And the new peace feelers in the Asian Game of Zones. . .
First up, from News Corp Australia, the inevitable:
Four men arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack to kill Queen Elizabeth
A SUSPECTED plot to kill the Queen at a Royal British Legion event ahead of Remembrance Day at the Royal Albert Hall has been foiled by police.
British tabloid The Sun reports four Islamic terror suspects are thought to have been planning a knife attack on Her Majesty, 88.
It is thought the alleged assassination plot on the Queen emerged during routine surveillance.
The Queen and British Prime Minister David Cameron were both informed of the police operation and potential threat, the Sun reports.
Heavily-armed counter terrorist police swooped on four addresses across west London and High Wycombe in the Thames Valley overnight and arrested the four men aged 19 to 27 years.
On to the war with the Washington Post:
U.S. airstrikes target al-Qaeda faction in Syria
U.S. warplanes launched airstrikes in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border early Thursday, targeting a group other than the Islamic State for only the second time since the air campaign in the country began and threatening to draw Washington deeper into Syria’s multilayered conflicts.
The U.S. Central Command said five strikes were conducted specifically against the al-Qaeda-linked Khorasan group using manned aircraft and drones. There were unconfirmed reports that a French bombmaker with the group was among those killed.
Khorasan is the term used by U.S. intelligence to refer to an al-Qaeda cell said to be embedded within Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian militant group that is fighting both President Bashar al-Assad and U.S.-backed moderate opposition forces of the Free Syrian Army, or FSA.
More boots on the ground, via Reuters:
Obama to send more troops to Iraq as campaign expands
President Barack Obama has authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 more U.S. troops for Iraq, roughly doubling the number already there to advise and retrain Iraqi forces battling Islamic State militants, U.S. officials said on Friday.
The United States has about 1,400 troops in Iraq, slightly below a previous limit of 1,600.
The Pentagon said it planned to establish several sites across the country to train nine Iraqi army brigades and three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They will be set up in northern, western and southern Iraq.
More from the McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Some new U.S. troops in Iraq will be sent to Anbar, where Islamic State is in control
At the White House, officials said that while the troops would be entering the most besieged Iraqi provinces, they remained in a non-combat role.
But that may be a difficult promise to keep. The base where they are to conduct the training in Anbar has been attacked multiple time by the Islamic State.
The al Asad Airbase is the headquarters of the Iraqi Army’s 7th Infantry Division, which, according to an Oct. 29 report by the Insititute for the Study of War, “was heavily depleted by desertions and had its leadership gutted” by an Islamic State ambush December 2013 that killed the division commander and 17 members of his senior staff.
When Iraqi security units recently retreated from Hit in the face of an Islamic State assault, they are believed to have pulled back to al Asad, the institute, a Washington, D.C. based research center, said.
From TheLocal.de, oil’s not so well:
German spies say Isis oil isn’t money gusher
A German intelligence report suggests estimates of the oil wealth of terror group the Islamic State (Isis) are wildly overstated.
Previously published estimates have suggested that Isis, which controls large swathes of northern Syria and Iraq, could earn up to €3 billion a year from oil fields it controls.
But a report from Germany’s Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the country’s foreign intelligence service, argues that “speculation of such high levels of income is hugely overblown.”
They say that the real figure may be less than $100 million a year.
And a move [emulating a tactic used by the Nazis] sure to add fuel to Mideast flames from BBC News:
Israel to destroy homes of Palestinian Jerusalem attackers
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered that the homes of Palestinians who have carried out attacks in Jerusalem be demolished. The decision, taken on Thursday, follows weeks of unrest in the city.
Four people have now died in two separate attacks on pedestrians in Jerusalem in the past two weeks. The latest incident occurred on Wednesday when a Palestinian rammed his van into people waiting at a tram station, then attacked police.
One person was killed at the scene and another died from his injuries on Friday morning.
More troubles with another regime changed, via the Guardian:
Libya supreme court rules anti-Islamist parliament unlawful
June’s general elections ruled unconstitutional by court in Tripoli, which says resulting parliament should be dissolved
In a blow to anti-Islamist factions, Libya’s highest court has ruled that general elections held in June were unconstitutional and that the parliament and government which resulted from that vote should be dissolved.
