As Russian losses mount in Ukraine, Putin gets more involved in war strategy

As Russian losses mount in Ukraine, Putin gets more involved in war strategy

The New York Times reports: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has thrust himself more directly into strategic planning for the war in Ukraine in recent weeks, American officials said, including rejecting requests from his commanders on the ground that they be allowed to retreat from the vital southern city of Kherson. A withdrawal from Kherson would allow the Russian military to pull back across the Dnipro River in an orderly way, preserving its equipment and saving the lives of…

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How a secretive far-right network attacks abortion rights across the globe

How a secretive far-right network attacks abortion rights across the globe

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports: Things were tough enough for Nelly Munyasia, the executive director of Kenya’s Reproductive Health Network. Then came a surge of hateful propaganda targeting her and others working in reproductive health. Munyasia says that as she saw her face appear on social media posts calling her a killer, she and her fellow targets were able to identify the strange driving force behind this sudden tide of hostility. CitizenGO is an online community that claims to…

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When migrants become political pawns

When migrants become political pawns

Jelani Cobb writes: The calcified cruelty, malignant politics, and questionable legality of the decisions by Governors Greg Abbott, of Texas, and Ron DeSantis, of Florida, to transport dozens of migrants in Texas to unsuspecting locales in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., reiterate the point—often made in recent years—that the only check on the behavior of the current Republican Party is the limits of its own imagination. Most of the migrants reportedly came from Venezuela, a country so racked with discord that…

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During three conversations, Donald Trump revealed much more about himself than he intended

During three conversations, Donald Trump revealed much more about himself than he intended

Maggie Haberman writes: “Can you believe these are my customers?” Donald Trump once asked while surveying the crowd in the Taj Mahal casino’s poker room. “Look at those losers,” he said to his consultant Tom O’Neil, of people spending money on the floor of the Trump Plaza casino. Visiting the Iowa State Fair as a presidential candidate in 2015, he was astounded that locals fell in line to support him because of a few free rides in his branded helicopter….

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Iranian regime’s allergy to reform provokes an intifada

Iranian regime’s allergy to reform provokes an intifada

Trita Parsi writes: Unprecedented protest and resistance has emerged in Iran this week after Mahsa Amini’s death in the custody of Iran’s “morality” police. The level of anger and frustration in Iran today — on display in dozens of videos across social media — appears far greater than in 2009, when Iranians took to the streets to protest a stolen election and push for reform. For two decades now, attempts at reforming the system have been stymied; the regime has…

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The return of fascism in Italy

The return of fascism in Italy

Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes: “The election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing,” Hillary Clinton said to an Italian journalist at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month. She was speaking of Giorgia Meloni, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, who could make history if the Brothers of Italy party does as well as expected in Sunday’s elections. That would be one sort…

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The far right is having a moment in Europe — actually, everywhere

The far right is having a moment in Europe — actually, everywhere

Vox reports: Giorgia Meloni and her far-right Fratelli d’Italia are expected to lead a far right victory in Italian elections this weekend. That win, if it happens, would come shortly after the far-right Sweden Democrats won the second-largest share of the vote, helping to oust the center-left from power and giving the far right a potential role in the next government. These shifts are happening as Europe enters another precarious moment: a war on the continent that is increasingly unpredictable,…

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My family in Russian-occupied Ukraine knows that Putin will get whatever ‘referendum’ results he wants

My family in Russian-occupied Ukraine knows that Putin will get whatever ‘referendum’ results he wants

Sasha Vasilyuk writes: Starting this weekend, people in four occupied regions of Ukraine will “vote” on whether to join Russia. For many people, including my aunt and uncle, in Donetsk, what that really means is they will be forcibly absorbed into a country they do not want to be a part of. Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively known as the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in the south, are all at least partly occupied by Russia. The point…

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the GOP, ‘NAFO’ and reasons to escalate in Ukraine

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the GOP, ‘NAFO’ and reasons to escalate in Ukraine

Michael Weiss writes: “If you want to be part of the resistance against Russian disinformation,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, “join the fellas.” It’s an admittedly unorthodox way to begin an interview with the outgoing Republican congressman, one of two on the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 and an outspoken opponent of former President Donald Trump. But then, Kinzinger is equally outspoken about his support for Ukraine. He is the first and only sitting U.S. legislator to enlist in the…

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This threat to democracy is hiding in plain sight

This threat to democracy is hiding in plain sight

In an editorial, the New York Times reports: In the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and his allies were unable to get far in their attempts to prove widespread voter fraud. There were two reasons for that. First, there wasn’t any, as numerous investigations by journalists, expert reports and court rulings showed. But second, Republican election officials in multiple states repeatedly said that their counts and recounts were accurate, and they defended the integrity of the election….

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The takedown of Tom Barrack

The takedown of Tom Barrack

Johanna Berkman writes: On a foggy January night in 2017, several hundred of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people gathered at a black-tie, $8000-per head dinner at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. They were there to celebrate the coming of a new world order and their host for the evening was an almost 70-year-old Republican real estate billionaire known for buying and selling extravagant hotels. No, not Donald Trump. In fact, Trump, whose inauguration was just…

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Ukraine war: ‘What’s happening in Russia now is total fear’

Ukraine war: ‘What’s happening in Russia now is total fear’

BBC News reports: In the centre of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, a large banner is taped to a tall building, above a Ukrainian flag, that reads: “Putin, the Hague is waiting for you.” On city buses, electronic displays flick between announcing their destination and declaring “love” for Ukraine with little hearts. This week Lithuania – together with Latvia, Estonia and Poland – banned all Russian tourists, arguing they should not be enjoying democracy and freedom in Europe while their government…

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Referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine evoke fear, anger and defiance

Referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine evoke fear, anger and defiance

The New York Times reports: Russian soldiers, wearing balaclavas and wielding guns, flanked election workers. Ukrainians were forced to vote while Russian officials or their proxies stood guard. Some residents even hid in their homes, terrified that voting against Russia’s annexation would lead to their being abducted, or worse. As Russia began orchestrating staged voting in referendums across Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine on Friday, Ukrainians in those areas expressed a mix of anger, defiance and fear that their homeland was…

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UN experts find that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine

UN experts find that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine

The New York Times reports: Russian soldiers have raped and tortured children in Ukraine, a United Nations-appointed panel of independent legal experts said in a damning statement on Friday that concluded war crimes had been committed in the conflict. A three-person Commission of Inquiry set up in April to investigate the conduct of hostilities in four areas of Ukraine laid out the graphic allegations in an unusually hard-hitting, 11-minute statement to the U.N Human Rights Council in Geneva. “The commission…

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