Onward, first with the single greatest global security threat from Al Jazeera America:
Global inequality is a rising concern for elites
The worldwide wealth gap is the World Economic Forum’s trend to watch for 2015
Income inequality is now the number one global concern, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) — an assessment supported by research suggesting even economic elites now fret over the impact on society of the growing wealth divide.
In an annual WEF report released last week, United Nations adviser Amina Mohamed warns that income inequality can have pervasive social and political consequences. The deepening gap between rich and poor, she writes, “reduces the sustainability of economic growth [and] weakens social cohesion and security.”
That perceived threat to social stability may be why income inequality has steadily climbed the WEF’s list of priorities with each new edition of it annual economic assessment. In its 2011 report, the WEF listed inequality as “the most underestimated” global trend. By last year’s edition, it had climbed to second place.
Al-Monitor covers hands across the divide:
Iraqi Shiites join Sunnis to fight Islamic State
Shiite authorities have assumed a prominent role in calming the situation and preventing their followers from having violent reactions that may have dire consequences. Iraq’s prominent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, along with his spokesmen, has repeatedly said, “Sunnis are ourselves, not only our brothers.” Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein Ismail al-Sadr regularly receives Sunni tribesmen and clerics from different parts of Iraq, an important step in the prevention of sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.
IS did not only target Shiites to drag them into attacking Sunnis, but also suppressed moderate Sunnis to rid the internal front from moderate perspectives and from those who coexist with Shiites. The group deals severely with Sunni tribes that preserve or seek to preserve good ties with Shiites. The Oct. 20 execution of several members of the Bou Nemr tribe in Anbar province is a prominent example. The group has killed 238 men from the tribe and a mass grave of 250 tribesmen was recently found.
These actions have resulted in adverse reactions that were not the group’s objective. The Sunnis sought help from the Shiites to get rid of the group. In an interview with Al-Hurra on Oct. 29, Bou Nemr leader and parliament member Ghazi al-Gaood called on Shiite leaders, particularly Muqtada al-Sadr and the head of the Badr Organization, Hadi Al-Amiri, to oppose the destruction of his tribe by this group. He said they were facing a genocide at the hands of a barbaric group that had no religious, moral or humane principles, and therefore they welcomed any force that could assist them, even if this meant resorting to help from Israel.
Ignorance, intentional or otherwise, via the Guardian:
Libyan former CIA detainees say US torture inquiry never interviewed them
US government preparing to defend its record on torture before UN panel, but fresh accusation reopens controversy over 2012 decision by prosecutor not to bring charges against anyone involved in CIA abuse
As the US government prepares to defend its record on torture before a United Nations panel, five Libyan men once held without charge by the CIA say the main criminal investigation into allegations of detainee abuse never even interviewed them.
The Libyans’ accusation reopens controversy over the 2012 pre-election decision by the prosecutor in the case not to bring charges against anyone involved in CIA abuse – an episode the US State Department has held up as an example of its diligence in complying with international torture obligations.
On Wednesday, a United Nations committee in Geneva is scheduled to hear a US delegation outline recent measures Washington has taken to combat torture. It will be the first update the US has provided to the committee since 2006, when the CIA still operated its off-the-books “black site” prisons. Human rights campaigners who have seen the Obama administration repeatedly decline to deliver justice for US torture victims consider it a belated chance at ending what they consider to be impunity.
Among the committee’s requested submissions, issued in 2010, is a description of steps the US has taken to ensure torture claims against it are “promptly, impartially and thoroughly investigated”. The committee specifically asked for a status update about the Justice Department’s since-concluded torture inquiry.
From the Intercept, inquiring minds want to know:
What Happened to the Humanitarians Who Wanted to Save Libyans With Bombs and Drones?
Almost without exception, war advocates justified NATO’s military action in Libya on the ground that it was driven not primarily by strategic or resource objectives but by altruism. The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof wrote: “Libya is a reminder that sometimes it is possible to use military tools to advance humanitarian causes.” Former Obama official Anne-Marie Slaughter argued that intervention was a matter of upholding “universal values,” which itself advanced America’s strategic goals. In justifying the war to Americans (more than a week after it started), President Obama decreed: “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.”
