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The Russia watchThe smoking gun in the Mueller probe?; Nadler will subpoena Mueller and report; new Russian disinformation campaign, and more
· This charge is different
· The smoking gun in the Mueller probe?
· If Trump told Cohen to lie, impeachment is coming
· Does the BuzzFeed report show that Trump obstructed justice? I asked 9 legal experts.
· DNC: Target of Russia cyberattack after 2018 midterms
· Nadler will subpoena Mueller and report if needed
· That sophisticated, specific Russian 2016 voter targeting effort doesn’t seem to exis”
· How the charge aginst Natalia Veselnitskaya could lead back to the Trump campaign
· Giuliani: Collusion could have happened
· Facebook disrupts new Russian disinformation campaign
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ExtremismGerman police raid suspected KKK members' homes
German police on Wednesday conducted raids on several properties throughout Germany connected to an extremist group which associates itself with the American Ku Klux Klan. Germany’s domestic intellig agency said around forty people are either under surveillance or investigation for connections with the extreme-right group.
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ExtremismThe KKK is active in Germany
The KKK’s sway on the racist, far-right end of the spectrum has declined as other, more contemporary hate groups have emrged as part of the alt-right. In Germany, however, some violent groups on the right fringe have associated themselves with the KKK. An author of a recent book on the KKK in Germany discusses the danger of the KKK and why it has emetrged on the German right fringe.
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TerrorismFar-right German journalist implicated in firebombing of Hungarian center in Ukraine
A Polish man accused of involvement in the firebombing of a Hungarian cultural center in western Ukraine last year says he received instructions on the attack from a German journalist who has worked as a consultant for a German parliament deputy with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
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CybersecurityData breaches are inevitable – here’s how to protect yourself anyway
It’s tempting to give up on data security altogether, with all the billions of pieces of personal data – Social Security numbers, credit cards, home addresses, phone numbers, passwords and much more – breached and stolen in recent years. But that’s not realistic – nor is the idea of going offline entirely. In any case, huge data-collection corporations vacuum up data about almost every American without their knowledge. As cybersecurity researchers, we offer good news to brighten this bleak picture. There are some simple ways to protect your personal data that can still be effective, though they involve changing how you think about your own information security.
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FloodsConnected vehicles’ windshield wipers could help prevent flooding
We’ve been promised all kinds of benefits from a future of connected vehicles, but flood control? One of your car’s oldest features has been put to a new, high-tech use by University of Michigan researchers. Utilizing a test fleet in the city of Ann Arbor, engineers tracked when wipers were being used and matched it with video from onboard cameras to document rainfall. They found that tracking windshield wiper activity can provide faster, more accurate rainfall data than radar and rain gauge systems we currently have in place.
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Our picksClimate change threatens military installations; cities ignore earthquake risks; new missile policy, and more
· Big earthquake would topple countless buildings, but many cities ignore the danger
· Pentagon: Climate change threatens military installations
· Government watchdog to State Department: quit ignoring climate change
· Senate GOP blocks bill to reopen Homeland Security
· Trump’s new missile policy relies heavily on largely unproven technologies
· “Blue Alert”: Notification system would help law enforcement in danger
· Former FEMA admin.: AI can marry urban planning and disaster response
· Trump tried partisan applause lines inside the Pentagon. Nobody applauded.
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Missile defenseAdministration unveils its Missile Defense Review
Thirty-five years after Ronald Reagan vowed to make nuclear weapons “impotent and obsolete,” the administration has today unveiled its Missile Defense Review – the latest iteration of U.S. efforts to build an effective ballistic missile defense. The Pentagon says that its search for more effective missile defense technologies is the result of its focus on near-peer adversaries such as China and Russia, but the administration’s Missile Defense Review appears more suitable for defending the United States against more limited attacks, such as those likely to come from North Korea or, perhaps, Iran.
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ExtremismDNC becomes latest organization to disavow Women’s March amid anti-Semitism scandal
In a major blow, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has joined the long list of groups that have broken with the Women’s March over allegations of anti-Semitism. The move comes a day after Women’s March co-president Tamika Mallory refused to explicitly condemn Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan on the ABC show, The View, in a heated exchange with hosts Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain, who grilled Mallory about the hate preacher’s anti-Semitic views.
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ExtremismFascist Forge: A new forum for hate
White supremacist online forum Fascist Forge advertises itself as a “Home for the 21st Century Fascist,” and attracts some of the movement’s most extreme adherents. The forum emphasizes violent tactics. Some users advocate the creation of small terrorist cells, while others share how-to guides on guerrilla warfare, including military field and operation manuals, and instructions for building homemade bombs. Others suggest targeting infrastructure or recommend attacking people they perceive to be enemies of the white race.
