Ukraine uses secretly shipped U.S. missiles to launch surprise strike

Ukraine uses secretly shipped U.S. missiles to launch surprise strike

Politico reports: The Ukrainian military on Tuesday used U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles to strike nine Russian helicopters in eastern Ukraine, after Washington secretly shipped the weapons in recent weeks. The delivery and use on the battlefield, confirmed by two people familiar with the move, marks a major ramp up of the administration’s defense of Ukraine, for the first time providing Kyiv’s forces with the ability to strike Russian targets far behind the front lines. President Joe Biden had been hesitant to…

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Russian sources disappeared after Trump declassified ex-spy’s evidence, UK court told

Russian sources disappeared after Trump declassified ex-spy’s evidence, UK court told

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s decision to declassify evidence given by a former British spy about the former US president’s alleged links with Russia led to the disappearance of two Russian sources, according to a court document. Christopher Steele, who used to run MI6’s Russia desk, compiled the notorious “Steele dossier” investigating Trump’s connections to Russia. In a witness statement released on Tuesday, Steele said publication of his testimony to the Mueller investigation on the matter, originally classified secret, was…

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Trump’s statements pose ‘grave threats’ to court proceedings, Judge Chutkan says in written gag order

Trump’s statements pose ‘grave threats’ to court proceedings, Judge Chutkan says in written gag order

CNN reports: US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has put into writing her limited gag order that bars Donald Trump from making public statements about witnesses who might testify against him in the federal election subversion case as well as prosecutors and court staff. Trump’s public statements pose “grave threats to the integrity of these proceedings,” especially those that could be construed as harassment and intimidation, Chutkan said in the order released Tuesday. The written order expands upon what Chutkan articulated…

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The Right’s latest target: unmarried women

The Right’s latest target: unmarried women

Jeet Heer writes: The reactionary right has found an impressive new target in its ongoing culture war. This time it’s Taylor Swift, whose current Eras Tour—encompassing 146 dates on five continents—is a cultural and economic earthquake so large that it has even registered on the sensitive fiscal seismographs of the Federal Reserve. In July, the Philadelphia Fed, in its authoritative Beige Book, credited Smith with reviving that city’s flagging tourism industry. As Time reports, Swift’s tour is projected to gross…

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The invasion of Gaza will be a disaster for Israel

The invasion of Gaza will be a disaster for Israel

Marc Lynch writes: Those urging Israel to invade Gaza with maximalist goals are pushing their ally into a strategic and political catastrophe. The potential costs are extraordinarily high, whether counted in Israeli and Palestinian deaths, the likelihood of a protracted quagmire, or mass displacement of Palestinians. The risk of the conflict spreading is also alarmingly large, particularly in the West Bank and Lebanon but potentially far wider. And the potential gains—beyond satisfying demands for revenge—are remarkably low. Not since the…

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Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and China say Israel has gone too far

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and China say Israel has gone too far

The Times of Israel reports: Meeting on Sunday with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said that Israel’s activity in Gaza had “exceeded” its right to self-defense and had become collective punishment. Sissi, whose country shares a narrow border with the Gaza Strip that has remained largely blocked over the past week, said during the meeting that Israel’s “reaction went beyond the right to self-defense, turning into collective punishment for 2.3 million people in Gaza,”…

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It’s becoming impossible to report from Gaza

It’s becoming impossible to report from Gaza

The Washington Post reports: Over the years, NPR has relied on Anas Baba to be its eyes and ears within Gaza. This past week was no exception. The Palestinian producer interviewed civilians seeking shelter from Israeli airstrikes at Gaza City’s main hospital, where hallways were crowded with the wounded and dying. Later, he called in an eyewitness account of young children traveling on foot for dozens of miles in an attempt to evacuate the city. The reporting took “a lot…

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How Hamas shattered Israel’s aura of invincibility

How Hamas shattered Israel’s aura of invincibility

The New York Times reports: The 10 gunmen from Gaza knew exactly how to find the Israeli intelligence hub — and how to get inside. After crossing into Israel, they headed east on five motorcycles, two gunmen on each vehicle, shooting at passing civilian cars as they pressed forward. Ten miles later, they veered off the road into a stretch of woodland, dismounting outside an unmanned gate to a military base. They blew open the barrier with a small explosive…

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Poland shows that autocracy is not inevitable

Poland shows that autocracy is not inevitable

Anne Applebaum writes: Thirty-four years ago, in June 1989, Poland woke up to a surprise. Despite a voting process rigged to favor the Communist Party, despite decades of propaganda supporting Communists and smearing anti-Communists, despite the regime’s control of the army, the police, and the secret police, the democratic opposition won, taking all of the seats that it was allowed to contest. A team of former dissidents took control of the government two months later—the first non-Communist government in Soviet-occupied…

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Welcome back, Donald Tusk: EU sighs in relief over Poland election results

Welcome back, Donald Tusk: EU sighs in relief over Poland election results

Politico reports: Politicians across Europe cheered Sunday’s projected victory by Polish opposition forces — especially in Germany, the favorite target of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party. “I expect that Poland will become a constructive partner and that the change in government will strengthen its standing in Europe,” Terry Reintke, a German MEP who is co-leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, told German radio. “Poland is an extremely relevant democracy for Europe.“ German-Polish relations have suffered in recent…

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Elon Musk took the headlines away from Twitter. This is how to bring them back

Elon Musk took the headlines away from Twitter. This is how to bring them back

Joshua Benton writes: Whatever his intentions, last week’s destruction of headlines has been a disaster for those who rely on Twitter for news. In the short term, it led to a surfeit of joke tweets spreading confident lies about Musk himself, leading to the memorable Snopes headline: “Did Elon Musk Endorse Biden, Come Out as Transgender and Die of Suicide?” But especially with the new conflict between Hamas and Israel this weekend, the loss of headlines has made misinformation that…

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Hamas’s barbarism does not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians

Hamas’s barbarism does not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians

Kenan Malik writes: ‘They too have casualties, they too have captives and they have mothers who weep … Let’s make real peace”. Not a liberal peacenik speaking from the safety of London or Washington but Yaakov Argamani, whose daughter Noa was taken hostage by Hamas at a music festival near Re’im on Israel’s border with Gaza. I hope I never have to face the torment that now engulfs Yaakov Argamani. But if I do find myself in as dark a…

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Kibbutz Be’eri massacre survivor: ‘We need a political solution’

Kibbutz Be’eri massacre survivor: ‘We need a political solution’

This 19y.o survivor of the horrific massacre at Kibbutz Be'eri in Southern Israel has a powerful message for Israel & the world: "Don't offer us more soldiers or more protection. We need a political solution." If you watch one thing today, make it this.pic.twitter.com/TXC5BlTflc — Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) October 15, 2023

Settlers take advantage of Gaza war to launch West Bank pogroms

Settlers take advantage of Gaza war to launch West Bank pogroms

Yuval Abraham reports: While the world focuses on the Hamas massacre in southern Israel and Israel’s massive bombing of the Gaza Strip, settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of the chaos to attack and expel Palestinians from a number of small villages. Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 51 Palestinians in the West Bank since Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. At least two villages, Al-Qanub and Wadi Al-Sik, have been entirely depopulated…

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‘You Muslims must die,’ yelled Chicago landlord before fatally stabbing 6-year-old and wounding his mom

‘You Muslims must die,’ yelled Chicago landlord before fatally stabbing 6-year-old and wounding his mom

CNN reports: A Chicago-area landlord was arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after authorities said he stabbed and killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because the tenants are Muslim. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office said Czuba did not make a…

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