Health security

Who are the psychopaths?

Psychopaths freely and actively operating in societies keep it in continual conflict, competition and infantilism with all their attending poverty, crime, waste, inefficiency, pollution, and general exploitation of the peaceful by the more aggressive. Psychopaths promote sociopathy arising among those not empathetically retarded, as the rest of society mimic their behaviours in an attempt to compete and survive. The price we pay is that all our organs of society such as education, economics, governance, welfare, health and even science, have evolved to operate at the cognitive level and processes of the psychopath. Even more so, collective organisations like for instance, the corporation, with its goals, structures and processes are modeled largely on the workings of the psychopathic mind!

Arms trade

Hillary Clinton's State Department Authorized Billions in Arms Sales to Foundation Donors

Among all the rivers of money that have flowed to the Clinton family, one seems to raise the biggest national security questions of all: the stream of cash that came from 20 foreign governments who relied on weapons export approvals from Hillary Clinton's State Department.

Federal law designates the secretary of state as "responsible for the continuous supervision and general direction of sales" of arms, military hardware and services to foreign countries. In practice, that meant that Clinton was charged with rejecting or approving weapons deals -- and when it came to Clinton Foundation donors, Hillary Clinton's State Department did a whole lot of approving.

Terror threat

How a US prison camp helped create ISIS

THE facility spread out below him, row after row of neatly aligned white tin roofs, looking like candies set against the endless beige of the desert floor.It was called Camp Bucca. To coalition forces in Iraq, it was the primary detention facility for enemy prisoners of war.To Mitchell Gray, then 48 and serving his country for the third time, it was simply the place where the US Army had decided his skills, which included a law degree and a fluency in Arabic, were needed most.

Cybersecurity

US failed a Stuxnet-style attack against North Korea

According to an exclusive report by Reuters, The US was attempting without success to interfere with the nuclear programme of Pyongyang, in the same way it has done with Iran … SCADA systems controlling centrifuges. The US hackers tried to compromise the systems by using a variant of the Stuxnet virus, this variant was designed specifically to infect systems at Korean nuclear plants. The Reuters revealed that the NSA failed to spread Stuxnet into North Korea’s nuclear plants because they were totally isolated from the rest of the world.

AML

Vatican sees 147 reports of suspicious transactions as anti-money-laundering norms take hold

The Vatican's financial watchdog agency says it received 147 reports of suspicious financial transactions last year, a sign that tough new anti-money laundering norms are taking hold at its scandal-marred bank. The Financial Information Authority released its annual report Friday. It showed a slight decline in the number of suspicious reports received in 2014 compared to the 202 received in 2013. In 2012, when the Vatican's efforts at greater financial controls were in their infancy, only six suspicious transactions were reported.

FIFA

FIFA chief commends ‘exceptional Palestinian gesture’

FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Saturday thanked the Palestinian Authority for withdrawing a motion Friday to have Israel suspended from international soccer, saying the PA had shown “a big heart” and expressing hope that the sport could help foster better relations between the two sides.

Mass surveillance

Senate advances spy legislation but law will lapse

A bill to extend a controversial anti-terrorism surveillance tool cleared a key Senate hurdle Sunday evening, but not in time to prevent it from expiring at midnight. The Senate voted 77-17 to bring the USA Freedom Act to the floor for debate. The bill would extend surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act with significant reforms aimed at ensuring privacy rights, including a ban on the practice of bulk domestic data collection by the National Security Agency.Under the bill, only phone companies will collect that data, and they will only hold it for 18 months.

Middle East

Jeb Bush Says US Should Move Israel Embassy From Tel Aviv To Jerusalem

Former Florida Governor and likely GOP 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush called Saturday for the U.S. embassy in Israel to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a political statement, according to aCNN report. "I support that, absolutely," Bush said, responding to a question about whether the city should be Israel's capital "forever."

Accident

Kerry breaks leg in Geneva bike accident, hospitalized

US Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg in a bicycle crash Sunday, apparently after hitting a curb, and scrapped the rest of a four-nation trip that included an international conference on combating the Islamic State group.Kerry was in stable condition and in good spirits as he prepared to return to Boston for further treatment with the doctor who previously operated on his hip, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. He said X-rays at a Swiss hospital confirmed that Kerry fractured his right femur.