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Get MS-13 out of our schools
This past week saw a horrific MS-13 gang knife attack against a 16-year-old Huntington High School student at the Burger King on New York Avenue in Huntington. The student was eating after class with several classmates when they noticed three gang members glaring at them. When they tried to leave, the gang attacked, stabbing the 16 year old in the back. The police and the high school need to protect our children. We need a “zero tolerance” policy and to expel and - if illegal deport - anyone involved with MS-13. The high school and the police have a lot of explaining to do.
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The Russia connectionJust between us
Media investigation has found that President Donald Trump has had at least 18 interactions with Vladimir Putin – four letters, five in-person meetings, and nine phone calls – and that Trump has not shared details of these interactions — what was discussed and what the two leaders agreed to — with members of his administration. Trump went to some length to conceal his dealings with Putin from the State Department, the Pentagon, the NSC, and the U.S. intelligence community: Just following the official Hamburg meeting, for example, Trump confiscated the interpreter’s notes before he and Putin left the room. “What’s disconcerting is the desire to hide information from your own team,” said one Russia expert. “The fact that Trump didn’t want the State Department or members of the White House team to know what he was talking with Putin about suggests it was not about advancing our country’s national interest but something more problematic.”
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The Russia connectionFacebook deletes hundreds of Russian troll pages
Facebook announced it had shut down more than 360 pages and accounts, with some tied to the Internet Research Agency (IRA). from the United States to Germany, Facebook has come under immense pressure to combat fake news, disinformation campaigns, and hate speech on its platforms.
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PrivacyAmazon, Facebook and Google don’t need to spy on your conversations to know what you’re talking about
If you’ve ever wondered if your phone is spying on you, you’re not alone. One of the most hotly debated topics in technology today is the amount of data that firms surreptitiously gather about us online. You may well have shared the increasingly common experience of feeling creeped out by ads for something you recently discussed in a real life conversation or an online interaction. Tech companies don’t need to listen to your phone calls or read you emails. Simply put, tech firms routinely gather so much data about you in other ways, they already have an excellent idea what your interests, desires and habits might be.
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VaccinesProducing vaccines without the use of chemicals
Producing vaccines is a tricky task – especially in the case of inactivated vaccines, in which pathogens must be killed without altering their structure. Until now, this task has generally involved the use of toxic chemicals. Now, however, an innovative new technology developed by Fraunhofer researchers – the first solution of its kind – will use electron beams to produce inactivated vaccines quickly, reproducibly and without the use of chemicals.
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Coastal perilCoastal wetlands need to move inland in fight against climate change
Up to 30 percent of coastal wetlands could be lost globally as a result of rising sea levels, with a dramatic effect on global warming and coastal flooding, if action is not taken to protect them, new research warns. The global study suggests that the future of global coastal wetlands, including tidal marshes and mangroves, could be secured if they were able to migrate further inland.
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Our picksJudge: biometrics are the same as passwords; Pentagon’s yawning cyber gaps; anti-vaccine movement & measles, and more
· Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. to file for bankruptcy as wildfire costs hit $30 billion; stock plunges
· Trump’s wall fixation is impeding border security
· Judge rules that biometrics are the same as passwords
· The Pentagon has more than 250 cyber gaps in its networks, watchdog says
· Los Angeles’ earthquake early warning system could save lives, but what about the rest of California?
· Trends of human plague, Madagascar, 1998–2016
· They roam public buildings, making videos. Terrorism experts say they may be dangerous
· Measles cases at highest for 20 years in Europe, as anti-vaccine movement grows
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The Russia watchTrump discusses U.S. withdrawal from NATO; Trump’s deference to the Kremlin; cyberattacks on Treasury bonds, and more
· Trump has reportedly discussed withdrawing from NATO. That would be great for Russia.
