Health security

How to Wear a Face Mask Without Fogging Up Your Glasses

If you are new to wearing a face mask, and are one of the two-thirds of American adults who wear prescription glasses, you may have noticed a problem: foggy lenses. It sounds minor, but now that the CDC has recommended that everyone wear cloth face masks when we go outside, to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, what was once an issue for those in certain professions is now affecting the rest of the population.

Before this pandemic started, I spent a year and a half wearing face masks for long periods of time while caring for my mother who was being treated for leukemia with chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. We were told that she had the immune system of an infant without any vaccines and were advised to wear masks around her. As a glasses-wearer, this posed a challenge: It’s hard getting stuff done when your glasses are fogged up all the time.

Health security

How to clean and reuse an N95 mask

You're not supposed to reuse the common N95 filtering facepiece respirator mask. But given that they're almost impossible to find (or impossible to afford) amid the coronavirus pandemic, here are some acceptable methods to decontaminate and reuse common N95 masks...

Method 1: Rotation

Dr. Tsai cites a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that uses a round robin rotation of masks so that each one is rested for at least 72 hours before being worn again. Tsai has not experimentally verified this method himself, but it relies on the widely held belief that the coronavirus should not survive more than 72 hours on an inhospitable host, like the surface of an N95 mask. The downside to this method is that you need four masks per wearer, and that's assuming you use only a single mask each day. But if you just make a single trip for essentials any given day, the numbers work. 

Method 2: Steaming or boiling

Dr. Tsai says submerging an N95 in 125C/260F degree steam or boiling water for 3 minutes will disinfect the mask without significantly reducing its filtration efficiency (FE). Don't excessively stir the mask if you boil it, use only enough manipulation to keep it submerged. If your mask has paper outer and inner layers, neither the steam or boiling methods are advisable as they will disintegrate those paper layers that hold the filter medium between them...

Chemical security

Fentanyl as a Chemical Weapon

It is less well known that fentanyl and its analogues have been investigated as incapacitating agents by a number of countries. In the United States, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Justice conducted such investigations into the 1990s.7 Military and nonmilitary security entities, in the United States and abroad, long had an interest in effective forms of less-than-lethal force, including chemicals. Tear gas was used by numerous military forces before the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and remains a mainstay of law enforcement around the world for riot control.8 DOD produced an incapacitating chemical weapon in the early 1960s that utilized the psychoactive compound BZ (3-Quinuclidinyl Benzilate), but eliminated it by 1989.9 Tear gas and BZ did not meet the objectives of incapacitating agent research, which was to discover a chemical, or a cocktail of chemicals, that would incapacitate an adversary individual or unit—fast enough to preclude the target from resisting and long enough to enable the target to be disarmed or other objective to be achieved—without causing permanent harm. Tear gas compels an unprotected person to flee the area, while BZ can cause bizarre behavior. DOD saw promise in fentanyl and some of its analogues, or a combination of such compounds, for incapacitation, but did not solve the margin of safety issue prior to the program’s termination.

Extremism

National security officials warn of extremists exploiting coronavirus pandemic

National security officials warned in an intelligence bulletin issued Tuesday that extremist groups are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to incite violence and bolster racist and anti-government narratives.
The bulletin -- from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center -- cites threats from an array of hate groups aimed at minorities, and captures how conspiracy theories about the virus' origins and the government's response are likely fueling potential violence.
It also predicts that spaces vital to the moment, like hospitals and grocery stores, could be potential targets -- as well as police officers enforcing stay-at-home orders.
The four-page document, which was obtained by CNN, is the latest in a string of warnings from the national security community about the threat from extremist groups as the coronavirus has exploded across the country and upended daily life.
Law enforcement have already responded to two extremist plots in recent days, including a train engineer in California who allegedly derailed his train near a naval hospital ship that he thought was being used in a government takeover and a Missouri man who was accused of attempting to detonate a car bomb at a hospital treating coronavirus patients.

Biosecurity

Covid-19 is disproportionately taking black lives

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams gave America a dire warning on Monday: The country was about to enter its worst week yet of the coronavirus pandemic, “our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment.” While Adams cautioned that the calamities wouldn’t be localized but would be “happening all over the country,” it’s becoming increasingly clear that based on new data, Covid-19 will have a starker impact on one group in particular: black people.

