Category: Europe

No law or policy for ‘mastering the Internet’

Britain’s GCHQ is scanning servers in multiple foreign countries for vulnerable ports, according to German newspaper Heise. Using a tool called Hacienda, the intelligence agency seeks to ‘master the internet’ for sources of espionage.

Spanish for estate, Hacienda can port scan all of the servers in a country to provide information on user endpoints and scan for potential vulnerabilities. The ability to port scan is not new, but the scale of its use by government spies, with 27 countries scanned by 2009, has shocked many familiar with the software.

“In 2009, the British spy agency GCHQ made port scans a ‘standard tool’ to be applied against entire nations,” Heise reports. “Twenty-seven countries are listed as targets of the Hacienda [program].”

The process of scanning entire countries and looking for vulnerable network infrastructure to exploit is consistent with the meta-goal of “Mastering the Internet”, which is also the name of a GCHQ cable-tapping program. Targeted protocols include SSH, HTTP and FTP, among others.

Systems may be attacked simply because they might eventually create a path towards a valuable espionage target, even without indications this will ever be the case. Based on this logic, every device is a target.

The database resulting from the scans is shared with other spy agencies in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. MAILORDER is described in the documents as a secure transport protocol used between the ‘Five Eyes’ spy agencies to exchange collected data.

System and network administrators face the threat of industrial espionage, sabotage and human rights violations created by nation states indiscriminately attacking network infrastructure and breaking into services.

GCHQ says it will not comment on “intelligence matters” but reiterates that everything that it does is done within a strict legal framework. “It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters,” a GCHQ spokesperson told The Inquirer.

“All of GCHQ’s work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework, which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the Secretary of State, the Interception of Communications and Intelligence Services Commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee.

“All our operational processes rigorously support this position,” they added.

British intelligence is permitted to go further in surveillance than similar agencies in other Western countries, according to Edward Snowden. The former NSA contractor believes the powers of the British intelligence establishment are not restricted effectively enough by “law or policy”. The lack of legal restrictions allows UK intelligence services to target more people than is necessary.

Source: RT

‘Putin won’t be around forever’

This must be the nice way of saying “we are trying to kill Putin”.

Following a summit in Brussels, a senior NATO diplomat proudly proclaimed that ‘allies’ have pledged more spending and will beef up its presence in Eastern Europe. However, likely to the chagrin of President Obama (and the West’s narrative), he let slip some uncomfortable truths:

*NATO DIPLOMAT SAYS PUTIN HOLDS TACTIAL SHORT-TERM CARDS (hhmm, ok)
*NATO DIPLOMAT SAYS LONG-TERM GEOPOLITICAL TRENDS FAVOR THE WEST (phew…)
*NATO DIPLOMAT SAYS PUTIN WON’T BE AROUND FOREVER (threat or warning?)

So, all the West has to do is be patient? Wait out Putin? We suspect that ‘strategy’ may get accelerated at some point.

It was reported some years ago that someone attended a firewall/email training course (PEAPOD BORDERWARE) along with a nice chap from NATO. The NATO chap looked after the email for them but he had no idea what an IP address or subnet mask was. It lead many to believe that NATO is merely an empty vessel being controlled from Washington.

Source: zerohedge.com

Independent Scotland would ditch the Queen

Some 63 per cent of voters called for a ballot on Scotland’s next head of state in the event of separation, with only 22 per cent saying the royals should be retained without question.

Scottish independence could lead to Scotland ditching the royal family and becoming a republic, according to constitutional experts.

Although the SNP has said that it wants the Queen as head of state, independence could lead to divided loyalties for the sovereign, experts said.

Stephen Haseler, director of the Global Policy Institute in London, said: “Alex Salmond has overcome the issue of the monarchy initially by saying ‘Look, we will keep the Queen’, but of course the Queen won’t be around for very long, and my absolute conviction is that once the Queen goes the Scots won’t wear Prince Charles, and they will go for a republican system within the European Union.”

The movement contains many republicans, particularly in the Scottish Green party and among the Scottish Socialists.

This majority view is shared by people who are intending to vote against independence, as well as by supporters of all political parties.

Although many voters would support the monarchy in any such referendum, the very fact that Scots clearly want a say on the issue will be deeply worrying for Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Family has been enjoying a surge in popularity recently, thanks to the public affection for the baby, George.

However, our poll shows that repeated demands for an independent Scotland to become a republic have obviously shaken confidence in the Windsors north of the Border.

First Minister Alex Salmond has insisted the Queen and her successors would automatically remain as heads of state if Scots vote for independence next year.