· Donald Trump’s pattern of deference to the kremlin is clear
· The interpreter-gate fallout is here
· Russian media on mute over Trump-Putin meetings
• Mueller probes an event with Nunes, Flynn, and foreign officials at Trump’s D.C. hotel
· Mueller is holding top secret intelligence that will sink the Trump presidency
· “The president has been acting on Russia’s behalf”: U.S. officials are shocked by Trump’s asset-like behavior
· Cyberattack on Treasury bonds could be the missing ingredient for next economic crisis
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China syndromeHuawei industrial espionage in Poland leads to calls for boycott
The Chinese telecom giant’s industrial espionage activities in Poland have prompted calls for the company to be banned. The United States is leading the push for a boycott, but many EU governments remain undecided. Huawei offers a capable 5G technology, which represents a quantum leap in wireless communication speed, and which will be key to developing the Internet of Things (IoT), including self-driving cars. Critics charge that much of that technology was stolen from Western companies by Chinese intelligence agencies, for which Huwawei serves as a front.
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Radicalization in prisonReducing prison radicalization by placing terrorists in general prison populations
New research shows people imprisoned on terrorism offenses stand a better chance of being rehabilitated when placed in general prison populations, than when kept in isolation or in a separate location with other terrorists. The study challenges the traditional view that violent extremist offenders will spread their radical ideology amongst other prisoners.
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Considered opinion: Investigating the presidentOn what grounds can the FBI investigate the president as a counterintelligence threat?
“Let’s stipulate for purposes of argument that Putin has compromising information on Trump, and that the FBI has Trump on tape unambiguously pledging fealty to Putin and promising to serve as his agent in carrying out a number of concrete orders from the Russian president to damage U.S. intelligence operations (for example, by exposing U.S. spies and U.S. intelligence operations),” Harvard Law School’s Jack Glodsmith writes. In this situation, could the FBI seek a FISA warrant premised on the claim that the president was an agent of a foreign power? “The answer based on [my analysis] may be ‘no,’ at least to this extent: the FBI cannot act in a way that is legally premised on second-guessing the president’s national security bona fides. On this view, the FBI can fully investigate Russia’s interference with the 2016 election, including matters involving the president, as it has been doing for a while now. But it cannot cross the line of taking investigative steps premised on the president’s threat to national security. The Constitution leaves crossing that line up to Congress and the American people.”
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CybersecurityThe quiet threat inside ‘internet of things’ devices
As Americans increasingly buy and install smart devices in their homes, all those cheap interconnected devices create new security problems for individuals and society as a whole. The problem is compounded by businesses radically expanding the number of sensors and remote monitors it uses to manage overhead lights in corporate offices and detailed manufacturing processes in factories. Governments, too, are getting into the act – cities, especially, want to use new technologies to improve energy efficiency, reduce traffic congestion and improve water quality. The number of these “internet of things” devices is climbing into the tens of billions. They’re creating an interconnected world with the potential to make people’s lives more enjoyable, productive, secure and efficient. But those very same devices, many of which have no real security protections, are also becoming part of what are called “botnets,” vast networks of tiny computers vulnerable to hijacking by hackers.
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The long view
TerrorismDeaths from terrorism fell for the third consecutive year, after peaking in 2014
The Global Terrorism Index 2018, just released by the Institute for Economic & Peace (IEP), shows the total number of deaths decreased by 27 percent in 2017, with the largest falls occurring in Iraq and Syria. A drop in fatalities was also reflected in country scores with 94 countries improving, compared to 46 that deteriorated. Alongside the fall in terrorism, the global economic impact of terrorism has also dropped, decreasing by 42 percent to $52 billion in 2017.
TerrorismIslamic State greater draw for U.S.-born recruits than al Qaeda
ISIS has been more successful than its predecessor organization, al Qaeda, in drawing Americans to its cause. Whereas al-Qaeda was more reliant on preexisting connections to the region or Islam, an ISIL candidate recruit is more likely to be younger, less educated, and a U.S.-born citizen.
The Russia connectionRussian social-media-interference operations “active and ongoing”: Senate Intel Committee
The Russian influence campaign on social media in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign sought to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election by deepening divisions among Americans and suppressing turnout among Democratic voters, according to a report produced for the Senate Intelligence Committee. “What is clear is that all of the [Russian social media] messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party — and specifically Donald Trump,” the report says. “Increasingly, we’ve seen how social media platforms intended to foster open dialogues can be used by hostile foreign actors seeking to manipulate and subvert public opinion,” said the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina). “Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped.”
Democracy imperiledThe time of the trolls
The West woke up to the threat of Kremlin trolls in 2016, however it had already been very damaging in 2014–2015. The Ukraine crisis saw the deployment of trolls to Facebook and VKontakte, as well as YouTube and Twitter. The investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election showed that trolling was never completely dependent on a technology like bots, nor that it was predominantly about Kremlin employees sitting somewhere in Russia manufacturing anti-Clinton propaganda. Rather, it was ordinary Americans and Europeans that were sharing the messages launched by trolls, and often posting them themselves.