Over the past few days, several states and cities across the country have begun releasing Covid-19 outcomes by race. The preliminary numbers reveal that black people are facing higher risks when it comes to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

As of Tuesday, black people made up 33 percent of cases in Michigan and 40 percent of deaths, despite being just 14 percent of the state’s population. In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, where blacks represent 26 percent of the population, they made up almost half of the county’s 945 cases and 81 percent of its 27 deaths, according to a ProPublica report. In Illinois, black people made up 42 percent of fatalities but make up only 14.6 percent of the state’s population. In Chicago, the data is even graver: Black people represented 68 percent of the city’s fatalities and more than 50 percent of cases but only make up 30 percent of the city’s total population.

Health security

Trump Threatens to Withhold Money From ‘China-Centric’ WHO

President Trump on Tuesday said his administration would withhold money from the World Health Organization, the branch of the United Nations that handles global public health matters. Speaking about the W.H.O.’s response to the new coronavirus, he said, “They could’ve called it months earlier. They would have known. And they should have known. And they probably did know. So we’ll be looking into that very carefully. And we’re going to put a hold on money sent to the W.H.O.” Later he said his administration would only “look at ending funding.” He called the organization “China-centric” during the briefing and on Twitter earlier in the day. The W.H.O. declared COVID-19 a public health emergency on Jan. 30 and a global pandemic on March 11.

Biosecurity

Russia’s growing coronavirus outbreak and its challenge to Vladimir Putin, explained

The coronavirus has yet to hit Russia hard. But when it does, as many experts soon expect, it could prove a huge challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a fragile time for his rule.

Putin markets himself as Russia’s hero, the only man who can restore the former Soviet Union’s greatness and bring stability to his country. Anything that messes with that image, whether it’s large-scale protests, a prominent opposition leader, or questions about his leadership, ruins the myth he and his allies have cultivated for decades.

A significant Covid-19 outbreak in Russia, and particularly in the densely populated capital of Moscow, would be devastating to the dictator. If tens of thousands get sick and die, it would puncture the narrative armor Putin has around himself. That high death toll is distinctly possible, as medical resources outside Russia’s major cities are scarce and the country’s older population is at high risk.

Cybersecurity

Cyber criminals are trying a new trick to cash in on Zoom's popularity

Cyber criminals are bundling malware inside installers of video conferencing application Zoom in an effort to lure victims into unwittingly infecting their computers with malicious software.

As the coronavirus outbreak forces organisations around the world to shift towards remote working, Zoom has become the top choice of video conferencing software for people – both when it comes to work and socialising.

However, Zoom's sudden growth in popularity has also drawn the attention of criminals who have now focused on trying to trick users whether that's through phishing attacks, attempting to stealing credentials and other online theft.

Now researchers at Trend Micro have uncovered cyber criminals looking to exploit Zoom by bundling cryptocurrency mining malware inside a legitimate installer for the video conferencing software.

Biosecurity

Cuomo: Use of antimalarial drug in New York hospitals 'anecdotally' positive

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that early responses to the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine “anecdotally” suggest its use in the coronavirus fight has been “effective,” but that official data was still forthcoming.

Asked about the progress of the trials at his daily press briefing, Cuomo noted that state officials have allowed use of the drug in combination with the antibiotic Zithromax in hospitals “at their discretion.” He said the federal government would increase supplies to New York pharmacies, but that New York has imposed a 14-day limit to protect the supplies for people who rely on it to treat other medical conditions.

“The tests in the hospital, they’re too short a period of time to get a scientific report,” Cuomo said. “Hospital administrators, doctors want to have a significant data set before they give a formal opinion. Anecdotally, you’ll get suggestions that it has been effective. But we don’t have any official data yet from a hospital or a quote-unquote study, which will take weeks if not months.”

