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☆ Britain's Cyber Spies Mark 80th Anniversary of Secret Code-Breaking Computer
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's GCHQ spy agency celebrated the 80th anniversary of Colossus on Thursday, putting the spotlight on a code-breaking computer which helped defeat Hitler's Germany and was so significant it was kept secret for decades. Colossus, which was still being used by the spy agency in the early 1960s, was developed by Tommy Flowers. The new images released on Thursday include a blueprint of Colossus and a photograph of Women's Royal Naval Service workers operating it. The first Colossus was delivered to Bletchley Park, then the home of the top secret Government Code and Cypher School, on Jan. 18 1944. The unit was renamed in 1946 as the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a Cheltenham-based agency that eavesdrops on the world to protect British security.

Persons: Hitler's, Hitler, Colossus, Anne Keast, Butler, Tommy Flowers, Alan Turing's, Sarah Young, William Maclean Organizations: Allied, Royal Naval Service, Cypher, Government Communications Headquarters Locations: Hitler's Germany, Bletchley, Cheltenham

☆ Protests encapsulate progressive angst that could imperil Biden’s 2024 campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Israel could not have asked for a better friend than President Joe Biden. As global anger mounted at the thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza during Israel’s counter-attack against Hamas, Biden has been unequivocal on the Jewish state’s right to hit back. He pushed back at suggestions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would somehow control Gaza after the war. Senior administration officials have repeatedly denied that any part of Biden’s calculations on Israel are rooted in domestic politics. Protests have rocked university campuses, where there’s been an outbreak of anti-Israel feeling that has sometimes crossed into blatant antisemitism.

Persons: Israel, Joe Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Democratic Sen, Mark Warner, Virginia, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, “, –, what’s, ” Biden, Netanyahu, there’s, Hakeem Jeffries, Andy Biggs, Donald Trump, George Floyd, Trump, CNN’s Jeff Zeleny Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Democratic Party, Jewish, Democratic, CBS, Rep, New York Democrat, NPR, PBS, Marist, Israel, White, Democratic National Committee, Capitol, Democrat Party, DNC, American, GOP, Trump, New York Times, Siena Locations: Gaza, United States, Michigan, Israel, Alexandria, San Francisco, Washington, Arizona, California, Asia, Oakland, Iraq, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, East

☆ U.S. Relied on Intercepts in Assessing Hamas’s Operations at Gaza Hospital
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The Israeli military said its forces carried out a targeted operation inside Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Israel and the U.S. allege Hamas hides a key command center under the hospital, a claim which Hamas denies. Photo: Ahmed El Mokhallalati/ReutersWASHINGTON—The U.S. assessment this week that Hamas and other Palestinian militants were operating within Gaza’s largest hospital complex was based in part on intercepted communications of fighters inside the compound, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The signals intelligence, which was picked up in recent weeks, was among several pieces of U.S.-gathered information, the people said. And it was among the information that led the White House and Pentagon to announce Tuesday for the first time that the U.S. believed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also known as PIJ, were using Al-Shifa Hospital “as a way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.”

Persons: Gaza’s, Ahmed El Mokhallalati, ” Organizations: Shifa, Israel, Hamas, WASHINGTON, White House, Pentagon Locations: The, Gaza’s

☆ Biggest Chinese Antarctic fleet sets off to build research station
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Work on the first Chinese station in the Pacific sector began in 2018. China has four research stations in the Antarctic built from 1985 to 2014. The two icebreakers, Xuelong 1 and Xuelong 2, the name means "Snow Dragon" in Chinese, set sail from Shanghai with mostly personnel and logistics supplies on board. The cargo ship "Tianhui", or "Divine Blessings", taking construction material for the station, set off from the eastern port of Zhangjiagang. The mission, China's 40th to the Antarctic, will also cooperate with countries including the United States, Britain, and Russia on logistics supply, state media said.

Persons: China's, Stringer, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Arnhem Space, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, China's, Ross, Pacific, U.S, Australia, New Zealand, Arnhem, Zhangjiagang, Amundsen, United States, Britain, Russia

[1/2] Former Bombe operator Jean Valentine touches a British Turing Bombe machine in Bletchley Park Museum in Bletchley, central England, September 6, 2006. - Bletchley Park was the site where the world's first programmable digital computer Colossus was developed by British codebreakers. - Notable Bletchley Park codebreakers include mathematician Alan Turing who played a key role in cracking the Enigma code and is often considered the 'father of computer science'. The unit, called the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), moved to Bletchley Park in 1938. - Bletchley Park staff began to disperse after Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) and Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) with some continuing to work with GC&CS while many others went back to civilian life.