But “turning a blind eye” to the ongoing – and now far worse – atrocities in Libya is exactly what the U.S., its war allies, and most of the humanitarian war advocates are now doing. Indeed, after the bombing stopped, war proponents maintained interest in the Libyan people just long enough to boast of their great prescience and to insist on their vindication. Slaughter took her grand victory lap in a Financial Times op-ed headlined “Why Libya sceptics were proved badly wrong,” Dismissing those who were telling her that “it is too early to tell” and that “in a year, or a decade, Libya could disintegrate into tribal conflict or Islamist insurgency, or split apart or lurch from one strongman to another,” she insisted that nothing could possibly be worse than letting Gaddafi remain in power. Thus: “Libya proves the west can make those choices wisely after all.”
Kristof similarly took his moment in the sun to celebrate his own rightness, visiting Tripoli in August and then announcing that Americans were regarded by grateful Libyans as heroes. While carefully larding up his column with all sorts of caveats about how things could still go terribly wrong, he nonetheless trumpeted that “this was a rare military intervention for humanitarian reasons, and it has succeeded” and that “on rare occasions military force can advance human rights. Libya has so far been a model of such an intervention.” When Gaddafi’s defeat was imminent, the White-House-supporting Think Progress blog exploited the resulting emotions (exactly as the GOP did when Saddam was captured) to taunt the Republicans: “Does John Boehner still believe U.S. military operations in Libya are illegal?” – as though killing Gaddafi somehow excused the waging of this war in the face of Congressional rejection of its authorization, let alone guaranteed a better outcome for Libyans.
Speaking of Libya. . .via BBC News:
Libya violence: Activists beheaded in Derna
Three young activists have been found beheaded in Derna, in eastern Libya.
The three, who had relayed information about the city through social media, had been kidnapped earlier this month.
Several Islamist groups are competing for control of the city, with some militants recently declaring allegiance to Islamic State.
Libya has been in a state of flux since Col Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, with disparate tribes, militias and political factions fighting for power.
The Guardian covers a curious decision:
UK drops security claim blocking Pakistani’s lawsuit over ‘torture’
Government abandons argument that UK-US intelligence ties preclude letting Yunus Rahmatullah sue for damages
The UK government has abandoned its long-standing claim that relations with Washington would suffer if a Pakistani citizen who claims he was tortured by British and American troops was allowed to sue for damages in court.
Yunus Rahmatullah says he was tortured over a 10-year period after being captured by British special forces in Iraq and handed over to US troops in 2004. He was released by the US without charge in May.
The British government made the concession as a former American ambassador roundly dismissed the government’s case.
From the Express Tribune, an all-too-familiar story in Pakistan:
Drone strike kills six in North Waziristan
At least six suspected militants were killed, and three others were injured in a US drone attack in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Tuesday evening.
Initial reports suggest that the drone fired two missiles on a vehicle and a residential compound. As a result of the strikes, the vehicle and a portion of a house were destroyed.
The identities of the killed have not been ascertained as yet, but local tribesmen claim that the killed were local and foreign militants.
Pakistan routinely protests against US drone strikes, which have been targeting militants in the tribal areas since 2004, saying they violate its sovereignty and are counterproductive in the fight against terror.
But most analysts believe the resumption of the drone programme after it was suspended at the start of the year — reportedly to give Pakistan space for negotiations with the Taliban — is evidence of collusion between the two countries.
Skynet alert, via the New York Times:
Fearing Bombs That Can Pick Whom to Kill
Warfare is increasingly guided by software. Today, armed drones can be operated by remote pilots peering into video screens thousands of miles from the battlefield. But now, some scientists say, arms makers have crossed into troubling territory: They are developing weapons that rely on artificial intelligence, not human instruction, to decide what to target and whom to kill.
