Happy Saturday. It’s a big weekend for democracy in Brazil, a tense one in the Middle East, and a busy one for anyone keeping an eye on AI. Grab a coffee. Here’s what’s worth reading.

The List

1. Lula vs. Bolsonaro, again, and this time it’s personal (NPR). Brazilians vote Sunday in a race the polls call a dead heat, and the winner will shape Latin America’s biggest democracy for years.
2. Pentagon Deploys Third Carrier Strike Group and Marines to Middle East (Democracy Now!). Ships keep getting hit in the Strait of Hormuz, and more U.S. firepower near Iran raises the stakes for oil prices and a wider war.
3. Why has Putin added 15,000 new soldiers to Russia’s army? (Al Jazeera). It’s the fourth expansion this year. That’s a quiet signal Moscow expects the war in Ukraine to drag on.
4. Germany’s political center fights for relevance after far-right and far-left gains (NPR). Europe’s largest economy is splintering politically, and what happens in Berlin tends to ripple across the whole continent.
5. What to know about the $810 million in spending canceled by President Trump (NPR). This is really a fight over who controls federal money, and the government’s own watchdog says the move is illegal.
6. OpenAI parts ways with researchers who allegedly shared confidential information (The Wall Street Journal). Losing safety staff in the middle of a rough stretch for its AI agents shows how tense things are inside the top labs.
7. Amazon seeks to offload $8 billion in Nvidia AI chips to investors (Tech Startups). AI chips are starting to be financed like airplanes or office towers. That tells you just how expensive this boom has become.
8. ChatGPT now has a virtual changing room (The Verge). Upload a photo and see how clothes might look on you without leaving the chat. It’s a clear push by OpenAI into online shopping.
9. NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Finds Groundwater, Lakes, and Hot Fluids in One Place (ScienceDaily). Finding several kinds of water in one crater makes it an even better spot to hunt for signs of ancient life.
10. 1 in 13 Adults Under 30 Already Had Hidden Artery Plaque (ScienceDaily). Heart disease can start a lot earlier than most of us think, so it’s worth paying attention to your heart health now.

That’s the list for today. All credit goes to the original publishers, so click through and give them a read. Enjoy your weekend!