Biden vows to defend Taiwan with U.S. military if China invades — but doesn’t expect that to happen

Biden vows to defend Taiwan with U.S. military if China invades — but doesn’t expect that to happen

Politico reports: U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if the island was invaded by China. Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his first trip to Asia since taking office, Biden again voiced concern over China’s growing assertiveness across the region. Biden suggested that the U.S. would go further on behalf of Taiwan than what it has done for Ukraine, where Washington has provided…

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Understanding what totalitarianism is and what it is not

Understanding what totalitarianism is and what it is not

Gabriel Schoenfeld writes: In the three months since Russia began its war of aggression, the character of the country has been changing before our eyes. Its much-vaunted military has been exposed as not only weak, disorganized, and corrupt, but also criminal, engaging in pillaging and the torture and mass slaughter of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. Resorting to a practice not seen since the Stalin era, Vladimir Putin’s government has also been deporting captured Ukrainians, apparently by the…

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An open letter to Noam Chomsky on the Russia-Ukraine war

An open letter to Noam Chomsky on the Russia-Ukraine war

Bohdan Kukharskyy, Anastassia Fedyk, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, and Ilona Sologoub write: Dear Professor Chomsky, We are a group of Ukrainian academic economists who were grieved by a series of your recent interviews and commentaries on the Russian war on Ukraine. We believe that your public opinion on this matter is counter-productive to bringing an end to the unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine and all the deaths and suffering it has brought into our home country. Having familiarized ourselves with the body…

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Will Australia become a renewable energy superpower?

Will Australia become a renewable energy superpower?

Al Jazeera reports: Australia’s election has brought in a wave of Greens and independents pushing for aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions. The election result, with the pivotal role climate change played, represents a remarkable shift for Australia, one of the world’s biggest per-capita carbon emitters and top coal and gas exporters. It was shunned at last year’s Glasgow climate summit for failing to match other rich nations’ ambitious targets. “Together we can end the climate wars,” incoming Prime Minister…

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Trusting societies are overall happier – a happiness expert explains why

Trusting societies are overall happier – a happiness expert explains why

Trust in other people and in public institutions is one key predictor of happiness. Universal Images Group via Getty Images By Benjamin Radcliff, University of Notre Dame Human beings are social animals. This means, almost as a matter of logical necessity, that humans’ quality of life is largely decided by the quality of their societies. Trust is one key factor that helps shape societies – specifically, if individuals feel a basic level of trust in others, outside of their immediate…

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Make electric vehicles affordable for the rest of us

Make electric vehicles affordable for the rest of us

Tamara Sheldon writes: As an environmentalist who totes kids around town, I would love to buy an electric car. But here in South Carolina, the cheapest electric vehicles (EVs) are at least three times as expensive as my used VW Jetta. What about those big government subsidies, you ask? The truth is that EV subsidies overwhelmingly benefit the rich, not moderate-income people like me. The US federal government will give you up to a $7,500 tax credit for an EV,…

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Global food supply: ‘An absolute crisis is unfolding before our eyes’

Global food supply: ‘An absolute crisis is unfolding before our eyes’

Simon Tisdall reports: Apocalypse is an alarming idea, commonly taken to denote catastrophic destruction foreshadowing the end of the world. But in the original Greek, apokálypsis means a revelation or an uncovering. One vernacular definition is “to take the lid off something”. That latter feat is exactly what Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, achieved last week, possibly inadvertently, when he suggested Britain was facing “apocalyptic” levels of food price inflation. Tory ministers fumed over what they saw…

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This is the Southern Baptist apocalypse

This is the Southern Baptist apocalypse

Russell Moore writes: They were right. I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) a crisis. Crisis is too small a word. It is an apocalypse. Someone asked me a few weeks ago what I expected from the third-party investigation into the handling of sexual abuse by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. I said I didn’t expect to be surprised at all. How could I be? I lived through years with that entity. I…

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Ukraine rules out any ceasefire deal that would involve ceding territory to Russia

Ukraine rules out any ceasefire deal that would involve ceding territory to Russia

The Guardian reports: Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region on Sunday. “The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a Twitter post. The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, offered Warsaw’s backing, telling politicians in Kyiv that the international community had to demand Russia’s…

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Fate of 2,500 Ukrainian POWs from Mariupol steel plant stirs concern

Fate of 2,500 Ukrainian POWs from Mariupol steel plant stirs concern

Politico reports: With Russia claiming to have taken prisoner nearly 2,500 Ukrainian fighters from the besieged Mariupol steel plant, concerns grew about their fate as a Moscow-backed separatist leader vowed they would face tribunals. Russia has declared its full control of the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last holdout in Mariupol and a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the strategic port city, now in ruins with more than 20,000 residents feared dead. The seizure gives Russian President…

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The Russian Orthodox leader at the core of Putin’s ambitions

The Russian Orthodox leader at the core of Putin’s ambitions

The New York Times reports: As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolded, Patriarch Kirill I, the leader of the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church, had an awkward Zoom meeting with Pope Francis. The two religious leaders had previously worked together to bridge a 1,000-year-old schism between the Christian churches of the East and West. But the meeting, in March, found them on opposing sides of a chasm. Kirill spent 20 minutes reading prepared remarks, echoing the arguments of President Vladimir V. Putin…

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Australian voters deliver strong message by placing climate crisis first

Australian voters deliver strong message by placing climate crisis first

CNN reports: Australian voters have delivered a sharp rebuke to the center-right government, ending nine years of conservative rule, in favor of the center-left opposition that promised stronger action on climate change. Australian Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese claimed victory Saturday, though it was unclear as counting continued if his party would have the 76 seats required to form a majority. Early counting showed a strong swing towards Greens candidates and Independents who demanded emissions cuts far above the commitments…

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How Trump’s 2020 election lies have gripped state legislatures

How Trump’s 2020 election lies have gripped state legislatures

The New York Times reports: At least 357 sitting Republican legislators in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a review of legislative votes, records and official statements by The New York Times. The tally accounts for 44 percent of the Republican legislators in the nine states where the presidential race was most narrowly decided. In each of those states, the…

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Millions rushed to leave Ukraine, but now the queue to return home stretches for miles

Millions rushed to leave Ukraine, but now the queue to return home stretches for miles

NPR reports: Medyka, Poland is a quiet and idyllic farming village near the southeastern border with Ukraine. But in recent months, it has become the busiest border crossing for Ukrainian refugees since the war with Russia began in late February. In February and March, refugees waited for hours or days there to cross into Poland. Now, the flow has reversed. The long lines are on the Polish side of the border filled with people waiting to cross into Ukraine. Anna…

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