And much, much more. . .starting with an ominous development from the New York Times:
U.S. Taking a Fresh Look at Arming Ukraine’s Forces, Officials Say
With Russian-backed separatists pressing their attacks in Ukraine, NATO’s military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s beleaguered forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, American officials said Sunday.
President Obama has made no decisions on providing such lethal assistance. But after a series of striking reversals that Ukraine’s forces have suffered in recent weeks, the Obama administration is taking a fresh look at the question of military aid.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who plans to visit Kiev on Thursday, is open to new discussions about providing lethal assistance, as is Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is leaving his post soon, backs sending defensive weapons to the Ukrainian forces.
Next up, drones, via the Los Angeles Times:
Maker of drone that crashed on White House grounds to stop flights over D.C.
The manufacturer of the drone that crashed on the White House grounds earlier this week plans to install software in its devices that would prevent them from flying in Washington.
DJI, the China-based company that manufactures the quad-copter found at the White House, will install software in the coming weeks that will disable several models of its drones from flying over a 15.5-mile radius that spans downtown Washington, it said in a statement.
The restriction is part of a planned extension of the company’s no-fly zone system that prohibits flight near airports and other locations where such flights are restricted by local authorities, the company said in a statement released Wednesday.
From the Washington Post, bellicose Barry’s bodaciously big budget for guns:
Obama budget’s boost for military spending points to brewing national security debate
The president will ask Congress to break through its own spending caps — commonly referred to as “sequestration” — and allocate about $561 billion for Pentagon expenditures, about $38 billion more than is currently allowed under the law.
There’s broad consensus in both parties that the military needs more money to modernize its forces and meet its responsibilities in a world that seems to have grown more chaotic and dangerous in the past 12 months. For now, though, it’s unclear how Congress and the White House can come to an agreement on where to find the additional funds.
Gridlock could provide an opening for Republicans, whose standing on national security issues was badly damaged by the unpopular Iraq war, to make an argument that they are the party best positioned to keep the country safe.
More from Defense One:
Obama’s Trillion Dollar Nuclear Weapons Gamble
President Barack Obama will propose spending cuts for many federal programs in the 2016 budget request he’ll send to Congress on Monday, but not for nuclear weapons. Quite the contrary, Obama’s administration is proposing to go on a nuclear weapons spending spree. This is an expensive and profound mistake, and one that ignores the limited contribution that nuclear weapons make to U.S. security.
The administration’s costly plan proposes to rebuild the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the warheads, and the missiles, planes and submarines that carry them. These plans will cost $348 billion over the next 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released last week. The National Defense Panel, appointed by Congress, found that the price tag over 30 years could be as much as a $1 trillion.
What will taxpayers get for that money? Not much. Nuclear weapons do precious little to address the real threats we and our allies face today, and do nothing to address the threat of terrorism. Nothing to counter Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria. Nothing to counteract the growing risk of cyber attack.
And some InSecurity in the classroom from RT America:
Teachers are not responsible if they kill a student – Texas state rep.
Program notes:
Teachers in Texas should not be held legally accountable if they injure or kill a student, according to state representative Dan Flynn. The staunchly pro-gun legislator recently introduced a bill that would make it nearly impossible for educators to be sued or prosecuted if a pupil dies as the result of their “use of force or deadly force” in the classroom, worrying many that the move is unnecessarily placing children in harm’s way. RT’s Manuel Rapalo has more.
The Los Angeles Times brings us to the realm of official misconduct:
U.S. judges see ‘epidemic’ of prosecutorial misconduct in state
The hearing seemed largely routine until a state prosecutor approached the lectern.
Deputy Atty. Gen. Kevin R. Vienna was there to urge three judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold murder convictions against Johnny Baca for two 1995 killings in Riverside County. Other courts had already determined that prosecutors had presented false evidence in Baca’s trial but upheld the verdicts anyway.
Vienna had barely started his argument when the pummeling began.
Judge Alex Kozinski asked Vienna if his boss, Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, wanted to defend a conviction “obtained by lying prosecutors.” If Harris did not back off the case, Kozinski warned, the court would “name names” in a ruling that would not be “very pretty.”
And some singularly egregious misconduct with a French connection [snicker] via Radio France Internationale:
Police officers charged over two-million-euros-worth of missing cocaine
Three police officers were charged on Saturday in connection with the theft of two-million-euros-worth of cocaine from national police headquarters. Six other people had already been charged in the case.
All three police officers were freed on bail after being charged.
