XMPP (Jabber) instant messaging protocol encrypted TLS connection wiretapping (Man-in-the-Middle attack) of jabber.ru (aka xmpp.ru) service’s servers on Hetzner and Linode hosting providers in Germany. The attacker has issued several new TLS certificates using Let’s Encrypt service which were used to hijack encrypted STARTTLS connections on port 5222 using transparent MiTM proxy. The attack was discovered due to expiration of one of the MiTM certificates, which haven’t been reissued.

Israeli planes bombed the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, even as an Israeli military spokesman encouraged Palestinians to use the border post to flee to safety.

Independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, citing an employee at the border checkpoint, reported that Egypt had closed the crossing gate after a warning that Israel would bomb it.

Israeli planes bombed the crossing Monday evening and again on Tuesday after the damage was repaired, Mada Masr and Palestinian media reported.

An estimated 700 Palestinians have been killed in reprisal bombings in Gaza after Hamas gunmen launched a stunning attack on Israel on Saturday, massacring an estimated 900 Israelis.

More than 127,000 Palestinians have been displaced by the ongoing bombing, the U.N. said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, suggested that Palestinians seeking refuge from the bombing could "get out" of Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

Hecht’s office later issued a statement: "Clarification: The Rafah crossing was open yesterday, but now it is closed." The clarification didn’t mention a bombing.

Gaza’s Hamas-controlled interior ministry said in a statement that Egypt had warned staff on the Gaza side of the border crossing to evacuate due to an imminent bombing. Two Palestinian employees were injured, the ministry said.

The U.N. and humanitarian organizations are working to establish a humanitarian corridor through the Rafah crossing to bring medical supplies to Gaza. Israel on Monday declared a "total siege" of the territory.

Two separatist militants were killed Sunday when they attacked a convoy carrying Chinese workers to a Beijing-financed port project in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials said.

A spokesman for China's consulate in Karachi said none of its nationals were killed or wounded in the attack, and urged Chinese citizens to heighten their vigilance.

Various Baloch separatist groups have claimed attacks on projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the past, with thousands of security personnel deployed to counter threats against Beijing's interests.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) said Sunday two of its fighters died in a "self-sacrificing" attack on a convoy going to Gwadar port in Pakistan's southwest.

"The operation has concluded with the elimination of two assailants," a senior police official told AFP, adding that three Pakistani soldiers were wounded.

China's consulate in Karachi said it had asked Pakistan to "severely punish the perpetrators and take concrete and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects".

"A Chinese convoy from the Gwadar port project was hit by roadside bombs and gunfire on its way back to the port area from the Gwadar Airport," it said in a statement.

"No Chinese citizens were killed or injured."

The BLA, which frequently exaggerates its successes, claimed in a statement that four Chinese workers and nine Pakistani soldiers had died in the attack.

• 'No fair share' -

The CPEC project is the cornerstone of Beijing's massive Belt and Road Initiative and seeks to link China's western Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in Balochistan -- Pakistan's least populous province but rich in mineral resources.

Baloch people have long complained they do not get a fair share of the province's profits, giving rise to more than a dozen separatist groups.

Three Chinese academics and their Pakistani driver were killed when a woman suicide bomber detonated her device as they were driving into the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute in April 2022.

The BLA claimed responsibility for that attack.

A year earlier, five people were killed in an attack claimed by Pakistan's Taliban at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta.

Also in 2021, 12 people -- including nine Chinese workers -- were killed by a blast aboard a bus carrying staff to the Dasu dam site.

Islamabad blamed that explosion on a gas leak but Beijing insisted it was a bomb attack.

Since its initiation, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funnelled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was in the Pakistani capital last month to mark the 10th anniversary of the project's start.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by Iran's so-called morality police has sparked angry protests, with women burning their headscarves in a defiant act of resistance against the Islamic Republic's strict dress code and those enforcing it.

The Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrols) are special police units tasked with ensuring the respect of Islamic morals and detaining people who are perceived to be "improperly" dressed.

Under Iranian law, which is based on the country's interpretation of Sharia, women are obliged to cover their hair with a hijab (headscarf) and wear long, loose-fitting clothing to disguise their figures.

Ms Amini allegedly had some hair visible under her headscarf when she was arrested by morality police in Tehran on 13 September. She fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention centre and died three days later in hospital. The force denied reports that officers beat her head with a baton and banged it against one of their vehicles.

"They told us the reason we are working for the morality police units is to protect women," he said. "Because if they do not dress properly, then men could get provoked and harm them."

