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Magyarország
2017. I. 6. Február 2-án jön Budapestre Putyin orosz elnök, aki legutóbb két éve járt Magyarországon. (Forrás: Index)
2017. I. 3. Személyre szabott segélyezés 2018-tól? A kormány azt tervezi, hogy 2018-tól bevezeti a szociális diagnózist, amely a rászorulók egyénre szabott segítségnyújtásához szükséges - nyilatkozott Czibere, az Emberi Erőforrások Minisztériumának szociális ügyekért és társadalmi felzárkózásért felelős államtitkára. A diagnózisokban részletesen leírják, milyen szükségletei vannak az egyes érintetteknek, és ehhez igazítanák a számára kialakítandó szolgáltatáscsomagot. Ennek kidolgozása a család- és gyermekjóléti szolgálatok feladata lenne. (Forrás: MagyarHírlap)
2017. I. 3. Vona lehet a baloldali szavazók reménysége 2018-ban? Pár évvel ezelőtt még elképzelhetetlen lett volna, most viszont ez lett a Jobbik fő stratégiája. A jobbikosok egyre jobban elkezdték lebontani a falat az MSZP–DK szavazótábora felé, mert felismerték, hogy az egyéni körzetek megnyeréséhez minden ellenzéki voksot be kell gyűjteniük. Vona kockázatos tervet eszelt ki 2018-ra. Jelenleg a teljes szavazóbázis lecserélése zajlik. (Forrás: Index)
Erdély
2017. I. 6. Tőke, az Erdélyi Magyar Néppárt (EMNP) csíkszéki elnöke, akit a rendőrség és a csendőrség is megbírságolt 2016 júniusában egy csíkszeredai köztéri zászlófelvonás miatt, pert nyert a Hargita megyei rendőr-kapitányság, és a csíkszeredai csendőralakulat ellen. Tőke egy négyzetméternyi területet bérelt Csíkszereda főterén, és építési engedélyt kapott a polgármesteri hivataltól arra, hogy zászlórudat állítson fel ezen a területen. Andrei prefektus megtámadta a bíróságon a zászlórúd elhelyezésére vonatkozó építési engedélyt. Tőke - aki az EMNP csíkszeredai polgármesterjelöltje volt - felvonta a zászlót. A helyszínen tartózkodó rendőrök és csendőrök a politikust bekísérték a rendőrségre és megbírságolták, a zászlót pedig bűnjelként foglalták le. Tőke azt mondta, a per során arról próbálta meggyőzni a bírót, hogy a székely zászló nemzeti jelkép, és - ha a Hargita megyei önkormányzat a megye jelképévé is nyilvánította - a megyezászlóra vonatkozó szabályok miatt nem korlátozható egy nemzeti jelkép használata. A zászlófelvonás pedig nem egy bejelentésköteles rendezvény, hanem személyes akció volt. (Forrás: Index)
Partium
2016. I. 3. Megszűnni látszik az MSZP-SZDSZ erőcsoport külhoni sajtóbefektetéseként létrejött Erdélyi Riport, s változások vannak a Maszolnál is. A harc legfontosabb síkja a közösségi öntudat, a legfőbb tét az, hogy miként gondolkodik az erdélyi magyarság meghatározó része a múltról, jelenről és jövőről, önmagáról és a külvilágról. Ez sokkal fontosabb kérdés, mint az, hogy hány magyar képviselő ül Bukarestben, olyan nemzetközi konjunktúrában, amikor amúgy sem nekünk áll a zászló. Ebben a helyzetben a nemzeti önbecsülést tudatosan roncsoló műhelyeket megszüntetni vagy meggyengíteni, helyettük megerősíteni a magyar szelleműeket elsőrendű nemzetstratégiai feladat. (Forrás: IttHon)
the Baltics
Jan 1, 2017 Mr. Trump suggested during the election campaign that only NATO allies that paid their fair share deserved protection from the United States, although he has since softened his warning. His remarks alarmed the Baltic nations, which count on NATO’s collective security efforts to deter an unpredictable Russia. In response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the clandestine war in eastern Ukraine, as well as Moscow’s heightened military force on patrol off the coasts of the Baltics and Western Europe, the United States and its NATO allies have bolstered their own military exercises in recent years, and this spring will send battalions of 800 to 1,200 troops to each of the three Baltic States and Poland. Russia’s deployment this fall of nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles to Kaliningrad, between Lithuania and Poland, underscored Moscow’s efforts to intimidate the Baltics and the West, Baltic officials said. Russia dismissed such fears, saying the missile movements were routine drills. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia increased spending on new defense equipment to $390 million in 2016, from $210 million in 2014. Latvia and Lithuania have had the two fastest-growing defense budgets in the world since 2014, according to an IHS Jane’s analysis. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes)
France
