Drug smuggling

$40 Million Worth of Cocaine Seized by U.S. Coast Guard in Huge Drug Bust

More than $40 million worth of cocaine was seized in June during a collaborative effort between the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The drugs were confiscated by crew members of the U.S.S. Preble, a guided missile destroyer, and members of a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment. After spotting a suspicious low profile, go fast (LPGF) boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Preble moved in for an interception. Coast Guard members boarded the LPGF. Discovered on board the LPGF was 100 bales of cocaine, amounting to over 4,400 pounds.

"This interdiction and drug seizure was a big win for our Navy and Coast Guard team," said U.S.S. Preble Commanding Officer Commander Leonardo Giovannelli in a June statement. "Not only did we flex our sensors and communications suite, but our combat team was able to work across the interagency and contribute directly to a major line of operation with tangible results."

Aerospace

The U.S. Navy Is Making Plans to Replace the F-35 Stealth Fighter

The U.S. Navy is currently analyzing airframes, targeting systems, artificial-intelligence-enabled sensors, new weapons and engine technologies to engineer a new sixth-generation carrier-launched fighter jet to fly alongside the F-35 fighter jet and ultimately replace the F/A-18 aircraft.

The Navy program, known as the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), has moved beyond a purely conceptual phase and begun exploration of prototype systems and airframes as it pursues a new fighter to emerge in 2030 and beyond.

Navy officials say that several current areas of consideration include “developmental air-vehicle designs, advanced engines, propulsion, weapons, mission systems and electronic warfare.” 

Ongoing work has been weighing the advantages of leveraging nearer-term existing technologies such as new variants or upgrades to cutting edge weapons, sensors and stealth configurations—or allowing more time for leap-ahead developmental systems to emerge.

Radiation safety

Russia denies its nuclear plants are source of radiation leak

Russia has said a leak of nuclear material detected over Scandinavia did not come from one of its power plants.

Nuclear safety watchdogs in Finland, Norway and Sweden said last week they had found higher-than-usual amounts of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere.

A Dutch public health body said that, after analysing the data, it believed the material came "from the direction of western Russia".

It said the material could indicate "damage to a fuel element".

But in a statement, Russia's nuclear energy body said its two power stations in the north-west - the Leningrad NPP and the Kola NPP - were working normally and that no leaks had been reported.

"There have been no complaints about the equipment's work," a spokesperson for the state controlled nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom told Tass news agency.

Health security

A ‘Cure for Heart Disease’? A Single Shot Succeeds in Monkeys

What if a single injection could lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides — for a lifetime?

In the first gene-editing experiment of its kind, scientists have disabled two genes in monkeys that raise the risk for heart disease. Humans carry the genes as well, and the experiment has raised hopes that a leading killer may one day be tamed.

“This could be the cure for heart disease,” said Dr. Michael Davidson, director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research.

But it will be years before human trials can begin, and gene-editing technology so far has a mixed tracked record. It is much too early to know whether the strategy will be safe and effective in humans; even the monkeys must be monitored for side effects or other treatment failures for some time to come.

Health security

Cancer drug: New treatment halts tumour growth

A drug that could stop cancer cells repairing themselves has shown early signs of working.

More than half of the 40 patients given berzosertib had the growth of their tumours halted.

Berzosertib was even more effective when given alongside chemotherapy, the trial run by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust suggested.

The trial was designed to test the safety of the drug.

The drug is the first to be trialled of a new family of treatments, which block a protein involved in DNA repair.

Personal security

Empathy is both a trait and a skill. Here's how to strengthen it

Having empathy for other people goes a long way in fostering strong relationships. In fact, empathy is a fundamental building block for conflict resolution and understanding and bonding with others.

Psychological science has defined the term in many ways, but simply, it's "the ability to perceive accurately what another person is feeling," said Jennifer Lerner, a psychological scientist and the Thornton F. Bradshaw professor of public policy, decision science and management at the Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts. Her research examines human judgment and decision-making.