He said they worked in teams of six, comprising four men and two women, and focused on areas with high foot traffic and where crowds gather.

"It's weird, because if we are just going to guide people why do we need to pick somewhere busy that potentially means we could arrest more people?"

"It's like we are going out for a hunt."

The officer added that his commander would tell him off or say he was not working properly if he did not identify enough people violating the dress code, and that he found it particularly difficult when people resisted arrest.

"They expect us to force them inside the van. Do you know how many times I was in tears while doing it?"

"I want to tell them I am not one of them. Most of us are ordinary soldiers going through our mandatory military service. I feel so bad."

Post-revolutionary decree The Iranian authorities' fight against "bad hijab" - wearing a headscarf or other mandatory clothing incorrectly - began soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a major aim of which was to make women dress modestly.

While many women were doing so at the time, miniskirts and uncovered hair were not uncommon sights on the streets of Tehran before the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown. His wife Farah, who often wore Western clothing, was held up as an example of a modern woman.

Saudi Arabia will extend its voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day into September, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Thursday. This is the third month in a row that the kingdom has implemented the cut.

The SPA said that the cut will reduce Saudi Arabia's production to approximately 9 million barrels per day in September. The cut can be extended or deepened, the SPA said.

The decision to extend the cut comes as global oil prices have been under pressure in recent months. The price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is currently trading around $105 per barrel.

The cut is likely to support oil prices in the short term. However, it could also lead to higher gasoline prices for consumers in the United States and other countries.

Background

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter. The kingdom's decision to cut production is a significant move that could have a ripple effect on global oil markets.

The cut is part of Saudi Arabia's efforts to support oil prices. The kingdom has been under pressure from the United States and other countries to increase production in order to lower prices. However, Saudi Arabia has resisted these calls, arguing that it needs to protect its market share.

Impact

The extension of the oil production cut is likely to support oil prices in the short term. However, it could also lead to higher gasoline prices for consumers in the United States and other countries.

The cut could also have a negative impact on the global economy. Higher oil prices could lead to slower economic growth and higher inflation.

Conclusion

Saudi Arabia's decision to extend the oil production cut is a significant move that could have a ripple effect on global oil markets and the global economy. The cut is likely to support oil prices in the short term, but it could also lead to higher gasoline prices and slower economic growth.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow promised retaliation Saturday after Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea late Friday, the second sea attack involving drones in one day.

Ukraine struck a major Russian port earlier on Friday.

Moscow strongly condemned what it sees as a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” on a civilian vessel in the Kerch Strait, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“There can be no justification for such barbaric actions, they will not go unanswered and their authors and perpetrators will inevitably be punished,” she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

For the past 18 months, orcas have been attacking boats and yachts in the Mediterranean Sea near the Strait of Gibraltar. A new report of an orca boat attack in the North Sea near Scotland is a surprising development.

It's possible that the orcas are displaying “cultural evolution” and other pods are learning behaviors from one another Scientists long assumed that humans were the only animals capable of “cultural evolution”—that is, learned behaviors developed beyond the innate skills gifted to us by genetic evolution. But for a few decades now, the animal kingdom has been providing evidence to the contrary.

Monkeys and whales have shown a particular gift for cultural evolution, and other animals outside the class Mammalia have shown simpler forms of collective learning and adaptation.

Now, the majestic orca (Orcinus orca) is under scrutiny for the same kind of behavior, as boats in the Mediterranean near the Strait of Gibraltar—and surprisingly, off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea—appear to be specifically targeting boats. Although this behavior was well-known in the Iberian orca population, it’s a shocking development that orcas seemingly unaffiliated with the Mediterranean pod are exhibiting similar behaviors.

“I’d be reluctant to say it cannot be learned from [the southern population],” Conor Ryan, a scientist who’s studied orca pods off the Scottish coast, told The Guardian. “It’s possible that this ‘fad’ is leapfrogging through the various pods/communities.”

Despite being known as “killer whales,” orcas are actually members of the dolphin family and are highly sociable, using complex vocalizations to communicate with one another. The learn matrilineally, meaning “grandmother” orcas (which can live for 80 years or more) become matriarchs of their pods and pass on vital hunting skills.

With three boats sunk and upwards of 100 others damaged in Iberia, scientists think that this behavior may come from one such “grandmother” orca named White Gladis. The thought is that she may have survived a traumatic event earlier in life involving a boat, and has since taught her pod how to attack them. It’s also possible that these attacks are timed with Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) migrations, and the orcas perceive boats as competition for food.