One, a member of the Paris drugs squad, was charged with taking part in a drug-laundering operation, the second with taking part in a drug-laundering operation, drug-trafficking and abusing his authority by opening sealed material, the third with profiting from sealed material and drug-trafficking.
The 52 kilogrammes of cocaine were locked away under seal in the famous Paris police headquarters on the Quai des Orfèvres near Notre Dame Cathedral.
Digital InSecurity of the elite, via SecurityWeek:
Cybersecurity Concerns Seize Center Stage in Davos
Whether it be through strategies of deterrence espoused by Clint Hinote or by increased preemptive measures to prevent or disrupt attacks, effective intelligence methods by the NSA and other nations’ intelligence agencies are an essential ingredient for success. Corporate and national interests thus are fused geopolitically as one as the battle over security in cyberspace races on.
Beyond concern over economic and reputational cyber-induced risks lay executives’ concerns of vulnerability of facilities such as power supplies and communications networks.
A popular figure in Davos, cybersecurity guru and Kaspersky Labs head Eugene Kaspersky, a man who knows his way around global cyber threats, confirmed such fears, stating what most attendees perhaps didn’t want to hear: “The main threat scaring me is attacks on critical infrastructure.”
And the London Telegraph covers royal cyber InSecurity:
Princess Beatrice left job after Sony Pictures hacking attack
The cyber attack on Sony Pictures was a major factor in Princess Beatrice’s decision to leave her intern role with the company, according to reports
The hacking attack on Sony Pictures played a crucial role in Princess Beatrice’s decision to leave her role as a paid intern at the company, it has emerged.
Friends said the princess and other employees were asked to take time off after the devastating hack – thought to have been carried out by North Korea in revenge for a Sony comedy which depicted the assassination of Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader.
However, the princess – who is sixth in line to the throne – decided to resign instead. Her salary, address and other confidential information was among a vast amount of material stolen by hackers.
Another hack attack, via SecurityWeek:
Hackers Compromise Business IM Service HipChat
Malicious actors have managed to compromise servers powering HipChat, the business-focused group chat and instant message (IM) service.
According to a security notice posted by HipChat’s Craig Davies on Saturday night, hackers were able to breach the firm’s defenses and access names, usernames, email addresses, and encrypted passwords of a small percentage of its customers.
According to Davies, less than 2 percent of its users were exposed in the attack, but there is no evidence that payment information was accessed.
Cyber InSecurity in Pakistan, via the Express Tribune:
Cybercrimes: Pakistan lacks facilities to trace hackers
In 2014, hackers from different parts of the world continued to launch DDoS attacks on Pakistani websites. They also hacked websites belonging to the security forces and the federal government; defaced them and leaked private data of government and security officials.
By contrast, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – the country’s premier anti-cybercrime watchdog – lacks the capabilities to cope with such attacks, according to industry experts.
According to an official, who had advised FIA on legal issues in the past, such attacks will continue to take place because the country has no facilities or resources to trace the hackers. Even the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C), an FIA division responsible for dealing with cybercrimes, can’t trace such attacks that are executed by hackers through proxies, such as TOR – free software that enables online anonymity and resists censorship.
And from IT World, a story to cause anyone InSecurity:
Military-funded robots can learn by watching YouTube
So far, the robots are only teaching themselves to cook
Those fearing the rise of an all-powerful artificial intelligence like Skynet, take note: Robots are now learning by watching YouTube.
Depending on your views of the video-sharing service, that can be hilarious or frightening. But so far, the machines are just watching cooking videos, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA).
The computer scientists from the University of Maryland have succeeded in getting humanoid robots to reproduce what they see in a set of YouTube cooking clips, including recognizing, grabbing and using the right kitchen tools.
Part of DARPA’s Mathematics of Sensing, Exploitation and Execution program, the research involves getting the machines to understand what’s happening in a scene, not just recognizing objects within it.
On to the war zone, first with CCTV America:
Japan vows to hold ISIL accountable for Goto, Yakawa’s death
Program notes:
Despite efforts by the Japanese government the hostage crisis ended tragically. CCTV’s Terrence Terashima reported this story from Tokyo.
[More on Japanese reaction after the jump.]
From the Guardian, bombs away:
US-led task force launches 34 air strikes against Isis in Iraq and Syria
US and allies continue attacks on Isis targets and claim mission is working as Kurdish forces in Syria have driven out militants
The US and its allies have carried out 26 air strikes in Iraq and eight in Syria since Saturday in continued attacks on Islamic State (Isis) targets, the US military said on Sunday.