Persons: Jean Valentine, Alessia, Alan Turing, Turing, Irving John, Jack, Good, Donald Michie, Farouq Suleiman, William Maclean Organizations: Bletchley Park Museum, REUTERS, Bletchley, Bletchley Park, Cypher, CS, Victory, Japan, GC, Government Communications Headquarters, MI5, Secret Intelligence Service, Thomson Locations: Bletchley, England, Britain, Milton Keynes, London, British, Europe, Victory

☆ Three charged with sending Russia over $7 million in electronics to aid war on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Three people were arrested in New York City on Tuesday on charges of illegally smuggling millions of dollars' worth of electronics to Russia in order to aid the country's invasion of Ukraine. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Nikolay Goltsev, Salimdzhon Nasriddinov and Kristina Puzyreva of evading sanctions in order to send Russia equipment used in their precision-guided missile systems. The defendants allegedly dispatched hundreds of shipments of restricted items, worth nearly $7.2 million, to Russia over the course of a year. The complaint alleges that the defendants used two corporate entities to source and purchase dual-use electronics from U.S. manufacturers and distributors, and then secretly export them to Russia. Some of the same types of components were found in Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment that were seized in Ukraine, prosecutors alleged.

Persons: Nikolay Goltsev, Salimdzhon Nasriddinov, Kristina Puzyreva, Nick Stevens, Matthew Olsen Organizations: Attorney, Eastern, of, Prosecutors, United Arab, Justice Department's National Security Division Locations: Brooklyn, New York City, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, of New York, Tajikistan, Goltsev, Montreal, Manhattan, Russian, Turkey, Hong Kong, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Vitebsk

☆ Israel stopped monitoring Hamas' radio comms a year ago because they thought it was a waste of time: New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Israel stopped monitoring Hamas' radio communications last year, NYT reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementIsrael's signals intelligence agency stopped monitoring Hamas' radio communications last year because they believed it was a waste of time, according to a report from The New York Times. But that assessment might have been different had they continued monitoring Hamas' hand-held radio communications, the report said. Militants also kidnapped 239 people and took them across the border to Gaza, Israeli authorities have said. Israel has carried out a devastating counterassault in response to Hamas' attacks.

Persons: Israel, —, Shani Louk Organizations: Service, The New York Times, The Times, Hamas, Gaza Health Ministry, ABC News Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian

☆ After watching Russia's and Ukraine's electronic warriors battle it out, the US military wants to 'dial up' up its own 'jamming power'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

That's why the US Air Force is eager to deploy a new generation of electronic-warfare aircraft and drones. In September, the Air Force received its first test EC-37B Compass Call. AdvertisementAdvertisementMilitaries have been investing in the secretive world of electronic warfare since World War II. Naturally, the Air Force wants to extensively test the E-37B before deploying it. A US Air Force EC-130H at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in August 2021.

Persons: —, Mark Kelly, Denis Abramov, James Rainey, Doug Bush, Bush, Felicia Jagdatt, Kelly, Alex Miller, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, US Air Force, Air Force, Gulfstream G550, Air Combat Command, Air and Space Forces Association, Russian Defense Ministry, Mil.ru, US Army Futures Command, Association of, United, Army, US Army, Air and Space Forces, US Air Force EC, Davis, Monthan Air Force Base, Air, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Vietnam, Russian, Mil.ru Ukraine, Russia, United States, Bliss, Texas, Forbes

☆ Russia moved one of its satellites uncomfortably close to a French one, possibly to spy on it: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia moved close to a satellite which some think is Eutelsat's 3B craft, analysts said. It follows a pattern of Russian behavior in space that has prompted security concerns. AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia moved one of its satellites uncomfortably close to France's Eutelsat 3B communications satellite, possibly to spy on it, according to reports. AdvertisementAdvertisementEutelsat's 3B satellite provides broadband, data, telecom, and video services across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. Luch-5-X/Olymp K-2 isn't close enough to crash into the unnamed commercial satellite.

Persons: —, Audrey Schaffer, TJ Kouri, Schaffer, it's, spacenews.com, Olymp, Michael Clont Organizations: Service, intel, Aerospace, Breaking Defense, Airbus, National Security Council, Analysts, Intelsat, Strategic International, Space Locations: Russia, Russian, France, Europe, Africa, East, Central Asia, South America, Eutelsat's, Ukraine

The U.S. has collected “high confidence” signals intelligence showing that the explosion at a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday was caused by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. officials said, buttressing Israel’s contention that it wasn’t responsible for the blast. The U.S. assessment drew, in part, on communications intercepts and other intelligence gathered by the U.S., defense officials said.

