Egyik 19

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Magyarország
2019. XI. 6.  Héttonnányi dohánytermék eltűnése miatt tett feljelentést még januárban a Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal egyik pénzügyőre, aki állítja: a NAV bűnügyi raktárát rendszeresen és szervezetten dézsmálják. A nyomozást a Budapesti Regionális Nyomozó Ügyészség folytatja. Szabó pénzügyőr a belső elhárítással is megosztotta az információt, ám nemrég egy nemzetbiztonsági átvilágítás eredményére hivatkozva őt távolították el a testülettől. (Forrás: Index)

2019. XI. 5.  Befolyásolásról, vélemény-és szólásszabadságról /video/ (Forrás: M5): https://tinyurl.com/qqbkjxg

2019. XI. 5.  Történetének második legnagyobb befektetésével a Mol-csoport felvásárolta a Chevron 9,57 százalékos érdekeltségét Azerbajdzsán legnagyobb olajmezejében. A megállapodás értelmében emellett a földközi-tengeri Ceyhan kikötőjében véget érő, Bakuból induló olajvezeték 8,9 százaléka is a magyar energetikai társasághoz kerül. A megállapodás értéke 1,57 milliárd dollár, a tranzakció lezárultával a Mol a harmadik legnagyobb partner lesz az olajmezőn. Napi húszezer hordóval (egy hordó nagyjából 119 liter) járul hozzá a Mol-csoport szénhidrogén-termeléséhez és jelentősen növeli a társaság bizonyított és valószínűsíthető olajkészletét a részesedés. A Kaszpi-tenger alatt fekvő ACG mező Azerbajdzsán első számú, egyben a világ tizenegyedik legnagyobb olajlelőhelye, amely 400 négyzetkilométert foglal magába és hat tengeri termelési platformból áll. A területen 1997 óta folyik a kőolaj-kitermelés a British Petroleum (BP) irányítása alatt, mások mellett az amerikai Exxon, a norvég Equinor (korábbi nevén Statoil), illetve az azeri állami Socar olajtársaságokkal, tavaly átlagosan napi 584 ezer hordó olajat hoztak fel. (Forrás: MagyarNemzet)

2019. XI. 4.  A magyar haderőfejlesztés lehet az egyik komoly motorja a következő években a hazai gazdaságfejlesztésnek. Összefüggésben a három évvel ezelőtt meghirdetett Zrínyi 2026 kormányzati programmal, a magyar állam most Ausztriában vásárol nagy múltú, aknavetőket gyártó üzemet, a közelmúltban pedig együttműködést kötött az Airbusszal és egy cseh céggel. Az előbbi részeként a francia - német hadiipari óriás helikoptereihez gyártunk mozgóalkatrészeket Gyulán, az utóbbinak köszönhetően Európa egyik legmodernebb kézifegyvergyára működhet Kiskunfélegyházán - pisztolyokról, géppisztolyok, gépkarabélyok, mesterlövészfegyverek, vadászfegyverek gyártására. Vlágszínvonalú technológiai beruházás az Airbus helikopterek gyártásának legérzékenyebb területe, a forgóalkatrészek előállítása, ez kerül Magyarországra. A magyar állam megvásárolta a brit–osztrák Hirtenberger Defence Systems nevű hadiipari céget. A társaság 160 éve foglalkozik tüzérségi eszközök, valamint lőszerek fejlesztésével, gyártásával. Élenjáró technológiával van jelen a nemzetközi piacon, világszerte ismert innovatív megoldásairól és termékei kiváló minőségéről. A Hirtenberger jövőbeli növekedésében fontos szerepet szánunk az Egyesült Királyságban található Middle Wallop-i telephelynek is. Magyar mérnökök is részt fognak venni abban a nemzetközi munkacsoportban, amely hozzájárul a magas szakmai színvonal fenntartásához a társaságnál. Olyan üzemet vásároltunk, amelynek kapacitásai évekre előre lekötöttek, termékeinek hosszú távú kifutása van a nemzetközi piacokon, üzemeltetése pedig rentábilis. A cég megvételével ugyanakkor olyan tudáshoz jutottunk hozzá a hazai, korábban teljeskörűen felszámolt nagy kaliberű lőszerek gyártásának területén, amelyet önerőből négy-öt évbe és sok-sok milliárdnyi adóforintba került volna elérni. A haderőfejlesztés másik fontos eleme a légierő fejlesztése. Az orosz gyártmányú helikopterek esetében a géppark üzemideje nem hosszabbítható. Az új szállító a francia–német Airbus lesz. Összesen harminchat helikopterről beszélünk, közülük húsz úgynevezett könnyű, harci és katasztrófavédelmi célokra egyaránt bevethető, tizenhat pedig szállító lesz. Előbbiekből még az idén megérkezik négy helikopter, jövőre további tizenkettő. Az első kiképzésre szánt Leopard 2A4-es harckocsik 2020 második felében érkeznek, ebből 12 darabot kiképzési céllal lízingeltünk, amelyek a szerződés szerint a honvédség tulajdonában maradnak. A már nekünk gyártott 44 darab új Leopard 2A7+ harckocsiváltozatok szállítása 2023-tól lesz esedékes. A 24 darab PzH 2000-es önjáró löveg 2022-től folyamatosan áll majd hadrendbe. Nemrégiben érkeztek meg Magyarországra az első Carl Gustaf M4 típusú fegyverek. (Forrás: MagyarNemzet)

