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☆ U.S. intel chief says Russia is using up ammunition in Ukraine faster than it can replace it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Russian forces in Ukraine are burning through ammunition faster than the country’s defense industry can replace it, U.S. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines said Saturday. Asked how fast Russia was using up ammunition, Haines said: “I don’t think I can give you precise numbers in this forum. Echoing previous statements from Biden administration officials, Haines said that Russia was using up precision munitions even faster than its conventional ammunition. The Biden administration previously said Russia has turned to North Korea to secure more supplies of artillery ammunition. Russian President Vladimir Putin was “surprised” at his military’s disappointing performance after its invasion of Ukraine in February, according to Haines.

☆ China operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Nina Dos Santos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Madrid-based human rights campaigner Safeguard Defenders says it found evidence China was operating 48 additional police stations abroad since the group first revealed the existence of 54 such stations in September. When approached by CNN last month about Safeguard Defenders’ original allegations, China’s foreign affairs ministry said the overseas stations were staffed by volunteers. However, the organization’s latest report claims one police network it examined had hired 135 people for its first 21 stations. The organization also sourced a three-year contract for a worker hired at an overseas station in Stockholm. The NGO determines Italy has hosted 11 Chinese police stations, including in Venice and in Prato, near Florence.

☆ China operates more than 100 secret 'police stations' in dozens of countries to monitor its citizens in exile, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China has more than 100 "police stations" globally to monitor its citizens in exile, a report said. Some of these facilities are set up with the help of the host nations, Safeguard Defenders alleged. Many of these stations are set up through bilateral security agreements with host countries in Europe and Africa, the report alleged. Safeguard Defenders tracked forced disappearances in China by looking through open-source, official Chinese documents for evidence of alleged human rights abuses. They have also claimed that some of the stations were set up in response to the pandemic, but the Safeguard Defenders report claimed that the offices were opened several years before.

☆ FBI director warns that TikTok could be exploited by China to collect user data for espionage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

FBI Director Chris Wray said on Friday that he has national security concerns about TikTok, per AP News. Wray warned that China could use TikTok to collect user data for espionage operations, AP News said. He added that China could collect users' data for traditional espionage operations, the news agency reported. TikTok said in June that it started routing American users' data via US-based servers owned by Oracle, per The Verge. However, BuzzFeed News reported that US user data was still being repeatedly accessed from China.

But Wray said the FBI continues to be concerned about Chinese government “talent programs” that sometimes pay American professors through secret relationships. “At the same time, you also stated, as you’ve just done, that this effort isn’t about the Chinese people or Chinese Americans. But of course, Chinese Americans are part of the U.S. society that you believe needs to be mobilized against China. He also returned to talking about Chinese government operations that have targeted Chinese Americans. “We view Chinese Americans here as being with us.

☆ Indonesia set to make sex outside marriage an imprisonable offense
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass a new criminal code this month that will penalize sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, officials have confirmed to Reuters. Ed Wray/Getty ImagesDecades in the making, the new criminal code is expected to be passed on December 15, Indonesia’s deputy justice minister, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, told Reuters. “We’re proud to have a criminal code that’s in line with Indonesian values,” he told Reuters in an interview. A previous draft of the code was set to be passed in 2019 but sparked nationwide protests. A revised version of the criminal code has been discussed since Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands in 1945.

☆ U.S. Treasury Yellen: Twitter should be held to certain standards for content
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said social media company Twitter should be held to certain standards for content, arguing that it is "not that different" from radio stations and broadcasters subject to such rules. Musk on Monday accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store and said Apple was pressuring Twitter over content moderation demands. Yellen said she believed it was appropriate for mobile technology giants Apple (AAPL.O) and Google (GOOGL.O) to demand certain content standards. And Twitter's not really that different than other broadcast stations," Yellen said. Asked if it was good that such platforms were overseeing content, Yellen said.

☆ As House Republicans plan an anti-Biden oversight blitz, supporters urge caution: 'Don't get too far ahead of yourselves'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

House Republicans are planning a slew of investigations now that they've reclaimed the majority. Supporters say GOP leaders need to be "deliberative" and "organized" about the promised probes. Matt Mackowiak, a former Senate GOP staffer who is now a Texas-based political consultant, advised House Republicans to focus on what matters most to voters. Rep. Connolly urged Republicans to tread carefully, vowing to "push back against any efforts that we believe are purely political and non-factual." Aides for McCarthy and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment about any GOP calls to tread carefully next year.

