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Today's Political News Compilation - Wednesday, August 19, 2026

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Below are some of the top political news stories of the day:



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Fake polling from mysterious company highlights danger of unvetted election surveys

By STEVE PEOPLES, AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX and KEN SWEET
Updated 5:07 PM CDT, August 18, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Locked in a competitive reelection race, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared on social media last week that a new poll was evidence that her campaign was “gaining momentum.”

Just a few days later, the truth emerged: The poll was fabricated.

The California results were among at least three “polls” across three states posted online this month by Median Strategies, a previously unknown organization that admitted to the Los Angeles Times on Monday that the purported results were fake. The company wrote before shuttering its website this week that it “was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.”

The post offered no explanation of who was behind the “experiment” or for what purpose.

The trajectory of the California poll offers a cautionary tale about the perils of trusting unvetted polling. While high-quality independent polls still exist, they appear amid a slew of other surveys produced by outside groups, campaigns or super PACs or using undisclosed or questionable methodologies. It can be a struggle to make sense of the findings — and as the latest episode shows, even campaigns may end up falling for falsified data. ...

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Sen. Dan Sullivan, Mary Peltola advance in Alaska Senate primary

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Washington — GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola are among those advancing to the general election in November in Alaska's Senate race, CBS News projects, as Sullivan defends his seat in a race that could be key to determining control of the chamber next year.

Though Alaska hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2008, Sullivan, a second-term senator and a Marine veteran who worked at the State Department under the George W. Bush administration, faces a formidable opponent in Peltola.

Peltola, 52, became the first...
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Socialists capture major Florida victory on hit-or-miss night for Trump-endorsed primary candidates

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Tuesday night's primary elections featured closely-watched federal races from sunny south Florida to the frigid Alaskan tundra and two states in between, all of which will help decide whether Republicans maintain control of Congress, or whether Democrats overtake them.

Three states also featured critical gubernatorial primary elections.

Observers are already using the race results as bellwethers to gauge Trump's grip over the GOP and the power of the emergent socialist movement.

Here's what stood out:

Sunshine State socialist scores shocking...
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Inside the tension that drove Trump’s South Korea alliance from ‘historic new era’ to military pullback

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
President Donald Trump is scaling back major joint military exercises with South Korea after Seoul declined to support U.S. operations against Iran, a sharp U-turn with an ally his administration publicly praised just days prior.

The move came just three days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called South Korea an "indispensable partner" and said the allies had entered a "historic new era" of cooperation following Trump’s state visit to Seoul last fall.

Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox...
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US condemns 'unnecessary escalation' after Israeli airstrikes on Syrian airbase

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Damascus called the attacks "an unjustified act of aggression" that imperilled regional security.
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Thai teen found in suitcase died from suffocation, police reveal

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
New evidence sheds more light on the death of Tunchanok Donholma, who was allegedly murdered in June.
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US charges 17 Iranians over 'massive' cyber theft campaign

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Many of the alleged cyber attacks were carried out for the Iranian government, the Department of Justice says.
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Alleged sexual assault by local official and businessman sparks outrage in China

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
Both men are arrested after the alleged assault on a woman at a karaoke bar during a business event.
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Mushroom murderer trial undermined by 'catastrophic' hotel mix-up, court told

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Erin Patterson's defence team appeal against her conviction for killing relatives with a beef Wellington laced with toxic mushrooms.
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French civil servant drugged us to make us urinate on ourselves, say accusers

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 3
More than 200 women accuse Christian Nègre of drugging them to make them urinate - two share their stories.
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Thai teen found in suitcase died from suffocation, police reveal

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 3
New evidence sheds more light on the death of Tunchanok Donholma, who was allegedly murdered in June.
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US condemns 'unnecessary escalation' after Israeli airstrikes on Syrian airbase

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 3
Damascus called the attacks "an unjustified act of aggression" that imperilled regional security.
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Husband and mother-in-law charged over Indian bride's death

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 3
Twisha Sharma, a model and actor, had been married for just five months when she was found dead in May.
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Brazil's President Lula hails oil discovery near Amazon river

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Environmentalists have heavily criticised the exploratory drilling in the sea off the mouth of the Amazon.
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Families' agonising search for answers as thousands still missing in Gaza

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 3
Ten months after a ceasefire was declared, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still reported missing.
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State of play: What to know about California showdown to replace Swalwell after massive scandal

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
The special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., remained undecided in the early Wednesday morning hours.

