Our picksISIS Resurgent | Kremlin Hacks Western COVID-19 Labs | Venezuela Plotters, and more

RIP Democracy (Franklin Foer, The Atlantic)
Russia’s goal was never merely to elect Donald Trump. Now, Vladimir Putin is poised to complete the mission he began four years ago.

Kremlin-Linked Cyber Hackers Steal Hundreds of Medical Trial Records from British Coronavirus Lab (Harry Cole, Mail on Sunday)
Highly confidential details of hundreds of Britons taking part in medical trials have been stolen from a lab fighting Covid-19, The Mail on Sunday has learnt.
This newspaper revealed last week how hackers linked to Russia and Iran were behind ‘utterly reprehensible’ hits on British institutions tackling the virus, including universities and research labs.
Two days after our report was published, the security services released official guidance to research facilities on protecting themselves from such attacks, but insisted that none had been successful.

State Department: China Working with Russia to Spread Coronavirus Disinformation (Paul D. Shinkman, U.S. News)
Beijing appears to be increasingly adopting Russian tactics to sow discord and spread disinformation on social media about the origins of COVID-19, the State Department says.

Counter Terrorism Police Fear ISIS Cells Are Being Reactivated to Plot Attacks Across Europe after Second Terror Arrest in Spain (Gerard Couzens, Daily Mail)
Counter terrorism police are investigating whether sleepers from Islamic State have been reactivated to carry out attacks around Europe. Spanish police have made two terror arrests in the past two weeks. The first was Britain’s most wanted IS fugitive, Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary. This week police in Barcelona arrested an unnamed Moroccan who, according to The Mirror, was suspected of plotting to carry out a ‘lone wolf’ attack this weekend.

Russian Troops to Help Venezuela Search for Members of Failed Incursion (Reuters / VOA)
Russian soldiers are operating drones over Venezuela as part of a search for members of a paramilitary force that led a botched invasion this week, local media reported, citing deleted tweets from a state military command center.

Son of Anti-Vaxxer Urges Vaccination before U.S. Congress (DW)
Teenager Ethan Lindenberger called for fighting disinformation on vaccines before the U.S. Congress, where he testified about growing up with an anti-vaxx mother. He managed to get his shots after asking for help online.

The Fundamental Connection Between Education and Boko Haram In Nigeria (Madiha Afzal, Brookings)
Aside from its kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, Boko Haram has not captured the world’s attention the way global jihadist groups have. This is perhaps because its focus is local to northern Nigeria. Yet Boko Haram overtook ISIS as the world’s deadliest terrorist group in 2015, and its violent insurgency, now more than 10 years old, has displaced more than two million and killed tens of thousands in the country.

Trump Guns for Chinese Telecoms but Doesn’t Have a Real Plan (Justin Sherman, Wired)
Scattershot concerns over whether devices might be compromised by foreign intelligence doesn’t replace strategy and leaves questions about the supply chain unanswered.

Could Nuclear Weapons Have Won America The Vietnam War? (Steve Weintz, National Interest)
A crazy plan for a crazy time?