On a quiet Monday evening, the ordinary routines of a small digital newsroom were violently interrupted. Security officers in plainclothes moved through residential streets, knocking on doors and entering the homes of journalists who worked for Matsaddash, an independent digital platform that has operated in Egypt since 2018. By the time the raids ended, the entire newsroom—reporters, editors, producers and support staff—had been taken into custody. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a prominent human rights group providing legal representation, described the operation as a sweeping round-up that began on Monday evening and included the confiscation of laptops, mobile phones…

In the hushed corridors of Canberra, where language is usually cautious and bureaucratic, the top official in charge of Australia’s climate policy has done something unexpected: he has spoken like a person who believes the time for silence is over. Mike Kaiser, secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, stood before public servants and told them they cannot sit on the sidelines while bad ideas and false stories spread. His call was blunt. The public service must “take on the public debate” and confront the mis- and disinformation that is stalling meaningful progress, particularly the…