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Top national-security prosecutor joins Trump Mar-a-Lago investigation

Top national-security prosecutor joins Trump Mar-a-Lago investigation

The Washington Post reports: One of the Justice Department’s most experienced national security prosecutors has joined the team overseeing the intensifying investigation of classified documents at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and private club, people familiar with the matter said. National security law experts interviewed by The Washington Post say prosecutors appear to have amassed evidence in the case that would meet some of the criteria for bringing charges against the former president — an unprecedented action that they said likely…

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45% of Americans say U.S. should be a ‘Christian nation’ but there is no consensus on what that means

45% of Americans say U.S. should be a ‘Christian nation’ but there is no consensus on what that means

Pew Research Center: Growing numbers of religious and political leaders are embracing the “Christian nationalist” label, and some dispute the idea that the country’s founders wanted a separation of church and state. On the other side of the debate, however, many Americans – including the leaders of many Christian churches – have pushed back against Christian nationalism, calling it a “danger” to the country.  Most U.S. adults believe America’s founders intended the country to be a Christian nation, and many say they think it should…

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Ancient virus may be protecting the human placenta

Ancient virus may be protecting the human placenta

Science reports: About 30 million years ago, a virus infected our primate ancestors and one of its genes got trapped in their genomes. Over time, this viral gene became “domesticated”—and territorial. It helped primates fight off other viruses by preventing them from entering cells. The invader—known as Suppressyn (SUPYN)—is still around today, and it’s still helping us out: A new study reveals that this viral turncoat might help the placenta protect embryos from viral infection. “It’s a beautiful story supported…

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A new climate reality is coming into view

A new climate reality is coming into view

David Wallace-Wells writes: You can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives. Just a few years ago, climate projections for this century looked quite apocalyptic, with most scientists warning that continuing “business as usual” would bring the world four or even five degrees Celsius of warming — a change disruptive enough to call forth not only predictions of food crises and heat stress, state conflict and economic…

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War in Ukraine likely to speed, not slow, shift to renewable and nuclear power, IEA says

War in Ukraine likely to speed, not slow, shift to renewable and nuclear power, IEA says

The New York Times reports: The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to speed up rather than slow down the global transition away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner technologies like wind, solar and electric vehicles, the world’s leading energy agency said Thursday. While some countries have been burning more fossil fuels such as coal this year in response to natural gas shortages caused by the war in Ukraine, that effect is expected to be short-lived,…

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Jayapal draws ire of fellow Democrats over bungled Ukraine letter that she apparently lied about

Jayapal draws ire of fellow Democrats over bungled Ukraine letter that she apparently lied about

The Washington Post reports: When Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer began escalating his threat of using nuclear weapons over the United States’ aid to Ukraine, the Congressional Progressive Caucus wanted to respond. A two-page letter to President Biden, drafted in July, was meant to reaffirm House liberals’ belief that diplomatic engagement is critical at such points of escalation to avoid nuclear war. It was not meant to push the administration to take a radically different approach to foreign policy,…

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Judge considers stopping Phoenix ballot drop box watchers

Judge considers stopping Phoenix ballot drop box watchers

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Arizona said he hopes to decide by Friday whether to order members of a group to stop monitoring outdoor ballot drop boxes in the Phoenix area in an effort that has sparked allegations of voter intimidation. The groups Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino asked U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi during a Wednesday hearing to prevent members of Clean Elections USA from gathering within sight of drop boxes in Maricopa…

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Overt U.S. antisemitism returns with Trump, Kanye West: ‘Something is different’

Overt U.S. antisemitism returns with Trump, Kanye West: ‘Something is different’

The Washington Post reports: Longtime watchdogs of antisemitism say there is nothing new about the kinds of derogatory comments about Jews that the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, former president Donald Trump, sundry far-right political candidates and others have made in recent weeks. But what has struck some experts is how blatant the comments about Jews are at a time when incidents of harassment, vandalism and violence against them have been at their highest levels since at least…

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Russian army’s quiet fatal flaw: No sergeants

Russian army’s quiet fatal flaw: No sergeants

Jeff Stein writes: Of all the post-invasion excuses given for the Russian army’s failures in Ukraine—corruption, bad logistics, poor execution of a bad idea—the most obvious one, to me, has gotten short shrift: The Russian army has virtually no sergeants— or as retired Army Gen. Mark Hertling put it to me recently, “no functioning NCO corps.” U.S. veterans have to be gobsmacked as I was hearing this for the first time. From the moment screaming drill instructors “welcomed” us to…

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Scientists working in a subterranean lab in China discover secrets of first stars

Scientists working in a subterranean lab in China discover secrets of first stars

Motherboard reports: Scientists have opened an unprecedented window into the universe’s very first stars by conducting nuclear fusion experiments in a subterranean laboratory located 1.5 miles under China’s Jinping Mountains, reports a new study. The results resolve a longstanding mystery about one of the oldest stars ever discovered, while also shedding new light on the murky reactions that powered the ancestors of all modern stars. One of the biggest quests in astronomy is to directly observe the first stars that…

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The saga of Marco Rubio and the Proud Boys

The saga of Marco Rubio and the Proud Boys

Jonathan Chait writes: Monday morning, Senator Marco Rubio sent out a tweet with the horrifying news that “one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a Desantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.” Rubio’s account was quickly repeated by conservative organs like the New York Post (“Rubio campaign canvasser ‘brutally’ beaten by man who told him GOPers not allowed in his neighborhood”), National Review (“Rubio Supporter Savagely Beaten While Canvassing in Florida”), Washington Free Beacon (“Marco Rubio Canvasser Violently Attacked in…

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The Republican plan to impeach Joe Biden

The Republican plan to impeach Joe Biden

Barton Gellman writes: Sometime next year, after an interval of performative investigations, Republicans in the House are going to impeach Joe Biden. This may not be their present plan, but they will work themselves up to it by degrees. The pressure from the MAGA base will build. A triggering event will burst all restraints. Eventually, Republicans will leave themselves little choice. This prediction rests, of course, on the assumption that Republicans will win control of the House next month, which…

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U.S. officials had a secret oil deal with the Saudis. Until they realized they’d been duped

U.S. officials had a secret oil deal with the Saudis. Until they realized they’d been duped

The New York Times reports: As President Biden was planning a politically risky trip to Saudi Arabia this summer, his top aides thought they had struck a secret deal to boost oil production through the end of the year — an arrangement that could have helped justify breaking a campaign pledge to shun the kingdom and its crown prince. It didn’t work out that way. Mr. Biden went through with the trip. But earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Russia…

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Climate pledges are falling short as we head toward environmental catastrophe

Climate pledges are falling short as we head toward environmental catastrophe

The New York Times reports: Countries around the world are failing to live up to their commitments to fight climate change, pointing Earth toward a future marked by more intense flooding, wildfires, drought, heat waves and species extinction, according to a report issued Wednesday by the United Nations. Just 26 of 193 countries that agreed last year to step up their climate actions have followed through with more ambitious plans. The world’s top two polluters, China and the United States,…

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