U.S. Democrats voted to formally nominate Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential candidate a day after their convention got off to a raucous and shaky start.
U.S. President Barack Obama said it is possible that Russia was behind a major leak of Democratic party e-mails last week and had the goal of influencing the U.S. presidential election.
Delegates erupted in cheers as Hillary Clinton's primary rival, Bernie Sanders, helped make it official when the roll call got to his home state of Vermont.
‘All You Do Online Can and Will Be Used Against You’ – Russian Denunciations in the Age of Putinby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 25 – Even though denunciations have not yet received a legal or even generally agreed upon definition, they have become a dominant fact of life in Putin’s Russia because now it is possible to give “a clear answer” to an updated version of Yury Dovlatov’s infamous question, “who will write 40 million denunciations?”
The answer, Irina Lukyanova says in an article in “Novaya gazeta,” consists of Russians who because of the messages of the authorities about what are “thought crimes” and the ease of reading posts on the Internet are now flooding the authorities with denunciations of one kind of another (novayagazeta.ru/politics/73943.html).
In order to trigger an explosion of denunciations, she says, the powers that be simply had to “create the corresponding conditions: to adopt laws criminalizing thought crimes, to frighten citizens about living in a ring of enemies … to direct their attention to ‘a fifth column’ and to give signals that ‘you are being heard and measures are being taken.”
That environment has been created, and Russians have responded with enthusiasm, Lukyanov says. The are now “specialists on letters to officials containing demands to ban books, concerts, puppets, street actions, exhibits and theatrical performances,” in show to ban anything that in the view of the authors could harm the nation.
She gives two recent examples: a demand by the Urals Parents Committee to ban various books and social networks and to cancel an Elton John concert, and calls by Novosibirsk activists to ban Tannhauser and other performances the Popular Assembly as it styles itself objects to.
Their denunciations are typical of what is becoming a pattern: First, they complain about some public action they don’t approve of; second, they cite this or that law that it supposedly violates, and a speech by Putin that makes that clear; and third, they “compare their opponents to whatever the main political enemies of the moment.”
In all cases, however, the goal is the same: to shift a real conflict over this or that question “into the political realm,” so that the powers that be will feel compelled to act. Often those filing denunciations hope to add to their influence by complaining that lower level officials have failed to do just that.
To make their denunciations credible, their authors have to provide “evidence,” and today, Lukyanova says, the easiest and best way for them to do so is to look at social networks online. Indeed, “to troll thorugh Facebook in the search for compromising materials is simply good tone” in Russia today.
Sometimes, those searching for this fasten on the content of articles their targets have posted, other times they consider what they have reposted or liked, and at still others, they have fastened on who is on their list of friends or contacts. And in the latest evolution of this: these searchers now complain about what those they don’t like haven’t done.
If people post something about Ukraine, the question these people now ask is why haven’t they focused on something else, perhaps famine in Africa or the war in Syria. With that, the possibilities for using anything in social networks as a denunciation expand exponentially – and that is what is happening.
Thus, the current wave of denunciations, fed by new federal laws on thought crimes and easy accessibility of social networks, seems set to surpass anything that occurred in Stalin’s time, a development that likely will further undermine any possibility of social cohesion and leave Russian society more anomic than it has ever been.
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Many Russians have drawn the wrong lessons from the events in Turkey because in that country, the military has traditionally been the promoter of Westernization and secularism.
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The evidence clearly implicates the Russian government in the hacking of the DNC, a clear attempt to influence November's election. And it's not the only one.
Ahead of this week's NATO summit in Warsaw, what is the best way to proceed with Russia? Which aims should the West and the Kremlin be pursuing? And what can be done to end the current crisis? One thing is clear: We need strategic patience.
Relations between Russia and NATO are deteriorating. Kremlin foreign policy advisor Sergey Karaganov speaks with SPIEGEL about the risk of war, NATO's aggressive posturing and the West's inability to understand Russian values.
Ansbach, Munich, Würzburg, Nice, Brussels -- in light of the many horrific news stories, many are asking: What's the matter with 2016?
Russian president and state media have largely been favourable to Trump and in return, some of his most striking policy pronouncements are in country’s interest
Allegations that the Kremlin is responsible for the damaging hack of Democratic National Committee emails may never be conclusively proven, but there is plenty of evidence suggesting that Donald Trump’s presidential bid can count on at least some backing from Moscow.
That support is sometimes more than tacit: in December, months before Trump secured the Republican nomination, Putin called him “a colorful person, talented, without any doubt” and said: “It’s not our business to decide his merits, that’s for US voters, but he is absolutely the leader in the presidential race.” The Russian president later appeared to qualify his remark.
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Стороны отметили, что с момента подписания Меморандума о взаимопонимании по предотвращению инцидентов и обеспечению безопасности полетов авиации в ходе проведения операций в Сирии он продемонстрировал высокую эффективность.
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The Institute of Modern Russia continues its series of interviews with experts on the political situation in Russia, its relations with the West, and the future of the country’s political system. Olga Khvostunova, editor-in-chief of imrussia.org, spoke with Dr. Leon Aron, director of Russian studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), about the Putin regime’s domestic imperatives, reasons behind the cooling of relations between Russia and the West, and the “pie in the sky” dream of American presidents.
Чем фрустрирован один из ведущих американских экспертов по России?
