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☆ China sees foreign threats ‘everywhere’ as powerful spy agency takes center stage
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

But among the crowds you and I together are protecting national security,” the narrator concludes. Chinese soldiers look at a poster promoting national security in the southwestern city of Beihai on National Security Education Day on April 15, 2024. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesAccording to the MSS, foreign spies are omnipresent and infiltrating everything – from mapping apps to weather stations. But China’s spy agency has gradually stepped out of the shadows as Xi makes national security a key priority. “Shenyin Special Investigation Squad” is a comic series based on real-life counterespionage operations, according to China's spy agency.

Persons: –, “, ”, Xi, Xuezhi Guo, Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Mao Zedong, Greitens, Chen Yixin, Chen, “ Chen, ” Greitens, Xi –, denigrate, Bain, Alex Plavevski, Guo, influencers, China’s, can’t, James Zimmerman, Perkins Coie, Zimmerman, ” Zimmerman Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Security Education, “, Ministry of State Security, National Security, Publishing, CIA, National, Education, Capitol, Guilford College, Asia, University of Texas, Getty, Communist Party, FBI, National Security Propaganda, CCTV, Ministry of State, China’s National Security Commission, Group, China Development Forum, Perkins Coie LLP, ”, MSS Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beihai, British, American, Beijing, Austin, AFP, Zhejiang province, Shanghai, New York, overreaching

☆ Putin scores a resounding win, but what’s next for Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Getty Images Putin speaks with American right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson during an interview in February 2024.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Mikhail Mishustin, Ukraine –, Kiselyov, “, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Pavel Bednyakov, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Tucker Carlson, Zuma Press Putin, Maxim Shemetov, – what’s, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, ” Putin Organizations: CNN, coy, Kremlin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, Putin, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, AP North Korean, Vostochny, Tucker Carlson Network, Zuma Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Putin Russia, Russian, Bakhmut, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, Moscow, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, Belarus, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Tsiolkovsky, Russia's, North Korea, United States

☆ US welcomes new governments in fight against spyware as it finds more American personnel have been targeted
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A year ago, the Biden administration put the tally of US government personnel either suspected of or confirmed to have been targeted by spyware at 50. The market for commercial spyware has exploded over the last decade as companies from Israel to North Macedonia have hawked their services and many governments have been willing buyers. Poland’s prime minister has claimed the previous government used spyware on a long list of victims. The Biden administration’s review “did not identify widespread use” in the federal government of commercial spyware, the official said in a rare interview on the subject. Spyware companies often hide behind opaque corporate structures and companies to stay in business, according to US officials and researchers who track those companies.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, “ Organizations: CNN, US National Security Council, NSC, US Treasury Department, Summit for Democracy, State Department, NSO Group, FBI, Pegasus, White Locations: Israel, North Macedonia, Poland, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Seoul, ”, Africa, —

☆ Biden administration sanctions makers of commercial spyware used to surveil US
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Bad actors have used commercial spyware to target at least 50 US government officials, the Biden administration said last year as it unveiled an executive order banning federal agencies from using the technology. In 2021, the US government said NSO Group’s spyware had been used against roughly a dozen State Department employees serving in Africa. The US government has sought to build international support for curbing the use of commercial spyware, and last month, it announced visa restrictions for anyone seeking to enter the United States who has been involved in the commercial spyware industry. The use of commercial spyware “has been linked to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases,” the State Department said at the time. On Tuesday, the Biden administration vowed to watch closely for signs that Intellexa may seek to circumvent the sanctions.

