Bottled vs. Tap Water. China vs. Taiwan. Mueller vs. Manafort.

“Everyone thinks if you fix a male dog it will lower his aggression, but most of the biters are female. It’s basic instinct to protect their womb. You see it in all animals – the female of the species is more deadly than the male.” – Mindy McGinnis, The Female of the Species

Digital Voter Intimidation in Africa and America: Christopher Wylie is a data scientist who worked for Cambridge Analytica (CA). He left that firm in 2014, but apparently became so distraught over his former employer’s role in skewing global elections that he finally blew the whistle. Wylie testified before the UK parliament last week, providing MPs with a graphically violent video produced by CA to influence the 2015 election in Nigeria. Wylie explained that CA had been retained by a Nigerian billionaire to run a campaign supporting the Christian candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, and defaming his Muslim opponent, Muhammadu Buhari. The video contained horrific, divisive Islamophobic imagery and messaging saying if Buhari were elected, he would form alliances with militant Islamists and use Sharia law to brutally suppress dissenters. Wylie also testified that CA directed a Canadian digital services firm, AggregateIQ (AIQ), to use the video to target voters during the Nigerian presidential campaign.

In further testimony, Wylie alleged that CA used the personal information of up to 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge through a third-party quiz app. When asked by the lawmakers why he was just now coming forward, Wylie said it wasn’t until Donald Trump became president that he realized the full scope of the work he had been involved with. The Trump campaign had retained CA to provide data science work during the campaign, but both insisted the data harvested from Facebook had not been used as part of the firm’s work. Wylie told ABC News: “One of the reasons why I’m speaking out is because I think that it’s really concerning that no one has really investigated Cambridge Analytica and its role in the 2016 election.”

The French Government Prunes Itself: French President Emmanuel Macron plans to streamline government by cutting the number of lawmakers in both the lower house National Assembly and the Senate by 30%. The agreement comes after weeks of negotiations with the head of the opposition-controlled Senate (whose support is essential to pass the reforms) and will also introduce a degree of proportional representation. If both houses of parliament approve the plan, it will speed up the lawmaking process and provide under-represented groups more of a voice. Some 15% of lawmakers in National Assembly would be elected via proportional representation in the 2022 elections.

– A statue of Bill Clinton rises high above the square in Pristina, Kosovo. Clinton was the US president when this tiny Balkan nation broke free from Serbia in 1999. But after war’s end the violence continued, and justice eluded ethnic Albanian victims. Now a new war crimes tribunal, based in the Hague but governed by Kosovo law,will focus on atrocities committed not by Serbians but by the Kosovo Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanian guerrilla force whose former commanders now run the country. (NYT)

– Two years ago Versova beach in Mumbai was a shin-deep dumping ground for plastics and rubbish. Today, thanks to a massive, ongoing, and volunteer clean-up effort, 80 endangered Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings have made their way from nests on Versova’s pristine sands into the Arabian sea. A few days ago we wrote about the trash collecting on Lebanon’s beaches. We hope those beaches can also make a quick recovery from their polluted state. (The Guardian, BBC)

– Austria’s conservative government plans to introduce legislation that would ban headscarves for young Muslim girls under the age of 10. Although few Muslims require girls to cover their heads prior to puberty, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz believes it is a growing phenomenon and wants to head off any chance of a “parallel society” emerging that might threaten mainstream Austrian culture. (Reuters)

– The Taiwan and China distinction is one that is unavoidable especially as China’s stature increases by the second. Most recently, the Man Booker International Prize (awarded annually to an author of any nationality for a work translated into English) was caught in the trap. An author longlisted for the award was described first as being from “Taiwan,” then from “Taiwan, China” (after objections from the Chinese embassy in London), and is now back to being listed as from “Taiwan” (after complaints from the author and Taiwan’s ministry of culture). (The Guardian)

– President Trump criticized former president Obama for giving our enemies a heads-up about US troop withdrawals from foreign soil and abandoning a mission before its completion. But last week Trump said, “We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS” and also stated, “We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.” Then he ordered the State Department to stop financial recovery assistance for Syria. On Tuesday, Trump repeated that it was time to bring troops home from Syria because the ISIS battle was essentially won. Then Wednesday the White House said the US was committed to continuing to fight the Islamic State in Syria. (The Wrap, CNN, NYT)

– Republican legislatures across the country have continued to slash appropriations for public schools. Now teachers from Oklahoma to Kentucky to West Virginia to Arizona are walking out of classrooms to protest long-stagnant teacher pay and school budgets. (Reuters)

– President Trump’s lawyers were notified last month by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office that the president was being investigated but was not currently a criminal target. The two sides continue to discuss whether the president will sit for an interview with Mueller’s team. (NPR)

– A federal judge indicated her displeasure with legal arguments made by an attorney for Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chair. Manafort filed a civil suit in January seeking dismissal of charges brought against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. (Reuters)

– EPA chief Scott Pruitt is facing multiple accusations of misuse of taxpayer money, ethics violations, and conflicts of interest for maintaining improper ties to companies his department is supposedly regulating. The latest charges involve accepting monetary favors from lobbyists representing energy companies. (NPR)

– A 15-foot-long great white shark interrupted two Australian police who were “checking registration, licences and safety equipment along with alcohol and drug-testing operators.” (BBC)

– Thankfully, Thai police were not interrupted from “seized hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine Tuesday in the largest haul of its type in the country’s history.” The street value of these drugs was estimated to be $55 million. (CNN)

– Stingrays have been discovered in Washington, DC. Not the ocean type but a spy device that  “track[s] mobile phones and intercept[s] calls and messages.” (BBC)

– Speaking of a technology service that is the finest piece of spying software ever built: “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify on Capitol Hill on April 10 and 11 before the a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees, followed by one before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.” (NPR)

– The state of Michigan (where residents of Flint have not been able to drink safely from their taps) “has approved Nestlé’s plan to boost the amount of water it takes from the state. The request attracted a record number of public comments — with 80,945 against and 75 in favor.” (NPR)

– Speaking of bottled water – don’t be fooled. In the United States, tap water is almost always much cleaner than bottled water. And much better for the environment. (National Geographic)

“We live well enough to have the luxury to get ourselves sick with purely social, psychological stress.” – Robert M. Sapolsky, A Primate’s Memoir: A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons

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