Persons: buttressing Organizations: U.S, Palestinian Locations: Gaza, Jihad, U.S

☆ U.S. Signals Intelligence Shows Gaza Militants Behind Hospital Blast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. has collected signals intelligence showing that the explosion at the hospital compound in Gaza was caused by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. officials said. The U.S. assessment drew, in part, on communications intercepts and other intelligence gathered by the U.S., U.S. defense officials said.

Organizations: U.S, Palestinian Locations: Gaza, Jihad, U.S

Abed Khaled/AP Bodies of Palestinians killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital lie in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 17. Yousef Masoud/The New York Times A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8. It was at the time… when there were reports of an explosion at the hospital in Gaza City,” he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Daniel Hagari, Jihad –, Gaza –, Israel misfired, Ashraf Al, ” Al, Qudra, Abed Khaled, Ariel Schalit, Mohammed Abed, Kfar Aza, Ilia Yefimovich, Khan, Mustafa Hassona, Mahmoud Khaled, Samar Abu, Fatima Shbair, Dor Reder, Violeta Santos Moura, Shir Torem, Wahaj Bani Moufleh, Antonio Macías, Macías, Francisco Seco, Mohammed Saber, Eli Albag, Liri, Mohammed Talatene, Sergey Ponomarev, Hatem Ali, Dor Kedmi, Mahmud Hams, Saher, Hatem Moussa, Abraham Cohen, Valentin Ghnassia, Ghnassia, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Yuri Cortez, Yousef Masoud, Ibrahim Hams, Bashar Taleb, Baz Ratner, Jack Guez, Abed Rahim Khatib, Yahya Hassouna, Mapal Adam, Abed Zagout, Tamir Kalifa, Agha, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Reuters Itzik, Miriam Shafir, Dor Shafir, Savion Kiper, Maya Alleruzzo, Mohammed Salem, CNN Sergey Ponomarev, Eden Guez, Atef Safadi, Ohad, Mohammed Soboh, Said, Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg, Belal Khaled, Amir Cohen, Ilai Bar Sade, Erik Marmor, Ali Jadallah, Oren Ziv, Ronen Zvulun, Majdi, Ramez Mahmoud, Roi Levy, Alleruzzo, Tali Touito, Jalaa Marey, Oded, Khan Younis, Ahmad Hasballah, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Tsafrir, Ahmad Gharabli, Ilan Rosenberg, Eyad Baba, Itai Ron, Hadas Parush, Volker Turk, – horrifically, ” Turk, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan, Mahmoud Abbas, ”, Ayman Safadi, Al, Stringer, Hagari, ” Hagari, UN Riyad Mansour, Antony Blinken, Israel “, Sameh Shoukry Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Al, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Palestinian Health Ministry, CNN, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, Israel, Palestinian Ministry of Health, “ Ambulance, Shifa, Getty, Palestinian, AP, New York Times, Reuters, West Bank, Aris Messinis, Haim, Mount, Mount Herzl Military, Nova, Anadolu Agency, Nova Festival, Ben Gurion, Rockets, Israel's, United Nations, Reuters Police, Reuters Rockets, UN Human, Biden, Palestinian Authority, White, West, Embassy, UN, IDF, Islamic Jihad, Islamic, Jihad, UN Security, “ Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ahli, Gaza City, Jihad, Al, Sderot, Israel, Rafah, AFP, Gan, Kfar, Khan Younis, Anadolu, North Sinai, Egypt, Samar, Samar Abu Elouf, Beit Kama, Haifa, Cyprus, Nablus, West, Lebanon, Kfar Saba, Israeli, Be'eri, Rehovot, Mount Herzl, Kibbutz Be'eri, Modiin Maccabim, Kfar Aza, Ashkelon, Mount Herzel, Yassin, Palestinian, Beitar Ilit, Ramat Gan, Kiryat Shmona, Itai, Beit Hanun, Rishon Lezion, Jordan, Amman, Al Jazeera, East, North Africa, Iraq, Iran, Tunisia, West Bank, Ramallah, Jordanian, Lebanese, Beirut, Pakistan, ”

Among the evidence that’s been gathered is a blast analysis that suggests it was a ground explosion rather than an airstrike that hit the hospital, one of the sources said. That analysis is one datapoint that’s led intelligence officials to lean toward assessing that the attack on the hospital was a rocket launch gone wrong. Still, the blast analysis is just one of the things being examined by the intelligence community, which has surged intelligence collection assets to the region. US intelligence officials have not made a final assessment and are still gathering evidence, the officials said. Not long after landing in Israel on Wednesday, Biden weighed in on who was behind the strike on the hospital.

