Our picks“The Intelligence Coup of the Century” | God and a Glock in Texas Churches | China's Political Meddling, and more

Coronavirus Is Spreading Because Humans Are Healthier (Thomas J. Bollyky, The Atlantic)
Medical advances have dramatically extended life spans worldwide, but investment in basic health care has not kept up.

“The Intelligence Coup of the Century” (Greg Miller, Washington Post)
For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.

Crypto: As If Britain Built Enigma and Got Hitler to Pay for It (Ben McIntyre, The Times)
The Crypto coup that enabled the CIA to eavesdrop on 120 countries for half a century is the most spectacular feat of technological espionage since British cryptographers broke the Enigma code at Bletchley Park.
In many ways it seems even more extraordinary: it is as if Britain built the Enigma machine for Nazi Germany, persuaded Hitler to pay for it, provided the codes to operate it, and then simply listened in for the rest of the war.

Donald Trump Loosens America’s Restrictions on Landmines (The Economist)
The new ones are supposed to blow themselves up

God and a Glock: Texas Churchgoers Are Training to Fight Off Attackers Wielding Guns (Allie Morris, Dallas Morning News)
A cottage industry is growing in Texas of security firms that train churchgoers with police-like tactics.

How the FBI Combats China’s Political Meddling (Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios)
In May 2019, the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force quietly added a unit aimed at countering China’s political influence in the United States. In an exclusive interview with Axios, an FBI official reveals for the first time the bureau’s approach to countering China’s interference in local and state politics.

Does the GOP Care If Russia Interferes in 2020? (Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair)
Despite warnings, Republicans have shot down bills addressing election security.

How Good Is Earthquake Early Warning? (Elizabeth Nadin, Temblor)
Scientists can’t predict when earthquakes will occur. They can however, with reasonable certainty, identify regions at elevated risk for damaging earthquakes. A recent magnitude-6.7 earthquake in Turkey and subsequent recovery efforts prompted the country’s interior minister to warn citizens of the potential for an even larger event in the region.
How many lives could be spared or injuries prevented during such an event if people were alerted to imminent shaking, even just seconds before seismic waves hit?

Pentagon Slashes Funding for Islamic State Fight (Jack Detsch, Al Monitor)
The United States would see a diminished budget in its ability to fight Islamic State militants in 2021 if the new budget revealed by the Trump administration is approved.

The FBI Makes a Bizarre Claim About Pro-Choice Terrorism (Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast)
The FBI is expanding its focus on domestic terrorism, and that includes pro-choice violence—even though such violence is so vanishingly rare, it’s all but nonexistent. 
In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray disclosed that the bureau has recently “changed our terminology as part of a broader reorganization of the way in which we categorize our domestic terrorism efforts.” It’s part of a much-heralded reinvigoration of the bureau’s domestic terrorism focus after a rising tide of mostly white-supremacist terrorism.
Among four broad categories of domestic terrorism that the FBI confronts, Wray said, is “abortion violent extremism.” 
But Wray wasn’t only talking about the pro-life extremism that murders abortion providers in their churches, he hastened to add, but “people on either side of that issue who commit violence on behalf of different views on that topic.”
His questioner, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), was puzzled at Wray’s seeming equivalence: “People on either side of that issue don’t commit violence.” In fact, the FBI pointed The Daily Beast to just one episode of pro-choice-inspired terrorism—one that did not involve an actual act of violence, but rather a threat in an online comments section.