Innovations & technologies

How new technology is transforming Vietnam's economy

In 1975, Vietnam emerged from its 20-year-long war as one of the poorest nations in the world.
Since then, its economy has been transformed -- largely thanks to a package of economic and political reforms, designed to engineer growth, that was launched by the government in 1986.
More than 45 million people were lifted out of poverty between 2002 and 2018 as the country developed industries that span textiles, agriculture, furniture, plastics, paper, tourism and telecommunications.
Vietnam is now undergoing another transformation -- thanks to technology.
New infrastructure has given Vietnamese citizens easy access to the internet -- and propelled their country across the digital divide.
A 2018 report by Google and Singaporean investment company Temasek described Vietnam's digital economy -- which is growing at more than 40% a year -- as "a dragon being unleashed."
It's not all plain sailing. Vietnam's government has been widely criticized for its surveillance of citizens and restrictions on freedom of speech. And like the rest of the world, it's impossible to predict how the coronavirus will impact the country's economy.

Energy security

Nuclear industry’s response to Covid-19 outbreak

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has led to a slowdown of the economic growth of countries across the world. The global pandemic has called for considerable measures to be taken in every aspect of life worldwide. The coronavirus spread has affected numerous industries and the global economy. One such industry is the power sector, which has witnessed a visible impact in the last two months. The electricity demand curve has taken a new shape in the affected regions.

During this ongoing Covid-19 crisis, apart from fossil fuel and renewable power technologies, nuclear reactors are also playing a crucial role in a number of countries in maintaining electricity supplies. Nuclear technology is a major baseload power-generating source and accounted for 10.3% of global power generation in 2019. The nuclear power sector is growing in many countries as demand for electricity increases. Some 31 countries are currently operating nuclear reactors for their electricity generation. Countries with significant nuclear power capacity are: the US, France, Japan, China, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, Canada, and Ukraine, with more than 10 gigawatts (GW) of cumulative installed capacity each. Germany, the UK, Sweden, Spain, India, and Belgium have 5GW-10GW cumulative installed nuclear power capacity each.

Weapons

Army says major weapons programs 'on track' for future war, despite virus

New future Army attack helicopters, armored infantry carriers, vehicle-fired counter-drone missiles, hypersonic weapons and high-tech networking technologies for future war -- are all expected to remain largely on-track and ultimately deliver on time despite the coronavirus outbreak, senior service leaders said.

“The Army and its industry partners are still bending metal within our labs and engineering centers and we are still focused on the most critical things, including the safety and security of our soldiers, personnel and health workforce,” Gen. John Murray, Commanding General, Army Futures Command, told reporters April 3.

Some of the current large platform weapons programs are expected, at least as of now, to meet “First Unit Equipped” timelines, including the Future Vertical Lift reconnaissance and attack helicopter, the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) armored personnel carrier, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Humvee replacement, Vehicle-fired missiles for Short Range Air Defense and Army combat communications networks. The service has also completed some crucial future weapons tests and exercises to ensure the Army remains “ready for war.”

Politics

Former Clinton adviser: ‘Possible for Cuomo to replace Biden as nominee’

A former adviser to President Bill Clinton argued Joe Biden has new competition for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“Biden thinks he has the nomination sewed up, but I’m not so sure,” Dick Morris told radio show host John Catsimatidis on Sunday.

Morris claimed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been holding daily news briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, could be plotting to launch a last-minute bid to nab the nomination from Biden, who became the presumptive nominee last month.

“It is perfectly possible for Cuomo to replace Biden as the nominee. Biden has at the moment about 1,200 delegates, but you need 1,900 to win the nomination. And most of the states have postponed their primaries,” he said.

“New York, with over 200 delegates, has postponed its primary until June 23, the last in the country. I don’t think that’s a coincidence," he continued. "I think Cuomo may have postponed it so that he would increase his chances. You could have a write-in movement for Cuomo.”

Cuomo said last week he had no plans to run for president after President Trump said he would make a “stronger” general election opponent than Biden.

Secret dossier

Ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele behind the 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump is being sued by three Russian oligarchs who were named in his 'kopromat' file

The British spy behind a notorious 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump's links to Russia is being sued by three oligarchs in the High Court.

Former MI6 man Christopher Steele's report on the newly elected US President in 2017 alleged he was in Vladimir Putin's pocket and claimed he threw an orgy with prostitutes on a Moscow trip.

