ReportWire

Tag: terrorism

  • Taylor Swift’s Vienna Concerts Canceled In Response To Terrorist Plot

    Taylor Swift’s Vienna Concerts Canceled In Response To Terrorist Plot

    [ad_1]

    Organizers have canceled three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria after authorities foiled a terror attack planned for the Vienna leg of her blockbuster Eras tour, the extraordinary decision coming at significant cost to Vienna’s businesses, devastating fans, and renewing focus on the vulnerability of huge concerts as targets for terror networks. What do you think?

    “Hopefully, she’ll reschedule when terrorism ends.”

    Mark Spradley, Systems Analyst

    Taylor Swift Under Fire For Leaving Idling Plane Double-Parked Outside Store

    “Good thing Swifties are famously easygoing.”

    Lucy Kubik, Gluten Remover

    “That’s it. I hate terrorism.”

    Will Dye, Assistant Key Grip

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The Thomas Crooks Conspiracy Theories Aren’t Going Anywhere

    The Thomas Crooks Conspiracy Theories Aren’t Going Anywhere

    [ad_1]

    As Jefferson Morley, who’s published several books about the CIA and written extensively about the JFK assassination, notes, if people believe that the government is capable of concealing facts about an attempt on the life of a US president, that’s probably because it’s demonstrably done so and is actively doing so. Similarly, if people believe that the CIA is capable of creating brainwashed assassins, that’s in part because of its very real history of interest in exactly this. The notorious MKUltra wasn’t just the inspiration for everything from the Bourne movies to Stranger Things, but an actual program of research into mind control—especially replacing true memories with false ones—about which historians and researchers still have many unanswered questions, largely because files related to the program were destroyed in the early 1970s.

    “You can’t unring the MKUltra bell,” says Morley. “People know about it. A lot of people know about it. So to say, ‘Oh, that’s irrational conspiracy,’ which is the attitude that we get from the mainstream press—’Oh, you know, how dare anybody question the CIA’s account of that?’— I mean, it just doesn’t ring true to most people, because most people know it’s not true.”

    The social memory of the political murders of the 1960s, and of the government in some cases at the least withholding information about them, certainly informs the public’s understanding of events today. It thus informs collective sensemaking, to use the term employed by researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.

    Two days after the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life, the researchers published an analysis outlining the process by which groups were making sense of the crisis in real time by gathering evidence and interpreting it through a frame, and how this was playing and had already played out. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, they identified three politically coded frames: one suggesting that the shooting was staged, one focused on the Secret Service’s failures, and one suggesting the shooting was an inside job. The first seems to have fallen apart due to the evident reality of the shooting, including the death of Corey Comperatore and the serious injuries suffered by two other Trump rally attendees; the second, given the manifest failures that led to the resignation of the Secret Service’s director, seems broadly sound. The third seems likely to linger.

    “Every time there’s a school shooting, my book sales go up,” says Tom O’Neill, the author of Chaos, which among other things draws intriguing though ultimately inconclusive connections between Charles Manson and MKUltra. O’Neill happened to be watching the rally at which Crooks tried to shoot Trump, and his first thought, he says, was, “Well, there go my book sales again. They’re going to skyrocket, because people really want to believe that there’s no such thing as a lone assassin.”

    O’Neill says he’s often asked whether he believes the MKUltra program still exists, and that he can only say that while he wouldn’t be surprised, he has no idea, because nearly all the relevant records were destroyed and because, in his view, transparency is almost beside the point. “They’re not going to release any of their secrets. That’s why they’re the CIA,” he says. “And if they release something, you should be suspicious of what they release.”

    [ad_2]

    Tim Marchman

    Source link

  • ISIS Created Fake CNN and Al Jazeera Broadcasts

    ISIS Created Fake CNN and Al Jazeera Broadcasts

    [ad_1]

    The Islamic State has created fake videos mimicking the look and feel of mainstream news outlets CNN and Al Jazeera, according to a new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue shared exclusively with WIRED.

    Launched in early March, the campaign was orchestrated by War and Media, a pro–Islamic State media outlet that typically creates long-form videos pushing the group’s ideology and history. The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a UN-designated terror group that perpetrated a genocide of the Yezidi population in Iraq and conducted multiple terrorist attacks, including the 2015 attacks in Paris that left 131 people dead; it has also promoted videos of its members beheading journalists and soldiers.

    Central to the campaign were two YouTube channels. One was falsely branded as CNN and pushed English-language videos, and the other was branded with the Al Jazeera logo and pushed Arabic-language videos. The videos featured the logos of the real news outlets, and in the case of CNN, the videos also featured a real-time ticker along the bottom of the screen which changed to match the content being shown. The campaign also deployed a network of social media accounts branded to look like they were affiliated with news outlets, in what appears to be an effort to push ideology to new audiences.

    In total, the campaign created eight original videos, four in each language, that discussed topics like the Islamic State’s expansion in Africa and the war in Syria.

    One video also focused on the deadly attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow in March. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and the video attempted to combat a disinformation narrative promoted by the Kremlin that Ukraine, not the Islamic State, was accountable.

    “It was essentially fake news to debunk fake news,” Moustafa Ayad, the executive director for Africa, the Middle East, and Asia at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells WIRED.

    Ayad also believes the campaign was a test run to ascertain how successful it would be in circumventing censorship efforts on mainstream Western platforms.

    “It’s the first time we’ve really seen a concerted effort by an Islamic State outlet to create this fake ecosystem of news that isn’t branded as something that’s affiliated with the Islamic State,” says Ayad. “It was very much a test of the system and now they know where there are weaknesses in their strategy.”

    The videos remained on YouTube for a month and a half before they were removed by the company, but during that time, the videos were also downloaded and republished by Islamic State supporters on their own accounts. Some of those videos are still circulating online today, because they have not been added to the hash-sharing database that platforms use to coordinate the takedown of terrorist content.

    “What they did was essentially build this entire little fake ecosystem of social media channels that are doppelgängers of news outlets,” Ayad says.

    Each of the videos on YouTube racked up thousands of views, and while none of them went viral, it was “enough for the group to get some traction in circles outside where they would normally get [traction] and saw real people commenting under the videos,” says Ayad.

    [ad_2]

    David Gilbert

    Source link

  • U.S. ignored evidence major U.K. bank was helping fund sanctioned Iranian groups, whistleblower says

    U.S. ignored evidence major U.K. bank was helping fund sanctioned Iranian groups, whistleblower says

    [ad_1]

    Standard Chartered Plc bank branch in Hong Kong

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Recent documents submitted to a U.S. federal court allege that major British bank Standard Chartered helped finance sanctioned Iranian entities and terrorist groups, and that relevant evidence was ignored by American authorities.

    London-based Standard Chartered, which primarily serves clients in emerging markets, was previously punished with more than a combined $1.7 billion in fines after admitting in 2012 and 2019 to violating sanctions on Iran and other blacklisted countries.

    The bank denies it ran transactions for any organizations designated as terrorists.

    The latest court filings, provided by former Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) employee turned whistleblower Julian Knight, claim that U.S. officials lied by denying that he provided them with evidence of far greater wrongdoing by the bank. The officials then applied to dismiss his whistleblower case against the bank as “meritless” in 2019 in order to shield it, Knight alleged. He has now asked a U.S. federal court in New York to reinstate the case.