However, influential figures within both the SNP and the Yes Scotland campaign are in favour of holding another referendum on retaining the monarchy.

Yes Scotland chairman Dennis Canavan welcomed our shock poll results, which support his personal view.

He said: “I am pleased to see such widespread support for the sovereignty of the people. This poll shows that the majority of people agree with my earlier suggestion that the people should decide whether the monarchy should be retained.

“It is also very significant that my proposal has cross-party support, with a clear majority amongst Labour, SNP, Tory and Lib Dem voters.

“Some of the party politicians seem to be out of touch with their own voters on this issue and trivialise the debate by mouthing sycophantic platitudes about the Queen.

“The present monarch may be popular but any would-be successor should not simply inherit the job of head of state without some form of democratic vote.

“The sovereignty of the people is far more important than the sovereignty of any monarch and a hereditary head of state should have no place in a modern society based on democratic principles such as equal opportunities.”

The strongest support for a referendum on the monarchy comes from Labour voters – 72 per cent – and those who did not vote in the last Holyrood elections – 88 per cent.

The party’s spokesman for constitutional affairs, Drew Smith MSP, said: “Talk of further referendums should come after the Scottish people have had their say on independence.”

Source: The Express

Some progress during Berlin talks on Ukrainian crisis – Russia

MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) – The foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have made some progress during Sunday’s talks on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The sides discussed international efforts towards the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the ministry reminded.

“Some progress was made in all issues. It was agreed to continue the dialogue in this format, which could find concrete proposals for consideration of Russian, German, France and Ukraine leaders,” the ministry wrote on its Facebook page.

Negotiations between Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Pavlo Klimkin of Ukraine seeking to end fighting in eastern Ukraine were held Sunday night at the Villa Borsig hotel in Berlin, Germany. They were also attended by German foreign chief Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his counterpart in France, Laurent Fabius. According to Steinmeier, the talks were difficult, but the sides made progress on certain points.

The foreign chief are expected to report back to their respective heads of government and decide on Monday or Tuesday on the format of follow-up negotiations.

This is the second four-party meeting of the kind. During the previous talks on July 2, also in Berlin, the four foreign ministers agreed on a declaration that called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine’s southeast.

Ukraine refuses Russian humanitarian aid – Red Cross

Ukraine refuses to recognize Russia’s cargo sent for the residents of the crisis-torn Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine as humanitarian aid, a Communication Officer for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Galina Balzamova said Saturday.

“The trilateral talks are underway. So far, we need to get Ukraine’s consent that the cargo is a humanitarian mission. The agreement has not been reached yet,” Balzamova said.
She added that Ukraine and Russia should reach an agreement regarding the convoy, as the Red Cross acts as a mediator only.

“That’s why Russian and Ukrainian sides should reach an agreement. Unless there is a detailed deal, the Red Cross cannot take the cargo under its responsibility,” Balzamova added.

She also urged to provide safety for those delivering the Russian cargo, including Russian drivers and Red Cross representatives.

Earlier this week, Russia sent a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine of 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, with 400 tons of grain, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medication, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 mobile electrical generators.

On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Kiev had intensified its military presence to prevent the humanitarian aid convoy from moving along the previously agreed-upon route to the city of Luhansk. The ministry called on all sides of the conflict to declare an immediate ceasefire for the time of the humanitarian operation and international organizations to support Russia’s efforts.

Source: RIA Novosti

Russian ambassador summoned to UK Foreign Office

Russian Ambassador in Britain Alexander Yakovenko was summoned to the UK Foreign Office for explanations about current events in Ukraine, the spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office told ITAR-TASS on Friday.

The meeting is underway, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile militia in Ukraine’s town of Luhansk said on Friday they have captured a reconnaissance group of National Guard tasked with preparing an attack on the Russian humanitarian aid convoy.

A load of weapons and ammunition was found in a car carrying three saboteurs, the militia headquarters of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic said.

“The weapons and ammunition were hidden in bags of food,” a headquarters representative said.

During an interrogation, the saboteurs said their mission was to plant mines along a local road and attack the Russian convoy delivering humanitarian aid to residents of south-eastern Ukraine.

One of the detainees said the Ukrainian army had sent seven teams of saboteurs to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and that these groups were setting up ambushes on roads leading to militia-controlled areas.

He also said that Ukrainian security officials had instructed them to send the convoy back to the border without killing the Russians accompanying the cargo.

The detainee admitted that the provocation aimed at preventing the supply of food and medicines to the militia-controlled territory.