Persons: Washington CNN —, ”, Tal Jonathan Dilian, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, Côte, Biden, Oregon Democratic Sen, Ron Wyden Organizations: Washington CNN, Biden, Treasury Department, Intellexa Consortium, US, Google, Pegasus, Intellexa, Amnesty International, State Department, Commerce Department, Oregon Democratic Locations: Egypt, Armenia, Greece, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia, Spain, Indonesia, Africa, States

☆ Biden to issue executive order aimed at protecting Americans’ sensitive data from China, other 'hostile countries'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. President Joe Biden will issue an executive order Wednesday intended to safeguard the personal data of American citizens from countries deemed hostile. The executive order centers on the business of selling people's personal information, in which companies and so-called data brokers collect and trade data. The order focusses on specific, sensitive information like genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data and other kinds of personally identifiable information. The executive order will direct the Department of Justice to issue several regulations intended to protect sensitive data. "American privacy concerns in the data broker industry are not new, and existing laws do not sufficiently protect Americans' data from misuse," the letter said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Biden Organizations: White, Chinese Communist Party, Department of Justice, of Homeland Security, United States Telecommunications Services, U.S, Oracle, Trump, Biden Locations: Washington , DC, U.S, China

The staff member, Kyle Parker, is the senior Senate adviser for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission. The commission is led by members of Congress and staffed by congressional aides. It is influential on matters of democracy and security and has been vocal in supporting Ukraine. A confidential report by the commission’s director and general counsel, which The New York Times reviewed, said that the equipment transfer could make Mr. Parker an unregistered foreign agent. It said that Mr. Parker had traveled Ukraine’s front lines wearing camouflage and Ukrainian military insignia and had hired a Ukrainian official for a U.S. government fellowship over the objections of congressional ethics and security officials.

Persons: Kyle Parker, Parker Organizations: Capitol Hill, U.S . Commission, Security, Cooperation, Helsinki Commission, New York Times Locations: Russia, Europe, Helsinki, Ukraine

☆ Putin looms over a third successive US election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —“Russia, Russia, Russia.”Ex-President Donald Trump’s scathing catch phrase for a torrent of investigations during his administration also serves as an apt catch-all for the current meltdown over Moscow roiling US politics. But Russia and its leader, whom President Joe Biden described as a “crazy S.O.B.” at a Wednesday fundraiser, won’t go away. All the ways Putin is playing in US politicsPutin is advancing Russian interests against the US on multiple fronts. Putin recently formalized his warming ties with North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un by presenting him with a new limousine. The Russian leader was particularly incensed by the US-led operation to topple Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, won’t, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ukraine –, –, Alexander Smirnov, “, Trump, Smirnov, Biden, it’s, Putin can’t, ” Douglas, Alexey Navalny, Biden lambasts Trump, ” Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, he’s, he’d, Mike Turner, Ksenia, Paul Whelan –, Evan Gershkovich, Geopolitically, Kim Jong Un, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Moammar Gadhafi, Hillary Clinton, Robert Mueller, “ We’ll, Mueller Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, United States, European NATO, ”, Moscow, House Republicans, GOP, CIA, NATO, Republican Party, Republicans, Republican, Trump, Marine, Wall Street, Putin, Biden, US, Democratic Locations: Russia, Moscow, United States, China, Soviet, East Germany, United, Ukraine, Russian, European, Washington, Asia, Sweden, Finland, Berlin –, Europe, Ukrainian, California, North Korea, Iran, Crimea, Helsinki, Geneva

☆ Opinion: The Hur report points to a huge danger that one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Over the past year, we’ve seen an alarming wave of current or former senior government officials who reportedly failed to properly safeguard classified information. The clearest threat is that our adversaries can more easily gain access to classified material and the sensitive information it contains. This increases the likelihood that an adversary would succeed in accessing any classified documents stored at these locations. Our adversaries are not the only ones observing how well we safeguard sensitive information. Finally, US intelligence community employees, bound by the same oath to safeguard classified information, may come to question the seriousness of their obligation.

