Politico |
Politics|Harry Reid Cites Evidence of Russian Tampering in US Vote, and Seeks FBIInquiry
New York Times The Senate minority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, asked the F.B.I. on Monday to investigate evidence suggesting that Russia may try to manipulate voting results in November. In a letter to the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey Jr., Mr. Reid wrote that ... Reid asks FBI to investigate Russian election tampering Politico Harry Reid asks FBI to investigate potential Russian election tamperingThe Verge Reid Asks FBI to Probe Threat of Russian Election TamperingABC News Thomson Reuters Foundation all 30 news articles » |
Politico |
Reid asks FBI to probe threat of Russian election tampering
Colorado Springs Gazette Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is asking the FBI to investigate the threat of Russian tampering with U.S. elections, including potentially falsifying election results. Reid argues in a letter to FBI Director James Comey that "evidence of a direct ... Priebus to FBI director: 'Get back to work' on ClintonPolitico all 1,281 news articles » |
KTRK-TV |
FBI warns of possible state election-system hacks
KTRK-TV The FBI didn't name the states that were targeted, but it described a "compromise" of one elections board website and "attempted intrusion activities" in another state's system. State election websites in Illinois and Arizona experienced hack-related ... and more » |
Press-Enterprise
A disgraced former FBI agent was sentenced to three years in federal prison Monday, Aug. 29, for stealing more than $136,000 confiscated in a 2014 San ...
Former FBI agent gets three years' jail for using drug cash on cars, cosme...Reuters
all 4 news articles »
Press-Enterprise |
August 30, 2016, 10:12 AM (IDT)
President Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet this week, Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes announced Monday, amid tensions about Turkey’s ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield which was targeting Syrian Kurds instead of ISIS.
The meeting Sunday will take place before the G20 summit in China. It comes as the US has urged Turkey to focus its efforts in Syria on ISIL, and to avoid engaging with the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington’s principal partner in Syria. They will also discuss Syria and responses to the refugee crisis. Asked about a possible Obama summit with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday night that nothing had so far been arranged.
August 30, 2016, 10:35 AM (IDT)
The FBI issued a nationwide alert about the possible hacking of state election offices after breaches of systems in Illinois and Arizona raised the potential of havoc on Election Day on Nov. 8. The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office has shut down parts of its system.
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Fox News |
Watergate: CIA withheld data on double agent
Fox News Entitled “Working Draft – CIA Watergate History,” the 155-page study was largely written by John C. Richards, a CIA officer who died in December 1974, and was brought nearly to completion by unnamed Agency colleagues who built on Richards' typed draft ... and more » |
Obamacare architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel called Hillary Clinton one of the “most transparent” presidential candidates in history on Monday, despite the controversies surrounding her private email server and the Clinton Foundation.
Emanuel is also known as being the brother of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as President Obama’s first chief of staff in the White House
Emanuel criticized Donald Trump and the letter his doctor wrote in five minutes while speaking with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow before comparing Trump to Clinton.
“It’s always crazy in this campaign where Donald Trump asks Hillary Clinton to release more information and she’s been one of the most transparent candidates in history, including on the medical history, and you do have to wonder a little bit about what Donald Trump, why he won’t get the same kind of letter and if there’s anything we need to be concerned about,” Emanuel said.
There has been a significant amount of discussion during the campaign about Clinton’s health andchallenges by Trump for her to release more information. Near the end of her time as secretary of state, Clinton suffered a concussion, which led to the discovery of a blood clot in her head. Clinton maintains that there are no longer any effects from the incident.
The post Obamacare Architect: Clinton One of the ‘Most Transparent’ Candidates in Historyappeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
Comey: FBI Wants "Adult Conversation' on Device Encryption
ABC News FBI Director James Comey is again warning about the bureau's inability to access digital devices because of encryption. In a speech Tuesday, Comey said default encryption built into smartphones is "making more and more of the room that we are charged ... and more » |
FBI Director James Comey is again warning about the bureau's inability to access digital devices because of encryption.
