💬 Quoted… "We face a rising threat from authoritarian regimes who seek to reach beyond their own borders to commit acts of repression."

• Other countries also have a “Gray Man” program that spits out Mr. and Mrs. Smiths – not just the US. Over the past 18 months, the Department of Justice has foiled four different state-sponsored assassination plots that aimed to kill people on American soil. These plots, detailed in a series of federal indictments, include allegations that an Iranian soldier planned to murder former US national security adviser John Bolton in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as well as a plot organized by an Indian government official to kill a US citizen in New York City.

🇺🇦 Stat of the Day: President Volodymyr Zelensky said a total of 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia launched its invasion (compared to 180,000 Russian troop deaths), marking the first public confirmation of Ukraine’s death toll due to the war. Sunday’s announcement, which came one day after the two-year anniversary of Russia’s initial invasion, carries a significantly lower total than the ~70,000 Ukrainian troop deaths estimated by US officials in August 2023.

🤔 Did You Know?... Around 100 BCE, Rome became the first city in history to reach a population of one million. This milestone wouldn’t be reached again until London in the 1800s.

📰 Worth a Read: How the bubonic plague rewired the human immune system → (BBC Future)