“Texas governor Greg Abbott has threatened to file bribery charges against Democratic legislators who fled the state to prevent a vote on a controversial redistricting plan that would significantly favour Republicans. At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable when 51 Democratic lawmakers left the state. The proposed congressional map, unveiled last week by Texas Republicans, would create more Republican seats in the US House of Representatives where they hold a slim majority currently. Abbott warned that lawmakers who refuse to return to vote on the map could face second-degree felony charges. ‘It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature,’ Abbott said on Fox News on Monday.” (08/04/25)
“Before I began my career as an English and media professor, I knew the system I was about to enter was already showing signs of decay. So, when Christopher Rufo announced the release of The Manhattan Statement on Higher Education in mid-July, I should have been overjoyed. Signed by a who’s who of conservative public figures, including Drs. Jordan B. Peterson, Victor Davis Hanson, Gad Saad, and Nashville’s own Carol Swain, the intended blueprint for President Trump’s higher education agenda aims to quell activism, uproot DEI initiatives, and lead to institutions of higher learning that ‘advance truth over ideology, with rigorous standards of academic conduct, controls for academic fraud, and merit-based decision-making throughout the enterprise.’ Yet, I’ve found myself uneasy. To its credit, The Manhattan Statement serves as a much needed articulation of the issues that initiated higher education’s largely self-inflicted crises.” (08/04/25)
“A group of some 600 retired Israeli security officials, including former heads of intelligence agencies, have written to US President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to immediately end the war in Gaza. ‘It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,’ the officials said. ‘Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering,’ they wrote. Their appeal comes amid reports that Netanyahu is pushing to expand military operations in Gaza as indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas have stalled. Israel launched a devastating war in Gaza following Hamas’s attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.” (08/04/25)
“Passengers on several Eurostar trains are facing delays and cancellations after a power supply issue on a rail line in northern France led to its closure. The Eurostar website shows at least nine services on Monday between London and Paris have been cancelled, while a further 15 services have been delayed. The problem started at about 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday and disruptions are expected to continue until the end of the day, with trains being diverted to run on slower lines. Eurostar has advised passengers to postpone their journeys if possible. Some services between Brussels and Paris and between Amsterdam and Paris have also been cancelled, delayed or faced other disruptions due to the rail closure, which happened on the high-speed line between Moussy and Longueil in the Hauts-de-France region.” (08/04/25)
“Israel has become a global pariah: ‘increasingly isolated,’ the New York Times recently reported. Polls in the United States and around the world reveal growing opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza, particularly since Israel has no obvious plan to end its war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has himself, and his right-wing government partners, to blame. He doesn’t give a damn about Palestinian lives or the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. He primarily cares about expanding his power and staying out of prison on corruption charges. He thinks that extending the war in Gaza will help him do that. Sound familiar?” (08/04/25)
“Scientists say they have at last solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America in a decade-long epidemic. Sea stars – often known as starfish – typically have five arms and some species sport up to 24 arms. They range in color from solid orange to tapestries of orange, purple, brown and green. Starting in 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska. The epidemic has devastated more than 20 species and continues today. … The culprit? Bacteria that has also infected shellfish, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.” (08/04/25)
“A young, promising politician emerged from seemingly nowhere to turn New York politics upside down. Zohran Mamdani swept to the NYC democratic mayoral primary nomination in a blitz of optimism, hope and general good vibrations. Media deemed his victory one of the greatest political upsets of modern time. To us Greeks, the surprise might not have been that unexpected. In the swirling currents of early 21st century politics, few figures have captured the imagination of the electorate quite like Alexis Tsipras, the former prime minister of Greece. A charismatic leader, Tsipras rose to power in January 2015 with the promise of radical change, embodying a vision that resonated with many disillusioned citizens. His leftist agenda, tinged with socialist-communist ideals, painted a picture of a fairer, more equitable society. However, as history has shown, charm and promise do not always translate into effective governance.” (08/04/25)
“A white South African farm worker accused of killing two black women says he was forced to feed their bodies to pigs, according to lawyers. Adrian de Wet is one of three men facing murder charges after Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, were killed while allegedly looking for food on a farm near Polokwane in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province last year. Their bodies were then alleged to have been given to pigs in an apparent attempt to dispose of the evidence. Mr De Wet, 20, turned state witness when the trial started on Monday and says farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier shot and killed the two women. Ms Makgato and Ms Ndlovu were searching for soon-to-expire dairy products which had been left for pigs when they were killed.” (08/04/25)
“Tennessee is set to execute an inmate Tuesday without deactivating his implanted defibrillator, as uncertainty lingers about whether the device will shock his heart when a lethal drug takes effect. Barring a late reprieve requested from the governor or the courts, Byron Black’s execution will go forward after a legal back-and-forth over whether the state would need to turn off his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD. The nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center said it’s unaware of any other cases in which an inmate was making similar claims to Black’s about ICDs or pacemakers. Black’s attorneys said they haven’t found a comparable case, either. The execution would be Tennessee’s second since May, after a pause for five years, first because of COVID-19 and then because of missteps by the Tennessee Department of Correction.” (08/04/25)
“At his confirmation hearing in January of 2025, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, assured the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee of his commitment to provide specialized, high-quality medical care for the roughly nine million veterans enrolled in the nation’s largest and only truly integrated public health care system, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). But Collins, a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, also explained that his mandate from President Trump is to make it ‘easier for veterans to get their health care when and where it’s most convenient for them,’ by giving them greater choice between in-house and outsourced care. To do this, he planned to lean on the network of 1.7 million private-sector providers who are part of the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP), created by the VA MISSION Act of 2018.” (08/04/25)