☆ House Republicans say TikTok made misleading claims in briefings on data handling
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN Business —House Republicans say TikTok may have misled congressional staff in private briefings about the company’s handling of US user data, in a new letter to the short-form video app this week. And it foreshadows how House Republicans, having gained a majority in the 2022 midterm elections, are likely to approach TikTok in the coming months. “Both claims appear to be misleading at best, and at worst, false,” Comer and McMorris Rodgers wrote. Tuesday’s letter calls on TikTok to preserve a broad swath of documents, communications and other records, in a preview of how House lawmakers could investigate the company in the coming months. And it reiterated a half-dozen other requests for information the GOP lawmakers had sent to the company during the summer.

Photo of Neil Walter included in an FBI affidavit file in federal court in connection with criminal charges against Michigan man seen in fotos for threatening FBI director and member of Congress. A Michigan man who owns a registered handgun was arrested for making death threats against FBI Director Chris Wray two weeks after making similar threats against Democratic Rep. John Garamendi of California, according to a federal court filing released Tuesday. The man, identified as Neil Matthew Walter, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure another person. You're gonna die," the voicemail said, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent attached to the complaint. Walter then "placed the handgun in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt but kept his hand over the firearm during police contact."

Photo of Neil Walter included in an FBI affidavit file in federal court in connection with criminal charges against Michigan man seen in fotos for threatening FBI director and member of Congress. A Michigan man who owns a registered handgun was arrested for allegedly making death threats against FBI Director Chris Wray two weeks after allegedly making similar threats against Democratic Rep. John Garamendi, of California, according to a federal court filing released Tuesday. The man, identified as Neil Matthew Walter, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure another person. You're gonna die," the voicemail said, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent that was attached to the complaint. Walter then "placed the handgun in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt but kept his hand over the firearm during police contact."

☆ U.S. House Republicans press TikTok on Chinese data sharing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Following election wins earlier this month, Republicans will take control of the House in January. The letter could be a sign of tough scrutiny they plan to apply to Chinese companies including TikTok, a target of the Republican administration of former President Donald Trump. But the Democratic Biden administration has also expressed concern about TikTok. Among other questions, the lawmakers asked TikTok to provide drafts of any agreement being negotiated with the Biden administration to allow TikTok to remain active in the United States. CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for months aiming to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of TikTok's more than 100 million users.

☆ House Republicans expected to soup up their Biden-centric investigations by taking pages from the Jan. 6 committee's groundbreaking playbook: oversight veterans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Newly empowered House Republicans are preparing to launch myriad investigations next year. Oversight veterans expect the GOP to take some cues from the January 6 committee hearings. "I think Republicans will go to school on that," Davis told Insider. The recent development Davis said GOP leaders might soon regret is their decision to dodge the January 6 committee subpoenas. Aides to anticipated Oversight committee chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan did not respond to requests for comment about the January 6 committee's work or their forthcoming investigations.

☆ Top U.S. House Republican McCarthy plans special committee on China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We will put a stop to this and no longer allow the administration to sit back and let China do what they are doing to America." McCarthy also said he would keep his promise to oust a number of Democrats from key House committees, including Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the intelligence committee. He said he would also remove Representative Eric Swalwell from the intelligence committee and Representative Ilhan Omar from the foreign affairs committee. China's Embassy in Washington acknowledged the existence of volunteer-run sites in the United States, but said they were not "police stations." Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Leah Douglas; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Beijing pushes back on FBI claims of Chinese ‘police stations’ in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

China on Friday pushed back on claims it was operating ‘police stations’ on U.S. soil, calling the sites volunteer-run, after the FBI director said he was “very concerned” about unauthorized stations that have been linked to Beijing’s influence operations. Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police “service stations” in major cities around the world, including New York. The Embassy did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for a list of the sites. Members of the British parliament have also called for investigations into similar sites. Republicans in the U.S. Congress, including Representative Jim Banks, have requested answers from the Biden administration about the operations of the sites.

☆ Republicans identify 42 Biden administration officials they want to testify
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday identified 42 employees from Democratic President Joe Biden's White House and administration, who they expect to testify next year after their party takes control of the chamber. There was no immediate response from the White House. The letters represent the House Judiciary Committee's first request for testimony and documents since Republicans won a narrower-than-expected House majority on Wednesday. Angered by the FBI seizure of classified documents from Trump's Florida home in August, Republicans accuse the Biden administration of politicizing the FBI and Justice Department. The Judiciary and Oversight probes are expected to be among a raft of Republican investigations into Biden and his administration next year.

☆ Senate passes bill to include Native Hawaiian sexual violence survivors in funding
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

While services allocated to specifically help Native Hawaiian survivors of gender-based violence were previously inadvertently excluded from that funding, the legislation would rectify that. As it stood, the legislation allocated money for native women but not, specifically, Native Hawaiian women due to language and drafting errors. “The people who suffer the worst of that are Native Hawaiian women," she added. Barriers to addressing violence against Native Hawaiian women can also be traced back to American colonization, Kanaʻiaupuni said. “And of course the majority of trafficked people are Native Hawaiian women and children.