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/robert-legvold-on-cold-war-lessons/3435409.html
Originally published at - http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/robert-legvold-on-cold-war-lessons/3435409.html
РИА Новости |
Советник Порошенко рассказал, что солдат ВСУ кормят едой с тараканами
РИА Новости МОСКВА, 26 июл – РИА Новости. Командование одной из частей ВСУ пыталось скрыть факт отравления военнослужащих некачественной пищей. Об этом сообщил советник президента Украины Петра Порошенко Юрий Бирюков в Facebook. По его данным, с жалобами на отравление ... Украинские военные пожаловались на еду с тараканами и червями (фото)Росбалт.RU Советник Порошенко показал тараканов и червяков в еде украинских солдатВзгляд Советник Порошенко: бойцов ВСУ кормят едой с тараканамиМосковский комсомолец Дни.Ру -Утро.Ru -НТВ.ru -Медийно-новостной портал 24smi.org Все похожие статьи: 52 » |
US: 'Revolution' of Cyber Attacks Prompts New Protection Efforts by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
The U.S. warned Tuesday of a "revolution" of computer hacking threats against the country from foreign governments and non-state actors like the so-called Islamic State, and it issued new guidelines to protect American interests. A White House directive outlined a five-point scale to assess the severity of new attacks, the degree to which a cyber security breach might affect national government operations, municipal utilities, private corporations or other U.S. interests. The new effort, years in the making, would assign six levels of severity to any breach, such as a level three or above incident that would be considered "significant" and trigger quick government action. The worst-case scenario was seen as one that would pose an imminent threat to wide-scale critical infrastructure in the country, the stability of the government or lives of Americans. "To put it bluntly, we are in the midst of a revolution of the cyber threat, one that is growing more persistent, more diverse, more frequent and more dangerous every day," White House counter-terrorism adviser Lisa Monaco told a cyber security conference in New York. "Unless we act together - government, industry and citizens - we risk a world where malicious cyber activity could threaten our security and prosperity," she said. "That is not a future we should accept." Monaco named Russia and China as cyber adversaries, while also noting that Iran and North Korea are capable and willing to carry out destructive attacks, as well as "hacktivists" who are not necessarily aligned with a foreign interest. The new directive comes as U.S. Democratic Party officials are claiming that "Russian state actors" hacked into nearly 20,000 emails at the party's Washington headquarters. The messages, released last weekend by WikiLeaks, showed that party leaders undermined the presidential campaign of an upstart challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in his long and eventually unsuccessful contest against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party's nominee in the November national election. Monaco said there will be a thorough investigation of the Democratic Party security breach "and I'm sure there will be more to say later." The FBI is looking into the cyber attack, but Moscow on Tuesday rejected any contention that it was involved.
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The Hill |
Evidence mounts linking DNC email hacker to Russia
The Hill Vocativ reported Tuesday that ThreatConnect had discovered the hacker used a predominantly-Russian-language VPN when he corresponded with them through a French AOL account. ThreatConnect matched that same internet address from the same VPN ... DNC Hacker Unmasked: He Really Works for Russia, Researchers SayDaily Beast New Evidence Strengthens Guccifer 2.0's Russian ConnectionsForeign Policy (blog) ThreatConnect follows Guccifer 2.0 to Russian VPN ServiceThreatConnect all 9 news articles » |
В работе коллегии примет участие руководящий состав Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации, представители органов государственной власти и Общественного совета при Минобороны России.
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The agreement to send refugees back to Turkey could unravel following the country's attempted coup
Police officers at the scene Monday of a bombing in Ansbach, Germany. A 27-year-old Syrian carried out the suicide bombing, wounding 15.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said it is possible that the Russians would try to influence the U.S. presidential election, after the leak of Democratic National Committee emails that experts have attributed to Russian hackers.
John Kerry: Progress with Russia on Syria despite military doubts by Robert Burns, Matthew Lee
VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said progress is being made with Russia on a potential military partnership that could strengthen a faltering truce in Syria despite grave doubts expressed by the Pentagon and joint chiefs of staff.
Speaking Tuesday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey ...
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BERLIN (AP) - The Latest on a series of attacks in Germany (all times local):
9:45 a.m.
Top security officials in Germany are calling for tougher security screening of asylum-seekers and have also announced that more police officers will be hired following four attacks in the country - two of ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary said Tuesday that it's "absurd" to think the Kremlin is responsible for hacking the U.S. Democratic National Committee, as Hillary Clinton's camp has suggested.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected accusations that his government was behind the recent intrusion that resulted in thousands of sensitive ...
One of the men who killed a Roman Catholic priest in Normandy, France, Tuesday may have been a known terrorist who tried to join the Islamic State.
Authorities are trying to determine whether Adel Kermiche, 19, is one of the assailants who stormed the church in northwestern France brandishing knives, ...
DALLAS (AP) - The chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs has broadened his request for information on two former soldiers involved in mass shootings in Texas and Louisiana.
In a letter Tuesday to the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Florida Rep. Jeff Miller requested a briefing on all ...
Anti-Semitism surged on college campuses across the United States during the first part of 2016, according to a new study that found Jewish students supportive of Israel are being targeted “for harm.”