The development deepened the rift in the politically divided Libya, which has been mired in months-long clashes and turmoil that have left the country with two rival parliaments and governments, killed hundreds and displaced whole populations of war-torn cities and towns.
The supreme constitutional court issued its ruling on Thursday from the capital of Tripoli, which is controlled by Islamist-allied militias from the powerful western coastal city of Misrata. The militias, which took Tripoli in August, have revived a parliament that ran the country before the elections. They also forced the recently elected parliament, dominated by anti-Islamists, to convene in the far eastern city of Tobruk.
Suspicions in Foggy Bottom, via the Associated Press:
AP source: Ex-diplomat in counterintelligence case
Two U.S. officials say a federal investigation involving a former U.S. diplomat and expert on Pakistan is related to counterintelligence.
One of the officials said Friday that law enforcement agents searched the home of Robin Raphel as part of an investigation into the possession of classified materials. The official declined to comment further.
The investigation was first reported by The Washington Post.
A spokesman for Raphel, Andrew Rice, says that Raphel had not been told what the investigation was about and was “confident this will be resolved.”
Gee, are we surprised! From the Guardian:
Law enforcement lost public’s trust after NSA leaks, says UK police chief
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Metropolitan police commissioner, says law enforcement must strike balance between security and privacy in wake of Snowden revelations
Law enforcement agencies lost the public’s trust after disclosures on government surveillance by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and must ensure that they strike the right balance between privacy and security, the UK’s most senior police officer said on Thursday.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of the Metropolitan police in London, told a conference of senior American police chiefs that authorities must take care “post-Snowden” to use the most intrusive surveillance tools available to them “only where necessary”, or “risk losing them altogether”.
“We need to ensure that where law enforcement accesses private communications there is a process of authorisation, oversight and governance that gets the balance right between the individual’s right to privacy and their right to be protected from serious crime,” said Hogan-Howe, whose force that takes the lead on police counter-terrorism efforts in the UK.
Hack attacks forecast, via SecurityWeek:
Australia’s Spy Agency Warns of G20 Cyberattacks
An Australian intelligence agency is warning that cyber-criminals will target the upcoming G20 summit in Brisbane, saying they could include state-sanctioned hackers, trade spies or activists.
As world leaders prepare to visit the Queensland state capital for the high-powered November 15-16 meeting, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has reportedly been briefing industry about the threat.
“Targeting of high-profile events such as the G20 by state-sponsored or other foreign adversaries, cyber-criminals and issue-motivated groups is a real and persistent threat,” the directorate said in its G20 cyber-security advice.
G20 Cyber AttacksIt said malicious emails appearing to relate to summits held in 2012 and 2013 had been sent to Australian government agencies in a bid to compromise computer networks and seek information.
Expansion forestalled Down Under, via the Guardian:
Metadata reporting obligations stay as Malcolm Turnbull backs status quo
Government agencies will not be given easier access to Australians’ phone and web data
The government has backed down on a push to remove reporting obligations for access to Australians’ phone and web data just weeks after proposing a bill to abolish mandatory reporting by telecommunications companies.
Currently telcos are obliged to report to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) on the number of times they were asked by government agencies for users’ metadata. Guardian Australia reported that the government moved to abolish that obligation on “repeal day” last month in a legislative red tape reduction exercise.
But a spokesman for the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said keeping the obligations had been on the cards for weeks, despite it being part of repeal day.
Pressing the issue with the Associated Press:
FBI says it impersonated AP reporter in 2007 case
The FBI’s creation of a fake news story and impersonation of an Associated Press reporter during a criminal investigation undermine media credibility, blur the lines between law enforcement and the press and raise questions about whether the agency followed its own guidelines, free press advocates say.
In a letter to The New York Times on Thursday, FBI Director James Comey said an agent “portrayed himself as an employee of The Associated Press” in 2007 to help catch a 15-year-old suspect accused of making bomb threats at a high school near Olympia, Washington. It was publicized last week that the FBI forged an AP story during its investigation, but Comey’s letter revealed the agency went further and had an agent pretend to be a reporter for the wire service.