We need empathy because it motivates us to take action when we see that people are suffering, said Sarah Konrath, an associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

"Across time and situations, humans need empathic skills and empathy in order to make societal cooperation possible," said Lerner, also a former chief decision scientist for the US Navy. "As Charles Darwin [observed in 1872], the ability to recognize 'the expression of emotion in man and animals' plays a profound role in all societies, including nonhuman primate societies."

Intel recruitment

The C.I.A.’s Business Is Secrets, but It Is Recruiting Spies in the Open

The C.I.A. has recruited at Ivy League schools, through Hollywood-produced television programs and even by judging school science fairs.

But the current era needs a modern recruiting drive, and on Monday, the C.I.A. unveiled its first television advertisement, which is aimed at streaming platforms like Hulu. The slick, advertising-agency-produced spot has the feel of clips from the television program “Homeland” — with a dollop of patriotism.

By some measures, the C.I.A. has little need for recruiting drives. Every year, thousands of applicants compete for hundreds of spots, according to current and former officials. In 2019, the agency had its best recruiting year in a decade. And traditionally it has been easier for the government to recruit during recessions.

A&M security

A Central Pillar of the EU Is Under Threat

The European Union prides itself on its tough antitrust regime. It is one of the pillars of the single market. But a recent court ruling, which overturned a Brussels decision to block a British telecoms merger, has put this at risk.

At the same time, some of the EU’s most powerful states are pushing to create “European champions” in certain industries by combining companies to better compete with global rivals such as the Chinese. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic is encouraging a more relaxed attitude toward industrial consolidation because of the fear of companies going bust. Taken together, this confluence of events means Europe’s commitment to protecting competition is wavering. 

Unfortunately, there’s precious little evidence that mergers will boost efficiency, as their champions claim. Indeed, they may hurt consumers by raising prices and limiting choice.

Forensics

Facial recognition to 'predict criminals' sparks row over AI bias

A US university's claim it can use facial recognition to "predict criminality" has renewed debate over racial bias in technology.

Harrisburg University researchers said their software "can predict if someone is a criminal, based solely on a picture of their face".

The software "is intended to help law enforcement prevent crime", it said.

But 1,700 academics have signed an open letter demanding the research remains unpublished.

One Harrisburg research member, a former police officer, wrote: "Identifying the criminality of [a] person from their facial image will enable a significant advantage for law-enforcement agencies and other intelligence agencies to prevent crime from occurring."

The researchers claimed their software operates "with no racial bias".

But the organisers of the open letter, the Coalition for Critical Technology, said: "Such claims are based on unsound scientific premises, research, and methods, which numerous studies spanning our respective disciplines have debunked over the years.

Drones

Oh crap, the US Military has shape-shifting drones now

Ok, so maybe that headline was a little strong. But that said, the US military hasvalidated technology for vertical lift vehicles (think drones and UAVs) that can change shape depending on the specific requirements of a mission.

But let’s slow down before we convince ourselves that the US military just invented a range of Transformers or Decepticons, the tech is far more nuanced than it sounds.

Researchers with a US Army Research Laboratory and Texas A&M Universityhave just published the results of a two-year study that explored fluid-structures, Army.Mil reports.

The study enabled researchers to develop a tool which can be used to model and optimize the operational configuration and shape of unmanned vertical take off vehicles. Rather than taking 10,000 hours to compute how a structure will operate, the new tool lets researchers process a model in up to 80% less time.

Nuclear security

World War 3: How many nuclear weapons does china have?

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) estimates China may have 200 to 300 nuclear warheads in its possession-based on estimates made in 2011.

In 2015, atomic scientists Robert Norris and Hans Kristensen suggested the country has approximately 260 warheads.

They added the number is slowly increasing and includes roughly 190 operational examples.

An assessment by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) estimates the country has at least six different types of nuclear payload assembly.

