DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Russia used rarely seen missiles and wildly unpredictable ones Ukraine's forces can't stop in deadly strikes across the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's air defenses are unable to shoot down these weapons, a military official said. Ukraine's military said Russia fired 81 missiles and eight Iranian-made suicide drones at cities across the country, leaving multiple civilians dead and injured. Among the missiles that were fired were 28 Kh-101 and Kh-555 air-launched cruise missiles, 20 Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles, 13 S-300 surface-to-air missiles, eight Kh-31P and 6 –Kh-59 guided missiles, six Kh-47 Kinzhal missiles, and six Kh-22 missiles, according to Ukrainian state media. Three rockets launched against Ukraine from Russia's Belgorod region are seen at dawn in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 9, 2023. AP Photo/Mykola TysYurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military, said Thursday's attack was "really large-scale and for the first time using such different types of missiles.

☆ Watch live: U.S. spymasters testify on global threats before House Intelligence Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

[The hearing is slated to start at 10 a.m. Please refresh the page if you do not see a video above at that time.] The nation's top spymasters will testify before the House Intelligence Committee on their annual report of global threats faced by the United States. The U.S. spy chiefs testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. Both hearings offer a rare opportunity for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from intelligence chiefs, whose agencies do not offer routine press briefings on their activities.

☆ China’s Refusal to Help Probes of Covid-19 Origins Leaves Critical Gap, Spy Chief Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘China has not fully cooperated,’ Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said during a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. WASHINGTON—The Chinese government’s refusal to cooperate on investigations into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic has hindered the U.S.’s ability to determine whether the virus emerged naturally or was the result of a lab leak, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday. “China has not fully cooperated, and that is a key critical gap that would help us understand what, exactly, happened,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said during a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

☆ FBI chief says TikTok 'screams' of US national security concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - China's government could use TikTok to control data on millions of American users, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying the Chinese-owned video app "screams" of security concerns. "This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government - and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns," Wray said. The White House backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by a dozen senators to give President Joe Biden's administration new powers to ban TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats. Other top U.S. intelligence officials including Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone agreed at the hearing that TikTok posed a threat to U.S. national security. Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern during Senate testimony about TikTok's data collection and potential to facilitate broad influence operations.

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - China will maintain its cooperation with Russia to continue trying to challenge the United States despite international concerns about the invasion of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence agencies said on Wednesday. "Despite global backlash over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China will maintain its diplomatic, defense, economic, and technology cooperation with Russia to continue trying to challenge the United States, even as it will limit public support," they said in a report released as the Senate Intelligence Committee held its annual hearing on worldwide threats to U.S. security. "The next few years are critical as strategic competition with China and Russia intensifies in particular how the world will evolve, and whether the rise of authoritarianism can be checked and reversed," Haines added. Haines described "a grinding, attritional war" in Ukraine and said U.S. intelligence does not foresee the Russian military recovering enough this year to make major territorial gains. Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Jonathan Landay, Michael Martina; Editing by Doina Chiacu;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia will have to rely on nukes, cyberattacks, and China since its military is being thrashed in Ukraine, US intel director says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Chris Panella | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's military losses in Ukraine will leave it reliant on "asymmetric" options, the US intel director said. Discussions on Russia's relationship with China have also been ongoing, including speculation that Beijing might be considering sending lethal aid to Russia. In late February, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers Russia had lost the war and will emerge from war in Ukraine a "shattered military power." "Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a strategic defeat. Russia's military is going to have to be rebuilt," George Barros, a military analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Insider in September.

☆ Watch live: America's top spymasters testify on global threats before Senate Intelligence Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

[The stream is slated to start at 10 a.m. Please refresh the page if you do not see a video above at that time.] The nation's top spymasters will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on their annual report of global threats faced by the United States. The open hearing will focus on the unclassified 35-page assessment dubbed "Annual Threat Assessment" and feature testimony from the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone and DIA Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier. The hearing offers a rare opportunity for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from intelligence chiefs, whose agencies do not offer routine press briefings on their activities.

☆ Biden Administration Urges Congress to Renew Spy Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a letter with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said the law protects the U.S. from foreign-based cyberattacks and arms traffickers. WASHINGTON—Top Biden administration officials urged Congress to renew an expiring surveillance law they say is vital to addressing a range of national security threats, launching what is expected to be a difficult campaign to persuade lawmakers to not curtail spying powers. In a letter to Tuesday to congressional leadership, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, protects the U.S. from foreign-based cyberattacks and arms traffickers and yields intelligence to address challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

☆ Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, U.S. Agency Now Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, in 2020. WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office.