Persons: Israel “, Joe Biden’s, Adrienne Watson, ” Watson, that’s, Biden, ” Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Israel, Daniel Hagari, “ I’m, Jim Himes, Mick Mulroy, Mulroy, Mark Hertling, ” Hertling, it’s “, ” “, “, We’re, ’, Rishi Sunak, ” Sunak, It’s Organizations: CNN, National Security Council, Palestinian, NSC, Islamic, Wednesday, Israeli, Defense Department, ”, Israel Defense Forces, House Intelligence, Capitol, Defense, CIA, intel, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, States, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Al, Ahli, Iran

☆ South China Sea tensions are flaring between the Philippines and China. Here's why it matters for the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past two decades, China has occupied a number of obscure reefs and atolls far from its shoreline across the South China Sea, building up military installations, including runways and ports. Video Ad Feedback Why it matters who owns the seas (April 2021) 03:48 - Source: CNNWhy does the South China Sea matter? The South China Sea is home to hundreds of largely uninhabited islands and coral atolls and diverse wildlife at risk from climate change and marine pollution. The US is not a claimant to the South China Sea, but says the waters are crucial to its national interest of guaranteeing freedom of the seas worldwide. Marcos has strengthened US relations that had frayed under his predecessor, with the two allies touting potential future joint patrols in the South China Sea.

Persons: It’s, China’s, Defense Lindsey Ford, ”, Stringer, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Jay Batongbacal, “, Marcos Jr, Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos, Gregory Poling Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Navy, CNN, US Energy Information Agency, Communist Party, United, US Navy, Defense, Asia, Washington -, Strategic, International Studies, Ford, Spratly Islands, University of the, Philippine Coast Guard, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Transparency, Philippines Mutual Defense Locations: Hong Kong, South China, China, Beijing, Philippines, United States, South, The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, The Hague, Manila, Scarborough, Spratly, People’s Republic of China, Washington, Philippine, University of the Philippines, Asia

☆ Canadian Sikh protests outside Indian mission off to a muted start
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Wa Lone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Trudeau said last week Canada was pursuing "credible allegations" that Indian government agents may have been involved in Nijjar's murder. The Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, said concerned authorities have been informed of the protests. Nijjar, who worked as a plumber, left the north Indian state of Punjab a quarter-century ago and became a Canadian citizen. He has supported the formation of an independent Sikh homeland, called Khalistantan, to be created out of Punjab. The Canadian government has amassed both human and signals intelligence in a months-long investigation into the Sikh separatist leader, CBC News reported last week, citing unidentified sources.

Persons: Blair Gable, Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Jatinder Singh Grewal, Trudeau, Grewal, Sanjay Kumar Verma, Verma, David Cohen, Wa, Denny Thomas, Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: High Commission of, REUTERS, Rights, Justice, Canada, Reuters, Sunday, Indian, Toronto Police Department, Canadian, CBC News, CTV News, Wa Lone, Thomson Locations: High Commission of India, Ottawa , Ontario, Canada, Toronto, British Columbia, Ottawa, Vancouver, Surrey, India, Delhi, Punjab, Canadian

"It would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. Traditional Canadian allies, including the United States, appeared to take a cautious approach to the matter earlier this week. Political analysts said this was partly because the United States and other major players see India as a counterweight to the growing influence of China. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights"We are there to work constructively with India. "Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday with India.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh, Trudeau, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Blair Gable, Kanishka Singh, Steve Scherer, David Ljunggren, Daniel Wallis, David Gregorio Our Organizations: United, Ottawa, U.S, Canada's, REUTERS, Canadian, CBC News, CBC, Senior, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, OTTAWA, United States, Canada, Delhi, New Delhi, India, China, Ottawa , Ontario, Australia, New Zealand, Washington, Ottawa

☆ Powell: There Is a Path to a Soft Landing for Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

How Cuba Fits Into China’s Global Eavesdropping StrategyChina is using bases in Cuba to monitor communications and gather intelligence throughout the southeastern U.S, a practice known as signals intelligence. Here’s the technology involved, and what the U.S. is doing to defend itself. Illustration: Adam Adada