Kárpátalja
2019. XI. 7.  A Petőfi Sándor Program Kárpátalján tevékenykedő ösztöndíjasainak november 7-ig kellett elhagyniuk az országot. Az Ukrán Biztonsági Szolgálat (SZBU) korábban szeparatizmus vádjával indított eljárást a program kapcsán, és az illetékes hatóságok nem kívánatos személynek nyilvánították a szórványban tevékenykedő fiatalokat. (Forrás: KárpátHír)

France
7 November 2019  President Macron has described Nato as "brain dead", stressing what he sees as waning commitment to the transatlantic alliance by its main guarantor, the US. He cited the US failure to consult Nato before pulling forces out of northern Syria. President Trump's abrupt decision to pull most US forces out of north-eastern Syria in October took European Nato members by surprise. The move opened the way for Turkey - itself a powerful Nato member - to push into Syria and create what it termed a security zone along its border. Kurdish forces, who had been helping the US fight the islamic state (is) group, were expelled from the area. Mr Macron at the time criticised Nato's failure to respond to the Turkish offensive. The absence of co-ordination on strategic decision-making between the US and its Nato allies was exemplified by recent unilateral US and Turkish decisions in Syria. Turkey's actions in particular, he said, raised all sorts of questions about the fundamental security guarantees that Nato gives to all its members. What would happen, he asked, if the Syrian government attacked Turkey due to its incursion into Syria? He also questioned whether Nato was still committed to collective defence. The French leader urged Europe to start thinking of itself as a "geopolitical power" to ensure it remained "in control" of its destiny. Nato, which celebrates 70 years since its founding at a London summit next month, has responded by saying the alliance remains strong. (Source: BBC)

November 5, 2019  Anti-police violence surges in the tough suburbs of Paris. Violence on Saturday, 2 November night in Chanteloup-les-Vignes and recent flare-ups in other tough neighborhoods west of Paris have not matched the intensity or destructiveness of the unrest that spread to hundreds of towns in 2005. But French authorities are alarmed because the violence appears pre-planned, with ambushes deliberately set to target police. In Chanteloup-les-Vignes, hooded attackers hid in bushes, waiting to spring their trap. When police arrived, responding to calls about a fire, they pounced. Under cover of darkness, roaming youths showered officers with projectiles and powerful fireworks that filled the night skies with sparks and thundering explosions. About 30 youths, some armed with batons, joined the rampage. Police made two arrests. Earlier this fall, youths in Chanteloup smashed all the street lights around the neighborhood of austere apartment blocks hit by the violence Saturday, plunging it into darkness. Police say the sabotaging of lights makes their work even harder. 5,000 residents are living under the terror of a few. (Source: AP)