☆ A Lab Leak in China Most Likely Origin of Covid Pandemic, Energy Department Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ House GOP asks Fauci and dozens of health officials to testify in investigation into Covid origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans have asked former White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony to testify before Congress as they launch a new investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. "If there are oversight hearings I absolutely will cooperate fully and testify before the Congress," Fauci told reporters during his final briefing at the White House. He stepped down from his posts at the White House and at the helm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December. EcoHealth Alliance provided funding, which originated at NIH, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses. About $600,000 of that money went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study the threat posed by bat coronaviruses.

Haines also refused to discuss the sensitive material, citing ongoing special counsel investigations, according to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who attending the classified briefing. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was so furious after the briefing that he threatened to block presidential nominees or funding for some federal agencies until the Biden administration shows key lawmakers the classified documents. “Whether it’s blocking nominees or withholding budgetary funds, Congress will impose pain on the administration until they provide these documents. The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Intelligence panel emerged together from the secure briefing room and rejected the administration’s argument. “I’m not saying anything bad about the three [Biden, Trump and Pence], but classified information in the wrong hands can create problems for our country, put people at risk.

A "small number" of classified documents were discovered last week at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, according to two letters Pence’s counsel sent to the National Archives obtained by NBC News on Tuesday. Pence's team “immediately” secured the classified documents in a locked safe, Jacob said. The transfer was facilitated by Pence’s personal attorney, who has experience in handling classified documents and was involved with the Jan. 16 discovery. Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley later told NBC News that “no potential classified documents” were found at the offices of Pence’s organization Advancing American Freedom after Pence’s team searched the offices and the former vice president’s home in Indiana. In a statement Tuesday, Comer said Pence reached out to the panel about classified documents found at his Indiana residence.

☆ Top U.S. spy agency says more security assistance from allies is crucial for Ukraine to prevail
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Members of Ukraine's 95th Air Assault Brigade defend an area near the front line of fighting on Jan. 12, 2023, outside Kremina, Ukraine. WASHINGTON – The director of America's top spy agency described Russia's war in Ukraine as a "grinding conflict" that will require the West to continue to provide security assistance packages in order for Kyiv to prevail. "It will be extremely important for Ukraine to receive essential military assistance and economic assistance moving forward in order for them to be able to continue to manage what they have been heroically doing," she added. The U.S. has contributed the lion's share of security assistance to the fight. The upcoming military assistance, the 30th such tranche, brings U.S. commitment to Ukraine's fight to more than $26 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration.

WASHINGTON — Aides to President Joe Biden have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington office he used after leaving the Obama administration, according to a person familiar with the matter. The initial discovery of classified documents in an office used by Biden after his vice presidency was first reported on Monday by CBS News. It also was not immediately clear when the additional documents were discovered and if the search for any other classified materials Biden may have from the Obama administration is complete. Two sources familiar with the matter said less than a dozen documents with classified markings were found at the office. Trump's possession of over 100 documents with classified markings despite have been subpoenaed for their return is the subject of a federal criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

☆ Biden aides find second batch of classified documents at new location, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Aides to U.S. President Joe Biden have discovered at least one more batch of classified documents in a location separate from a think tank office he used after serving as vice president, news outlets reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The NBC News report said the classification level, number and precise location of the additional documents was not immediately clear. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. A spokesperson for Senator Marco Rubio, the committee's Republican vice chair, said Rubio and Warner had written to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, asking for access to the classified documents. The Justice Department is separately probing Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021.

☆ Biden classified documents: White House won't say why it didn't disclose earlier that records were found
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a bilateral meeting at the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, January 10, 2023. "Why didn't the 'Justice' Department announce the Highly Classified documents found in the Biden Office before the Election?" Trump wrote in a post on his social media site, Truth Social. U.S. President Joe Biden attends a news conference at Waldorf Astoria in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia July 15, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters"This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act," Turner wrote.

☆ Biden 'surprised' about finding of classified documents, vows cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he takes classified documents seriously. A Democrat, Biden has faced criticism from Republicans after his Justice Department launched an investigation last year into Republican former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents discovered at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Investigators tried to get Trump to return any remaining classified records through a grand jury subpoena and a visit to his Mar-a-Lago estate. On that visit, Trump's advisers returned a few dozen additional classified records, and attested that no other classified material remained in the residence. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box.

