Archiv: validations / auditing / oversight / probes / investigations / inquiries / and criminal investigations by state authorities


20.03.2023 - 14:39 [ Times of Israel ]

A year after its launch, details of submarine affair probe’s work yet to surface

(28 January 2023)

However, as of this time, the name of only one witness has been publicly announced — Amos Gilad, who was the director of the Defense Ministry’s Political-Military Affairs Bureau at the time of the purchase of the submarines.

The names of any other witnesses, if they exist, are unknown. Nor is it known how many times a week the commission meets, and which of the panel members are present when it does.

20.03.2023 - 14:37 [ Tal Schneider טל שניידר تال شنايدر / Nitter ]

A year after its launch, details of the submarine affair probe’s work have yet to surface While the identities of the witnesses and the materials studied remain unknown, some believe staying under the radar may save panel from being torpedoed by Netanyahu

20.03.2023 - 14:27 [ Haaretz ]

‚I’m Comfortable With My Decisions, but Uncomfortable Talking About Them‘: Netanyahu’s Account in Submarine Affair Revealed

(Sep 25, 2022)

The most serious accusation by Ya’alon was that Netanyahu had concealed from him and the army brass the fact that he had given former German Chancellor Angela Merkel a green light to sell advanced submarines to Egypt. “This could reach the level of treason,” the former defense minister said. In his statement, details of which became known to Haaretz, Netanyahu reversed his opposition to the sale of the submarines in a one-to-one conversation with Merkel, but refused to say why.

20.03.2023 - 14:22 [ Haaretz,com / Nitter ]

‚I don’t know what Thyssenkrupp is‘: Netanyahu’s account in submarine affair revealed

(26 Sep 2022)

13.03.2023 - 16:37 [ CNN ]

Biden vows to hold those responsible for Silicon Valley Bank failure ‘fully accountable’

“I am firmly committed to holding those responsible for this mess fully accountable and to continuing our efforts to strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again,” he added.

09.03.2023 - 06:51 [ Greek Reporter ]

Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Greece Demanding Justice for the Dead of Train Crash

With demands for a full inquiry and an end to privatization, protestors marched toward Syntagma Square and the Greek Parliament, where the main body of demonstrators reached the square at around 15:00.

At the same time, the left-wing trade union faction PAME organised a separate rally and march to Parliament over the rail accident at Propylea, attended by labor organizations, federations, unions, students and pupils.

28.02.2023 - 10:35 [ theGuardian.com ]

Dianne Feinstein statement on CIA torture report ‚cover-up‘ – full text

(March 11, 2014)

Let me say up front that I come to the Senate Floor reluctantly. Since January 15, 2014, when I was informed of the CIA’s search of this committee’s network, I have been trying to resolve this dispute in a discreet and respectful way. I have not commented in response to media requests for additional information on this matter. However, the increasing amount of inaccurate information circulating now cannot be allowed to stand unanswered.

The origin of this study: The CIA’s detention and interrogation program began operations in 2002, though it was not until September 2006, that Members of the Intelligence Committee, other than the Chairman and Vice Chairman, were briefed. In fact, we were briefed by then-CIA Director Hayden only hours before President Bush disclosed the program to the public.

A little more than a year later, on December 6, 2007, a New York Times article revealed the troubling fact that the CIA had destroyed videotapes of some of the CIA’s first interrogations using so-called “enhanced techniques.” …

15.02.2023 - 22:12 [ Haaretz ]

Cambridge Analytica’s Israeli Black Ops Team – Exposed at Last

The emails now being published – which were obtained in the course of the investigation by The Guardian – raise questions about the whistleblower’s memory lapses during her testimony in the British Parliament. They show that Kaiser, who had been Cambridge Analytica’s business development director, had been in contact with Hanan for a number of years and she in fact put him in touch with the company she worked for.

18.01.2023 - 18:20 [ Interfax.com.ua ]

SBU: Investigation considering several versions of helicopter crash in Brovary

The pre-trial investigation is carried out by investigators of the Main Directorate of the SBU in Kyiv and Kyiv region. All possible versions of the helicopter accident are considered.

The case is under the personal control of the Prosecutor General.

30.11.2022 - 05:57 [ Reuters ]

German warplanes patrolling skies over Poland, air force says

(March 1, 2022)

„Safeguarding the skies over Poland,“ the air force said on Twitter, above a picture of a starting fighter jet, without giving details.

A military spokesperson told Reuters the Eurofighter jets were flying missions out of Germany over Poland, a country that suffered severely under Nazi Germany in the last century.

30.11.2022 - 05:17 [ Independentsentinel.com ]

Ukraine Fired the Missile Into Poland – No Formal Investigation to Follow

(16.11.2022)

There will not be a referral for an investigation, Duda said.

30.11.2022 - 05:07 [ Fox News ]

Stoltenberg says no NATO Article 4 until investigation in Poland missile ‚explosion‘ completed

(November 16, 2022)

„I spoke with [President Andrzej Duda] last night, we agreed on the importance of awaiting the outcome of the investigation,“ Stoltenberg told reporters. „We don’t have the final outcome on that, we have no indication that this was a deliberate attack.“

22.11.2022 - 13:28 [ Kyiv Independent ]

Media: Polish prosecutors won’t allow Ukraine to join investigation of Przewodow blast

Earlier on Nov. 18, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukrainian experts were already working on the explosion site and added that he was grateful to Poland for giving them access.

According to Rzeczpospolita sources, however, Ukrainian investigators didn’t perform any procedural activities on the site because it’s against the law — they were just able to see the place.

21.11.2022 - 11:55 [ jarek2 / Nitter ]

Everyone has it and no one wants to publish it

21.11.2022 - 11:45 [ @FlippinCoin / Nitter ]

For sure someone has the radar tracks of this hit.

(18.11.2022)

21.11.2022 - 11:23 [ @FlippinCoin / Nitter ]

3/ @TrentTelenko Furthermore, this is the only agricultural processing site in a region of 25 sq km, cursory evidence that supports an intentional targeting of Poland behind the facade of Russia’s biggest missile barrage into Ukraine so far, with the intention of a false flag???

21.11.2022 - 11:07 [ @TrentTelenko / Nitter ]

So that photo all but rules out the „nearby Ukrainian 5V55K missile launch“ narrative. The crater is too small and there is no fragmentation damage on the tractor and cart consistent with a „5Zh93“ warhead in airburst or impact modes.

20.11.2022 - 14:42 [ @FlippinCoin / Nitter ]

We will have to wait for what the Ukrainian investigators find & are *allowed* to report. They need to demonstrate the kind of navigation kit on that missile.

That will answer essentially every question that is left hanging, & if my observations are valid, w/o a trajectory.

20.11.2022 - 13:47 [ PolskieRadio.pl ]

US and Poland have been in contact with Ukraine over missile incident

On Wednesday, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said: “We have full confidence in the Polish government’s investigation of this explosion, and they’ve been conducting that investigation in a professional and deliberate manner, and so we won’t get ahead of their work. And we’re going to stay in close touch with our Polish counterparts, as well as with our NATO allies and other valued partners”. He added that regardless of the final results of the investigation, the ultimate blame for the incident lies with Russia.

19.11.2022 - 16:15 [ Flippin Coin / Nitter ]

The bottom line is this: the navigation electronics will determine who the missile came from. It is that simple.

19.11.2022 - 16:07 [ Thomas C. Theiner / Nitter ]

Here is a photo of Poland’s RAT-31DL FADR radar at Łabunie. This radar is 40 km from Przewodów, where the missiles exploded. That radar is barely 10 years old and has a 11×7 m antenna. It is one of the best radars NATO has. And it feeds directly into the Polish Air Force’s

(16.11.2022)

19.11.2022 - 15:47 [ Reuters ]

Ukrainian experts at Poland blast site, talks under way on Kyiv’s role in probe

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that Ukrainian experts were already working at the site, but did not mention Kyiv’s demand to take part in the investigation.

„I am grateful to the Polish side for granting (the experts) access. We will continue our cooperation in an open and constructive manner, as closest friends do,“ he said.

19.11.2022 - 15:42 [ jarek2 / Nitter ]

As I say, we Poles knew best because our radar is much more accurate than the Americans‘ Avacs. The Ukrainians also have the trajectories of this projectile recorded. Everyone has the same knowledge but Biden, although he knew the least, communicated it.

19.11.2022 - 15:11 [ Talouselama.fi ]

Naton lentokone seurasi tutkalla Puolaan päätynyttä ohjusta – yksityiskohtia ei kerrottu

(16.11.2022)

Nato kertoo, että Puolan ilmatilassa lentänyt puolustusliiton lentokone seurasi ohjusta tutkalla. Sen rata on siis tiedossa. Julkisuuteen yksityiskohtia ei ole kerrottu.