The former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency says the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is crucial to Mideast peace, joining the ranks of retired security men to urge the government to seek a two-state solution.
Uzbek Leader in Intensive Care After Brain Hemorrhageby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Speculation abounds about the state of health of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, but media reports that he has died have not been confirmed, the Kremlin said Tuesday. His younger daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, wrote on social media Monday that her father was in a "stable" condition in the hospital after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage over the weekend. Uzbek authorities have not released further official statements on Karimov’s health since he was rushed into intensive care. Karimov, 78, has ruled the country since before it gained independence from Moscow in 1991. Human rights groups have criticized former Soviet apparatchik Karimov for his brutal crackdown on all opposition in Uzbekistan, mainly for the alleged massacre of hundreds of protesters in the city of Andijan in 2005. Technically, the head of the senate should step in if Karimov dies or is incapable of fulfilling his duties. However, those favored to take over in the case of Karimov's long illness or death include Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov.
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LIVE UPDATES: Three of the four leaders of the “Normandy Quartet” — French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin — will not have a trilateral meeting in Beijing, but only bilateral meetings, the Kremlin announced.
Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies.
The previous issue is here.
Recent Analysis and Translations:
– What Has Ramzan Kadyrov Been Up To? Quietly Cultivating Regional and Kremlin Officials, Now He Meets with Putin
– RBC Publishes Report Sourced in FSB and Military on Wagner Private Military Contractor with 2,500 Fighters in Syria
– Russian Parliamentary Elections Round-Up: Open Russia’s Baronova Registered; Shevchenko Disqualified
– The Kremlin is Working Hard to Make Donald Trump President
– RBC Publishes Report Sourced in FSB and Military on Wagner Private Military Contractor with 2,500 Fighters in Syria
– Russian Parliamentary Elections Round-Up: Open Russia’s Baronova Registered; Shevchenko Disqualified
– The Kremlin is Working Hard to Make Donald Trump President
UPDATES BELOW
RT |
Propaganda warfare? Russia accused of backing hacker attack on Washington think tanks
RT Russia has once again been accused of backing hackers who this time allegedly penetrated several Washington think tanks that offer policy analysis to US lawmakers. The new accusations come as the FBI investigates an attack on the Democratic Party. EXCLUSIVE: Russia-Backed DNC Hackers Strike Washington Think TanksDefense One Alleged Russia-Linked Hackers Targeted Washington Think TanksSputnik International Cozy Bear suspected of hacking Russia-focused think tanks in D.C.SC Magazine all 10 news articles » |
International Business Times |
Russia To Test-Fire S-300, S-400 Missile Systems In Military Exercise Involving 4000 Troops
International Business Times Russia is all set to test-fire its S-300 and S-400 missile systems as part of a military exercise that has begun in the southwestern Astrakhan region, Igor Muginov, a spokesman for the country's Western Military District announced Monday. The missile ... |
Express.co.uk |
Russia stokes NATO tensions with massive military exercise with NO warning
Express.co.uk Nato's Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said the alliance had been given no advance notification before Russia staged its drills. Mr Vershbow said the operations are being carried out with “increased frequency” with around 12 taking place ... NATO: Russia increasingly staging snap military drillsWashington Post NATO: Russia Increasingly Staging Snap Military ExercisesRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty all 17 news articles » |
Russia, Turkey, and a Multipolar World
Carnegie Europe In early August 2016, there was much speculation about the geopolitical implications of the reconciliation between the Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as they publicly patched up their six-month-old feud. and more » |
YLE News |
Report: Russia now a greater threat to Finland
YLE News Russia represents a greater threat to Finland, according to a new report out on Tuesday. The Finnish Institute of Foreign Affairs says that Finnish decision-makers have to be alert toRussia's use of energy policy in geo-politics, and the lack of ... and more » |
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The Senate minority leader, going beyond public comments by the Obama administration, says that the evidence suggests an intent to “falsify official election results.”