    Knight, who led a Standard Chartered transaction services unit between 2009 and 2011, was one of two whistleblowers who gave U.S. investigators confidential bank statements in 2012 and 2013. The statements documenting transactions that he says contained proof of further sanctions breaches, including violations beyond 2007, when the bank said it had stopped any dealings with Iran.

    Knight’s court filing alleges that the U.S. government committed a “colossal fraud” against the legal system by denying he had presented “damning evidence” that Standard Chartered “facilitated many billions of dollars in banking transactions for Iran, numerous international terror groups, and the front companies for those groups,” according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

    Some of that evidence, the court filing says, showed that the bank’s clients included front companies for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Palestinian militant group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Iran-linked entities in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Germany and other countries. 

    The two whistleblowers alleged that U.S. authorities who investigated Standard Chartered “made false statements to a court in order to have their [Knight’s and his colleague’s] claim for a whistleblower’s reward dismissed” in 2019, the BBC reported.

    The authorities in question, including an FBI agent, said that the whistleblowers’ claims “did not lead to the discovery of any new … violations.” The court then dismissed the case as “meritless.” CNBC has contacted the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.

    The ICIJ report says Knight’s latest claim alleges that the U.S. government “lied that it had conducted ‘a lengthy, costly, and substantial investigation’ into his claims or it was “fully aware” of the transactions he had provided “and simply lied to conceal them,” adding: “The Government’s own statements support the latter scenario.”

    In response to a CNBC request for comment, a Standard Chartered spokesperson described Knight’s court filing as “another attempt to use fabricated claims against the bank, following previous unsuccessful attempts” and said that the “false allegations underpinning it have been thoroughly discredited by the U.S. authorities who undertook a comprehensive investigation into the claims and said they were ‘meritless’ and did not show any violations of U.S. sanctions.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Block reportedly greenlit transactions involving terrorist groups and sanctioned nations

    Block reportedly greenlit transactions involving terrorist groups and sanctioned nations

    [ad_1]

    Block appears to be squarely in the government’s sights. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are reportedly probing extensive compliance lapses at the parent company of Square and Cash App. NBC News says a former Block employee has handed over documents to federal authorities, painting a picture of how the company failed to gather required risk-assessment information from customers and subsequently processed illegal transactions.

    The documents allegedly show that Block greenlit multiple crypto transactions involving known terrorist organizations. Furthermore, Square reportedly processed thousands of transfers involving nations under economic sanctions. “From the ground up, everything in the compliance section was flawed,” the whistleblower allegedly told NBC News. “It is led by people who should not be in charge of a regulated compliance program.”

    Most transactions allegedly involved credit cards, dollar transfers or Bitcoin and weren’t reported to the government as mandated by law. In addition, Block reportedly refused to “correct company processes” when notified of the breaches.

    The investigation follows a separate report from NBC News in February highlighting two different whistleblowers who flagged the same issues at Block. They cited “questionable Cash App transactions with entities under sanction by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, operations known to sell personal information and credit card data for illegal purposes, and offshore gambling sites barred to U.S. citizens.”

    The practice allegedly spanned multiple years. NBC News says it reviewed around 100 pages of documents from the whistleblower involving people or organizations in countries under US sanctions, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Some of them were reportedly from as recent as 2023.

    Graphic from finance company Block showing Jack Dorsey's face on a cube.

    Block

    The whistleblower claims Block’s management was aware of the alleged offenses. “It’s my understanding from the documents that compliance lapses were known to Block leadership and the board in recent years,” Edward Siedle, a former SEC attorney representing the whistleblower, told NBC News.

    The whistleblower says that, besides senior management, Block’s board was told about the compliance issues. Coincidentally or not, several board members made unexpected exits recently, including former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, who resigned in February, and Sharon Rothstein, who had been on the board since 2022. Block told NBC News that they were leaving to devote more time to other activities and that their exits weren’t “a result of any disagreements with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.”

    Federal authorities have taken a greater interest in modern financial platforms in recent years after at least some of them had become something of a Wild West. Of course, FTX’s fraudulent practices and subsequent collapse led to a seismic decline in the cryptocurrency industry. Although it isn’t clear if the feds have gotten involved, Elon Musk’s X (the husk of what was once Dorsey’s Twitter) reportedly violated US sanctions by accepting blue-check subscription payments from terrorist organizations.

    [ad_2]

    Will Shanklin

    Source link

  • Donkey & trailer trudge through devastated Gaza Strip amid hopes of a ceasefire

    Donkey & trailer trudge through devastated Gaza Strip amid hopes of a ceasefire

    [ad_1]

    A DONKEY and trailer are driven through the devastation of the Gaza Strip — as hopes rise of a ceasefire.

    The bleak scenes have brought international calls for Israel to relent and it is now offering a 40-day truce.

    3

    A donkey and cart is driven between destroyed buildings in the north of Al Nusairat refugee camp, southern Gaza StripCredit: APAImages / Polaris
    The bleak scenes have brought international calls for Israel to relent and it is now offering a 40-day truce

    3

    The bleak scenes have brought international calls for Israel to relent and it is now offering a 40-day truceCredit: APAImages / Polaris
    A senior Hamas official also raised hopes of a breakthrough, declaring the terror group had no 'major issues' with the most recent truce plan

    3

    A senior Hamas official also raised hopes of a breakthrough, declaring the terror group had no ‘major issues’ with the most recent truce planCredit: APAImages / Polaris

    Israeli officials are preparing to fly to the Egyptian capital Cairo to seal the long-awaited deal which would see thousands of Palestinian prisoners freed in return.

    But Hamas terror master Yahya Sinwar has yet to respond to the offer, dubbed “extraordinarily generous” by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

    A senior Hamas official also raised hopes of a breakthrough, declaring the terror group had no “major issues” with the most recent truce plan.

    Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has come under huge pressure amid demonstrations led by hostage families demanding an immediate deal.

    READ MORE ON GAZA CONFLICT

    But details have yet to be signed off by Sinwar – who is believed to be hiding from Israeli forces hunting him in the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.

    The deal on the table is understood to include a 40-day pause in fighting to allow hostage releases and boost aid to the blitzed coastal strip.

    Israel has also agreed to consider a second phase of a truce consisting of a “period of sustained calm” in reply to Hamas demands for a permanent ceasefire.

    But Prime Minister Netanyahu – whose forces are said to have killed 34,000 Palestinians since the October 7 terror attacks killed 1,200 Israelis – stressed Rafah would be attacked regardless of any deal.

    Sinwar – who planned the massacres – tops Israel’s most wanted list.

    Hostages set to be freed on humanitarian grounds include any remaining women, children, men over 50, and those who are sick.

    Heartbreaking Hamas propaganda video of hostage heightens need for Israel to ‘take action’ in Rafah and Gaza

    Britain’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron also described Israel’s offer as “generous”.

    He said: “I hope Hamas do take this deal and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes in the world should be on them today saying ‘take that deal.’”

    [ad_2]

    Nick Parker

    Source link

  • Are there really Chinese sleeper cells operating in the US?

    Are there really Chinese sleeper cells operating in the US?