A search is underway for other Ukrainian saboteurs, the militia headquarters said.

No Russian troops crossed into Ukraine

Russia’s Security Service (FSB) has denied reports that the country’s troops have crossed the border into Ukraine. Border guards have been deployed to provide security near the frontier, but they operate only on the Russian side, the FSB said.

The mobile military teams “operate strictly within the territory of the Russian Federation,” a spokesperson for the FSB Border Guard Service in Rostov region told RT on Friday.

Russia has stepped up security measures on its border with Ukraine as local residents are under constant threat because of “regular cross-border shelling” and an increased number of “mass border crossings” by the Ukrainian military, he explained. For that reason, FSB mobile border guards’ teams have been created.

“When residents report about cross-border shooting and fighting in the frontier zone, these teams are immediately deployed to such areas to provide the safety of the Russian state border and Russian citizens, and also to prevent armed people from crossing into the territory of the Russian Federation,” Sinitsyn said.

Earlier, several foreign news agencies caused quite a stir, reporting that a convoy of Russian military vehicles had crossed into Ukraine overnight.

The reports triggered criticism from NATO and some European states.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen referred to the alleged incident as to “a Russian incursion” that they “saw.”

“Last night we saw a Russian incursion, a crossing of the Ukrainian border,” he said Friday, adding that “it is a clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in the destabilization of eastern Ukraine.”

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was “very alarmed by the reports.”

“Of course the humanitarian convoy itself is a separate issue, but if there any Russian military personnel or vehicles in eastern Ukraine they need to be withdrawn immediately or the consequences could be very serious,” he told reporters in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers had gathered for an emergency meeting to discuss crises in Ukraine and Iraq.

In an article published by The Guardian, reporter Shaun Walker said he “saw a column of 23 armored personnel carriers, supported by fuel trucks and other logistics vehicles with official Russian military plates, traveling [toward] the border near the Russian town of Donetsk.” Late on Thursday the convoy “crossed into Ukrainian territory,” he said. However, no photographic or video evidence of the incident was presented either in his article or in his Twitter feed. The photograph published with the text was taken on Russian territory.

The Telegraph also reported that “at least 23” Russian vehicles had crossed into Ukraine. The report is accompanied by a video also filmed on Russian territory.

Source: RT

Russian foreign ministry confirms fighting in eastern Ukraine, says Ukrainian govt trying to stop aid

Ukrainian artillery destroyed a “significant” part of a Russian armoured column that crossed into Ukraine during the night, President Petro Poroshenko told British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, according to the presidential website.

Separately, a Ukrainian military spokesman said Ukrainian forces had tracked the Russian armoured column as soon as it crossed onto Ukrainian soil.

“Appropriate actions were undertaken and a part of it no longer exists,” military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told journalists.

Russia’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, said Ukrainian forces are engaging in intense fighting in Eastern Ukraine to stop humanitarian aid to the region.

It is unclear whether the fighting is focused on an armored vehicle convoy or the aid shipments.

When news broke of the fighting, U.S. markets immediately turned downward.

Bond yields fell, as tensions renewed. Gold prices also fell on the news.

European stocks also fell on the news, with the FTSEurofirst 300 falling 0.3 percent at 1,325.40 points, well below an earlier high of 1,340.88. – CNBC

Schumacher record theft suspect was German

A man arrested in Zurich on suspicion of being involved in the theft and leaking of a medical file on injured ex-Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was found hanged in his cell a week ago.

The man worked as an executive at a Swiss helicopter air rescue company, Rega, which organized the German sportsman’s transport from a French hospital to Switzerland in June, the Zurich prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The suspect, arrested and interrogated by police, had denied any wrongdoing.

He was being detained in a Zurich police holding cell, the statement said.

He was found hanged when officers came to bring him breakfast before a scheduled hearing before a judge.

According to an initial investigation, no one else was involved in his hanging, the prosecutor’s office said.

Zurich police told AFP they had spotted no signs the man was mentally unstable or suicidal.

The suspect accused was from Germany, according to the latest reports.

According to Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper, the man was reportedly a 54-year-old German who lived quietly with his girlfriend in the Swiss canton of St Gallen.

A long-time friend, who said he went sailing with the “trustworthy” German only six weeks ago, reportedly said he was someone who “never spoke about money worries”.

“He was as he always was,” the friend added. “I never would have thought he was capable of something like that.”

He used the pseudonym “Kagemusha” inspired by a Japanese historical film, the Tages Anzeiger daily reported in its online edition.