Nearly 100 more anti-Semitic incidents were recorded on U.S. college campuses during the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, according to the report, published by the AMCHA Initiative, a group that works to combat discrimination against Jews.
In addition, “the number of incidents involving the suppression of Jewish students’ freedom of speech and assembly approximately doubled from 2015 to 2016,” according to the report, which also found that a massive uptick in anti-Israel behavior “was highly correlated with behavior that targeted Jewish students for harm.”
“The number of incidents opposing Israel’s right to exist nearly tripled from 2015 to 2016,” according to the report, which provides further evidence that anti-Israel activism on campus is fueling aggression against Jewish students and placing them in harm’s way.
“The surge in campus anti-Semitism in the past year is very disturbing,” Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, the AMCHA Initiative’s leader, told the Washington Free Beacon.
“The sheer volume of incidents is rising at an alarming rate, and how much a campus is afflicted is directly tied to the presence of anti-Zionist students and faculty and the level of anti-Zionist activity.”
The report examined anti-Israel and anti-Semitic behavior at 113 schools in the United States with the largest number of Jewish students.
“From January to June 2016, one or more kinds of anti-Semitic activity were found at more than half the schools most popular with Jewish students,” the study found.
At least 287 incidents targeting Jewish students for verbal or physical harm were recorded during the first six months of 2016. More than half of the schools included in the study experienced an anti-Semitic incident or activity targeted against pro-Israel Jews.
This type of activity is tied to the rise of anti-Israel campus groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, which has disseminated Nazi propaganda at some schools and been involved in physical confrontations with pro-Israel students, according to the report.
“Unquestionably, [the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement], SJP and anti-Israel faculty are the prime predictors of hostility aimed at Jewish students,” Rossman-Benjamin said. “But what’s even more astonishing is how much bolder and more brazen the anti-Zionists are becoming.”
“While the focus used to be solely on Israel, the damage is now also being unleashed on Jewish students,” she said. “Instead of boycotting Israel, it’s now common practice to boycott Jewish students. Universities must stand up against this hate and clearly distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism, as the University of California did earlier this year.”
The post Report: Anti-Semitism, Violence Against Jews Surge on College Campuses appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
MULTIPLE ATTACKS IN GERMANY
A suicide bombing in German town Ansbach late last night has injured 12 people and killed the man responsible. Ansbach was hosting a music concert that had attracted a crowd of around 2,000. The attacker detonated his bomb nearby having been denied entry to the concert, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters early this morning. [Wall Street Journal’s Anton Troianovski; New York Times’ Niraj Chokshi]
The man responsible for the attack – the fourth to hit Germany in a week – has been identified as a 27-year-old Syrian who had been denied asylum a year ago, but had been allowed to remain in Germany due to the ongoing situation in Syria. He had been receiving psychiatric treatment, according to the Bavarian interior minister. The AP’s Tomislav Skaro and Kirsten Grieshaber report. The attacker was reportedly due to be deported to Bulgaria. [AP]
Another Syrian refugee used a long knife or a machete to kill a woman in Reutlingen, Southwestern Germany, on Sunday. However, the killing is not being treated as terrorist in nature, a police spokesperson has confirmed. [New York Times’ Melissa Eddy]
German police have detained a 16-year-old Afghan on Sunday in connection with a shooting attack at a Munich shopping center on Friday, on suspicion of having been aware of the attack but failing to report it. He is also suspected of posting an announcement on Facebook inviting people to a cinema close to Munich’s train station, similar to the post left by the gunman himself inviting users to the McDonald’s where the shooting began, described by investigators as a lure. [Reuters]
Again, the attack is not believed to have been terrorist in nature, and the perpetrator – an Iranian-German teenager – is being described as depressed and as having a fascination with mass killings, but with no links to the Islamic State or any other extremist group. The shooting took place on the fifth anniversary of the attack in Oslo, Norway, and on the island of Utoya, but Anders Behring Breivik, which left 77 dead. Souad Mekhennet at al report for the Washington Post.
The string of violence has thrown Germany into high alert, assured France’s continued state of emergency, and poured fuel on the contentious debate of Europe’s migration crisis and its security,write Julian E. Barnes and Matthew Dalton for the Wall Street Journal. Although there is a difference between terrorism and mass killings perpetrated by unstable individuals, experts have said that images of one high-profile attack can encourage others: mentally-ill would-be killers “absorb the violence and aggression” of terrorist attacks.
TURKEY
Detention warrants for 42 journalists have been issued by Turkish authorities today as part of the crackdown on the “virus” that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says infected state bodies and led to the coup attempt. [BBC]
Thousands gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim square for the first cross-party rally to condemn the coup attempt, yesterday. Among the strongly patriotic crowd, reports AFP, a few banners displayed messages such as “sovereignty belongs to the people alone,” and “no to the coup, yes to democracy!” as the post-coup state of emergency and the ongoing purge of alleged state enemies contribute to rising concerns among citizens.
The rally was a rare show of unity between opposition group and ruling party members, report Christopher Torchia and Cinar Kiper for the AP. The rally was organized by the opposition Republican People’s Party, which was close to the secularist generals who used to control Turkey’s military. The party has lost influence since Erdoğan came to power on the votes of a pious Muslim class.