Of course, humans are not necessarily innocent victims in these orca hit-and-runs, as boats cause noise pollution and other hazards for the creatures and other marine life. But, regardless, how exactly did an orca in the North Sea learn this seemingly isolated behavior from 2,000 miles away? Some scientists think that highly mobile pods could be capable of teaching these boat-destroying tricks to individuals in other pods.

So, will orcas always be on the hunt for boats and yachts of all shapes and sizes? Well, not necessarily. As seemingly easy as it was for the orcas to pick up this hunting trick, it’s possible that this “cultural evolution” will disappear just as rapidly. Similars shifts have happened before. For example, the website Salon reports that, a few years back, bottlenose dolphins were carrying sea sponges on their noses of the coast of Australia. But as quickly as this “fad” appeared, it became scarce, and soon disappeared entirely.

Scientists don’t know how long this particular “cultural evolution” will stick around. But considering our bang-up job protecting the planet, it almost feels like there’s a measure of justified cosmic karma at play here.

HONG KONG—At dawn, officers from Hong Kong’s national-security police burst into the apartment of Derek Yuen and Eunice Yung, the son and daughter-in-law of a high-profile pro-democracy campaigner who criticizes China’s Communist Party from perches abroad.

The police seized a laptop and mobile phone in the raid last Monday and took Yuen and Yung, who is a pro-Beijing politician in the city’s legislature, to a police station for hours of questioning about the activities of their dissident relative before releasing them without charges, according to Yung.

Elmer Yuen, the 74-year-old U.S.-based activist who is the focus of the authorities’ ire, is one of eight overseas critics of China who are facing arrest warrants in Hong Kong after being accused of national-security crimes. He appeared at a news briefing in Washington last month and another in London on Tuesday, discussing his plans to form an unofficial government in exile.

Elmer Yuen, who shares his political commentary in lengthy videos posted online, said the authorities’ actions against his family members were intended to pressure him to speak out less and to halt his political efforts.

“Of course I worry about my safety and that of my family, but our work has a goal, and a price must be paid,” he told The Wall Street Journal. He said he wouldn’t be deterred “even if they arrest my entire family.”

The family and the widely diverging politics of its members have been the subject of public discussion in Hong Kong in recent years. They appeared in a 2020 documentary aired by the city’s public broadcaster RTHK, and their story has resonated with many Hong Kongers in politically divided homes.

Yung is the vice chair of a major pro-Beijing political party. Her husband once joked that their daughters’ crayons at home were missing a yellow one—the color of the city’s pro-democracy movement—because his wife had removed it.

After Yung was questioned, she said she was cooperating fully with investigators and hoped her father-in-law and the other dissidents would be arrested soon. “If I know about his whereabouts, I will without a doubt disclose it,” she said.

Yung and her husband didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, has encouraged friends and relatives of the wanted dissidents to share tips and said they were eligible, along with other members of the public, for a reward of about $128,000 for capture of each activist.

1. Deadline is extended One option is for the Ecowas leaders to extend the deadline.

This has the danger of being seen as a climbdown, but the heads of state could save face by saying that diplomatic efforts have made progress and they want to give them more time.

The problem at the moment is that Ecowas mediation efforts have not borne fruit. A delegation sent to Niger on Thursday returned within a few hours with apparently little to show for it.

Meanwhile, the junta stepped up its rhetoric against both the West and Ecowas. It announced that it was cutting diplomatic ties with Nigeria, Togo, the US and France, and said it was cancelling the military agreements with France which allows the former colonial power to base some 1,500 soldiers there.

And President Bazoum, who is being held by the military, used stark language in an article in the Washington Post. He described himself as a "hostage" and called on the US and the entire international community to help restore constitutional order.

On Friday, the US said it will pause some of its aid to Niger's government, but will continue to provide humanitarian and food assistance.

2. They agree on a timetable for a transition To try and cool things down and find middle ground, the junta and Ecowas could agree on a timetable for a return to democratic rule.

This could include the release of President Bazoum, as well as other political detainees, in order to keep talks going and possibly buy more time. This has been a key demand of those who have condemned the coup in Africa and elsewhere.

The West African bloc has already approved democratic transitions in Niger's neighbours in the Sahel region, Mali and Burkina Faso, which were both taken over by the military in recent years.

But the negotiations were fraught with problems, with deadlines for elections continually pushed back and it is still not guaranteed that the handovers of power will actually happen.