The bulk of the strikes were near the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, while in Syria most of the strikes were near Kobani, where Kurdish forces have driven out Isis militants, said a statement by the US Combined Joint Task Force which is leading the operation.
Isis fighters withdrew from Kobani, which has been fought over for five months, on Saturday.
After the jump, signs of coalition schisms, video surfaces of Israeli shelling U.N. troops, a South Sudan truce signed, another major Boko Haram Nigerian assault, terrorists bomb a Pakistani pipeline, America’s illegal bombing legacy lives on in Laos, Occupy Hong Kong activists return to the streets, an Occupy supporter cut from a mainland film, ISIS beheadings play into Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remilitarization agenda as vows are made and debate intensifies, plus Japan launches another spy satellite. . .
From Nikkei Asian Review, anti-ISIS angst:
Cracks visible in US-led coalition against Islamic State
While strongly condemning the killing of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, Jordan has vowed to do everything it can to win the release of its pilot. Given the uncertainty over his fate, Jordan is inevitably cautious about military operations. In this sense, Islamic State’s hostage-taking has succeeded in weakening the coalition.
Another member of the coalition, Turkey, has not done much despite repeated U.S. urging to play a more active role. The country has refused to allow its military bases to be used for airstrikes, constraining the coalition’s military operations. Turkey’s top priority is to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, so it has reservations about attacking Islamic State because doing so would help the Assad regime.
French President Francois Hollande has announced that the country’s main aircraft carrier will be deployed in the fight against Islamic State. But as far as the U.S. is concerned, European nations are not doing enough. The U.S., the U.K., France and other nations intervening militarily are calling on other countries to participate.
From RT, video evidence surfaces of lethal Israeli shelling of U.N. troops:
UN peacekeepers film suspected Israeli shell hitting their position in Lebanon
UN peacekeepers captured the moment shells hit their position in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the day their Spanish colleague was killed. The footage suggests Israeli artillery, retaliating against Hezbollah rocket attack, might be responsible.
A video clip from the battlefield line in Lebanon, distributed in the Spanish media, suggests that an Israeli shell could be responsible for the death of Spanish UN peacekeeper Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, who was killed on Wednesday.
The cell phone footage shows two United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers talking in their car next to a watchtower, as the whistling of the first artillery shell is heard in the background. Aiming the camera at the wall which separates Lebanon from Israeli territory, one of the soldiers says: “They’re falling from Israel, man!”
“Hush, hush, let’s see…they’re falling from…How can that be? It cannot be that, huh?,” responds the other peacekeeper.
Here’s the video, via Beto A SABER:
Revealing Video: Spaniards in Lebanon filmed the probable attack from Israel
And some breaking news from France 24, with a video at the link:
South Sudan president and rebel leader sign ceasefire deal
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have signed a deal to end 15 months of fighting in a civil war that has ravaged the world’s newest country and left tens of thousands dead.
Another major Boko Haram Nigerian assault, via Reuters:
Boko Haram attacks northeast Nigeria’s main city: witnesses
Islamist insurgents attacked the outskirts of northeast Nigeria’s main city Maiduguri on Sunday, engaging in a gun battle with soldiers that killed at least eight people, witnesses and a security source said.
Militant group Boko Haram has killed thousands since it launched its revolt in Maiduguri five years ago and wants the city to become the capital of a separate Islamist state.
“There is heavy gunfire going on. Everybody is panicking and trying to flee the area,” said Idris Abubakar, a resident of Polo on the western outskirts of the city.
From the Express Tribune, terrorists bomb a Pakistani pipeline:
Act of terror: Gas pipeline blown up in Dera Bugti
A 24-inch gas pipeline was blown up in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan Sunday morning, disrupting gas supply to the Sui compressor plant from the Pirkoh purification plant.
According to Levies official in Dera Bugti, militants placed explosive materials along the gas pipeline.
“The gas supply was disrupted to Sui compressor plant from Pirkoh,” the official told The Express Tribune.
America’s illegal bombing legacy lives on in Laos, via the Guardian:
Laos: Thousands suffering from the deadly aftermath of US bomb campaign
Fifty years after US combat troops entered Vietnam, neighbouring Laos is still dealing with unexploded bombs from fierce air attacks
It is 50 years since the first US combat troops entered Vietnam in March 1965. During that notorious conflict, the US dropped more than 270 million bombs in Laos as part of a CIA-run, top-secret operation aimed at destroying the North Vietnamese supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh trail and wiping out its local communist allies.