A “Kagemusha” is a political decoy is a person employed to impersonate a politician, to draw attention away from the real person or to take risks on their behalf. This can also apply to military figures, or civilians impersonated for political or espionage purposes.

The political decoy is an individual who has been selected because of their strong physical resemblance to the person they are impersonating. This resemblance can be strengthened by plastic surgery. Often, such decoys are trained to speak and behave like their ‘target’.

Swiss train derailed

Five passengers were seriously injured when a landslide derailed a train in a mountainous area of the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland on Wednesday, following heavy rain in the region.

The accident occurred around 12.45pm on the Rhaetian Railway line linking Saint Moritz to Chur.

Graubünden cantonal police said there were 200 people on the train, which derailed between Tiefencastel and Solis.

There were no fatalities but at least five people were seriously injured, and two others suffered minor injuries, police said.

Earlier reports indicated that none of the injuries were serious.

Three carriages derailed, with the carriage behind the locomotive plunging down a slope, the Blick newspaper reported online.

The paper quoted a witness who said there were 10 passengers aboard that carriage.

Police issued a statement at 3pm saying that a rescue process was still under way, with Rega emergency rescue helicopters and ambulances on site.

Paramedics were looking after passengers in shock, the statement said.

Blick reported a massive response from emergency services.

The newspapers said four helicopters, eight ambulances and 60 fire fighters came to the site, along with paramedics and police officers.

All passengers aboard the train were safely evacuated, 20 Minuten reported about four hours after the derailment.

The accident came after six passengers were injured in a crash elsewhere in Graubünden on Tuesday night when a trailer-truck sideswiped a Swiss Post bus on the A13 motorway between Sufers and Spilligen, cantonal police said on Wednesday.

The injured bus passengers were transported by ambulance to hospital for treatment.

Media in Israel have identified the three Israelis who died on Monday in yet another accident when a Zentralbahn train crashed into a minibus at a level crossing in the canton of Nidwalden.

The victims were Amal Khalil, 53, Atef Haj, 48, and Nasif Bader, 52, all from Marar in the Galilee region of northern Israel.

One other man and four women were injured in the crash at a crossing without security barriers in the municipality of Wolfenschiessen.

Two of the three men who died were policemen, The Times of Israel reported online.

The newspaper identified Khalil as the head of the police investigations division in northern Israel, while Haj was a police investigator.

It said the wounded man was Wafa Azzam, the brother of Azzam Azzam, who served eight years in an Egyptian prison for spying on Israel.

The four Israeli couples, aged between 40 and 60, were on a holiday to explore central Switzerland — Lake Lucerne, Titlis mountain and Kapellbrücke — when the accident occurred at around 8.40am.

It is not clear why the van travelled across the tracks just as the passenger train came, but it appears the minibus was headed to a small road that leads to a waterfall, visible from the crossing.

The accident at the crossing is the second in less than three weeks and has raised safety concerns about the number of crossings without safety barriers on the narrow-gauge Zentralbahn line.

The group of four men and four women, Druze from northern Israel, were traversing a rail crossing near the picturesque village of Wolfenschiessen when their mini-van was struck by a speeding train. Wolfenschiessen is about 14 miles south of Lucerne and 45 miles south of Zurich.

A freight train operated by the company ERS Railways sideswiped a EuroCity line at Mannheim’s central station on 1 August, knocking over two of the passenger train’s cabins with 110 people on board in Germany.

EuroCity 216 was on its way from the Austrian city of Graz to the southwest German city of Saarbrücken. The freight train was travelling from the western German city of Duisburg to Sopron in Hungary when it rammed into the passenger train.

Forty people suffered light injures in the accident while five were seriously injured, according to a spokesman for Mannheim’s fire department. The spokesman said that the accident likely would have been worse, had the trains not been travelling at a slow speed due to their proximity to the central station.

It’s unclear what exactly caused the collision. Mannheim’s central station was closed after the accident.

EU will lift sanctions on Russia says Danish bank

The European Union will lift the sanctions it has imposed on Russia over the situation in Ukraine in one to three months, according to research conducted by the Danske Bank.

“We believe an escalating trade war would be unbearable for both Russia and the EU and that the EU will revoke the sanctions within one to three months,” the bank said in a report released Tuesday, adding that Russia will also lift the trade restrictions it has imposed on Europe.

According to the analysis, the Ukrainian crisis will only have a “modest” direct impact on the European economy. Of the Nordic countries, Finland was named the most vulnerable due to its trade, tourism and foreign direct investments links with Russia. However, Norway’s economy might even strengthen due to the potential EU gas substitution from Russia toward the country.