Sudan, which created a mixed civilian-military government in 2019 that was supposed to pave the way to democracy after a coup there, provides another model. But the collapse of that country into a bitter conflict between rival military leaders offers a cautionary tale.

3. Military intervention The West African leaders did not say that force would definitely be used if President Bazoum was not reinstated but left it open as a possibility.

Nigerian officials have described it as a "last resort". President Tinubu said there could be a military intervention "to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant".

Ecowas has used military force to restore constitutional order in the past, for example in The Gambia in 2017 when Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing an election.

But the calculation about whether to go ahead this time would be far more difficult.

Firstly, Niger is geographically the largest country in West Africa, while The Gambia is a tiny sliver of land surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean, so sending troops in would be a whole different prospect.

Secondly, regional power Nigeria, which is leading the charge to restore President Bazoum, is facing a host of security challenges at home, so sending a significant portion of the army to Niger would be something of a gamble.

Thirdly, both Mali and Burkina Faso have said that military intervention in Niger would be seen as a "declaration of war" and they would go to defend their fellow coup leaders.

So it risks snowballing into a full-scale regional war, especially if the Niger population resists foreign intervention. Although it is impossible to know how they would react.

Nigeria and Niger share many historical and ethnic ties, with people on both sides speaking the same language so this could make some Nigerian troops reluctant to fight if it came to that.

Countries like Algeria, Niger's neighbour to the north, China and Russia have asked for restraint and the continued use of dialogue to douse tension.

However, after a three-day meeting in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, Ecowas defence chiefs say they have drawn up a detailed plan for military intervention for the regional leaders to consider.

Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Benin have all said they are willing to send troops into Niger if Ecowas decided to do so.

Nigeria alone has about 135,000 active troops, according to the Global Fire Power index, while Niger has about 10,000 but that certainly doesn't mean an invasion would be easy.

A peaceful solution is no doubt preferable for all sides but Ecowas is keen to show its resolve as it has failed to prevent a spate of coups in the region in the last three years.

The storms were so intense that half-a-metre-high piles of hailstones formed in some places.

Intense storms in southern and western Germany saw hailstones pile up to half a metre high.

So much hail fell in the village of Weiler, in Bavaria, over such a short period of time that some roads were entirely blocked with ice.

Many streets, squares and even gardens were briefly transformed into winter landscapes by the heavy hailstorms.

Trees were uprooted and the fire brigade had to go out to pump out flooded cellars during the storms.

The British group of 4,500, the largest in attendance, is moving from a camp site at Saemangeum to Seoul, the Scout Association confirmed.

The US and Singaporean teams are also pulling their members out of the event.

South Korea's government said it was sending 60 more medics and 700 service workers to maintain the toilets and showers, with many countries staying at the site for the next week.

The jamboree, described as the world's largest youth camp, gathers Scouts from around the world every four years, each time in a different country.

Most of those attending are aged between 14 and 18, and 155 countries are represented in South Korea.

This is the first jamboree since the pandemic and is due to run until 12 August.

Coaches of British teenagers have started arriving back in Seoul - about 120 miles (197km) from the campsite - and they will spend the next week in hotels.

The UK Scout Association said young people and adult volunteers had begun "settling into their accommodation" and the Jamboree experience would continue in the city before returning to the UK on 13 August as planned.

The BBC has been told that some scouts are sharing five to a room, while up to 250 are sleeping in the ballroom of one Seoul hotel due to a lack of available accommodation.

The researchers will present their research next week at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas.

Christian Werling, one of the three students at Technische Universität Berlin who conducted the research along with another independent researcher, said that their attack requires physical access to the car, but that’s exactly the scenario where their jailbreak would be useful.

“We are not the evil outsider, but we’re actually the insider, we own the car,” Werling told TechCrunch in an interview ahead of the conference. “And we don’t want to pay these $300 for the rear heated seats.”

The technique they used to jailbreak the Tesla is called voltage glitching. Werling explained that what they did was “fiddle around” with the supply voltage of the AMD processor that runs the infotainment system.

“If we do it at the right moment, we can trick the CPU into doing something else. It has a hiccup, skips an instruction and accepts our manipulated code. That’s basically what we do in a nutshell,” he said.

With the same technique, the researchers said they were also able to extract the encryption key used to authenticate the car to Tesla’s network. In theory, this would open the door for a series of other attacks, but the researchers said they still have to explore the possibilities in this scenario.

