Galápagos Giant Tortoises Are Ecosystem Engineers Smithsonian Magazine
Federal jury verdict on broker fees rocks real estate industry Axios
Dementia Risk Rises When Deep Sleep Falls MedPage Today
Remains of planet that formed the Moon may be hiding near Earth’s core Ars Technica
Climate/Environment
Walmart’s ‘Regenerative Foodscape’ Civil Eats
Air pollution raises risk of type 2 diabetes, says landmark Indian study The Guardian
#COVID-19
All variants of COVID-19 virus can infect the brain, study finds New Atlas (David)
Association of SARS-CoV-2 Infection during Early Weeks of Gestation with Situs Inversus The New England Journal of Medicine
Effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir–Ritonavir Against the Development of Post–COVID-19 Conditions Among U.S. Veterans Annals of Internal Medicine. Conclusion: “Out of 31 potential PCCs, only combined thromboembolic events seemed to be reduced by nirmatrelvir–ritonavir.”
Vaccine Confidence Falls as Belief in Health Misinformation Grows Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Water
The world’s largest waterfall is actually underwater ZME Science
Desert plant collects water from air by excreting salt on its leaves NewScientist
Africa
US to evict Gabon, Niger, Uganda and Central African Republic from trade program Reuters
Africa vs Colonialism: Why Does the Continent’s Struggle for Self-Sufficiency Remain so Difficult? Internationalist 360
India
India’s platform workers being flexed to death East Asia Forum
The Koreas
The surge of activity in relations between North Korea and Russia International Institute for Strategic Studies
China?
US hurts own industry as chip war against China seen to fail South China Morning Post
China turning US-sanctioned Xinjiang into a free-trade hub, strengthening geopolitical edge in region South China Morning Post
European Disunion
Six EU countries want to join the Middle Corridor in view of major energy project RailFreight
Syraqistan
Israel targets Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp for second time in two days Al Jazeera
Israel’s Long-Held Plan to Drive Gaza’s People Into Sinai Is Now Within Reach Antiwar (Offtrail)
“A Textbook Case of Genocide” Craig Murray. On the resignation of Craig Mokhiber, Director of the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Israel-Palestine war: Hamas and Israel were ‘inches’ away from deal on hostages Middle East Eye. “Sources say Qatari-mediated negotiations to release women and children fell through when Israel launched ground operations in Gaza.”
The looming storm: Israel, Hezbollah, and the risk of regional war Anadolu Agency
***
Islamic Resistance in Iraq vows to expel US troops Al Mayadeen
Director Wray’s Opening Statement to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs FBI. “As the world’s largest state-sponsor of terrorism, the Iranians, for instance, have directly, or by hiring criminals, mounted assassination attempts against dissidents and high-ranking current and former U.S. government officials, including right here on American soil.”
The Match Lit in Yemen May Force Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to Take a Stance Haartez
The Questions for Egypt Protean Mag
Egypt is ready to sacrifice millions of lives to protect its land from invasion: PM Middle East Monitor
Bolivia severs ties with Israel over war in the Gaza Strip, as Colombia and Chile recall ambassadors CNBC
Washington doubles down on claim arming Israel ‘beneficial’ for US workers The Cradle
I don’t think enough people in the west are preparing for the fact that our governments no longer feel the need to maintain the illusion that they’re anti-genocide lol
The reason the propaganda is so low effort and transparent is because they don’t care.
— Christi Olson (@christiolson) November 2, 2023
***
A public dispute over “the stench of propaganda” at The Financial Times Gilbert Doctorow
Did China recently remove Israel’s name from its maps? Pekingnology
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin says Russia must prepare for additional Western sanctions Anadolu Agency
Russia says it will shoot down all F-16 fighter jets promised to Ukraine in 20 days Anadolu Agency
“A pile of nonsense: authorities should deal with anonymous people briefing from President’s Office” – senior Ukrainian official on Time article Ukrainska Pravda. Danilov on the TIME takedown of Zelensky.
SCOTT RITTER: John Kirby v. Russian Military Consortium News
***
Tank production grows sevenfold in Russia RT
As Ukraine Loses More And More Of Its Best Leopard 2 Tanks, It’s Turning Back To Old T-72s Forbes
GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ENHANCING U.S. DEFENSE PARTNERSHIPS War on the Rocks. “It is evident that alliance-wide capabilities are essential to ensuring that militaries can operate together, and that there is sufficient production capacity across the American, partner, and allied defense industrial bases.”
South of the Border
Deadly Strain The Baffler. “How the UN sought to deny its role in Haiti’s cholera epidemic.”
IN DEFENSE OF AMLO – UNDERSTANDING MORENA’S PROJECT The Real News Network
B-a-a-a-a-d Banks
HSBC Takes Stab at Using Blockchain to Modernize London’s Antiquated Gold Market Bloomberg
Imperial Collapse Watch
Flying to DC today feels like going upriver to see Kurtz
— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) November 1, 2023
Biden Administration
Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning’ Inspired President Biden to Bolster Security Against AI Threats IndieWire
White House Executive Order on AI Gives Sweeping Mandate to DHS Tech Policy Press
2024
Trump’s plan to bring back mental institutions Axios
Antitrust
What Does Google’s Code Yellow Reveal About How They Treat Their Users In Search? Digital Information World
Here’s a rare look at Google’s most lucrative search queries The Verge
The unsettled legal question looming over the trial Big Tech on Trial
Immigration
Canada Finally Realizes It Needs To Factor In Housing And Healthcare Capacity To Immigration Plan The Deep Dive
AI
“AI, Ain’t I A Woman?” On the Blindness and Limitations of Artificial Intelligence Lit Hub
Healthcare?
How a Lucrative Surgery Took Off Online and Disfigured Patients New York Times
Digital Phenotyping May Worsen Epistemic Injustice in Psychiatry Mad in America
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
How GoGuardian Invades Student Privacy Electronic Frontier Foundation
Facebook Finally Puts a Price on Privacy: It’s $10 a Month Wired
Police State Watch
The climate crisis is pushing Washington’s prisons to the brink High Country News
Court Tells Cops That A Driver Not Laughing At An Officer’s Terrible Joke Is Not Reasonable Suspicion TechDirt
The Bezzle
WeWork stock falls after move to withhold interest payment on some notes yahoo! finance
Book Nook
Books To Help Us Understand The World? Aurelien, Trying to Understand the World
Class Warfare
The Haunted House of Labor Protean Mag
Poor Kids and War Pigs Compact Mag
Thinking Bigger About What Should Be Ours How Things Work
Anger can lead to better results when tackling tricky tasks – study The Guardian
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