January 3, 2017 Two men hoping to clinch the left-wing nomination for France's presidential race are pursuing a risky strategy: they want to save the much-maligned European Union. Valls and Peillon laid out their platforms, pleading for unity and tolerance in the face of far-right candidate Le Pen's anti-immigration, anti-EU campaign. Valls, a Spanish-born former prime minister and Peillon a European Parliament member and former education minister are among seven candidates in the leftist primary Jan. 22 and 29, seeking a nomination that looks like a poisoned chalice. Polls suggest the mainstream left's candidate in France's April-May election may not even make it past the first round of voting amid mass disappointment with Socialist Hollande's presidency. Le Pen, who wants to reinstate French borders and hold a referendum on leaving the EU, praised Russia on BFM television for defending its national interests and said France should do the same. Polls suggest Le Pen may face conservative candidate Fillon in the presidential runoff. Fillon, a former prime minister, wants a more modest and "realistic" EU and calls in his campaign platform for "a sovereign France in a Europe respectful of nations." (Source: Yahoo)
Romania Románia
January 04, 2017 'Guccifer' casts doubt on Obama administration's Russia hacking claims. Lazar was the first to expose Mrs. Clinton’s use of the private Clintonemail.com address. This revelation ultimately led to the identification of Clinton’s personal account used for all government business while she served as secretary of State. FBI Director Comey described the handling of classified material as “extremely careless.” In interviews conducted two weeks before the Obama administration’s expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for alleged interference in the U.S. elections, Lazar predicted there "will be probes and indictments against some Russian people." Lazar has been convicted and sentenced to prison in two separate countries, the U.S. and Romania, for his hacking and taunting of major celebrity and political figures. Lazar is expected to finish his Romanian sentence in 2019 and then will be returned to the U.S. to face 52 months in an American prison after pleading guilty to two counts of a nine-count indictment. Lazar told from his prison near Arad, Romania that he remains frustrated the FBI still has “70, perhaps 100 gigabytes” of his files that were handed over as part of an agreement with the Justice Department. Outside cyber experts tell that 70 gigabytes of data is about 1.75 million pages. Pressed by Fox News last month, Lazar had a version of events. “The agents said, ‘Okay. Can you prove without doubt that you hacked the Mrs. Clinton server. Can you prove this without any shadow of doubt?’ And I said, ‘I cannot. I have these gigabyes of data which is hundreds of thousands of documents,' and the FBI could verify for themselves." (Source: FoxNews)
2016. I. 3. Nagy túlélők, titkos befutók, milliomosok és luxusnyugdíj-élharcosok népesítik be Grindeanu ma bejelentett kabinetjét. A tökéletes helyettes: Shhaideh; második miniszterelnök-helyettes Constatntin, aki mindig ott van, ahol a párt szakad. Melescanu a külügyminiszter. Nagy túlélő; Pacepa, a Szekuritáté Amerikába szökött tisztje szerint Melescanu azok közé a titkos szekus tisztek közé tartozott, akik az 1989-es forradalom után átvették a belföldi (SRI) és a külföldi (SIE) hírszerzés, valamint a külügy irányítását, és megtartották Ceausescu nagyköveteinek 80 százalékát. Legrövidebb megbízatását botrányok közepette vette át és adta vissza: mindössze nyolc napig volt külügyminiszter Ponta Victor kormányában. Petrescu a gazdasági minisztérium élén; vezetése alatt büntette meg a Versenytanács 7,4 millió eurora a Postát, amiért megsértette a versenyszabályokat. Ennek ellenére Petrescu bruttó 135 ezer 418 (közel kilenc és fél millió forintnyi) lejt vett fel jutalomként. A kulturális tárcát a megrögzötten baloldali Vulpescu vette át; ortodox teológiát végzett, majd filozófiából doktorált. Iliescu volt államfő kulturális tanácsadója. A Ponta-kormány idején, 2014 decemberétől majd egy évig már vezette a tárcát, de politikai ellenfelei lemondását követelték, mert nem juttatott elegendő pénzt a kulturális intézmények fenntartására, országos jelentőségű fesztiválok megszervezésére, és nem szentelt kellő figyelmet a nemzeti kisebbségek kulturális értékeinek védelmére. Nastase oktatási miniszter korábban a bukaresti gazdasági egyetem rektora volt, a román oktatási rendszer egyik legjobban fizetett oktatója - vagyonbevallása szerint három ingatlanja, két telke, egy Audi típusú gépkocsija, 1,5 millió leje, 135 ezer euroja és 35 ezer dollárja van. Birchall az európai ügyek minisztere, Ügyvédként és egyetemi tanárként is dolgozik. Az egyik legintenzívebben kommunikáló romániai politikus, napi szinten ontja a közleményeket. Külföldi befektetéseik férjével 23 millió eurora rúgnak. Dan belügyminiszter általános iskolai titkárnő volt Teleormanban; a teljesen ismeretlen Ökológiai Egyetem jogi karára járt, majd Rendőr-akadémiát végzett. Daea mezőgazdasági miniszter agronómus végzettségű, állítólag rokona a volt kormányfő, Nastase Adrian feleségének. 