They include:

• A 15 to 40 kiloton fission bomb
• A 20 kiloton missile warhead
• A three megaton thermonuclear missile warhead
• A three megaton thermonuclear gravity bomb;
• A 4 to 5 megaton missile warhead
• A 200 to 300 kiloton missile warhead

The FAS also estimates China has 150 tactical nuclear warheads on short-range ballistic and potentially cruise missiles.

Cold war

The US and China are entering a new cold war. Where does that leave the rest of us?

Let’s be honest: there is a new cold war between China and the United States. The coronavirus crisis has only heightened the antagonism. There are few, if any, countries in Africa or Latin America where the two superpowers do not loom large as rivals. When Chinese and Indian soldiers clash with brutal hand-to-hand fighting on a disputed frontier, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo hastens to take the Indians’ side. British MPs have formed a China Research Group – with the word research meaning “opposition research”, as in the European Research Group. The question of whether Huawei is a security threat is being asked almost everywhere.

Every historical analogy is imperfect, but if the essence of cold war is a worldwide, multi-dimensional, long-term struggle between two superpowers, this is a new cold war. The question for the rest of us is: what we do about it? Do we put our heads in the sand and say: “Please make this go away?” That is roughly the attitude of most Europeans. Or do we recognise the reality and try to shape it towards the best possible outcome? The latter is obviously the right course. With that in mind, here are nine lessons from cold war I for cold war II.

Cybersecurity

Businesses believe the pandemic will change the security landscape forever

After Covid-19, nothing will ever be the same again, at least in terms of how businesses approach cybersecurity. This is according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Bitdefender, based on a poll of 6,700 infosec professionals around the world.

The report states that more than four in five (81 percent) expect long-term changes to the way their business operates, mostly because of remote working. The pandemic has forced a many workers to embrace the home office, and a large proportion are expected to continue working in that manner even after the pandemic subsides.

With this in mind, examining how remote employees approach cybersecurity will become paramount if an organisation is to maintain a strong security posture.

A third of respondents said they worry employees may feel more relaxed about cybersecurity than when they are working out of the office. Employees may also be less likely to follow protocol at home, particularly when it comes to identifying and flagging suspicious activity. 

Biosecurity

Nearly 1,500 deaths in one day: UK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peak

Ministers have been accused of playing down the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic after it emerged that more than 1,000 people died every day in the UK for 22 consecutive days – in stark contrast with daily tolls announced by the government.

According to an analysis of official figures, the darkest day came on 8 April as the country prepared for Easter under lockdown, when a record 1,445 people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours.

The figures – encompassing deaths in hospitals, care homes and private residences – are far higher than the numbers announced by ministers during that period at the daily Downing Street briefings, as the pandemic peaked faster than forecast.

Health security

Cancer cure 'possible' as scientists find arthritis drug can kill certain tumours

An arthritis drug coupled with a strict diet cutting out meat and dairy could potentially cure some cancers, research suggests.

Scientists demonstrated the treatment killed tumours which rely on fats to survive such as breast, gynaecological and bowel cancers.

Tumour growth was halted in animal studies while human tissue analysis confirmed omega-6 fat was key to cancer cells’ metabolism.

Western diets are high in omega-6 which are found in milk, cheese and cream as well as grain-fed animal meat.

Researchers from Imperial College London and London’s Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) used a new surgical ‘iKnife’ to analyse cancer tissue.

It could pave the way for a host of tailored “drugs and diet” treatments by identifying what different cancers’ cells feed off to survive.

Information security

Former intelligence analyst sentenced to 30 months in prison for leaks

Henry Kyle Frese had dreamed of working in the intelligence field his whole life; he gave up his Canadian citizenship and a longtime girlfriend to work in Washington. He was preparing to serve in Iraq last fall. Instead, he was arrested at his desk in the Defense Intelligence Agency and on Thursday was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for leaking classified information.