Mr Trump called it 'fake news' and blasted Mr Steele as a 'failed spy'. Now the 55-year-old is being sued in London by three Russians named in the file and has been asked to back up the accuracy of his dossier.

They want him to pay damages and tell the world his report was inaccurate.

The trio - banker Peter Aven, billionaire financier Mikhail Fridman and oil tycoon German Khan - deny his claims that they did Putin's bidding. 

Before a hearing last month, father of three Mr Steele suggested he would barely answer any questions, claiming it would identify his sources.

He argued his dossier was reporting what he was told and was not definitive truth.

Mind control

The Secret History of Fort Detrick, the CIA’s Base for Mind Control Experiments

In 1954, a prison doctor in Kentucky isolated seven black inmates and fed them “double, triple and quadruple” doses of LSD for 77 days straight. No one knows what became of the victims. They may have died without knowing they were part of the CIA’s highly secretive program to develop ways to control minds—a program based out of a little-known Army base with a dark past, Fort Detrick.

Suburban sprawl has engulfed Fort Detrick, an Army base 50 miles from Washington in the Maryland town of Frederick. Seventy-six years ago, however, when the Army selected Detrick as the place to develop its super-secret plans to wage germ warfare, the area around the base looked much different. In fact, it was chosen for its isolation. That’s because Detrick, still thriving today as the Army’s principal base for biological research and now encompassing nearly 600 buildings on 13,000 acres, was for years the nerve center of the CIA’s hidden chemical and mind control empire.

Detrick is today one of the world’s cutting-edge laboratories for research into toxins and antitoxins, the place where defenses are developed against every plague, from crop fungus to Ebola. Its leading role in the field is widely recognized. For decades, though, much of what went on at the base was a closely held secret. Directors of the CIA mind control program MK-ULTRA, which used Detrick as a key base, destroyed most of their records in 1973.

Biosecurity

The 9 most important unanswered questions about Covid-19

It’s easy to forget that just a few months ago, the virus that is causing the Covid-19 pandemic around the world was not known, at all, to science.

In the months and weeks since, researchers have been learning as much as they can about this pathogen — and at breakneck speed. Scientists have sequenced its genome and begun to create vaccines in the hope of making people immune to it. They’ve also learned, critically, that people can pass the virus on to others before they get symptoms themselves. That makes the virus hard to contain. But it also makes it clear that severe actions — like the social distancing measures in place in the US and around the world — are necessary in the fight to save lives.

We still don’t know how this pandemic will play out. That’s in large part because there are crucial unanswered questions about this virus and the disease it causes. For example, researchers don’t yet have precise estimates of how deadly the virus is or an exact understanding of how it spreads. The answers to these questions will provide key insights into stopping this pandemic in the least disruptive way possible.

Biosecurity

Former USAMRIID scientist reflects on time at Fort Detrick in new book

A former medical division chief for a military laboratory will spend his Valentine’s Day at the base he once called his office to promote a new book about his time at Fort Detrick.

Retired Army Col. Dr. Mark Kortepeter will sign copies of his new book, “Inside the Hot Zone,” at the Shoppette at Fort Detrick. A week later, he’ll sign copies at the Barnes and Noble at Francis Scott Key Mall.

Kortepeter, now a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, spent many years at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. One of his primary reasons for writing his book was to shed light on the work done at USAMRIID and his former colleagues who, in some cases, put their life on the line for their work, he said.

He also wanted the book to inspire younger physicians and scientists, he said.

Spy work

Spies Are Fighting a Shadow War Against the Coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping across the world is more than a public health emergency. It poses unprecedented threats to national and international security, and fighting it, as the leaders of several countries have stressed, will resemble a major war involving similar numbers of fatalities. Intelligence services will have a major role in this struggle, just as they have in previous wars throughout history. That role will largely be played in the shadows—but it will be no less significant for its secrecy.