19.11.2022 - 15:08 [ Tuomas Malinen / Nitter ]

A Finnish newspaper, @talouselama , reports that a #NATO plane tracked the missile that hit #Poland recording its trajectory, but no details have been made public. Why? @jensstoltenberg @POTUS

(17.11.2022)

19.11.2022 - 14:48 [ aa.com.tr ]

US sending 2 Patriot missile batteries to Poland: Statement

(09.03.2022)

„At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of US European Command, has directed US Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland,“ United States European Command (EUCOM) spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement.

„This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to US and Allied forces and NATO territory,“ said the statement, adding the missiles „will in no way support any offensive operations.”

19.11.2022 - 14:27 [ Drawing Dead / Nitter ]

„The PAC-3 system can defend against ballistic missiles of all types, however it is less effective against aircraft and air-to surface missiles. This is why it is deployed alongside the Patriot PAC-2 launchers with long-range missiles.“

(May 21, 2022)

19.11.2022 - 14:19 [ Military-Today.com ]

Patriot PAC-2 – Long-range air defense and anti-ballistic missile system

The PAC-2 missile has a range of about 160 km.

19.11.2022 - 14:05 [ marva washington / Nitter ]

so poland =Nato has no air defense?

19.11.2022 - 13:57 [ Flippin Coin / Nitter ]

S300 warheads are different for AD & ground. AD uses fragmentation & proximity fuse: it means the tires you see in the photo would have been shredded & there would be no crater. It’s a huge hole, so if not a cruise, a ground-attack S300. Only Russia uses those.

(Nov 16)

(…)

19.11.2022 - 13:47 [ Espreso.tv ]

Only missile converted from S-300 to ballistic one could cause destruction like in Poland – Oleksiy Hetman

(17 November, 2022)

„If we assume that the rocket completely deteriorated and lost electronic control, then if it fell to the ground, it would also not have been able to explode. The missile does not explode from detonation, it explodes from the command of electronic equipment located inside. The Russians turned such S-300 missiles into ballistic missiles with a regular charge instead of metal balls and cubes. Such a missile can fall to the ground and explode. This missile has been processed from an anti-aircraft missile to a ballistic one. In Ukraine, such processed missiles were not made,“ Hetman stressed.

19.11.2022 - 13:38 [ DefenceView.in ]

Does Russia really using S-300 air defence System Against Ukraine to Hit Ground Targets?

(July 27, 2022)

There are documents on cases of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles used by the Russian military for ground attack tests in the air defense systems. Combat training. Even the Belarusian Army has practiced using the S-300 system to attack fixed targets on the ground.

(..)

The Russian Army has long tested the S-300 surface-to-air missile system’s ability to kill ground targets. The missiles, when launched on a ballistic trajectory, can reportedly be used to attack command centers, radar stations, and hangars up to 120 kilometers away, according to the Russian military.

19.11.2022 - 13:32 [ Ukraine Battle Map / Nitter ]

The missiles hit the village of Przewodow in Poland Przewodow is 7 km away from the Polish-Ukrainian Border The missiles landed 120km from Belarus, and 70km north of Lviv

17.11.2022 - 12:12 [ Neal Olson / Nitter ]

If a missile is mistakenly input latitude of Freedom Square Kyiv and longitude of Old Town Lviv, because so many missiles to program, it will accidentally-intentionally hit a corn farm outside Przewodow, Poland?

17.11.2022 - 09:31 [ Pimenta / Nitter ]

US-NATO supplying weapons to nationalist groups and militias in order to impose their hegemony is a well known formula. Yesterday according to major western media, Russia had bombed Polish territory, today it is clear that the missile came from a S-300 Ukrainian system.

17.11.2022 - 08:00 [ BBC ]

Ukraine war: Kyiv not to blame for Poland missile – Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he had „no doubts“ that Ukraine was not to blame for the missile strike that killed two people in Poland on Tuesday.

Mr Zelensky said he had received assurances from his top commanders that „it wasn’t our missile“.

16.11.2022 - 10:30 [ Big Serge / Nitter ]

Very clear photos of the missiles that impacted in Poland – no doubt that they are Ukrainian S-300’s. These misfires have been common and it was just a matter of time before something bad happened.

16.11.2022 - 09:18 [ White House ]

Remarks by President Biden on the Explosion and Loss of Life in Eastern Poland

(9:53 A.M. CIT)

Q Mr. President, is it too early to say whether this missile was fired from Russia?

THE PRESIDENT: There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate. But it is — I — it’s unlikely, in the minds of the trajectory, that it was fired from Russia. But we’ll see. We’ll see.

Q Mr. President, has Poland suggested invoking Article 4 or 5 from NATO, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: The consensus is we’re going to probably have a meeting of the — of the — of the ambassadors. So that’s — it looks like we’re going to go do next.

Thank you.

31.10.2022 - 08:17 [ Korea Broadcasting System ]

Investigation Begins for Itaewon Crowd Crush that Killed 154, Wounded 149

Anchor: The death toll from the horrific crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon area over the weekend stood at 154 as of Monday morning, including 26 foreigners and six underaged students. As the police investigate the cause of the tragic incident, the government has said it would extend up to 15 million won for funeral expenses and cover medical bills through the national health insurance.
Choi You Sun reports.

29.10.2022 - 03:18 [ Ynetnews.com ]

Halutz rescued, for now

(06.01.2007)

There is no other way to find logic or sense in the grotesque mountain of insignificant details, trivial conclusions, simplistic lessons, and bombastic nonsense that fills the working papers, investigation summaries, media reports, and officer discussions.

Some of those „conclusions and lessons“ looked and sounded like a cruel parody produced by an uninhibited satirist: „The elimination of the Katyusha rocket threat was not defined as an objective,“ „the activity was not defined as war,“ „the objectives were not defined using clear military language…“

26.10.2022 - 07:50 [ Biorxiv.org ]

Endonuclease fingerprint indicates a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2

(20.10.2022)

The goal of this paper is to address the question whether SARS-CoV-2 originated from an animal-to-human spillover or from experiments performed in a laboratory. In the latter scenario, it is possible that evidence exists for manipulation of the viral genome by common laboratory techniques. SARS-CoV-2 is a large RNA virus. To create infectious versions of CoVs, the entire 30kb RNA genome is reconstructed in DNA by in vitro genome assembly (IVGA). IVGA has been used to create reverse genetic systems for modified and chimeric RNA viruses for more than 20 years (Yount et al, 2000). Most importantly, IVGA methods can leave genetic fingerprints, and we find those fingerprints in the genome of SARS-CoV-2.

18.10.2022 - 07:24 [ L VINCENT ANDERSON / Nitter ]

Iran drones Pt.2 – “Claims of Iran providing Russia with drones is circulated by western sources. We have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war,” Iran FM Nasser Kanaani. EU’s Borrell said they would look for “concrete evidence.” Nice; that would really help

02.10.2022 - 14:41 [ Haaretz.com / Nitter ]

“Do you know what I talk about with Merkel regarding the submarines”? Netanyahu’s account in Israel’s submarine affair revealed

(26.09.2022)

27.09.2022 - 21:22 [ Haaretz ]

‚I’m Comfortable With My Decisions, but Uncomfortable Talking About Them‘: Netanyahu’s Account in Submarine Affair Revealed

in 2018, Netanyahu he okayed Germany’s sale of submarines to Egypt, but refused to tell why – even to the then-defense chief Ya’alon. The reason behind his concealment might be the biggest question yet to be answered by the State Commission of Inquiry

25.09.2022 - 17:00 [ Washington Post ]

Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations

(September 19, 2022)

The measure, known as Section 1631, allows the military to carry out clandestine psychological operations without crossing what the CIA has claimed as its covert authority, alleviating some of the friction that had hindered such operations previously.

“Combatant commanders got really excited,” recalled the first defense official. “They were very eager to utilize these new authorities. The defense contractors were equally eager to land lucrative classified contracts to enable clandestine influence operations.”

25.09.2022 - 16:54 [ Max Blumenthal / Nitter ]

After Congress passed Section 1631 allowing the military to conduct covert online propaganda, the Pentagon created droves of accounts spreading fake news against designated enemies, including one claiming Iran was harvesting organs in Afghanistan

(20.09.2022)

14.09.2022 - 09:26 [ BBC ]

Greece wiretap and spyware claims circle around PM Mitsotakis

(08.09.2022)

„It all goes back three years, when I started investigating a series of wrongdoings that involved Greek banks and the EU bailout money used to save them from bankruptcy at the peak of the financial crisis,“ Koukakis told the BBC.

After his initial reports, he began looking into a potential cover-up – a task that involved talking to members of the judiciary. He believes it was the Mitsotakis government that decided to place him under surveillance in order to eavesdrop on his exchanges with judges and their assistants.

11.09.2022 - 17:57 [ Browserleaks.com ]

SSL/TLS Client Test

The page shows the SSL/TLS capabilities of your web browser, determines supported TLS protocols and cipher suites and marks if any of them are weak or insecure, displays a list of supported TLS extensions and key exchange groups.

11.09.2022 - 16:57 [ Qualys SSL Server Test ]

SSL Server Test

This free online service performs a deep analysis of the configuration of any SSL web server on the public Internet.

