@ Axios.com/Sneak Peek newsletter, Aug. 14

A new Pew Research Center poll finds that more Americans hold negative views of both major parties — a record high in the survey's history.

• Over a quarter of respondents (27%) say they view both the Republican and Democratic parties unfavorably. That's up from a mere 6% who disliked both parties in 1994, and up from 18% in 2018.

Why it matters: Partisan voters are increasingly nominating extreme candidates in primaries. But those candidates end up struggling when facing the wider electorate. It's a lesson that the party that effectively appeals to the silent middle will end up winning elections.

Americans ages 18-29 are most likely to hold unfavorable views of both parties. A 37% plurality don't like either party — a larger share than those who identify as Democrats (34%) or Republicans (21%).

Guest op-ed by Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour an adjunct professor at Georgetown and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East) @NYTimes.com, Aug. 12

Even as negotiations restart over the nuclear deal, American officials still don’t understand the country or its leader.

By Michael Scherer, Ashley Parker & Tyler Pager @ WashingtonPost.com, Aug. 10

When Biden met with historians last week at the White House, they compared the threat facing America to the pre-Civil War era and to pro-fascist movements before World War II.

Article is actually a mix on the experts Biden has turned to for big picture analysis this year (including on the ramifications of the Ukraine war, and with Bill Clinton on the politics of economic policy.) Stressed in the headline - Aug. 4 meeting with Jon Meacham, journalist Anne Applebaum, Princeton professor Sean Wilentz, University of Virginia historian Allida Black and presidential historian Michael Beschloss.

Kenyans head to the polls on Tuesday to elect their fifth president since independence. The election pitches Vice President William Ruto against opposition leader Raila Odinga. DW looks at what's at stake.

Deutsche Welle, April 9

Kenya will not only be electing a new president on August 9, but also a new parliament and county governors.

But most eyes have been firmly set on the fiercely contested presidential race, which has featured astounding shifts of alliances, a first for women and even a front-runner crying in public [....]

Not a good look.

By MATTHEW LEE, NOMAAN MERCHANT and MIKE BALSAMO @ APNews.com, 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — A CIA drone strike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to five people familiar with the matter.

Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to one person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. White House officials declined to confirm al-Zawahri was killed but noted in a statement that the United States conducted a “successful” counterterrorism operation against a significant al-Qaida target, adding that “there were no civilian casualties.”

President Joe Biden is expected to discuss further details of the operation in a 7:30 p.m. EDT address to the nation.

An American ground team was present in Afghanistan to support the strike and has since pulled out, a senior intelligence official said [....]

By Nate Silver @ FiveThirtyEight.com, JUL. 29, 2022, AT 8:10 AM

As was the case when we launched the forecast a month ago, the Deluxe version of FiveThirtyEight’s midterm model still rates the battle for control of the Senate as a “toss-up.” But within that category there’s been modest, but consistent movement toward Democrats. Their chances of winning the Senate now stand at 55 percent. That’s up from 47 percent from forecast launch on June 30. It’s also up from 40 percent in a retroactive forecast dated back to June 1.1 [....]

This is matched by Democrats’ improved position on the generic congressional ballot, which asks voters which party they would support in a congressional election. Democrats are now essentially tied with Republicans in our generic ballot polling average, after having trailed by 2 to 3 percentage points over most of the late spring and early summer [....]

By Claire Giangrave @ ReligionNews.com, July 28

[....] “God does not want us to be slaves, but sons and daughters,” Francis said. “He does not want to make decisions for us, or oppress us with a sacral power, exercised in a world governed by religious laws. No! He created us to be free, and he asks us to be mature and responsible persons in life and in society.”

The pope’s remarks take place as Christian nationalist rhetoric gains traction in conservative political parties in Europe and in the United States. Recent comments by Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, claiming she is “tired of this separation of church and state junk,” have sparked debates in the U.S. regarding the role of religion in government.

His comments were also aimed at combating clericalism — privileging clergy and religious people above lay faithful in authority and importance — which the pope has blamed for allowing sexual abuse and abuse of power to propagate within the Catholic Church [....]