The new, highly mutated Covid variant—BA.2.86—still appears to be in "low numbers," but is now spreading to multiple countries. / Reuters While health officials are still trying to understand the new variant, it appears to have greater potential to evade antibodies. / The Washington Post More
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, is believed dead after a private jet crashes near Moscow. The cause of the crash remains unclear. / Reuters ICYMI: Joshua Yaffa's long look inside the Wagner Group's uprising. / The New Yorker See also: In Russia, nobody expects to
India becomes the first country to land a spacecraft near the Moon's south pole. / Space Ronan Farrow reports on Elon Musk's emerging role at the Pentagon. "We'll talk to you if Elon wants us to." / The New Yorker In Greece, fires that
To pass exemptions for Texas's abortion ban, a new state law—which focuses on how the previous legislation threatens mothers' lives—avoids the word "abortion." / NPR In history and experiments, randomly chosen leaders perform more democratically than elected officials. / The New York Times See also:
Hilary brings historic flooding to Southern California—here are photos and videos of the devastation. It's the first tropical storm to hit the area since 1939. / Axios, Digg, The New York Times See also: Why the US was unprepared for this summer's extreme heat. / POLITICO Russia&
A new, highly mutated Covid variant differs from the latest omicron subvariant by more than 30 amino acid changes—a similar scale to what originally led to omicron. / CNN "It's really difficult to torque up a planet...but relatively simple to change the moment of inertia and
A US appeals court has now ruled that mifepristone should remain on the market, but must be obtained through in-person doctor visits and cannot be mailed. / NPR In a major step toward using animal organs to save people, for over a month a pig's kidney has been
"The timing right now is a little bit funny." With Covid again on the rise, experts weigh in on whether you should get a booster now or wait until fall. / NPR A new report says Earth is facing an "unprecedented water crisis," citing increasing demand and
A Georgia grand jury indicts Donald Trump and 18 others for an alleged racketeering scheme to overturn the state's 2020 election results. / NPR John Dean, White House counsel to former President Richard Nixon, calls the indictment "a very, very impressive document." / The Week Small-scale experiments
Local police raid a Marion County, Kan., newspaper office, seizing computers and reporters' devices, in what appears to be a violation of federal law. / Kansas Reflector Music labels are suing the Internet Archive over its "Great 78 Project," which contains recordings between 1878 and the 1950s. / TorrentFreak