19.08.2022 - 06:04 [ .europarl.europa.eu ]

Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

01-08-2022 – 11:45

The next COVI Committee meetings will take place on Tuesday 30 August 2022 from 15:30 to 18:30 and Monday 5 September 2022 from 15:00 to 18:30 in Brussels.

16.08.2022 - 05:56 [ theHill.com ]

DOJ says unsealing Trump warrant affidavit would jeopardize investigation

Federal prosecutors submitted a court filing opposing any efforts to unseal the document laying out probable cause for the search. The filing came just days after they agreed to release a copy of the warrant itself as well as a receipt listing the materials that were seized during the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

16.08.2022 - 05:49 [ US House Committee on the Judiciary ]

Dear Director Wray: The FBI’s unprecedented raid of President Trump’s residence is a shocking escalation of the Biden Administration’s weaponization of law-enforcement resources against its political opponents.

(August 15, 2022)

The American people deserve transparency and accountability from our most senior law-enforcement officials in the executive branch. We will settle for nothing but your complete
cooperation with our inquiry.

Under the Biden Administration, the Justice Department has shattered public confidence in the equal application of justice. The Department has filed politically motivated lawsuits against Republican-led states on policies disfavored by the Biden Administration, artificially inflated domestic violent extremism statistics to advance the Biden Administration’s political narrative, used counterterrorism resources to target parents at school board meetings opposed to policies supported by the Biden Administration, and selectively prosecuted and investigated political opponents of the Biden Administration. These actions not only undermine the stated mission of the Department, they violate the most fundamental tenets of our country.

16.08.2022 - 05:44 [ theHill.com ]

House Judiciary GOP seeks White House, DOJ and FBI documents on Mar-a-Lago search

“The FBI’s unprecedented raid of President Trump’s residence is a shocking escalation of the Biden Administration’s weaponization of law-enforcement resources against its political opponents,” read the letters led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member on the committee. “We will settle for nothing but your complete cooperation with our inquiry.”

The Republicans seek communications “referring or relating” to the decision to execute and seek the search warrant.

11.08.2022 - 07:05 [ Haaretz ]

Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Has 22 Clients in the European Union. And It’s Not Alone

European lawmaker Sophie in ‘t Veld, who is a member of the Pegasus inquiry committee, told Haaretz: “If just one company has 14 member states for customers, you can imagine how big the sector is overall. There seems to be a huge market for commercial spyware, and EU governments are very eager buyers. But they are very quiet about it, keeping it from the public eye.”

(…)

“We know spyware is being developed in several EU countries. Not least Italy, Germany and France,” in ‘t Veld said. “Even if they use it for legitimate purposes, they have no appetite for more transparency, oversight and safeguards. Secret services have got their own universe, where normal laws don’t apply. To an extent, that has always been the case, but in the digital era they have become all-powerful, and practically invisible and totally elusive.

09.08.2022 - 20:00 [ europarl.europa.eu ]

Welcome to the website of the PEGA Committee of inquiry!

On 10 March 2022, the European Parliament decided to set up the PEGA Committee to investigate alleged infringement or maladministration in application of EU law in relation to the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware surveillance software. In particular, the PEGA Committee is asked to gather information on the extent to which Member States or third countries are using intrusive surveillance to the extent that it violates the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.

During its twelve-month mandate our Committee, with its 38 Members and 38 substitute Members, will make use of various methods to investigate the alleged violations: it will hold hearings with experts, victims and other persons, request studies and briefings and undertake fact-finding missions when needed. The investigations shall be concluded with the submission of a final report.

09.08.2022 - 19:47 [ Kathimerini ]

EU Commission calls for investigation of phone tapping scandal

Hipper said it is the responsibility of each member state to investigate such matters, adding that “the Commission expects national authorities to thoroughly investigate any such allegation in order to restore public confidence.”

09.08.2022 - 19:43 [ Kathimerini ]

Greek president calls for investigation of phone tapping scandal

The government has said it will back a request by the opposition for a parliamentary investigating committee on the issue.

The European Commission is also monitoring the case. Cypriot MEP George Georgiou, vice-chair of the EU’s PEGA committee investigating malware surveillance software, has also sent a letter to the committee proposing a mission to Greece to investigate the allegations.

28.07.2022 - 18:24 [ Senator Ron Johnson / Nitter ]

Conflicting statements by @CDC officials about monitoring COVID-19 adverse events calls into question their integrity and transparency. This is just another example of why Americans have completely lost faith in federal health agencies.

28.07.2022 - 18:16 [ Washington Examiner ]

CDC grilled after revealing it didn’t perform data analysis on COVID-19 vaccine doses

(July 26, 2022)

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is demanding answers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the agency told a nonprofit group that it never conducted a mandated data mining analysis on reported adverse effects that followed the administration of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The CDC is tasked with performing a proportional reporting ratio, or PRR, data mining analysis on a weekly basis to determine whether the amount of reported „adverse events“ following the administration of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the public Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, database is proportional to reported adverse events linked to the administration of other vaccines.

But the CDC said in a June 16 letter to Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit group led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that „no PRRs were conducted by the CDC.“ The CDC’s letter, which was in response to an FOIA request submitted by the group, added that „data mining is outside of th[e] agency’s purview“.

26.07.2022 - 14:05 [ Haaretz ]

European Lawmaker Targeted With Israeli-made Predator Spyware

In wake of the Project Pegasus investigation, the European Parliament began checking lawmakers devices – the head of the Greek socialist party’s phone had Predator, which is produced by a firm called Cytrox, is almost identical to the infamous Pegasus spyware made by the competing and more famous cyber firm NSO Group. Predator is similar to Pegasus in terms of its capabilities, but differs in the way it infects a device: It requires the victim to click on a link, while some versions of Pegasus do not.

Cytrox is owned by a firm called Intellexa which, though currently based in Greece, is run by a former Israeli military intelligence official Tal Dilian. Though the firm is registered abroad, sources say many of its workers are Israelis and the company may even have staff in Israel. Until recently, the Intellexa was based in Cyprus.signs of an attempted infection

18.07.2022 - 17:45 [ New York Times ]

Report on Uvalde Shooting Finds ‘Systemic Failures’ in Police Response

After the report came out, the mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, said the acting chief during the shooting, Lt. Mariano Pargas, had been placed on administrative leave and that the city had begun its own internal investigation. The city released body camera footage documenting the actions of the Uvalde officers at the scene.

The facts laid out in the report also made clear that neither existing gun laws, nor expanded background checks passed by Congress in response to the shooting, would have prevented the gunman, Salvador Ramos, from obtaining the weapon he used.

17.07.2022 - 12:30 [ San Antonio Express-News ]

In June 2 meeting, Uvalde officials painted police response to Robb Elementary shooting as heroic

“My recollection is that (Uvalde Mayor Donald McLaughlin Jr.) was upset with the way that DPS had conducted the press conferences, and they had prepared that narrative and they were going to release it,” Busbee said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News. “And then I objected to it because … the investigation had just begun so we did not know if that was a true assessment of what transpired. There was no way for us to tell or assess whether or not that narrative was accurate.”

Busbee’s office is investigating the school shooting and how officers on the scene responded.

27.06.2022 - 01:34 [ RedHuntLabs.com ]

Millions of Secrets Exposed via Web Application Frontend – An Internet-Wide Study

(14.06.2022)

A very interesting highlight to notice here is that Google services, viz. Google reCAPTCHA, Google Cloud, and Google OAuth consumed a major portion – totaling almost 70% of the services where the secret exposure was the highest.

An eye-opening perspective regarding Phase 1 was that in spite of these domains in scope belonging to the top 1 million domains of the internet, the secret exposure was massive.

(…)

Since we majorly focused on the front-end, we anticipated that a majority of the exposures would be through the JavaScript files. Analyzing the results, we found out that almost 77% of the exposures occurred through the JavaScript files being used in the frontend code.

Since most of the JavaScript was being served through content delivery networks, we decided to map the exposures to their sources and extract out insights from our data. The highest number of exposures came from Squarespace CDN leading to over 197k exposures.

25.06.2022 - 08:59 [ theRegister.com ]

Google: How we tackled this iPhone, Android spyware

We’re told it is potentially capable of spying on the victims‘ chat apps, camera and microphone, contacts book and calendars, browser, and clipboard, and beam that info back to base. It’s said that Italian authorities have used this tool in tackling corruption cases, and the Kazakh government has had its hands on it, too.

On Thursday this week, TAG revealed its analysis of the software, and how it helped dismantle the infection.

25.06.2022 - 08:49 [ ORF.at ]

Google: Spionageangriffe auf Handys in Italien

Google erklärte weiter, in einigen der nun aufgedeckten Fälle mit der Spähsoftware aus Italien hätten die Hacker die Spionagesoftware möglicherweise unter Zusammenarbeit mit Internetdienstanbietern eingesetzt. Daraus könne geschlossen werden, dass die Käufer der Programme Verbindungen zu staatlich unterstützten Akteuren hatten.

