The Brutalist Report

Fortune

• Singapore has overhauled its baby bonus scheme. Will it work to boost birth rates this time? [12d]
• The mayor of this desert city likens the U.S. West’s water crisis to planning for a meteor. ‘You can see it coming, but you can’t get out of the way’ [13d]
• With ‘virtual speed bumps,’ these cities have reduced crashes by rewarding slower drivers with fewer red lights [13d]
• Europe’s summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat [13d]
• The Earth is sizzling, but ‘climate hushing’ is hot right now among Democrats. ‘People are increasingly freaked out about other issues’ [13d]
• New U.S. sanctions will hit ordinary Iranians hard. That may be the whole point as the crashing economy stirs fresh protests [13d]
• Key takeaways from the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole conference [13d]
• Trump cannot deport students for criticizing Israel, judge rules, saying speech and press freedoms are ‘foundational to America’s enduring democracy’ [13d]
• ‘Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario’ — Premier Doug Ford fires back at ‘Lake America’ decree with giant sign [13d]
• Wall Street used to worry that too much U.S. debt would crowd out the private sector. But AI hyperscalers are ‘reverse crowding’ the Treasury [13d]