    [ad_1]

    Is the Chinese Communist Party operating “sleeper cells” on American soil? That’s what Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said in a recent social media post. 

    Stefanik, who as House Republican Conference chair is the third-highest party official under Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., decried Chinese nationals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in a March 17 post on X. 

    Stefanik, who has closely aligned herself with former President Donald Trump, went on to say in the post that “we know the #CCP (the Chinese Communist Party) has set up sleeper cells in our communities. Joe Biden is asleep at the wheel as a hostile foreign regime is waging war on our way of life.”

    PolitiFact reached out to Stefanik — a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees — multiple times but never received a response. However, terrorism experts said whether her assertion is accurate depends on how one defines “sleeper cell.”

    We couldn’t find any publicly available, official intelligence community definition of “sleeper cell,” and we did not hear back from the CIA or the House Intelligence Committee. But the International Spy Museum, which has board members and advisers from the intelligence community, defines a “sleeper agent” as an “agent living as an ordinary citizen in a foreign country; acts only when a hostile situation develops.”

    This definition mirrors the image most Americans may have from pop culture: spies or terrorists who embed themselves in another country. These so-called sleeper agents pass themselves off as ordinary citizens as they await a call from their handlers — sometimes years later — with orders to undertake a mission such as sabotage or terrorism.

    Experts told PolitiFact they are unaware of any efforts by China or its ruling Communist Party that fit this Hollywood version of a sleeper cell. 

    However, a looser definition of “sleeper cell” may fit a recent case of Chinese nationals who allegedly embedded themselves in Manhattan to operate an “illegal overseas police station,” said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a terrorism expert who founded the security and technology firm Valens Global.

    According to the Justice Department’s April 2023 announcement of the charges, the effort was focused on intimidating Chinese dissidents. Like sleeper agents, the suspects worked undercover within an American community while doing the bidding of a foreign government.

    But the case also presents differences with the popular conception of sleeper cells. The suspects allegedly targeted Chinese dissidents living in America, not native-born Americans; their endgame does not appear to have been a terrorist act against the U.S.; and the suspects’ anti-dissident operations may have been ongoing, rather than having to await orders for a specific mission.

    The overseas police station example

    The existence of these overseas police stations had been bubbling up for a few years prior to the arrests. 

    In September 2022, a Spanish human rights group, Safeguard Defenders, released a report alleging the existence of at least 54 secret Chinese police stations in 21 countries. In April 2023, U.S. media reports cited seven Chinese police stations in the U.S.: two in New York City, two in California, one in Minnesota, one in Nebraska and one in Texas.

    That month, the U.S. arrested “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, on charges related to operating a Chinese police station in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood on behalf of a provincial branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security. 

    The suspects were charged with “conspiring to act as agents of the (People’s Republic of China’s) government as well as obstructing justice by destroying evidence of their communications with” a Ministry of Public Security official, the Justice Department said in announcing the arrests.

    “They were residents of New York City, they communicated with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, they worked to establish this unofficial police station, they operated it clandestinely at the behest of the People’s Republic of China, and it involved at least two people, which is the minimum for a ‘cell,’” said Gartenstein-Ross, the terrorism expert. “That provides a number of aspects that would establish them as a sleeper cell.”

    The Chinese “police stations” don’t fit other aspects of the popularly held definition

    To the extent ordinary Americans have heard of sleeper cells, however, it’s from pop culture — and such examples differ from the Chinese police stations.

    The Chinese defendants don’t appear to have been terrorists, unlike the sleeper cells from the 2005-2006 Showtime miniseries “Sleeper Cell” or another Showtime series, “Homeland.”

    In addition, the Chinese defendants appear to have been targeting Chinese dissidents, rather than natives of the country in which they embedded themselves. The latter was the modus operandi in the 1962 movie “The Manchurian Candidate” and the 2013-2018 FX series “The Americans.”

    It also appears that the two men arrested were pursuing their activities on an ongoing basis, rather than waiting for years to undertake a specific mission, which is a key element of the Spy Museum definition.

    Would China want to pursue a sleeper cell strategy against the United States?

    Experts told PolitiFact that a Chinese-devised sleeper cell of the Hollywood variety seems far-fetched in today’s environment. They said Stefanik’s framing falls into the longstanding trope of a feared Chinese invasion. 

    “Stefanik is basically replicating old-school ‘red scare’ stuff, trying to provoke anti-China sentiment,” said James J.F. Forest, the director of security studies at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

    However, they added, other tactics seem more promising from the Chinese perspective. 

    “A cyber-attack involving hackers that are already present and lurking in our networks is far more likely than a Chinese-directed terrorist campaign involving ‘sleeper cells,’” Forest said. “That’s not what China does, nor is it something they’d want or need to do.”

    Suzanne Ogden, a professor emerita of political science at Northwestern University, agreed.

    Ogden said China has “so many thousands of students in scholars and others in this country that they don’t really need so-called sleeper cells. In the age of computers, they can find out everything they want to know without doing what sleeper cells used to do.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia convicts the spokesperson for Facebook owner Meta in a swift trial in absentia

    Russia convicts the spokesperson for Facebook owner Meta in a swift trial in absentia

    [ad_1]

    An independent Russian news site has reported that a court in Russia convicted the spokesperson of U.S. technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison in absentia

    A court in Russia on Monday convicted the spokesperson of U.S. technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison in a swift trial in absentia, Russia’s independent news site Mediazona reported.

    According to the outlet, the charges against Meta communications director Andy Stone stem from his remarks in 2022 following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 that year. Stone, who is based in the United States, announced temporary changes to Meta’s hate speech policy to allow for “forms of political expression that would normally violate (its) rules, like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’”

    In the same statement, Stone added that “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians” would remain banned. The Russian authorities opened a criminal case implicating Stone and other unidentified Meta employees nonetheless, describing the statement as “illegal calls to violence and killings of Russian citizens.”

    The authorities also outlawed Meta as an extremist organization and blocked Facebook and Instagram in Russia. Both platforms — as well as X, formerly known as Twitter, which has also been blocked — were popular with Russians before the invasion and the subsequent crackdown on independent media and other forms of critical speech. However, they are now only accessible via VPN.

    Mediazona reported that Stone was initially charged with calling for terrorist activity, public calls for extremist activity and publicly justifying terrorism, but the first two charges were dropped in the final version of the indictment. The trial, in which Stone was represented by a government-appointed lawyer, began on Friday and concluded on Monday after only two hearings. Stone was sentenced to six years in a penal colony and barred from administering websites for four more years.

    Meta declined to comment on the verdict.

    In April 2022, Russia also formally barred Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Paris police reportedly detain man behind bomb threat at Iran consulate

    Paris police reportedly detain man behind bomb threat at Iran consulate

    [ad_1]

    Police set up a security cordon in Paris’ wealthy 16th arrondissement Friday amid reports that a man was threatening to detonate an alleged explosive belt at an Iranian consulate. The Paris police would say only that an intervention was underway on the street where the consulate is located, but French media soon reported that the suspect had been taken into custody.

    The Reuters news agency said the man was not found to have any explosives.

    Le Parisien newspaper quoted police sources as saying an eyewitness had seen a man present himself at the door of the consulate before opening his coat to reveal what looked like a homemade explosive belt.