Comey said the agent posing as an AP reporter asked the suspect to review a fake AP article about threats and cyberattacks directed at the school, “to be sure that the anonymous suspect was portrayed fairly.”
From the Guardian, the press pressed:
Jon Venables leak: journalist found guilty of paying prison officer
Former News of the World journalist colluded with prison officer over sale of stories about killer of James Bulger
A former News of the World journalist has been found guilty of paying a prison officer for details about the life behind bars of Jon Venables, one of the killers of James Bulger.
The journalist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of conspiring with the prison officer, Scott Chapman, and his then wife, Lynn Gaffney, to commit misconduct in public office.
A fourth defendant, Daily Star Sunday journalist Tom Savage, was cleared of the same charge by the Old Bailey jury.
The verdicts were returned on Wednesday but could only be reported on Friday after the judge, Charles Wide QC, lifted interim reporting restrictions.
Another casualty from BBC News:
Ian Edmondson jailed over News of the World hacking plot
Former News of the World news editor Ian Edmondson has been jailed for eight months for his role in phone hacking.
Edmondson, 45, admitted his part in the plot to hack phones last month, becoming the eighth person from the now-closed Sunday tabloid newspaper to be convicted. The Old Bailey heard he lost his home, became depressed and was now dependent on alcohol because of the case.
Among those hacked were sports stars, celebrities, royalty and politicians.
Edmondson, a senior editorial figure at the News of the World between 2005 and 2010, admitted conspiring with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to listen to victims’ voicemail messages.
Means control in Moscow from the Washington Post:
Russian advertising ban on paid cable and satellite channels threatens independents
An advertising ban on Russian cable and satellite TV stations could decimate regional television broadcasting from the suburbs of the capital to the far reaches of Siberia, leaving the country almost entirely dependent on state media for news and information.
The law, which will prohibit commercial advertisements on paid cable and satellite channels starting next year, is one of many measures Russian authorities have adopted in recent months to tighten control over the flow of information, reduce foreign money in Russian media and force journalists to hew closer to a pro-Kremlin line.
But the advertising ban threatens to deliver the most devastating blow to homegrown independent outlets where Russians get most of their news: television.
After the jump, Home Depot hackery exacerbation, phishing with notAmazon, Dark Netizens nabbed, the Memory Hole widens in Japan, Chinese drone aspirations, on to Mexico and the murdered college students plus a military concession in a mass murder, controversy over an Aussie sub deal, Burmese state security trafficking Muslims, allegations of North Korean forced serfdom, Bejing warns Hong Kong Occupy activists, a call for release of jailed activists, and a warning from Hong Kong Police, Japanese/American military pact delayed, hints of a potential Beijing/Tokyo thaw and a shared pledge as Washington approves, Tokyo uightens security, and the Comfort Women issue flares anew. . .
From Al Jazeera America, hackery exacerbation:
Home Depot data breach worse than first reported
Hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to customer data for 56 million payment cards previously disclosed
Home Depot said hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to the customer data for 56 million payment cards previously disclosed in September.
Hackers used a third-party vendor’s user name and password to enter the perimeter of its network, the retailer said on Thursday.
“Customers should be on guard against phishing scams, which are designed to trick customers into providing personal information in response to phony e-mails,” the company said.
Phishing with notAmazon, via TechWeekEurope:
Almost 1 Million Brits Attacked By Amazon Phishing Scam Emails
Security specialists warn email users to be be “extra cautious” this holiday shopping season
Security researchers at web and email firm AppRiver have tracked two types of Amazon phishing emails that are targeting the UK – one at a quantity of 600,000 and the other at 160,000.
Both carry Trojan malware that harvest banking login credentials, email credentials and social media credentials.
Fake Amazon emails
Troy Gill, manager of security research, AppRiver, said: “Currently we are seeing several malware email campaigns posing as legitimate communication from Amazon.”
The first campaign is posing as messages from the amazon.co.uk with the subject line reading: Your Amazon Order Has Dispatched (#3digits-7digits-7digits). These messages pose as order shipment notifications.