The researchers said they were also able to extract personal information from the car such as contacts, recent calendar appointments, call logs, locations the car visited, Wi-Fi passwords and session tokens from email accounts, among others. This is data that could be attractive to people who don’t own that particular car, but still have physical access to it.

Mitigating the hardware-based attack that the researchers achieved is not simple. In fact, the researchers said, Tesla would have to replace the hardware in question.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

he floating barrier, which is intended to block migrants crossing from Mexico, was installed last month without federal authorization, according to the US Justice Department, which is suing the state of Texas over its use of the buoys.

The Mexican government has also decried Abbott’s decision to float the buoys. Last week, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Alicia Bárcena Ibarra said her country had sent its second diplomatic note to the US complaining about the barriers.

They not only violate two treaties between the US and Mexico, she said, but a slide that accompanied her remarks claimed that a portion of the 305 meters of deployed buoy is on “Mexican territory.”

López Obrador on Thursday warned that the buoys violated Mexico’s “sovereignty and human rights,” adding that “we are already demanding that these buoys be removed.”

In two separate cases in the Southern and Central Districts of California, two U.S. Navy servicemembers were arrested for transmitting sensitive military information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

“These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the PRC government,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to counter threats from China and to deter those who aid them in breaking our laws and threatening our national security.”

“These arrests are a reminder of the relentless, aggressive efforts of the People’s Republic of China to undermine our democracy and threaten those who defend it,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The PRC compromised enlisted personnel to secure sensitive military information that could seriously jeopardize U.S. national security. The FBI and our partners remain vigilant in our determination to combat espionage, and encourage past and present government officials to report any suspicious interactions with suspected foreign intelligence officers.”

United States v. Jinchao Wei, Southern District of California

A U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, aka Patrick Wei, was arrested yesterday on espionage charges as he arrived for work at Naval Base San Diego, the homeport of the Pacific Fleet. He was indicted for conspiracy to send national defense information to an intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China.

The indictment, unsealed this morning, alleges that Wei, was an active-duty sailor on the amphibious assault ship the U.S.S. Essex stationed at Naval Base San Diego. In his role as a machinist’s mate, Wei held a U.S. security clearance and had access to sensitive national defense information about the ship’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems. Amphibious assault ships like the Essex resemble small aircraft carriers and allow the U.S. military to project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious readiness and expeditionary strike capabilities.

According to the indictment, in February 2022, Wei began communicating with an intelligence officer from the PRC who requested that Wei provide information about the U.S.S. Essex and other Navy ships. Specifically, the Chinese intelligence officer tasked Wei with passing him photos, videos and documents concerning U.S. Navy ships and their systems. The two agreed to hide their communications by deleting records of their conversations and using encrypted methods of communication.

At the request of the intelligence officer, between March 2022 and the present, Wei sent photographs and videos of the Essex, disclosed the locations of various Navy ships and described defensive weapons of the Essex. In exchange for this information, the intelligence officer paid Wei thousands of dollars over the course of the conspiracy.

The indictment further alleges that in June 2022, Wei sent the intelligence officer approximately 30 technical and mechanical manuals. These manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships, including power, steering, aircraft and deck elevators, as well as damage and casualty controls. The intelligence officer confirmed with Wei that at least 10 of those manuals were useful to him. For passage of those materials, the indictment alleges that Wei was paid $5,000.

In June 2022, the intelligence officer requested that Wei provide information about the number and training of U.S. Marines during an upcoming international maritime warfare exercise. In response to this request, Wei sent multiple photographs of military equipment to the intelligence officer.

In August 2022, Wei sent an additional 26 technical and mechanical manuals related to the power structure and operation of the Essex and similar ships. The manuals contained warnings that this was technical data subject to export controls and that it was deemed “critical technology” by the U.S. Navy.

The indictment further alleges that in October 2022, Wei sent a technical manual to the intelligence officer describing the layout and location of certain departments, including berthing quarters and weapons systems. Specifically, Wei sent a weapons control systems manual for the Essex and similar ships. This manual contained export-controlled data that could not be exported without a license from the U.S. government. The indictment alleges that Wei knowingly violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by transmitting this manual to the Chinese intelligence officer without obtaining a required license.

The intelligence officer continued to request information in 2023, including information about the overhaul and upgrades to the Essex. Specifically, he requested blueprints, especially those related to modifications to the flight deck. Wei provided information related to the repairs the Essex was undergoing, as well as other mechanical problems with similar vessels.