Middle East

More than 100 Daesh militants killed in Iraq: defense ministry

At least 103 Daesh (ISIS) militants were killed in Iraq’s Salah ad-Din, Ninova and Anbar provinces in operations staged by Iraqi forces and international coalition's warplanes.The Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement that the international coalition’s strikes have damaged many Daesh positions and destroyed their ammunitions.Twenty-six Daesh militants were killed in Salah ad-Din, 12 in Samarra, 16 in Anbar’s Ramadi city, and four in Nineveh.

International security

Russian military jets and US destroyer clash in Black Sea 'posing danger to stability'

Russia has scrambled military jets in response to an American navy destroyer which, it has been reported in Russian media, was acting “aggressively” in the Black Sea.

The Russian defence minister, speaking at a security summit in Singapore, said US missile ships operating near Moscow’s territorial waters “pose a danger to strategic stability” between the two countries.

Aerospace

Russian Air Force Chief Praises Ka-52 Attack Helicopter as World’s Best

The Commander of the Russian Air Force praised the Russian Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter as the world’s best; the comments came during the aerial acrobatics contest “Aviadarts 2015” in the city of Voronezh, in the South-West of Russia."I think it is clear that this is the most superb helicopter in the world," Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said at the show.

Cybersecurity

​Your Porn Is Watching You

Thirty million Americans regularly watch porn online, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s a lot more than fess up to it, even in anonymous surveys: In 2013, just12 percent of people asked copped to watching internet porn at all. But thanks to pervasive online tracking and browser fingerprinting, the brazen liars of America may not have a say in whether their porn habits stay secret. Porn watchers everywhere are being tracked, and if software engineer Brett Thomas is right, it would be easy to out them, along with an extensive list of every clip they’ve viewed.

Policing

Fatal police shootings in 2015 approaching 400 nationwide

In an alley in Denver, police gunned down a 17-year-old girl joyriding in a stolen car. In the backwoods of North Carolina, police opened fire on a gun-wielding moonshiner. And in a high-rise apartment in Birmingham, Ala., police shot an elderly man after his son asked them to make sure he was okay. Douglas Harris, 77, answered the door with a gun.

Cybersecurity

Russia's Next-Generation Elbrus-8C Chips To Be Ready in 2016

United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC), a member of Rostec, has said Russia’s next-generation microprocessor - the 8-core Elbrus 8C - will go into mass production in early 2016,RIA Novosti reports. The news was delivered by UIMC’s Director General Alexander Yakunin at the “IT in the Service of the Military-Industrial Complex” conference in Innopolis, near Kazan, Tartasan, yesterday.

Terror prevention

Israeli counter terror expertise to Kenya

Ten Israeli security firms have offered to provide security consultancy, intelligence and counter-terrorism expertise to Kenyan government and private security following a series of deadly raids which culminated in the killing of at least 147 university students two months ago. According to Kenyan media reports, the private Israeli security firms which specialise in counter-terrorism, cyber-security, VIP protection and intelligence gathering for both military and civilian security purposes were invited to Nairobi by Israeli ambassador to Kenya Yahel Vilan to take part in an expo dubbed ‘Israeli Homeland Security Business Seminar.’

Competition

Monopoly power tightens grip on US economy

This week, Charter Communications announced plans to buy Time Warner Cable as well as the much smaller Bright House Networks. These actions illustrate the increasingly sclerotic condition of the American economy.Instead of enjoying the benefits of competition, America suffers from ever more concentrated ownership of vital, privately owned infrastructure. This deal, if approved by regulators, would make this problem even worse.

Science & technology in defense

S Christopher is new Director General of DRDO; GS Reddy appointed scientific advisor to Defence Minister 

After a gap of several months, DRDO has finally got a new leadership with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar pushing through a new concept to divide the top post into two parts.
The government on Thursday appointed S Christopher who heads the centre for airborne systems as the new Director General of DRDO with the rank of a secretary.

Biometrics

NSA will Track Your Smartphone Finger Strokes

Smartphone technology built by Lockheed Martin promises to verify a user’s identity based on the swiftness and shape of the individual’s finger strokes on a touch screen.The mobile device feature, created by Lockheed Martin, verifies a user’s identity based on the swiftness and shape of the individual’s finger strokes on a touch screen. The technology is but one incarnation of handwriting-motion recognition, sometimes called “dynamic signature” biometrics, that has roots in the Air Force.

