Berlin expands the reach of the security state

Subscribe now with a one-month trial for only $1, then enjoy the first year at an exclusive rate of just $99. Germany’s spies get powers once reserved for policeDiego Faßnacht reports that Germany’s intelligence overhaul would blur the postwar separation between spies and police, giving domestic and foreign services new cyber, surveillance and intervention powers at a politically explosive moment as the AfD becomes an increasingly formidable electoral force. Russia hurts the feelings of Japan’s Iron LadyScott Foster reports that Vladimir Putin’s visit to the disputed Kuril Islands has sharpened tensions with Sanae Takaichi’s government, underscoring the collapse of Japan-Russia relations as Tokyo aligns with Ukraine while still facing practical economic and geographic reasons to manage ties with Moscow. Moscow turns its firepower on Ukraine’s economic lifelinesJames Davis reports that Russia retains the battlefield initiative while increasingly targeting Ukraine’s ports, factories, railways and energy infrastructure. Western claims of a Ukrainian turning point sit uneasily beside Moscow’s widening campaign to degrade Ukraine’s economic base before winter.