There are four ways that intelligence services will contribute to the war against COVID-19. First, they will provide policymakers with assessments about the virus’s spread and impact. The U.S. intelligence community already has a dedicated facility now at the front line of fighting COVID-19, the National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), based at Fort Detrick in Maryland. Staffed with epidemiologists, virologists, and other experts, the NCMI acts as a clearing house for all-source U.S. intelligence about the virus. Building on its Cold War predecessor, the NCMI has been America’s eyes and ears when it comes to biological threats since 2008, up to and including COVID-19. According to public reporting, in January and February this year, the U.S. intelligence community warned the Trump administration about the threat of the virus spreading from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where it originated, and becoming a pandemic...

International security

France seizes millions of masks, gloves intended for Spain and Italy

France has seized millions of face masks and gloves meant to be shipped to Spain and Italy to help fight the spread of the coronavirus in those countries, Swiss health care company Mölnlycke said Thursday.

In a statement published on its official website, Mölnlycke accused French authorities of “an extremely disturbing, unbecoming act.”

The company's general manager, Richard Twomey, said the materials were supposed to be sent to Italy and Spain via France, saying: “France banned the export of health products. It confiscated masks and gloves even though they were not theirs. This is an extremely disturbing, unbecoming act.”

Twomey noted that after France's unexpected move, the company will send new health supplies to Italy and Spain via Belgium.

Communication security

Zoom Meeting App: Advanced Tips to Instantly Make You a Video Calling Pro

Everyone is talking about the Zoom meeting app these days. Like you, we were wondering why the Zoom meeting app has suddenly become immensely popular. The answer is simple — a lot of people are suddenly embracing working from home, and Zoom claims that it has gone from 10 million daily active users (DAU) in December 2019 to 200 million DAU in March 2020, which is a staggering number. Zoom was fairly popular even before the lockdown, but now that almost everyone is working remotely, Zoom has gone viral. It is now the number one free app on the Google Play Store. What is this Zoom app all about? What are some advanced features of this app? How to share screen on Zoom? How to record Zoom meetings? Keep reading this article for all the answers.

What is Zoom

Zoom is a video-calling app that is ideal for large groups because it supports up to 100 users for free. It is widely being used for meetings, online learning, and university lectures, among other things. The app has become immensely popular as people have been forced to stay indoors due to the lockdown. The free version of Zoom allows users to enjoy unlimited 1-on-1 meetings along with group calls featuring up to 100 participants for 40 minutes.

Cybersecurity

Cyber criminals are trying to wreak havoc during global pandemic

First responders hit with malicious software. Ransomware deployed against medical facilities. Average citizens duped by stimulus check scams. Children facing electronic eavesdropping.
As government leaders and first responders battle the Covid-19 virus causing sickness and death across much of the globe, US federal law enforcement officers are also working to fend off malicious cyber actors taking advantage of the pandemic to cause harm.
In a series of public bulletins issued in the past month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, and Secret Service, federal officials have urged citizens to remain vigilant against a growing list of threats emanating from cyberspace.
On Wednesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center released a public notice warning that cyber criminals were taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to exploit the use of virtual environments adopted by government agencies, businesses, students, and private citizens seeking to maintain communication following an unprecedented call by governments and leaders for people to remain at home.

Biosecurity

Italy Questions Russians Over Their Goodwill Virus Gestures

President Vladimir Putin’s bid to help Italy fight its coronavirus outbreak triggered a war of words after news reports questioned the sincerity of Russia’s initiative.

While Italy’s government has welcomed the aid, the Defense Ministry in Moscow expressed outrage after mainstream newspaper La Stampa said most of it missed the mark and that some military staff sent by Russia were spies. The accusation from Moscow that La Stampa was “digging its own grave” with Russophobic fake news prompted Italy to remind Russia about the value of press freedom.

The backlash is a reminder of the pitfalls for Putin as his goodwill coup in the country with the most coronavirus deaths worldwide runs up against doubts about his motives. With Italy’s hospitals buckling and its economy collapsing, resentment at its European Union partners for restricting medical exports helped open the door to China and Russia.

International security

Boris Johnson warns G20 countries against acting in their own interests in Covid-19 battle after Germany accuses US of 'modern day piracy' after 200,000 face masks - destined for Berlin - were intercepted at Bangkok Airport and flown to America instead

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned G20 countries against acting in their own interests amid the Covid-19 pandemic after Germany accused the US of 'modern day piracy'. 