25.06.2022 - 08:08 [ Google Threat Analysis Group ]

Spyware vendor targets users in Italy and Kazakhstan

(23.06.2022)

Seven of the nine zero-day vulnerabilities our Threat Analysis Group discovered in 2021 fall into this category: developed by commercial providers and sold to and used by government-backed actors. TAG is actively tracking more than 30 vendors with varying levels of sophistication and public exposure selling exploits or surveillance capabilities to government-backed actors.

(..)

In some cases, we believe the actors worked with the target’s ISP to disable the target’s mobile data connectivity. Once disabled, the attacker would send a malicious link via SMS asking the target to install an application to recover their data connectivity. We believe this is the reason why most of the applications masqueraded as mobile carrier applications. When ISP involvement is not possible, applications are masqueraded as messaging applications. (…)

We assess, based on the extensive body of research and analysis by TAG and Project Zero, that the commercial spyware industry is thriving and growing at a significant rate. This trend should be concerning to all Internet users.

These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house. While use of surveillance technologies may be legal under national or international laws, they are often found to be used by governments for purposes antithetical to democratic values: targeting dissidents, journalists, human rights workers and opposition party politicians.

10.06.2022 - 20:43 [ Reese Oxner, breaking news reporter @texastribune / Nitter.net ]

Breaking: DPS confirms to @TexasTribune that on day of the Uvalde school shooting, a teacher shut the door the gunman later entered from but its automatic lock malfunctioned. DPS is investigating why. This contradicts earlier DPS statements that the teacher left the door open.

(31.05.2022)

10.06.2022 - 19:40 [ Texas Tribune ]

Waiting for keys, unable to break down doors: Uvalde schools police chief defends delay in confronting gunman

Eventually, a janitor provided six keys. Arredondo tried each on a door adjacent to the room where the gunman was, but it didn’t open.

Later, another key ring with between 20 and 30 keys was brought to Arredondo.

“I was praying one of them was going to open up the door each time I tried a key,” Arredondo said in an interview.

None did.

Eventually, the officers on the north side of the hallway called Arredondo’s cellphone and told him they had gotten a key that could open the door.

The officers on the north side of the hallway formed a group of mixed law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Border Patrol, to enter the classroom and take down the shooter, Arredondo said.

10.06.2022 - 19:30 [ CNN ]

Uvalde school police chief says he didn’t keep officers from breaching massacre scene and didn’t consider himself the commander, report says

I didn’t issue any orders,“ he told the Tribune, though the outlet reports the chief did instruct officers to start breaking the outside windows of other classrooms and begin evacuating students. „I called for assistance and asked for an extraction tool to open the door“ of one of the classrooms where the shooting happened, he said.

Arredondo „assumed that some other officer or official had taken control of the larger response,“ the Tribune wrote.

09.06.2022 - 11:38 [ CNN ]

Uvalde mayor says he’s frustrated by lack of transparency in school shooting investigation

„We’ve asked for a briefing or something but we’re not getting it. I’ve been told they’re law enforcement and we’re not going to be entitled to it at this time,“ Mayor Don McLaughlin said at a city council meeting. „I’ve asked everybody involved for a briefing at one point or another. It’s frustrating, but again I’ve been told I’m not law enforcement, but it makes me feel real frustrated.“
He said he has asked other officials with insights on the investigation to hold a press conference, to no avail.

06.06.2022 - 18:05 [ WFAA / Youtube ]

Why the Texas school shooting records may not be released

As another Uvalde student is laid to rest, Texas officials are calling for the end of the „dead suspect loophole,“ which can stop records from being released.

06.06.2022 - 18:02 [ Fox News ]

Uvalde, Texas school shooting response hampered by poor police radio communications: official

Mr. Anderson, who was serving as homeland security director for nine counties in South Texas at the time the system was installed, said state investigators have tested the radio system inside the building in the last few days, but he didn’t know the outcome of that test. An official from the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the state investigation, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the results of the test.

04.06.2022 - 13:51 [ PBS.org ]

Clinton campaign lawyer found not guilty of lying to the FBI

(May 31, 2022)

Durham has remained at work into the Biden administration. He has brought three cases so far, though the one against Sussmann is the only to have reached trial. A former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, was given probation after pleading guilty in 2020 to altering an email related to the surveillance of an ex-Trump campaign aide, and a Russian analyst who contributed to a dossier of Democratic-funded research into ties between Russia and Trump awaits trial on charges of lying to the FBI about his sources of information.

04.06.2022 - 13:42 [ ]

Hillary Clinton personally approved plan to share Trump-Russia allegation with the press in 2016, campaign manager says

(Fri May 20, 2022)

Robby Mook said he attended a meeting with other senior campaign officials where they learned about strange cyberactivity that suggested a relationship between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which is based in Moscow. The group decided to share the information with a reporter, and Mook subsequently ran that decision by Clinton herself.

„We discussed it with Hillary,“ Mook said, later adding that „she agreed with the decision.“

15.05.2022 - 13:44 [ Rep. Debbie Dingell, Abgeordnete im US Repräsentantenhaus / Nitter.net ]

This is indefensible. We need a full, transparent, and independent investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and these disturbing attacks by Israeli police on mourners. Those responsible for these actions must be held accountable.

14.05.2022 - 14:02 [ Haaretz ]

Biden: Israel Police Actions at Abu Alkeh’s Funeral ‚Must Be Investigated‘

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. was „deeply troubled by the images of Israeli police intruding into the funeral procession of Palestinian American Shireen Abu Akleh,“ adding „every family deserves to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner.“

Blinken’s rebuke came shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden said „I don’t know all the detail, but I know it has to be investigated“ when asked about Israeli forces‘ action at the funeral.

30.04.2022 - 18:37 [ Browserleaks.com ]

SSL/TLS Client Test

The page shows the SSL/TLS capabilities of your web browser, determines supported TLS protocols and cipher suites and marks if any of them are weak or insecure, displays a list of supported TLS extensions and key exchange groups

12.04.2022 - 17:57 [ Times of Israel ]

Hearings in submarine affair probe to be open to public, despite state’s request

(15 March 2022)

The state commission of inquiry, approved by the cabinet in January, will consist of five panelists headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis.

It is tasked with examining a murky $2 billion deal to purchase submarines from the German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp. More specifically, it will attempt to evaluate the procedures and decision-making employed by the political echelon related to the sensitive procurement, conducted under the government of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

12.04.2022 - 06:25 [ Chris Menahan / Twitter ]

The Pentagon said Monday night they „cannot confirm“ the Azov Battalion’s claim they were attacked by Russian „chemical weapons“ in Mariupol.

12.04.2022 - 06:13 [ Nexta / Twitter ]

Alexey Arestovich reports that at the moment they are checking information about the possible use of chemical weapons by #Russian troops in #Mariupol.

05.04.2022 - 08:09 [ NDTV.com ]

Ukraine’s Zelensky Says He Will Address UN Security Council Today

„I would like to emphasise that we are interested in the most complete, transparent investigation, the results of which will be known and explained to the entire international community,“ Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

31.03.2022 - 19:38 [ Browserleaks.com ]

SSL/TLS Client Test

The page shows the SSL/TLS capabilities of your web browser, determines supported TLS protocols and cipher suites and marks if any of them are weak or insecure, displays a list of supported TLS extensions and key exchange groups

01.03.2022 - 08:50 [ Internationaler Strafgerichtshof / icc-cpi.int ]

Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, on the Situation in Ukraine: “I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation.”

Ukraine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court („ICC“ or the „Court“), so cannot itself refer the situation to my Office. But it has twice exercised its prerogatives to legally accept the Court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute occurring on its territory, should the Court choose to exercise it. The first declaration lodged by the Government of Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed on Ukrainian territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014. The second declaration extended this time period on an open-ended basis to encompass ongoing alleged crimes committed throughout the territory of Ukraine from 20 February 2014 onwards.

I have reviewed the Office’s conclusions arising from the preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation.

27.02.2022 - 12:16 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Covid modelling that prompted first UK lockdown based on ‘inaccurate’ case numbers

On March 16 2020, Imperial College published its “Report 9” paper suggesting that failing to take action could overwhelm the NHS within weeks and result in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Before the paper, the UK coronavirus strategy was to flatten the peak rather than suppress the wave, but after the modelling was made public, the Government made a rapid u-turn, which eventually led to lockdown on March 23.

27.02.2022 - 12:10 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Covid lockdowns weren’t needed, finds inquiry in the country that stayed open

Some countries that did impose lockdowns had ’significantly worse outcomes‘ than Sweden, whose citizens also retained more persoal freedom

25.01.2022 - 14:51 [ BBC ]

Police to investigate Downing Street lockdown parties

Commissioner Cressida Dick said they were looking into „potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations“ in Downing Street and Whitehall since 2020.

24.01.2022 - 15:43 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

No 10 police give ‚extremely damning‘ evidence to Sue Gray over ‚partygate‘

The statements, described by one source as “extremely damning”, are expected to form a key part of Ms Gray’s report, which is due to be published within days.

