The FBI invited Aswad Khan, a Pakistani who was visiting the US after attending a university there, to become an informant and go to mosques to spy on people. Aswad, who was not particularly religious and was more interested in getting a well-paid job, said no. After that, the FBI harassed his friends until they cut off all ties with him.

FBI whistleblower Terry Albury says that the FBI regularly does this.

Finland may stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens, to punish them for Putin's war.

I think it is misguided to punish Russian tourists for Putin's war. It's not their fault, and excluding them is counterproductive. Putin maintains an information blockade; any Russians who visit Finland will come in contact with non-Putinized news.

It also gives Russians an opportunity to leave Russia and not return.

The Tories will cut anything to reduce government spending that doesn't go to businesses. They have cut 1/5 of the firefighters in the UK since they took power in 2010.

Before the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the Taliban were offering to make a deal with the US which involved chasing out al-Qa'ida. If Dubya had accepted the deal, we would never have invaded Afghanistan.

Now US newsmedia — even NPR — are covering up this history.

Why didn't the US accept the deal? I don't know, but whatever the reason was, it is likely to be the same reason that motivated the US to reject the Taliban's surrender offer, later in 2001.

Meanwhile, al-Qa'ida is still not very effective in Afghanistan.

I gather that the Taliban consider al-Qa'ida as a troublesome and unfriendly rival. Next time the US identifies a leader of al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan, it might be wise to try helping the Taliban deal with him, rather than attacking him directly.

*One-third of the food we eat is at risk because the climate crisis is endangering butterflies and bees.*