Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Twelve miners have been killed by a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine, the country’s largest private energy firm has said. DTEK said a bus carrying workers after a shift in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region had been targeted in Sunday’s attack. At least 15 people were injured, state emergency services said. Earlier, at least two others were killed and nine injured in separate Russian attacks overnight and on Sunday, including six people who were hurt when a drone hit a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. The strikes come while Russia had agreed not to target population centres and energy infrastructure for the duration of a cold snap.” (02/02/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdre7g2je63o
Source: spiked
by Joel Kotkin
“The 20th century was an era of consolidation and centralisation. Power shifted away from localities, communities and families, moving ever higher up the political food chain. In the ultimate shift, power flowed towards transnational bureaucracies – most notably in Europe, in the form of the EU. Today, we may be seeing the emergence of a counter-trend: one that seeks to return control to local bodies, closer to where people actually live. The internet and social-media platforms, though destructive in many ways, have also empowered local communities, who now enjoy access to much the same information as those in Brussels or Washington, or in the corporate towers.” (01/31/26)
https://archive.is/vEJQW
Source: Unattended Baggage
“And the Crab said, ‘Let there be RAM.'” (02/01/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-327-and-the-crab-said-let
Source: New York Times
“The Department of Justice on Friday released the largest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to date, a giant tranche including three million more pages of documents and thousands of videos and images. The documents shed new light on the disgraced financier’s relationships with several prominent figures, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. … The files appeared to contain at least 4,500 documents that mentioned [Donald] Trump. One was a summary that officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation assembled last summer of more than a dozen tips from the public involving Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein, according to emails released by the Department of Justice on Friday. It is unclear why the investigators put together the summary, which includes accusations of sexual abuse by Mr. Epstein and Mr. Trump. The emails did not include any corroborating evidence, and The New York Times is not describing the details of the unverified claims.” (01/31/26)
https://archive.is/Aq3W0
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On January 29, secret federal police (‘Homeland Security Investigations’) arrested journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering, and activists Trahern Jeen Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy for planning and organizing, a protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota church. Arresting two journalists for covering an event most Americans correctly condemned — if you want to hold a protest during a religious service, hold it somewhere other than in the church — is a great way to create a ‘chilling effect’ on journalism … and distract the public’s attention from other events.” (01/31/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20295
Source: Politico
“Israel reopened the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt on Sunday in a limited capacity after two years, allowing only foot traffic, as violence continued across the Gaza Strip. The move comes amid fresh bloodshed in the enclave, with Gaza’s civil defense agency reporting dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday. … Israel announced separately on Sunday that it was terminating the operations of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, accusing the group of failing to submit lists of its Palestinian staff — a requirement Israeli authorities say applies to all aid organizations in the territory.” (02/01/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/rafah-crossing-partially-reopens-amid-continued-violence-across-gaza/
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“The recent killing of Alex Pretti by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in Minneapolis has generated a new wave of fury on the part of Americans upset about the mounting abuses that federal law enforcement personnel are committing. The alarm is fully warranted. ICE, the FBI, and other government entities increasingly both look and behave like ruthless military combat units. Unfortunately, too many people who are alarmed about the recent incidents seem to believe that the problem originated with Donald Trump’s presidency and that removing him from that post would end the ominous threat to civil liberties. That belief is delusional.” (01/30/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/01/29/treating-peaceful-american-civilians-as-enemy-combatants/
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin tumbled more than 10% on Saturday to about $75,700, extending a slide that has erased over 30% of its value since April 2025 and dragging major tokens like ether and Solana sharply lower. Roughly $111 billion in crypto market value and about $1.6 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out in 24 hours amid thinning liquidity, muted buying interest and a halt in new capital flowing into bitcoin. Analysts say long-term holders are taking profits after last year’s ETF-fueled rally, and they expect a drawn-out period of sideways trading rather than a swift rebound, even as a deep 70% crash appears unlikely without selling by Strategy.” (02/01/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/02/01/bitcoin-drops-to-usd78-000-as-microstrategy-fueled-rally-runs-out-of-buyers-traders-say
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“[Gregory] Bovino, a longtime law enforcement official with a penchant for theatrics, answers to a boss who shares that weakness: Kristi L. Noem, the secretary of homeland security, whose self-dramatizing gestures frequently backfire. This appeals to our reality-star-in-chief for obvious reasons, but at least Trump has some political cunning and a keen sense of what audiences like. Noem, by contrast, believed she could somehow appeal to the American public by reminiscing about shooting her own dog. Instead it may well have knocked her off Trump’s vice president shortlist. Putting theater kids in charge of a sensitive law enforcement operation was a mistake. That error was compounded by who was sent to carry out their orders.” (01/30/26)
https://archive.is/nnmFf
Source: Deadline
“Mehdi Mahmoudian, the Oscar-nominated It Was Just an Accident co-writer, has been arrested in Iran for speaking out against the Islamic Republic’s regime. On Saturday, Mahmoudian was arrested in Tehran along with Vida Rabbani and Abdullah Momeni for signing a statement condemning the actions of Ali Khameni, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is currently no information about the charges against them. The 17 signatories included It Was Just an Accident co-writer and director Jafar Panahi, who spoke out against Mahmoudian’s arrest in a statement.” (02/01/26)
https://deadline.com/2026/02/it-was-just-an-accident-mehdi-mahmoudian-arrested-iran-1236704922/