The battle to succeed Swalwell comes after he resigned in April amid sexual assault allegations from at least five women. Prior to the allegations, Swalwell was also making a bid for California's gubernatorial race, but he dropped that bid as well.

Vying for Swalwell's seat are two women: progressive state Sen. Aisha Wahab and moderate Democrat and Bay Area Rapid Transit Board (BART) President Melissa...
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Former state rep tops ranked-choice slugfest as Alaska advances nominees for governor

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
Seventeen governor-lieutenant governor candidate pairs battled Tuesday to make the primary cutoff and advance to the November general election to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Michael Dunleavy.

Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and running mate Zac Johnson finished first, while former Democratic state Sen. Tom Begich and Julia Hnilicks finished second. They will advance to the November general election, alongside two more winning governor-lieutenant governor pairs.

Several major political names were among the 34 candidates on the...
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Alaskan political scion hopes to hold onto state's single House seat

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
A heated battle for Alaska's only U.S. House seat will see a handful of candidates face-off in November after four candidates advanced in Tuesday's rank-choice primary.

First-term incumbent Rep. Nicholas Begich III, R-Alaska, is hoping to hang onto his seat, and will have a chance to do so in November. But he is facing an insurgency from independent candidate Bill Hill.

AP called the race for Begich and Hill early on, and Begich led by a 47.9% to 29.5% margin. Both will advance to the general election.

The crowded race in the open primary also...
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GOP senator, ex-House Dem emerge from Alaska’s ‘jungle primary’ despite far-left meddling

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Four candidates advanced out of Alaska’s nonpartisan jungle primary on Tuesday evening in one of the races that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate come November.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, will advance alongside two other candidates in the state’s four-candidate general election.

The outcome, which pits an incumbent Republican against the only Democrat to win statewide office in Alaska in 50 years, is in line with what many had expected, but it also highlights the unique nature of Alaska’s...
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Trump-aligned conservative emerges from crowded primary to decide who fills Wyoming’s lone House seat

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Wyoming’s Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray has won the GOP nomination for the state’s at-large U.S. House seat to replace Rep. Harriet Hageman, who is running for Senate.

Gray emerged from a crowded primary to become the heavy favorite to represent the deeply conservative state in Congress. Gray, a prominent Trump-aligned conservative who has served as secretary of state since 2023, defeated a field that included businessman Steve Friess and Reid Rasner.

WYOMING ELECTION CHIEF MOUNTS FULL-COURT PRESS AGAINST 'RADICAL LEFT'S' PUSH TO REMOVE...
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Trump admin sued over visa time restrictions for foreign students, journalists

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
A group of unions and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to block the Trump administration from enforcing new visa restrictions that would limit how long foreign students and journalists can stay in the U.S. without applying for extensions.

The Department of Homeland Security's rule creates fixed periods of admission for people in F status as international students, J status as exchange visitors and I status as foreign journalists.

People in those classifications generally have been admitted for the duration of their studies...
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America’s reddest state crowns GOP governor nominee

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
Wyoming Republicans chose former state House Speaker and current state Sen. Eric Barlow on Tuesday as their nominee for governor in the race to succeed outgoing Gov. Mark Gordon.

The selection tees up the likely next person to move into the governor's mansion in January, considering the deep-red roots that run in Wyoming's statewide officials.

Gordon considered seeking a third term and challenging Wyoming’s two-term-limit law, before ultimately deciding against another bid. This left Republicans with an open contest to replace him in November's...
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South Korea shortens war games with US, citing Washington request

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9
It comes after Trump announced plans to curtail joint military exercises with South Korea, citing a "very good" relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
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Witness gets combative in Tupac murder trial - 'I don't want to send him to prison'

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
The witness said he had little love for the man on trial for the rapper's murder, but refused to answer questions that he thought would send Duane "Keffe D" to prison.
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Five Australian rules footy players suspended amid police investigation

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
The suspensions, for drinking and inviting women to a hotel, come as police investigate an alleged sexual assault.
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Trump says he paused 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods as deal being finalized

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
President Trump said Tuesday he has paused the 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods that were set to take effect Wednesday.

"I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!" Mr. Trump said in the Truth Social post.

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that the U.S. and Canada were "negotiating."

"The negotiations are very intense and delicate. This...
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