Dark Netizens nabbed, via BBC News:
Huge raid to shut down 400-plus dark net sites
Silk Road 2.0 and 400 other sites believed to be selling illegal items including drugs and weapons have been shut down. The sites operated on the Tor network – a part of the internet unreachable via traditional search engines.
The joint operation between 16 European countries and the US saw 17 arrests, including Blake Benthall who is said to be behind Silk Road 2.0. Experts believe the shutdown represents a breakthrough for fighting cybercrime.
Six Britons were also arrested, including a 20-year-old man from Liverpool, a 19-year-old man from New Waltham, a 30 year-old-man from Cleethorpes and a man and woman, both aged 58, from Aberdovey, Wales.
The Memory Hole widens, via the Japan Times:
Yahoo Japan considers new policy for removal of search results
At a time when the European Union is pushing ahead with what has been called the “right to be forgotten,” Internet portal Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday it is considering creating a new policy on the removal of search results.
If the nation’s most popular Internet portal adopts new policies regarding online references to individuals, the broader industry may follow suit.
Currently Yahoo Japan in principle refuses to respond to requests to remove search results except for certain cases involving past crimes. Instead, it has deferred to court decisions on the grounds that one company alone cannot decide what society should and should not have access to, a Yahoo Japan executive said.
Chinese drone aspirations from Global Times:
Ready for takeoff?
Companies seek wider market applications for drones
To ordinary consumers, drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are usually associated with military uses. But now, foreign and domestic companies are trying to navigate the high-tech gadget toward commercial applications.
Shanghai-listed Loncin Motor Co, one of the latest to do so, announced in late October the establishment of a joint venture with a registered capital of 100 million yuan ($16.36 million) to develop drones.
The company claimed in a stock exchange filing that that they have seen massive opportunities in China’s underdeveloped drones industry, believing the vehicle can have a variety of uses, such as forest-fire prevention, aerial photography, emergency rescue and geological survey.
Loncin’s companion, Shandong Mining Machinery Group, appears to have already gotten a leg up in the field. The Shenzhen-listed company recently conducted a successful test flight of its UAV at an airport in Central China’s Henan Province, according to a filing posted on Monday.
On to Mexico and the murdered college students, via Sky News:
‘Gang Massacred’ Missing Mexico Students
Three suspects in the disappearance of 43 students in Mexico have described a macabre mass murder of the victims, authorities say.
Confessions by three suspected gang members indicate 43 missing college students were murdered at a landfill site before being burned beyond recognition and dumped in a river, authorities in Mexico have said.
In a sombre and lengthy news conference detailing the investigation, Attorney General Jesus Murillo said the suspects, caught a week ago, then set about removing all the evidence.
“They didn’t just burn the bodies with their clothes, they also burned the clothes of those who participated… They tried to erase every possible trace.”
Video of the suspects’ alleged confessions and footage showing hundreds of charred fragments of bone and teeth fished from the river where the bodies were dumped was played during the news conference.
A video report from Reuters:
Massacre of missing students verified by Mexican Attorney General
Program notes:
Mexico’s government said evidence suggests that 43 missing trainee teachers were murdered and their charred remains thrown into a garbage dump. Deborah Lutterbeck reports
A military concession in a mass murder from Al Jazeera America:
Mexican army accepts criticism of human rights commission in killings
The defense department says, however, it doesn’t agree with all findings of human rights commission on the June slayings
Mexico’s Defense Department says it will obey a recommendation by the country’s National Human Rights Commission that the army investigate the commission’s allegation that soldiers executed up to 15 suspected gang members in late June.
The department says it will abide by the recommendation, which requires it to compensate victims of the June 30 slayings or their relatives. The army is also required to do more to train soldiers to avoid such killings and to ensure military personnel don’t alter crime scenes.
The department said Thursday it does not agree with all the findings in the commission’s report, but “has decided to accept (the recommendation) out of a special interest in cooperating to clear up the case, and if any military personnel have engaged in illegal conduct … they be punished in accordance with the law.”
The commission ruled in late October that five soldiers had probably executed 15 suspects after a gunfight at a grain warehouse in southern Mexico.