The report suggests that it is highly unlikely that the European sanctions will be able to influence the current political situation in Russia, as support for President Vladimir Putin inside the country is currently “very strong.” It also notes that Russia is currently strengthening its ties with its Latin American and Asian partners.

Danske Bank is the part of the Danske Bank Group, the largest bank in Europe and one of the leading financial organizations in Europe. Danske Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen.

Anti-NATO protesters begin mass march on summit

Peace activists have set out on a three-week ‘Long March on Newport’ to protest against September’s NATO Summit. Police say they have drafted in 9,000 officers to face the protesters in one of the UK’s biggest ever police operations.

More than 20,000 activists from around the world are expected to take part in demonstrations during the summit, where a week-long peace camp and a counter summit are among some of the events planned in what has been billed as Wales’ largest protest in a generation.

Sixty world leaders from the 28-nation military bloc will meet at the Celtic Manor in Newport for the NATO summit on September 4 and 5. Previous NATO summits in Chicago and Strasbourg saw thousands protest war, austerity and global inequality.

In one of the UK’s largest-ever policing deployments, 20km of security fencing is being erected around the venues.

“This is a UK-wide policing effort and I am confident that we will be able to deliver a safe summit, for delegates and the public,” said Assistant Chief Constable Chris Armitt, who is leading the policing and security operation for the summit.

No NATO Newport is taking a 19-day route from the National Eisteddfod in Llanelli on Friday, arriving in Newport on August 29. The protest is inspired by the Newport Chartist Rising, a 19th century suffrage march where scores were killed while demanding the release of Chartists imprisoned in the town.

“Many of us are increasingly worried by the threat that NATO poses to world stability and peaceful relations,” said the organizers.

“Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has reinvented itself supposedly as a tool of the ‘international community’ to safeguard ‘freedom and security’.

“In reality it is a vehicle for US-led use of force in the interests of the rich and powerful, accelerating militarization, bypassing the United Nations and the system of international law, and escalating spending on arms,” they added.

Activists argue that the money spent on arms could be better spent on hospitals, schools and services.

The protesters want to collect messages on postcards from members of the public along the way with the aim of delivering them on the first day of the summit during planned demonstrations outside the venue.

US media refuses to report news

Journalists from leading US media working in Russia refused to personally interview Ukrainian soldiers, who earlier in the week crossed the border into Russia asking for asylum, a deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press department said.

On early Monday a group of 438 Ukrainian troops and border guards from pro-Kiev forces fighting against militia in the embattled southeast of Ukraine asked Russia’s southern border authorities for permission to enter Russia seeking asylum, and a humanitarian corridor was opened for them.

Maria Zakharova wrote in her Facebook account that as the news broke out on Monday about over 400 Ukrainian soldiers crossing into Russia seeking asylum, the Russian Foreign Ministry decided to arrange a meeting with the soldiers for foreign journalists accredited in Russia.

“Keeping in mind how important it will be for journalists, particularly for foreign ones, to talk to Ukrainian military servicemen, to learn firsthand about the real combat actions, motivation of the Ukrainian soldiers and the actual reasons behind their decision [to seek asylum], we decided to invite a group of foreign correspondents to the Rostov Region,” Zakharova said.

She said an aircraft from the Russian Defense Ministry was scheduled for flight on Monday to the Rostov Region, where the Ukrainian soldiers were temporary sheltered, and the plane was ready to take along a group of between 30 and 40 journalists.

“We have immediately started calling everyone,” she said. “We gathered up to 40 [correspondents] within an hour.”

However, Zakharova said, there was only Bloomberg news agency representative in the group as the rest of the US media decided to decline the ministry’s initiative.

“Except for Bloomberg there were no journalists representing US media!!! An opportunity to meet with the Ukrainian military servicemen, who crossed into the Russian territory, was declined by representatives of leading US media,” she said. “They were CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor.”

“What are these journalists base their materials upon if they decline talking to firsthand sources?” Zakharova said. “The funniest episode was with Reuters journalist, who registered, left for the airport, but changed his mind half way there and did not fly.”

“Russia is being criticized for little interaction with western media and it is allegedly the reason for Russia’s media blackout,” she said. “But the fact is that we speak and they either refuse to listen or they are prohibited from listening.”

The Ukrainian military servicemen, who laid down arms and crossed into Russia, were accommodated in a tent camp that was set up for them near the Gukovo border checkpoint in Russia’s Rostov Region.

The soldiers expressed surprise over being treated well on the Russian territory as, according to them, news information they gathered earlier from Kiev media was in sharp contrast to the reality they saw.

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