Our picksNeglected Pandemic | More Iran Explosions | Extremism Online, and more

Published 10 July 2020

·  Nation’s Top Emergency-Preparedness Agency Focused on Warfare Threats Over Pandemic

·  “I Would Be Very Careful in the Middle of the Street”: Drivers Have Hit Protesters 66 Times Since May 27

·  Explosions in Iran Point to a Possible Israeli Sabotage Campaign

·  CIA Kept Giving Intel to Russia, Got Nothing Back

·  A Duty of Care Law Is Urgently Needed to Combat Rise of Hateful Extremism Online, Says Government Adviser

·  Election Meddling Drives DHS to Seek Help Tracking Social Media

·  Neo-Nazis Are Running out of Places to Hide Online

Nation’s Top Emergency-Preparedness Agency Focused on Warfare Threats Over Pandemic (Stephanie Armour, Alexandra Berzon, and James V. Grimaldi, Wall Street Journal)
Planning priorities within U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response left it unprepared for coronavirus crisis, current and former officials said. The top U.S. agency charged with preparing for a pandemic and overseeing the medical stockpile spent years bracing for potential attacks on the Korean Peninsula and was ill-prepared for the coronavirus crisis that continues to surge, according to current and former government officials.

“I Would Be Very Careful in the Middle of the Street”: Drivers Have Hit Protesters 66 Times Since May 27 (Grace Hauck, USA Today)
People running, screaming and shouting words of disbelief. Bodies thrown in the air, lifted onto windshields or trapped under cars and semitrucks. It’s become a horrifying and familiar scene in recent weeks. Amid thousands of protests nationwide against police brutality, dozens of drivers have plowed into crowds of protesters marching in roadways, raising questions about the drivers’ motivations. Witnesses, law enforcement and terrorism experts said some of the vehicle incidents appear to be targeted and politically motivated; others appear to be situations in which the driver became frightened or enraged by protesters surrounding their vehicle.

Explosions in Iran Point to a Possible Israeli Sabotage Campaign (Stratfor)
Israel was likely behind a July 2 explosion and fire at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, and potentially some of the other similar incidents that have occurred near Tehran over the past two weeks, including a June 26 explosion at the Khojir missile complex. Although Tel Aviv doesn’t typically claim its covert actions against Iran, motive and past history make Israel the most likely actor to conduct such sabotage operations against Iranian infrastructure and assets.

CIA Kept Giving Intel to Russia, Got Nothing Back (Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast)
Intelligence sharing with Moscow is a one-way street, according to CIA veterans, but the Trump administration nevertheless saw it as a key step to a closer relationship.

A Duty of Care Law Is Urgently Needed to Combat Rise of Hateful Extremism Online, Says Government Adviser (Charles Hymas, The Telegraph)
Social media firms are not doing enough to curb extremism online, requiring new laws, says Government adviser Sara Khan

Kansas GOP Official Apologizes for Equating Mask rule to Holocaust

A Kansas GOP official has taken down a cartoon that likened the order to wear masks to that of the Holocaust. The image depicted Governor Laura Kelly wearing a Star of David mask as people are loaded into a cattle car.

Election Meddling Drives DHS to Seek Help Tracking Social Media (Shaun Courtney, Bloomberg)
The Homeland Security Department has posted a help-wanted ad to track and analyze social media disinformation campaigns by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea targeting the U.S. 2020 election

Neo-Nazis Are Running out of Places to Hide Online (Rita Katz, Wired)
Telegram booting far-right groups from their hub proves that platforms can, in fact, help curb terrorist recruitment in the internet age.