В частности, с военнослужащими прошли комплексные тактико-огневые упражнения с боевой стрельбой из всех видов вооружения БМП, стрелкового оружия и гранатометов в ходе эпизода боя при высадке морского десанта.
Dozens of Chechens are camping in Belarus at the border with Poland, complaining that they are "refugees" who are being prevented from entering the EU-member country by Polish authorities.
ATHENS (Reuters) - A 48-year-old Turkish judge has requested political asylum in Greece, claiming persecution by the government of President Tayyip Erdogan, the Athens News Agency said on Tuesday.
Geopolitical extortion in different forms shows Russia is prepared to wreak havoc and sow chaos until the West let's it have its way.
Serbia's Defense Ministry says security forces have detained three people for attempting to smuggle 64 Afghan migrants into the country, including a pregnant Afghan woman and a baby.
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A court in Russia has jailed a Russian man for fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.
The United States is offering a reward of $3 million for information about fugitive Tajik Colonel Gulmurod Halimov, who joined the Islamic State (IS) group last year.
China, Eager to Host Elite Club, Primps for G-20 Meetingby JANE PERLEZ and YUFAN HUANG
Police officers in Hangzhou, China. President Xi Jinping has ordered stringent security to ensure that the Group of 20 summit meeting goes smoothly.
BEIJING (Reuters) - An American businesswoman held in China since March last year has been charged with spying, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, the latest development in a case that has added to U.S.-China tension.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin will hold a number of high-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of Sept. 4-5 summit in Hangzhou, China, a Kremlin aide told reporters on Tuesday.
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Over the past few months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been unusually active on multiple fronts. He has expanded his military operations in the Middle East in support of Syrian President Assad, boosted troop strength on the Ukrainian border and conducted a major purge and restructuring of the Russian government. He has also accused Ukraine of terrorist activity in Crimea, which he seized in 2014.
Recent Actions
Here are some of Putin’s recent actions:
Here are some of Putin’s recent actions:
Putin is increasing tensions along the Ukraine border: After several months of quiet, a series of events and actions have raised concerns about the potential for Russian aggression. Putin has claimed that Ukrainian forces made an incursion into Crimea. Ukraine has denied this, and suggested that the apparent scuffle was between two Russian units that were reportedly under the influence. Putin has also increased troop strength around the region. European ceasefire observers have noted an increase in ceasefire violations and heavier weapons on the Russian-controlled lines, a violation of the Minsk agreement. The Russians have upgraded their air defense systems by placing the state-of-the-art S-400 anti-air missile batteries in Crimea. We note that forces in Donetsk and Luhansk, the contested areas in Ukraine, have been put on high alert.
Military support for Syria has increased: Russian air assets have been bombing rebel positions near Aleppo in recent weeks. Surprisingly, Russia began limited air operations from Hamadan Air Base in Iran. It seems that Iran was open to giving Russia a place for air operations but felt Putin was touting it to the world to signal Russia’s widening influence in the region.
Iran apparently did not anticipate the publicity that would come from granting Russia permission to use the facility and it was revoked last week.
After all, Iran does not want to be seen as being dominated by an outside power.
Iran apparently did not anticipate the publicity that would come from granting Russia permission to use the facility and it was revoked last week.
After all, Iran does not want to be seen as being dominated by an outside power.
There has been a rather widespread purge: Most recently, Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s longtime chief of staff, was relieved of his duties and demoted to a staff role involving the environment and transportation. This move was something of a stunner
as Ivanov was considered for the president’s position when Putin traded places with Dmitry Medvedev in 2008
–
as Ivanov was considered for the president’s position when Putin traded places with Dmitry Medvedev in 2008
–
Read the whole story
· · ·
French President Francois Hollande has criticized Turkey’s “contradictory” military intervention in Syria and warned Russia not to become a “protagonist” in the war.
