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Great Britain
11 Oct 2015 Scientists have discovered more than 200 genes linked to ageing and have found switching them off extends life. Buck Institute for Research on Ageing and the University of Washington has identified 238 genes that, when silenced, increase the lifespan of yeast cells. Many of the genes are present in mammals, including humans. Almost half of the genes that affect aging are conserved in mammals. Deleting a gene called LOS1 produced particularly impressive results, extending life by 60 per cent. LOS1 is linked to a genetic master switch which has long been associated with calorie restriction through fasting and increased lifespan. Earlier this year academics from the University of Southern California found that a five day diet which mimics fasting can slow down ageing, add years to life, boost the immune system and cut the risk of heart disease and cancer. The plan restricts calories to between one third and a half of normal intake. Last year the same team discovered that fasting can regenerate the entire immune system, bringing a host of long-term health benefits. When humans tested out the regimen, within three months they had reduced biomarkers linked to ageing, diabetes, cancer and heart disease as well as cutting overall body fat. The researchers think it works by slashing a hormone which encourages growth, and has been linked to cancer susceptibility. Essentially it tricks the body into ageing more slowly. The new study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism. (Source: The Telegraph): http://tinyurl.com/nce7z7o
Németország
2015. X. 11. Az iszlám állam megjelenése új helyzetet teremtett; nyolcmillió lakosával államként funkcionálva akkora terület felett rendelkezik Irakban és Szíriában, mint Nagy-Britannia. Már nem titkos lakásokon folynak a megbeszélések, hanem saját kormányszóvivőjük van. Bizonyíthatóan csak Európából négyezer fiatal érkezett az iszlám államhoz – ebből 740 Németországból –, hogy harcoljon. Elfoglalták Egyiptomban a Sínai-félsziget egy részét, Líbiában a tengerpart mintegy 200-250 kilométeres szakaszát, aktívan jelen vannak Afganisztánban, Maliban és Tunéziában. Nigériából a Boko Haram és Szomáliából az Al-Sabah csatlakozott hozzájuk. Afganisztánból legalább egymillió menekülttel számolhat Európa - mondta Maassen, a Szövetségi Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal elnöke, "Központban a Közel-Kelet – Ez új krízishelyzet" címmel tartott előadásában. Legkeményebb mondatai így hangzottak: „Felbomlott a világrend, veszélyeztetve vagyunk az iszlám állam oldalán harcoló, döntően muzulmán származású német állampolgároktól, akik közül eddig már több mint száz meghalt, mintegy 240 visszatért. A visszatértek fele, 120 fő részt vett Szíriában és Irakban a gyilkosságokban. Tőlük merényletek várhatók. Amíg pár évvel ezelőtt mintegy 3800 szalafista volt Németországban, számuk mára elérte a 7900 főt.” Kiemelte, hogy mindaddig, amíg napi tízezer migráns lép be Németországba, nem beszélhetünk biztonságról, mert ellenőrzésük lehetetlen. Nyilvánvaló, hogy egy részük harcolt az iszlám állam oldalán. Megnövekedett veszélyként jellemezte, hogy bár első generációs migránsok eddig sehol sem követtek el merényleteket, ebben a válságban a szalafisták már megérkezésük első napjától próbálják őket beszervezni, segítőnek és jótevőnek mutatva be magukat. A szélsőjobb németországi visszaesése azt jelentette, hogy 2000-re mintegy ötezer fő volt az áramlathoz sorolható. Ma, az emberek félelmét kihasználva, 21 ezer főt képesek magukhoz vonzani. Az állampolgárokat megrettenti, hogy a német nagyvárosok utcáin összecsapások vannak, a kurdok és a törökök, a szélsőjobb és a szélsőbal között. Hangsúlyozta, hogy integrációs deficit van, és sok a fiatal radikális muzulmán, aki potenciális veszélyt jelent a társadalomra. Megoldást csak a stabilitás hozhat Irakban, Afganisztánban és Szíriában. Törökországon keresztül jönnek-mennek a terroristák, kell a megoldás a török-kérdésre. Perthes, a Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik igazgatója kiemelte: a szervezett erőszak ellen csak jobban szervezett erőszakkal lehet sikert elérni. A szíriai kérdés megoldása csak az lehet, hogy Aszaddal együtt kell működni. (Forrás: Magyar Idők): http://tinyurl.com/ngn3weq
Iraq
October 11, 2015 Iraq claims Iraqi aircraft hit Baghdadi's convoy yesterday at noon, as it was "moving towards Karabla which is on the Euphrates barely five kilometres (three miles) from the Syrian border in western Anbar, a vast Iraqi province which has long been a Sunni insurgent stronghold. Baghdadi's apparent survival following similar claims, including one in November 2014 of a strike in the same area, has only added to his mystique. The Iraqi jihadist chief is said to have been born in Samarra in 1971, but little is known about the man with a $10 million US bounty on his head. Baghdadi apparently joined the insurgency after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, at one point spending time in an American military prison in the country's south. His whereabouts have been the subject of constant speculation. (Source: Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/p7b8e62
the United States
