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Former Dutch senator who opposed Russian sanctions kept contact with Russian spies for a decade

Former Dutch senator who opposed Russian sanctions kept contact with Russian spies for a decade

NL Times reports: A senior politician from the Dutch political party CDA was monitored by the civilian intelligence service, AIVD, because of questionable contacts the politician had with a Russian spy and others with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, the Volkskrant reported on Sunday. René van der Linden sat in the Tweede Kamer for nearly 20 years, served as the State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and was a senator for 16 years, including from 2009-2011 when he was the…

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Iran and China use private detectives to spy on dissidents in America

Iran and China use private detectives to spy on dissidents in America

The New York Times reports: The job that came in through Michael McKeever’s website was unremarkable, the kind of request he often received in his decades working as a private investigator in New York. An international client wanted his help tracking down a debtor who had fled from Dubai and was believed to be in Brooklyn. Mr. McKeever was to surveil a house and photograph the people coming and going. “Kindly be discreet as they are on the lookout,” he…

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The governors ready to step up if Biden or Trump step aside

The governors ready to step up if Biden or Trump step aside

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are at the moment their parties’ leading candidates for 2024. Should that change, count on a governor to be waiting in the wings. There’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose decisive victory in Florida Tuesday night only added fuel to speculation about his national plans. Similarly, high-profile Democratic governors like Gavin Newsom of California and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois also had big wins. But more competitive midterm contests appear poised…

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A red wave of criticism crashes into Donald Trump after midterm losses

A red wave of criticism crashes into Donald Trump after midterm losses

The Washington Post reports: As Republicans grapple with their lackluster performance in Tuesday’s midterm elections, one man has begun to take on an unusual amount of criticism from his fellow partisans: Donald Trump. The former president, who boosted some inexperienced Senate candidates in their primaries who underperformed on Tuesday, declared before the midterms that he wanted “all the credit” if Republicans won. “If they lose, I should not be blamed at all,” he told NewsNation. But now that Republicans are…

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Why independent voters broke for Democrats in the midterms

Why independent voters broke for Democrats in the midterms

The Wall Street Journal reports: Lisa Ghelfi, a 58-year-old registered Republican in Arizona, voted for Donald Trump for president two years ago but has grown tired of his election-fraud claims. It is the main reason she voted for Democrats for governor, senator, secretary of state and attorney general this fall and plans to change her registration to independent. “Not allowing the election to be settled, it’s very divisive,” Ms. Ghelfi, a semiretired attorney from Paradise Valley, said of the 2020…

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U.S. intelligence report says key gulf ally meddled in American politics

U.S. intelligence report says key gulf ally meddled in American politics

The Washington Post reports: U.S. intelligence officials have compiled a classified report detailing extensive efforts to manipulate the American political system by the United Arab Emirates, an influential, oil-rich nation in the Persian Gulf long considered a close and trusted partner. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. The activities covered in the report, described to The Washington Post by three people who have read it, include illegal and legal…

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What did the Russians dig up when they dug trenches in Chernobyl?

What did the Russians dig up when they dug trenches in Chernobyl?

Michael Marder writes: Contemporary events appear in ever-shifting configurations. They seem to be entirely contingent, their amplification on the global scale dependent on how many people are paying attention. The vicissitudes of spotlighting various events are daily, if not hourly: something that was the focus of attention yesterday may be forgotten today. A massacre and a wardrobe malfunction are put on the same level of intense scrutiny and curiosity, attitudes that just as quickly latch on to another object. As…

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Human exceptionalism imposes horrible costs on other animals

Human exceptionalism imposes horrible costs on other animals

Barbara J King writes: Human exceptionalism takes many forms but most share an assumption that our species displays singularly complex ways of being, thinking and feeling. On this perspective, other animals’ capacities are inferior, and so other animals’ lives are also seen as inferior. It’s only a myth, though, that other-than-human animals inevitably live moment to moment. Many mammals and birds remember and learn from past experiences, and anticipate with joy or fear what may be coming next. Recognition of…

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We tested Einstein’s theory of gravity on the scale of the universe – here’s what we found

We tested Einstein’s theory of gravity on the scale of the universe – here’s what we found

Thousands of galaxies seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. Nasa By Kazuya Koyama, University of Portsmouth and Levon Pogosian, Simon Fraser University Everything in the universe has gravity – and feels it too. Yet this most common of all fundamental forces is also the one that presents the biggest challenges to physicists. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity has been remarkably successful in describing the gravity of stars and planets, but it doesn’t seem to apply perfectly on all…

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Ukraine retakes Kherson as advances over Russian forces continue

Ukraine retakes Kherson as advances over Russian forces continue

Michael Weiss and James Rushton report: In the end, the Russian occupation of the east bank of Kherson simply evaporated. A little over two days after Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the withdrawal of Russian forces east of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army swept through Kherson province and its capital, where they were greeted by crowds of jubilant civilians. The first indication that Ukrainian forces were…

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What the tiny remaining 1.5C carbon budget means for climate policy

What the tiny remaining 1.5C carbon budget means for climate policy

Prof Piers Forster, Dr Debbie Rosen, Dr Robin Lamboll,and Prof Joeri Rogelj, write: The latest estimates from the Global Carbon Project (GCP) show that total worldwide CO2 emissions in 2022 have reached near-record levels. The GCP’s estimates put the remaining carbon budget for 1.5C – specifically, the amount of CO2 that can still be emitted for a 50% chance of staying below 1.5C of warming – at 380bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2). At the current rate of emissions, this budget would be blown in just nine…

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The GOP revolt against Trump is serious this time

The GOP revolt against Trump is serious this time

Jonathan Chait writes: I’ve been telling people for most of the year that I consider Ron DeSantis to be the odds-on favorite — not a guarantee, not a prohibitive favorite, but the favorite — to win the Republican presidential nomination. Usually they nod and then add something like, “But not if Trump runs, right?” “Yes,” I reply, “even if Trump runs.” Then they look at me like I’m crazy. Tuesday night, my view began to look a little less crazy….

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How the GOP lost its grip on the Senate majority

How the GOP lost its grip on the Senate majority

Politico reports: Rick Scott has no regrets about his Senate Republican campaign arm’s hands-off approach to primaries this year — a move that anointed a motley crew of nominees, some of whom cost the GOP dearly. Looking at this year’s strategy by the National Republican Senatorial Committee that he once directed, Steven Law takes a different view. “It seemed to us that the posture of the committee was that all candidates are equally great,” said Law, who now runs the…

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Manchin won’t hold renomination hearing for FERC’s Glick

Manchin won’t hold renomination hearing for FERC’s Glick

Bloomberg reports: Sen. Joe Manchin has decided against scheduling a confirmation hearing for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick with only weeks left before the end of the current Congress. “The chairman was not comfortable holding a hearing,” Sam Runyon, spokeswoman for Manchin’s office, said Thursday. Runyon declined to elaborate beyond the statement. The decision comes days after Manchin criticized President Joe Biden’s remarks on shutting down coal plants and replacing them with renewable energy, saying “his words matter…

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