Over 2,250 social, educational and healthcare institutions and facilities were seized by Turkish authorities on Saturday, a new tactic against suspected coup plotters. In an interview broadcast Saturday, President Erdoğan was critical of the West’s concern over possible human rights violations in the crackdown on alleged coup plotters, telling reporters that it was his duty to take such measures. [Washington Post’s Christopher Tochia and Crinar Kiper]
“Law is suspended:” the Ankara Bar Association human rights commission and other lawyers and human rights organizations have reported beatings and mistreatment of those detained since Turkey’s failed coup. Prisoners are being held in sports facilities and stables and subjected to “systematic” abuse, according to the deputy head of the commission. The Turkish government strongly denies the allegations. Loveday Morris reports for the Washington Post.
Turkey is in no position to become a member of the European Union any time soon, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Junker said today, adding that negotiations will stop altogether if Erdoğan reintroduces the death penalty in Turkey. [Reuters]
IRAQ and SYRIA
Government airstrikes have hit five medical clinics in the northern province of Aleppo amid intensifying fighting in the area, leaving four out of service, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. [AP]
A suicide car bomb in Khalis, a town northeast of Baghdad, has killed at least 21 this morning. No group has claimed responsibility, but the Islamic State regularly attacks security forces and civilian areas in the region, and was responsible for a suicide bombing in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighborhood on Sunday, which killed at least 15. [Al Jazeera]
Iraq has banned the bomb detectors proved to be fake years ago – even before the 2013 conviction for fraud of the two British men who sold them to Iraq – despite which the Iraqi government has continued to use them until now, spending almost $60 million on them despite the warnings of US military commanders and the devices’ repeatedly proven failure to prevent bomb attacks in Baghdad. The ban was prompted by the massive suicide bombing that killed almost 300 people in Baghdad on July 3, reports Hamza Hendawi for the AP.
AFGHANISTAN
Security has increased at mosques in Afghanistan after an Islamic State bombing at a protest by ethnic Hazaras, a largely Shiite minority group, on Saturday killed over 80 people and injured hundreds of others. In claiming responsibility for the attack, the Islamic State said that it had targeted the “gathering of Shiites,” reports Ehsanullah Amiri and Jessica Donati for the Wall Street Journal. This is the first time that the Islamic State leadership in Syria has claimed responsibility for such a deadly strike in Afghanistan. [New York Times’ Mujib Mashal et al]
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani ordered a 10-day ban on public protests yesterday, amid fears that sectarian violence could be unleashed in the Sunni-majority nation. [Washington Post’s Muhammad Sharif and Pamela Constable]
Does the attack signal a change of tactics for the Islamic State in Afghanistan? Sune Engel Rasmussen considers the veracity of the terrorist group’s claim of responsibility for the attack, and the potential outcomes if it was indeed responsible, for the Guardian.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan are headed toward a record high this year, according to a UN report, released today. The report records 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injuries in the first six months of this year, an increase of 4 per cent on the same period last year. The increase is attributed to an escalation in fighting in heavily-populated areas such as Helmand, which are teetering toward Taliban control, reports Jessica Donati for the Wall Street Journal.
GUANTANAMO BAY
The government destroyed a clandestine CIA prison with secret permission from the trial judge, defense lawyers for the alleged 9/11 plotters submitted for the first time yesterday, saying they only learned of the destruction after the fact. The defense have been alluding to the mysterious destruction of evidence since May, in response to which Prosecutors have said they did nothing wrong, but without being specific. Carol Rosenberg provides the details in the Miami Herald.
Afghan Guantánamo Bay detainee Haroon al-Afghani has been denied parole, the Periodic Review Board finding that he lacked “credibility and truthfulness” as to his future plans if released. Al-Afghani has been at the detention center since June 22, 2007, and is considered by the US military to be a former Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin commander, responsible for organizing attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. [Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg]
SOUTH CHINA SEA
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice attended talks with Chinese officials in Beijing today, the highest-level visit by a White House official since the international tribunal in The Hague issued a ruling rejecting China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea – a topic that was not raised in opening remarks to reporters, reports the AP.
US Secretary of State John Kerry met with his counterparts from the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – ASEAN – at a regional security conference in Laos today. He made no direct reference to the South China Sea, but praised ASEAN for upholding “a rules-based international system that protects the rights of all nations.” [AP]
ASEAN has gathered in Laos for its most important series of meetings since the July 12 ruling, which China has been putting pressure on ASEAN to reject. Diplomats at the conference said over the weekend that they are increasingly offended by what they call China’s manipulation of the bloc, which only makes decisions by consensus, and has been unable to issue a statement on the ruling because of blocks by Chinese ally Cambodia. ASEAN is considering allowing majority decisions as a result, reports Ben Otto for the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
A shooting at the Club Blu nightclub in Florida early this morning has left two dead and 16 injured.Three people have been arrested in connection with the attack. Police are trying to determine the motive for the shooting. [BBC]
The Department of Homeland Security is pushing to increase the number of law enforcement personnel stationed at airports abroad to screen passengers before they board planes to the United States. Ron Nixon of The New York Times reports that this extended preclearance program would be designed to extend the United States’ border security of foreign airports as part of new initiatives to reduce the risk of potential terrorists entering the country.
