Ukrainian crisis

Deadly Fighting Surges in Ukraine Despite Truce

A sudden surge in clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels killed at least seven people on Monday despite a tattered truce in Ukraine's war-scarred east.

The overall death toll reported for the past two days rose to 12 after the bloodiest outburst of violence since the former Soviet republic and its foes last month agreed an "indefinite" ceasefire.

The fighting came as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to step up economic sanctions against Moscow, and fears grew in Kiev that US support could wane should President Donald Trump draws closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Survivalism

The nuclear bunkers designed for luxury living

Despite the fact that the apartments cost millions of dollars each to buy, starting at $1.5m (£1.2m), Mr Hall says he is seeing strong demand from wealthy customers.

It seems extraordinary, not least because nearby above-ground homes (admittedly without protection against nuclear bombs) can be had for a tiny fraction of the cost of one of these bunker units. So how has he managed to build an apparently successful business selling "survival chic"?

It all began after the 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001. At the time Mr Hall was an entrepreneur with an internet business; he also had experience of designing and constructing computer data centres.

Demand for computer back-up facilities grew after the terrible events of 9/11, says Mr Hall. This gave him an idea: make a data centre that could withstand a nuclear bomb attack.

Nuclear security

Why Russia's New RS-28 Sarmat Nuclear Missile Matters

...Russia’s already modernizing its force and, relevant to the discussion above, replacing (rather than retiring) its current heavy ICBM, the 10-warhead SS-18. Its new heavy ICBM, the RS-28, was unveiled in October 2016. While still in development—it mightn’t be deployed until 2018—it’s said to be capable of carrying 10 larger warheads, or 16 smaller ones, or some combination of warheads and penetration aids to enable a successful attack through improving missile defenses. Too big to hide, too heavy to move and too important for an opponent to ignore, the RS-28’s going to be a major factor locking us into the second scenario sketched above—one in which Russia continues to deploy a substantial fraction of its strategic arsenal on destabilizing heavy ICBMs—regardless of what the new US administration decides.

Navy

Trident nuclear missiles have history of failure, US documents show

Newly-released US documents show Trident nuclear missiles have a track record of failure. The revelations come weeks after it emerged a British test-fired missile malfunctioned in June 2016 and veered off course towards the US coast.

Documents seen by the Sunday Times reportedly show the Trident system has long been affected by navigational issues, leading to £1.4 billion (US$1.76 billion) being spent on repairs and modifications.

The paper published a section of the report which said: “The Trident II missile is completing its 26th year of deployment and has reached its original design life goal.

Economic security

Trump's Attack on Germany and the Global Economy

Trump immediately backed out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and is intent on renegotiating other such free trade deals, these "horrible deals," which he sees as the source of America's downfall. "This wave of globalization has wiped out totally, totally, our middle class," he said while on the campaign trail.

On the same Monday, he received dozens of America's most important executives, representatives of the country's leading economic sectors. Trump called it a "listening session," but he didn't appear to be the one interested in listening. Rather, it was the business leaders who were to receive the new rules of this new era. "America first," is the only relevant philosophy, and those who go along will be rewarded by way of massive tax cuts and investments.

Criminal investigation

Reports: Second FSB Agent Arrested; Possible Links To U.S. Election Hacking

Russian media have reported that another Federal Security Service (FSB) officer has been arrested on treason charges in a case that may be linked to cyberattacks targeting the U.S. presidential election campaign.

The reports by Rambler News Service on January 26 come a day after the Kommersant newspaper reported that a senior officer of the cyberintelligence department of the FSB -- Russia’s lead security agency -- had been arrested.

Kommersant said Sergei Mikhailov, deputy chief of the FSB's Center for Information Security, had been arrested in December on treason charges.

Another Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, on January 26 corroborated the Kommersant report.

Novaya Gazeta quoted unidentified sources as saying Mikhailov was arrested during a meeting with other FSB officers in Moscow, and was taken from the room with a sack over his head. 

War on terror

Three Suspected Militants Reported Killed In Daghestan

Russian authorities say security forces have killed three suspected militants in the North Caucasus province of Daghestan.

The Interior Ministry's branch in Daghestan said its forces surrounded a house in the town of Khasavyurt where the suspects were hiding on January 29.

Spokesman Ruslan Ibragimgadzhiev said the three alleged militants refused to surrender and died during a firefight.

