Russian hackers were ‘in a position’ to alter Florida voter rolls, Rubio confirms

Russian hackers were ‘in a position’ to alter Florida voter rolls, Rubio confirms

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The New York Times reports: It was the day before the 2016 presidential election, and at the Volusia County elections office, near Florida’s Space Coast, workers were so busy that they had fallen behind on their correspondence. Lisa Lewis, the supervisor of elections, stumbled on an important email sent to her and three others in the office, by then a week old, that appeared to be from VR Systems, the vendor that sells electronic voter list equipment to nearly every…

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U.S.-led coalition killed 1,600 civilians in Raqqa ‘death trap’

U.S.-led coalition killed 1,600 civilians in Raqqa ‘death trap’

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Amnesty International reports: The US-led military Coalition must end almost two years of denial about the massive civilian death toll and destruction it unleashed in the Syrian city of Raqqa, Amnesty International and Airwars said today as they launched a new data project on the offensive to oust the armed group calling itself “Islamic State” (IS). The interactive website, Rhetoric versus Reality: How the ‘most precise air campaign in history’ left Raqqa the most destroyed city in modern times, is…

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Indigenous Waorani win landmark legal case against Ecuador government

Indigenous Waorani win landmark legal case against Ecuador government

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Al Jazeera reports: The indigenous Waorani community in Ecuador won a landmark lawsuit on Friday against three government bodies for conducting a faulty consultation process with the community before putting their territory up for sale in an international oil auction. The ruling immediately suspends any possibility of selling the community’s land for oil exploration. It also sets an important precedent for other communities in Ecuador’s southern Amazon rainforest, trying to keep oil extraction out of their territories. “Today, the courts…

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Mystery of the universe’s expansion rate widens with new Hubble data

Mystery of the universe’s expansion rate widens with new Hubble data

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NASA reports: Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope say they have crossed an important threshold in revealing a discrepancy between the two key techniques for measuring the universe’s expansion rate. The recent study strengthens the case that new theories may be needed to explain the forces that have shaped the cosmos. A brief recap: The universe is getting bigger every second. The space between galaxies is stretching, like dough rising in the oven. But how fast is the universe expanding?…

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The uncanny power of Greta Thunberg’s climate-change rhetoric

The uncanny power of Greta Thunberg’s climate-change rhetoric

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Sam Knight writes: Thunberg—along with her younger sister—has been given a diagnosis of autism and A.D.H.D. In interviews, she sometimes ascribes her unusual focus, and her absolute intolerance of adult bullshit on the subject of climate change, to her neurological condition. “I see the world a bit different, from another perspective,” she told my colleague Masha Gessen. In 2015, the year Thunberg turned twelve, she gave up flying. She travelled to London by train, which took two days. Her voice,…

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In Northern Ireland, the New IRA is gaining a foothold with younger generations

In Northern Ireland, the New IRA is gaining a foothold with younger generations

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Siobhán Fenton writes: The murder of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee by the New IRA while she was observing a riot in Derry last week has left Northern Ireland distraught that such violence could still occur in the post-Troubles era. An unnerving question is being asked with increasing urgency – why would anyone from the post-ceasefire generation, with no memory of the Troubles, actively seek to re-enact or return to the conflict? The Good Friday Agreement, signed 21 years ago in…

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Anita Hill deserves a real apology. Why couldn’t Joe Biden offer one?

Anita Hill deserves a real apology. Why couldn’t Joe Biden offer one?

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Moira Donegan writes: Joe Biden’s long-awaited presidential announcement finally came on Thursday, in the form of a policy-free video in which the former vice-president castigated Donald Trump for his racism and offered peans to an imagined noble American past (presumably, the past of 2008-16, when Biden served under Barack Obama) instead of a vision for the future. “America’s coming back like we used to be,” Biden said of his run. “Ethical, straight, tell ’em the truth. Supporting our allies, all…

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Bernie Sanders booed as Democratic hopefuls try to woo women of color

Bernie Sanders booed as Democratic hopefuls try to woo women of color

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The Guardian reports: White House candidate Bernie Sanders got a rocky reception when he gave a halting performance at an event this week focusing on female voters of color, while Kamala Harris was given a standing ovation – but was vigorously challenged in the popularity stakes by rivals Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke. Women from 28 states descended on Houston, Texas, on Wednesday to hear from the eight leading Democratic 2020 contenders at an inaugural event called She the People…

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FBI warns of Russian interference in 2020 race and boosts counterintelligence operations

FBI warns of Russian interference in 2020 race and boosts counterintelligence operations

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The New York Times reports: The F.B.I. director warned anew on Friday about Russia’s continued meddling in American elections, calling it a “significant counterintelligence threat.” The bureau has shifted additional agents and analysts to shore up defenses against foreign interference, according to a senior F.B.I. official. The Trump administration has come to see that Russia’s influence operations have morphed into a persistent threat. The F.B.I., the intelligence agencies and the Department of Homeland Security have made permanent the task forces…

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Mueller prosecutors: Trump did obstruct justice

Mueller prosecutors: Trump did obstruct justice

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Murray Waas writes: Prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded last year that they had sufficient evidence to seek criminal charges against President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice over the president’s alleged pressuring of then FBI Director James Comey in February 2017 to shut down an FBI investigation of the president’s then national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Privately, the two prosecutors, who were then employed in the special counsel’s office, told other Justice Department officials that had it…

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Rich guys are most likely to have no idea what they’re talking about, study suggests

Rich guys are most likely to have no idea what they’re talking about, study suggests

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Christopher Ingraham writes: Researchers embarked on a novel study intent on measuring what a Princeton philosophy professor contends is one of the most salient features of our culture — the ability to play the expert without being one. Or, as the social scientists put it, to BS. Research by John Jerram and Nikki Shure of the University College of London, and Phil Parker of Australian Catholic University attempted to measure the pervasiveness of this trait in society and identify its…

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The reason so many Democrats are running is they think Biden won’t survive

The reason so many Democrats are running is they think Biden won’t survive

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Jim Newell writes: Joe Biden is finally, officially getting into the race. If you want to get a sense of how threatened other presidential aspirants feel about this, consider their own decisions. Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton joined the race this week, just a couple of weeks after his House colleagues Eric Swalwell (California) and Tim Ryan (Ohio) did the same. Beto O’Rourke, Jay Inslee, and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper entered in March, joining Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren,…

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Investors aren’t turned off by Saudi atrocities

Investors aren’t turned off by Saudi atrocities

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In an editorial, the New York Times says: This month, Saudi Arabia’s oil company, Aramco, revealed that it generated $111.1 billion in net income last year, making it the world’s most profitable company by far. So it is not particularly surprising that a scant six months after the murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by government goons stunned the world, businesses and banks are once again courting the kingdom. Hundreds of investors lined up this month to bid…

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Facebook fact-checker has ties to climate doubt

Facebook fact-checker has ties to climate doubt

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E&E News reports: Facebook’s newest fact-checking partner is connected to an enterprise that was founded by a conservative Fox News host and that routinely promotes climate doubt. The social media giant is partnering with CheckYourFact.com to provide third-party oversight of news on its platform, Facebook announced last week. Check Your Fact is an affiliate of The Daily Caller, the right-leaning news outlet co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Climate scientists and advocates are worried that the new partnership means…

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