    French police cordoned off Iranian consulate in Paris where a man is threatening to blow himself up
    French police, including special forces, secure the area near an Iranian consulate in Paris, where a man was reportedly threatening to blow himself up, April 19, 2024.

    Benoit Tessier/REUTERS


    The newspaper cited several eyewitnesses who saw the man place flags on the floor of the consulate. They recounted that he said he wanted to avenge the death of his brother. Police, including SWAT teams, were called to the scene to investigate and urged the public to avoid the area.

    Metro traffic was halted between local stations during the operation.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Big Tech Says Spy Bill Turns Its Workers Into Informants

    Big Tech Says Spy Bill Turns Its Workers Into Informants

    [ad_1]

    A trade organization representing some of the world’s largest information technology companies—Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft among them—say its members are voicing strong opposition to ongoing efforts by the Biden administration to dramatically expand a key US government surveillance authority.

    The US Senate is poised to vote Thursday on legislation that would extend a global wiretap program authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Passed by the House of Representatives last week, a provision contained in the bill—known as the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA)—threatens to significantly expand the scope of the spy program, helping the government to compel the assistance of whole new categories of businesses.

    Legal experts argue the provision could enable the government to conscript virtually anyone with access to facilities or equipment housing communications data, forcing “delivery personnel, cleaning contractors, and utilities providers,” among others, to assist US spies in acquiring access to Americans’ emails, phone calls, and text messages—so long as one side of the communication is foreign.

    A global tech trade association, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), is now urging Congress not to pass RISAA without removing a key provision “dramatically expanding the scope of entities and individuals covered” by the program, known as Section 702. Changes to the 702 program included in the House bill, ITI says, would only serve to send customers in the US and abroad fleeing to foreign competitors, convincing many that technology in the US is far too exposed to government surveillance.

    The group’s membership includes several major equipment manufacturers, such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Broadcom, as well as large cloud storage providers like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Salesforce. “ITI’s position is that the provision should be removed,” the group’s communications director, Janae Washington, tells WIRED. “Our positions are based on member consensus.”

    The individual ITI member companies WIRED contacted for their comment on the legislation did not immediately respond or declined to comment.

    The provision under fire stems from a ruling handed down by the US government’s secret surveillance court—the FISA court—that oversees the 702 program. The program is designed to target the communications of foreigners, including calls and emails to and from US citizens. To this aim, the federal statute specifies that the government may compel the assistance of businesses that fall into the category of what it calls “electronic communications service providers,” or ECSPs.

    Companies like Google and AT&T have typically fallen into this category as direct providers of the services being wiretapped; however, the US government has also moved in recent years to interpret the term more broadly as part of an effort to expand the roster of entities whose assistance it’s allowed to compel.

    The FISA court, in a decision backed by its own review body, pushed back against the expanded definition, telling the government that what constitutes an ECSP remains “open to reconsideration by the branches of government whose competence and constitutional authority extend to statutory revision.”

    More concisely: The court reminded the government that only Congress has the power to rewrite the law.

    [ad_2]

    Dell Cameron

    Source link

  • How Iran could use Hamas hostages as bargaining chips if Israel launch strike

    How Iran could use Hamas hostages as bargaining chips if Israel launch strike

    [ad_1]

    IRAN could turn to violent proxy army Hamas and exploit Israeli hostages trapped in Gaza as bargaining chips, an expert has warned.

    Middle East analyst Dr Anahita Motazed Rad spoke to The Sun about how a desperate Iran may respond if Israel launches a revenge strike for its weekend missile blitz.

    5

    A man looks at posters with images of the Israeli hostages held in GazaCredit: AFP
    The Gaza Strip - war-torn after six months of fighting between Hamas and Israel

    5

    The Gaza Strip – war-torn after six months of fighting between Hamas and IsraelCredit: AFP
    Hamas fighters - one of Iran's terror proxy groups

    5

    Hamas fighters – one of Iran’s terror proxy groupsCredit: Getty

    The LSE professor said “Iran at the moment is just thinking about survival” as Israel gears up to unleash a “strategic and painful” retaliation.

    As the conflict-ridden landscape sparks concern around the globe over Iran and Israel’s next steps, Israeli hostages in Gaza remain trapped.

    And Dr Rad says it’s “possible” Iran could issue orders for Hamas to kill them in response to Israel’s revenge strike.

    Despite speculation over Tel Aviv’s plans to hit Iranian soil in recent days, Dr Rad tells us “there is no doubt” that Israel will respond.

    And she explains that the increasingly volatile environment will be further riled up by Iran’s terror proxies – Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.

    When asked whether Iran might resort to giving orders for its proxy Hamas to kill the hostages, she said: “Possibly. Maybe, yeah, yes.”

    Dr Rad went on: “The Iranian regime is the kind of regime that always are bargaining.”

    The regime, which is struggling as many people want to see a change in government, is at its “weakest point”, she explains.

    It is buried in a turbulent domestic period and facing condemnation from around the world over Saturday’s attack.

    Tehran launched over 300 cruise and ballistic missiles as well as attack drones at Israel in an unprecedented assault.

    As part of its bargaining approach the country may now turn to proxy army Hamas to carve out negotiations and leverage with Israel over the trapped hostages.

    Dr Rad told The Sun: “The Iranian regime is a kind of opportunistic regime.

    “They see all the opportunities for their survival and even escalation of their status in the region, and influence in the region within the chaos.

    “And we have the proof for this.”

    Hostage family fears

    Out of the more than 200 hostages snatched from Israel during the October 7 massacre last year, over 100 were freed in November.

    More than 130 are thought to remain in captivity, but it is not clear how many of them might be alive.

    Just weeks after the horrific slaughter of more than 1,200 Israelis in October 2023, analysis surfaced probing concerns about their fate.

    One piece in Israeli outlet Haaretz said they would be much safer under negotiations brokered by Qatar than if Iran and Hezbollah became more actively involved.

    It warned that they might become “pawns in a regional power play”.

    Now six months later both Iran and Hezbollah are more involved in the regional conflict – and the hostages have not been freed.

    Diplomatic officials are trying to find a new way to secure a hostage deal this week after the Iran strike, Haaretz reports.

    One warned: “The situation is bleak. It is too early to say if an acceptable solution can be found.”

    Families of the hostages are “deeply concerned” about the escalation with Iran and how it might put their loved ones fate in danger.

    Mor Korngold, whose brother is still held in Gaza, said: “In the past week, my anxiety levels have skyrocketed. It began with the attack on the embassy in Damascus and continued with the Iranian response.

    Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi is there, said Netanyahu’s war cabinet should use the Iran strike as “leverage for a deal”.

    Matty Dancyg, whose dad Alex was kidnapped on October 7 and has yet to be released, told the New Yorker about his fears.

    He worries the Iranian strike could jeopardise the possibility of a ceasefire and hostage negotiation deal.

    Matty said: “It’s yet another thing that would make Bibi divert attention away from the hostages.”

    Revenge strike

    Netanyahu’s war cabinet has carved out plans for a “strategic but painful” revenge attack on Iranian soil, according to intelligence sources.

    Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are now simply waiting for the right moment to launch as a fractured Middle East teeters on the brink of war.