During the alleged conspiracy, the intelligence officer instructed Wei to gather U.S. military information that was not public and admonished him not to discuss their relationship and to destroy any evidence regarding the nature of their relationship and their activities.

“We have entrusted members of our military with tremendous responsibility and great faith,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California. “Our nation’s safety and security are in their hands. When a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country, and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, the United States will aggressively investigate and prosecute.”

U.S. Attorney Grossman thanked the prosecution team and investigating agencies for their excellent work on this case.

The FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Parmley and Fred Sheppard for the Southern District of California and Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

United States v. Wenheng Zhao, Central District of California

A U.S. Navy servicemember, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, aka Thomas Zhao, 26, of Monterey Park, California, was arrested following an indictment by a federal grand jury, charging him with receiving bribes in exchange for transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to an individual posing as a maritime economic researcher, but who was actually an intelligence officer from the PRC.

The indictment alleges that Zhao, who worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme and held a U.S. security clearance, received bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for violating his official duties as a U.S. sailor by, among other actions, disclosing non-public sensitive U.S. military information.

Beginning in August 2021 and continuing through at least May 2023, at the Chinese intelligence officer’s direction, Zhao allegedly violated his official duties to protect sensitive military information by surreptitiously recording, and then transmitting to the intelligence officer, U.S. military information, photographs and videos. According to the indictment, the Chinese intelligence officer told Zhao that the intelligence officer was a maritime economic researcher seeking the information for investment decisions.

In exchange for bribes, Zhao allegedly sent the Chinese military officer non-public and controlled operational plans for a large-scale U.S. military exercise in the Indo-Pacific Region, which detailed the specific location and timing of Naval force movements, amphibious landings, maritime operations and logistics support.

The indictment further alleges that in exchange for bribes, Zhao also photographed electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan.

The intelligence officer allegedly directed Zhao to conceal their relationship and to destroy evidence of the unlawful and corrupt scheme.

In exchange for the sensitive information Zhao provided – information Zhao accessed as a result of his position within the U.S. Navy – the Chinese intelligence officer paid Zhao approximately $14,866, the indictment alleges.

“By sending this sensitive military information to an intelligence officer employed by a hostile foreign state, the defendant betrayed his sacred oath to protect our country and uphold the Constitution,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Unlike the vast majority of U.S. Navy personnel who serve the nation with honor, distinction and courage, Mr. Zhao chose to corruptly sell out his colleagues and his country.”

If convicted, Zhao faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division and NCIS investigated the case. IRS Criminal Investigation provided substantial assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annamartine Salick, Sarah Gerdes, Christine Ro and Kathrynne Seiden of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case. Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section is providing substantial assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated August 3, 2023

Twitter is threatening legal action against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that researches hate speech and content moderation on social media platforms.

The letter from Twitter's lawyers alleges that CCDH's research publications are intended to 'harm Twitter's business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.'

This is a pretty bold move from Twitter, especially considering that CCDH is a well-respected organization that has been doing this kind of research for years. And it's especially ironic coming from Elon Musk, who has said that he's a 'free speech absolutist.'

But Musk has also shown that he's sensitive to criticism, so it's not surprising that he's taking this kind of action against CCDH

Police in Frisco, Texas held a Black couple at gunpoint and handcuffed their son earlier this month after mistyping their car's license plate into their system, leading them to falsely believe the car the family was driving was stolen.

The incident occurred on July 23 on the Dallas North Tollway as the family drove to a basketball tournament. While running the car's license plate, officers mistakenly told their system the plate was from Arizona. In reality, the family's car had an Arkansas license plate, leading the system to tell the officers the car was stolen, the Frisco Police Department said in a statement.

Body cam footage shows an officer holding the family at gunpoint. Officers ordered the family to show their hands, and commanded the driver to exit the car, face away from the officers, lift up her shirt while spinning to reveal her waistband, and walk backwards.

The woman repeatedly told officers the car belonged to her and even clarified she's from Arkansas, not Arizona, body cam footage from another office shows. The woman became increasingly concerned after seeing officers handcuff her son.

"Please don't let them do that to my baby, this is very traumatizing," she cried. "Why is my baby in cuffs? What are you all doing? Do not treat my baby this way."

After officers realized their mistake, they acknowledged it to the family.

"This was an honest mistake," an officer told one of the boys in the car. Another took responsibility while speaking to the parents: "That's on me."

"We made a mistake," Frisco Police Chief David Shilson said in the department's later statement. "Our department will not hide from its mistakes. "Instead, we will learn from them."

