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Trump finally realizes that ‘Putin is playing him and the United States for fools’

Trump finally realizes that ‘Putin is playing him and the United States for fools’

Susan B Glasser writes: Donald Trump finally called “bullshit” on Vladimir Putin this week, though nobody seems to quite know what it means. One explanation, and perhaps the best one, is that Trump, belatedly, recognized what has long been apparent to the rest of us: that Putin has been playing him, pretending to talk peace while escalating Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. On Monday, Trump announced that he was “not happy with President Putin at all” and overruled his…

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Justice Department efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans likely violate constitutional rights

Justice Department efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans likely violate constitutional rights

New American citizens recite the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony in Miami on Aug. 17, 2018. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee By Cassandra Burke Robertson, Case Western Reserve University and Irina D. Manta, Hofstra University The Trump administration wants to take away citizenship from naturalized Americans on a massive scale. While a recent Justice Department memo prioritizes national security cases, it directs the department to “maximally pursue denaturalization proceedings in all cases permitted by law and supported by the evidence”…

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Senate committee poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts

Senate committee poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts

Nature reports: A key US Senate committee has indicated that it will reject the massive budget cuts that President Donald Trump proposed for some science agencies, including the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. The US Senate Committee on Appropriations was prepared to vote today to advance a bill laying out fiscal year 2026 funding for science. However, the senators came to an impasse on an unrelated matter — the location for the new headquarters of the Federal Bureau…

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A glaring security issue for blockchains and other digital encryption schemes

A glaring security issue for blockchains and other digital encryption schemes

Erica Klarreich writes: Randomness is a source of power. From the coin toss that decides which team gets the ball to the random keys that secure online interactions, randomness lets us make choices that are fair and impossible to predict. But in many computing applications, suitable randomness can be hard to generate. So instead, programmers often rely on things called hash functions, which swirl data around and extract some small portion in a way that looks random. For decades, many…

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‘People are going to die’: A malnutrition crisis looms in the wake of USAID cuts

‘People are going to die’: A malnutrition crisis looms in the wake of USAID cuts

Wired reports: Few lifesaving tools are as effective as ready-to-use therapeutic foods, known as RUTFs, which are specially designed to treat severe malnutrition and often resemble fortified peanut butter. Despite announcing a $50 million pledged to fund RUTFs earlier this summer, the Trump administration’s deep cuts to foreign assistance have wreaked havoc on RUTF distribution globally, and the State Department hasn’t placed orders with leading suppliers this year. Experts say the disruptions will result in more children dying from hunger….

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With West Bank annexation in the air, settlers revel in their impunity

With West Bank annexation in the air, settlers revel in their impunity

Oren Ziv and Shatha Yaish report: Over the span of two days, one of the last remaining Palestinian communities between Ramallah and Jericho was uprooted from its land. On the evening of July 2, dozens of Israeli settlers descended on the West Bank shepherding village of Al-Muarrajat. They broke into homes, stole around 60 sheep, and erected a small outpost inside the village. By the next morning, settlers were seen sitting alongside Israeli soldiers at the newly built outpost, now…

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California’s cruelly demonized immigrant farmworkers share their stories

California’s cruelly demonized immigrant farmworkers share their stories

  Aeon: In the United States, a large share of fruit and vegetable production comes from California, where the agricultural industry relies heavily on immigrant labour. Many of these workers arrive from Mexico and Central America, and a significant number are undocumented. Directed by the Mexican American filmmaker Andrés Lira, who has Indigenous Purépecha roots and a family history of farm work, Primero, Sueño (‘First, I dream’) is a stirring portrait of a group often rendered invisible – or worse,…

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The Supreme Court is rewarding the Trump regime’s contempt for the rule of law

The Supreme Court is rewarding the Trump regime’s contempt for the rule of law

Paul Rosenzweig writes: In the American system, courts don’t make law; they interpret it. The act of interpreting the law requires, well, interpretation—not mere pronouncement, but an explanation for that pronouncement, backed up by law, evidence, and logic. That’s why the Supreme Court’s failure to offer any sort of reasoning to justify its order in Department of Homeland Security v. D. V. D is a threat to the rule of law, a reward for defiance, and a horrific example of…

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The ‘Russia hoax,’ revisited: CIA Director John Ratcliffe wants to rewrite history

The ‘Russia hoax,’ revisited: CIA Director John Ratcliffe wants to rewrite history

Shane Harris writes: Last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe released a report that, by his account, finally reveals the whole story about one of the most closely scrutinized documents ever produced by American intelligence agencies. The “CIA Note,” as it’s officially called, is ostensibly an effort to learn lessons from the past, and it might never have been written absent Ratcliffe’s intervention. In May, he ordered CIA analysts to review the “procedures and analytic tradecraft employed” when drafting an assessment…

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Why Europe doesn’t trust Trump’s latest Ukraine reversal

Why Europe doesn’t trust Trump’s latest Ukraine reversal

Politico reports: Ukraine’s allies in Europe are finally hearing the tough-on-Russia message they’d been hoping for from President Donald Trump. But they don’t trust it. Across European capitals, there’s a feeling of whiplash over the administration’s recent Ukraine policy reversals and confusion about who is calling the shots at the Pentagon. As a result, governments are preparing for multiple scenarios — making it difficult to design any Ukraine strategy while Trump’s foreign policy appears to change at a whim. Trump…

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New research on fungi suggests they could be demonstrating some form of intelligence

New research on fungi suggests they could be demonstrating some form of intelligence

Hayley Bennett writes: To most of us, mushrooms are just weird-looking woodland growths, and a fungus is something you probably need a cream for. Increasingly, though, scientists are describing fungi as more sophisticated than we previously thought. Some even say ‘intelligent’, with a few researchers going so far as to hint they might be conscious. While such theories are controversial among experts, the rest of us would like to know if, for instance, our breakfast ingredients are thinking about us….

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Supreme Court clears way for mass firings at federal agencies

Supreme Court clears way for mass firings at federal agencies

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration can move forward with plans to slash the federal work force and dismantle federal agencies, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday. The decision could result in job losses for tens of thousands of employees at agencies including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, State and Treasury. The order, which lifted a lower court’s ruling that had blocked mass layoffs, was unsigned and did not include a vote count. That is typical…

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‘Essential isn’t a strong enough word’: Loss of foreign workers begins to bite U.S. economy

‘Essential isn’t a strong enough word’: Loss of foreign workers begins to bite U.S. economy

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration is starting to ripple across the U.S. economy. From small farms in California, to meat packing facilities in Nebraska to corporate giants like Disney, businesses are scrambling to replace workers after recent administration actions have taken immigrants, both legal and illegal, out of the labor force, including several hundred thousand people who had been given temporary work permits under President Joe Biden. That’s because foreign-born workers, or their relatives, have become critical…

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U.S. farm secretary says ‘no amnesty’ for farmworkers from deportation

U.S. farm secretary says ‘no amnesty’ for farmworkers from deportation

Reuters reports: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that there will be “no amnesty” for agricultural workers as President Donald Trump’s administration moves to deport all immigrants in the country illegally. Rollins said the administration wants a 100% American workforce and suggested some people receiving government aid could replace immigrant workers. “Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure. And then also, when you think about, there are 34 million able-bodied…

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