2004 óta a törvényhozásban a mezőgazdasági bizottságokban tevékenykedett. Ő kezdeményezte a honatyák luxusnyugdíját lehetővé tevő törvényjavaslatot. Gondoskodni akart szeretője, Luchian anyagi jólétéről is - írja az Adevarul. Az Agrárminisztériumhoz fordult, hogy nevezzék ki Luchiant az Országos Halászati Ügynökség alelnökévé. Felesége, Elena azonban levelet küldött az ügynökség vezetésének 2012-ben, amelyben leleplezte férje közbenjárását. A házastársak elváltak, Daea pedig elvette Luchiant feleségül. Les a védelmi miniszter Szatmár megyei volt alprefektus, majd fegyverzeti államtitkár. Petcu, a vízügyi és erdészeti miniszter 2010 és 2013 között project officer volt egy európai pályázatban; az Országos Feddhetetlenségi Ügynökség (DNA) a pályázat munkacsoportjában kapott 27 086 lejnyi jövedelmét illegálisnak minősítette, ezért egytől öt évig terjedő börtönbüntetés is kiszabható, illetve a bíróság köztisztségek viselésétől is eltilthatja. Vasilescu munkaügyi miniszter 1991-ben kezdte politikai karrierjét a Nagy-Románia Párt alapító tagjaként. Nemrég múlt 42 éves, és már elvitte a DNA, amikor tavaly júliusban vádat emelt ellene többrendbeli pénzmosás és megvesztegetés elfogadása miatt; 2012 és 2014 között összesen körülbelül 135 000 eurot és 570 000 lejt kapott különböző üzletemberektől azért, hogy a választási kampányát finanszírozhassa, illetve hogy a krajovai Városháza elfogadja és kifizesse az érintett üzletemberek által végzett homlokzat-felújítási munkálatokat. Bodog egészségügyi miniszter nagyváradi orvos. Tavaly az oktatási miniszter visszavonta Bodog egyetemi tanárnak, a nagyváradi Orvosi Egyetem dékánjának a jogát, hogy doktorátusokat vezessen, mivel összesen két tudományos cikk fő szerzőjének számít. Botránygyanús volt 2012-es kampányának finanszírozása: sajtómegjelenéseit állítólag két svájci cég finanszírozta. Bankszámláin több mint 600 ezer lej, illetve több mint 500 ezer japán jen van. A magyarországi Biharugrán is van egy háza. Két gyógyszerészeti cégben tulajdonos. Igazságügyi miniszter Iordache; 2013-ban annak a szűk parlamenti csoportosulásnak a tagja, amely a Büntető Törvénykönyv módosításával igyekezett büntetlenséget biztosítani a honatyáknak. A módosításokat a Képviselőház Jogi Bizottsága titkosan dolgozta ki, hogy másnap villámgyorsan szavazzák meg a képviselők, mentesítve ezáltal saját magukat a büntetőjogi felelősség alól. Több olyan kezdeményezése volt, mely az igazságszolgáltatás gyengítésére irányult. Felesége tagja volt annak a bírósági tanácsnak, amely felmentette Nastase Adrian volt miniszterelnököt a „Tamara néni” perben. Dobre idegenforgalmi miniszter vagyonbevallása szerint 18 ezer euro értékű órával rendelkezik, és három különböző cégnél részvényes. 325 ezer eurot kölcsönzött egy személynek. A határon túli románokért felelős tárca nélküli miniszter tanulmányai a héber nyelv, a Közel-Kelet, a diplomácia, illetve a nemzetközi közkapcsolatok területén összpontosultak, 2013 szeptembere óta Románia izraeli nagykövete. (Forrás: Főtér): http://tinyurl.com/zwg8u7o
Spain
Jan 2, 2017 More than 1,100 migrants, most from sub-Saharan Africa fight riot police as they rush the barbed wire and storm Spanish border at enclave of Ceuta. Once inside the miniscule Spanish territory they would be able to claim asylum in Spain or travel onwards. The migrants used rocks and metal bars as they battled with police officers from Spain and Morocco, who joined forces to defend the border. Around 55 police officers were injured in the chaos - 50 from Morocco and five from Spain. Dozens of migrants made it to the top of the six-metre barbed wire fence before being lifted down by cranes. All the assailants had been turned back except two, who were allowed into Ceuta for medical treatment. Marocco's interior ministry raged: "From now on those making such attempts will be presented before the competent judicial authorities who will decree their expulsion from the kingdom (of Morocco) or heavier penalties, according the gravity of the act." In early December more than 400 sub-Saharan African migrants managed to force their way over the Ceuta border fence. (Source: Express)
Lybia