As these weapons become smarter and nimbler, critics fear they will become increasingly difficult for humans to control — or to defend against. And while pinpoint accuracy could save civilian lives, critics fear weapons without human oversight could make war more likely, as easy as flipping a switch.
Britain, Israel and Norway are already deploying missiles and drones that carry out attacks against enemy radar, tanks or ships without direct human control. After launch, so-called autonomous weapons rely on artificial intelligence and sensors to select targets and to initiate an attack.
Cold War 2.0, via TheLocal.no:
Russian super-jets seen flying near Norway
Photo evidence of a new Russian fighter jet caught flying just outside Finnmark in North Norway were released by Norwegian security forces on Tuesday.
The images were taken by Norwegian air defence personnel at the end of October, but capture the might of the new aircraft technology Russian has at its disposal and threat to security posed by the re-emerging superpower state.
The images showed two of the new Russian Su-34 fighter jets, never before been seen flying in and around North Europe. The series of pictures were taken on October 29th this year, outside the coast of Finnmark, reported VG.
And the old reliable honey trap, via intelNews:
UK report warns about sexual entrapment by foreign spies
A leaked report issued by military authorities in the United Kingdom cautions British officials to be aware of attempts by Chinese and Russian intelligence services to compromise them using sexual entrapment.
The London-based Sunday Times newspaper said it had acquired a copy of the document, entitled Manual of Security, authored by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence for use by senior officials. The manual warns that foreign intelligence services are known to employ sexual entrapment or romantic attachment as a means of compromising their targets.
The document singles out the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Chinese Ministry of State Security as two adversary agencies that are known to employ sexual entrapment on a regular basis.
From the Intercept, dirty deeds scrutinized:
EU Scrutinizes Spyware Exports To Sketchy Regimes
The European Union will start paying closer attention to sales of invasive surveillance software, which has previously flowed from European companies to countries with questionable human rights records.
Under new EU rules issued recently, certain kinds of monitoring software will require a license to export. Those license applications would provide more transparency about where the software is going, and could potentially allow governments to block unsavory sales.
As The Intercept has reported, companies like Milan-based Hacking Team or FinFisher, of Munich, sell to countries where authorities appear to have used the software to spy on dissidents and the press. Hacking Team implants have been discovered on the devices of Moroccan and Ethiopian journalists, while leaked FinFisher documents showed that activists and political opposition members in Bahrain had been targeted.
German hacking the official sort, via RT:
German intelligence to monitor overseas social networks
Germany’s foreign intelligence agency plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros on surveillance technology designed to monitor foreign social networks, local media reported, citing a confidential document.
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) will spend €28 million, in 2015 alone, on its Strategic Technical Initiative (SIT), the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported.
According to a confidential report seen by the newspaper, the agency asked the Bundestag’s Budget Committee for a total of €300 million ($375 million) for the SIT program between 2015 and 2020.
The BND plans to set up an early warning system for cyber attacks, the report said.
The Diplomat covers cyberspooks:
Cyber Espionage and US-China Relations
Program notes:
Cyber issues are increasingly at the forefront of the U.S.-China relationship. The Obama administration places great emphasis on stopping cyber attacks on U.S. commercial interests while China decries the cyber espionage revealed in the Edward Snowden leaks. Dr. James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins The Diplomat to talk about China’s (and America’s) cyber espionage activities, policy options for Washington, and what progress has been made so far.
From Nextgov, a win:
Federal Judge Says Public Has a Right to Know About FBI’s Facial Recognition Database
A federal judge has ruled that the FBI’s futuristic facial-recognition database is deserving of scrutiny from open-government advocates because of the size and scope of the surveillance technology.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the bureau’s Next Generation Identification program represents a “significant public interest” due to concerns regarding its potential impact on privacy rights and should be subject to rigorous transparency oversight.
“There can be little dispute that the general public has a genuine, tangible interest in a system designed to store and manipulate significant quantities of its own biometric data, particularly given the great numbers of people from whom such data will be gathered,” Chutkan wrote in an opinion released late Wednesday.