One-third of the bombs failed to explode on impact and have since claimed an average of 500 victims a year, mainly children and farmers forced to work on their contaminated fields to sustain their families. Despite tens of millions of dollars spent, only 1% of Laos territory has been cleared so far.
The legacy of the Secret War, as the American operation is now known, is clearly visible in this idyllic landscape of rolling hills and lush tropical forest. Scarred by thousands of explosion craters, the contaminated area is estimated to be 87,000 sq km , more than one-third of Laos’s territory.
In Xieng Khouang, the most affected province, UXOs are found in forests and school buildings, roads and rice fields. Tim Lardner, the chief technical adviser of UXO Laos – the local company given the task of clearing the country – said: “I have been in this business for 25 years and I have worked in dozens of UXO-affected countries. When I go out on the field, my breath is taken away by the scale of the contamination. It’s like nothing anywhere else.”
Occupy Hong Kong activists return to the streets, via Deutsche Welle:
Pro-democracy protests restart in Hong Kong
Program notes:
Thousands of people took to the streets. It’s the first such rally since a mass student occupation last year shut down major streets for more than two months. The protesters want to freely elect Hong Kong’s leader. But Beijing has ruled that people can only vote for candidates it has approved.
An Occupy supporter cut from a mainland film, via Want China Times:
HK actor cut from Chinese film after support for democracy movement
Scenes featuring Hong Kong actor Chapman To in a new mainland Chinese film were left on the cutting room floor before the movie hit cinemas, replacing the actor who gave vocal support to pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong with a Chinese actor.
“Various reasons” were cited for the last-minute replacement in the movie Impossible in a statement posted on the film’s official blog Friday.
Filming for the movie began in September 2013 which starred Chinese actor Shen He and others.
From the Guardian, ISIS beheadings play into Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remilitarization agenda:
Killings leave Japan’s pursuit of bigger foreign role at the crossroads
Shinzo Abe could risk public support if he pushes too far with his ‘proactive pacifism’ after the shocking deaths of two Japanese at the hands of Isis
Tokyo’s determination to play a more visible role in international affairs is at a crossroads following the violent deaths of two of its citizens at the hands of Islamic State [Isis] militants.
Japan awoke on Sunday to the grim news of Kenji Goto’s beheading, a week after his compatriot, Haruna Yukawa, met the same fate, and to the realisation that they are now on Isis’s list of targets.
At stake is the future of Shinzo Abe’s “proactive pacifism”, a more robust defence posture the prime minister has used to justify record military spending, arms exports and a legislative assault on Japan’s postwar diplomatic raison d’etre.
Once the time for condemnation has passed, Abe is expected to point to events in Syria as proof that Japan, a major US ally and importer of Middle East oil, must play a bigger role in ensuring the region’s security, even if it means exposing its people to danger.
More from Reuters:
Japan to debate rescue missions after Islamic State executions
The beheading of two Japanese citizens by Islamic State militants is fanning calls to allow Japan’s long-constrained military to conduct overseas rescue missions as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for a more muscular security posture.
Even some advocates of legal changes to make rescues possible, however, say Japan’s military faces big hurdles to acquiring the capacity to conduct such missions, while critics say sending troops overseas would just increase the risk.
Abe wants to legislate this year to lift a ban on the military fighting overseas to help allies under attack. Known as collective self-defense, the change would be the biggest military policy shift since Japan’s armed forces were reassembled 60 years ago after its World War Two defeat.
Other proposed changes would also widen the scope for military participation in rescuing citizens abroad.
Still more from the Asahi Shimbun:
Japan condemns Goto video, vows to heighten anti-terrorism efforts
Japan will enhance measures to prevent “despicable terrorist acts” at home and abroad, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Feb. 1, after a video online showed the apparent murder of freelance journalist Kenji Goto.
Suga said the government’s comprehensive judgment is that the Islamic State militant group released the video, and that the man beheaded was most likely Goto, 47.
“Japan will never give in to terrorism and will extend more humanitarian support to the Middle East,” Suga, the top government spokesman, told the news conference held just before noon. “Japan will keep a firm attitude and fulfill its responsibility in the international community fighting terrorism.
“It will work with other nations to push forward efforts against despicable terrorist acts.”
And Japan launches another spy satellite, via the Japan Times:
Japan launches new spy satellite
Japan successfully launched a backup spy satellite Sunday after the first attempt was canceled last week due to bad weather, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.
Tokyo put spy satellites into operation in the early 2000s after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the northern part of Honshu island and into the western Pacific in 1998.
JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries delayed Thursday’s planned launch of the H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, due to the possibility of lightning during liftoff.
