“Norway has seized a Russian ship in the Arctic to enforce a compensation claim by Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz, linked to Russian asset seizures in Crimea. Norway seized the ship on Wednesday, after Moscow failed to pay Naftogaz $4.22bn plus interest and legal costs to compensate for assets it seized in Crimea after a tribunal ruling at The Hague in 2023. … The vessel, the Professor Molchanov, was taken off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard after a 24-hour standoff with the Norwegian Coast Guard, according to Covington, the US law firm representing Naftogaz.” (09/003/26)
“Andrew Day and Luke Nicastro talk to Connor Echols of Responsible Statecraft about Dan Driscoll’s resignation as Army secretary, Vice President J.D. Vance’s controversial speech to an Israel lobby group, whether the Iran War is becoming a Forever War, and Israel’s sponsoring ads on the podcast of Sen. Ted Cruz.” (09/02/26)
“The lies are all aligned now. For 37 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tried to erase the truth of what happened on 4 June 1989. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of peaceful protesters were massacred by the military in Tiananmen Square. Since then, the CCP has censored what happened and silenced those who refuse to forget. Hong Kong used to be different. For more than three decades, we gathered peacefully every year in Victoria Park. We lit candles, remembered those who died and called for accountability. It was one of the freedoms that separated Hong Kong from mainland China. That freedom is now gone.” (09/02/26)
“Every day it seems we have some version of The Discourse About Social Media Community Values, Norms, and Tone. I see it on Bluesky now and mostly because that’s where I spend my time, but versions of it persist and recur, and reflect prior recurrences, on every platform and as far back as there have been social media platforms. The idea is that everyone, mashed together into a single feed (or a single global village or town square, or clustered around a single watercooler) has things to say about ‘What kind of place this should be.’ As if it can be one place. As if it should.” (09/02/26)
“With the first ballots for the 2026 midterm election set to be mailed out this week, it seems we’re diving back into the sheer havoc the Trump administration is trying to wreak as voters decide who will control the House and the Senate in the 120th Congress. North Carolina election officials are scheduled to begin mailing absentee ballots to voters who requested them on Friday. Ordinarily, that would be a routine milestone in the election calendar. This year, it comes as the Trump administration is trying to force states to overhaul how they distribute mail ballots, only two months before Election Day. … The danger isn’t limited to administrative inconvenience or additional costs. If a state failed to comply, USPS could refuse to deliver ballots to voters who have a right to receive them under state law.” (09/02/26)
“The U.S. Pentagon issued detailed guidance on Wednesday for a new, mandatory testosterone deficiency screening policy for active-duty and reserve service members age 30 and older, a follow-up to a July announcement from U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The guidance, which is effective immediately, establishes standardized screening and treatment pathways for men and women that the Pentagon says are aimed at improving military readiness by identifying and managing hormonal and energy-availability issues. Hegseth, who has promoted the use of testosterone, announced the mandate last month, raising questions among experts about whether there was a scientific basis for such a policy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to hold a meeting of experts to discuss medical use of testosterone in mid-September.” (09/02/26)
“The Texas campaign is not simply discrimination against Muslims; more fundamentally, it is a demonstration of a mechanism that, once normalized, threatens the religious liberty of every American. Put simply: Once Texan officials or any other anti-Muslim agitator hands government a power liberal constitutionalism was built to deny—the power to decide which religion counts as ‘religion’—that power can be used against Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion.” (09/02/26)
