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Russia loves the impeachment hearings because Republicans are parroting Kremlin propaganda

Russia loves the impeachment hearings because Republicans are parroting Kremlin propaganda

Julia Davis writes: As Russia’s state media watch impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald J. Trump they’re loving what they see. They don’t think the man they brag about getting elected is in much danger. They listen in delight as Republicans parrot conspiracy theories first launched by Russians. And they gloat about the way Trump removed U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, because they blame her for promoting democratic “color revolutions” that weakened Moscow’s hold on the former Soviet empire….

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Trump ignores Pentagon advice and intervenes in military war crimes cases

Trump ignores Pentagon advice and intervenes in military war crimes cases

CNN reports: President Donald Trump ignored Pentagon advice Friday and pardoned two service members, while also restoring the rank of a third after all faced war crimes allegations. Trump granted full pardons to Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Army Major Mathew Golsteyn, and restored the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie R. Gallagher, who had been demoted. Lorance was released from the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, just before 10:30 p.m. local time Friday. He was wearing…

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Genes from bacteria helped plants move to land

Genes from bacteria helped plants move to land

Carl Zimmer writes: If you’ve ever noticed a slimy film of algae on a rock, chances are you didn’t pay it much attention. But some of these overlooked species hold clues to one of the greatest mysteries of evolution, scientists have found: how plants arrived on land. On Thursday, researchers published the genomes of two algae that are among the closest known living relatives of land plants. They already had some of the key genes that plants would need to…

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How the impeachment inquiry has revealed a long and murky campaign to oust Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

How the impeachment inquiry has revealed a long and murky campaign to oust Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

The Washington Post reports: In February, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine — a 33-year career diplomat who had served presidents of both parties — received a blunt warning. “Watch your back,” Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said she was told by Ukraine’s interior minister. The Ukrainian official relayed that a pair of Florida businessmen and a Kyiv prosecutor with whom Yovanovitch had clashed were working to oust her from the post she had held since 2016, she later told House investigators. The…

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‘Witness intimidation in real-time’ — more evidence of Trump obstruction

‘Witness intimidation in real-time’ — more evidence of Trump obstruction

Politico reports: House Democrats are calling Donald Trump’s decision to attack Marie Yovanovitch mid-hearing on Friday a blatant example of witness intimidation, further building the case to charge the president with obstruction in potential articles of impeachment. Lawmakers of both parties were stunned to see Trump’s disparaging tweet about the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in the middle of a hearing where she had already described in great detail how she felt personally threatened by the president. “What you saw…

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Trump’s honesty was on trial in the Roger Stone case. The verdict was harsh

Trump’s honesty was on trial in the Roger Stone case. The verdict was harsh

Ken Dilanian writes: In his final statement to the jury in the trial of political operative Roger Stone, federal prosecutor Michael Marando sought to boil the case down to a simple and stark premise. “I know we live in a world nowadays with Twitter, tweets, social media, where you can find any political view you want,” he said. “However, in our institutions of self-governance — courts of law or committee hearings, where people under oath have to testify — truth…

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Ambassador Sondland’s effort to boost immigration from Europe to U.S. seen as ‘fishing for white people’

Ambassador Sondland’s effort to boost immigration from Europe to U.S. seen as ‘fishing for white people’

The Washington Post reports: Not long after arriving [in Brussels], [Trump’s EU ambassador Gordon] Sondland started talking to subordinates about a need for more skilled and wealthy European immigrants in the United States in an attempt to ease tensions with the European Union, according to a person familiar with his views. Many U.S. diplomats in the mission were unsettled by the idea, viewing it as racially motivated. One diplomat said that “the way this was going to come off was…

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How to cut U.S. carbon pollution by nearly 40 percent in 10 years

How to cut U.S. carbon pollution by nearly 40 percent in 10 years

Robinson Meyer writes: In Washington, the immaculate solution to climate change has a name: a bipartisan, revenue-neutral carbon tax. The idea should have wide appeal. Under the plan, the government would charge companies for every ton of greenhouse gas they emit. Instead of spending that money, the government would immediately send it back to Americans as a tax cut or check. Over time, Americans would make greener choices (a win for Democrats) without growing the size of the government (a…

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The brief and inspiring life of James Le Mesurier

The brief and inspiring life of James Le Mesurier

Janine di Giovanni writes: On Monday morning, James Le Mesurier, the founder of Mayday Rescue, a charity that supported and trained the White Helmets, the Syrian civil defense group, was found dead in Istanbul. His body was found outside a building in the Beyoglu district where he had an apartment and office. It is unclear whether Mr. Le Mesurier, who was 48 and healthy, fell or was pushed from the balcony of his apartment. The Turkish authorities have started an…

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Quantum physics: Study suggests objective reality doesn’t exist

Quantum physics: Study suggests objective reality doesn’t exist

Gearoid Hayes/Flickr, CC BY-SA By Alessandro Fedrizzi, Heriot-Watt University and Massimiliano Proietti, Heriot-Watt University Alternative facts are spreading like a virus across society. Now it seems they have even infected science – at least the quantum realm. This may seem counter intuitive. The scientific method is after all founded on the reliable notions of observation, measurement and repeatability. A fact, as established by a measurement, should be objective, such that all observers can agree with it. But in a paper…

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The climate change health risks facing a child born today: A tale of two possible futures

The climate change health risks facing a child born today: A tale of two possible futures

Inside Climate News reports: A child born today faces two possible futures. In one, the world continues to burn fossil fuels, making the child more likely to develop asthma from air pollution, at greater risk of vector-borne diseases, and more vulnerable to anxiety as extreme weather events threaten his community. In the other, those risks are diminished because the world has responded quickly and adequately to climate change, with a large-scale shift away from fossil fuels. These two, starkly different…

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Trump’s Republican Party is built on lies

Trump’s Republican Party is built on lies

Peter Wehner writes: We are facing a profound political crisis. What the Republican Party is saying and signaling isn’t simply that rationality and truth are subordinate to partisanship; it is that they have to be obliterated for the sake of partisanship and the survival of the Trump presidency. As best I can tell, based on some fairly intense interactions with Trump supporters, there is no limiting principle—almost nothing he can do—that will forfeit their support. Members of Congress clearly believe…

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The evidence of wrongdoing by Trump is overwhelming

The evidence of wrongdoing by Trump is overwhelming

Noah Bookbinder writes: Impeachment is a constitutional procedure that should be reserved only for extraordinary times with the most extreme examples of abuse of power by a president. That is why, in our country’s history, only two presidents have been impeached. But this is one of those times. The evidence of wrongdoing by President Trump is overwhelming. The impeachment inquiry has been conducted so far in a sober, responsible way. As Wednesday’s hearing made clear, the witnesses are credible and…

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