Italy
10 November 2019  For the first time in village history, a princess will lead the self-declared micro-nation of Seborga, an eccentric hilltop hamlet on the Italian Riviera which has claimed sovereignty for six decades. The newly elected Princess of Seborga or La Sua Tremendita - Her Tremendousness, as she will be affectionately known by inhabitants - is Menegatto, 41, a German-born businesswoman who has twice served as foreign affairs liaison for the tiny Ligurian village’s Crown Council. More than 78 per cent of Seborga’s 247 registered voters turned out at the polls today to elect Ms. Menegatto. She received 122 votes. She ran on a platform to promote tourism, advance Seborga’s sovereignty, revive the local currency, known as the Luigino, and improve relations with other nations. Residents say Vatican archive documents show that deeds from the sale of Seborga by the Savoy dynasty to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1729 were not registered properly, nor fixed when Italy was unified in 1861, leaving Seborga in legal limbo. (Source: TheTelegraph)

Mali
9 Nov 2019  Militants attacked an army outpost in northern Mali and killed 53 troops and one civilian. Female terrorists were taking part in the assault, recorded by the islamic state of greater Sahel (isgs). Earlier this year, the UN warned that jihadi bride stereotypes are causing the group’s female members to be underestimated. The organisation said only a tiny fraction of an estimated 4,700 female foreign isis members had returned to their home countries, compared with their male counterparts. The Mali attack unfolded in a village called Indelimane in the Menaka region, as the terrorists bombarded the troops with shellfire. (Source: DailyStar)

China
November 4, 2019  Since 2017, China has run a "Pair Up and Become Family" program in the region, in which Communist Party officials who are Han Chinese -  the ethnic group that makes up most of China's population - stay in Uighur homes. Authorities have since 2017 been sending men to live with Uighur women, many of whose husbands had been sent to prison camps. Chinese men assigned to monitor the homes of Uighur women whose husbands were sent to prison camps frequently sleep in the same beds as them. They typically stay for up to six days at each Uighur household, many of which have male family members in detention. (Source: BusinessInsider)

Iran
November 10, 2019  Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with over 50 billion barrels of crude which would be added to Iran’s proven reserves of roughly 150 billion. The field was located in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, home to its crucial oil industry. The new oil field could become Iran’s second-largest field after one containing 65 billion barrels in Ahvaz. The field is 2,400 square kilometers, with the deposit some 80 meters deep. Iran currently has the world’s fourth-largest proven deposits of crude oil and the world’s second-largest deposits of natural gas. It shares a massive offshore field in the Persian Gulf with Qatar. Since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, the other countries involved - Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China - have been struggling to save it. However, they’ve offered no means by which Iran can sell its oil abroad. Any company or government that buys Iran’s oil faces harsh U.S. sanctions, the threat of which also stopped billions of dollars in business deals and sharply depreciated Iran’s currency, the rial. (Source: AP)

