A new Supreme Court case is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy since January 6

A new Supreme Court case is the biggest threat to U.S. democracy since January 6

Ian Millhiser writes: The Supreme Court’s announcement on Thursday that it will hear Moore v. Harper, a case that could concentrate an unprecedented amount of power in gerrymandered state legislatures, should alarm anyone who cares about democracy. The case is perhaps the gravest threat to American democracy since the January 6 attack. It seeks to reinstate gerrymandered congressional maps that were struck down by North Carolina’s highest court because they “subordinated traditional neutral redistricting criteria in favor of extreme partisan…

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Hutchinson’s testimony shatters any Trump defense of no criminal intent

Hutchinson’s testimony shatters any Trump defense of no criminal intent

George T. Conway III and Randall D. Eliason write: Some argue that prosecutors could face difficulty proving criminal intent if it appears that Trump sincerely believed he had won the election. But that argument is misguided. Even if Trump believed, however implausibly, that there really had been massive voter fraud, that would establish only his motive for acting, not his intent. But a righteous motive is not a defense. Put simply, criminal acts motivated by an honest belief in the…

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The American war on women

The American war on women

Ola Salem writes: “Karen” entered the American lexicon during the age of social media to refer to white women who behave in a way that seems entitled, creating a high-drama, public scene as they demand their (perceived) right or privilege over another person. Pop culture and media outlets now refer to 2020 as “the year of Karens.” But this girl-name-turned-synonym-for-obnoxiousness reveals more about our culture than meets the eye. It is not just about the calling out of racist, classist…

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Russia abandons Snake Island in ‘big victory’ for Ukraine

Russia abandons Snake Island in ‘big victory’ for Ukraine

Reuters reports: Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday, in a major victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports. Russia’s defence ministry said it had decided to withdraw from the outcrop as a “gesture of goodwill” to show Moscow was not obstructing U.N. efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine. Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after a…

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Why does China own so much of Ukraine?

Why does China own so much of Ukraine?

Elisabeth Braw writes: Over the past few years, Chinese buyers have bought farmland in countries ranging from the U.S. and France to Vietnam. In 2013 Hong Kong-based food giant WH Group bought Smithfield, America’s largest pork producer, and more than 146,000 acres of Missouri farmland. In the same year, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps bought 9% of Ukraine’s famously fertile farmland, equal to 5% of the country’s total territory, with a 50-year lease. (In 2020, the U.S. imposed sanctions on…

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We are creatures of tropical jungles as much as the savannah

We are creatures of tropical jungles as much as the savannah

Patrick Roberts writes: In a sweltering tropical rainforest on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, I started to appreciate why archaeologists and anthropologists had long ignored ‘jungles’ in their search for humanity’s origins. The mosquitoes, leeches, harsh terrain and difficult footing were bad enough, but now a summer monsoon downpour was rapidly approaching. As we slogged on under a canopy of green, the forest grew quiet. The usual chattering life had been smart enough to seek shelter,…

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In new poll, 89% of Ukrainians reject ceding land to reach peace with Russia

In new poll, 89% of Ukrainians reject ceding land to reach peace with Russia

The Wall Street Journal reports: An overwhelming share of Ukrainians—some 89%—say it would be unacceptable to reach a peace deal with Moscow by ceding Ukrainian territory that Russian forces have seized in their invasion this year, a new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds. The survey, conducted in conjunction with a Ukrainian polling firm, also finds that 78% of Ukrainians approve of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to the Russian invasion, with only 7% saying he has handled the war poorly. With…

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Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony highlights legal risks for Trump

Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony highlights legal risks for Trump

The New York Times reports: It was one of the most dramatic moments in a presentation filled with them: Just before President Donald J. Trump went onstage near the White House last year and urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march on the Capitol, an aide testified on Tuesday, he was told that some of them were armed. It was also a potentially consequential moment for any prosecution of Mr. Trump, legal experts said. Knowing that his crowd…

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The reason Liz Cheney is narrating the January 6 story

The reason Liz Cheney is narrating the January 6 story

Anne Applebaum writes: Cheney might not be popular in her own party, but nobody can deny that she is a Republican, from a famous Republican family, whose interests cannot be described by anyone as purely partisan. The most important witnesses are Republicans close to Trump. The testimony of Trump’s children, Trump’s lawyers, and Trump’s Cabinet cannot be wished away as something from a left-wing fever dream. Trump’s lawyers are effective because they are Trump’s lawyers. Cassidy Hutchinson, despite her youth…

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Pelosi receives communion in Vatican amid abortion debate

Pelosi receives communion in Vatican amid abortion debate

The Associated Press reports: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights. Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen pallium stole on newly consecrated archbishops. She was seated in a VIP diplomatic section of the basilica and received Communion along with the rest…

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Lessons from the terrible triumph of the anti-abortion movement

Lessons from the terrible triumph of the anti-abortion movement

Michelle Goldberg writes: The Senate can’t codify minimal reproductive rights because of the filibuster, which gives a minority of conservatives veto power over much of national policymaking. In states like Wisconsin, legislatures are so gerrymandered that it will take more than a popular-vote majority to undo their abortion bans. The right pretends that ending Roe returns abortion to the democratic process, but Roe’s demise was made possible by democracy’s erosion. That shouldn’t blind us, however, to the success of the…

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How ‘Stand Your Ground’ law erodes a homicide probe

How ‘Stand Your Ground’ law erodes a homicide probe

Robin Blackburn and Rasha Elass write: In the early hours of Oct. 11, 2021, in the rural town of Martindale, Texas, Terry Turner, a 65-year-old local, shot and killed an unarmed man who was sitting in a vehicle. Turner then called 911 and said he just “shot a guy,” claiming his victim had a gun. The victim was 31-year-old Moroccan national and U.S. immigrant Adil Dghoughi, a recent business school graduate who was in the midst of looking for a…

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Do we need a new theory of evolution?

Do we need a new theory of evolution?

Stephen Buranyi writes: Strange as it sounds, scientists still do not know the answers to some of the most basic questions about how life on Earth evolved. Take eyes, for instance. Where do they come from, exactly? The usual explanation of how we got these stupendously complex organs rests upon the theory of natural selection. You may recall the gist from school biology lessons. If a creature with poor eyesight happens to produce offspring with slightly better eyesight, thanks to…

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How far do Putin’s imperial ambitions go?

How far do Putin’s imperial ambitions go?

Yaroslav Trofimov writes: At a ceremony honoring young geographers in 2016, President Vladimir Putin asked one boy about the capital of Burkina Faso and then quizzed another about where Russia’s borders end. “At the Bering Strait with the United States,” the 9-year-old boy ventured hesitantly. Mr. Putin, who chairs the board of the Russian Geographic Society, contradicted the boy to triumphant applause. “The borders of Russia,” he pronounced, “never end.” The scene, years before Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine unleashed…

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