“It was never for personal gain or out of anger; it was never for political reasons,” Frese said at sentencing in Alexandria federal court Thursday. “At the time, I thought my reasons were important. . . . Looking back, I’m embarrassed at how foolish and weak they were.”

Frese, 32, was a counterterrorism analyst at the DIA from 2017 until last October. He admitted in February to sharing national defense information with a consultant and two reporters, one of whom he was dating.

Cybersecurity

Exclusive: Massive spying on users of Google's Chrome shows new security weakness

A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google’s market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry’s failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google said it removed more than 70 of the malicious add-ons from its official Chrome Web Store after being alerted by the researchers last month.

“When we are alerted of extensions in the Web Store that violate our policies, we take action and use those incidents as training material to improve our automated and manual analyses,” Google spokesman Scott Westover told Reuters.

Most of the free extensions purported to warn users about questionable websites or convert files from one format to another. Instead, they siphoned off browsing history and data that provided credentials for access to internal business tools.

Biosecurity

Trump administration is blocking COVID stimulus oversight: government watchdog letter

The Trump administration is hindering oversight of over $1 trillion in pandemic stimulus funds, according to a watchdog group tasked by Congress to detect fraud and misuse of federal aid aimed at mitigating economic fallout from coronavirus.

Treasury Department officials have said the agency is not required to report key information to the inspectors general group, known as the Pandemic Response Accountability Commission (PRAC), regarding one of the funds it is tasked with administering under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, leaders from the PRAC told lawmakers in a letter seen on Monday.

The letter to congressional leaders details one of the latest efforts by Trump administration to limit transparency and oversight of the unprecedented government stimulus package. It’s also the latest sign of friction between the Trump administration and the government watchdog community after the president removed several inspectors general from their roles.

Missile defense

Japan halts deployment of Aegis Ashore missile defence system

Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono said on Monday that he had suspended plans to deploy two U.S.-made Aegis Ashore air defence radar stations designed to detect and counter North Korean ballistic missiles.

Kono told reporters that Japan was halting the deployment due to technical issues as well as cost. The two proposed Lockheed Martin Co radar sites, one in the northern prefecture of Akita and the other in Yamaguchi prefecture in southern Japan, had also faced opposition from local residents.

With radars more powerful than the ship-based version of Aegis that Japan already operates, the planned stations were meant to help counter recent missile advances by North Korea and relieve pressure on Japan’s stretched navy.

Public security

Police detain armed militia members after man is shot at Albuquerque protest

A man was shot Monday night after someone opened fire during a protest in Albuquerque pushing for the removal of a statue of a Spanish conquistador. The victim, who has not been identified and whose condition is unclear, was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police detained several members of a far-right militia group called the New Mexico Civil Guard, according to reporters and witnesses at the scene. Police have not released information about the suspected shooter or why they detained the armed militia members.

Video captured after the shooting shows people trying to help the man who was shot. Meanwhile, militia members in tactical gear and armed with rifles surrounded the alleged shooter to keep angry protesters away.

The New Mexico Civil Guard is a right-wing militia group that has held asylum seekers at gunpoint near the border and showed up at Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks with guns and militarylike garb.

Outer space

SpaceX launches 58 more Starlink satellites in Saturday ride-share mission

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida in the predawn Saturday sky, just two weeks after another of the company's workhorse rockets sent NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station in SpaceX's historic first launch of humans. 

The company had followed up its astronaut launch just a few days later, with a launch of Starlink satellites, and now it's pulled off its first Starlink ride-share, carrying 58 of its own broadband satellites, along with three Earth-observing spacecraft for Planet Labs.

The mission brings the total number of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit to more than 500, while increasing Planet's SkySat fleet to 18. SpaceX's Starlink aims to eventually include tens of thousands of orbiting routers that'll blanket the Earth in broadband internet access, while the SkySats will help Planet Labs develop imagery of the Earth's surface. 

The first stage booster had previously flown twice, both times on Dragon cargo resupply missions to the ISS. It was successfully recovered again when it landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean less than 10 minutes after launch.