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, Hur, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

☆ Opinion: The biggest potential danger from the Hur report is one no one’s talking about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Ross | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Persons: Gary Ross, Ross, we’ve, Donald Trump’s Mar, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Pence, Trump, Robert Hur’s, Biden, ” Organizations: Texas, Bush School ,, Department of Defense, Office, National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security, Bush, CNN, Biden, Justice Department, Trump, of Justice, US, US Justice Department, Lago Club . US Department of Justice, CIA, Intelligence Service Locations: Bush School , Washington, DC, United States, Delaware

Justice Department prosecutors had recommended sentencing McGonigal to a prison term of two years and six months for the Washington case alone. McGonigal was scheduled to report to prison next month to begin serving his sentence in the New York case. McGonigal was separately charged with concealing his ties to the former Albanian official, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was living in New Jersey. McGonigal pleaded guilty last September to concealing material facts, a charge punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years. McGonigal didn't need more prison time beyond his 50-month sentence in New York “to serve the ends of justice,” Ducharme argued.

Persons: —, Charles McGonigal, Colleen Kollar, McGonigal, ”, Kollar, “, Oleg Deripaska, didn't, McGonigle, Elizabeth Aloi, Seth Ducharme, ” Ducharme Organizations: WASHINGTON, FBI, U.S, Justice Department, Albanian Locations: New York, U.S, Albanian, Washington ,, Washington, Russia, Crimea, New Jersey, Albania, Russian, Europe

Of all the government critics, few thought that Rocío San Miguel would be the one to disappear. Ms. San Miguel, 57, has long been one of Venezuela’s best known security experts, a woman who dared investigate her country’s authoritarian government even as others fled. But late last week, Ms. San Miguel arrived at the airport outside Caracas with her daughter, bound for what a relative called a short trip to Miami, when she was picked up by counterintelligence agents. For four days, the only public information about Ms. San Miguel came from Venezuela’s top prosecutor, who claimed on social media, without providing evidence, that Ms. San Miguel had been linked to a plot to kill the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Finally, on Tuesday evening, her lawyers said she had surfaced — and was being held in a notoriously brutal detention center.

Persons: San, San Miguel, Nicolás Maduro Organizations: Venezuelan Locations: San Miguel, Caracas, Miami, Venezuela’s

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Monday it is rolling out a new policy that will allow it to impose visa restrictions on foreign individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware. The visa restrictions could also apply to people who facilitate or get financial benefit from the misuse of commercial spyware, officials said. “The misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. The U.S. has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company’s access to U.S. components and technology. The hacking with spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group occurred from 2019 until last September, according to Access Now.

Persons: —, who’ve, Antony Blinken, ” Biden, Jordan’s, Jamal Khashoggi’s, Hatice Cengiz, Frank Bajak Organizations: WASHINGTON, Biden, U.S, White, Officials, Pegasus, Israel’s NSO, Group, Amnesty, Washington Post Locations: United States, U.S, Jordan, Saudi, Istanbul, ___, Boston

☆ The Ukrainian sniper team claiming the world's longest kill shot described how they shot a Russian officer from over 2 miles away
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Ukrainian sniper team claiming the world's longest kill shot has described shooting a Russian soldier. "I was thinking that Russians would now know that is what Ukrainians are capable of," the sniper told the WSJ. "I was thinking that Russians would now know that is what Ukrainians are capable of," Kovalskiy told the news outlet in a report published Monday. A view from the viewfinder of a Ukrainian sniper rifle at a shooting range amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 09, 2023. AdvertisementBefore that shot, British army sniper Craig Harrison was believed to have held the record after killing a Taliban militant from 1.5 miles away.

Persons: Vyacheslav Kovalskiy, —, Kovalskiy, that's, Ignacio Marin, Kovalskiy's, Craig Harrison Organizations: Ukrainian, Service, Wall Street, Security Service, US Marine Corps, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Street, Islamic Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Kherson, Russia, Donetsk Oblast, Canadian

One of the people said the Justice Department case accuses Rocha of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests. The Justice Department declined to comment. It was not immediately clear if Rocha had a lawyer and a law firm where he previously worked said it was not representing him. Following his retirement from the State Department, Rocha began a second career in business, serving as the president of a gold mine in the Dominican Republic partly owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold. Foley & Lardner said Rocha left the law firm in August.