    Despite worldwide calls for cool heads to prevail, Netanyahu’s ranks have repeatedly insisted that a retaliatory strike is the only response.

    UK foreign minister David Cameron landed in Jerusalem this morning and said “It is clear the Israelis are making a decision to act”.

    He added that the British government is hoping Israel responds in a way that can do “as little to escalate this as possible”.

    But Israel doubled down yesterday, warning Iran it wouldn’t get off “scot-free”.

    IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression, Iran will not get [off] scot-free with this aggression.

    “We will respond in our time, in our place, in the way that we will choose.”

    Iranian soldiers take part in a military parade today as they brandish drones and missiles

    5

    Iranian soldiers take part in a military parade today as they brandish drones and missilesCredit: AFP
    Fears for the hostages have grown since Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend, pictured: Iranian missiles firing

    5

    Fears for the hostages have grown since Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, pictured: Iranian missiles firingCredit: Pixel8000

    [ad_2]

    Ellie Doughty

    Source link

  • No, the Sydney mall attacker wasn’t Jewish or Muslim

    No, the Sydney mall attacker wasn’t Jewish or Muslim

    [ad_1]

    An April 13 knife attack at a mall in Sydney, Australia, unleashed misleading claims about the attacker and his motives.

    Speaking into a camera, a man in an April 13 Instagram reel said people would be seeing claims that the incident was an “Islamic terrorist attack.”

    “As I explained in the previous video,” the man continued, “it is a Zionist attacker who attacked Jewish in a shopping mall area in Sydney … the guy’s name is Ben Cohen and he’s Jewish.”

    He said the attacker carried out the incident to falsely suggest an Islamic terrorist had done it.

    We saw similar claims on Facebook identifying the attacker as a “Jewish terrorist,” “a radical Jew, or “Benjamin Cohen.” On X, some posts described him as a “Zionist.”

    These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    That’s because none of this is accurate.

     

    (Screenshot from Instagram)

    New South Wales police identified the suspect as Joel Cauchi, 40, of Queensland. Police said Cauchi attacked a police officer; the officer shot Cauchi, who died before paramedics could arrive. 

    Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke said in an April 13 press conference that Cauchi suffered from mental health issues and that there was no evidence that the attack was driven by any “particular motivation, ideology, or otherwise.” 

    “We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage, it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” Cooke said.

    The Sydney Morning Herald reported that social media posts falsely identified Ben Cohen, a 20-year-old Jewish student at the University of Technology Sydney, as the attacker. The paper said the misleading claim started spreading April 13, hours before investigators released the attacker’s name. Cohen’s father took to X to call on police to release the real name of the suspect.

    We rate the claim that the Sydney attacker was a “Zionist” who targeted Jewish people so that people would think the attacker was Muslim False.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden Sends U.S. Forces To Protect Israel’s Borders for the First Time Ever

    Biden Sends U.S. Forces To Protect Israel’s Borders for the First Time Ever

    [ad_1]

    This weekend’s air raids in the Middle East set a lot of records. Iran carried out its first ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory, launching an unprecedentedly large swarm of drones and missiles against Israeli military bases. And for the first time in history, U.S. troops engaged in direct combat in defense of Israeli territory.

    The U.S. military shot down three Iranian ballistic missiles and 70 drones that were en route to Israeli military bases, officials told CNN. American ships and fighter jets were involved in the operation. Videos shared online also purport to show U.S. ground troops in Iraqi Kurdistan firing antiaircraft missiles. The British and French militaries assisted in the operation, and Jordan reportedly shot down Iranian drones over its own airspace.

    Although Israel and its protectors stopped most of the Iranian air raids, Iranian state media has claimed that Israel’s Nevatim Air Base was “damaged severely” and put out of service. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari has denied this, saying that Nevatim was only slightly damaged and “continues to perform its tasks.” No deaths were reported.

    Iran was retaliating for an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. That attack killed 16 people, including an Iranian general.

    President Joe Biden, after pledging his full support to Israel for months, may have finally tapped the breaks. After Saturday’s air raids, he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not support an Israeli counterstrike on Iran, according to Axios, because Israel already “got a win. Take the win.” The New York Times reports that some members of the Israeli war cabinet wanted to attack Iran immediately but that Biden’s call talked them out of it.

    Publicly, Biden condemned the “unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel” and promised to “coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.” He confirmed that “we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today.”

    Israel’s next move—and America’s—is anyone’s guess.

    Although the United States had not been informed of the consulate attack beforehand, Biden jumped to Israel’s aid afterward. When Iran threatened to retaliate, Biden promised to grant Israel “ironclad” support and to “do all we can to protect Israel’s security.” And he had Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, fly to Israel a few days before the Iranian retaliation.

    Iran and Israel have flung violent threats and proxy attacks at each other for decades. While Iran has armed Hamas and other Palestinian rebels, Israel has assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and bombed Iranian troops in Iraq and Syria with tacit U.S. support.

    The Hamas attacks of October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza escalated the conflict across the entire region. Iranian-backed forces in Yemen attacked Israeli shipping, Iranian-backed paramilitaries in Lebanon fired on the Israeli border, and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq broke their truce with the U.S. military.

    Israeli leaders made it clear that they wanted to escalate and that they believed they had an American green light. Biden had to talk down Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from launching a full-scale attack on Lebanon early in the war. But the U.S. president refused to place any actual limits on how many weapons the United States would send Israel or how Israel could use those weapons.

    Early in the war, Biden showed that he was willing to put American lives on the line in Israel’s defense. Even though his administration insisted that it had “no plans or intentions to put U.S. boots on the ground in combat,” Biden deployed two aircraft carriers to the region as a threat to any other country that might join the war against Israel.

    From Israeli leaders’ perspective, the consulate attack was a win-win situation. Either Tehran would not retaliate, making Iranian leaders look weak, or it would retaliate, forcing Biden to make good on his commitments and bring U.S. power to bear against Iran.

    Iranian leaders chose the second scenario, betting that Biden’s commitment to Israel was not as “ironclad” as he claimed. Explaining Tehran’s reasoning, an Iranian source told the news site Amwaj.media on Thursday that “the U.S. is not ready to go to war with Iran.” But although Biden did come to Israel’s defense, he appears unwilling to push the conflict any further.

    Left out of the conversation entirely were the American people. Congress has not passed a declaration of war against Iran or authorization for the use of military force against Iranian troops. It hasn’t even passed the supplemental aid package to Israel that Biden has been asking for.

    Lawmakers from both parties have called this weekend for Congress to pass the package, although Democrats and Republicans disagreed on whether it should also include aid to Ukraine.

    That wasn’t the only way legislators reacted differently to the air raids. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R–Tenn.) demanded that Biden “launch aggressive retaliatory strikes on Iran.” Rep. Adam Smith (D–Wash.), on the other hand, called for “calm and restraint.” Without naming Israel or Iran, libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) was more blunt about the stakes than anyone else: “I’m against the next war already.”