Civil rights attorney David Henderson told The Dallas Morning News he believes officers profiled the family and violated their constitutional rights.

"In cases I've seen involving people of color who have a license to carry, as soon as they alert the police to the fact that they have a weapon, the police change drastically in terms of how they deal with them," he said.

https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-police-held-black-family-gunpoint-handcuffed-child-after-typo-2023-7

Police in Frisco, Texas held a Black couple at gunpoint and handcuffed their son earlier this month after mistyping their car's license plate into their system, leading them to falsely believe the car the family was driving was stolen.

The incident occurred on July 23 on the Dallas North Tollway as the family drove to a basketball tournament. While running the car's license plate, officers mistakenly told their system the plate was from Arizona. In reality, the family's car had an Arkansas license plate, leading the system to tell the officers the car was stolen, the Frisco Police Department said in a statement.

Body cam footage shows an officer holding the family at gunpoint. Officers ordered the family to show their hands, and commanded the driver to exit the car, face away from the officers, lift up her shirt while spinning to reveal her waistband, and walk backwards.

The woman repeatedly told officers the car belonged to her and even clarified she's from Arkansas, not Arizona, body cam footage from another office shows. The woman became increasingly concerned after seeing officers handcuff her son.

"Please don't let them do that to my baby, this is very traumatizing," she cried. "Why is my baby in cuffs? What are you all doing? Do not treat my baby this way."

After officers realized their mistake, they acknowledged it to the family.

"This was an honest mistake," an officer told one of the boys in the car. Another took responsibility while speaking to the parents: "That's on me."

"We made a mistake," Frisco Police Chief David Shilson said in the department's later statement. "Our department will not hide from its mistakes. "Instead, we will learn from them."

Civil rights attorney David Henderson told The Dallas Morning News he believes officers profiled the family and violated their constitutional rights.

"In cases I've seen involving people of color who have a license to carry, as soon as they alert the police to the fact that they have a weapon, the police change drastically in terms of how they deal with them," he said.

https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-police-held-black-family-gunpoint-handcuffed-child-after-typo-2023-7

!

The flight out of China marked the end of a harrowing ordeal for the Taiwanese businessman who had been held in the country for more than 1,400 days.

"I felt a huge relief after going through the passport check, and I cried a little," he told the BBC this week. "I have returned to the free world."

Mr Lee was arrested and jailed in 2019 after he snapped pictures of police officers in Shenzhen. He was accused of espionage and stealing state secrets - a charge he now denies.

He was released from jail in July 2021, but was prevented from leaving China as he was "deprived of political rights".

It is rare for Beijing to impose this penalty, which includes an exit ban, on convicts who are not mainland Chinese nationals. Activists say that Mr Lee's Taiwanese identity may have prompted authorities to make a political point, amid escalating tensions.

Taiwan regards itself as a self-ruled island, distinct from mainland China, with its own laws and democratically elected leader.

However, China sees island as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing's control, by force if necessary.

China and Taiwan: A really simple guide What's behind China-Taiwan tensions? Like the thousands of Taiwanese who do business in China, Mr Lee visited the country on a work trip in August 2019. At the time he was working for a tech company.

He was no stranger to China, as he previously worked and lived in the eastern city of Suzhou, and also travelled to mainland China about twice a year.

When he visited tensions were running high because Hong Kong was engulfed in the most widespread pro-democracy protests it had ever seen. Almost every weekend, the city saw increasingly violent clashes between the police and protesters.

Curious and sympathetic to the protesters' cause, Mr Lee made a brief detour to Hong Kong, where he watched a rally from the sidelines and passed out pamphlets with messages of support. Then, he went to neighbouring Shenzhen in mainland China to meet a colleague.

At that time, hundreds of armed police officers gathered and armoured vehicles were on display at a stadium in Shenzhen. Many were worried that Beijing would send in these forces to quell the protests in Hong Kong.

The businessman spotted the activity from his hotel room window, so he walked over to the stadium and took some photos. He said there were no warning signs and he didn't cross the police cordon. Many others were also photographing the scene, he said.

Mr Lee denies he was spying. "I am only a curious passer-by… if it really were some state secret, how could everything be seen from a hotel?"

The Shenzhen gathering of police forces was photographed by many people, including news agencies When he was departing Shenzhen, ten video cameras he was transporting back to Taiwan for his business caught the attention of airport officials.

They stopped him to search his luggage and his phone, and found his pamphlets as well as the photos of police forces at the Shenzhen stadium.