China syndromeChina exerting “sharp power” influence on American institutions
China is penetrating American institutions in ways that are coercive and corrupt, while the United States has not fully grasped the gravity of the situation, a Hoover Institution expert says. “An ultimate ambition for global hegemony” is driving China’s multifront efforts to manipulate US state and local governments, universities, think tanks, media, corporations, and the Chinese American community, said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Hoover.
CybersecurityAI advancement opens health data privacy to attack
Advances in artificial intelligence have created new threats to the privacy of health data, a new study shows. The study suggests current laws and regulations are nowhere near sufficient to keep an individual’s health status private in the face of AI development.
Airport securityAirport security screening without queues
Researchers have invented a device that could be developed into ultra-sensitive cameras for security screening which would not require people to queue at airports. Other applications could include smaller and safer sensors for driverless vehicles.
MigrationGlobal migration rates steady since 1990, high return migration
On today’s increasingly crowded globe, human migration can strain infrastructure and resources. Accurate data on migration flows could help governments plan for and respond to immigrants. Yet these figures, when available, tend to be spotty and error-ridden, even in the developed world. Researchers have developed approaches to estimate migration rates, but even the best of these rely on unrealistic assumptions about the mass movement of people and yield migration rates that can fall far below reality.
CybersecuritySignificance vulnerabilities discovered in high-performance computer chips
Researchers have uncovered significant and previously unknown vulnerabilities in high-performance computer chips that could lead to failures in modern electronics. The researchers found they could damage the on-chip communications system and shorten the lifetime of the whole computer chip significantly by deliberately adding malicious workload.
EncryptionNew Australian law would compel tech firms to hand over encrypted data
Australia’s parliament earlier today (Thursday) passed a controversial measure which will force tech firms to give police access to the encrypted communications of suspected terrorists and criminals. The law, fiercely opposed by big tech firms, has engendered heated debate over national security and privacy at a time law enforcement agencies are struggling with how to access encrypted information to monitor illegal activities. The passage of the law may have global implications for encrypted communications. Critics say the law may unleash unintended consequences.
Nuclear wasteU.S. must start from scratch with a new nuclear waste strategy: Experts
The U.S. government has worked for decades and spent tens of billions of dollars in search of a permanent resting place for the nation’s nuclear waste. Some 80,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and millions of gallons of high-level nuclear waste from defense programs are stored in pools, dry casks and large tanks at more than seventy-five sites throughout the country. “No single group, institution or governmental organization is incentivized to find a solution,” says one expert.
EMPFriendly electromagnetic pulse improves survival for electronics
An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, emitted by a nuclear weapon exploded high above the United States could disable the electronic circuits of many devices vital to military defense and modern living. These could include complicated weapon systems as well as phones, laptops, credit cards and car computers. Also, in trouble might be home appliances, gas station pumps and bank accounts. Military equipment – and some civilian equipment, too — are designed to be immune to various levels of EMP, and the validity of these designs has been tested and improved by a “friendly” EMP generator installed in a recently renovated facility at Sandia National Laboratories.
Search & rescueFoldable drone flies through narrow passages in rescue missions
Researchers have developed a new drone that can retract its propeller arms in flight and make itself small to fit through narrow gaps and holes. This is particularly useful when searching for victims of natural disasters.
Disaster zonesHouses in hurricane strike zones are built back, but bigger
A study of hurricane-hit areas of the United States has revealed a trend of larger homes being built to replace smaller ones in the years following a storm. The research shows that the sizes of new homes constructed after a hurricane often dwarf the sizes of those lost.
Water securityNational Climate Assessment: Will U.S. water problems worsen?
Upmanu Lall is director of the Columbia Water Center, chair of Earth and Environmental Engineering, and the lead author of the chapter on water resources in the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment. The report, issued two weeks ago, paints a troubling picture of the nation’s climate future, including projected droughts and extreme precipitation events that could worsen already existing problems with U.S. water supplies and infrastructure. Lall discusses the climate change-driven water challenges the U.S. faces, and ideas for how the nation can respond.
AfricaAfrican terrorist groups driven by local issues
Africa’s three leading Islamist terrorist groups — Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), Boko Haram of Nigeria, and Somalia’s al-Shabab — are mostly national and regional movements. Terrorism experts say that each has its own priorities, and each is fighting a local enemy. There is no operational coherence or coordinated direction among them, even as they use the same jihadist propaganda.