice-yearly production.” He also called permanent daylight saving time “the far more popular alternative” and urged Republicans to support the measure. The legislation has since stalled in the Senate, where supporters must overcome objections from Cotton and other Republicans. “I mean, the House having acted on it now, we’ll see what the interest level is in the Senate,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Fox News. “But I know that there are people who are willing to really slow things down over that issue.” A source close to Cotton told Fox News that the Arkansas senator is “far from the only one who objects” to the bill and is working with other senators prepared to block it. The Sunshine Protection Act was originally introduced by then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and later reintroduced with Sen. James Lankford (R-OK). A similar law briefly took effect during the 1970s energy crisis before Congress repealed it following backlash. “[Daylight savings] is left over from World War I when America was trying to save lamp oil. We’re doing OK on lamp oil now, so that’s not the issue,” Lankford said. “With streetlights, with different power and things, we have — we’re in a very different situation. And I talk to a lot of folks that say they are just sick of the time change. They want to be able to lock the clock.” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who has also championed the legislation, welcomed its passage in the House.  “[Daylight Saving Time] is an unnecessary, decades-old practice that’s more of an annoyance to families than [a] benefit to them,” Scott said in a statement, calling on his other senators to “make this common sense change” to “LOCK THE CLOCK.” The bill currently has 18 Senate co-sponsors, including eight Democrats, according to Congress.gov.  The legislation-tracking website GovTrack estimates the Sunshine Protection Act a 35% chance of becoming law during the current Congress.  Congress must approve the Sunshine Protection Act before the current congressional session ends in December 2026.

An Omaha man has been arrested after authorities say he threatened to shoot Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s grandchildren and the Catholic school that they attend.  Ean Halstead, 32, was arrested after allegedly posting a message on Columbus Catholic School’s website that read, “I’m going to shoot up this school and kill [Governor] Jim Pillen’s [grand]children with a few nuns for f*cking funsies.” Pillen thanked the Nebraska State Patrol in a press conference for apprehending Halstead. “We’re trying like heck to protect our babies. I mean, I got grandbabies that are going into fourth grade,” Pillen said. “So we’re doing anything we can to protect our kids.” “It’s very disturbing when somebody does enough research to know where my babies are going to school, and did a threat to the school,” he added. Investigators attempted to confront Halstead near his home on Friday, but he fled inside, barricaded himself, and remained there for about an hour, according to Nebraska Public Media. Authorities later obtained an arrest warrant and took Halstead and his mother into custody.  Prosecutors say Halstead hid his cellphone inside a guitar after wiping it and restoring it to factory settings. He also allegedly unplugged his internet router, according to KETV News. Investigators later determined the router had been used to access the Columbus Catholic School website. They also linked several email accounts to Halstead and the alleged online threat.  Authorities further allege that Halstead made eight outbound phone calls to a contact in the governor’s office about seven minutes before the threat was posted online.  Court records also sho Halstead was the subject of a protection order filed by a former boyfriend in 2022. The petition alleged that Halstead brandished a butcher knife, threatened to kill him and their dogs while they slept, and sent text messages describing fantasies about burning down the bedroom.   Bond was set for $1 million. Halstead is scheduled to appear in court on August 24.  Nebraska prosecutors have charged him with making a terroristic threat and tampering with physical evidence.  

The charred body of a 53-year-old sports journalist was found on Sunday, sparking an investigation into his death as a suspected homicide. Investigators believe Luigi “Luca” Esposito was shot to death and then set on fire. Firefighters discovered Esposito’s charred body while extinguishing a brush fire on farmland near Eboli, located in the province of Salerno, Italy. Local reports indicate shell casings were found at the scene. Investigators are examining both Esposito’s personal and professional relationships as they work to determine a motive. Italian media have reported that investigators are currently focusing more heavily on his private life than his journalism, though officials have not ruled out a connection to his reporting. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for a thorough investigation into the matter, specifically any ties to his journalism. “We are deeply shocked by the brutal killing of Italian sports journalist Luca Esposito,” CPJ’s Europe representative Attila Mong said. “Italian authorities must act quickly and transparently to establish the full circumstances and determine whether this terrible event is linked to Luca Esposito’s journalism.” Esposito, whose legal first name was Luigi but went by Luca, was editor-in-chief of the local soccer news website TuttoSalernitana.com. He also contributed to the newspaper La Città di Salerno, appeared as a soccer commentator on regional broadcaster Otto Channel, and wrote for TuttoC.com. Local reports indicate Esposito was last seen on the evening of July 17, before he stopped answering his phone and missed a planned meeting. According to a Salerno-based site, analysis of Esposito’s phone records shows that his last phone call was exchanged on Saturday evening with a colleague, at around 10:30 p.m. A woman named Mary Esposito said in a social media post that he had planned to travel to a property in Agropoli before he disappeared. Mary, who has been described in the Italian press as a close friend, posted photos to Facebook with the journalist on Sunday and added the caption (translated from Italian), “These are just a very small number of the photos in our life together. Only those who know us know what I was for you and you were for me. You will always be with me Luca “