Something is happening in Bedford that should worry anyone who believes in honest government. The town, which has been through months of internal turmoil, now finds its leader turning the very idea of rescue into a political weapon. Mayor Tom Wootton, the Conservative at the head of Bedford Borough Council, has posted a video on his Facebook page in which he tells local residents that government commissioners are coming for their town as part of a “Labour power grab.” The claim has been repeated in community groups and amplified by Bedford & Kempston Conservatives. It is a dramatic story: shadowy…

When Shadows Speak: Taiwan’s Battle Against AI-Powered Disinformation On a tense morning in Taipei, a gathering of scholars, political strategists, and concerned citizens took their seats inside the Democratic Progressive Party headquarters, acutely aware that the clock was ticking toward election day. The air was thick with questions that had no easy answers: How do you defend a democracy against an adversary that no longer needs to shout to be heard? How do you fight back against weapons that are invisible, automated, and endlessly adaptable? This was the heart of the conversation at the DPP’s forum on foreign electoral interference,…