Iraq
November 4, 2019  The largest mass protests to hit Iraq and Lebanon in decades are posing a direct challenge to the influence Iran has gained in both countries as demonstrators seek to overturn the political order. Late yesterday, protesters in the holy Shiite city of Karbala torched the Iranian consulate with Molotov cocktails, hauling an Iraqi flag up on the compound walls. Security forces killed three people when dispersing the crowd with live ammunition. As paramilitary groups backed by the Islamic Republic have gained political clout, protesters are holding Tehran responsible for the poor governance and violence meted out by its allies. In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, protesters have chanted “Iran out, out;” torn down billboards emblazoned with Iranian leaders; and thrown shoes - a severe insult in Muslim culture - at pictures of Soleimani, Iran’s most famous commander and a frequent presence in Iraq where Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran, have translated their battlefield gains against islamic state into political power. Known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, they formally answer to the state but operate with a large degree of impunity, giving Tehran a channel of influence. Supreme Leader Khamenei last week accused the U.S., Israel and other Western countries of fomenting the revolts in Iraq and Lebanon. Protesters in Baghdad have burned American and Israeli flags, as well as those of Saddam’s former Baath Party. Protesters have burned offices of Tehran-backed paramilitary groups in southern Iraq. In Lebanon’s rallies the criticism of Hezbollah, the Shiite militia and political group backed by Iran, has been unusually vocal. On Oct. 19, hundreds of Hezbollah supporters attacked protesters in Tyre and Nabatieh in south Lebanon, the group’s heartland. Echoing Iranian leaders, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah has called Lebanon’s protests a foreign plot against the “axis of resistance,” a term for an anti-Western and anti-Israel alliance of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. Last week, supporters of Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal party rampaged through downtown Beirut, attacking protesters with metal pipes and wooden sticks and burning their tents. (Source: TheWallStreetJournal)

Saudi Arabia
November 5, 2019  The new Middle East that’s coming: as Saudi Arabia slowly backpedals, we could see an end to the Yemen war, an easing of Iran’s isolation, and a reduced role for the U.S. The Middle East that is emerging from the current crisis may be very different than the one that existed before those cruise missiles and drones tipped over the chessboard. The Yemen war might finally end. Iran may, at least partly, break out of the political and economic blockade that Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Israel has imposed on it. Syria’s civil war will recede. And the Americans, who have dominated the Middle East since 1945, will become simply one of several international players in the region, along with China, Russia, India, and the European Union. (Source: ForeignPolicyinFocus)

Syria
November 2, 2019  As Islamist militants fought in March for their last square mile in eastern Syria, fighters and families from more than 60 countries streamed out of their stronghold to surrender into the custody of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led force. European countries have mostly refused to bring their citizens home for trial, instead exploring the possibility of transferring the men across the border to Iraq, where more than 17,000 men and women have already been charged with terrorism offenses. But the deal fell apart, according to two people with knowledge of the issue, after Iraqi authorities asked for payment and reserved the right to carry out the death penalty. At least 48 high-value detainees, however, have been transferred to Iraq over the past month. Security for the prisons in northeastern Syria has deteriorated in the weeks since Turkey invaded northern Syria on Oct. 9, seeking to clear Kurdish fighters from the border area, with half the guards redeployed to the front lines to resist the incursion. More than 100 people with alleged links to the islamic state have escaped from prisons and detention camps during that period. There were at least 25 detention facilities. The military coalition had provided the orange jumpsuits, creating jarring visual parallels with the brutal execution videos that the islamic state made themselves. The International Committee of the Red Cross has access to the detainees. Lacking investigations into individual conduct, foreign governments say it is impossible to know what part specific prisoners had played in the atrocities. In addition to the prisoners, tens of thousands of women and children who lived under the caliphate are detained in camps in northeastern Syria - notably the al-Hol camp, which is now home to about 70,000 people. (Source: StarsandStripes / TheWashingtonPost)

Mexico
11.06.19  The area where Monday’s massacre occurred is believed to be territory still under the sway of the Sinaloa Cartel, formerly presided over by “El Chapo” Guzmán, now in the U.S. Supermax prison. But it’s at war with rival groups, including remnants of the Juárez Cartel with an allied group called La Línea, and the fast-rising, incredibly ruthless Jalisco Cartel New Generation. Peniche, the attorney general of Chihuahua, told that the deadly attack occurred in territory that is dominated by a group called the Jaguars, who are aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel. (Source: DailyBeast)

November 5, 2019 President Trump today offered U.S. assistance as he called on Mexico to “wage war” against the country's murderous drug cartel “monsters” in response to the brutal killing of multiple Americans a day earlier. At least six children and three women, apparently all U.S. citizens living in a community of Americans in Mexico, were gunned down after their convoy came under fire during a daylight ambush yesterday. Six children were found alive, five of whom have been taken to hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. One child is currently missing, and authorities are searching the mountainous area on the Sonora-Chihuahua border for the child. Those attacked were members of the LeBaron family, a well-known American clan who has lived in the community in the northern part of the country for decades. The attack targeted citizens who live in a community founded as part of an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Source: FoxNews)