After the jump, Flash vulnerabilities redux, a South Korean hacker’s confession, seeking goose sauce for the hacked gander, malware downloads for your iPhone, NGOs and rights activists targeted by malware, the ongoing corrupt police assets seizure regime, more protests in Mexico over those slaughtered students, killer cops in Brazil, a provocative Russian nuclear move in Iran, on to Hong Kong, first with a greenlight for cops to clear away Occupy protesters [who are preparing to surrender] and an Obama denial, China strengthens its economic alliance, mixed signals between Washington and Beijing, China wows with a new stealth fighter as it seeks a greater Afghan role, and Japan asks for a hotline with Beijing, plus the new LGBT/African American/Jewish friendly Klan. . .
Flashing from Threatpost:
Adobe Patches 18 Vulnerabilities in Flash
Adobe pushed out security updates for Flash Player this afternoon, addressing 18 different vulnerabilities, all critical, that could allow an attacker to take control of an affected system running the multimedia platform according to a security bulletin posted today.
The Patch Tuesday updates, available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux machines, remedy vulnerabilities in several builds of Flash Player and AIR, Adobe’s run-time system.
The lion’s share of the vulnerabilities – 15 of the 18 – a use-after-free, double free, memory corruption, type confusion and buffer overflow vulnerability, could lead to code execution if left unpatched. Other vulnerabilities patched include issues that could trigger session tokens to be disclosed, and cause privilege escalation.
From TechWorm , true confessions:
20 year old South Korean hacked 104 websites and collected 280,000 private records
A South Korean teenager known only by his last name Jang has managed to hack into over a hundred websites across the world and has been amassing a whopping collection of 280,000 private records was finally arrested by the authorities. Jang who operated from the South Korean capital city Seoul had managed to break the security settings of various websites across the world before being noticed. This spree of hacking began in November of last year and went on till the past August. Jang, apparently wanted to prove his worth to the hacker community
Jang, it seems, wanted to make his handiwork well known among the hacker community, he also published tips and tricks of his craft on blogs- even to the extent of uploading videos of his conquests. It is believed that he made about 13,000 records of the 280,000 stolen by him, public in one of these ways. The information stolen from the websites included credentials for social networking accounts like Facebook and Twitter, along with details about employees of national or international government agencies, taken from North Korean websites.
Jang also looked to exploit his evil deeds financially. The authorities have evidence that Jang trying to make purchases with the credit card information he had stolen. One of the victims of the financial fraud was a Korean official who also lost control of his email account to Jang. According to Korea Joongang Daily, the hacker told the police that the motivation behind his attacks was to prove himself among fellow hackers.
Seeking goose sauce for the hacked gander, via Threatpost:
Retail Trade Groups Want Fair Data Breach Reporting Rules
The National Retail Federation and dozens of other related groups cosigned a letter to top congressional leaders last week pleading that they consider the passage of a federal law imposing uniform data breach notification rules that are equally applicable to every organization that handles sensitive user information.
The focus of the NRF letter is twofold: emphasizing a need to focus on the underlying causes of incidents as much as their effects while also suggesting that the problem is exacerbated because certain industries are exempt from having to report certain data breach information. Such exemptions apparently do not apply to the retail sector.
“Exemptions for particular industry sectors not only ignore the scope of the problem, but create risks criminals can exploit,” the NRF argues. “Equally important, a single federal law applying to all breached entities would ensure clear, concise and consistent notices to all affected consumers regardless of where they live or where the breach occurs.”
Malware downloads for your iPhone, via TechWorm:
Masque Attack : Your iPhone Apps may actually be malwares
Researchers at FireEye identified a new attack that can be used by attackers to replace a genuine App with another malware laden one. The FireEye researchers have named this new attack as ‘Masque Attack’.
In July, the FireEye mobile security team discovered that an iOS app installed using enterprise or ad-hoc provisioning could replace another genuine app installed through the App Store if both applications used the same bundle identifier. The vulnerability exists because iOS doesn’t enforce matching certificates for apps with the same bundle identifier, according to the firm.