October 11, 2015 Trump brands Merkel's welcoming of migrants to Germany "insane" and said the policy will only spark riots in the country. Trump reiterated his position that the United States should not take in the refugees, repeating previous comments that he believes the migrants look to be mostly "strong men" who look like "prime-time soldiers" from the jihadist cause. "This could be the greatest Trojan horse," he added. Trump backed the idea of a no-fly safe zone in northern Syria where refugees could take shelter from the country's bloody civil conflict. The idea has long been backed by Turkey, currently hosting more than 1.8 million Syrian refugees. In Trump's version of the safe zone, the Gulf countries would club together to "take a big swath of land in Syria, and they should do a safe zone for people.""And then ultimately, (people would) go back to their country, go back to where they came from." (Source. Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/naw5dou
Globalization
Oct 11, 2015 29 countries have formal military or intelligence units dedicated to offensive hacking efforts, according to a Wall Street Journal compilation of government records and interviews with U.S. and foreign officials. Some 50 countries have bought off-the-shelf hacking software that can be used for domestic and international surveillance. The U.S. has among the most-advanced operations. More than two dozen countries have accumulated advanced cyberweapons in the past decade. U.S. officials say their biggest concerns are the cyberweapons held by the Chinese, Russians, Iranians and North Koreans, countries that have deployed advanced attacks that either dug inside U.S. government networks or targeted top U.S. companies. Even Israel, a U.S. ally, was linked to hacking tools found on the computers of European hotels used for America’s diplomatic talks with Iran, according to the analysis of the spyware by a top cybersecurity firm. Israeli officials have denied spying on the U.S. Cyberarmies tend to be integrated with a country’s military, its intelligence services, or both, as is the case in China and the U.S. China’s army has divisions devoted to cyberattacks, and recent evidence shows links between the country’s military and hackers. Russian hackers have targeted diplomatic and political data, burrowing inside unclassified networks at the Pentagon, State Department and White House, also using emails laced with malware, according to security researchers and U.S. officials.They have stolen President Obama’s daily schedule and diplomatic correspondence sent across the State Department’s unclassified network. Government investigators believe Iranian hackers implanted the Shamoon virus on computers at Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest energy firm, in 2012. The Aramco attack erased 75% of the company’s computers and replaced screen images with burning American flags. The attack didn’t affect oil production, but it rattled the company, and security officials. The move was at least partly in retaliation for the alleged U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran discovered in 2010 that deployed the Stuxnet computer worm to destroy Iranian nuclear centrifuges. In 2012, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei publicly announced the creation of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. U.S. officials accused North Korea of destroying computer files and records at Sony Corp.’s Hollywood film unit in 2014, allegedly in retaliation for “The Interview,” a satirical movie about assassins of North Korean leader Kim. North Korea successfully implanted malware on Sony computers, which allowed them to both steal and destroy company records, the FBI alleged. South Korea has also accused North Korea of trying to hack a nuclear reactor, television networks and at least one bank. U.S. Cyber Command now has nine “National Mission Teams” with plans to build four more. These each comprise 60 military personnel. The Navy, Army, and Air Force will each build four teams, with the Marines building a single unit. Each will have a “separate mission with a specific focus area. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Welsh III gave examples of computer codes that could “make an enemy air defense system go completely blank” or have an enemy’s “radar show a thousand false targets that all look real.” In 2014, the Netherlands announced it would begin training its own Internet troops through a domestic cybersecurity company, called Fox-IT. The head of the Dutch armed forces, Major Gen. Middendorp, said in a symposium the group should be prepared to carry out attacks, not just block them. In 2013, Denmark’s Defense Ministry began allocating about $10 million a year for “computer network operations,” which include “defensive and offensive military operations.” Countries unable to develop their own weapons can buy off-the-shelf systems from private parties. Earlier this year, an attack and document leak on the Italian firm Hacking Team revealed the company had sold its surveillance tools to dozens of countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Azerbaijan. Most of these countries use surveillance software on domestic enemies or insurgent groups. States aren’t the only players. About 30 Arabic-fluent hackers in the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Turkey are building their own tools to hit targets in Egypt, Israel and the U.S., according to researchers at Kaspersky Lab. (Source: The Wall Street Journal): http://tinyurl.com/pn3u9sj
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