Free P’Nut.

Happening in the World: U.S. officials have begun talking with China in response to the recent agreements made between North Korea and Russia regarding the war in Ukraine. The U.S. government has reported that China, a strong ally of North Korea, is apprehensive about this rapidly strengthening partnership as it draws Europe deeper into East Asian security matters. In a moment when North Korea is expected to deploy troops into Ukraine, the United States intends to convey concerns to China in hopes they will pass the message on to Kim Jong-un in an attempt to get Kim to limit or halt the deployment. (NYT)

Happening in the US: During a three-hour episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” VP candidate JD Vance made some controversial remarks regarding women and the LGBT community, specifically transgender and non-binary students. According to Vance, former President Donald Trump won “the normal gay guy vote,” and additionally suggested that children in upper-middle-class white families “participate in the D.E.I. bureaucracy” by becoming transgender to get into “ivy league colleges.” Vance also suggested that “liberal women” are publicly celebrating their abortions, “baking birthday cakes and posting about it,” which Joe Rogan pushed back on, claiming he thinks “very few people are celebrating.” (NYT)

Happening in NYC: P’Nut, the extremely viral squirrel, has been seized by government officials. Mark Longo, 34, found P’Nut in New York City seven years ago. As he walked into a busy street in Downtown Manhattan, P’Nut crawled up Longo’s leg. Longo claimed he later tried to let P’Nut go in his backyard, but he wound up being attacked by other animals and losing half his tail, so he became an inside “rescue” squirrel. P’Nut was given his own room and allowed to roam around freely. The proceeds made from P’Nut’s Instagram page were used to almost singlehandedly fund the P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit Longo and his wife started in April. P’Nut was taken by the D.E.C. on Wednesday following “multiple reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.” Now, there is a petition to get P’Nut back, as Longo claims, “We have had P’Nut for seven years without a single complaint; it’s not like we were hiding him.” (NYT)

Happening in Our Community: The Harriman Institute is hosting a discussion on U.S.-Russia, with guest speakers Leonid Volkov, political director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), and Anna Biriukova, the ACF’s head of polling. The panel aims to discuss what we actually know about trends in public opinion in Russia after 2.5 years of the full-scale war against Ukraine. The event will take place from 2 to 3:30 pm and requires advance registration.

(Not) P’Nut via Bwarchives