The senior civil servant has also spoken to the Prime Minister, civil servants and political advisers, and accessed security pass logs and even Boris Johnson’s official diary.

Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former chief aide turned hostile adversary, will be interviewed by Ms Gray on Monday, according to report

24.01.2022 - 15:36 [ Independent.co.uk ]

MPs subjected to ‘blackmail’ as Boris Johnson fights for political life, claims senior Tory

Senior Conservative William Wragg sensationally revealed that he had received reports of Johnson loyalists threatening to place smear stories in the press about Tories considering declarations of no confidence in the prime minister.

And he said that MPs had told him of warnings that investment in their constituencies would be at risk if they failed to back Mr Johnson in battle to save his political life.

24.01.2022 - 14:59 [ Times of Israel ]

Olmert asks court to order psychiatric evaluations for Netanyahu, wife and son

(23.01.2021)

Olmert’s lawyer Amir Titonovich told the Haaretz newspaper that they believe that the Netanyahu family has records showing that they are not mentally sound.

The request needs to be approved by the court, but it is thought unlikely that it will do so.

Earlier this month, Olmert rejected out of hand the idea that he could apologize to the Netanyahus, arguing that he was expressing a widely held opinion.

22.01.2022 - 14:00 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

‚Boris Johnson is unfit for office‘: Ex- Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson takes aim at the PM and warns he is in a ‚perilous situation‘ with growing ‚fatigue‘ among MPs amid Partygate scandal

Tory peer Ruth Davidson, who successfully campaigned against Scottish independence in 2014 and quit frontline politics five years later, said the Prime Minister is in a ‘perilous situation’ ahead of Sue Gray’s report into the lockdown party scandal.

In an interview with The Times, the former MSP said that she would have already submitted her letter of no-confidence in Mr Johnson to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers if she were a Member of Parliament.

She also warned that Mr Johnson’s authority was teetering in part because of a growing ‘fatigue’ within the party ‘for the amount of drama that has been emanating from No10’ over allegations of lockdown-busting gatherings across government.

22.01.2022 - 13:43 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Scotland Yard to meet with William Wragg over Downing Street blackmail claims

Scotland Yard will meet with a leading rebel Conservative to discuss claims of threats and blackmail of backbenchers by government whips early next week, The Telegraph can disclose.

A detective from the Metropolitan Police will meet with William Wragg, a senior Tory MP who first raised the concerns, to discuss the allegations, including threats to withdraw investments from constituents.

03.01.2022 - 11:04 [ IndianExpress.com ]

If you suspect being targeted with Pegasus, get in touch by January 7: Supreme Court panel

The committee constituted by the Supreme Court to look into allegations of snooping using the Pegasus spyware invited all citizens who suspected their mobile phones had been targeted to contact the panel by noon on January 7.

“The committee requests any citizen of India who has reasonable cause to suspect that his/her mobile has been compromised due to specific usage of NSO Group Israel’s Pegasus software to contact the technical committee appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, with reasons as to why you believe your device may have been infected with Pegasus malware, and whether you would be in a position to allow the Technical Committee to examine your device,” the three-member panel said in an advertisement in several national dailies.

21.12.2021 - 14:09 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Coronavirus testing effort hampered by kits contaminated with Covid-19: Traces of the virus were detected in parts due for delivery from overseas in the coming day

(30.04.2020)

One of the suppliers – the Luxembourg-based firm Eurofins – sent an email on Monday morning to government laboratories in the UK warning that a delivery of key components called “probes and primers” had been contaminated with coronavirus and would be delayed.

The firm admitted there had been “an issue” and insisted other private providers had suffered the same problem.

15.12.2021 - 05:07 [ .Researchgate.net ]

Latest statistics on England mortality data suggest systematic mis-categorisation of vaccine status and uncertain effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccination

(December 2021)

At first glance the ONS data suggest that, in each of the older age groups, all-cause mortality is lower in the vaccinated than the unvaccinated. Despite this apparent evidence to support vaccine effectiveness-at least for the older age groups-on closer inspection of this data, this conclusion is cast into doubt because of a range of fundamental inconsistencies and anomalies in the data. Whatever the explanations for the observed data, it is clear that it is both unreliable and misleading. While socio-demographical and behavioural differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated have been proposed as possible explanations, there is no evidence to support any of these. By Occam’s razor we believe the most likely explanations are systemic miscategorisation of deaths between the different categories of unvaccinated and vaccinated; delayed or non-reporting of vaccinations; systemic underestimation of the proportion of unvaccinated; and/or incorrect population selection for Covid deaths.

08.11.2021 - 10:33 [ Zero Hedge ]

When Will The CDC Correct Its COVID Death-Counts, As Italy Just Did?

Summit News caught a fascinating story out of Italy: the Italian Higher Institute of Health decided it had miscounted COVID deaths. Instead of looking at people who died with COVID, as it once did, it looked only at people who died from COVID — leading to a 97% decrease in Italy’s COVID death count. So far, the CDC shows no signs of following suit.

05.10.2021 - 00:35 [ Middle East Monitor ]

After NSO Group, warning issued against second Israeli spyware firm

(October 4, 2021)

The July report by Citizen’s Lab and Microsoft found that Candiru had been used to spy on more than 100 human rights activists, regime opponents, journalists and scholars from countries such as Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, UK, Turkey and even Israel.

Revelations about Candiru make it the first time that fingers were being pointed at a second Israeli cyber-surveillance company, which is considered a competitor of the NSO Group. The notorious Israeli firm sparked a global scandal in July following the discovery that as many as 50,000 phones were targeted by its Pegasus spyware.

05.10.2021 - 00:20 [ Forbes ]

Meet Candiru — The Mysterious Mercenaries Hacking Apple And Microsoft PCs For Profit

(Oct 3, 2019)

Israel is home to scores of hacker-for-hire businesses, but one of the most clandestine has been Candiru. With no website and few records available, it’s operated largely under the radar.

But now a researcher is claiming the elite Tel Aviv-based firm sold cyber weapons to the government of Uzbekistan, while industry sources tell Forbes the company is hacking both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macs for various nation states.

03.10.2021 - 16:39 [ Haaretz ]

Advanced Spyware From Israel’s Candiru Discovered on Russian, Turkish, Palestinian Computers

Spyware made by the Tel Aviv-based hacking tool company Candiru has been found on several computers in Europe and the Middle East, the cybersecurity company ESET reported.

In their September report, ESET wrote that according to research published by Citizen Lab and the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center in July about Candiru’s DevilsTongue malware, it is „sold to third parties, which can abuse it to spy on various victims, including human rights defenders, dissidents, journalists, activists and politicians.“

01.10.2021 - 13:52 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Group to Research Link Between Menstrual Changes and COVID Vaccines

(30.09.2021)

The medical establishment could not explain the phenomenon or associate it with the vaccination, among other things because irregular menstruation is common and influenced by many factors. It is usually not considered exceptional. However, the mounting complaints and increased concern women were showing over taking the shots due to the phenomenon, has spurred the medical community to look into the matter. Preliminary research has been published in Britain and the United States, and the U.S. government has allocated $1.67 million for research on the subject.

01.10.2021 - 01:40 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens swapped ‚vile‘ racist, sexist and homophobic WhatsApp messages with other police officers as Met probes 16 officers and Cressida Dick fights to keep her job

– Three serving Met officers are among six in WhatsApp group being investigated
– They allegedly shared horrific content with Couzens in months before murder
– The police watchdog is investigating a total of 16 officers linked to the case
– They include a probationer on the cordon at scene where her body was found

01.10.2021 - 01:33 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

Met Police investigate whether Wayne Couzens struck BEFORE: Detectives reveal ‚on-going‘ probe into killer cop and urge women to come forward – as criminologists say his ‚experienced behaviour‘ hints that Sarah Everard may not have been his first victim

– Wayne Couzens, 48, showed so much experience in his awful crimes experts say he must have acted before
– The rapist officer learned today he will die in jail serving a whole life sentence for killing Sarah Everard

23.09.2021 - 06:57 [ Observer.com ]

Thousands of Women Report Period Delays After COVID-19 Vaccination, Calling for More Research

(20.09.2021)

In the U.K. more than 30,000 women said their menstrual cycles were somewhat disrupted after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, Sky News reported last week. The changes were reported by recipients of all three available vaccines in the country: Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

23.09.2021 - 06:46 [ Boston Globe ]

Researchers at Harvard, BU to study possible links between coronavirus vaccines and changes in menstruation

(September 9, 2021)

Harvard Medical School and the Boston University School of Public Health are among a group of institutions awarded funding to study potential links between coronavirus vaccinations and changes in menstruation.

Researchers at five institutions were awarded a total of $1.67 million by the National Institutes of Heath to look into the question after anecdotal reports from women earlier this year that after they were vaccinated, they saw changes, including earlier, heavier, and more painful periods.

03.09.2021 - 14:44 [ Google News USA ]

„Abbey Gate“, Congress

(search results)

03.09.2021 - 13:48 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Dominic Raab will ‚investigate‘ claims that people were told to go to airport ahead of attack

(01.09.2021)

Chris Bryant then asks about reports that British officials told people to go to the airport on the very day of the terrorist attack.

