Pentagon concerned Russia cultivating sympathy among U.S. troops

Pentagon concerned Russia cultivating sympathy among U.S. troops

Voice of America reports: Russian efforts to weaken the West through a relentless campaign of information warfare may be starting to pay off, cracking a key bastion of the U.S. line of defense: the military. While most Americans still see Moscow as a key U.S. adversary, new polling suggests that view is changing, most notably among the households of military members. The second annual Reagan National Defense Survey, completed in late October, found nearly half of armed services households questioned,…

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Russia involved in leak of papers saying NHS is for sale, says Reddit

Russia involved in leak of papers saying NHS is for sale, says Reddit

The Guardian reports: An anonymous online poster who disseminated documents later brandished by Jeremy Corbyn as evidence the Conservatives would put the NHS “on the table” in US trade talks was part of a campaign directed by Moscow, the site hosting the papers has said. On Friday evening, Reddit confirmed it has banned 61 accounts; including that of a user called Gregoriator, who it believes was part of a Russian information operation known as Secondary Infektion. The anonymous user posted…

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Climate, not conflict, drove many Syrian refugees to Lebanon

Climate, not conflict, drove many Syrian refugees to Lebanon

Refugees in the city of Qab Illyas in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley dig their own water wells. Hussein A. Amery, CC BY-ND By Hussein A. Amery, Colorado School of Mines People who fled Syria in recent years are often viewed as war refugees because of the violence that has engulfed much of the country since 2011. But those from the northern and northeastern parts of Syria may more accurately be viewed as climate refugees, fleeing not a worsening conflict but an…

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More than 500 law professors say Trump committed ‘impeachable conduct’

More than 500 law professors say Trump committed ‘impeachable conduct’

The Washington Post reports: More than 500 legal scholars have signed on to an open letter asserting that President Trump committed “impeachable conduct” and that lawmakers would be acting well within their rights if they ultimately voted to remove him from office. The signers are law professors and other academics from universities across the country, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan and many others. The open letter was published online Friday by…

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The Russification of the Republican Party

The Russification of the Republican Party

Ronald Brownstein writes: Just how far will Republicans go in following President Donald Trump’s embrace of Russia? An answer may be crystallizing as the GOP mobilizes its defense of the president against impeachment. Both congressional Republicans and conservative commentators are defending Trump from impeachment partly by accusing Ukraine of intervening against him in the 2016 presidential election—despite repeated warnings from national-security and intelligence officials that those claims are not only baseless, but advance Vladimir Putin’s goal of discrediting Ukraine. Earlier…

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Australia burns again, and now its largest city is choking

Australia burns again, and now its largest city is choking

Damien Cave reports: Flying into Sydney usually brings stunning views of rocky cliffs and crystal waters, but when Anna Funder looked out the window before landing this week, she saw only tragedy. Thick gray smoke blanketed the skyline and the coast, stretching for miles from the fire front at the southwestern edge of the city, where dried-out forests have been burning for weeks. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Ms. Funder, an award-winning Australian novelist known for stories of…

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British diplomat in U.S. resigns, saying she can’t ‘peddle half-truths’ on Brexit

British diplomat in U.S. resigns, saying she can’t ‘peddle half-truths’ on Brexit

The Guardian reports: The British diplomat in charge of explaining Brexit to the US government, Congress and public, has resigned, saying she was no longer prepared to “peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust”. Alexandra Hall Hall, the Brexit counsellor at the UK embassy in Washington, had been frustrated with the job for some time, according to friends and colleagues. They said she felt she was not being given enough reliable information to do her job,…

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I’m a Conservative. But it is time to vote with your head as well as your heart

I’m a Conservative. But it is time to vote with your head as well as your heart

John Major, a former British prime minister, writes: At elections, political tribes join together to promote their own policies and criticise those of their opponents. That’s the nature of elections. But there are always individuals who enhance parliament. And there are always policies upon which every party can agree. One is democracy, and the right of every adult to vote. At every election the future of our country is at stake. But on this occasion even more than usual. When…

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Could Iran’s revolution unravel over a four-cent price hike?

Could Iran’s revolution unravel over a four-cent price hike?

Robin Wright writes: In mid-November, in a surprise overnight announcement, the revolutionary regime in Iran hiked the price of gasoline. By standards anywhere else in the world, it is still pitifully cheap. A litre of gas increased from eight cents to twelve cents—or to fifty cents per gallon—for the first fifteen gallons each month. That’s about a tankful for a large car. After that, gas went up to ninety cents per gallon. (The U.S. average is around two dollars and…

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U.S. says Iranian forces may have killed more than 1,000 protesters

U.S. says Iranian forces may have killed more than 1,000 protesters

The Washington Post reports: A State Department official said Thursday that 1,000 or more protesters may have been killed during weeks of unrest in Iran and that the United States has received video that shows troops firing machine guns mounted on trucks at protesters in one incident. Brian Hook, the special representative for Iran, said the Trump administration will ask Congress to impose harsh sanctions on officials responsible for the alleged atrocities and mistreatment of thousands of protesters who have…

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Trump’s personal lawyer running the Justice Department

Trump’s personal lawyer running the Justice Department

Andrew Rice writes: Shortly before 5 p.m. on November 15, Attorney General William P. Barr arrived at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., his owlish face wearing a heavy expression. He and his entourage rushed by the lobby bar, where a television was tuned to CNN’s coverage of another day of damning impeachment hearings and raging presidential tweets. Inside a gilded ballroom, hundreds of conservative lawyers — many of them, like Barr, veterans of previous Republican administrations — were gathered…

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Democrats are speeding to defeat on impeachment

Democrats are speeding to defeat on impeachment

Charles Sykes writes: As the rough beast of impeachment races forward, Democrats need to pause for a quick reality check. No matter how compelling the evidence against President Trump may be—and it is quite compelling—they will not ultimately succeed in removing Trump from office. So what remains are more modest but nevertheless worthy goals: Winning over a handful of independent-minded House Republicans (an apparently extinct species), persuading at least a few Senate Republicans to break with the president, moving public…

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Impeachment coverage: How journalists can reach the undecided

Impeachment coverage: How journalists can reach the undecided

Margaret Sullivan writes: The diplomats have been inspiring, the legal scholars knowledgeable, the politicians predictable. After endless on-air analysis and written reporting, pundit panels and emergency podcasts, not much has changed. If anything, weeks into the House of Representatives’ public impeachment hearings, Americans’ positions seem to have hardened on whether President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. So, is the media coverage pointless? Are journalists merely shouting into the void? Columnist Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times…

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Rudy Giuliani makes a surprise visit to Kyiv and nobody there is happy about it

Rudy Giuliani makes a surprise visit to Kyiv and nobody there is happy about it

Christopher Miller reports: Rudy Giuliani has made a surprise visit to Kyiv — but the city isn’t buzzing with his arrival. It’s groaning. Giuliani arriving with his shady band of conspiracy theorists — just as Democrats move to officially file impeachment charges against President Donald Trump — is the last thing Ukrainians who have tried desperately to stay out of the drama unfolding in Washington wanted. Kyiv is trying to focus on upcoming peace talks with Russia to end the…

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