Human trafficking

ICE arrests nearly 2,000 human traffickers in 2016, identifies over 400 victims across the US

In Fiscal Year 2016, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested 1,952 individuals for human trafficking – the illegal trade and exploitation of people for commercial gain, most commonly in the form of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. From those cases, over 400 trafficking victims were identified and offered critical services. 

This year marks the seventh anniversary of January as National Slavery and Trafficking Prevention month. ICE participates in a variety of human trafficking awareness events in January and throughout the year.

“HSI special agents work tirelessly to disrupt criminal trafficking networks, and just as importantly, to assist the victims of this terrible crime,” said Acting ICE Director Daniel H. Ragsdale. “ICE will continue to work with our counterparts at home and abroad to educate the public to recognize signs of trafficking and provide the crucial services needed to aid in the recovery of those impacted by this heinous act.”

War on terror

Trump Orders New Military Strategy to Defeat ISIS

President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered military leaders to give him a report in 30 days that outlines a new strategy for defeating the Islamic State terrorist group.

"This is the plan to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, in other words ISIS," he said as he signed the order. "I think it's going to be very successful. That's big stuff."

The plan is expected to include recommendations on changes to military actions, diplomacy, coalition partners, mechanisms to cut off or seize the group's financial support and a way to pay for the strategy, according to the language released by the White House.

National security

Trump’s baffling national security overhaul lets military, intel leaders attend ‘anytime they want’

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus pushed back Sunday against claims that the nation’s top military and intelligence leaders are barred from participating in the National Security Council.

President Trump confounded the national security and intelligence communities Saturday by issuing an executive order overhauling the makeup of the council.

As part of that order, Mr. Trump wrote that Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Michael Dempsey, acting director of national intelligence, would attend council meetings “as needed.”

During a heated exchange with NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mr. Priebus said the clause is not an attempt to remove Gen. Dunford or Mr. Dempsey from the council.

“They’re invited to be attendees of the Security Council at any time that they want to,” Mr. Preibus said during an interview on “Meet the Press.”

Nuclear security

This is the terrifying message Brits would have received in the event of a nuclear attack

IN the event of a Cold War nuclear strike, British civilians would have received the most chilling message imaginable.

Back in the dark days of the Cold War, the British government developed a “four-minute warning” system to alert the public that the country had come under attack.

Named after the amount of time Brits would have to prepare for an incoming strike, the four-minute warning represented the last chance for civillians to get to shelter.

As air raid sirens sounded across the nation, TV bulletins and radio broadcasts would have been used to spread the terrifying news that a nuclear missile was headed for the UK.

And had there been a hostile missile launch, the message that would have been sent to all Brits which will chill you to the bone.

Nuclear security

Nuclear Strike Survival for Russia, China Get New U.S. Review

U.S. intelligence agencies and the Pentagon’s Strategic Command are working on a new evaluation of whether the Russian and Chinese leadership could survive a nuclear strike and keep operating, even as President Donald Trump seeks to reshape relations with both nations.

The new study, ordered by Congress before Trump took office, drew bipartisan support from members who harbor deep concern about China’s increasing military boldness and distrust of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions.

While Trump has pledged to “greatly strengthen and expand” U.S. nuclear capabilities, he also has predicted he can make deals with Putin that may include reducing U.S. sanctions in return for future cuts in nuclear arsenals. The two leaders talked by phone for about an hour on Saturday.

Spy story

Handwriting ‘proves’ Poland’s Walesa was spy: Report

Polish prosecutors will on Tuesday present what they believe is proof that Solidarity freedom hero Lech Walesa collaborated with the communist-era secret police, the national news agency PAP reported.
Citing unnamed sources close to the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which prosecutes crimes from the communist-era and from the Nazi occupation, the PAP said Sunday a team of forensic experts had come to that conclusion notably through handwriting analysis.
The 73-year-old former president and Nobel Peace laureate has been battling the allegations since last year, when the IPN seized previously unknown secret police files from the widow of a communist-era interior minister.

Human trafficking

Libyan trafficking camps are hell for refugees, diplomats say

Would-be migrants and refugees in Libya are being subjected to torture, rape and even execution by the human traffickers who are holding them, a newspaper report said on Sunday, citing German diplomats posted in Africa.

"Executions of migrants who cannot pay, torture, rapes, blackmail and abandonment in the desert are the order of the day there," the "Welt am Sonntag" quoted an internal report from the German embassy in the capital of Niger, Niamey, as saying.

