PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Cruise Lines Try to Rewrite Climate Rules Despite Vows, Experts Warn (Maria)
The author writes, “The trade group representing the cruise ship industry unsuccessfully pushed international authorities to water down new environmental regulations despite its members’ climate commitments, experts in marine air pollution warn. Late last month, the International Maritime Organization rejected a cruise industry effort that would have improved cruise ships’ carbon pollution scores. Environmental groups say it also would have led to more air pollution by allowing cruise liners to continue with business as usual.”
Inside the Taliban’s Secret War in the Panjshir Valley (Howard)
The author writes, “Taliban forces have been locked for months in a shadowy on-again, off-again battle with opposition fighters based in the Panjshir Valley. Just a few hours’ drive north of Kabul, the province has long been an anti-Taliban stronghold and remains the only significant pocket of resistance to the group since the fall of Kabul last August. The Washington Post secured a rare visit to the mountains and villages where the fight is playing out, getting a glimpse of a conflict that the Taliban has gone to great lengths to conceal.”
J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel Accused of ‘Secret Website’ Shenanigans (DonkeyHotey)
From The Daily Beast: “The complaint, which watchdog groups Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday and shared exclusively with The Daily Beast, alleges that the Vance campaign and the Protect Ohio Values super PAC coordinated for months through a secret website, where the PAC posted hundreds of pages of valuable information—including strategic assessments, messaging proposals, opposition research, video footage, internal polling data, and even a draft script the campaign adopted in for a late-game ad.”
Can Species Have ‘Agency’ in Their Own Conservation? (Bethany)
From The Revelator: “‘Animal agency is an emerging way of seeing animals as ‘helpers’ in their own conservation efforts,’ says Matthew Hayek, assistant professor of environmental studies at New York University and the paper’s senior author. ‘Rather than working against their own idiosyncratic behaviors, conservationists are paying attention to individual animals’ quirks, seeing differences between small groups, and increasingly working with them and achieving better outcomes.’”
As January 6 Hearings Begin, Poll Finds Many Conservatives Have Open Minds (Jonathan)
The author writes, “As the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first televised public hearing in prime time on Thursday, June 9, a nationwide poll has found that there are more Republicans ‘open’ to changing their minds about what happened than there are immovable Donald Trump loyalists. The findings by Lake Research Partners, led by the veteran and reputable pollster Celinda Lake, suggest that Trump’s grip on Republicans is confined to one-third of the party, and, should the House committee present an emotionally compelling narrative that is an affront to conservative voters, that the disclosures could leave lasting impressions that impact the 2022 general election and their overall views of Trump.”
How Crypto Giant Binance Became a Hub for Hackers, Fraudsters and Drug Traffickers (Sean)
From Reuters: “In September 2020, a North Korean hacking group known as Lazarus broke into a small Slovakian crypto exchange and stole virtual currency worth some $5.4 million. It was one of a string of cyber heists by Lazarus that Washington said were aimed at funding North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. Several hours later, the hackers opened at least two dozen anonymous accounts on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, enabling them to convert the stolen funds and obscure the money trail, correspondence between Slovakia’s national police and Binance reveals.”