The Russian government has been accused of trying to meddle in the US presidential election by orchestrating the release of damaging Democratic Party records, following Friday’s release of some 20,000 stolen emails, many of which were embarrassing to Democratic leaders. Researchers have concluded that the National Democratic Committee’s servers were hacked by two Russian intelligence agencies, also responsible for cyberattacks on the White House, the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year. [New York Times’ David E Sanger and Nicole Perlroth]
The UN Security Council has decided to authorize member countries to help Libya destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. The UN News Centre reports the Council’s actions follow a decision by the OPCW that call for international assistance to help Libya’s national unity government expedite the destruction of its chemical weapons.
Iran’s judiciary has confirmed the detention of an Iranian-American who was visiting his family in Iran. The AP reports that Robin Shahini, a recent graduate from San Diego State University, was likely taken into custody on July 11 and has not been heard from since. His girlfriend is concerned that Shahini was arrested over online comments criticizing Iran’s human rights record.
Australia has proposed indefinitely detaining people convicted of “terrorism-related charges” if they are considered to pose an ongoing danger to society. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the measure was prompted by an increase in the frequency and severity of terrorist attacks worldwide. [Al Jazeera]
Could NATO be the next alliance to unravel? CNN’s Ryan Browne asks whether, after last month’s Brexit, NATO could be facing an Amerixit or even a Turkxit, following Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s comments last week that the US may not immediately defend a NATO ally under his leadership. The answer? “Probably not,” says Browne.
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
Syrian government air strikes have killed more than 42 civilians in the city of al-Atareb, Aleppo province, as violence in the area continues to escalate. [Al Jazeera]
The UN has called for weekly 48-hour humanitarian pauses in Aleppo, where over a quarter of a million people are trapped, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien, delivering a briefing to the Security Council yesterday. He called the situation in Aleppo “medieval and shameful,” reports the AP.
A long and violent insurgency is foreshadowed by the Islamic State’s latest suicide in Baghdad, Iraq,according to US diplomats and commanders, report Michael Schmidt and Eric Schmitt for the New York Times. Many Islamic State fighters have blended back into the mainly Sunni population in the city, officials have said, and are waiting their chance to conduct future terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has shown little sign of being able to forge an inclusive partnership with Sunnis.
Israeli warplanes have hit a Syrian position from which mortars were fired into the Israeli-held Golan Heights, the Israeli military has said. No-one was injured in the mortar fire, which hit an open area close to Israel’s frontier fence, but Israel’s army has said that the Syrian government is responsible and that it will “continue to act” to preserve Israel’s sovereignty. Israel has largely kept out of the Syrian war, but has delivered similar reprisals for errant fire on its territory in the past, the AP reports.
Over 100 Chinese nationals have joined the Islamic State in Syria, leaked Islamic-State registration forms show. Two recent studies by US think tanks found that most of the Chinese fighters listed in the records came from China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang and could be members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group that has been resisting Beijing’s rule for decades. [Wall Street Journal’s Jeremy Page]
The US is looking at ways to increase counter-terrorism cooperation with China, a senior US official said today at the end of a visit to China by National Security Adviser Susan Rice. China has been trying to get Western countries to help it with its fight against what it calls its Islamist extremists, but up till now, Western countries have been reluctant to cooperate because of a lack of evidence that the extremists exist. [Reuters]
US-led airstrikes continue. US and coalition forces carried out 13 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on July 24. Separately, partner forces conducted seven strikes against targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
TURKEY
Turkish Airlines fired 211 employees on suspicion of links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating the July 15 failed coup, yesterday. [AP]
Turkey’s religious affairs directorate has removed a total of 1,112 personnel, including preachers and instructors in the Koran, since the coup, it confirmed today. [Reuters]
The Turkish government has also accused dozens of journalists of being part of a network linked to cleric and alleged coup mastermind Fetullah Gulen. Dozens of reporters have had their press credentials revoked, report Ceylan Yeginsu and Tim Arango for the New York Times.
Erdoğan justified the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey as the democratic response to voters’ call for its return during an interview with German news agency ARD aired late yesterday. Erdoğan also accused the EU of failing to uphold its side of a deal to prevent migrants from entering Europe via Turkey, saying the EU has only transferred a fraction of the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) promised to Ankara as part of the agreement.
Turkey’s agreement with the EU, already under strain, might collapse altogether as Turkey becomes “more dangerous” in the aftermath of the coup attempt, critics of the deal are arguing. Surfacing allegations of the torture of detainees from organizations such as Amnesty International mean that the EU “cannot expect to outsource its refugee responsibilities to Turkey,” Amnesty’s deputy Europe director has told the AP. This will put more pressure on Greece, the main migrant gateway into the EU.
Will NATO lose its “eastern pillar” now that Turkey has “ceased to be a team player?” David Gardner discusses Erdoğan’s subordination of almost every domestic and foreign policy consideration to his “quest for a Vladimir Putin-style presidency,” which includes speculating whether Turkey would be better served inside alliances such as the Eurasian Economic Union, Putin’s “brainchild,” rather than NATO or the EU. [Financial Times]
“Mr. Erdoğan’s accusation is no surprise, not for what it says about me but rather for what it reveals about his systematic and dangerous drive toward one-man rule.” Fethullah Gulen defends himself against Turkey’s President’s accusation that he orchestrated last week’s failed coup in the New York Times.