☆ China pushes back on FBI claims of Chinese 'police stations' in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - China on Friday pushed back on claims it was operating 'police stations' on U.S. soil, calling the sites volunteer-run, after the FBI director said he was "very concerned" about unauthorized stations that have been linked to Beijing's influence operations. Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police "service stations" in major cities around the world, including New York. China's Embassy in Washington acknowledged the existence of volunteer-run sites in the United States, but said they were not "police stations" or "police service centers." Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said such stations needed to be "stopped in their tracks." "By allowing the CCP to operate these types of institutions in their countries, international governments are complicit in Beijing's actions," Clifford said.

☆ FBI chief says shadowy Chinese police stations in the US are 'outrageous' and he's 'very concerned'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he's "very concerned" about secret Chinese police stations in the US. "We are aware of the existence of these stations," Wray said during a Senate hearing. The FBI chief on Thursday said it would be "outrageous" for Chinese police to "set up shop" in New York "without proper coordination." The FBI chief said it's important for Chinese-Americans and Chinese dissidents to call the FBI and report if they believe they've been targeted by the Chinese government. "President Xi's precedent-breaking third term bodes ill for human rights in China and around the world," Yaqiu Wang, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said last month.

☆ China and the TikTok threat: How the White House cybersecurity team is thinking about it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The Biden White House hasn't made any determination yet on a TikTok ban, Kemba Walden, Principal Deputy National Cyber Director, said at the CNBC Technology Executive Council Summit on Tuesday. With national defense the focus, she said the White House is looking at strategic investments to identify how to make domestic systems more resilient and counter information operations. Walden said she is concerned not only as a White House official but as a parent. The Office of the National Cyber Director was established by the Biden administration in 2021, with Chris Inglis being named the first National Cyber Director. Walden said increasing cybersecurity education is just one of the ways the White House is aiming to "get in front of the adversary."

WASHINGTON — House Republicans' majority will be smaller than expected, but they're eager to use their new oversight powers and pass a spate of bills to draw contrasts with Democrats and give the Biden administration heartburn. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in Washington on July 21, 2021. A growing number of Republicans say they have their sights set on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, bashing his handling of the border surge. LegislationDemocrats still occupy the White House, so any legislation Republicans pass on a partisan basis won’t be signed into law by Biden. But House Republicans say they will waste no time showing the parties’ stark differences as they battle for control of the White House in 2024.

A Chinese intelligence officer convicted of conspiring and attempting to steal sensitive trade secrets from a U.S. company was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison. The Justice Department had asked that Yanjun Xu, 42, get 25 years behind bars for his "very extensive" yearslong scheme to steal secrets from U.S. aviation companies. Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileXu is the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges, Justice Department officials said. "Xu targeted multiple employees at multiple international aviation companies over multiple years. They noted that his scheme to steal secrets from GE wasn’t successful and said he was just following his country's orders.

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned about the Chinese government setting up unauthorized 'police stations' in U.S. cities to possibly pursue influence operations, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Thursday. It also linked them to activities of China's United Front Work Department, a Communist Party body charged with spreading its influence and propaganda overseas. We are aware of the existence of these stations," Wray told a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, acknowledging but declining to detail the FBI's investigative work on the issue. Wray, asked by Republican Senator Rick Scott if such stations violated U.S. law, said the FBI was "looking into the legal parameters." Wray said the United States had made a number of indictments involving the Chinese government harassing, stalking, surveilling, and blackmailing people in the United States who disagreed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

☆ FBI Director Christopher Wray raises national security concerns over TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFBI Director Christopher Wray raises national security concerns over TikTokCNBC's Julia Boorstin joins 'TechCheck' to report on the FBI raising national security concerns about TikTok and how the app could allow China to compromise personal devices and control data collection for users.

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court in Cincinnati sentenced a Chinese national to 20 years in prison on Wednesday after he was convicted last year of plotting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, the Justice Department said. Xu Yanjun, the first Chinese spy extradited to the United States for trial, was convicted in Nov. 2021 by a federal jury on counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and trade secret theft. Xu, 42, accused of being a career intelligence officer for China's Ministry of State Security, was detained in Belgium in 2018 after a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. officials say the Chinese government poses the biggest long-term threat to U.S. economic and national security, and is carrying out unprecedented efforts to steal critical technology from U.S. businesses and researchers. FBI Director Christopher Wray has said his agency opens a new counterintelligence case related to China about twice a day.

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