Ukraine Strikes Back

 There is little ambiguity about the change in the Trump administration’s line on Ukraine. It seems the US president is on the verge of approving or has already approved supplying Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles that can strike deep inside Russia, whereby a stronger offence becomes the best means of stopping Russian aggression.

 Moscow has downplayed the likely impact, saying nothing can change the situation on the ground. That may not be true since evidence suggests the significant spike in Ukrainian strikes (and mul­tiple strikes) on Russian oil refineries is shutting down production, raising the price of oil, and having a visible economic impact. Even as Moscow deliberately attacks civilian targets with hundreds of drones and mis­siles at a time, which Kyiv finds increasingly difficult to intercept, Ukrainian strikes have been restricted to military installations and refineries. President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month: “The most ef­fective sanctions—the ones that work the fastest—are the fires at Russia’s oil refin­eries, its terminals, oil de­pots.” Add to that Ukraine’s experience in drone warfare and how the security of Eu­ropean skies, being invaded by Russian drones, rests with Kyiv. Besides, Trump may just have given up on Putin after all.

The Book of Excuses

  If her critics’ chief com­plaint against her was that she sounded phoney, former US Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign memoir 107 Days isn’t going to change their minds. In fact, the subtitle could have been ‘The Book of Excuses’. On the one hand, Harris’ own primary complaint is that she had too little time—107 days—to win the presidency. On the other, she knows only too well that had that period been longer, long enough for a half-decent Demo­cratic primary after Joe Biden pulled out, she might not have secured the nomination at all. As she says, she had “shut down” all such talk. That doesn’t mean the book has no fresh insights, especially on Biden, but Harris disappoints by trumpeting the Biden White House line that there was “no conspiracy” to hide Biden’s infirmity. No one bought it then; no one is buying it now. When the Democratic Party has no chance of posing a serious threat in elections at local, state or federal level without far-left radicals like Zohran Mamdani or the Portland socialists, 107 Days seems particularly blind to why the party can’t win anymore and whether the proposed cure is worse than the disease.

Einstein’s Fiddle

  In a sale that lasted only 10 minutes at Dominic Winter Auctioneers of Gloucestershire, a violin believed to have been first owned by Albert Einstein was sold for £860,000. When the 26.4 per cent commis­sion is added, the price will be above £1 million, making this the highest price ever paid for a violin that hadn’t belonged to a concert pianist. Moreover, it’s an 1894 Zunterer, which adds to the record since a non-Stradivarius has never fetched so much either. The 20th century’s most famous scientist had said he found god when he heard Yehudi Menuhin. He knew a thing or two about violins.