National security officers then brought him to a hotel to undergo "residential surveillance at a designated location". For 72 days, he was not allowed to leave his room and watched by three people every day. He wasn't allowed to watch TV, read newspapers, open the curtains or even speak.

"I was actually looking forward to their questioning every day, or otherwise no one was willing to speak to me,"Mr Lee said. "Every day I had nothing to do so I just cleaned the floor, under the bed and the ceiling. It was painful."

Activists say Beijing often uses this secretive and arbitrary form of detention against those accused of national security offences. They can be held for months without trial.

Mr Lee was then whisked off to a detention centre, and only resurfaced months later.

He appeared on state broadcaster CCTV saying he felt sorry for "doing some harm to the motherland".

Mr Lee told the BBC he apologised in the hopes that he would be released as soon as possible. "You couldn't be bothered by things like dignity."

But soon after, he went on trial and was sentenced to one year and ten months in jail for "foreign espionage and illegally sending state secrets".

Chinese state media ran extensive reports about his case, alleging he had taken the pictures of the Shenzhen stadium to send to Taiwanese groups.

They also cited the fact that he had studied in the US and was a member of Taiwanese non-governmental organisations to allege he was a Taiwan independence activist, which Mr Lee denies.

Mr Lee served his sentence in a Guangdong jail, where he was crammed into a small cell with 15 other prisoners. But for him, prison was an improvement from residential surveillance - at least he had company.

He was put to work in a production line and had to wrap computer cables every day. If they failed to finish their tasks on time, they would be physically punished, he said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office has not responded to the BBC's questions. The BBC has not been able to independently verify all of Mr Lee's claims, but his account of his time in detention is similar to those shared by other detainees.

Taiwan sees MeToo outpouring after Netflix show How China calibrates its Taiwan response During his trial Mr Lee had been sentenced to "deprivation of political rights". At the time he did not give it too much thought, he said, as he did not see himself as a Chinese citizen in the first place.

But a month before his scheduled release, he was shocked to find out that he couldn't leave the mainland for another two years.

Yaqiu Wang of Human Rights Watch said that in Mr Lee's case, "the Chinese government wanted to make a point that he's a Chinese citizen".

It is difficult to ascertain the number of Taiwan-linked individuals arrested in China for national security offences. However, it is "reasonable" to assume the number is increasing amid worsening relations between Beijing and Taipei, she said.

In April, Taiwan-based publisher Fucha, who often printed books critical of Beijing, was held for an investigation for endangering national security. Earlier that month, Taiwanese activist Yang Chih-yuan was charged with secession.

The difference in the Chinese authorities' treatment of Mr Lee compared to previous cases may also be a sign that they are getting tougher on Taiwanese detainees.

Iranian authorities are again cracking down on women breaking the country’s strict dress code as they try to reassert control after last year’s momentous protests that were rooted in demands for more freedoms in the Islamic Republic.

This week, authorities shut down an office of the country’s leading e-commerce business, Digikala, popularly known as Iran’s Amazon, after its female staff was seen on social media without the obligatory headscarf, or hijab. They have also reinstated widely reviled street patrols to enforce the country’s Islamic dress code, and shut hundreds of cafes, restaurants and amusement parks where staffers were seen to violate it.

Police recently closed a new hair salon after a video of unveiled women at its opening celebration went viral, and punishments for violations are increasingly designed to attract public attention.

This month a court sentenced a woman to a month of washing and preparing corpses for burial, after she was caught driving without her headscarf in a city south of the capital, Tehran. Another woman was sentenced to 270 hours of cleaning government-owned buildings for allegedly flouting the hijab law.

The fresh pressure on Iranians comes after the country’s police said this month that officers would resume street patrols to uphold the dress code, which requires women to cover their hair with a headscarf and the shape of their bodies with loose clothing. Men have been scolded for wearing shorts.

The mercury in many areas of eastern and western Japan topped 38 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

A daytime high of 38.6 degrees was recorded in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture. Yorii Town in Saitama Prefecture logged 38.5 degrees, and Fukushima City registered 38.2 degrees.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says the intense heat will continue through Friday next week.

The agency and the Environment Ministry warn that risks of developing heatstroke will be extremely high on Sunday. Heatstroke alerts have been issued for 32 prefectures.

Environment Ministry officials say the death toll from heatstroke tends to surge during heat waves. An increasing number of people have been coming down with heatstroke, and some of them have died.

They advise people to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary, use air-conditioning appropriately and keep hydrated.