The UK's House of Lords rejected the repressive anti-protest measures in the Tories' latest repression bill.

That does not mean they are dead. If the Tories are stubborn enough and have no defectors, they can eventually push this through.

China arrested a long-time annoying dissident on charges of pleading to be allowed to join his dying wife in the US. He was charged with suspicion of intending to annoy the state.

The Houthis launched an air strike at an oil installation in the UAE. This has inspired peculiar outrage.

Salafi Arabia and the UAE have attacked the Houthis in Yemen for years, on the ground and from the air, attacking all sorts of targets including homes. Why in the world would people feel outrage when the Houthis retaliate in kind?

Both Salafi Arabia and UAE are ruled by murderous despots. The acting king of Salafia Arabia, Crown Prince Bone Saw, arranged the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. One of the nobles of the UAE has just been formally accused of torture.

The Houthis are probably not much better, but I see no reason to judge it by a stricter standard than the other two.

Some scientists assert that the global level of chemical pollution threatens to destabilize global ecosystems.

This threat would be on top of that of climate mayhem, which is already destabilizing global ecosystems.

*I study crowds — that’s why I know the [UK's] police and crime bill will make us less safe.*

* The irony is that the repressive power of the police, supposedly the means of stopping violence, is actually the source of most violence in crowd events — either directly (the police inflict far more violence than is inflicted upon them) or indirectly (the repression of protesters' rights inflames previously peaceable crowds).*