Protective face masks destined for Berlin were allegedly intercepted at a Thailand airport and diverted instead to the US, prompting angry German officials to blast Donald Trump for the move.

Mr Johnson alongside Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have warned against 'damaging protectionism' in the face of the global health crisis, with Mr Raab insisting international 'teamwork' is the way forward. 

Mr Raab said that he, the Prime Minister and Trade Secretary Liz Truss have been calling on other world leaders to keep international trade routes open. 

Writing for the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Raab said: 'The Prime Minister, Trade Secretary and I are pressing the G7 and G20 groups of major economies to keep trade routes open – and avoid compounding the harm of Covid-19 with damaging protectionism. Teamwork is essential to beating coronavirus. 

'The Prime Minister is determined to unite the country behind the national mission at home, and bring countries together abroad.' 

Health security

US snatches masks from Germany in act of ‘modern piracy’ – Berlin senator

With Covid-19 infections climbing, Washington has diverted shipments of vital protective masks from its allies in Germany and Canada to the US. A Berlin senator described the move as “modern piracy.”

As confirmed coronavirus cases passed 250,000 in the US this week, the White House pressured safety gear manufacturer 3M to step up imports of protective masks from its Chinese factories. Trump publicly promised on Thursday that 3M would “have a big price to pay” if it didn’t increase supply to the US.

But behind the scenes, American officials were acquiring these masks by more underhand means.

A delivery of 200,000 masks left a 3M factory in China this week and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, from where they were supposed to be sent to the German capital. The masks never got to Berlin, and police in the city told Der Tagesspiegel that the shipment was instead bound for the US. Berlin's Senator for the Interior Andreas Geisel confirmed on Friday that the masks had been “confiscated.”

Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik told Tagesspiegel that she believes 3M redirected the shipment because of the US government’s export ban. The company denied the charge, while a White House spokesman told another German newspaper that the accusation of piracy was “completely wrong.”

Yet Germany isn’t the only country to see its shipments apparently nabbed by the Americans. In Canada last week, Le Journal de Montreal reported that a shipment of masks bound for hospitals in the city was diverted to the US state of Ohio. Shipping firm DHL later attributed this to a “computer error,” but Montreal hospital supplier Fan Zhou claimed his order eventually arrived 10,000 masks short.

Statecraft

Donald Trump fires intelligence watchdog who sparked impeachment process

Donald Trump has fired the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that led to his impeachment, prompting fierce criticism from Democrats.

The US president chose a Friday night, with America consumed by the coronavirus pandemic, to tell the House of Representatives and Senate intelligence committees of his decision to dismiss Michael Atkinson.

In a letter, Trump claimed it was “vital” that he had confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general, and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general”.

The president would nominate an individual who has his full confidence at a later date, he added.

Criminal investigation

John Durham investigation intensifies focus on John Brennan

U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the Russia investigation is putting increased scrutiny on former CIA Director John Brennan, searching for any undue influence he may have had during 2017’s intelligence community assessment of Russian interference.

Durham, selected by Attorney General William Barr last year to lead this inquiry, drove to Washington, D.C., in March to ensure the investigation stayed on track during the coronavirus outbreak. The top Connecticut federal prosecutor is looking into highly sensitive issues, including whether Brennan took politicized actions to pressure the rest of the intelligence community to match his conclusions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Officials said Durham has been interviewing CIA officials this year, zeroing in on those at the National Intelligence Council, a center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which oversaw the collaboration between the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency in putting together the 2017 assessment, and looking at how the work product was finalized.

The 2017 assessment concluded with "high confidence" that Putin “ordered an influence campaign in 2016” and Russia worked to “undermine public faith" in U.S. democracy, "denigrate" former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and "harm her electability and potential presidency,” and “developed a clear preference" for Trump. The NSA diverged on one aspect, expressing only “moderate confidence” that Putin actively tried to help Trump win and Clinton lose.