Persons: —, Manuel Rocha, Rocha, Fidel Castro’s, Evo Morales, “, ″ Rocha, Morales, Rocha’s, ” Rocha, Karla Wittkop Rocha, ”, Canada’s Barrick, he’s, Foley, Lardner, ” Dario Alvarez, ____ Tucker Organizations: MIAMI, Associated Press, Justice Department, AP, Democratic, Republican, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, Bolivian, National Security Council, State Department, Canada’s, Clover Leaf, Llorente, Cuenca’s Locations: American, Bolivia, Miami, Cuban, America, Cuba, U.S, Colombia, New York City, Argentina, Washington, United States, Italy, Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Pennsylvania, Spanish, Cuenca, “, Investigative@ap.org

☆ What did Israel know about Hamas’ October 7 attack?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Rob Picheta | Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7 left Israel flat-footed, sparking a backlash that is still rippling through the country. But a report from the New York Times claimed Israel obtained Hamas’ plan for the attack more than a year in advance. Here’s what we know about Israel and the US’ advance knowledge of the attack. What did Israel reportedly know about the attack? Then, on October 6, the day before the attack, US officials circulated reporting from Israel indicating unusual activity by Hamas — indications that are now clear: an attack was imminent.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, “, ” Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Biden Organizations: CNN, New York Times, Haaretz, Times, …, Palestinian, Hamas, CIA, Intelligence Locations: Israel, Gaza

Until the embittered end, Henry Kissinger was one of the trusted few of a distrusting Richard Nixon. Political Cartoons View All 1273 Images“No doubt my vanity was piqued,” Kissinger later wrote of his expanding influence during Watergate. Two years later, Saigon fell to the communists, leaving a bitter taste among former U.S. allies who blamed Nixon, Kissinger and Congress for abandoning them. “The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy,” Kissinger tells Nixon. And so they did — the Quaker-born Nixon, the Jewish-born Kissinger, on the floor, Nixon in tears about the unfairness of his fate.

Persons: Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Kissinger, Nixon, Gerald Ford, ” Kissinger, ” Ford, “, ”, Donald Trump’s, Trump, ” —, —, — Kissinger, Robert Dallek, Walter Isaacson, David Frost, Isaacson, scrawled, Susan Mary Alsop, Stanley Kutler, “ Henry Kissinger, Jeffrey Kimball, starlets, Kissinger squired, Jill St, John, Shirley MacLaine, Marlo Thomas, Candice Bergen, Liv Ullmann, ” Nixon, H.R, Haldeman, Henry, It’s, Nancy Maginnes, Nelson Rockefeller, Gallup, Le Duc Tho, Tho, Walter, ” Walter, “ Kissinger, Ford, you’ve, ” “, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Kissinger demurred, Chile’s, Eisenhower, Augusto Pinochet, Pinochet, ” Peter Kornbluh, ” Heinz Alfred Kissinger, Heinz, Joe DiMaggio ”, Kennedy, Johnson, he’d “, William Rogers, Melvin Laird, Townsend Hoopes, deflating, ” Isaacson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan’s, diplomat’s Kissinger, George W, Bush, Long, didn’t, Bush “, Anneliese Fleischer, Elizabeth, David, extol Nixon, ” ___, Barry Schweid Organizations: WASHINGTON, Republican, Democratic, “ PBS, ”, National Security Council, State Department, Vietnam, Nixon, Hollywood, Playboy, Newsweek, America, Columbia University, Senate Armed Services Committee, White, Washington Post, New York Times, Yankee, Army, Harvard, Weapons, Rogers, Defense, Manhattan, New York Giants, Lincoln, diplomat’s Kissinger Associates, GOP Locations: U.S, Vietnam, China, Nazi Germany, Southeast Asia, Latin America, United States, Saigon, Soviet Union, White, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Khmer Rouge, Soviet, America, Chile, London, Pinochet, Bavarian, Fuerth, Manhattan, Germany, Pakistan, Beijing, Iraq, Afghanistan, American