United States
8 November 2019  Bannon told a federal court today that Stone was considered the Trump Campaign's 'access point' to WikiLeaks and Assange. The former White House chief strategist said he had no direct knowledge of the link but assumed there was one because Stone boasted about it. Bannon testified that the Trump Campaign had an interest in anything that could 'help Trump and possibly hurt Clinton'. Longtime Trump confidante Stone previously told Congress that Credico was his back channel to WikiLeaks' Assange. It's alleged he told the author and conspiracy theorist Corsi in August 2016 to have a friend 'go see Assange' and 'get a hold of emails' that the WikiLeaks boss had up had up his sleeve. Bannon's testimony paints the Trump campaign as willing to use – if not solicit - foreign assistance from an alleged criminal to win the election. (Source: DailyMail)

Nov 6, 2019  Last month, 172 chief executives left their jobs, according to executive placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It's the highest monthly number on record, and the year-to-date total outpaces even the wave of executive exits during the financial crisis. The list of CEOs stepping down includes some who have left amid controversy. McDonald’s Easterbrook; WeWork's founder and CEO Neumann (stepped down two weeks ago, accepting a $1.7 billion golden parachute); Plank, the billionaire founder of leisure wear firm Under Armour; Nike's longtime CEO Parker resigned the same day, as did the head of eBay. It's a pace not seen since 2002. The last big wave of CEO departures came in 2008, at the start of the financial crisis. More than 300 CEOs have left their companies since August. The #MeToo movement has felled a fair number of leaders, from CBS chairman and CEO Moonves to billionaire casino magnate Wynn and Intel's chief Krzanich. (Source: NBCNews)

5 Nov 2019  Strategic combat capability. US Army tests 50-kilowatt laser weapon that produces a whopping 50 kilowatts of power – about the same amount needed to power three homes, incinerates drones, helicopters, planes and missiles. They'll hit battlefields in the year 2022 attached to a platoon of four vehicles. The weapons are being attached to US Army "Stryker" vehicles, eight-wheeled, all-terrain beasts that can hit speeds of 60 mph. (Source: TheSun)

November 3, 2019  CNN sued the Justice Department for access to Mueller's witness interview notes. This weekend's release marks the first publicly available behind-the-scenes look at Mueller's investigative work outside of court proceedings and the report itself. Per a judge's order, the Justice Department will continue to release new tranches of the Mueller investigative notes monthly to CNN and Buzzfeed News, which also sued for them. The release, received by CNN yesterday, includes 274 pages of Mueller team interview notes, emails and other documents related to the cooperation of Gates, former top campaign official Bannon and former Trump personal attorney Cohen. Both Cohen and Gates pleaded guilty to criminal charges from Mueller. Bannon was not charged with any crime. Bannon told the special counsel's office how Trump took interest in finding the 33,000 missing Clinton emails that she said she had erased from her private server. Large parts of the interview notes are still redacted by the Justice Department. (Source: CNN): https://tinyurl.com/y5zzvqor
/+ Mueller investigation notes details/

(November 3, 2019)  Mueller interview notes obtained by Buzzfeed (Source: Google / Buzzfeed): https://tinyurl.com/y5tesvgq

11/01/19  The federal government's public debt has surpassed $23 trillion for the first time in history. The debt has grown some 16 percent since Trump's inauguration, when it stood at $19.9 trillion. It passed $22 trillion for the first time just 10 months ago. High levels of debt can push up borrowing costs and interest rates, crowd out private borrowing and weigh down budgets. In the 2019 fiscal year, for example, the government had to devote $376 billion just to pay the interest on the debt, equivalent to nearly half the defense budget, and more than the amount spent on the combined costs of education, agriculture, transportation and housing. (Source: TheHill)