Weapons

Why Nazi Germany's Small Hetzer Tank Destroyer Was Pretty Good

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) retained the Praga AC/2800 water-cooled inline, six-cylinder engine, the 150- to 160-horsepower transferred through a semiautomatic five-speed Praga transmission and Wilson clutch and steering brakes to the final drive. The original front drive sprocket, rear idler wheel, and leaf spring suspension of the PzKpfw. 38 was retained, but the four rubber-tired steel road wheels were larger than the originals and the track had only a single return roller on top. Relatively lightweight at 16 tons (the design specs calling for 13 tons) and with a 35cm wide track, the Hetzer had a ground pressure of 0.76kg/cm2. Although at 26 mph (42 kph) it was nowhere near as fast as the 55-60 kph originally called for in the design parameters, it had good cross-country performance, and although sluggish at low speed it could be quite nimble with the engine kept revved up to high rpms. It also featured a pivot steer, with one track going forward while the other reversed, enabling it to turn around basically within its own length.

Weapons

The BT: Russia's 'Hot-Rod' Super-Fast Tanks (Made in America?)

...The two model 1928s were received at the Kharkov Locomotive Factory in Ukraine. There the Soviets wasted no time in creating a reverse-engineered vehicle from the Model 1928 Bystrokhodny (“Fast”) Tank or BT-1, resulting in the domestic BT-2. Three turretless prortotypes in 1931 were followed by production models in 1932 with a turret 37-millimeter gun and a coaxial turret Degtyaryov machinegun. (Some were delivered with an additional two machineguns in the turret instead of the cannon.)

They 10-ton BT-2 was powered by a Mikulin M5-400 petrol engine reverse-engineered from the American 400 horsepower Liberty V12 engine. For comparison, the 18-ton British Valentine infantry tank which entered service in 1940 had only a 131 horsepower engine!

That BT-2’s remarkable power-to-weight ratio resulted in a genuine hotrod. With their tracks removed, the BTs could attain speeds of 62 miles per hour on roads, and around 40 cross-country. A famous recording shows a BT tank leaping a remarkable 40 meters off a ramp. Ironically, however, the neat chain-driving mode appears not to have been used operationally.

Health security

New website explains how hospitals can decontaminate and reuse scarce N95 masks to fight COVID-19

Today, a team of 60 scientists and engineers, students and clinicians, drawn from universities and the private sector, are unveiling N95decon.org, a website that synthesizes the scientific literature about mask decontamination to create a set of best practices to decontaminate and reuse this protective face covering during the current emergency.

“While there is no perfect method for decontamination of N95 masks, it is crucial that decision-makers and users have as much information as possible about the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches,” said Manu Prakash, an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford who helped coordinate this ad hoc, volunteer undertaking. “We aim to provide information and evidence in this critical time to help those on the front lines of this crisis make risk management decisions given the specific conditions and limitations they face.”

Drug smuggling

Trump announces enhanced narcotic operations amid coronavirus, deploys destroyers and Air Force assets

President Trump -- flanked by Attorney General Bill Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and top military officials at the White House coronavirus briefing -- announced on Wednesday a massive new "counternarcotics operation" in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea to "combat the flow of illicit drugs into the United States."

"We must not let the drug cartels exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives," Trump said. "In cooperation with the 22 partner nations, U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption and seizures of drug shipments and provide additional support for eradication efforts, which are going on right now at a record pace."

Included in the force package are Navy destroyers, other combat ships, Air Force surveillance planes and helicopters, and ten Coast Guard cutter ships, Trump said, noting that the new forces would double U.S. interdiction capacity in the region -- and help slow the spread of the coronavirus by reducing illicit travel.

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States had obtained intelligence that cartels were seeking to "take advantage" of the coronavirus to smuggle drugs. Asked about the intelligence later in the briefing, Trump called it strong but wouldn't elaborate.

Biosecurity

Putin Working Remotely After Meeting Infected Doctor, Kremlin Says

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has decided to handle his duties remotely, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after the head of the country's main coronavirus hospital tested positive following a meeting with the president.

Denis Protsenko, who met with Putin last week as the Russian leader visited the Kommunarka hospital in Moscow, said Tuesday he had been infected with the coronavirus but was feeling well.

"The president prefers these days to work remotely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, shortly before Putin was due to hold a cabinet meeting by videoconference.

"We are taking all precautionary measures," he said, adding that.