Many countries are working on them — and neither China, Russia, Iran, India or Pakistan have signed a U.S.-initiated pledge to use military AI responsibly. Another AI project at Space Force analyzes radar data to detect imminent adversary missile launches, he said. One urgent challenge, says Jane Pinelis, chief AI engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Lab and former chief of AI assurance in Martell’s office, is recruiting and retaining the talent needed to test AI tech. Testing and evaluation standards are also immature, a recent National Academy of Sciences report on Air Force AI highlighted. Might that mean the U.S. one day fielding under duress autonomous weapons that don’t fully pass muster?

Persons: —, Replicator —, Kathleen Hicks, ”, Gregory Allen, we’ve, Missy Cummings, George Mason, Lisa Costa, Wallace ‘ Rhet ’ Turnbull, Tom Siebel, Matt Visser, Palantir, Jack Shanahan, Maven, Mark Milley, Christian Brose, Paul Scharre, ” Anduril, Nathan Michael, Michael, Shanahan, Craig Martell, Martell, Jane Pinelis, “ Organizations: U.S ., Russia, Air Force, China, Pentagon, Department of Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Navy, ” U.S . Space Force, Space Force, Space Systems Command, Blackhawk, ., U.S . Missile Defense Agency, Defense Counterintelligence, Security Agency, Third Infantry Division, NATO, Maven, National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency, U.S . Special Operations, ISIS, Command, Control, Chiefs, Armed Services Committee, U.S, Marines, Special Forces, Industry, BAT, Marine Expeditionary, Pentagon AI, LinkedIn, Johns Hopkins, Lab, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Md, Ukraine, U.S, China, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, ” U.S, Silicon Valley

But all Wright's family wants is for the 38-year-old businessman to be returned home. That position was reaffirmed Friday by the U.S. State Department in response to questions about Wright’s arrest. Some former Trump administration officials say Wright’s arrest is just the latest example of Maduro acting in bad faith. “He loved the nomadic lifestyle,” said Stewart, who didn't know her son was in Venezuela until she learned of his arrest. Wright’s family is speaking out because they feel the U.S. government hasn’t done enough to free him.

Persons: Biden, Savoi Wright’s, Nicolás, hasn’t, “, ”, Erin Stewart, Wright, Joe Biden, Maduro, Maria Corina Machado, Machado, Matthew Miller, Donald Trump's, Juan Guaidó, Kimberly Breier, Trump’s, Elliott Abrams, Maduro’s, Stewart, ” Stewart, Venezuela’s, Tarek William Saab didn’t, Luke Denman, Airan Berry —, — Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Joseph Cristella —, Moizeé Stewart, Wright’s, ” ___ Goodman, Tucker Organizations: U.S, Venezuelan, Associated Press, Oakland, U.S . State Department, Trump, Maduro, State Department, Loyola Marymount University, Green, FBI, U.S . Embassy, The State Department Locations: California, Venezuela, OPEC, Barbados, United States, Latin America, Washington, Colombia, Houston, Berkeley , California, Oakland, Miami, South America, U.S, Investigative@ap.org

☆ Billionaire FBI informant Peter Thiel dished about two Kremlin invites to private Putin meetings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Hans-Martin Tillack | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

