THE BIG STORY

How the Kremlin’s assassins sowed terror through the streets of London while British authorities scrambled to stop them

In 2017, we exposed 14 suspected Russian assassinations on British soil. A new book by our Global Investigators editor Heidi Bake connects those assassinations to a much wider campaign of Kremlin-sanctioned killing around the world.

The book, From Russia With Blood: The Kremlin’s Ruthless Assassination Program and Vladimir Putin’s Secret War on the West lays out the details of the campaign in an unprecedented detail.

This morning, we are publishing an excerpt from the book — on the British authorities’ desperate scramble to shield the disorderly oligarch Boris Berezovsky from a string of audacious murder plots in the heart of London.

As an enemy of Vladimir Putin, Berezovsky knew the Kremlin was trying to kill him in London, but to the frustration of authorities, he refused to lay low — or to stop trafficking teenage sex workers into the country on his private plane.

Read the excerpt from From Russia With Blood here.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Two stories about the British election that you need to know

Britain is in the middle of a tense election campaign and voters head to the polls on Dec. 12.

The first story: Can the student vote save Jeremy Corbyn? The Labour leader once quipped that his future in politics was secure because he had “youth on my side”, but will the student vote in key battlegrounds be swayed by the Liberal Democrats’ anti-Brexit pitch?

The second: How Canterbury became the battleground for Remainers. The battle for the seat is a close one, and revelatory too: it shows how the Remain vote is splitting apart due to tensions between Labour and the Lib Dems — while the Brexit vote becomes more united.

IMPEACHMENT TODAY

Democrats keep adding new witnesses to the list for this week’s marathon of testimony. In today’s episode of our daily impeachment podcast, we lay out the stakes. Listen and subscribe right here.

SNAPSHOTS

Four people were killed at a backyard football watch party. Six others were injured Sunday night when at least two gunmen opened fire on a group of family and friends who had gathered to watch football in Fresno, California. No arrests have been made as of Monday evening.

Trump is sending asylum-seekers to Guatemala. His administration privately admitted it had no idea what would happen to them next. Days before launching a controversial plan to send asylum-seekers to the poor country, Department of Homeland Security officials were still scrambling to figure out critical details, including how those seeking protection would obtain shelter and food.

Elon Musk’s WiFi satellites are blocking astronomers’ view of the sky. SpaceX launched 60 WiFi satellites last week, and hopes to launch thousands more. Astronomers are worried that a small satellite swarm will ruin deep space observations.

“Meth. We’re on it.” is a new anti-drug campaign in South Dakota. Seriously. The campaign, which includes billboards, TV commercials, and social media, aims to raise awareness about what's become an epidemic in the state. After the slogan went viral, Gov. Kristi Noem told us that was part of the point.

FUTURE RISK

Hundreds of US toxic waste sites are at risk of climate disasters

A new government analysis found that more than 900 toxic waste sites in the United States are in areas at risk of climate disasters — raising concerns about the potential spread of dangerous contaminants.

The report also argued that the Environmental Protection Agency, which is tasked with overseeing the cleanup of these sites, should be doing more to protect them against climate hazards.

What kind of hazards are we talking about here? The report found that out of 1,571 toxic zones located across the US, 945 of the sites were at risk of at least one of the following: wildfires, flooding, storm surge, or sea level rise.

HILARIOUS HISTORY

Teens on TikTok are memeing history with hilarious results

You mostly know TikTok as the place for dance challenges and skits and memes, and that’s all well and good since that’s most of what happens on TikTok, but I think you’ll be delighted to learn it’s being used for — gasp — educational purposes.

Teen history buffs are using the app to share valuable history lessons, and they're doing an excellent job keeping it fun.

We talked to Brooke Pavek, 17, who got started on TikTok while taking AP history classes — she said she started making history TikToks to help her study.

Protect the things that bring you joy and they'll protect you,

Elamin