In an example of how an attack would work, FireEye sent a link to a test case user inviting them to download a new Flappy Bird update. When the person clicked the link, they unknowingly downloaded a hacked update to the legitimate Gmail app.
NGOs and rights activists targeted by malware, from PCWorld:
Rights groups, NGOs struggle against malware attacks
A multi-year study of cyberattacks against 10 activist and human rights groups shows they’re hit with the same types of intrusions as large organizations but have far fewer resources to defend themselves.
That disadvantage could mean a gradual erosion of the “core institutions” that mark a “vibrant democratic society,” wrote analysts with The Citizen Lab, a Canadian think tank that is part of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.
The groups “typically do not have the funding to hire technical security experts, or the opportunity to engage with government on digital defence or overall policy in a manner that protects their security and confidentiality needs,” they wrote in a summary of their findings released on Tuesday.
The ongoing corrupt police assets seizure regime, via the Washington Post:
Highway seizure in Iowa fuels debate about asset-forfeiture laws
The two men in the rented red Nissan Altima were poker players traveling through Iowa on their way to Las Vegas. The police were state troopers on the hunt for criminals, contraband and cash.
They intersected last year on a rural stretch of Interstate 80, in a seemingly routine traffic stop that would soon raise new questions about laws that allow police to take money and property from people not charged with crimes.
By the time the encounter was over, the gamblers had been detained for more than two hours. Their car was searched without a warrant. And their cellphones, a computer and $100,020 of their gambling “bankroll” were seized under state civil asset-forfeiture laws. The troopers allowed them to leave, without their money, after issuing a traffic warning and a citation for possession of marijuana paraphernalia that carried a $65 fine, court records show.
Months later, an attorney for the men obtained a video of the stop. It showed that the motorists were detained for a violation they did not commit — a failure to signal during a lane change — and authorities were compelled to return 90 percent of the money.
Now the men are questioning the police tactics in an unusual federal civil rights lawsuit. In the suit, filed Sept. 29, William Barton Davis, 51, and John Newmer-zhycky, 43, both from Humboldt County, Calif., claim their constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures were violated. They also contend the stop was part of a pattern connected to the teachings of a private police-training firm that promotes aggressive tactics.
More protests in Mexico over those slaughtered students, via Deutsche Welle:
Mexico protests over Iguala hit ruling party PRI building
Protesters angry over the massacre of 43 students have set fire to a regional headquarters of Mexico’s ruling party. Students and members of a teachers’ union have marched across the city of Chilpancingo.
About 200 riot police wearing helmets and bearing shields chased more than 1,000 protesters as black smoke billowed from the two-story headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Guerrero state capital, Chilpancingo. Tuesday’s protests and the police response have left at least three people injured so far, including two journalists.
Protests have erupted in Mexico since authorities on Friday said that gang hitmen in league with corrupt police had confessed to murdering 43 students and incinerating their bodies in September, acting on orders given by Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca.
On Monday evening, protesters, including relatives of the slain students, had clashed with police at the main regional airport in Acapulco for about three hours, forcing flight cancellations.
From MercoPress, a high body count:
Violent crime costs Brazil 5.4% of GDP; 2.212 people dead in police operations
Violent crime cost Brazil 258 billion Reais (about 100 billion dollars) in 2013, a figure equivalent to 5.4% of the country’s GDP, according to the new Brazilian Public Safety Annual Report, in which it is stated that an average of six people died in police operations each day during the year.
The report, which will be presented in detail on Tuesday at the Brazilian Public Safety Forum in Sao Paulo, says that 2,212 people died in police operations during 2013 and 490 police officers died while on duty or were murdered.
The document says that the slight drop last year from the 2,332 deaths at the hands of the police in 2012 “does not indicate an improvement or change in trend.”
Between 2009 and 2013, authorities registered 11,197 deaths in police operations, a figure exceeding the number of deaths at the hands of the police in the United States over the past 30 years, the communiqué said.