The diplomats' report, intended for the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and various ministries, spoke of "the most serious, systematic human rights violations," the paper said.

National security

Military Brass Fill Donald Trump’s National Security Council

President Donald Trump is filling the top ranks of his National Security Council with active-duty and retired military officers extensively schooled in the fight against Islamist extremists and intent on containing Iran’s power in the Middle East, according to officials involved in the staffing decisions.

The appointments mark a sharp break from former President Barack Obama’s foreign-policy brain trust, which was light on Pentagon brass and stacked with diplomats and strategists committed to exploring openings with Iran, Cuba, Russia and other traditional U.S. adversaries.

Current and former U.S. officials said Mr. Trump is relying more heavily on military personnel to handle national-security issues than any president since Ronald Reagan.

Robots

New Bomb Disposal Robot to Neutralize Car Bombs

A new bomb disposal and tactical robot was launched recently. The Avenger Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) robot has been engineered to provide police and military response teams with enhanced capabilities to manage ongoing and emerging threats posed by terrorists, particularly in urban environments where car bombs (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, VBIEDS) are of concern.

The robot was launched at the 2017 SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show. Designed and manufactured by ICP NewTech, the robot is a mid-sized ROV with most of the operational capabilities typically found only in much larger and more expensive robots, according to safariland.com.

The Avenger’s highly dextrous arm and claw can easily reach inside, above and below cars, pick-up trucks and delivery vans, to remotely investigate suspicious devices, such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).

Aerospace

F-35 Pilots Will Control UAVs Flying Nearby

Several fighter jet models will soon use artificial intelligence to control nearby UAVs that will be able to carry weapons, test enemy air defenses or perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in high-risk areas, Senior US Air Force officials said recently.

US Air Force Chief Scientist Gregory Zacharias said that much higher degrees of autonomy and manned-unmanned teaming are expected to emerge in the near future from work at the Air Force Research Lab. “This involves an attempt to have another platform fly alongside a human, perhaps serving as a weapons truck” Zacharias told DefenseSystems.com.  

He added that F-35 pilots will be able to control a small group of drones flying nearby from the aircraft cockpit in the air, performing sensing, reconnaissance and targeting functions.

War on terror

Yemen al-Qaeda: US commandos raid stronghold

The US has carried out a commando raid on an al-Qaeda stronghold in central Yemen, killing 14 militants, the military says.

One US soldier died and three were injured.

Several Apache helicopters were reported to have taken part in the operation in al-Baida province.

Three al-Qaeda leaders were among those killed in a battle lasting 45 minutes in a village in Yakla district. Earlier reports suggested a higher death toll.

US drones have carried out periodic attacks on al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Local sources earlier said 41 militants and 16 civilians were killed.

A provincial official said the helicopters targeted a hospital, school and mosque.

Politics

Game Over for Democrats?

In 2008, the American people overwhelmingly voted for “change” in Washington. They never got it. Hence, Trump. To pretend that there’s not a straight line connecting the failed policies of Barack Obama and the subsequent rise of Donald John Trump, is to ignore the obvious and to shrug off responsibility for the situation the country is in today.

Obama created Trump, the man didn’t simply appear from the ether. Had Obama acted in good faith and kept his promises to shake up the status quo, end the foreign wars, restore civil liberties, hold Wall Street accountable or relieve the economic insecurity that working families across the country now feel, Hillary Clinton would have been a shoe-in on November 8th. As it happens, Obama made no effort to achieve any of these goals, which is why Hillary was defeated in the biggest political upset of the last century.

Nuclear security

14,900 nukes: All the nations armed with atomic weapons and how many they have

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has advanced its symbolic Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds, suggesting humanity is an alarming 2 minutes and 30 seconds away from the brink of an apocalypse.

It's a dramatic statement, but the clock's annual movement is determined by a board of preeminent global security and scientific experts, including 15 Nobel laureates. And they're deadly serious.

Each shift takes into account major threats to civilization, including climate change. However, it assesses — first and foremost — the threat of nuclear war.

This year the Bulletin is especially concerned with the rise of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, and North Korea's recent weapons tests. But in an unusual move, it took aim at President Donald Trump's aggressive rhetoric on expanding US weapons programs, including his desire to proliferate atomic weapons — just one of which can wipe out millions of people in a matter of seconds — to other countries.