It was Angermayer who introduced Bisslinger to Thiel at the party, Thiel would later tell the FBI. After some small talk, Bisslinger made a pitch to Thiel: Thiel should travel to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. If Thiel chose to attend, Bisslinger said, Bisslinger would arrange for him to meet privately with Putin. "Even if Mr. Angermayer did introduce Mr. Thiel and Mr. Bisslinger," the lawyers wrote in another letter, "Mr. Angermayer is not—and cannot be—responsible for whatever Mr. Bisslinger and Mr. Thiel may or may not have discussed." At his 40th birthday, he connected Peter Thiel with a Russian diplomat, Thiel later told the FBI.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Christian Angermayer, Thiel, Daniil Bisslinger, Bisslinger, Vladimir Putin's, Angermayer, Putin, Maksim Konstantinov, —, Frank Figliuzzi, Vladimir Putin, — Charles Johnson —, Johnathan Buma, Johnson, Welt, Dmitry Peskov, John Lamparski, Donald Trump, — Thiel, Der Spiegel, he'd, Elon Musk, Musk, Thiel —, he's, Palantir, He's, Uma Thurman, Robbie Williams, Queen Latifah, Paul Kagame, Dan McCrum, John Kerry, Richard Grenell, Kerry, Sensei Biotherapeutics, Trump, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Maureen Dowd, Alexander Schütz, Eva Schütz, Schütz, — Heinz, Christian Strache, Markus Braun, Jan Marsalek, Marsalek, Caroline Haskins, Katherine Long, Jack Newsham, Mattathias Schwartz, Hans, Martin Tillack Organizations: Kremlin, Tech, Pentagon, CIA, Facebook, SpaceX, Kremlin's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Embassy, Thiel, St ., Economic, Getty, FBI, Atlantic, Bisslinger, Germany, Elon, Russia, NSA, US Special Operations Command, National Health Service, Apeiron Investment, Munich Security, intel, Trump, State Department, Angermayer's, PayPal, Nasdaq, Sciences, The New York Times, Deutsche Bank, Welt Locations: Silicon Valley, Schloss Neuwaldegg, Vienna, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Berlin, Russia, St, St . Petersburg, Petersburg, Ukraine, Europe, Germany, NATO, Crimea, Ukrainian, Sevastopol, Palantir, Washington, Rwanda, Baltic, Belarus, Iran, Angermayer's Malta, Munich, China, China's, Austrian, Austria, Exxpress, Wirecard, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Developments in Trump’s galaxy of legal problems, explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Zachary Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —Try to keep track of the galaxy of former President Donald Trump’s legal problems. The trial marks the first of Trump’s criminal cases expected to proceed. Federal criminal court in Florida: Mishandling classified materialTrump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges brought by Smith over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in November 2022. A New York judge dismissed The New York Times from Trump’s lawsuit regarding disclosure of his tax returns and ordered Trump to pay the newspaper’s legal fees.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Teddy Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Barnes, Doris A, Lawrence H, Budner Theodore Roosevelt, Congress Trump, Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka, Sarah B, Wallace, Jack Dempsey, Jean Carroll, Jack Smith’s, Joe Biden, Tanya Chutkan, Obama, Chutkan, Stormy Daniels, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Daniels, Michael Cohen, Juan Merchan, Fani Willis, Brad Raffensperger, Jenna Ellis, John Bazemore, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Ellis, Powell, Chesebro, Smith, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, Peter Strzok, Michael Cohen’s, Cohen, William Barr, Judge Lewis Liman, Mary Trump Organizations: CNN, Trump, White House, New York Republican, White, Progressive, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist, Congress, New, . New York, Colorado voters, Capitol Police, Minnesota’s, Federal, Iowa Republicans, Supreme, Prosecutors, Manhattan, Attorney, Fulton, Georgia, Republican, Department of Justice, . Justice Department, Reuters, National Archives, Trump Organization, Former Trump Organization, US Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police, FBI, Justice Department, New York Times Locations: New York, Colorado, Washington , DC, Florida, Michigan, Washington ,, Washington, Colorado’s, Denver, Manhattan, Iowa, DC, York, Georgia, Coffee County , Georgia, Atlanta, nemeses, Trump's, Lago, Mar, Bedminster , New Jersey, Rikers

☆ China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries, the latest measure in a broad counter-espionage campaign under leader Xi Jinping amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Some stations were set up around sensitive sites such as military bases and defense companies to locate altitude and GPS data, the spy agency said. The authorities made the discovery after investigating more than 10 overseas meteorological equipment agents and inspecting more than 3,000 foreign-linked meteorological stations nationwide. “Meteorological data… is an integral part of data security and resource security. It’s closely linked to military, food, and ecological security, climate change, and public interests,” the Ministry of State Security said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, William Burns, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Ministry of State Security, Embassy, Twitter, United, China’s Ministry of State Security, CIA Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, United States, Washington