Iran Releases Jailed Texas Graduate Studentby Associated Press
(TEHRAN, Iran) — Iran’s state newspaper is saying authorities have released a jailed Iranian Texas graduate student after nearly five years.
The Tuesday report by government-owned IRAN daily quoted Saeed Khalili, the lawyer for Omid Kokabee, as saying the country’s judiciary will allow Kokabee to enjoy “conditional freedom” for the rest of his 10-year sentence.
Khalili said Kokabee, who was released from jail in April to undergo medical treatment on his kidneys, “will not return to prison, anymore.”
Kokabee, who studied optics in the physics department at the University of Texas, was arrested in February 2011 and convicted of having “relations with a hostile country” and receiving “illegitimate funds.”
Though Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations, many Iranian students apply to study in the U.S. every year.
Read the whole story
· ·
Apple Ordered to Pay $14.5 Billion in Back Taxesby Foo Yun Chee/Reuters
BRUSSELS- EU antitrust regulators ordered Apple on Tuesday to pay up to 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes plus interest to the Irish government after ruling that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid.
The massive sum, 40 times bigger than the previous known demand by the European Commission to a company in such a case, could be reduced, the EU executive said in a statement, if other countries sought more tax themselves from the U.S. tech giant.
Apple, which with Ireland said it will appeal the decision, paid tax rates on European profits on sales of its iPhone and other devices and services of between just 0.005 percent in 2014 and 1 percent in 2003, the Commission said.
“Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years,” said Competition Commission Margrethe Vestager, whose crackdown on mainly U.S. multinationals has angered Washington which accuses Brussels of protectionism.
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc and hamburger group McDonald’s Corp face probes over taxes in Luxembourg, while coffee chain Starbucks Corp has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) to the Dutch state.
A bill of 300 million euros this year for Swedish engineer Atlas Copco AB to pay Belgian tax is the current known record. Other companies ordered to pay back taxes in Belgium, many of them European, have not disclosed figures.
For Apple, whose earnings of $18 billion last year were the biggest ever reported by a corporation, finding several billion dollars should not be an insurmountable problem. The 13 billion euros represents about 6 percent of the firm’s cash pile.
As of June, Apple reported it had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $231.5 billion, of which 92.8 percent, or $214.9 billion, were held in foreign subsidiaries. It paid $2.67 billion in taxes during its latest quarter at an effective tax rate of 25.5 percent, leaving it with net income of $7.8 billion according to company filings.
The European Commission in 2014 accused Ireland of dodging international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors in return for maintaining jobs. Apple and Ireland rejected the accusation.
“I disagree profoundly with the Commission,” Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in a statement. “The decision leaves me with no choice but to seek cabinet approval to appeal.
“This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation.”
Ireland also said the disputed tax system used in the Apple case no longer applied and that the decision had no effect on Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate or on any other company with operations in the country.
Apple said in a statement it was confident of winning an appeal.
“The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process. The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money. It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.”
“REVERSE ENGINEERING”
When it opened the Apple investigation in 2014, the Commission told the Irish government that tax rulings it agreed in 1991 and 2007 with the company amounted to state aid and might have broken EU laws.
The Commission said the rulings were “reverse engineered” to ensure Apple had a minimal Irish bill and that minutes of meetings between Apple representatives and Irish tax officials showed the company’s tax treatment had been “motivated by employment considerations.”
Apple employs 5,500, or about a quarter of its Europe-based staff, in the Irish city of Cork, where it is the largest private sector employer. It has said it paid Ireland’s 12.5 percent rate on all the income that it generates in the country.
Ireland’s low corporate tax rate has been a cornerstone of economic policy for 20 years, drawing investors from multinational companies whose staff account for almost one in 10 workers in Ireland.