GERMANY
A video in which the attacker pledges loyalty to the Islamic State has been found on the cellphone of the Syrian man who blew himself up in Ansbach, Germany, on Sunday, wounding 15, German officials said yesterday. Melissa Eddy reports for the New York Times.
A statement on the Islamic State’s Amaq news agency described the attacker as a “soldier of IS” who had carried out the “operation” in response to its call to target states involved in the anti-Islamic State military coalition. [Financial Times’ Guy Chazan and Patrick McGee]
Police presence at airports and train stations will be boosted and stop-and-search operations carried out in Germany in response to the attacks and the perception that further terrorist attacks could be forthcoming. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office has warned it has 410 leads on possible terrorists currently residing in Germany, report Kate Connolly and Janek Schmidt for the Guardian.
The German representative of Syrian opposition group the Syrian National Coalition has expressed shame over the string of attacks committed by Syrian asylum-seekers in Germany. Bassam Abdullah said he hoped the violence would not render Germans hostile to asylum-seekers. [AP]
FRANCE
Two men took several people hostage in a church in France’s Normandy region this morning. The assailants and a priest were killed during an operation to free the hostages, France’s interior ministry has said. The attackers’ motive remains unclear, but anti-terrorism investigators have been summoned to the case, reports France 24.
Two more have been arrested in connection with the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, sources have told Reuters today. The arrests took place yesterday in Nice itself.
Outrage is growing over security flaws that may have contributed to the deadly terror attack in Nice on July 14, the French government defending itself yesterday over allegations from Sandra Bertin, who runs Nice’s CCTV network, that Interior Ministry officials had “pressured” her to falsify a report on policing on the night to make it seem that national police had been present when they were not. The Interior Ministry has issued a statement following the accusations. James McAuley provides the details for the Washington Post.
D.N.C. HACK
Secretary of State John Kerry raised the issue of the email hack with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Laos, he told reporters today, but stopped short of making any allegations. He did inform Lavrov of the FBI investigation into the hack, launched yesterday, he said. [AP’s Matthew Lee]
Lavrov is declining to respond fully to allegations that Russia was behind the hack, saying that to do so he would have to “use four-letter words.” [AP]
There is “no proof” that Russia is behind the hack, WikiLeaks – which published the thousands of DNC staffers’ emails that were hacked – founder Julian Assange has told NBC Nightly News. [Politico’s Nolan D. McCaskill]
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has called for greater transparency of government intelligence capabilities in the wake of the hack, saying that this would give the US government a greater capability to attribute blame. Politico’s Caroline Kelly reports.
“The very rules of war have changed.” According to Max Fisher in the New York Times, an influential 2013 Russian military article by Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the Russian chief of the general staff, answers the question of why Russia would choose to hack Democratic National Committee emails: “nonmilitary means” such as deception and intervention have overtaken “the force of weapons in their effectiveness,” the article says.
Putin’s regime has tried to intervene in the politics of numerous European countries, but the attempt to meddle in a US election is a first, says the Washington Post editorial board, which firmly believes that credit for the disruption of the Democratic Party on the eve of its convention should go to the Russian president.
Suggestions of Russian involvement in the hack are feeding mistrust among skeptics of Obama’s attempts at a deal with Russia over Syria, writes Nahal Toosi in Politico.
GUANTANAMO BAY
“Virtually all” of the evidence disclosed to the defense by prosecutors in the 9/11 terror case at Guantánamo Navy Base has been sent back as inadequate, the Judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl said yesterday. Defense attorney Jay Connell explained after court that the Judge’s comments probably mean one of two things: either the original documents were over-redacted, or documents crafted as submissions for evidence were not meaningfully representative of the underlying evidence. Carol Rosenberg reports for the Miami Herald.
Guantánamo Bay’s last Russian captive Ravil Mingazov has been approved for transfer by the Periodic Review Board, which then issued a brief statement. Mingazov’s lawyers are attempting to help him resettle in Nottingham, England, where his ex-wife and son have lived since 2014, reports Carol Rosenberg for the Miami Herald.
SOUTH CHINA SEA
China asked the US to support its talks with the Philippines to resolve a territorial dispute in the South China Sea during a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi Monday. It was a move that seemed calculated to play down the recent legal decision against China’s claims in the region, suggests Ben Otto in the Wall Street Journal.
The US is not taking sides on the substance of maritime disputes in the region, Kerry told reporters this afternoon. He said that he and Wang had agreed that it is time to lower the temperature over the dispute, and that he intends to urge the Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte to negotiate with Beijing when he meets with him in Manilla tomorrow. [AP’s Daniel Malloy]
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Iran has denied claims by Washington that three senior al-Qaida figures are based in the country,Nasser Karimi reports for the AP. The Obama administration accused Iran of helping the three – identified as “specially designated global terrorists” – to transfer money and fighters from South Asia to the Mideast.
A long-anticipated US-Israel agreement that could result in increased US military assistance to Israel may be signed next week when acting head of Israel’s National Security Council Jacob Nagel travels to Washington to meet White House Officials, according to Israel’s prime minster’s office. The APreports.
Forces fighting for the United Nations-backed Libyan government have seized the security headquarters in Sirte, they said Monday, a crucial step toward retaking control of the coastal city that the Islamic State captured more than a year ago. Tamer El-Ghobashy and Hassan Morajea of The Wall Street Journal report.