A provocative Russian nuclear move in Iran, via CNN:
Russia steps up nuclear plans in Iran as talks near deadline
Russia has announced plans to build new nuclear reactors in Iran — a move with international repercussions as a deadline looms.
The country will construct up to eight new reactors for the “peaceful use of atomic energy” in Iran, Russian state news agency Ria-Novosti reported Tuesday.
The announcement came less than two weeks before Iran’s negotiations with Western powers over its nuclear activities are set to expire.
It also came a day after a fresh warning from Israel that the regime can’t be trusted, and a fresh promise from Washington that Iran won’t become a nuclear-armed state.
On to Hong Kong, first with a greenlight for cops to clear away Occupy protesters via the Los Angeles Times:
Hong Kong court says police can remove protesters
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators could be forced to leave the streets or risk arrest as early as Wednesday after the territory’s high court ruled that police could start removing barricades and protesters from occupied zones.
The injunctions apply specifically to protesters in the Mong Kok district and the area around one skyscraper in the Admiralty area, near government headquarters. The court’s ruling, issued Monday but only made public on Tuesday, enhanced three interim restraining orders issued on behalf of the owner of the skyscraper, two taxi driver groups and a minibus management company.
The plaintiffs told the court that the blockades of the streets had hurt their businesses. Police will be authorized to arrest and remove demonstrators who interfere with the plaintiffs’ work of clearing the sites.
More from South China Morning Post:
Occupy Central leaders prepare to surrender as police make plans to clear sites
Occupy Central co-founders tentatively plan to turn themselves in to police next week, the South China Morning Post has learned.
This comes as police sources say the force may begin executing from tomorrow the injunctions taken out against the Mong Kok and Admiralty sit-ins.
A core member of Occupy Central told the Post that the three organisers of the civil disobedience movement and its volunteers were planning to surrender to police on Friday next week, in an attempt to show that they were willing to accept the legal consequences of joining the “unlawful” pro-democracy protest.
And an Obama denial from Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
US has no involvement in Hong Kong protests: Obama
The United States has no role in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, President Barack Obama said in Beijing on Wednesday (Nov 12), despite Chinese accusations that foreign forces are involved.
“I was unequivocal in saying that the US had no involvement in fostering the protests that took place in Hong Kong,” Obama told reporters at a joint press conference. “These are issues ultimately for the people of Hong Kong and China to decide,” he said.
“But I did make clear that US will encourage people’s right to express themselves and that elections in Hong Kong are reflective of the will of the people there.”
The Washington Post strategizes:
China promotes ‘Asia-Pacific dream’ to counter U.S. ‘pivot’
Chinese President Xi Jinping backs vision with tens of billions of dollars of investment, but may find money can’t buy love.
China’s President Xi Jinping has a new vision for Asia, with his country at the center of affairs. It embodies what he calls the “Asia-Pacific dream” and two new “Silk Roads” and is backed by tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment, a proposed free-trade zone and vigorous diplomatic engagement.
It is already shaping up to be a powerful riposte to President Obama’s strategic rebalance toward Asia, often referred to as the “pivot.”
Xi is using the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit as the coming-out party for his Asian vision, just as China used the 2008 Olympics as its broader global coming-out party.
More from BBC News:
Apec summit: Chinese trade pact plan backed by leaders
Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in China have agreed to move towards a new free trade zone strongly backed by Beijing.
The Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) is seen by some as a rival to a US trade pact, which excludes China.
The Apec summit near Beijing agreed to launch a study into the FTAAP.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who earlier urged Asia-Pacific nations to accelerate economic ties, described the endorsement of the pact as a “historic” decision.
From Reuters, signs of amelioration:
U.S., China to announce deals to reduce military tensions: report
The United States and China are planning to announce military agreements aimed at reducing the possibility of confrontation between the two powers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed U.S. officials.
The Journal said one of the agreements to be unveiled on Wednesday by U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, would provide a mechanism for notifying the two countries of each other’s activities, including military exercises.