☆ Hamas operatives used phone lines installed in tunnels under Gaza to plan Israel attack over 2 years, sources familiar with intelligence say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Pamela Brown Zachary Cohen | Pamela Brown | Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The phone lines in the tunnels allowed the operatives to communicate with one another in secret and meant they could not be tracked by Israeli intelligence officials, the sources told CNN. They avoided using computers or cell phones during the two-year period to evade detection by Israeli or US intelligence, the sources said. CNN has not seen the specific intelligence but spoke to sources familiar with it. CNN previously reported that a series of strategic warnings from US and Israeli intelligence agencies did not lead officials from either country to anticipate the events of October 7. Israel was aware that Palestinian militants had been using hardwired communication systems prior to the October attack.

Persons: Yocheved, ” Organizations: CNN — Intelligence, CNN, National Intelligence, Israel Defense Forces, IDF Locations: United States, Israel, Gaza, Washington, Iran, Jenin, West Bank

DENVER (AP) — A former National Security Agency employee from Colorado pleaded guilty Monday to trying to sell classified information to Russia. Dalke, a 31-year-old Army veteran from Colorado Springs, had faced a possible life sentence for giving the information to an undercover FBI agent who prosecutors say Dalke believed was a Russian agent. Political Cartoons View All 1215 ImagesAccording to the indictment, the information Dalke sought to give Russia included a threat assessment of the military offensive capabilities of a third, unnamed country. After he left and gave the classified information to the undercover agent, prosecutors say he reapplied to work at the NSA. During a hearing last year, Dalke's federal public defender downplayed Dalke’s access to classified information since he only worked at the NSA for less than a month.

Persons: —, Jareh Sebastian Dalke, Dalke, Raymond Moore, Moore Organizations: DENVER, National Security Agency, Army, U.S, District, NSA Locations: Colorado, Russia, Colorado Springs, Russian, Denver’s, U.S

☆ Peter Thiel was an FBI informant. Here's how you could become one.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Billionaire megadonor and Trump supporter Peter Thiel became an FBI informant in 2021, Insider reported. What does an FBI informant do? The main responsibility of an FBI informant is, as the name suggests, to provide information and intelligence to the bureau. According to an internal FBI guide, the FBI can recruit lawyers, reporters, clergy members, prison officials, and even minors and individuals who live overseas. They "will be either an 'FBI source' or a 'former FBI source' and, in turn, his or her conduct or misconduct will reflect upon the FBI."

Persons: megadonor, Trump, Peter Thiel, —, J.D, Vance, Blake Masters, Charles Johnson, Johnson, Thiel, Johnathan Buma, They'll, it's Organizations: FBI, Service, Intercept, intel, CHS Locations: Arizona, Silicon, Los Angeles

☆ UFOs: US is receiving dozens of reports a month, senior Pentagon official tells CNN
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The office has received approximately 800 reports of unidentified objects to investigate as of this past April, up from 650 reports in August 2022, Sean Kirkpatrick, who heads the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office at the Pentagon told CNN. “I am worried from a national security perspective.”But Kirkpatrick could offer few details about why certain reports raised suspicions about foreign involvement. The portal for historical sightings is set to open sometime in the next month or so, Kirkpatrick told CNN. Its purpose is to validate or refute past reports of unidentified objects, checking them against other reports and cataloging them for possible further analysis. Asked if the US government should have created an effort to handle unidentified objects earlier, Kirkpatrick demurred.

Persons: Sean Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick, ”, ” Kirkpatrick, Biden, UAPs, David Grusch, Grusch, “, Kirkpatrick demurred Organizations: CNN, Pentagon, Federal Aviation Administration, Air Force Locations: United States, South Carolina

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