Suicide bombers in two explosives-laden cars attacked the UN Mine Action Service offices and a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, today, killing 13 people. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, reports the BBC.
Nine militants have been shot dead by Bangladeshi police in Dhaka today, authorities have said, with another militant wounded and in custody. Police surrounded the militants’ hide-out, opening fire around 5 am. “We are not sure what group these militants belong to,” Bangladesh’s inspector general of police told reporters, including the New York Times’ Julfikar Ali Manik.
Leaders meeting at the annual Arab League summit in Mauritania have pledged to “defeat terrorism.” The two-day talks, which opened yesterday, have focused on the crises in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. [Al Jazeera] This year’s talks are the most poorly attended in years, points out theAP, which it calls a sign of the region’s disarray.
Brazilian authorities have arrested a 12th person suspected of being part of a group plotting to conduct terrorist attacks during the Rio Olympic Games next month. [Wall Street Journal’s Rogerio Jelmayer and Luciana Magalhaes] Facebook and Twitter cooperated with investigators, the judge overseeing the probe into the alleged plotters said on Sunday, providing “data related to the conversations” between the plotters and “data about where those conversations were posted.” [Reuters]
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U.S. News & World Report |
FBI Investigates DNC Hacking; Clinton Campaign Blames Russia
U.S. News & World Report Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks at a reception with friends and family following the Republican National Convention, Friday, July 22, 2016, in Cleveland. Listening are vice presidential running mate Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., Karen ... Search the DNC email databaseWIKILEAKS As Democrats Gather, a Russian Subplot Raises IntrigueNew York Times all 619 news articles » |
For the first time in history, India has refused to extend temporary residency visas for three senior Chinese media correspondents, effectively expelling them from the country, allegedly for espionage activities.
Organized criminal groups in southern Italy may be supplying assault weapons to groups and individuals that are associated with the Islamic State, according to European investigators.
Competitive Intelligence by fredslibrary
Title: Competitive Intelligence
Author: Burton H. Alden
Alden, Burton H. (1959), et al. Competitive Intelligence: Information, Espionage, And Decision-Making: A Special Report for Businessmen. Watertown, MA: C. J. Associates
LCCN: 59013524
Subjects
Date Posted: July 25, 2016
Reviewed by Paul W. Blackstock and Frank L. Schaf[1]
A study prepared by students of the Harvard Graduate School of Business. Based on responses from two hundred top-level executives, it shows thot 27 percent knew of instances of spying in their busineses and 20 percent thought that the practice was increasing.
[1] Blackstock, Paul W. (1978) and Frank L. Schaf, Jr. Intelligence, Espionage, Counterespionage, And Covert Operations: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale Research Co., p. 134
A federal judge on Monday sentenced a California man to 15 years in prison for trying to join the Islamic State group in Syria.
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IS attacker: Germans “won’t be able to sleep peacefully”by In Homeland Security Staff
Islamic State group suicide bomber says to all of Germany: The nation's people "won't be able to sleep peacefully anymore."
In a major cyber hack, who do you call? The White House spells it out. by In Homeland Security Staff
President Obama approved a new directive Tuesday that spells out for the first time in writing how the government handles significant cyber incidents.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected allegations by the US Democratic National Convention (DNC) that Moscow was behind a recent hack of its computer systems.
The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russia was behind a hack of the Democratic National Committee's e-mails as absurd.
As Democrats Gather, a Russian Subplot Raises Intrigueby By DAVID E. SANGER and NICOLE PERLROTH
Researchers have concluded that the Democratic National Committee was breached by two Russian intelligence agencies, and metadata from the released emails suggests that the documents passed through Russian computers.
Federal officials say the inquiry has been underway since the spring, when the agency was first notified of the D.N.C.’s suspicions about hacking.
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I would have expected more adeptness from Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence superstar in the Soviet Union’s legendary KGB.
His amateurish attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in the United States by tasking Russian hackers to steal 20,000 emails from the servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and share them with WikiLeaks to embarrass Hillary Clinton and favor Donald Trump showed his talents are in decline.
The DNC emails confirmed what everyone already knew beyond a reasonable doubt. The DNC and its chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, were de facto megaphones and foot soldiers for Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic Party primary elections for the presidential nomination. The political benefit to Republican presidential nominee Trump is speculative at best. Indeed, the Putin-orchestrated WikiLeak disclosures could benefit Mrs. Clinton because the American electorate generally views Russia with a jaundiced eye — especially after the annexation of Crimea, aggression against Ukraine, and industrial-scale covert doping of its Olympian athletes.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden fretted, “they’re clearly taking their game to another level. It would be weaponizing information. You don’t want a foreign power affecting elections.”
Thereby hangs a tale of United States hypocrisy which speaks volumes about our suboptimal global reputation. The very first CIA covert action manipulated the 1948 Italian elections. By its own later admissions to the House Select Committee on Intelligence, the CIA gave $1 million to Italian “center parties.” The agency also forged documents and letters purported to come from the Communist Party of Italy to besmirch its reputation and discredit its leaders; funded anonymous books and magazine articles vividly detailing alleged communist activities in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union; and published pamphlets exposing PCI candidates’ sex and personal lives and insinuating they harbored fascist or anti-church sympathies.