January 3, 2017 More than 100,000 people attempted to travel through Libya and into Europe from January to August of last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. Since Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, Libya has not regained the security of its borders. The EU operates a combined border security force in European waters, aimed at saving lives at sea, as well as an EU-funded training programme for the Libyan coast guard and navy with the aim of creating a self-sufficient national force. These efforts and processing the refugees are costing the EU an estimated €35m a month. To stop the flow, we need to provide the government of Libya with the capacity to secure land borders and so prevent migrants from reaching the Mediterranean. By using five patrol bases that cover existing smuggling routes, security personnel could quickly establish base camps, alongside a new border force, and secure Libya’s borders. The border police would consist of mentors with a European law enforcement background, supported by locals trained in key basic skills during a 10-week course. There would be nowhere for migrant smugglers to hide: they can be detected, detained and handled using a mixture of air and ground operations.This type of security operation could be established quickly and efficiently. The border police I established in Afghanistan used a similar private-public partnership. The writer, a former US Navy SEAL, is executive chairman of Frontier Services Group (Source: TheWallStreetJournal)
Irak
2017. I. 2. Öngyilkos merénylő általa vezetett kisteherautót robbantott fel reggel az iraki főváros egyik forgalmas piacán. Harmincketten vesztették életüket. (Forrás: Híradó)
Izrael
2017. I. 4. Bennett oktatási miniszter, a keményvonalas Zsidó Otthon párt vezetője január 1.-én bejelentette, miszerint törvényjavaslatot terjeszt be arról, hogy január végéig annektálják a megszállt Ciszjordánia harmadik legnagyobb telepét (Ma’ale Adumim). Bizonyosra vehető, hogy a „január végéig” határidő bejelentésével Bennett arra utal, hogy az pár nappal Trump január 21-i beiktatása után történjen meg. Két fontos oka van annak, hogy az izraeli kormányzat annexiókat követelő hangjait komolyan vegyük. Az egyik Trump bejövetele és új izraeli nagykövet-jelöltjének megnevezése. Friedman egy csődjogász, nulla diplomáciai tapasztalattal, viszont eddig Amerikában ortodox zsidóként több tízmillió dollárt gyűjtött össze a ciszjordániai telepesek számára. Eddigi tevékenysége alapján arra lehet következtetni, hogy az új amerikai nagykövet keményebb vonalat fog vinni a telepes-politikában, mint maga Nethanjahu miniszterelnök – ami valljuk be, nem kis teljesítmény! Ez viszont a józanabb republikánusoknál is kiveri a biztosítékot, és arra figyelmeztetnek, hogy egy szélsőjobboldali Izrael el fog szigetelődni még a barátibb arab államoknál, így Egyiptomnál, Jordániánál és az Öböl-menti államoknál is. A másik ok Netanjahu miniszterelnök politikai túlélése. A kormányfőt két napja a rendőrség három órán keresztül hallgatta ki, illegális ajándékok és előnyök elfogadásának gyanújával. A vizsgálat 9 hónapja kezdődött és a rendőrség bizonyos abban, hogy napokon belül megindul a hivatalos nyomozás. Ezen túl ott van a vitatott szerepe német tengeralattjárók megvásárlásában is, amely ügyletet még a védelmi miniszter is ellenezte. Netanjahu tisztában van vele, hogy törékeny hatalma megtartásához elleneznie kell bármilyen kompromisszumot a palesztin szuverenitás és a kétállami megoldás kérdéskörében. Ez a jelenlegi helyzetben azt jelenti, hogy Bennett-nek és a mögötte álló köröknek az annexió témájában szabadabb keze van, mint korábban. A kocka tehát el van vetve. (Forrás: PrivátBankár): http://tinyurl.com/hay4soj
North Korea
January 4, 2017 In February, North Korea launched a satellite into orbit aboard its 28-meter, three-stage Unha rocket. North Korea has the ability to reach the continental U.S. with a nuclear warhead with the Taepo Dong (Unha) missile. The Unha has a range of 10,000 kilometers, sufficient to hit the United States. The range might be closer to 13,000 kilometers, enough to reach the East Coast. To protect the continental U.S., the United States has 30 ground-based interceptor missiles in Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The military has shown that it can take down ballistic missiles with laser-armed planes, going back to 1983. (Source: DefenseOne)
Philippines
January 5, 2017 As many as 158 inmates fled the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan City in the southern Philippines after armed men attacked the compound. About 1:15 a.m. local time more than 100 armed men attacked the facility, he said. The firefight lasted two hours. The jail's latest recorded population is 1,511 inmates. Members of the breakaway Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group were suspected of being responsible for the attack. Some of the escapees were affiliated with the group, which is fighting for an autonomous region for Muslims in the southern island of Mindanao, home to a sizable Muslim population, in this mainly Catholic country. An attack was being planned for New Year's Day. (Source: CNN)
Turkey