    [ad_2]

    Matthew Petti

    Source link

  • How an Iranian attack on Israel could impact the Middle East

    How an Iranian attack on Israel could impact the Middle East

    [ad_1]

    How an Iranian attack on Israel could impact the Middle East – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    A White House official says the U.S. is adjusting its posture in the Middle East as it monitors escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. CBS News national security contributor Sam Vinograd joins with analysis.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Kurdish People Fast Facts | CNN

    Kurdish People Fast Facts | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at Kurdish people. Kurds do not have an official homeland or country. Most reside within countries in the Middle East including northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, western Iran and small portions of northern Syria and Armenia.

    Area: Roughly 74,000 sq mi

    Population: approximately 25-30 million (some Kurds reside outside of Kurdistan)

    Religion: Most are Sunni Muslims; some practice Sufism, a type of mystic Islam

    Kurds have never achieved nation-state status, making Kurdistan a non-governmental region and one of the largest stateless nations in the world.

    Portions of the region are recognized by two countries: Iran, where the province of Kordestan lies; and northern Iraq, site of the autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Iraqi Kurdistan.

    Kurds were mostly nomadic until the end of World War I and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.

    Kurds make up about 10% of the population in Syria, 19% of the population of Turkey, 15-20% of the population of Iraq and are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Iran.

    The Peshmerga is a more than 100,000-strong national military force which protects Iraqi Kurdistan, and includes female fighters.

    October 30, 1918 – (TURKEY) The Armistice of Mudros marks the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

    November 3, 1918 – (IRAQ) With the discovery of oil in the Kurdish province of Mosul, British forces occupy the region.

    August 10, 1920 – (TURKEY) The Treaty of Sèvres outlines the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, with Turkey renouncing rights over certain areas in Asia and North Africa. It calls for the recognition of new independent states, including an autonomous Kurdistan. It is never ratified.

    July 24, 1923 – (TURKEY) The Allies and the former Ottoman Empire sign and ratify the Treaty of Lausanne, which recognizes Turkey as an independent nation. In the final treaty marking the conclusion of World War I, the Allies drop demands for an autonomous Turkish Kurdistan. The Kurdish region is eventually divided among several countries.

    1923 – (IRAQ) Former Kurdish Governor Sheikh Mahmud Barzinji stages an uprising against British rule, declaring a Kurdish kingdom in Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq.

    1924 – (IRAQ) British Forces retake Sulaimaniya.

    1943-1945 – (IRAQ/IRAN) Mustafa Barzani leads an uprising, gaining control of areas of Erbil and Badinan. When the uprising is defeated, Barzani and his forces retreat to Kurdish areas in Iran and align with nationalist fighters under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad.

    January 1946 – (IRAN) The Kurdish Republic of Mahābād is established as a Kurdish state, with backing from the Soviet Union. The short-lived country encompasses the city of Mahābād in Iran, which is largely Kurdish and near the Iraq border. However, Soviets withdraw the same year and the Republic of Mahābād collapses.

    August 16, 1946 – (IRAQ) The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) is established.

    1957 – (SYRIA) 250 Kurdish children die in an arson attack on a cinema. It is blamed on Arab nationalists.

    1958 – (SYRIA) The government formally bans all Kurdish-language publications.

    1958 – (IRAQ) After Iraq’s 1958 revolution, a new constitution is established, which declares Arabs and Kurds as “partners in this homeland.”

    1961 – (IRAQ) KDP begins a rebellion in northern Iraq. Within two weeks, the Iraqi government dissolves the Kurdish Democratic Party.

    March 1970 – (IRAQ) A peace agreement between Iraqi government and Kurds grants the Kurds autonomy. Kurdish is recognized as an official language, and an amendment to the constitution states: “the Iraqi people is made up of two nationalities: the Arab nationality and the Kurdish nationality.”

    March 6, 1975 – (ALGERIA) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran sign a treaty. Iraq gives up claims to the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, while Iran agrees to end its support of the independence seeking Kurds.

    June 1975 – (IRAQ) Former KDP Leader Jalal Talabani, establishes the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The following year, PUK takes up an armed campaign against the Iraqi government.

    1978 – (IRAQ) KDP and PUK forces clash, leaving many dead.

    1978 – (TURKEY) Abdullah Öcalan forms the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group.

    Late 1970s – (IRAQ) The Baath Party, under Hussein’s leadership, uproots Kurds from areas with Kurdish majorities, and settles southern-Iraqi Arabs into those regions. Into the 1980s, Kurds are forcibly removed from the Iranian border as Kurds are suspected of aiding Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.

    1979 – (IRAQ) Mustafa Barzani dies in Washington, DC. His son, Massoud Barzani, is elected president of KDP following his death.

    1980 – (IRAQ) The Iran-Iraq War begins. Although the KDP forces work closely with Iran, the PUK does not.

    1983 – (IRAQ) PUK agrees to a ceasefire with Iraq and begins negotiations on Kurdish autonomy.

    August 1984 – (TURKEY) PKK launches a violent separatist campaign in Turkey, starting with killing two soldiers. The conflict eventually spreads to Iran, Iraq and Syria.

    1985 – (IRAQ) The ceasefire between Iraq and PUK breaks down.

    1986 – (IRAQ) After an Iranian-sponsored reconciliation, both KDP and PUK receive support from Tehran.

    1987 – (TURKEY) Turkey imposes a state of emergency in the southeastern region of the country in response to PKK attacks.

    February-August 1988 – (IRAQ) During Operation Anfal (“spoils” in Arabic), created to quell Kurdish resistance, the Iraqi military uses large quantities of chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians. Iraqi forces destroy more than 4,000 villages in Kurdistan. It is believed that some 100,000 Kurds were killed.

    March 16, 1988 – (IRAQ) Iraq uses poison gas against the Kurdish people in Halabja in northern Iraq. Thousands of people are believed to have died in the attack.

    1990-1991 – (IRAQ) The Gulf War begins when Hussein invades Kuwait, seeking its oil reserves. There is a mass exodus of Kurds out of Iraq as more than a million flee into Turkey and Iran.

    February 28, 1991 – (IRAQ) Hussein agrees to a ceasefire, ending the Gulf War.

    March 1991 – (IRAQ) Kurdish uprising begins, and in two weeks, the Kurdish militia gains control of Iraqi Kurdistan, including the oil-rich town of Kirkuk. After allied support to the Kurds is denied, Iraq crushes the uprising. Two million Kurds flee, but are forced to hide out in the mountains as Turkey closes its border.

    April 1991 – (IRAQ) A safe haven is established in Iraqi Kurdistan by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Iraqi forces are barred from operating within the region, and Kurds begin autonomous rule, with KDP leading the north and PUK leading the south.

    1992 – (IRAQ) In an anti-PKK operation, 20,000 Turkish troops enter Kurdish safe havens in Iraq.

    1994-1998 – (IRAQ) PUK and KDP members engage in armed conflict, known as the Fratricide War, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

    1995 – (IRAQ) Approximately 35,000 Turkish troops launch an offensive against Kurds in northern Iraq.

    1996 – (IRAQ) Iraq launches attacks against Kurdish cities, including Erbil and Kirkuk.

    October 8, 1997 – (TURKEY) The United States lists PKK as a terrorist group.

    1998 – (IRAQ) The conflict between KDP and PUK ends, and a peace agreement is reached. This is brokered by the United States, and the accord is signed in Washington.

