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Russia backs Europe’s far right

Russia backs Europe’s far right

New Lines reports: Last November, during Matteo’s working visit to Moscow, my boss arranged a private meeting with him, renting a room on the same floor of the Lotte Hotel to prevent the Western press from catching wind of the meeting. So wrote Mikhail Yakushev, a Russian national, in a Microsoft Word document he emailed to himself on June 18, 2019. Yakushev is the director of Tsargrad, an organization in Russia that describes itself as a group of companies whose…

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Reports of sexual violence involving Russian soldiers are multiplying, Ukrainian officials say

Reports of sexual violence involving Russian soldiers are multiplying, Ukrainian officials say

The New York Times reports: The crime first came to light last week, when Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said in a Facebook post that a Russian soldier had killed an unarmed civilian and then repeatedly raped his wife. Days later, the White House said it was concerned about emerging reports of sexual violence in Ukraine. Then on Monday night, The Times of London published the woman’s chilling account. Using the pseudonym Natalya, she told a reporter she had been…

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Why Russia’s war is so devastating to climate science

Why Russia’s war is so devastating to climate science

Inside Climate News reports: In France, scientists working on an experimental fusion-power reactor, which could potentially revolutionize how humankind generates carbon-free electricity, had to put their research on hold due to key parts shipping in from Russia. A global consortium of permafrost scientists who were set to embark on a multi-year expedition in the Arctic to collect crucial data on global warming have also had to cancel their plans due to Russian sanctions and international uproar. And the Arctic Council,…

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Ecuador’s high court rules that wild animals have legal rights

Ecuador’s high court rules that wild animals have legal rights

Inside Climate News reports: Wild animals possess distinct legal rights, including to exist, to develop their innate instincts and to be free from disproportionate cruelty, fear and distress, Ecuador’s top court ruled in a landmark decision interpreting the country’s “rights of nature” constitutional laws. The 7-2 ruling handed down last month in Quito is believed to be the first time a court has applied the rights of nature—laws that recognize the legal rights of ecosystems to exist and regenerate—to an…

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How we got herd immunity wrong

How we got herd immunity wrong

David Robertson writes: Herd immunity was always our greatest asset for protecting vulnerable people, but public health failed to use it wisely. In March 2020, not long after Covid-19 was declared a global public health emergency, prominent experts predicted that the pandemic would eventually end via herd immunity. Infectious disease epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who advised President Biden, opined in the Washington Post that even without a vaccine, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, would eventually “burn itself out as the…

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Joe Manchin’s dirty money and the Biden administration’s painful turn from climate action

Joe Manchin’s dirty money and the Biden administration’s painful turn from climate action

The New York Times reports: On a hilltop overlooking Paw Paw Creek, 15 miles south of the Pennsylvania border, looms a fortresslike structure with a single smokestack, the only viable business in a dying Appalachian town. The Grant Town power plant is also the link between the coal industry and the personal finances of Joe Manchin III, the Democrat who rose through state politics to reach the United States Senate, where, through the vagaries of electoral politics, he is now…

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Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready to discuss neutral status to reach Russia peace deal

Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready to discuss neutral status to reach Russia peace deal

Politico reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is open to a neutral status for his country and a “compromise” on the contested Donbas region as part of peace negotiations with Russia, he said in an interview with several Russian outlets on Sunday. “Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are prepared to go through with it,” Zelenskyy told Russian news organizations Meduza, Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta and TV Rain, speaking in Russian throughout the interview. For Ukraine, neutrality would…

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Why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens global food supplies

Why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens global food supplies

Tim Lang and Martin McKee write: Reliable access to adequate nutrition is essential for physical and mental health. Vladimir Putin’s illegal reinvasion of Ukraine reminds us that we take our food supply for granted. The consequences will be felt far beyond Ukraine’s borders. The immediate threat is to those under siege. Unable to escape Russian shelling, they are running out of food and water. This is a clear breach of the Geneva Convention, which proscribes “starvation of civilians as a…

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Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered suspected poisoning

Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered suspected poisoning

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning after a meeting in Kyiv earlier this month, people familiar with the matter said. Following the meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Mr. Abramovich, who has shuttled between Moscow, Lviv and other negotiating venues, as well as at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team developed symptoms that included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and…

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The drone operators who halted a Russian convoy heading for Kyiv

The drone operators who halted a Russian convoy heading for Kyiv

The Guardian reports: One week into its invasion of Ukraine, Russia massed a 40-mile mechanised column in order to mount an overwhelming attack on Kyiv from the north. But the convoy of armoured vehicles and supply trucks ground to a halt within days, and the offensive failed, in significant part because of a series of night ambushes carried out by a team of 30 Ukrainian special forces and drone operators on quad bikes, according to a Ukrainian commander. The drone…

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Autocracy hypocrisy: U.S. and Israel strengthen ties with the Middle East’s anti-democratic rulers

Autocracy hypocrisy: U.S. and Israel strengthen ties with the Middle East’s anti-democratic rulers

The Wall Street Journal reports: New diplomatic and security ties are reshaping the Middle East as former enemies seek unity in containing Iran, the U.S. rethinks its security role in the region, and Russia and China seek to exploit openings left by Washington. A historic summit starting Sunday in Sde Boker, Israel, illustrates the changing alignments, bringing Arab, Israeli and U.S. officials together for the first time on Israeli soil for talks on expanding their budding partnership. Israeli and Arab…

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War-zone collaboration becomes essential for journalists from rival news organization

War-zone collaboration becomes essential for journalists from rival news organization

The Wall Street Journal reports: In the hours after three journalists working for Fox News in Ukraine took fire on March 14, staffers from rival news organization CNN stepped up to assist the cable network. Clarissa Ward, chief international correspondent for CNN, and Trey Yingst, a foreign correspondent for Fox News, worked in CNN’s makeshift newsroom in a Kyiv hotel suite, calling morgues and hospitals to track down Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a consultant for…

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Ukrainians are dying for democracy while in America, Republicans won’t stand up to Trump

Ukrainians are dying for democracy while in America, Republicans won’t stand up to Trump

John M. Bridgeland writes: The contrast now between Ukraine and the United States is striking, but in an unexpected way – in the defense of democracy. The world is seeing the bravery of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, who are willing to die to defend their democracy and freedom. When offered a flight out of the country, President Zelenskyy and his family chose to stay. As Russian tanks roll into Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, Ukrainians are…

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Zelenskyy: West needs more courage in helping Ukraine fight

Zelenskyy: West needs more courage in helping Ukraine fight

The Associated Press reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invading troops, making an exasperated plea Sunday for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense as the war ground into a battle of attrition. Speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden said in a lacerating speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power — words the White House immediately sought to downplay — Zelenskyy lashed out…

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