Jan. 5, 2017 President Erdogan's spokesman says Turkey has relayed to U.S. president-elect Trump's team its unease over U.S. support to Syrian Kurdish militia, considered as terrorists by Turkey. We have told them — and we continue to tell them — that a strategy against (the islamic state group) that puts (Syrian Kurdish militia) at its center is not the correct strategy and needs to change," Kalin said. He also repeated warnings made the previous day that Turkey could bar U.S.-led coalition planes from using its southern base of Incirlik in anti-is operations. "We hold the right to close Incirlik," Kalin said. (Source: AP)
January 3, 2017 In a statement circulated on social media, is said one of its 'soldiers' was that suspected jihadist who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclubhad, carried out the carnage. Is is accusing Turkey - a majority-Muslim country - of being a servant of Christians and saying the shooting was a response to Ankara's military action against jihadists in Syria. Turkish troops are pressing a four-month incursion to oust is jihadists the border area while Ankara is also pushing a ceasefire plan with Russia as a basis for peace talks to end the civil war. After a cabinet meeting in Ankara chaired by President Erdogan, the government vowed that the operation in Syria would continue with "determination". (Source: Yahoo)
1 Jan 2017 Police in Istanbul have launched a manhunt for a gunman armed with an AK-47 who killed while reportedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’at least 39 people, many of them foreigners, at a nightclub packed with New Year’s revellers, in an attack officials described as a terrorist act. The gunman shot his way into the Reina nightclub at around 1:15 am local time, just over an hour into the new year, killing a police officer and a civilian as he entered before opening fire at random inside. The nightclub at the centre of the attack is a favourite of the rich and famous of Turkey. Footballers, TV stars and international celebrities are frequently seen in the venue. Some witnesses spoke of multiple attackers, but officials have not confirmed this. 24 of those killed were foreigners, 69 people were in hospital, four of them in a critical condition. Turkish police have released the first picture of the prime suspect who is a member of the East Turkestan branch of isis, described as being from East Turkestan, Afghanistan or Chechnya. (Source: Mirror): http://tinyurl.com/hrtcyop ((photos; videos))
Bosphorus
January 5, 2017 Russian roll-on/roll-off ship Tkachenko loaded with military vehicles en route to Syria ((photo)) /Source: BosphorusObserver/: http://tinyurl.com/hr3h2kh
Brazil
6 January 2017 At least 33 Roraima inmates killed in second riot. The riot at the Monte Cristo Agricultural Penitentiary in Boa Vista, which broke out at dawn, was reportedly a reaction to the prison uprising and death of around 60 people in the Amazon jungle's Manaus prison on Sunday night. A group of prisoners, now back in their cells, reportedly escaped at 2.30 am before slaughtering inmates in an apparent fight between supporters of opposing militant factions. It's the CCP (Primeiro Comando da Capital), the same criminal organisation that was blamed for the Manaus violence. There were 1,500 prisoners at the scene . (Source: TheIndependent)
January 3, 2017 Brazil drug gangs spark prison riot, 56 dead. Several decapitated bodies were thrown over the wall of the prison in the Amazon city of Manaus, with most of those killed coming from the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil's most powerful drug gang, in clash with a Manaus criminal group known as the North Family. The Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command (CV) drug gang, Brazil's second largest. A truce that held for years between the PCC and CV was broken last year, resulting in months of deadly prison battles between the gangs. This violence began late Sunday when a group of inmates exchanged gunfire with police and held 12 prison guards hostage, and was brought under control by around 7 a.m. AMT (11:00 GMT) yesterday, on Monday. A total of 184 inmates escaped, with 40 recaptured by Monday afternoon. The Anisio Jobim prison complex currently houses 2,230 inmates despite having a capacity of only 590. (Source: Yahoo)
United States
6 January 2017 Background to “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution - a declassified version (Source: InsidetheGames): http://tinyurl.com/hlnzg35
January 6, 2017 The final jobs report of the Obama presidency shows that the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 14,573,000 (18.09 percent) since January 2009, when Obama took office. In December, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record 95,102,000 Americans were not in the labor force. The participation rate dropped to a 38-year low of 62.4 percent on Obama's watch, in September 2015. It was only 3-tenths of a point higher than that last month. People over age 16 who are no longer working or even looking for work, for whatever reason (retirement, school, personal preference, or gave up), are counted as not participating in the labor force. (Source: CNSNews)