    1999 – (TURKEY) PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is captured in Nairobi, Kenya, by Turkish officials.

    2002 – (TURKEY) Under pressure from the European Union, Turkey legalizes broadcasts and education in the Kurdish language. Turkish forces still combat PKK, including military incursions into northern Iraq.

    May 2002 – (TURKEY) The European Union designates the PKK as a terrorist organization.

    February 1, 2004 – (IRAQ) Two suicide bombs kill more than 50 people in Erbil. The targets are the headquarters of KDP and PUK, and several top Kurdish officials from both parties are killed.

    March 2004 – (SYRIA) Nine people are killed at a football (soccer) arena in Qamishli after clashes with riot police. Kurds demonstrate throughout the city, and unrest spreads to nearby towns in the following days, after security forces open fire at the funerals.

    June 2004 – (TURKEY) State TV broadcasts Kurdish-language programs for the first time.

    April 6-7, 2005 – (IRAQ) Kurdish leader Talabani is selected the country’s president by the transitional national assembly, and is sworn in the next day.

    July 2005 – (TURKEY) Six people die from a bomb planted on a train by a Kurdish guerrilla. Turkish officials blame the PKK.

    2005 – (IRAQ) The 2005 Iraqi constitution upholds Kurdish autonomy, and designates Kurdistan as an autonomous federal region.

    August-September 2006 – (TURKEY) A wave of bomb attacks target a resort area in Turkey, as well as Istanbul. Separatist group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAC) claims responsibility for most of the attacks and threatens it will turn Turkey into “hell.”

    December 2007 – (TURKEY) Turkey launches attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, targeting PKK outposts.

    2009 – (TURKEY) A policy called the Kurdish Initiative increases Kurdish language rights and reduces military presence in the mostly Kurdish southeast.

    September 2010 – (IRAN) A bomb detonates during a parade in Mahābād, leaving 12 dead and dozens injured. No group claims responsibility for the attack, but authorities blame Kurdish separatists. In 2014, authorities arrest members of Koumaleh, a Kurdish armed group, for the attack.

    April 2011 – (SYRIA) Syria grants citizenship to thousands in the Kurdish region. According to Human Rights Watch, an exceptional census stripped 20% of Kurdish Syrians of their citizenship in 1962.

    October 2011 – (SYRIA) Meshaal Tammo, a Syrian Kurdish activist, is assassinated. Many Kurds blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the assassination.

    October 19, 2011 – (TURKEY) Kurdish militants kill 24 Turkish troops near the Iraqi border, a PKK base area.

    June 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish forces strike PKK rebel bases in Iraq after a PKK attack in southern Turkey kills eight Turkish soldiers.

    July 2012 – (SYRIA) Amid the country’s civil war, Syrian security forces retreat from several Kurdish towns in the northeastern part of the country.

    August 2012 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that any attempts by the PKK to launch cross-border attacks from Syria would be met by force; the Turkish Army then performs a large exercise less than a mile from border villages now controlled by the Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party (PYD).

    December 2012 – (TURKEY) Erdogan announces the government has begun peace talks with the PKK.

    January 10, 2013 – (FRANCE) Three Kurdish women are found shot dead in Paris, one of whom was a founding member of the PKK.

    March 21, 2013 – (TURKEY) Imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan calls for dialogue: a letter from him is read in the Turkish Parliament, “We for tens of years gave up our lives for this struggle, we paid a price. We have come to a point at which the guns must be silent and ideas must talk.”

    March 25, 2013 – (TURKEY) Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani negotiate a framework deal that includes an outline for a direct pipeline export of oil and gas. The pipeline would have the Kurdish crude oil transported from the Kurdish Regional Government directly into Turkey, allowing the KRG to be a competitive supplier of oil to Turkey.

    June 2014 – (IRAQ) Refugees flee fighting and flood into Iraqi Kurdistan to the north as ISIS militants take over Mosul. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) closes then reopens, with restrictions, border crossings used by those fleeing ISIS.

    June 23, 2014 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani says that “Iraq is obviously falling apart, and it’s obvious that the federal or central government has lost control over everything.”

    Early August 2014 – (IRAQ) Reportedly 40,000 Yazidi, a minority group of Kurdish descent, flee to a mountainous region in northwestern Iraq to escape ISIS, after the group storms Sinjar, a town near the Syrian border. Also, 100,000 Christians flee to Erbil, after Kurdish leadership there promises protection in the city.

    August 11, 2014 – (IRAQ) Kurdish fighters in Kurdistan, who are called Peshmerga, work with Iraqi armed forces to deliver aid to Yazidis stranded on Mount Sinjar after fleeing ISIS fighters.

    August 12, 2014 – (IRAQ) Some Yazidi tell CNN that PKK fighters control parts of the mountain, and have offered food and protection from ISIS.

    December 2, 2014 – (IRAQ) The government of Iraq and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan sign an agreement to share oil revenues and military resources. Iraq will now pay the salaries of Peshmerga fighters battling ISIS and act as an intermediary to deliver US weapons to Kurdish forces. The Kurdistan government will deliver more than half a million barrels of oil daily to the Iraqi government. Profits from the sale of the oil will be split between the two governments.

    January 26, 2015 – (SYRIA) After 112 days of fighting, the YPG, Kurdish fighters also known as the People’s Protection Units, take control of the city of Kobani from ISIS.

    March 21, 2015 – (TURKEY) In a letter read to thousands during a celebration in the city of Diyarbakir, imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urges fighters under his command to lay down their arms, stop waging war against the Turkish state and join a “congress.”

    May 18, 2015 – (TURKEY) In the run-up to parliamentary elections on June 7, an explosion rocks the office of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Adana, in southeastern Turkey. Six people are injured.

    June 7, 2015 – (TURKEY) Three-year-old fledgling party Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) receives more than 13% of the vote, winning 80 seats in the 550-seat parliament.

    June 16, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces in the Syrian town, Tal Abyad say they have defeated ISIS fighters and taken back the town on the Turkish border.

    June 23, 2015 – (SYRIA) Kurdish fighters announce that they have taken back the town of Ain Issa, located 30 miles north of the ISIS stronghold, Raqqa, a city proclaimed to be the capital of the caliphate. A military base near Ain Issa, which had been occupied by ISIS since last August, is abandoned by the terrorist group the night before the Kurdish forces seize the town.

    February 17, 2016 – (IRAQ) Turkish airstrikes target some of the PKK’s top figures in northern Iraq’s Haftanin region. Airstrikes come after a terrorist attack in Turkey kills 28, although no Kurdish group has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

    March 13, 2016 – (TURKEY) A car bomb attack kills at least 37 people in Ankara. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – an offshoot of the Kurdish separatist group PKK – takes responsibility for the attack.

    March 17, 2016 – (SYRIA) Kurds declare that a swath of northeastern Syria is now a separate autonomous region under Kurdish control. The claim stirs up controversy, as Syrian and Turkish officials say it goes against the goal of creating a unified country after years of civil war.

    July 20, 2016 – (TURKEY) Following a failed coup attempt, President Erdogan declares a state of emergency. In the first three months, pro-Kurdish media outlets are shut down, and tens of thousands of civil servants with alleged PKK connections are dismissed or suspended. The purge includes ministers of parliament, military leaders, police, teachers and mayors, including in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

    September 25, 2017 – (IRAQ) Iraqi Kurds vote in favor of declaring independence from Iraq. More than 92% of the roughly 3 million people vote “yes” to independence.

