The Week Evening Review
Federal employees turned spy recruits, Israel-Turkey negotiations on Syria, and the volatile bond market

 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A foreign adversary's spy recruitment dream

Contrary to what James Bond would have you believe, most international espionage is less "whizzing bullets" and more "convincing people to tell you things they shouldn't." By this metric, foreign adversaries are salivating over the Trump administration's mass layoffs in the federal government, creating fertile ground for disgruntled workers. Clandestine organizations are hoping that resentment will convince some to share America's most closely guarded secrets — in other words, to be recruited as spies.

'Everyone is vulnerable'
China's intelligence services are using "deceptive efforts to recruit current and former U.S. government employees," said The New York Times, citing a warning from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. The shrinking of the federal workforce has been taken as an "opportunity" for China to build upon its recruitment efforts.

U.S. adversaries are "actively targeting federal workers" for clandestine recruitment in the "wake of continuing mass government layoffs," said the U.S. Coast Guard last month. China, Russia and others are focusing on "recently fired probationary workers or those with security clearances" in the hopes of obtaining "valuable information about U.S. critical infrastructure or national security interests."

"Everyone is vulnerable at the end of the day," said one Coast Guard Counterintelligence Service agent. The cohort of laid-off federal workers is a "target-rich environment" for "foreign-linked entities," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) in response to the Coast Guard's alert. Moreover, government employees who "see how careless" the Trump administration has been with its secure communications "may do the same."

'Fake consulting and headhunting firms'
While the U.S. has "established procedures" designed to "mitigate the risk posed by aggrieved former employees" in general, the "pace of the job losses" under Trump makes such prevention "more difficult," said Politico. Beijing "especially" is behind an "unrelenting espionage campaign." 

A "secretive Chinese tech firm" is believed to be responsible for a "broader network of fake consulting and headhunting firms targeting former government employees," said Reuters, citing research from Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyst Max Lesser. While following techniques associated with Chinese intelligence, the campaign seeks to "exploit the financial vulnerabilities" of recently laid-off federal employees. Once hired, targets could "share increasingly sensitive information about government operations."

 
 

Statistic of the day

67,000: The number of troops Russia has amassed on Ukraine's northern border in preparation for a springtime offensive, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Russian soldiers are reportedly gearing up for an attack on the city of Sumy, with "many attacks" expected in Ukraine's northern region.

 
 
THE EXPLAINER

Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance in Syria

While a new Syrian government works to establish order since Syrian rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad's government, the political power vacuum has left some of the country's neighbors anxious to ensure their foreign policy aims. To that end, Israel and Turkey on Wednesday began a series of talks aimed at preventing confrontation between their militaries as each country conducts discrete operations within Syria. 

Why are Israel and Turkey in Syria?
Turkey has "long occupied parts of northern Syria" both to support the opposition forces who helped topple the Assad regime and to fight "Kurdish rebels that it calls a terrorist threat," said The New York Times. Israel, meanwhile, has recently carried out bombing strikes across southern Syria. Fearful of a "new threat" from Syria's "new Islamist leadership," Israel has established a "buffer zone inside Syrian territory," said The Associated Press. 

Israel has accused Turkey of "trying to establish a 'neo-Ottoman state,'" said Deutsche Welle. And Israel is enacting "aggressive and expansionist policies" with its strikes on Syrian positions, said Turkish officials. The fall of the Assad government presented an "opportunity" for Turkey to "turn Syria into a sort of protectorate" for its "regional interests" beyond simply securing its shared border, said Haaretz analyst Zvi Bar'el. 

What's the goal of negotiations?
They are "aimed at easing tensions" between the two rival powers operating in a space where "militaries of both countries are active," said Al Jazeera. The first meeting between representatives of the two nations, which took place in Azerbaijan, marked the "beginning of efforts to set up a communications channel."

During the meeting, Israeli officials made "unequivocally clear" that changes in the "establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra area" of Syria is a "red line," said The Jerusalem Post. "We don't want to see Syria being used by anyone, including Turkey, as a base for attacks on Israel," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday during an Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump. 

Netanyahu did not expand upon "what circumstance he believed Turkey might attack Israel," said the Times. And Turkey has framed the "technical" talks, said Reuters, as being "similar to deconfliction mechanisms" it has with the U.S. and Russia.

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

'People couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.'

Former first lady Michelle Obama, during a podcast interview, dismissing rumors that she and Barack may have separated as sexist, reiterating that she was a "grown woman just making a set of decisions herself"

 
 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

Treasuries were a haven for investors. What changed?

When the stock market plunges, investors usually take their money out of risky assets and put that cash into the "safe haven" of U.S. Treasury bonds. But something different has been happening since President Donald Trump launched his "Liberation Day" trade war against the world.

Investors have usually considered Treasuries "so rock-solid safe they are risk-free," said Bloomberg. Trump's "all-out assault on global trade" has put that status in question. Investors are dumping 10- and 30-year Treasuries alongside "stocks, crypto and other risky assets." That's because Treasuries depend on America's reputation for fiscal and monetary "competence," said James Grant, the founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer. The volatility of the bond market suggests the "world is reconsidering."

America's "global safe-haven status is in question," JPMorgan Asset Management's Priya Misra said to The New York Times. That questioning raised alarms in the White House, and Trump pointed to bond market skittishness as the reason he paused most of his previously announced tariffs. But that did not stop the damage. 