January 06, 2017 The 26-year-old former combat engineer Santiago, accused killer at the crowded baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, told the FBI in November that the government controlled his mind and forced him to watch isis videos. He had military service in Puerto Rico and Alaska from December, 2007 to August 2016. He served in Iraq with the Puerto Rican National Guard's 13th Engineer Battalion from April, 2010 to February 2011. Santiago checked a bag with a firearm before boarding a Delta Air Lines flight from Alaska to Minneapolis. His final destination was Fort Lauderdale. He was arrested for the shooting that killed five, wounded eight and turned the Fort Lauderdale airport into chaos. The attack exposed another weak point in airport security: While travelers have to take off their shoes, put their carry-on luggage through X-ray machines and pass through metal detectors to reach the gates, many other sections of airports, such as ticket counters and baggage claim areas, are more lightly secured and more vulnerable to attack. (Source: Local10)
Jan 4, 2017 President-elect works on restructuring Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Among those helping lead Mr. Trump’s plan to revamp the intelligence agencies is his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Flynn, who had served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency until he was pushed out by Mr. Clapper and others in 2014. Also involved in the planning is Rep. Pompeo (R., Kan.), whom Mr. Trump selected as CIA director. Gen. Flynn and Mr. Pompeo share Mr. Trump’s view that the intelligence community’s position — that Russia tried to help his campaign — is an attempt to undermine his victory or say he didn’t win. Gen. Flynn will lead the White House’s National Security Council, giving him broad influence in military and intelligence decisions throughout the government. He is also a believer in rotating senior intelligence agencies into the field and reducing headquarters staff. (Source: TheWallStreetJournal)
January 3, 2017 Yesterday evening a computer outage disrupted customs at US airports. This situation left thousands of inbound international travelers stuck behind customs screening stations for hours on one of the busiest travel days of the year. The US Customs and Border Protection processing systems were back online at all airports later in the night. The outage lasted from about 5 to 9 p.m. ET, the delays were ranging from 30 minutes to two hours. CBP officers processed international travelers through "alternative procedures". (Source: CNN)
January 2, 2017 Assange: Our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party. In an exclusive interview with FOX News Channel the founder of WikiLeaks said Russia was not the source for the DNC and Podesta hacks. Assange: Our publications had wide uptake by the American people, they're all true. But that's not the allegation that’s being presented by the Obama White House. So, why such a dramatic response? Well, the reason is obvious. They’re trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate President... Assange: Our source is not a state party, so the answer for our interactions is no. But if we look at our most recent statement from the US government, which is on the 29th of December 2016, OK, we had five different branches of government, Treasury, DHS, FBI, White House presenting their accusations to underpin Obama’s throwing out 29 Russian diplomats. What was missing from all of those statements? The word WikiLeaks. It’s very strange. (Source: RealClearPolitics)
Jan 2nd 2017 Since the September 11th attacks, the American far right has developed a fascination with the Middle Ages and the Renaissance—in particular, with the idea of the West as a united civilisation that was fending off a challenge from the East. The trend has been prodded along by the movement's discovery of its European counterparts, which have used medieval and crusader imagery since the 19th century. (Source: Economist)
Globalization
