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Ukraine sees many ways to hurt Russia in Kherson offensive

Ukraine sees many ways to hurt Russia in Kherson offensive

The Wall Street Journal reports: Ukrainian officials say their military’s southern offensive is going slowly. They also say that is precisely the plan. The announcement Monday of a thrust in the south raised hopes that Ukraine could reclaim territory Russia seized early in the war, including the regional capital of Kherson. But success could take many shapes, say officials and Western analysts. Even without quickly regaining much ground, Kyiv can achieve progress by forcing Russia to expose its troop locations…

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IAEA chief ‘gravely concerned’ over situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility

IAEA chief ‘gravely concerned’ over situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility

Politico reports: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine again lost connection to its main external power line but remains connected to a reserve line, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said late Saturday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts were told by Ukrainian staff at the nuclear facility that the plant’s fourth operational power line was down. The three other power lines “were damaged during Russian shelling earlier,” Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said last month. The disconnection of…

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The North Atlantic Fellas Organization is fighting the Kremlin’s propaganda machine — and winning

The North Atlantic Fellas Organization is fighting the Kremlin’s propaganda machine — and winning

Mark Scott writes: Ivana Stradner opened her iPhone and typed a simple call-to-arms: Unleash the hounds. A Washington think-tanker and an expert in Russian propaganda, Stradner is also a member of NAFO — or the North Atlantic Fellas Organization — an informal alliance of internet culture warriors, national security experts and ordinary Twitter users weaponizing memes, viral videos and, yes, dog photos to push back against Russian online disinformation. “I see myself as a NAFO civilian propagandist,” said Stradner, an…

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Democrats and Republicans agree democracy is in danger and each see their opponents as the threat

Democrats and Republicans agree democracy is in danger and each see their opponents as the threat

The New York Times reports: The good news is that deeply divided Americans agree on at least one thing. The bad news is they share the view that their nearly two-and-a-half-century-old democracy is in danger — and disagree drastically about who is threatening it. In a remarkable consensus, a new Quinnipiac University poll found that 69 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans say that democracy is “in danger of collapse.” But one side blames former President Donald J….

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Trump repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information

Trump repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information

CNN reports: Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the lengthy jailing of opponents of his who he claimed mishandled classified materials. CNN’s KFile reviewed comments from the former President, dating back to his first presidential campaign in 2016, from speeches, interviews and comments made on social media. The former President is in potential legal jeopardy after the Justice Department’s search of his Mar-a-Lago residence last month retrieved more than 100 classified documents, with the DOJ alleging that US…

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German civil servants investigated over ‘spying for Russia’

German civil servants investigated over ‘spying for Russia’

The Guardian reports: Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is investigating allegations that two senior civil servants working in the economy ministry could have been spying for Russia, according to a local media report. Die Zeit, which first revealed the case, said the officials being investigated had close involvement with energy supply issues and held key positions. The economy ministry and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence agency, would not comment on the reports….

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Energy war erupts as Putin and the West clash over oil and gas

Energy war erupts as Putin and the West clash over oil and gas

Politico reports: The energy battle between Russia and the West escalated dramatically Friday, with Western countries making a concerted push to cap the prices of Moscow’s oil and gas exports, while Russia announced it won’t be restarting the crucial Nord Stream pipeline. Finance ministers from the G7 group of industrialized democracies called for devising a system that would only allow the sale of Russian oil at below-market prices. The European Commission president also called for capping Russian gas prices. The…

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What you need to know about the new omicron booster shots

What you need to know about the new omicron booster shots

Science News reports: Revamped COVID-19 vaccines are poised to do battle with the super-contagious omicron variant. On September 1, U.S. health officials greenlit the first major update of the mRNA-based shots, reformulated to recognize both the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and the recently circulating versions of omicron. Those mRNA vaccine boosters could start going into arms within days. “They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants,” Rochelle…

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Oldest human or just another ape? Row erupts over 7 million-year-old fossil

Oldest human or just another ape? Row erupts over 7 million-year-old fossil

The Observer reports: It is a dispute that has taken a long time to reach boiling point. Seven million years after an apelike creature – since nicknamed Toumaï – traversed the landscape of modern Chad, its means of mobility has triggered a dispute among fossil experts. Some claim this was the oldest member of the human lineage. Others that it was just an old ape. The row, kindled by a paper in Nature, last week led scientists to denounce opponents…

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The science of a wandering mind

The science of a wandering mind

By Tim Vernimmen, Knowable Magazine, September 1, 2022 When psychologist Jonathan Smallwood set out to study mind-wandering about 25 years ago, few of his peers thought that was a very good idea. How could one hope to investigate these spontaneous and unpredictable thoughts that crop up when people stop paying attention to their surroundings and the task at hand? Thoughts that couldn’t be linked to any measurable outward behavior? But Smallwood, now at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, forged ahead….

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William Barr, on Fox, says no legitimate reason for classified docs to be at Mar-a-Lago, doubts Trump declassified

William Barr, on Fox, says no legitimate reason for classified docs to be at Mar-a-Lago, doubts Trump declassified

CNN reports: Former Attorney General William Barr appeared on Fox News on Friday to say there is no “legitimate reason” for classified documents to have been at Mar-a-Lago and cast doubt in the idea that they had somehow been declassified. “No. I can’t think of a legitimate reason why they should have been — could be taken out of government, away from the government if they are classified,” Barr said of the documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Florida…

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FBI materials seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home included 90 folders missing their contents

FBI materials seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home included 90 folders missing their contents

The Guardian reports: Among the items the FBI retrieved from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort this month were 90 empty folders marked classified or for return to the White House staff secretary or a military aide, according to a detailed inventory of items seized from the property made public on Friday. The inventory – unsealed by a federal judge overseeing the former president’s request to get a so-called special master to determine what materials the justice department can use in its…

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Why Sarah Palin’s loss is a warning for the GOP

Why Sarah Palin’s loss is a warning for the GOP

Politico reports: Everyone who could read a poll or a room in Alaska knew Sarah Palin was unpopular in her home state. What was jarring to Republicans about her defeat in a U.S. House race there was that so many conservatives were unwilling to vote for her, anyway. In an election that could spell disaster for pro-Donald Trump hard-liners in states across the midterm electoral map, only about half of voters who supported a more traditionalist Republican, Nick Begich III,…

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Trump’s interest in intelligence focused on power and leverage

Trump’s interest in intelligence focused on power and leverage

The New York Times reports: As president, Donald J. Trump showed the most interest in intelligence briefings when the topics revolved around his personal relationships with world leaders and the power available at his fingertips. He took little interest in secret weapons programs, but he often asked questions about the look of Navy ships and sometimes quizzed briefers on the size and power of America’s nuclear arsenal. He was fascinated by operations to take out high-value targets, like those that…

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