‘Half of a peanut butter sandwich’
| 'Half of a peanut butter sandwich'  Some of America's most closely guarded nuclear secrets ended up as the filling in a peanut butter sandwich.
That's one of the FBI's extraordinary allegations against a US nuclear engineer and his wife, who were arrested this weekend and charged with trying to sell information about nuclear-powered US submarines. The Justice Department alleges Jonathan and Diana Toebbe believed they were dealing with an intelligence contact for an unnamed foreign power. In reality, it was an undercover FBI agent.
Among many compelling details of the case, the criminal complaint says the bureau conducted an operation in the Washington area that involved placing a signal at a location associated with the foreign government after Toebbe had allegedly asked for proof that his online contact was genuine. Using the codename ALICE in echoes of Cold War fiction, Toebbe also allegedly requested payment through the decentralized cryptocurrency Monero because it "gives both us excellent deniability."
The FBI says it observed Toebbe dropping off an SD card for the person he believed to be a foreign representative in West Virginia in late June. The card held restricted design information for fast attack submarines, according to the agency. "The SD card was wrapped in plastic and placed between two slices of bread on a half of a peanut butter sandwich. The half sandwich was housed inside of a plastic bag," its complaint said.
The case is especially intriguing because the submarines in question are those at the center of the recent US-Australia-UK defense deal, which infuriated France — which lost its own contract to send diesel-powered subs down under. Previously, the US had shared this technology only with Britain. The identity of Country-1, the mysterious nation with which Toebbe allegedly thought he was in touch, is already causing a guessing game in Washington. Plenty of friends or foes would love to get juice on the subs.
The Toebbes are due to appear in court in West Virginia on Tuesday. The world and America The global energy crisis is getting worse.
The first significant snowstorm of the season is heading for the Rocky Mountains.
 'The single biggest health threat facing humanity' A new report by the World Health Organization has called on nations to pick up the pace in environmental commitments. The report, dedicated to children who have already died from air pollution and climate change, describes the planet's warming as the "single biggest health threat facing humanity." Work-life balance Hollywood loves the Secret Service. No Washington movie would be complete without a depiction of the sharp-suited men and women, hidden behind dark glasses and whispering into sleeve mics, ready to take a bullet for the President. In reality, though, an agent's life is far from glamorous.
Sure, some get to fly the world in Air Force One alongside the commander in chief. But the job also involves grueling conditions, hours of overtime and comparatively low pay.
A recent report is warning that increasing demands on agents, including rising threats against the president, political violence in the US, hiring freezes and budgetary pressures, are "stressing the workforce" and damaging morale. There are particularly high attrition rates in the uniformed branch, which among other duties controls access to the White House.
The report by the National Academy of Public Administration, first covered by The Washington Post, calls on the government to improve the work-life balance of Secret Service members, provide better compensation, and increase hiring and retention to bolster the size and experience of the force.
The Secret Service doesn't just protect the president and the vice president and their families. It guards foreign leaders when they visit the US and specially designated national security events, like summits, the State of the Union address and even the Super Bowl. The demands are especially acute during presidential election years, when agents protect rival party nominees on the campaign trail. During the 2020 race, many agents tested positive for Covid-19 after then-President Donald Trump insisted on holding super spreader rallies.
In recent years, the service has been hit by a number of scandals and lapses — including one occasion in 2014 when a White House fence jumper actually made it into the presidential mansion itself. The National Academy of Public Administration report said "stresses" on the service "contributed to some of the high-profile incidents that garnered negative attention to the Secret Service during the past decade."
For all the popular-culture bragging rights surrounding the service, the men and women involved operate under extreme pressure. Because when the President's life is on the line, they can't afford to make a mistake.  Vojin Kusic from Srbac, Bosnia-Herzegovina, says his wife was undecided about the view she wanted from their window, so he came up with a solution: a rotating house. (Above: Accelerated time-lapse via Reuters) Thanks for reading. The G20 will hold an extraordinary meeting about Afghanistan. EU leaders hold a regular summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. US Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya will travel to Haiti and Panama. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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