Jan. 4, 2017 Self-described allies of law and order; cyberwar for sale. A maker of surveillance software was hacked. Its leaked documents shed light on a shadowy global industry that has turned email theft into a terrifying — and lucrative — political weapon. Hacking Team has fewer than 50 employees, but it has customers all over the world. According to internal documents, its espionage tool, which is called the Remote Control System, or R.C.S., can be licensed for as little as $200,000 a year — well within the budget of a provincial strongman. After it has been surreptitiously installed on a target’s computer or phone, the Remote Control System can invisibly eavesdrop on everything: text messages, emails, phone and Skype calls, location data and so on. Whereas the N.S.A.’s best-known programs grab data in transit from switching rooms and undersea cables, the R.C.S. acquires it at the source, right off a target’s device, before it can be encrypted. It carries out an invisible, digitized equivalent of a Watergate-style break-in. According to company documents, at least two federal law-enforcement agencies have been Hacking Team clients: the F.B.I., beginning in 2011, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, beginning in 2012. Documents show that the company has also sold its software to some of the world’s most repressive governments. Some, like those of Honduras, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are Western allies. Other countries, like Uzbekistan and Turkey, have a more troubled relationship. A few are openly hostile to the West. Between 2012 and 2014, Hacking Team was paid nearly one million euros by the government of Sudan. Hacking Team carried on with the F.S.B., one of Russia’s main intelligence agencies. Hacking Team used a middleman, a research agency called Kvant, to handle its sales to Russia. Between 2012 and 2014, the agency paid Hacking Team 451,000 euros to license the Remote Control System. Hacking Team had itself been hacked. WikiLeaks pounced on the breach and quickly uploaded the emails into a searchable database. Anyone with an internet connection could now read the chief executive joking about how his company was in the business of selling “the evilest technology on earth.” But the most damaging exposures in the leak by far were Hacking Team’s client list and the names of some of the clients’ targets. In South Korea, newspapers focused on evidence suggesting that Hacking Team’s software had helped the nation’s intelligence service rig an election; after the leak, one agent who had reportedly used the system there committed suicide. In Ecuador, a magazine found an email with seven phone numbers that the government appeared to have targeted with the R.C.S. Three belonged to lawmakers; a fourth to the mayor of Quito; all four were members of the opposition party. There are four methods, for getting the Remote Control System onto a target’s device. Customers can gain physical access to the device and then infect it with a USB stick or memory card. They can beam the R.C.S. in over a Wi-Fi network. Or they can send the customer an email and get him to click on an infected attachment — usually a file from a brand-name program like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. A more elaborate process called “network injection,” which is said to involve pinpointing the target’s exact location on the internet, observing the person as he orders up, say, a YouTube cat video, and then serving up a doctored version of the same page, one with the desired cat video playing in the foreground — YouTube logo and all — as the R.C.S. discreetly rolls in past the digital gates. Whatever the method of infection, the malicious code, known as an “agent,” then communicates with its masters anonymously, its dispatches routed through a series of dedicated servers scattered around the world. All Hacking Team customers sign contracts agreeing to comply with local laws. The Hacked Team files indicate that in mid-2015, Hacking Team opened an American subsidiary and leased office space in Reston, Va., a 20-minute drive from the C.I.A.’s headquarters. American expansion by companies like Hacking Team may not face much resistance from the federal government, which is becoming more accepting of electronic surveillance as part of normal police work. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): http://tinyurl.com/gvkdcpz
January 1, 2017 Can Trump figure out the new war in time to win it? Balts and Ukrainians, Georgians and Moldovans — that answered my question and exposed the new reality on the Russian frontier: the belief that, ultimately, everyone would be left to fend for themselves. Increasingly, people in Russia’s sphere of influence were deciding that the values that were supposed to bind the West together could no longer hold. That the world order Americans depend on had already come apart. This week, as Obama tries to confront Russia’s open and unprecedented interference in our political process, the outgoing White House is so far responding to 21st century hybrid information warfare with last century’s diplomatic toolkit: the expulsion of spies, targeted sanctions, potential asset seizure. The incoming administration, while promising a new approach, has betrayed a similar lack of vision. Their promised attempt at another “reset” with Russia is a rehash of a policy that has utterly failed the past two American administrations. The Kremlin’s new toolkit at work, the most visible example may be “green men,” the unlabeled Russian-backed forces that suddenly popped up to seize the Crimean peninsula and occupy eastern Ukraine. But the wider battle is more subtle, a war of subversion rather than domination. It’s all one war: Ukraine, Turkey, Syria, the Baltics, Georgia. It’s what Surkov, Putin’s ‘grey cardinal’ and lead propagandist, dubbed ”non-linear war” in his science fiction story “Without Sky,” in 2014. Second, it’s all one war machine. Military, technological, information, diplomatic, economic, cultural, criminal, and other tools are all controlled by the state and deployed toward one set of strategic objectives. It is preferred to physical conflict because it is cheap and easy. Third, information warfare is not about creating an alternate truth, but eroding our basic ability to distinguish truth at all. Fourth, the diplomatic side of this non-linear war is undermining the strength of Western institutions by coalescing alternate — ideally temporary and limited — centers of power. The final point: hard power matters. Russia maintains the second most powerful military in the world, and spends more than 5 percent of its weakened GDP on defense. Russia used military force to invade and occupy Georgian territory in 2008 to disrupt the expansion of NATO, and in 2013 in Ukraine to disrupt the expansion of the EU. They have invested heavily in military reform, new generations of hardware and weapons, and expansive special operations training, much of which debuted in the wars in Ukraine and Syria. There is no denying that Russia is willing to back up its rhetoric and policy with deployed force. Putin has transformed what we see as tremendous weakness into considerable strength. We must (re)accept the notion that hard power is the guarantor of any international system: security is a precondition for anything (everything) else. That the projection of our values has tracked with and been amplified by force projection is no accident. Human freedom requires security. NATO has been the force projection of our values. It’s also important to acknowledge that a more isolated, more nationalist America helps Putin in his objectives even while it compromises our own. fighting a new Cold War would be in America’s interest. Russia teaches us a very important lesson: losing an ideological war without a fight will ruin you as a nation. The fight is the American way. When we stop fighting for our ideals abroad, we stop fighting for them at home. We won the last Cold War. We will win the next one too. Trump should understand, regardless of what the Russians did in our elections, he already won the prize. It won’t be taken away just because he admits the Russians intervened. Taking away the secrecy of Russian actions — exposing whatever it was they did, to everyone — is the only way to take away their power over the US political system and to free himself from their strings, as well. Whatever Putin’s gambit was, Trump is the one who can make sure that Putin doesn’t win. (Source: Politico)
((From thoughts of an adviser to Georgian President Saakashvili’s government from 2009-2013, and to former Moldovan Prime Minister Filat in 2014-2015))
4 January 2017 Experts have warned that the entire internet could be taken offline for 24 hours by a coordinated attack. According to US technology security vendor LogRhythm, a cyber-attack of this scale this year isn't only possible, but extremely likely. Carder, VP of LogRhytms said: 'In 2017, we're going to see it hit big sometime, somewhere. 'If the internet goes down, financial markets will tank,' Carder added. With a global DDoS attack last year having seen sites including Twitter, Reddit, Paypal, Netflix and Spotify knocked off the internet for hours at a time, Carder believes the signs are there an attack that would take down the entire internet. (Source: DailyMail)
Space
6 January 2017 Spectacular collision of suns will create new star in night sky in 2022, a work presented at the annual American Astronomy Association meeting in Grapevine, Texas shows. The binary star system, named KIC9832227, is 1,800 light years away and is made from two suns which spin around each other every 11 hours. The upcoming outburst, it actually occurred 1795 years ago, and the light from the outburst has been travelling toward us ever since. (Source: TheTelegraph)
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