Top US commander in Iraq Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend dismissed the idea that the current plans for US escalation in Iraq and Syria would result in the deployment of “large numbers” of additional US combat troops. He refused to say what his recommendation was, but insisted that the current troops levels are “working” and that he didn’t see a need for large additional deployments.
Daily Archives: 2. März 2017
LNG plant at Vassilikos still an option, president says
Noting that French energy giant Total plans to conduct exploratory drilling in block 11 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone within the year, while the ENI/Kogas consortium plans to continue its exploratory programme, Anastasiades said that “it is becoming increasingly evident that the Cypriot hydrocarbons sector in the last two years has gained fresh momentum”…Negotiations over exploration and allocation contract terms with the ENI/Total consortium in block 6, ENI in block 8, and the ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum consortium in block 10, are in their final stages, he added.
Russia hopes Cyprus talks resume soon
The leaders are due to meet UN Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide on Friday.
Cyprus deal could speed up Israel-Turkey gas project – envoy
Plans for pipeline through Cypriot waters would ‘make life easier’ to export gas from Leviathan field to Europe
Prime Minister in Cyprus on last day of six-nation tour
Dr Muscat this morning met Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiade, with whom he discussed migration and Brexit. He will later fly to Italy for the last stop of his tour which has seen him also in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Romania and Greece.
California Supreme Court Rules Public Records Act Covers Government Communications on Private Email and Personal Devices
In a major victory for transparency, the California Supreme Court ruled today that when government officials conduct public business using private email or personal devices, those communications may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Record Acts (CPRA).
Israel-Turkey gas pipeline could be ready in four years – company
An underwater pipeline connecting Israel‘s massive offshore gas field Leviathan to Turkey could be built within four years, one of the partners in the project said on Thursday.
UN urged to add Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, TTP to list of child rights offenders
In 2015, the network had asked the UN to add the Israel Defence Forces on the list for killing and injuring children and attacking schools and hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank. Due to lobbying by the United States and Israeli government, the defence forces were kept off the list.
Israel Loves Wars
Israel loves wars. Needs them. Does nothing to prevent them, and sometimes instigates them. There is no other way to read the state comptroller’s report on the 2014 Gaza war, and there is no more important conclusion that arises from it.
All the rest – the tunnels, the National Security Council, the cabinet and the intelligence – are trifles, nothing more than efforts to distract us from the main thing. The main thing is that Israel wants war. It rejected all the alternative, without discussing them, without interest in them, to fulfill its desire.
Deutsche U-Boote in Israel: Jerusalems Generalstaatsanwalt leitet Ermittlungen ein
Der israelische Generalstaatsanwalt Avichai Mandelbit hat angeordnet, Ermittlungen zum Kauf von drei deutschen U-Booten einzuleiten, wie das Militärportal Defense News am Donnerstag berichtet.
Trump, Tsipras to speak on the phone in coming days
Diplomats in Athens and Washington are engaged in consultations to set up a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and US President Donald Trump over the next few days.
Greece to install “coastal surveillance system” covering whole sea border to Turkey
At the behest of the EU Greece is to install a “coastal surveillance system covering the whole sea border between Greece and Turkey.” The latest report from the Hellenic delegation to the Council of the European Union on “serious” deficiencies in the application of the Schengen acquis envisages the construction of a: “National Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (NIMSS)”:
Brussels tells EU states to detain more freely migrants awaiting deportation
„Return rates have to be improved,“ Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Thursday in presenting new, non-binding, proposals by the executive European Commission.
Germany‘s Spy Agency Walks Away From Three-Year Investigation With Expanded Spy Powers
German citizens — along with everyone the government spies on — can rest assured nothing has changed. It‘s only gotten worse. The final report may provide more examples of BND‘s misconduct, but the agency has already been rewarded for its misbehavior by the same officials charged with holding the agency accountable for its abuses.
Germany says to keep soldiers in Baltics as long as needed
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Thursday criticized Russia‘s military build-up on its borders with the Baltic states as irrational and said Germany would keep troops in the region for as long as needed.
Von der Leyen und Gabriel reisen zur Bundeswehr ins Baltikum – STERN
(…)
Barometer der Pressefreiheit 2017 Stand 2.3.2017
Hinweis: In den Kategorien “[…] getötet” werden einzig jene Fälle aufgeführt, in denen Reporter ohne Grenzen eindeutig nachweisen konnte, dass der Tod des Opfers in direktem Zusammenhang mit seiner journalistischen Tätigkeit steht. Die Fälle, in denen ein solcher Zusammenhang nicht oder noch nicht eindeutig festgestellt werden konnte, sind nicht im Barometer erfasst.
Reporter ohne Grenzen: Verfassungsklage gegen BND-Überwachung eingereicht
Lässt sich die Internetüberwachung durch den BND gerichtlich stoppen? Reporter ohne Grenzen versucht es nun mit einer weiteren Klage.
Limux-Rollback: Was erlauben München?
Jetzt haben wir endlich Antwort auf unsere Frage bekommen, warum München von Limux zu Windows zurückkehren will – und sind so klug als wie zuvor. Die CSU rechtfertigt sich gegen Vorwürfe, die wir nicht gemacht haben, die SPD weicht aus und technisch reden beide Unfug. Was soll das?