Cybersecurity

A growing threat: Car hacking

The hackers are everywhere. A string of high-profile hacks — the most recent on President Obama’s personal email account — have made cybercrime an ever-growing concern in the United States. Despite the publicity, most people still think of hacking as something which is done only to information systems like computers and mobile devices.In reality, hacking is no longer confined to the information world. The level of automation in modern physical systems means that even everyday automobiles are now vulnerable to hacking.

Terror threat

UAS in the hands of terror organizations

Terror organizations will further step up their efforts to perform attacks on targets in Israel using a variety of unmanned air systems (UAS). This is the unintelligence assessment of the Israeli defence forces (IDF).In recent years , such attempts have been made when terror groups used UAS to try and penetrate the Israeli airspace,. These very basic UAS were shot down by the Israeli airforce (IAF) fighter aircraft and ground-air missiles.During Operation “Protective Edge”, this summer three Hamas UAS from Gaza and another one from Syria tried to infiltrate Israel.

Desalination

Artificially produced water delivers Israel from drought

As California and other western areas of the United States deal with an extreme drought, a revolution has taken place in Israel. A major national effort to desalinate Mediterranean seawater and to recycle wastewater has provided the country with enough water for all its needs, even during severe droughts. More than 50 percent of the water for Israeli households, agriculture and industry is now artificially produced.

Surveillance and control systems

“Movie-Style” Surveillance and Operations vehicles

You are standing by a white, shiny, family car. This car looks just like the car next door. You are going past a new SUV, and you look at it yearningly. This is the car you always wanted.But the cars are only identical on the outside. f no one showed me the systems installed in the car, which include advanced surveillance systems, I would never have imagined they even exist there.

Health security

Lung cancer therapy is 'milestone'

A lung cancer therapy can more than double life expectancy in some patients, a "milestone" trial shows. Nivolumab stops cancerous cells hiding from the body's own defences, leaving the cancer vulnerable to attack. The results from 582 people, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, were described as "giving real hope to patients".

Drones

New Generation Tactical Drone Launcher

Robonic Ltd Oy of Finland and Lockheed Martin of the United States have signed an agreement to develop a smaller, more efficient and transportable fourth generation pneumatic launcher for drones, called OHTO. Under the terms of this agreement, OHTO will be part of the ground support equipment (GSE) suite for the Lockheed Martin Fury, a Group III unmanned aerial system (UAS). In addition, the agreement facilitates licensed production of OHTO in the U.S. by Lockheed Martin.

Travel blacklist

89 European politicians and military leaders banned from Russia

Russia has imposed an entry ban on 89 European politicians and military leaders, in a move that has angered Europe and worsened the country’s standoff with the west over the Ukraine conflict. The list, which includes former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and former defence secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, was reportedly compiled by the Russian foreign ministry and handed to an EU delegation in Moscow this week.

Cybersecurity

Brazil Put Its Military In Charge of Cyber Security

Brazil’s military approach to cyber insecurity is consistent with a broader effort to find a role for the Brazilian armed forces in the 21st century. Brazil is currently one of the most technologically developed country in South America and it is also concerns its military. Social media, online banking and a software industry development are the state’s locomotives.

Outer space

SpaceX to launch military equipment

The US Air Force announced today that it certified SpaceX to launch national security payloads, ending the monopoly held by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, United Launch Alliance (ULA). This decision, to give this mission to  a private contractor, as was announces by the congress lobbyists, which were pushing for the deal, was taken due to much cheaper service, than was the one of its predecessor, the ULA.

Military

Sexual orientation 'to become protected class in US military within a week'

The Pentagon will update its Military Equal Opportunity policy to include sexual orientation as a protected class as soon as next month a defence official has confirmed.

The official, who works in the Defence Department, told the Washington Blade that a proposed change to the wording of the non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation could be delivered as early as next week.

Innovation in defense

Realistic Futuristic Technology

In Israel and in all the Western armies, great money and thought are put in, to maximize the chances of mission success and to protect the lives of soldiers in the field. Homeland Security Today reports that in the US, for example, the best minds of a wide spectrum were put together. Military experts, academics, and civil industry professionals were grouped together to create a team to be at the technological forefront and develop combat supporting products in the center for development, research and engineering of electronic communication. Among the products of this center, we see the quick glide cable which assists the elite squad to reach its destination without revealing itself, radars and other SIGINT products. 