Some opposition Irish lawmakers have urged Dublin to collect whatever tax the Commission orders it to. But the main opposition party Fianna Fail, whose support the minority administration relies on to pass laws, said it would support an appeal based on reassurances it had been given by the government.
The U.S. Treasury Department published a white paper last week that said the EU executive’s tax investigations departed from international taxation norms and would have an outsized impact on U.S. companies. The Commission said it treated all companies equally.
Read the whole story
· · · · ·
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande warned on Tuesday that tensions in Ukraine had worsened in recent months and were at risk of further deteriorating.
Investigators, Interior Ministry officials and members of the security forces near the site of a bombing at the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday.
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BBC News |
Blast at Chinese embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
BBC News There has been an explosion close to the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, reports say, but casualties are still unclear. Details are still emerging but Russia's Interfax news agency quoted local officials as saying at least one person was ... Several dead, wounded in blast at Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan: InterfaxMetro.us Fatal bomb attack hits Chinese embassy in KyrgyzstanThe Guardian Explosion reported near Chinese embassy in KyrgyzstanAljazeera.com Times of India -RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty -The Straits Times -The Indian Express all 41 news articles » |
CNN |
Ousted from DNC, Wasserman Schultz faces primary challenge
Washington Times FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz will soon learn whether the controversy surrounding her resignation as the Democratic National Committee chairwoman will cost her a seventh term in Congress. Wasserman Schultz is ... Incumbents Poised For Big Wins Despite All The Attention On OutsidersNPR Florida and Arizona primaries 2016: Here's what to know about key Senate and House racesMic Debbie Wasserman Schultz Battling Tim Canova in District 23 RaceNBC 6 South Florida Sun Sentinel -RT -Florida Politics (blog) all 20 news articles » |
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has found two U.S. states' online voting systems were hacked and is urging all states to increase computer security ahead of the November presidential election, news media reported on August 29.
Russian news agencies are reporting that a court in the Armenian capital of Yerevan has dismissed a move to detain a Russian citizen on charges of money laundering and illegal arms sales by the United States.
U.S. President Barack Obama is likely to have an informal talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Group of 20 summit in China next week, the White House said on August 29.
Iranian state media have reported that a jailed and ailing Iranian citizen who had been a graduate student in Texas has been released after more than five years in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.
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The fate of Uzbek President Islam Karimov remained uncertain on August 30, with no official word on his condition two days after the government announced he had been hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment.
Mexico’s president dismissed his federal police chief after a report that the police had summarily killed at least 22 suspects in a raid last year on a drug gang hide-out.
Children in the Mitzpe Danny outpost this month in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Mitzpe Danny is part of an expansive network of about 100 outposts established mostly over the past two decades without government authorization.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea publicly executed two officials in early August for disobeying leader Kim Jong Un, a South Korean newspaper reported on Tuesday, in what would be the latest in a series of high-level purges under the young leader's rule, if confirmed.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - An explosion around the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan killed and wounded several people, Interfax news agency cited a local emergency ministry's representative as saying on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker began two days of talks on Tuesday with the Indian government to boost business ties, and to encourage dialogue with Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir.
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SYDNEY (Reuters) - A second British backpacker died on Tuesday a week after he was stabbed trying to protect a fellow traveler during an attack at a hostel in northern Australia, police said.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit Islamic State targets near the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus overnight, the Turkish military said on Tuesday, as forces backed by Ankara pushed deeper into north Syria.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq doesn't expect to resume production from the northern Qayyara oil region before the capture of nearby Mosul from Islamic State, an oil ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that media reports that Uzbek President Islam Karimov was dead had not been confirmed.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Palestinian authorities are silencing dissent by cracking down on free speech and abusing local journalists and activists critical of their policies, a leading international human rights group said Tuesday....
MOSCOW (AP) -- Kyrgyzstan's deputy prime minister says a suicide bomber has rammed his car into the gate of the Chinese embassy compound in the capital Bishkek, detonating a bomb and injuring three embassy employees....