Controversy over an Aussie sub deal from Reuters:
Australian government under pressure to hold submarine tender after eyeing Japan deal
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is under pressure from regional officials, labor unions and members of his own party to have an open tender to build Australia’s next-generation submarine, which would be a blow to Japan and the United States.
Reuters reported in September that Australia was leaning toward buying as many as 12 off-the-shelf stealth submarines from Japan in a deal that would net it a major portion of Australia’s overall A$40 billion ($34.3 billion) submarine program.
Senior U.S. naval officers have been enthusiastic about the possibility of Australia partnering with Japan, which would give the three navies increased interoperability at a time of greater American strategic focus on Asia and as China’s navy grows rapidly.
The Guardian covers a Burmese scandal:
Burma’s state security forces profit from trafficking Rohingya Muslims
Authorities are earning $7,000 per boatload in exchange for passage out to sea
Burma’s state security forces are profiting directly from the trafficking of stateless Rohingya Muslims, earning up to $7,000 per boatload in exchange for passage to sea, a human rights group has found.
Police, navy and army officials have been working directly with transnational crime syndicates by escorting boats to international waters, providing rations or extorting bribes from passengers, many of whom are forced to hand over cash or jewellery as payment, according to Fortify Rights, a Bangkok-based group which conducts independent monitoring of rights violations. “Not only are the authorities making life so intolerable for Rohingya that they’re forced to flee, but they’re also profiting from the exodus,” said its executive director, Matthew Smith. “This is a regional crisis that’s worsening while Myanmar [Burmese] authorities are treating it like a perverse payday.”
About 100,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine in west Burma since 2012, when communal violence erupted and Muslim villages were razed in nearly all the townships across the state. Hundreds have since died in mob violence and 140,000 Rohingya are now living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps, where food, medicine and adequate housing are scarce.
Allegations of another form of trafficking from the Guardian:
North Koreans working as ‘state-sponsored slaves’ in Qatar
Defectors claim Pyongyang regime pockets 90% or more of earnings made by migrants working on construction sites in Qatar, where preparations are under way for 2022 World Cup
Thousands of migrant labourers from North Korea are toiling for years on construction sites in Qatar for virtually no pay – including on the vast new metropolis that is the centrepiece of the World Cup – in what may amount to “state-sponsored slavery”.
According to testimonies from workers and defectors, labourers from the reclusive state said they receive almost no salaries in person while in the Gulf emirate during the three years they typically spend there.
They work in the expectation they will collect their earnings when they return to North Korea, but according to a series of testimonies from defectors and experts, workers receive as little as 10% of their salaries when they go home, and some may receive nothing. One North Korean worker at a construction site in central Doha told the Guardian: “We are here to earn foreign currency for our nation.”
Beijing warms Hong Kong Occupy activists, via South China Morning Post:
Occupy Central threatens ‘Hong Kong security’, Beijing advisers warn
Two mainland academics who advise Beijing on Hong Kong affairs have warned that Occupy Central protests have threatened “Hong Kong security”, which is a crucial determinant of national security.
The new jargon was invented by Huang Ping, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, and Chen Xinxin, a legal affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in an article published in the latest issue of the Hong Kong and Macao Journal.
The association, chaired by former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chen Zuoer, is a high-level think tank set up by the central government last year to study Hong Kong affairs, including the Basic Law and political reform.
In the article entitled “The Unlawful Nature of the Occupy Central campaign in Hong Kong”, Huang and Chen said the protests, which have paralysed parts of the city for six weeks, had upset social order and undermined the foundation of the rule of law.
“It also has some elements of a ‘colour revolution’ and has already threatened ‘Hong Kong security’,” the two academics wrote.
A call for a prisoner release from Reuters:
Amnesty calls for release of pro-HK activists before APEC summit
China should release at least 76 people, detained on the mainland for supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, before the start of next week’s Asia-Pacific leaders summit in Beijing, rights group Amnesty International said on Friday.
Students calling for full democracy for Chinese-ruled Hong Kong have blocked roads leading into three of the city’s most economically and politically important districts for weeks, drawing condemnation from Beijing and the Hong Kong government.
Leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping will gather for the Nov. 10-11 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Chinese capital. Preliminary meetings are already underway.
And a police warning from South China Morning Post:
Police will back bailiffs to enforce injunctions to end Occupy sit-ins
Decision Monday on injunctions that call for Mong Kok and Admiralty sites to be cleared
A High Court judge will rule on Monday on applications for injunctions to clear barricades at Occupy protest sites in Mong Kok and Admiralty.
If the Court of First Instance rules in favour of the applicants, bailiffs will be sent to carry out the court orders.
Legal experts suggest that police could step in if public peace was broken or disturbed, while a police source confirmed that officers would help bailiffs execute the orders if the court gives such a direction.
Japanese/American military pact delayed, from the Asahi Shimbun:
Final report on new defense cooperation guidelines delayed until next year
The final report on new guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense cooperation will not be ready by the end of 2014, the initial deadline, as domestic political concerns pushed it to the back burner.
The two governments are now considering delaying the final report until next spring, according to sources.
The major reason is that discussions have not progressed within the ruling coalition over legislation that would implement the changes made by the Abe Cabinet in early July on the government’s interpretation of the pacifist Constitution regarding the exercise of the right to collective self-defense.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition partner, Komeito, has been cautious about discussing such legislation because of concerns it could adversely affect unified local elections to be held in spring 2015.
Hints of a potential Beijing/Tokyo thaw from the Japan Times:
Tokyo admits ‘differing views’ on Senkakus, opening door to Abe-Xi meeting
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to have a summit meeting in Beijing next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a senior lawmaker in the ruling camp said Friday.
Komeito party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi cited a briefing Abe gave regarding his diplomatic schedule.
Such an encounter would be the first between the two leaders since Abe returned to power nearly two years ago.
Earlier in the day, the Japanese government released a written statement saying Beijing and Tokyo have agreed to recognize that the two sides have “differing views over the recent tension” over the Senkakus in the East China Sea. The islets are also claimed by China and Taiwan.
Taking the pledge with the Asahi Shimbun:
Japan, China compile written pledge to improve ties ahead of summit
Japan and China reached a rare written agreement on Nov. 7 to improve relations strained by a territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and historical perspectives, ahead of a much-awaited summit meeting.
The four-point document was compiled as the two governments sought to finalize preconditions to hold a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing.
“We were able to agree on four items, based on which we are finalizing the preparations to realize the summit talks during the APEC meeting,” Abe said on Nov. 7 during a TV program.
A thumbs up in D.C., via the Mainichi:
U.S. welcomes “positive” development in Japan-China relations: Kishida
The United States welcomed “positive” developments in the relationship between Japan and China as the likelihood of a fence-mending meeting between the leaders of the two Asian countries increases, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday.
At his 40-minute meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the fringes of a regional economic summit in Beijing, the two also reaffirmed cooperation in preventing the spread of the Ebola virus and resolving issues related to past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, the Japanese minister said.
With attention focused on the envisioned, much-anticipated Japan-China summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kishida told reporters he had informal exchanges with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, Wang Yi and Yun Byung Se.
Tightening up with the Yomiuri Shimbun:
Law passed to strengthen cybersecurity measures
The House of Representatives has enacted into law a bill that is designed to strengthen cybersecurity measures.
The bill was approved Thursday by a majority vote at the day’s lower house plenary meeting with the support from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, and such opposition parties as the Democratic Party of Japan. The bill cleared the House of Councillors on Oct. 29.
The government hopes to improve its ability to fight cyber-terrorism toward key events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
And to close, fans flamed via the Mainichi:
Man indicted over threat linked to comfort women issue
Prosecutors filed an indictment on Friday with the Sapporo Summary Court against a 64-year-old man for allegedly making a threatening phone call to a Hokkaido university in connection with controversial newspaper reports on the so-called “comfort women” issue.
The resident in Tsubame, Niigata Prefecture, threatened to plant a bomb at Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo in the call he made on Sept. 12, pressuring the university into dismissing a part-time lecturer who as a reporter for The Asahi Shimbun newspaper had written articles on the mostly Asian women who were forced to work at wartime Japanese military brothels, according to the indictment.