☆ Russia wants 'hundreds' of ballistic missiles from Iran and is offering 'unprecedented' military support in return, UK envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia wants more weapons from Iran, including "hundreds" of ballistic missiles. A top UK envoy said Friday that Russia is offering Iran "unprecedented" military support in return. In return, Russia is offering Iran an unprecedented level of military and technical support," Barbara Woodward, the UK's permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters after a Security Council meeting. Woodward did not elaborate or specify on what, exactly, the military and technical support — or advanced components — might look like. Earlier this week, however, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Facebook post that it shot down 14 Shahed-136 drones.

☆ Russia appears to have run out of the deadly Iranian-made drones it's been using to terrorize Ukraine, Western officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia appears to be out of Iranian-made drones, Western officials said Tuesday. US officials had warned over the summer that Iran was preparing to send drones to Russia, and then the weapons first saw battlefield action in early September. A Russian drone, considered by Ukrainian authorities to be an Iranian-made Shahed-136, over Kyiv on October 17, 2022. These 440-pound weapons are relatively slow, fly at low altitudes, and carry a small explosive payload, according to Western intelligence. It's not immediately clear how many Iranian-made drones Russia had in it's arsenal.

☆ Ukraine says it's prepared for winter war after U.S. claim that fighting will be at a 'reduced tempo' over next few months
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

On Saturday, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the U.S. expects to see a "reduced tempo" in the fighting in Ukraine to continue over the next few months before counteroffensives resume in earnest in the spring. Ukraine appears keen to rebuff a claim by a U.S. official that fighting in the war could take on a "reduced tempo" over winter. Destroyed Russian vehicles and tanks in Mykhailivska Square on Nov. 19, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine has been keen to dispel any idea of a lull in the fighting or loss of momentum in their counteroffensives, with President Zelenskyy calling for unity and for citizens to support one another as freezing temperatures set in. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense has been posting videos of tanks plowing through muddy, water-logged fields in recent days, and high morale among its soldiers.

The White House said earlier in the week that China had not asked the United States for vaccines. One U.S. official told Reuters there was "no expectation at present" that China would approve western vaccines. "It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point. Amid a record year for missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last week his country intends to have the world's most powerful nuclear force. He said China had considerable leverage to press North Korea over its weapons tests, but that he was not optimistic about Beijing "doing anything helpful to stabilize the region."

☆ Chinese cities announce further easing of COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/David 'Dee' DelgadoBEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - More Chinese cities including Urumqi in the far west announced easing of coronavirus curbs on Sunday, as China tries to make its zero-COVID policy more targeted and less onerous after extraordinary protests against restrictions last weekend. A deadly apartment fire last month in Urumqi had sparked dozens of protests against COVID curbs in over 20 cities, a show of civil disobediance unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012. On Saturday in Beijing, local authorities said purchasing fever, cough and sore throat medicines no longer requires real name registration. "We shouldn't shut down COVID testing stations until we get rid of the COVID test pass." GLOBAL OUTLIERXi's zero-COVID policy has made China a global outlier nearly three years into the pandemic, which started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

☆ U.S. Spy Agencies Haven’t Kept Pace With Threats, Senate Report Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other top U.S. officials appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this year. WASHINGTON—U.S. spy agencies are poorly equipped to combat an expanding array of adversaries trying to steal vital secrets from institutions and businesses across American society, according to a Senate report released on Tuesday. The bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee says that U.S. counterintelligence efforts haven’t kept pace with espionage, hacking and disinformation threats from major powers such as China, transnational criminal organizations and ideologically motivated groups.

☆ US lawmakers want to probe whether online advertising poses a national security threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-10 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Director of National Intelligence has been asked to assess the "foreign weaponization" of adtech data. US lawmakers have asked the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to investigate whether "foreign weaponization" of widely available adtech data poses a national security risk, a move that has the potential to deal a major blow to the online ad industry. The ODNI and the office of Chairman of the National Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff, who filed the amendment, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. US government agencies themselves have used data from advertising auctions to track mobile phones. "Furthermore, brands — especially those with government contracts — may face a moral dilemma in funding an ecosystem that is deemed to be a threat to national security."

Search resuls for: "of National Intelligence Avril Haines"

25 mentions found