Dominic Raab says the travel advice was changed the night before the attack, and people were told not to come to the airport. The team was shifted from the Barons Hotel through to the airport to protect them.

He says he saw the report and „I need to investigate it“, but doesn’t reject the possibility.

03.09.2021 - 13:37 [ theGuardian.com ]

Afghanistan: Dominic Raab’s answers to five questions from MPs

(01.09.2021)

The foreign secretary promised he would investigate a serious allegation that British officials told Afghans to proceed to the airport’s Abbey gate on Thursday last week, despite a specific warning that Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) was preparing a terror attack that day.

Nearly 200 people were killed in a double bombing at and near the gate used for the British evacuation – but BBC’s Newsnight has reported that Afghans were sent emails earlier that day asking, in one case, if they were “at the correct gate? Abbey gate”.

02.09.2021 - 10:50 [ CBS News / Twitter ]

The Pentagon has announced an investigation into the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan. @CBS_Herridge explains how the probe will look into the judgment calls made as the Taliban gained momentum ahead of the military’s exit:

29.08.2021 - 04:42 [ Korea JoongAng Daily ]

Young people’s deaths after Pfizer vaccines are new worry

(24.08.2021)

She had purple spots on her body when she was found, and the family and the police requested an autopsy from the National Forensic Service to find the cause of death.

29.08.2021 - 04:33 [ Japan Today ]

Japan probes two deaths after jabs from tainted Moderna batch

Both men contracted fever after receiving their vaccinations and neither had underlying health conditions or allergic history, the ministry said.

The suspension affects 1.63 million doses of Moderna COVID vaccines, which have been reportedly shipped to over 800 vaccination centers across Japan.

23.08.2021 - 09:03 [ theHill.com ]

Biden emphasizes that Afghan refugees will be vetted before entering US

Biden outlined how Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants who assisted the U.S. military are being transported from Kabul to transit centers in Qatar, Germany, Kuwait, and Spain so they can complete their paperwork and undergo background checks.

17.08.2021 - 14:54 [ TaskAndPurpose.com ]

The US still can’t effectively track weapons and vehicles given to Afghan security forces

(Jul 14, 2020)

In the meantime, a 2016 analysis found that the Pentagon funneled some 1.45 million firearms to various security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq since the start of the Global War on Terror. It is not known how many of those ended up in local weapons armories — and how many have simply gone missing since.

17.08.2021 - 13:44 [ CNN ]

Audit reveals Army’s trillion-dollar accounting gaffes

(August 23, 2016)

The audit, conducted by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, found that the Army erroneously made $2.8 trillion in adjustments in the third quarter of 2015 to its Army general fund – one of the main accounts used to fund the service. The error amount skyrocketed to $6.5 trillion for all of last year, the report said.

The June report, first disclosed by Reuters on Friday, found „unreliable“ data was used to prepare the financial statements, leading to the possibility that the Army’s finances were „materially misstated.“

17.08.2021 - 13:36 [ theFiscalTimes.com ]

Pentagon’s Sloppy Bookkeeping Means $6.5 Trillion Can’t Pass an Audit

(July 31, 2016)

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the behemoth Indianapolis-based agency that provides finance and accounting services for the Pentagon’s civilian and military members, could not provide adequate documentation for $6.5 trillion worth of year-end adjustments to Army general fund transactions and data.

(…)

A further mystery is what happened to thousands of documents that should be on file but aren’t. The IG study found that DFAS “did not document or support why the Defense Departmental Reporting System . . . removed at least 16,513 of 1.3 million records during Q3 FY 2015.

17.08.2021 - 12:53 [ Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform / Homeland Security Digital Library at NPS ]

Warlord, Inc.: Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan

(June 22, 2010)

To the Members of the Subcommittee:

Today I present to you a report entitled, Warlord, Inc.: Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan, which has been prepared by the Majority staff of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
After a six-month investigation, the report exposes the circumstances surrounding the Department of Defense’s outsourcing of security on the supply chain in Afghanistan to questionable providers, including warlords.

The findings of this report range from sobering to shocking. In short, the Department of Defense designed a contract that put responsibility for the security of vital U.S. supplies on contractors and their unaccountable security providers. This arrangement has fueled a vast protection racket run by a shadowy network of warlords, strongmen, commanders, corrupt Afghan officials, and perhaps others.

Not only does the system run afoul of the Department’s own rules and regulations mandated by Congress, it also appears to risk undermining the U.S. strategy for achieving its goals in Afghanistan.

17.08.2021 - 12:10 [ Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University ]

The Public Cost of Private Security in Afghanistan

(Sept 9, 2009)

The private security industry in Afghanistan has grown apace with demand. As of August 2009, the total number of private security personnel employed by the US Department of Defense – the largest employer of private security in the country – increased 19 percent (from 4,373 to 5,198) in response to the deployment of additional military forces. Since 2001, a range of private security providers (PSPs) has emerged, including international and national PSCs operating with or without the required Afghan licensing permits, as well as militias hired as “armed support groups” (ASG) by international military forces. Many PSPs are controlled by prominent Afghan families, including Hashmat and Ahmed Wali Karzai, brothers of President Hamid Karzai; Hamid Wardak, the son of Defense Minister Rahim Wardak; Gul Agha Shirzai, the governor of Nangarhar province; and Hajji Jan Mohammad Khan, the former governor of Uruzgan.

The use of unregistered PSCs and militia groups by the NATO International Security Assistance Force and US military contingents is widespread. Many of these PSPs serve as ready-made militias that compete with state authority and are frequently run by former military com-manders responsible for human rights abuses or involved in the illegal narcotics and black market economies. Financing armed, alternative power structures fulfills security needs in the short-term at the cost of consolidating government authority in the long-term.

(…)

Drug trafficking and other criminal activities in which commanders may be involved – and for which their militias provide security – is a lucrative source of illegal revenue that can then be used to bribe government officials and strengthen shadow structures of authority. Illicit taxation of PSPs escorting convoys and other scams on private transport and security are also an important source of funding for corrupt police and insurgents. The Kandak Amnianti Uruzgan, for example, secures protection “by paying a hefty toll to the policeman in charge of the road.” Although it is transportation and construction companies, both international and national, who are the main source of “protection” revenue, private security escorts also pay Taliban not to be attacked. According to an Afghan intelligence official, there are examples of PSPs paying as much as 60 percent of their gross profits for convoy security to the Taliban and other insurgent-cum-criminal groups for “protection.

17.08.2021 - 11:31 [ CNN ]

Thousands of guns U.S. sent to Afghanistan are missing

(February 12, 2009)

The U.S. military failed to „maintain complete inventory records for an estimated 87,000 weapons — or about 36 percent — of the 242,000 weapons that the United States procured and shipped to Afghanistan from December 2004 through June 2008,“ a U.S. Government Accountability Office report states. (…)

The military also failed to properly account for an additional 135,000 weapons it obtained for the Afghan forces from 21 other countries. (…)

The military is unable to provide serial numbers for 46,000 of the missing 87,000 weapons, the report concludes. No records have been maintained for the location or disposition for the other 41,000 weapons.

12.08.2021 - 11:15 [ Yahoo.com ]

Moderna, BioNTech Plunge As EU Studies Possible Side-effects Of mRNA Shots

The conditions were reported in patients who took the mRNA vaccines made by either Moderna or BioNTech-Pfizer.

Pfizer stock fell 3%.

27.07.2021 - 07:34 [ Haaretz ]

U.S. Lawmakers Call for Punitive Measures Against Israeli NSO Over Spyware Allegations

Finally, the four House Democrats call to „investigate and assess the possible targeting of American journalists, aid works, diplomats and others’ with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, determine whether America’s national security was harmed, and take steps to protect all Americans, including federal employees, from the threat posed by the growing mercenary spyware industry.“

23.07.2021 - 16:32 [ teleSUR ]

AMLO Asks Israel To Extradite Criminal Involve In Ayotzinapa Case

Zerón was in charge of the Criminal Investigation Agency and is currently applying for asylum in Israel, hindering the extradition request. The former investigator is accused of kidnapping and torturing, and embezzlement.

19.07.2021 - 18:02 [ sifi.com ]

‚Israeli spyware firm linked to fake Black Lives Matter, Amnesty websites‘

Using Internet scanning, a team of researchers from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and tech giant Microsoft identified more than 750 websites linked to Candiru’s spyware infrastructure.

„We found many domains masquerading as advocacy organisations such as Amnesty International, the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as media companies and other civil-society themed entities,“ researcher Bill Marczak said in a statement.

19.07.2021 - 17:58 [ Microsoft ]

Fighting cyberweapons built by private businesses

(15.07.2021)

We believe Sourgum is an Israel-based private sector offensive actor or PSOA. Citizen Lab has identified the group as a company called Candiru. Sourgum generally sells cyberweapons that enable its customers, often government agencies around the world, to hack into their targets’ computers, phones, network infrastructure and internet-connected devices. These agencies then choose who to target and run the actual operations themselves.

