## Playing dirty used to be the west’s preserve. Now we’re letting Moscow beat us at our own game | Joseph Pearson

Authored by theguardian.com

We in the west used to play dirty – and during the cold war, we were good at it.

The Berlin airlift is a good example of what we once did well – and have since forgotten.

The cold war arguably began and ended in Berlin, bookended by the 1948-9 airlift and the fall of the wall in 1989.

The allied airlift cost the equivalent of almost $3bn today, and needed a persuasive narrative to win public support.

It’s one that almost everyone still believes today: Berlin was blockaded, its land routes sealed, and women and children were starving.

A press campaign, however, pushed for “a massive and sensational story of air power applied to humanitarian ends”.

In the UK, teenagers still learn for their GCSEs that Berlin was blockaded by Stalin and risked starvation. »

### Why Is Colombia’s President Provoking Trump?

Authored by theatlantic.com

Read: The president who did everything right and got no thanks.

The moment was rather stunning, not least because the Colombian president seemed so blasé.

Petro’s supporters tend to argue that America is the one insulting Colombia’s president, and they are inclined to rally around him. »

### Emboldened Democrats mobilize against centrists’ emerging shutdown deal

Authored by cnn.com

Emboldened Hill Democrats pointed to jitters from Trump himself, who privately told a group of Senate Republicans that their party was being “killed” politically by the shutdown.

Asked if he believed the shutdown hurt Republicans in the elections, Sen. Jim Justice told CNN: “Look, if you didn’t, you’re living in a cave.

Democrats have made a push to extend soon-to-expire enhanced Affordable Care Act subsides central to the shutdown fight. »

### FAA will reduce flights at 40 busy airports across the US starting Friday if shutdown continues

Authored by cnn.com

Ten percent of air traffic at 40 busy airports would be cut, potentially impacting thousands of flights, though the details of how many and which specific airports will be cut was not announced.

It will be restricted to these 40 high volume traffic markets,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said.

The announcement comes as air traffic controller staffing shortages during the shutdown are delaying an increasing number of flights throughout the country. »

### Colorado voters approve tax increase on high earners to fund school meals, food stamps

Authored by coloradosun.com

The increased taxes on households earning at least $300,000 will shore up funding for free school meals for all public school children, provide raises for school meal staff, and support school district efforts to buy locally-sourced food.

The passage of Proposition MM marks the second time Coloradans have voted to tax themselves to provide meals for public school kids in recent years.

In 2022, voters passed Proposition FF to increase taxes on the same group of wealthy Coloradans to start the Healthy School Meals for All Program. »

## In pictures

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#### Zohran Mamdani announces all-female transition team as he prepares for New York mayoralty