Syria: The Criminal Empire’s Strategy Of Divide, Conquer, and Destroy
Empire seeks to create sectarianism and ethnic divides in a country that, prior to the Western-launched criminal dirty war, had neither. President al-Assad is well aware of the imperial forces behind the mercenaries invading his country. In a speech to the newly elected members of the People’s Assembly of Syria (Syria’s Parliament) on 7 June 2016[2], he elaborated upon the modus operandi of the invaders:
„Der Bundestag wollte eine strikte Trennung vom Netz der Regierung.“
(15.6.2015) Es gibt Experten, die sagen, das alles hätte nicht passieren können, wenn der Bundestag nicht darauf bestanden hätte, ein eigenes Netz zu benutzen, getrennt von dem der Regierung. Muss man das überdenken?
Bosbach: Ich kann mich noch gut an die Debatte erinnern. Der Bundestag wollte eine strikte Trennung vom Netzt der Regierung. Auch auf dem Gebiet der Informationstechnologie sollte die Unabhängigkeit des Parlaments von staatlichen Instanzen hervorgehoben werden. Siecher spielte da bei einigen Kolleginnen und Kollegen ein grundsätzliches Misstrauen gegen Behörden wie den Verfassungsschutz und das BSI eine Rolle.
Sollte diese Trennung nach den jüngsten Erfahrungen aufgegeben werden?
Bosbach: Nein. Das hat auch mit unserer Verfassungsordnung zu tun.
Verfassungsschutz: „Von einem anderen Land beauftragte Firma“ entdeckte durch „Zufallsfund“ Angriff auf IT-Netz des Bundestages
(12.6.2015) Das Sitzungsprotokoll der IuK-Kommission des Bundestages vom 21. Mai 2015 wirft viele Fragen über den „Hackerangriff“ auf das Parlament auf. Unter anderem die nach der Rolle des Inlandsgeheimdienstes, in diesem „Totalschaden der Demokratie“.
Es folgen Auszüge aus dem Sitzungs-Protokoll der „Kommission des Ältestenrates für den Einsatz neuer Informations- und Kommunikationstechniken und -medien“ (IuK-Kommission) vom 21. Mai 2015, welches Radio Utopie vorliegt.
Server-Ausfall: Der Bundestag muss offline arbeiten
IT-Sicherheit ist im Bundestag spätestens seit Mitte 2015 ein sensibles Thema: Damals bemerkten Verfassungsschutz und IT-Experten des Parlaments, dass Unbekannte mehrere internationale Organisationen attackiert hatten, darunter auch die Server des Bundestags.
China: Das Kapitalisten-Bordell von „Volksrepublik“ soll absaufen
(8.7.2015) In der Hierarchie unter den „Systemrelevanten“ herrscht Unruhe. Statt den Demokratien Europas fällt nun ein Sack Aktienkurse in China die Treppe runter. Eine kurze Erläuterung.
China says supports WTO after U.S. trade threat
„Since China joined the WTO it has always proactively supported the WTO‘s work, and this position will not change,“ he told a daily news briefing, when asked about the U.S. proposal.
China‘s Commerce Ministry declined immediate comment.
So will Trump den freien Handel aushebeln
Der neue US-Präsident hält noch immer an seinen Strafzöllen etwa gegen China und Mexiko fest.
Bei der Welthandelsorganisation WTO würde er damit aber wohl kaum durchkommen.
Trump trade office takes aggressive view of WTO rules: document
(1.3.2017) The document publicly released to Congress on Wednesday signals that the administration may try to push the limits of what is acceptable under WTO rules in its quest to make good on campaign promises to slash U.S. trade deficits with China and Mexico, and bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
The document represents a departure from the Obama administration‘s strict adherence to WTO compliance in its challenges to unfair foreign trade practices.
Trump intelligence nominee supports probes on Russian interference
(1.3.2017) „I think this is something that needs to be investigated and addressed,“ former Republican Senator Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the top U.S. intelligence official.
Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.
Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.
Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose
One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.
Former President George W. Bush warns against ‚isolationist tendency‘ in US
Former U.S. President George W. Bush discusses his new book „Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief‘s Tribute to America‘s Warriors,“ a collection of his artwork featuring paintings of veterans and stories at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, March 1, 2017.
Soundcloud Tells Guy It Needs To Kill His Account Of 8 Years Because Someone Else Trademarked His Name
I‘ve known Bas Grasmayer for many years, and he‘s a super insightful digital/music strategist and has written a bunch of posts for us over the years. He tends to be on the cutting edge of any digital music startup — so it‘s little surprise that he first got a Soundcloud account way back in 2008 or 2009, soon after Soundcloud started. His account is at soundcloud.com/bas/ because, well, that‘s his name. So it was a bit of a shock for Bas to get this notice from Soundcloud yesterday:
Tim Berners-Lee Endorses DRM In HTML5, Offers Depressingly Weak Defense Of His Decision
For the last four years, the Web has had to live with a festering wound: the threat of DRM being added to the HTML 5 standard in the form of Encrypted Media Extensions (EME). Here on Techdirt, we‘ve written numerous posts explaining why this is a really stupid idea, as have many, many other people. Despite the clear evidence that EME will be harmful to just about everyone — except the copyright companies, of course — the inventor of the Web, and director of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has just given his blessing to the idea:
Juncker: Greece’s prime minister loves me deeply, and so do Greeks
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he is the most popular European politician in Greece during a joint press conference with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani in Brussels, following the presentation of the Commission’s “White Paper” on the future of the EU.
Prog Noir by Stick Men
Mix and post-production by Benjamin Schäfer and Markus Reuter for Unsung Productions
Mastered by Lee Fletcher
Recorded at Unsung Productions in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany, at Pat‘s Studio in Austin, TX, USA, and at Tony‘s studio in Kingston, NY. Additional drum recordings at Mike McCarthy‘s studio in Austin, TX.
released March 1, 2017