19.07.2021 - 17:54 [ Reuters ]

Microsoft says Israeli group sold tools to hack Windows

(15.07.2021)

The hacking tool vendor, named Candiru, created and sold a software exploit that can penetrate Windows, one of many intelligence products sold by a secretive industry that finds flaws in common software platforms for their clients, said a report by Citizen Lab.

Technical analysis by security researchers details how Candiru’s hacking tool spread around the globe to numerous unnamed customers, where it was then used to target various civil society organizations, including a Saudi dissident group and a left-leaning Indonesian news outlet, the reports by Citizen Lab and Microsoft show.

15.07.2021 - 18:26 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Billionaire Dan Gertler Embroil Him in One of Biggest Graft Probes Ever

Surprisingly, Gertler submitted the documents that got him into trouble while he was receiving legal counsel from top lawyers in Israel. In the arbitration, Gertler is represented by attorneys Dori Klagsbald and Boaz Ben Zur. The latter is also former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorney in the so-called Case 4000, in which Netanyahu is accused of offering favors for positive media coverage.

13.07.2021 - 13:21 [ CNN ]

Several tied to Haiti assassination plot were previously US law enforcement informants

Haitian President Jovenel Moise was killed last Wednesday in an operation that Haitian authorities say involved at least 28 people, many of them Colombian mercenaries hired through a Florida-based security company.

At least one of the men arrested in connection to the assassination by Haitian authorities previously worked as an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA said in a statement in response to CNN.

12.07.2021 - 16:53 [ Washington Post ]

Mystery surrounds suspected mastermind of Haiti presidential assassination plot

Sanon, who reportedly has lived on-and-off in Florida for about two decades, landed in Haiti on a private plane in early June with “political objectives,” Haiti’s police chief, Léon Charles, told reporters Sunday. He recruited the team through a Venezuelan security firm based in the United States, but its mission changed when one member was presented with an arrest warrant for Moïse.

12.07.2021 - 16:47 [ New York Times ]

Live Updates: Haitian Officials Say U.S.-Based Suspect in President’s Killing Was Seeking Power

The national police chief indicated that he believes a Florida-based doctor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, was plotting to assume the presidency. The U.S. dispatched a team to assist in the investigation.

23.06.2021 - 11:19 [ Haaretz ]

Israel Is Dealing With Mount Meron. Now Investigate the Submarine Affair

(21.06.2021)

This isn’t the first time Gantz has tried to launch an inquiry into the submarines affair. In November, he appointed a governmental inquiry committee headed by retired Judge Amnon Straschnov. But Mendelblit ordered that panel to hold off on starting work because he said its mandate would overlap with the criminal investigation. Moreover, Straschnov resigned after less than a month after concluding that the committee’s work would be pointless due to limitations to its authority. Nevertheless, it’s impossible not to attribute the dissolution of this committee to the fact that Netanyahu and his power structure controlled Israel at the time.

16.06.2021 - 16:51 [ Glenn Greenwald ]

Yet Another Media Tale — Trump Tear-Gassed Protesters For a Church Photo Op — Collapses

The IG’s conclusion could not be clearer: the media narrative was false from start to finish. Namely, he said, “the evidence did not support a finding that the [U.S. Park Police] cleared the park on June 1, 2020, so that then President Trump could enter the park.” Instead — exactly as Hemingway’s widely-mocked-by-liberal-outlets article reported — “the evidence we reviewed showed that the USPP cleared the park to allow a contractor to safely install anti-scale fencing in response to destruction of Federal property and injury to officers that occurred on May 30 and May 31.” Crucially, “the evidence established that relevant USPP officials had made those decisions and had begun implementing the operational plan several hours before they knew of a potential Presidential visit to the park, which occurred later that day.“

12.06.2021 - 14:18 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Deepcut’s new scandal: how a mystery death has reopened a 20-year-old wound

Between 1995 and 2002 four recruits – the so-called ‘Deepcut Four’ – were found shot dead in separate incidents at the former Army training camp in Surrey. Sean Benton, 20; Cheryl James, 18; Geoff Gray, 17, and James Collinson, also 17, were all on guard duty at the time of their deaths. In each case, the army concluded that the young soldiers had taken their own lives.

It was a conclusion that their grieving families could never accept…

01.06.2021 - 09:41 [ Fox News ]

UK intelligence reassesses COVID lab leak theory, now says its ‘feasible’

British intelligence services are now reportedly reassessing their position on the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

A Sunday report from the Sunday Times of London quotes British spies who initially dismissed the lab leak theory, but now say it is „feasible.“

29.05.2021 - 14:55 [ Science Magazine ]

Investigate the origins of COVID-19

(14.05.2021)

Finally, in this time of unfortunate anti-Asian sentiment in some countries, we note that at the beginning of the pandemic, it was Chinese doctors, scientists, journalists, and citizens who shared with the world crucial information about the spread of the virus—often at great personal cost (8, 9). We should show the same determination in promoting a dispassionate science-based discourse on this difficult but important issue.

29.05.2021 - 10:43 [ Washington Post ]

Coronavirus ‘lab leak’ theory jumps from mocked to maybe as Biden orders intelligence review

Far from dismissing the lab-leak theory, however, President Biden has told his spies to see if the previous administration’s officials, whose work some of his own skeptical aides have called tendentious and overreaching, may have been right to question the lab and conduct a thorough investigation. The White House recently was told that a large amount of information remained to be examined that could shed light on the question, according to a senior administration official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

27.05.2021 - 11:49 [ NBC News ]

CDC looking into possible link between heart problem and Covid vaccines in young people

(24.05.2021)

The CDC did not respond to questions about the exact number of reports. However, NBC News identified at least 55 suspected cases nationwide.

That number includes 14 cases under investigation by the Department of Defense among members of the military, but it may be an underestimate. And some, but not all, state departments of health are tracking such cases.

24.05.2021 - 08:11 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

‚Black Panther of Oxford‘ activist Sasha Johnson, 27, is fighting for her life after being shot in the head in 3am attack in London after numerous death threats but police say there is ’no indication at this stage it is a targeted shooting‘

Ms Johnson, a mother-of-three Oxford Brookes graduate who rose to prominence after organising BLM protests last summer, is said to be currently in intensive care and in a critical condition following the attack.

Police said the Peckham shooting occurred in the vicinity of a house where a party was taking place and that a number of people may have been in the area. Officers said there is ’nothing to suggest‘ that the woman shot there was the subject of a targeted attack.

12.05.2021 - 05:37 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Arab Shot Dead as Jerusalem Riots Spillover; Two Jewish Suspects Arrested

„An angry mob started to assemble, and they threw bricks and firebombs at us because we exited the house to make sure they wouldn’t come closer,“ he said. „At a certain point, when we felt like there was a real threat and the mob started getting closer to us, a few residents with handgun licenses fired in the air,“ he said.

Police suspect that one of the Jewish residents aimed his gun at the rioters rather than shooting in the air. Another resident said that there were at least four people who fired.

05.05.2021 - 08:08 [ Haaretz ]

Palestinians Identify West Bank Shooter as U.S. Citizen as Manhunt Continues

The perpetrator of a drive-by shooting attack on Sunday that left three Israelis wounded is a U.S. citizen, Palestinian reports say. Residents of the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya identified the shooter, who is still on the loose, as Muntassir Shalabi.

03.05.2021 - 03:39 [ Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University ]

The Public Cost of Private Security in Afghanistan

(9.September 2009)

The private security industry in Afghanistan has grown apace with demand. As of August 2009, the total number of private security personnel employed by the US Department of Defense – the largest employer of private security in the country – increased 19 percent (from 4,373 to 5,198) in response to the deployment of additional military forces. Since 2001, a range of private security providers (PSPs) has emerged, including international and national PSCs operating with or without the required Afghan licensing permits, as well as militias hired as “armed support groups” (ASG) by international military forces. Many PSPs are controlled by prominent Afghan families, including Hashmat and Ahmed Wali Karzai, brothers of President Hamid Karzai; Hamid Wardak, the son of Defense Minister Rahim Wardak; Gul Agha Shirzai, the governor of Nangarhar province; and Hajji Jan Mohammad Khan, the former governor of Uruzgan.

The use of unregistered PSCs and militia groups by the NATO International Security Assistance Force and US military contingents is widespread. Many of these PSPs serve as ready-made militias that compete with state authority and are frequently run by former military commanders responsible for human rights abuses or involved in the illegal narcotics and black market economies.

03.05.2021 - 02:38 [ Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform / Washington Post ]

Warlord, Inc.: Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan

June 22, 2010
To the Members of the Subcommittee:

Today I present to you a report entitled, Warlord, Inc.: Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan, which has been prepared by the Majority staff of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
After a six-month investigation, the report exposes the circumstances surrounding the Department of Defense’s outsourcing of security on the supply chain in Afghanistan to questionable providers, including warlords.