Military

Military data reveals dangerous reality for black service members and veterans

Top US military officials are seeking to reassure the nation's roughly two million active duty and reserve personnel that they are committed to addressing issues of racial inequality across the branches following George Floyd's death and protests across the country.

But the challenges they face are huge.

A CNN review of data provided by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs reveals the stark reality that black service members are less likely to become officers and, as a result, are more likely to be seriously injured serving their country than their white colleagues.

Those issues are very much intertwined, according to David Shulkin, who previously served asPresident Donald Trump's Veterans Affairs Secretary.

"While there's been some increase in relative numbers in minority officers, it's not been proportional to the increase that we're serving, so therefore you do have more minority members serving in the front line jobs and therefore getting higher numbers of these injuries," he told CNN in an interview Friday.

Policing

How to Spot Police Surveillance Tools

Over the last three weeks, hundreds of thousands of Americans have gathered across the country to protest police violence and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death. But here’s something to be aware of: If you’re attending a protest, there’s a good chance the police in your city can—and will—know you’re there.

From body cameras to cell-site simulators, license plate readers, social media monitoring tools, and drones, the police have eyes on the ground, road, subways, internet, and practically any protesting site you can imagine.

In the past two decades, police departments around the company have become a hot target for commercial technology companies. Firms like Amazon and Axon market products to police departments that promise to make their jobs easier, better, and more effective. But this tech often results in poor policing, says Dave Maass, senior investigative researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF).

“Police departments are doing less outreach, less legwork, and fewer investigations,” Maass tells Popular Mechanics.

Spy work

Spies can eavesdrop by watching a light bulb’s variations

The list of sophisticated eavesdropping techniques has grown steadily over years: wiretaps, hacked phones, bugs in the wall—even bouncing lasers off of a building's glass to pick up conversations inside. Now add another tool for audio spies: Any light bulb in a room that might be visible from a window.

Researchers from Israeli's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Weizmann Institute of Science today revealed a new technique for long-distance eavesdropping they call "lamphone." They say it allows anyone with a laptop and less than a thousand dollars of equipment—just a telescope and a $400 electro-optical sensor—to listen in on any sounds in a room that's hundreds of feet away in real-time, simply by observing the minuscule vibrations those sounds create on the glass surface of a light bulb inside. By measuring the tiny changes in light output from the bulb that those vibrations cause, the researchers show that a spy can pick up sound clearly enough to discern the contents of conversations or even recognize a piece of music.

"Any sound in the room can be recovered from the room with no requirement to hack anything and no device in the room," says Ben Nassi, a security researcher at Ben-Gurion who developed the technique with fellow researchers Yaron Pirutin and Boris Zadov, and who plans to present their findings at the Black Hat security conference in August. "You just need line of sight to a hanging bulb, and this is it."

Public security

French police clash with anti-racism activists in Paris

French police have clashed with activists protesting in Paris against racism and alleged police brutality.

Police used tear gas against stone-throwing protesters who tried to hold a march that was banned.

The rally is part is a worldwide movement inspired by America's Black Lives Matter protests.

It was organised under the banner "Justice for Adama", after Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in French police custody in 2016.

What happened in Paris?

About 15,000 anti-racism protesters gathered on the Place de la République in central Paris early on Saturday afternoon.

They chanted slogans such as "No justice, no peace". Some climbed on the the statue of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic.

Law & order

Seattle police chief wants to retake precinct in occupied CHAZ 'as soon as possible'

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said she wants to retake the police precinct in the self-declared "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," or "CHAZ," “as soon as possible.”

“Ideally, we just need to get back into the building,” Best told local station KIRO-7 on Friday.

“People are looking for a plan, but we want to make sure we modulate anything that we’re doing,” Best added.

This week, decrying police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, demonstrators have turned part of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood into a protest center with speakers, drum circles and Black Lives Matter painted on a street near the police station.