The CIA took its Italian electoral intervention to a new level in Chile. As reported by the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (Church Committee), the CIA massively influenced Chile’s 1964 presidential election. “A total of nearly four million dollars was spent on some fifteen covert action projects, ranging from organizing slum dwellers to passing funds to political parties” to prevent the election of a Socialist or Communist.
The CIA again intervened with multiple covert actions costing between $800,000 and $1 million in Chile’s 1970 presidential election with the hope of derailing Marxist candidate Salvador Allende. The Senate Select Committee found: “Propaganda placements were achieved through subsidizing right-wing women’s and ‘civic action’ groups. A ‘scare’ campaign … equated an Allende victory with violence and Stalinist repression.” After the election was thrown to a joint session of the Chilean Congress because no candidate received an absolute majority, the CIA conducted covert activities to defeat Allende electorally, and then-CIA Director Richard Helms was instructed to organize a military coup. National security adviser Henry Kissinger remarked, “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people.”
Jordan’s King Hussein received $1 million from the CIA annually for 20 years, 1957-1977.
The New York Times reported on April 28, 2013: For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.
All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.
“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”
These examples of the CIA’s manipulation of foreign elections or foreign governments are but the tip of the iceberg. They exclude, among other things, the agency’s overthrow of Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadegh, Guatemala President Arbenz, attempted assassination of the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, attempted overthrow and assassination of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, complicity in the overthrow of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, and attempted overthrow of Indonesia’s Sukarno.
As the United States degenerated from a republic whose glory was liberty to an empire whose glory is world domination, our foreign policy became indistinguishable from the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must, i.e., all nations are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Double standards give birth to enmity and enemies, not amity and friends. Aren’t there any adults at the White House or CIA who know this?
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· · ·
Washington Times |
CIA exposes Russian DNC email ineptitude
Washington Times The very first CIA covert action manipulated the 1948 Italian elections. By its own later admissions to the House Select Committee on Intelligence, the CIA gave $1 million to Italian “center parties.” The agency also forged documents and letters ... and more » |
The Detroit News |
Fingerprint checks may be flawed by bad FBI records
The Detroit News Vanderpool had been working as a nurse's aide for nearly a decade when a change in state law required her Michigan employer to conduct FBI fingerprint background checks on employees. It turned up a conviction for falsifying a prescription for ... |
FBI led Brazil to militants planning Olympic attack
The Guam Daily Post (press release) (registration) A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office confirmed the comments and said the FBI provided the tip in May, after which Brazilian investigators tracked the suspects' communications and identified the other people arrested this week. A spokeswoman for ... and more » |
Meth, Strippers & a Missing Teen: FBI Investigates Oklahoma Sheriff
Daily Beast Even then, in the midst of an FBI investigation relating to his son's drug-dealing, Russell allegedly vowed to stay in office. The sheriff allegedly told Fielder, “Y'all can say all you want. The FBI has been investigating me and they ain't gonna find... |
Charleston Post Courier |
Protect FBI whistleblowers
Charleston Post Courier Instead, FBI employees who report what they perceive as wasteful or abusive procedures and expenditures to their supervisors create problems for themselves and their jobs. They have to go over the supervisor's head to top-ranking officials who are ... and more » |
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LawNewz |
FBI Investigating DNC Email Hack, Have Yet to Officially Point Finger at Russia
LawNewz shutterstock_293253875 After Wikileaks revealed thousands of damaging Democratic National Committee emails over the weekend that led to the resignation of Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the FBI is investigating to see if other political organizations ... REWIND: FBI Shuts Down Russian Spy Ring for Getting Too Cozy with Hillary ClintonPJ Media Russians suspected of hacking Democratic National Committee emailsCNN all 120 news articles » |
Politico |
FBI probing DNC hack
Politico "The FBI is investigating a cyber intrusion involving the DNC and are working to determine the nature and scope of the matter," the agency said in a statement. "A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue ... Sources: US officials warned DNC of hack months before the party actedCNN FBI Says It's Investigating DNC Computer HackingTheBlaze.com DNC Email Leak Might Be a Russian Effort to Get Donald Trump Elected, FBISuspectsTeenVogue.com New York Times -CNN all 540 news articles » |
Reuters |
FBI investigates hacking of Democratic Party organization
Reuters "A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace," the FBI said in a statement. Emails among DNC employees were released by anti ... FBI investigating hack of Democratic party emailCNET FBI Launches Investigation Into DNC Email HackTIME FBI investigates cyberattack of Democratic National CommitteePBS NewsHour Variety all 545 news articles » |
Huffington Post |
FBI Investigates Hacking Of Democratic National Committee
Huffington Post “A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” the FBI said in a statement. Emails among DNC employees were released by anti ... FBI Investigating Democratic National Convention Email HackBreitbart News FBI Investigates DNC Hacking; Clinton Campaign Blames RussiaABC News FBI investigating Democratic National Committee email hackWashington Times all 445 news articles » |
Charisma News |
FBI Makes Announcement Regarding DNC Email Leak
Charisma News James Comey FBI Director James Comey finds himself in the uncomfortable position of investigating the leak of Democratic Party emails just weeks after passing on criminal charges for the party's presidential nominee-in-waiting for conducting classified ... FBI investigates DNC hacking; Clinton campaign blames RussiaCTV News all 226 news articles » |
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