Washington and Beijing will also set rules of behavior in cases of encounters in the sea and air, the newspaper said, quoting people familiar with the negotiations.
The White House had no immediate comment.
From the New York Times, signs of exacerbation:
China Turns Up the Rhetoric Against the West
Even as his government was making red-carpet plans to host President Obama this week, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, praised a young blogger whose writing is best known here for its anti-American vitriol.
In one widely circulated essay published by state news outlets titled “Nine Knockout Blows in America’s Cold War Against China,” the blogger, Zhou Xiaoping, argued that American culture was “eroding the moral foundation and self-confidence of the Chinese people.” He compared unfavorable American news coverage of China to Hitler’s treatment of the Jews. In another essay, he said the West had “slaughtered and robbed” China and other civilizations since the 17th century, and was now “brainwashing” it.
Mr. Xi, speaking at a forum last month aimed at tightening political control of the arts, said the blogger exhibited “positive energy.”
His embrace of Mr. Zhou, who has been hailed by propaganda officials but widely mocked by scholars here, is just the latest sign of rising anti-Western sentiment, bordering on xenophobia, that has emanated from the highest levels of the Communist Party and sent a chill through Chinese civil society and academia.
Wowin’ ‘em, with South China Morning Post:
VIPs flock to Zhuhai airshow as J-31 stealth fighter takes to the skies
J-31 flypast in Zhuhai makes China just the second nation after the US to have two stealth fighter designs in field testing at the same time
China’s newest fighter jet made its debut yesterday at the biannual international air show in Zhuhai , underscoring its rising military strength in Asia.
The J-31 fifth-generation stealth fighter made a solo fly-past at Airshow China on what was also the official 65th anniversary of the founding of China’s air force.
The flypast makes China only the second nation after the United States to have two stealth fighter designs in field testing at the same time.
As China seeks a greater Afghan role, via Reuters:
Exclusive: China seeks greater role in Afghanistan with peace talk push
China has proposed setting up a forum to restart stalled peace talks between Afghanistan and Taliban insurgents, the latest sign Beijing wants more of a say in its troubled neighbor’s affairs as it frets about its own Islamist militant threat.
Documents seen by Reuters show that China put forward a proposal for a “peace and reconciliation forum” that Afghan officials said would gather representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the Taliban command.
The Chinese plan, discussed at a recent meeting of nations taking part in the “Istanbul Process” on Afghanistan’s future, comes as U.S.-led combat troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan after 13 years of war.
And Japan asks for a hotline with Beijing, via the Japan Times:
Japan asks China to move forward on maritime hotline
Japan has asked China to hold talks soon on the launch of a maritime crisis management mechanism after their leaders agreed to work together to avert unforeseen events in and around the Senkaku Islands, Defense Minister Akinori Eto said Tuesday.
“Our hope is that we will be able to make necessary arrangements at an early date with the Chinese side so the mechanism will become operational,” Eto said at a news conference.
Adm. Tomohisa Takei, the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s chief of staff, said later in the day that establishing the communication mechanism is very important in avoiding accidental clashes, which could escalate.
And from International Business Times, so they still hate Muslims, right?:
Ku Klux Klan Opens its Doors to Hispanic, Blacks, Jews and Gays
White supremacist organisation is ‘rebranding as the ‘new Klan’
White supremacist organisation, the Ku Klux Klan is rebranding as the “new Klan” by trying to increase membership to Jews, black people, gays and those of Hispanic origin.
However, all those wanting to join the ultra-right wing society will have to wear the white robes, masks and conical hats. The Klan is estimated to have between 5,000 and 8,000 members according to figures released in 2012.
The Ku Klux Klan is notorious for racist violence, including lynchings of black people. It is classified as a hate group by the anti-semitism organistion Anti-Defamation League and the civil rights law firm Southern Poverty Law Center.
The requirements for joining the new KKK group, called the Rocky Mountain Knights, are to be aged 18 and live in the Pacific Northwest.
Some black people have already expressed an interest in joining, after John Abarr organised a summit with civil rights groups.