The findings of this report range from sobering to shocking. In short, the Department of Defense designed a contract that put responsibility for the security of vital U.S. supplies on contractors and their unaccountable security providers. This arrangement has fueled a vast protection racket run by a shadowy network of warlords, strongmen, commanders, corrupt
Afghan officials, and perhaps others.

Not only does the system run afoul of the Department’s own rules and regulations mandated by Congress, it also appears to risk undermining the U.S. strategy for achieving its goals in Afghanistan.

02.05.2021 - 09:44 [ University of Barcelona / Medrxiv.org ]

Sentinel surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater anticipates the occurrence of COVID-19 cases

(13.06.2020)

This SARS-CoV-2 early detection in sewage supports the idea that COVID-19 cases may have been present in the population beforethe first imported case was reported. COVID-19 carriers may have been misclassified as influenza diagnoses in primary care, boosting community transmission before public health measures were taken(11).

(…)

Most COVID-19 cases show mild influenza-like symptoms (14)and it has been suggested that some uncharacterized influenza cases may have masked COVID-19 cases in the 2019-2020 season (11).

30.04.2021 - 19:48 [ Ynetnews.com ]

AG launches probe into police conduct at Meron as local chief takes blame

„The Police Department for Internal Investigations will begin reviewing the events to see if there is any criminal culpability on the part of members of the police in the disaster,“ a spokesperson for Mandelblit said, adding that the police were instructed not to interview any of their members.

25.04.2021 - 10:23 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

Worrying new clues about the origins of Covid: How scientists at Wuhan lab helped Chinese army in secret project to find animal viruses, writes IAN BIRRELL

An update in 2018 said that the scientific teams – who published many of their findings in international journals – had found four new pathogens and ten new bacteria while ‚more than 1,640 new viruses were discovered using metagenomics technology‘. Such research is based on extraction of genetic material from samples such as those collected by Prof Shi from bat faeces and blood in the cave networks of southern China.

Such extensive sampling led to Prof Shi’s rapid revelation last year of RaTG13, the closest known relative to the new strain of coronavirus that causes Covid.

It was stored at the Wuhan lab, the biggest repository of bat coronaviruses in Asia.

30.03.2021 - 23:04 [ ORF.at ]

WHO-Chef will Laborthese weiter untersuchen

Die Möglichkeit einer absichtlichen Freisetzung von SARS-CoV-2 wurde nicht untersucht.

27.03.2021 - 15:53 [ CampaignOpposingPoliceSurveillance.com ]

Which Justice Campaigns Were Spied On?

(14th February 2018)

Just as the infiltration of protest groups shows the counter-democratic remit of the spycops, so their infiltration of justice campaigns over a period of 26 years proves a key part of their purpose was to take an active role in obstructing justice.

The resources that should have established the truth and brought the guilty to justice were instead spent on undermining the grieving loved ones.

27.03.2021 - 15:46 [ @copscampaign / Twitter ]

The Met have admitted that #SpyCops targeted at least 18 justice campaigns by grieving loved ones. The real number is sure to be much higher. Resources that should have been spent catching killers were instead used to obstruct justice.

(24.03.2021)

24.03.2021 - 16:03 [ Browserleaks.com ]

SSL/TLS Client Test

The page shows the SSL/TLS capabilities of your web browser, determines supported TLS protocols and cipher suites and marks if any of them are weak or insecure, displays a list of supported TLS extensions and key exchange groups

23.03.2021 - 19:18 [ Al Jazeera ]

Top Saudi official issued death threat against UN investigator

A senior official issued a death threat against UN investigator Agnes Callamard following her inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

19.03.2021 - 23:34 [ Movement for Quality Government in Israel ]

We petitioned the High Court of Justice in demand of a full investigation regarding the Submarines Affair

Our investigative department got hold of new evidence concerning the Submarines Affair (our efforts continue – the department still investigates the affair in full energy). In our petition to the High Court of Justice we requested the judges to order the following:

1. Criminal investigation of Netanyahu’s Steel Shares Affair. 2. Criminal investigation against Netanyahu in the Submarines Affair. 3. Establishing a State Inquiry Committee in order to finally investigate this severe affair.

12.03.2021 - 11:09 [ Courage Foundation ]

Statement of Concern: The OPCW investigation of alleged chemical weapons use in Douma, Syria

Signatories in Support of the Statement of Concern:

José Bustani, Ambassador of Brazil, first Director General of the OPCW and former Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France.

Professor Noam Chomsky, Laureate Professor U. of Arizona and Institute Professor (em), MIT.

Andrew Cockburn, Washington editor, Harper’s Magazine.

Daniel Ellsberg, PERI Distinguished Research Fellow, UMass Amherst. Former Defense and State Department official. Former official of Defense Department (GS-18) and State Department (FSR-1).

Professor Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University.

Tulsi Gabbard, former Presidential candidate and Member of the US House of Representatives (2013-2021).

Professor Dr. Ulrich Gottstein, on behalf of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW-Germany).

Katharine Gun, former GCHQ (UKGOV), whistleblower.

Denis J. Halliday, UN Assistant Secretary-General (1994-98).

Professor Pervez Houdbhoy, Quaid-e-Azam University and ex Pugwash.

Kristinn Hrafnnson, Editor in Chief, Wikileaks.

Dr. Sabine Krüger, Analytical Chemist, Former OPCW Inspector 1997-2009.

Ray McGovern, ex-CIA Presidential Briefer; co-founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence (rtd); member, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence.

Professor Götz Neuneck, Pugwash Council and German Pugwash Chair.

Dirk van Niekerk, former OPCW Inspection Team Leader, Head of OPCW Special Mission to Iraq

John Pilger, Emmy and Bafta winning journalist and film maker.

Professor Theodore A. Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Antonius Roof, former OPCW Inspection Team Leader and Head Industry Inspections.

Professor John Avery Scales, Professor, Pugwash Council and Danish Pugwash Chair.

Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary General and UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator (Iraq).

Alan Steadman, Chemical Weapons Munitions Specialist, Former OPCW Inspection Team Leader and UNSCOM Inspector.

Jonathan Steele, journalist and author.

Roger Waters, Musician and Activist.

Lord West of Spithead, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff 2002-06.

Oliver Stone, Film Director, Producer and Writer.

Colonel (ret.) Lawrence B. Wilkerson, U.S. Army, Visiting Professor at William and Mary College and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell.

12.03.2021 - 11:05 [ Courage Foundation ]

Additional Background Information Regarding the OPCW FFM Investigation of the Alleged Chemical Attack in Douma, April 7, 2018

The following points summarize key procedural and scientific flaws that have been identified and which are now in the public domain regarding the OPCW FFM Investigation of the Alleged Chemical Attack in Douma, April 7, 2018.

07.03.2021 - 13:02 [ CormanDrostenReview.com ]

Review report Corman-Drosten et al. Eurosurveillance 2020

(27.11.2020)

It should be noted that there is no mention anywhere in the Corman-Drosten paper of a test being positive or negative, or indeed what defines a positive or negative result. These types of virological diagnostic tests must be based on a SOP, including a validated and fixed number of PCR cycles (Ct value) after which a sample is deemed positive or negative. The maximum reasonably reliable Ct value is 30 cycles. Above a Ct of 35 cycles, rapidly increasing numbers of false positives must be expected .

PCR data evaluated as positive after a Ct value of 35 cycles are completely unreliable.

28.02.2021 - 08:22 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

What IS the truth about Covid deaths? Grieving relatives along with MPs and top medics demand inquiry as families reveal MORE loved ones they believe were wrongly certified as virus victims

Grieving families last night said deaths had been wrongly certified as Covid-19.

Demanding an inquiry, top medical experts and MPs also insisted they were ‘certain’ that too many fatalities were being blamed on the virus.

One funeral director said it was ‘a national scandal’. The claims are part of a Daily Mail investigation that raises serious questions over the spiralling death toll.

23.02.2021 - 10:10 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

We surrendered our freedom to lockdown – the state must never hold such control over our lives again

We know that the trajectory of the virus has been indistinguishable between North Dakota (with masks and distancing in restaurants) and South Dakota (without restrictions). We know that California, which locked down and closed schools, seems to have fared worse than Florida, which did not. We can see that the picture in Belgium with its hard lockdowns has now converged with that in Sweden which famously took a voluntary approach. Similarly, the ‘second wave’ trajectory in Japan is remarkably similar to that of the UK.

I know, I know, fascinating stuff…. but let’s leave all that for the public inquiry.

17.02.2021 - 18:54 [ Browserleaks.com ]

SSL/TLS Client Test

The page shows the SSL/TLS capabilities of your web browser, determines supported TLS protocols and cipher suites and marks if any of them are weak or insecure, displays a list of supported TLS extensions and key exchange groups

17.02.2021 - 08:48 [ Washington Post ]

Decision on Airstrike in Afghanistan Was Based Largely on Sole Informant’s Assessment

(September 6, 2009)

McChrystal’s advisers allowed a Washington Post reporter to travel with a NATO fact-finding team and attend its otherwise closed-door meetings with German troops and Afghan officials. Portions of this account are based on those discussions.