What happened beyond the Western Front

What happened beyond the Western Front

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Priya Satia writes: Baghdad’s fall in 1917 was hailed as “the most triumphant piece of strategy … since war started.” It enforced the military establishment’s commitment to the “cult of the offensive” and convinced Prime Minister David Lloyd George to make Jerusalem a “Christmas gift” to his people—just when the Battle of Passchendaele, the major 1917 Allied offensive on the Western Front, ended in failure. These campaigns preserved British morale despite the grim news from France. The fall of Jerusalem…

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Trump fooled himself about North Korean nuclear disarmament

Trump fooled himself about North Korean nuclear disarmament

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The New York Times reports: North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images, a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat. The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted…

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‘Tell your boss’: Recording is seen to link Saudi crown prince more strongly to Khashoggi killing

‘Tell your boss’: Recording is seen to link Saudi crown prince more strongly to Khashoggi killing

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The New York Times reports: Shortly after the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed last month at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, a member of the kill team instructed a superior over the phone to “tell your boss,” believed to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that the operatives had carried out their mission, according to three people familiar with a recording of Mr. Khashoggi’s killing collected by Turkish intelligence. The recording, shared last month with the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel,…

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The health of an ecosystem (including your home) depends on its biodiversity

The health of an ecosystem (including your home) depends on its biodiversity

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William Foster writes: Rob Dunn invites us on a safari in pursuit of the wildlife teeming on our bodies and in every corner of our homes. For him, the creatures that sprawl in the human navel and under the bathroom shower head elicit the kind of wonder most of us would feel only on seeing the denizens of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater or the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. Dunn is more than an informed and entertaining commentator, a David Attenborough…

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In remembering WWI, Macron warns of resurging ‘old demons’ of nationalism

In remembering WWI, Macron warns of resurging ‘old demons’ of nationalism

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The Associated Press reports: World leaders with the power to make war but a duty to preserve peace solemnly marked the end of World War I’s slaughter 100 years ago at commemorations Sunday that drove home the message “never again” but also exposed the globe’s new political fault lines. As Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and dozens of other heads of state and government listened in silence, French President Emmanuel Macron used the occasion, as its host, to sound a powerful…

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Saudis close to crown prince discussed assassinating enemies a year before Khashoggi killing

Saudis close to crown prince discussed assassinating enemies a year before Khashoggi killing

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The New York Times reports: Top Saudi intelligence officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked a small group of businessmen last year about using private companies to assassinate Iranian enemies of the kingdom, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The Saudis inquired at a time when Prince Mohammed, then the deputy crown prince and defense minister, was consolidating power and directing his advisers to escalate military and intelligence operations outside the kingdom. Their discussions, more than…

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Wave of violence against Brazil’s indigenous communities follows Bolsonaro’s election

Wave of violence against Brazil’s indigenous communities follows Bolsonaro’s election

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Grist reports: Even before Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil’s Presidential race last week, many environmentalists were on high alert. The far-right politician’s positions on agriculture and economic development (he’s gone back and forth on whether he’ll keep environment ministries and agriculture ministries separate) could open up Brazil’s precious rainforests to deforestation and economic exploitation. But it’s not just the Amazon that’s threatened — the lives of many of Brazil’s indigenous peoples are under siege as well. A little over a week…

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In cave in Borneo jungle, scientists find oldest figurative painting in the world

In cave in Borneo jungle, scientists find oldest figurative painting in the world

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The New York Times reports: On the wall of a cave deep in the jungles of Borneo, there is an image of a thick-bodied, spindly-legged animal, drawn in reddish ocher. It may be a crude image. But it also is more than 40,000 years old, scientists reported on Wednesday, making this the oldest figurative art in the world. Until now, the oldest known human-made figures were ivory sculptures found in Germany. Scientists have estimated that those figurines — of horses,…

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Matthew Whitaker: An attack dog with ambition beyond protecting Trump

Matthew Whitaker: An attack dog with ambition beyond protecting Trump

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The New York Times reports: President Trump first noticed Matthew G. Whitaker on CNN in the summer of 2017 and liked what he saw — a partisan defender who insisted there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. So that July, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, interviewed Mr. Whitaker about joining the president’s team as a legal attack dog against the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. At that point, the White House passed, leaving…

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FBI is investigating Florida company where Whitaker was advisory-board member

FBI is investigating Florida company where Whitaker was advisory-board member

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The Wall Street Journal reports: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions from customers during the period that Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general, served as a paid advisory-board member, according to an alleged victim who was contacted by the FBI and other people familiar with the matter. The investigation is being handled by the Miami office of the FBI and by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according…

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Tape of Khashoggi’s killing has been given to U.S., Saudi, Europeans, Erdogan says

Tape of Khashoggi’s killing has been given to U.S., Saudi, Europeans, Erdogan says

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The Washington Post reports: An audio recording tracking the dying moments of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has been shared with Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany in addition to the United States, the leader of Turkey said Saturday. “We gave it to Saudi Arabia,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the Ankara airport before departing for Paris for commemorations to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. “We gave it to…

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Britain funds research into autonomous drones that select who they kill, says report

Britain funds research into autonomous drones that select who they kill, says report

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The Guardian reports: Technologies that could unleash a generation of lethal weapons systems requiring little or no human interaction are being funded by the Ministry of Defence, according to a new report. The development of autonomous military systems – dubbed “killer robots” by campaigners opposed to them – is deeply contentious. Earlier this year, Google withdrew from the Pentagon’s Project Maven, which uses machine learning to analyse video feeds from drones, after ethical objections from the tech giant’s staff. The…

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Doctors have become the tools of their tools

Doctors have become the tools of their tools

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Atul Gawande writes: A 2016 study found that physicians spent about two hours doing computer work for every hour spent face to face with a patient—whatever the brand of medical software. In the examination room, physicians devoted half of their patient time facing the screen to do electronic tasks. And these tasks were spilling over after hours. The University of Wisconsin found that the average workday for its family physicians had grown to eleven and a half hours. The result…

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