On Call

President Trump is calling on Congress to cut short its recess and return to Washington to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security, according to the White House. The appeal comes as the government shutdown continues, leaving the department partially unfunded and intensifying pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal.

A Democratic lawmaker has launched an effort to impeach Linda McMahon, calling the conduct at issue 'completely out of bounds'. The move signals escalating confrontation between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration over its education agenda, with McMahon, as Education Secretary, at the center of the dispute.

A new open-source tool called papero-pdf-text-extractor has been released on GitHub, offering a lightweight PDF parser that preserves layout, extracts tables and formulas, and returns bounding boxes for text elements. The project is drawing attention from developers who work with document processing and data extraction, where robust PDF parsing has long been a difficult problem.

Germany's far-right AfD is dominating political discussion as extremist parties gain ground nationwide. In Thuringia, former BSW state chairwoman Ulrike Wolf said ahead of a state parliament hearing that she is open to a ban proceedings against the AfD, adding fuel to an ongoing debate about whether the party should face legal action. Commentators are also weighing the broader rise of extremist parties in German politics.

A Guardian environment piece argues that artificial light from cities is erasing natural darkness, leaving most people unable to experience a truly dark night sky. The article points to weak regulation of light pollution and its effects on wildlife, human sleep and cultural ties to the stars. Readers are debating whether lighting rules should catch up with pollution controls.

Fitness circles are buzzing about peptides, with discussion surging around their use for muscle growth and recovery. Bodybuilder and fitness educator Jeff Nippard is driving much of the attention, calling peptides 'insane' in a widely viewed video. The topic is sparking debate among gym-goers about effectiveness, safety and legality of peptide use in training.

Physician Dr. Sean O'Mara joined Megyn Kelly's show to discuss his so-called "Living Diet," explaining how people can reduce visceral fat, the deep abdominal fat linked to heart disease and diabetes, and why fermented foods should play a bigger role in everyday eating. The conversation has drawn large audiences, with viewers debating his dietary advice and its claims about metabolic health.

Swedish footballer Victor Nilsson Lindelöf has responded to reports that he was snubbed by media, saying he was irritated and never heard anyone call his name. The Sweden defender addressed the incident in comments picked up by SVT Nyheter, pushing back on the suggestion that he ignored interview requests. The exchange has drawn attention among Swedish football fans following the national team's recent matches.

Major League Baseball's automated ball-strike system has upheld a called third strike following a challenge, a concrete example of the new ABS review process in action. The league's own coverage highlighted the ruling, which shows how teams can now contest ball-and-strike calls and have them checked electronically rather than left solely to the home-plate umpire.

Kosovo's national football team is taking on Austria, with the match drawing attention across Kosovo and beyond. Local coverage has focused heavily on criticism of the pitch at the Fadil Vokri Stadium in Pristina, with former player Rannick calling the playing surface 'pointless' ahead of kickoff. The high-profile qualifier is trending in several countries as fans follow the result.

Attention is on Brazil's Senate after Michelle Bolsonaro publicly praised senator Nikolas Ferreira, calling him 'piá do nosso coração', meaning the darling boy of our hearts. The exchange between the two right-wing figures is drawing comment, with searches around the word 'senadora' trending in Brazil.

Blake Mycoskie, best known as the founder of TOMS shoes, is drawing wide attention with an episode of his series No Magic Pill arguing that mainstream approaches to mental health are dangerously flawed. The episode questions reliance on quick fixes, including medication, and calls for a broader look at how mental health is understood and treated.

Dutch entertainer André van Duin is looking back on his television career in new interviews with Dutch media. He calls it logical that Denkend aan Holland paused after the death of Nhaan, describing the late bird as 'the third lead actor' of the show. He also spoke candidly about his life at home, joking about his beloved lawn.

The United States men's national team defeated Mexico 3-0 in an international friendly, with young American stars impressing coach Mauricio Pochettino and giving him what he called a 'fantastic problem' in squad selection. Mexico's costly mistakes proved decisive, while attention also focused on teenage prospects Cavan Sullivan and Gilberto Mora and on Christian Pulisic's absence from the lineup.

Friedrich Merz has travelled to Kyiv as the city comes under renewed Russian attacks, a show of support for Ukraine that is drawing wide attention. The visit comes alongside debate over Germany's stance toward Moscow, calls in Berlin to boost air defence supplies to Ukraine, and friction within the EU, where six countries are blocking agreement on the bloc's budget. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has meanwhile commented on what he called Germany's shifting position toward Russia.

Novak Djokovic is trending globally as he competes at the China Open in Beijing, where he also commented on the state of Chinese tennis, calling its development important. Coverage spans Italian, British, Indian and US outlets, alongside chatter about his upcoming appearance at the Six Kings Slam in October and a reported unbeaten 30-0 record being debated by fans and analysts.

Saracens faced Sale in a Premiership rugby clash drawing attention in the UK. Speaking around the game, former England star Shaw said Sale winger Segun has the quality to knock on the England selection door if he keeps developing. Fans are debating the matchup and Segun's international prospects after the fixture.

A new open-source Python project called Agent-Reach, published on GitHub by developer Panniantong, is drawing attention for letting AI agents read and search content across Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, GitHub, Bilibili and XiaoHongShu through a single command-line interface with no API fees. The tool is trending among developers looking to give their AI assistants broader real-time access to the internet without paying for official platform APIs.