The FBI is reportedly investigating whether the Russian government-funded news agency, Sputnik, has been operating as an undisclosed propaganda arm for the Kremlin, which would be in violation of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), per Yahoo News.
Why it matters: "This is incredibly significant," said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI counterintelligence agent. "[T]his tells me they have good information and intelligence that these organizations have been acting on behalf of the Kremlin and that there's a direct line between them and the [Russian influence operations] that are a significant threat to our democracy."
As a first order of business, the new Amazon-owned Whole Foods late last month slashed the prices of a few items, mainly avocados, apples and other fresh produce. That led to a lot of relief in the grocery industry: unlike its scorched-earth decimation of book-selling, electronics and apparel, Amazon did not seem, at least for now, to be seeking conquest of groceries.
But Brandon Alexander, a robotics specialist formerly of Google X, wasn't among those sighing. As he saw it, Amazon was declaring war on the grocery industry's underbelly: consumers would willingly shop on-line for almost every other product sold by Safeway and Kroger's, but not their head of lettuce, their ear of corn, their peaches or tomatoes.