    March 23, 2019 – (SYRIA) Kurdish forces announce they have captured the eastern Syrian pocket of Baghouz, the last populated area under ISIS rule.

    October 9, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey launches a military offensive into northeastern Syria, just days after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced that US troops would leave the border area. Erdogan’s “Operation Peace Spring” is an effort to drive away Kurdish forces from the border, and use the area to resettle around two million Syrian refugees. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who operate in the region are Kurdish-led, and still hold thousands of ISIS fighters captured in battle.

    October 17, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) US Vice President Mike Pence announces that he and Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire halting Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria. The Turkish government insists that the agreement is not a ceasefire, but only a “pause” on operations in the region.

    November 15, 2019 – (TURKEY/SYRIA) Turkey’s decision to launch a military operation targeting US-Kurdish partners in northern Syria and the Trump administration’s subsequent retreat allowed ISIS to rebuild itself and boosted its ability to launch attacks abroad, the Pentagon’s Inspector General says in an Operation Inherent Resolve quarterly report.

    March 24, 2020 – (SYRIA) The SDF releases a statement calling for a humanitarian truce in response to a United Nations appeal for a global ceasefire to combat the coronavirus.

    July 30, 2020 – (SYRIA) During a US Senate committee hearing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirms the Trump administration’s support for the Delta Crescent Energy firm’s deal to develop and modernize oil fields in northeast Syria under control of the SDF. The following week, Syria’s foreign ministry calls the deal an attempt to “steal” the oil.

    February 8, 2021 – (SYRIA) Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby is questioned about the Delta Crescent Energy deal during a press conference. He says that the US Department of Defense under the Joe Biden administration is focused on fighting ISIS. It is not aiding a private company.

    January 20-26, 2022 – (SYRIA) ISIS lays siege to a prison in northeast Syria, in an attempt to break out thousands of the group’s members who were detained in 2019. In coordination with US-led coalition airstrikes, SDF regains control of the prison. This is believed to be the biggest coordinated attack by ISIS since the fall of the caliphate three years prior.

    September 16, 2022 – (IRAN) Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, dies after being detained by “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code. Public anger over her death combines with a range of grievances against the Islamic Republic’s oppressive regime to fuel months of nationwide demonstrations, which continue despite law makers urging the country’s judiciary to “show no leniency” to protesters.

    November 12, 2022 – (IRAN) The Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group claims Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since nationwide protests erupted two months ago. Authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, with reports of forced detentions and physical abuse being used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 4/9: CBS Evening News

    4/9: CBS Evening News

    [ad_1]

    4/9: CBS Evening News – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Arizona Supreme Court rules abortion ban from 1864 can be enforced; Nonprofit provides free guide dogs for the visually impaired

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bodies of 5 Chinese killed in suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan flown to China

    Bodies of 5 Chinese killed in suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan flown to China

    [ad_1]

    ISLAMABAD — Pakistani counterterrorism police in multiple raids arrested at least 12 suspects in connection with last week’s suicide bombing that killed five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver in the volatile northwest, officials said Monday.

    Those arrested were not directly involved in the attack but they helped orchestrate Tuesday’s bombing targeting the Chinese, three police and security officials said. They said some of them had links with Pakistani militants, adding that the suspects were still being questioned and other raids were ongoing.

    The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. The officials said some of the suspects had transported an explosive-laden car to Shangla, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a suicide bomber rammed it into another vehicle, killing the Chinese workers.

    The bodies of the five Chinese nationals were flown overnight from an air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi to Beijing, Pakistani officials and state media said.

    Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong was present at the Noor Khan air base when the bodies were brought there Sunday night. Zaidong conveyed his deep condolences to the families of the victims. A Pakistani Cabinet minister, Salik Hussain, accompanied the bodies to China.

    The slain Chinese were traveling to Pakistan’s biggest hydropower project, Dasu Dam, where they worked, when their vehicle came under attack.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Dasu Dam on Monday and met with Chinese employees to assure them of security. Sharif said those responsible for the attack would get “exemplary punishment.” He said the attack was an attempt to harm ties between Pakistan and China.

    Chinese and Pakistani investigators are conducting separate probes into the attack, which drew nationwide condemnation. China has also asked Pakistan to ensure the protection of its nationals working in various parts of Pakistan on projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

    Authorities say the Chinese bombing victims were heading to the project site amid tight security.

    Other Chinese working on CPEC-related projects have faced similar attacks in recent years.

    In July 2021, at least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in his vehicle near a bus carrying Chinese and Pakistani engineers and laborers, prompting Chinese companies to temporarily suspend work.

    ____

    Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • “Havana Syndrome” | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

    “Havana Syndrome” | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

    [ad_1]

    “Havana Syndrome” | 60 Minutes Full Episodes – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    From 2019 and 2022, Scott Pelley’s investigation into neurological symptoms and serious brain injuries reported by U.S. diplomats, intelligence agents and troops around the world and even on the grounds of the White House.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israeli airstrikes kill 44 people in Syria, war monitor says

    Israeli airstrikes kill 44 people in Syria, war monitor says

    [ad_1]

    Israeli airstrikes kill 44 people in Syria, war monitor says – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    A U.K. war monitor says Israeli airstrikes killed 44 people near the Syrian city of Aleppo early Friday. Human rights groups have called it the deadliest attack in Syria in years. CBS News national security contributor Sam Vinograd joins with analysis.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Cyberattack claims are unfounded in Baltimore bridge crash

    Cyberattack claims are unfounded in Baltimore bridge crash

    [ad_1]

    Social media speculation was rampant in the hours after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship smashed into a Maryland bridge, causing its collapse.

    PolitiFact has already debunked claims that the incident was a false flag designed to distract people. 

    Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer-turned-online-influencer, wrote March 26 on X that the ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was targeted in a cyberattack.

    “Lights go off and it deliberately steers towards the bridge supports. Foreign agents of the USA attack digital infrastructures. Nothing is safe,” Tate wrote, without providing any evidence.

    We tried contacting Tate through email contacts on his website, but did not immediately hear back. Tate, who has 9 million followers on X, is facing rape, trafficking and gang activity charges issued in 2022 in Romania.

    State and federal officials said they found no evidence that the ship hitting the bridge was anything other than an accident.

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the FBI’s Baltimore field office, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and President Joe Biden have all said there is no sign that the crash was intentional or terrorism-related. 

    Video of the crash shows lights flickering on and off on the cargo ship, which is managed by the Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group, before it struck the bridge.

    Moore said the ship’s crew reported losing power before the crash and issued a mayday call that allowed officials to limit traffic on the bridge.

    It’s not yet clear why the ship lost power. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a March 26 news conference that it’s too early to confirm whether a power failure aboard the ship contributed to the crash.

    PolitiFact contacted the FBI’s Baltimore field office and the Synergy Marine Group seeking comment, but did not immediately hear back.

    The best information available about this continuing investigation leads us to rate Tate’s claim that this was a cyberattack False.

    [ad_2]

    Source link