1 Nov 2019  On arrival at a major US airport, travellers from "Ebola-affected nations" will have to undergo screening by specialists. US arrivals will have to have their vital signs and temperatures checked as well as fill out a questionnaire. (Source: DailyMail)

Globalization
10 Nov 2019  After Trump Jr. and numerous others on social media discussed media coverage naming the alleged whistleblower as CIA analyst Ciaramella, Wikipedia editors began trying to add the name to the Trump-Ukraine controversy article. Page logs show the information has been repeatedly removed and revisions containing the name deleted as “Grossly insulting, degrading, or offensive material” by left-wing admins. Those adding the name were threatened with bans. Prior to Trump Jr. sharing Ciaramella’s name, editors also attempted to add him to the whistleblower page, but those edits were labeled “vandalism” and removed. Censoring of Ciaramella’s name on Wikipedia comes after similar censorship at Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as repeated efforts to slant Wikipedia’s articles on the Ukraine controversy and impeachment inquiry against Trump. (Source: Breitbart)

7 November 2019  Text, which could have been generated by artificial intelligence. The model, known as "GPT-2" was created for a simple purpose: it can be fed a piece of text, and is able to predict the words that will come next. By doing so, it is able to create long strings of writing that are largely indistinguishable from those written by a human being. The outputted text could be used to create misleading news articles, impersonate other people, automatically create abusive or fake content for social media or to use to spam people with -  along with a variety of possible uses that might not even have been imagined yet. (Source: TheIndependent)

5 November 2019  Scientists call for 'population control' as they declare worldwide climate emergency and claim failure to act will lead to 'untold human suffering'. Thousands of scientists signed the paper which declared the climate emergency. The grroup is led by Ripple, professor of ecology at Oregon State University. To limit the damage caused by humans' greenhouse gas emissions the paper calls for more control over the massively booming global population, currently increasing by over 200,000 people a day. The paper pointed to six areas in which humanity should take immediate steps to slow down the effects of a warming planet. Firstly reducing the consumption of energy and replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon renewables. Secondly the paper called for the reduction of 'short-lived pollutants' such as methane, soot and hydroflourocarbons to be drastically cut - calculating that the reduction could see the short-term warming trend cut 50 per cent over the next few decades. The paper also suggests ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and mangroves are protected in order for them to reach 'ecological potential' and act as carbon dioxide converters - a prevalent green house gas created by human activity. Humans are encouraged to adopt a diet with fewer animal products by the researchers. The dietary shift would significantly reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases and free up agricultural lands for growing human food rather than livestock feed. Reducing food waste is also stated as critical. Scientists call for a 'carbon free' economy, shifting goals away from the growth of gross domestic product and the pursuit of extreme wealth. The paper was published today in BioScience and held more than 11,000 scientist signatories from 153 countries. Greenhouse gas emissions are still rapidly rising. Other ominous signs from human activities include sustained increases in per-capita meat production, global tree cover loss and number of airline passengers. Encouraging signs: decreases in global birth rates and decelerated forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon, and increases in wind and solar power. (Source: Mail)

Space
November 1, 2019  A small asteroid came close. Without actually colliding with our atmosphere, near-Earth asteroid C0PPEV1 – renamed 2019 UN 13 – was spotted in the early morning hours of October 31, 2019 by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. It passed above southern Africa within 6,200 km at the moment of closest approach, around 13:45 UTC on October 31. That’s well within the orbit of many telecommunications satellites (geosynchronous orbits above Earth, those causing satellites to remain over a single spot on Earth’s surface, are 35,786 km high). Small asteroids like this one do sometimes come close and, in fact, frequently enter Earth’s atmosphere. For example, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, which operates a network of sensors that monitors Earth around the clock listening for the infrasound signature of nuclear detonations, said in 2014 that it had recorded 26 atom-bomb-scale asteroid impacts to Earth’s atmosphere since 2000. (Source: EarthSky)

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