What did the commentators say?
"Welcome to the resistance, bond traders," Ryan Teague Beckwith said at MSNBC. Those traders helped to force Trump to "back down from imposing a disastrous set of tariffs on almost every country in the world." When the stock market fell following Trump's tariff announcement, investors should have fled to Treasuries. "But that didn't happen." 

It's alarming, one Financial Times journalist said, when the "ultimate safe port in a storm is suffering from its own tempest." The result is that the bond market inadvertently acted as "checks and balances" on Trump when nobody else would, said Beckwith.

What next?
Bond turbulence is not just bad for investors. The Treasury must pay out higher yields to attract investors. Those higher yields "mean higher costs for companies" and "governments" to borrow, analyst Laith Khalaf said to BBC News. That will affect both inflation and government budgeting.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is trying to buck up the bond markets, said Yahoo Finance. America's "turbulence" does not "take away the fact that if you are going to invest your money in something," said Dimon, the U.S. is "still a pretty good place."

 
 

Good day 🎢

… for theme park lovers. Universal Studios is headed to the U.K. Its first location in Europe is expected to attract 8.5 million visitors a year when it opens in 2031. Construction on the 476-acre site in Bedford should start next year, and the project could create 28,000 new jobs.

 
 

Bad day ⚖️

… for tracking your food intake. WeightWatchers is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming month as part of a plan to "hand control of the business to its creditors," said The Wall Street Journal. It faces "financial pressure and disruption" from the popularity of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.

 
 
Picture of the day

Chag sameach

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak burn leavened items in a final preparation before the start of the Jewish Passover, or Pesach, at sundown today. To commemorate their ancestors' flight from Egypt — so hasty, there was no time for bread to rise — Jews avoid eating leavened food products throughout Passover.
Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
The Week recommends

Bhutan is a remote country in the eastern Himalayas filled with temples, monasteries, colorful prayer flags and gorgeous scenery. And a recent push to revive the economy and keep young people from moving abroad is also bringing in diverse visitors from around the world.

The basics 
Bhutan sits between China and India, and its neighbors to the south accounted for more than 73% of arrivals in 2019, when a record 300,000 tourists visited the country. The government's goal is to reach that number again but with a "more diverse consumer base," specifically from the U.S., Australia and Europe, said the Bangkok Post.

All foreign visitors, with the exception of Indian nationals, need a visa to enter Bhutan. There's one international airport, and outside of the cities of Thimpu and Paro, you will need a guide.

What to see 
Bhutan is the world's last Vajrayana Buddhist kingdom, and "majestic" temples and dzongs, or fortified buildings, dot the mountainous landscape, said Condé Nast Traveler. A three-hour hike up a "steep, wooded cliff" leads to the sacred Tiger's Nest, an "iconic" 17th-century monastery.

The Trans-Bhutan trail crosses the entire country, taking "intrepid" hikers 30 days to complete, but you can tackle individual sections, as well, said National Geographic. One stretch, the Divine Madman's Trail, begins in the clouds as you make your way down the Dochula Pass, where you will find villages and a house "said to have been struck by an arrow shot from Tibet" in the 15th century.

 
 

Poll watch

Over two-thirds (66%) of Americans say they have read a book or listened to an audiobook in the past year, according to an Ipsos survey. However, the poll of 2,033 adults also found that 41% don't think listening to an audiobook is a form of reading. 

 
 
INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'College students don't read. But can they?'
Joseph Bottum at The Wall Street Journal
It's "certainly true that college students read fewer books than previous generations did, but most of the evidence of their incapacity comes from such anecdotal laments," says Joseph Bottum. "We know that the dissociated students don't read, which isn't quite the same as proving they can't read." What we "need is an experiment, re-creating an old-fashioned survey course: a reading-intensive trip, like a white-water raft's careen." That will be "tried this fall at the University of Colorado, Boulder," with a course in which undergraduates are "tasked with reading a novel a week, plus critical literature."

'Tariff uncertainty is punishing California almond growers'
Erika D. Smith at Bloomberg
It's "tempting to believe the worst is behind both Wall Street and the White House," but for "millions of American farmers, the worst is just beginning," says Erika D. Smith. Farmers are "now at risk of becoming collateral damage in a trade war among some of the world's largest economies." In California, "this means almond growers." More water to grow almonds "means little when a global trade war" means there are "fewer customers to buy them."

'Telemundo's climate commitment'
Mark Hertsgaard at The Nation
New shows "underscore Telemundo's long-standing dedication to environmental coverage; the network also devotes a segment of every Thursday evening's broadcast to the latest environmental developments," says Mark Hertsgaard. This is a "savvy business move, given that surveys have long found that Hispanic people are the U.S. demographic group that cares most about environmental issues." Telemundo's "commitment to climate coverage is paying off," and it's the "fastest-growing broadcast news source in the United States in either Spanish or English."

 
 
WORD OF THE DAY

microcheating

Any behavior short of a physical or emotional relationship that you would not feel comfortable being open about with your romantic partner. Today, microcheating typically involves texting or social media messages, said The Associated Press, which some consider infidelity because it involves "building a bond, one heart emoji at a time." 

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Joel Mathis, Summer Meza, Rafi Schwartz and Anahi Valenzuela, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images; Jalaa Marey / AFP via Getty Images; Spencer Platt / Getty Images; s_jakkarin / Getty Images