War on terror

Military Expert: Syrian Army, Hezbollah Victories Foil Terrorists' Plot in Al-Qalamoun


The recent victories of the army and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement in Damascus countryside made the plans of the terrorists' coalition for the al-Qalamoun region to fall flat, a military analyst said. “Al-Qalamoun is the scene of battle and crushing the bones of a coalition of terrorist groups known a Jaysh Al-Fath who plotted to advance towards Al-Qalamoun in two fronts in the South and the North after the visit of Zahran Aloush (commander of Jaysh al-Islam terrorist group affiliated to the Islamic Front) to Turkey, but the Syrian army and the Lebanese resistance movement ushered in the al-Qalamoun battle with the goal of defeating the terrorists’ plots,” Syrian Military Expert Ali Maqsoud told FNA on Saturday.

Ukrainian crisis

Ukraine crisis reveals shortcomings in European confidence building measures - Russian Defense Ministry official

European experience in creating a confidence building mechanism on the interstate level is not a panacea, and the events in Ukraine have revealed significant shortcomings in this form of cooperation, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.

"We lack confidence. Some colleagues say it is reasonable to use the European experience for these purposes. In our view, the specifics of the situation in the Asia Pacific region (APR) prevent us from mechanically copying the systems of confidence building measures existing in Europe. And besides, not all of them have proven to be viable and impartial in light of the Ukraine crisis," Antonov said at the 14th Shangri La Dialogue international conference in Asia on Saturday.

Iraqi war

Technology will not help if you do not want to fight

The US Defense Minister, Ashton Carter expressed his dissatisfaction from the war and from the performance of the Iraqi military, who gave up the city of Ramadi, last week. In an interview to CNN he argued that the success in the war against ISIS is completely dependent on the performance of the Iraqi military.

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Combat electronics

The Israeli edge in combat proven combined systems

When the international military market gets more complicated the Israeli defense industries have to use everything they have to successfully compete Combined capabilities make it possible for Israeli companies to offer the potential clients packages of sensors and weapon systems , but not only. The fact that integration has been made and tested in many cases in combat , gives the manufactures an edge when they compete on a contract .

Drones

The Russian military exercises with UAV

The Russian military is conducting drills with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in Central Asian Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains amid a surge in Taliban activity on the Tajik-Afghan border, the Eastern Military District’s press service said Monday. 

Military

Russia's Mighty T-14 Armata Tank: Should America Be Worried?

Russia has a new tank… maybe.  Several National Interest articles have followed the development of the Armata family of armored vehicles, a system that breaks with long-term Russian tradition in construction, design, and (probably) means of employment.

Corruption

Russian Anti-Corruption Cop Charged with Taking Huge Bribe

An officer in the Russian police's anti-corruption unit has been detained on suspicion of taking a bribe of $500,000, the Interior Ministry said. The officer from the Chief Directorate of Economic Security and Combating Corruption had been under investigation by the internal affairs department on suspicion of trying to extort the money from a businessman in exchange for dropping an investigation against him, the ministry said in a statement issued late Wednesday night.

Asia-Pacific

Chinese Security Laws Elevate the Party and Stifle Dissent. Mao Would Approve.

China’s new national security law, released in draft form this month, has little to say about such traditional security matters as military power, counterespionage or defending the nation’s borders.
Instead, to the surprise and alarm of many people here, it reads more like a Communist Party ideology paper and a call to arms aimed at defending the party’s grip on power. The law, together with two other recently published draft laws, constitutes the most expansive articulation yet of President Xi Jinping’s vision of national security, and the widest interpretation of threats to the Communist Party and the state since the Mao era.

Yemen knot

Houthi rebels in Yemen are holding multiple Americans prisoner

The rebel group that has seized power in Yemen has taken at least four U.S. citizens prisoner, according to U.S. officials who said that efforts to secure the Americans’ release have faltered. One of the prisoners had been cleared for release in recent days only to have that decision reversed by members of the Houthi rebellion that toppled the U.S.-backed government earlier this year and now controls most levers of power in Yemen.

Central Asia

Surprise check assesses possibility to form air force/air defense group in Central Asian strategic sector - Shoigu

A new surprise check began on May 25 on the orders from the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu has said.

"The surprise check is assessing the possibility of the rapid formation of an air force and air defense group in the Central Asian strategic sector and the ability of this group to deter massive missile and air strikes of a simulated enemy," the minister said.

Air force and air defense troops of the Central Military District reinforced with formations and military units of the Western and Southern Military Districts, Long-Range Aviation and transport aircraft are undergoing the surprise check, the added.