From the Independent, some things never change:
Netanyahu speech: Far-right blogger calls for Black Congressional Caucus Democrats boycotting speech to be hanged
A far right-wing radio host has sparked a race row, after she called on Democrat politicians, including members of the Black Congressional Caucus, to be hanged if they boycotted a controversial speech by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress today.
More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event in a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the two allies.
Andrea Shea King, a member of the populist Tea Party movement, said in her weekly talk-radio show: “I would like to think that these guys [Congressmen boycotting the speech] could pay with their lives, hanging from a noose in front of the US Capitol Building.”
BBC News covers a spooky plea deal:
Ex-CIA chief in federal charge plea
David Petraeus, a former CIA director and four-star general, has reached a plea deal with the US Justice Department in which he will admit to mishandling classified materials.
It ends a long investigation into whether he provided secret information to his mistress. He resigned from his post at the CIA in 2012, after it emerged he was having an affair with his biographer.
A Justice Department statement said a plea agreement had been filed. The deal means that Mr Petraeus will plead guilty to one count of unauthorised removal and retention of classified material, but could avoid an embarrassing trial.
From the Intercept, the business of justice as usual:
Petraeus Plea Deal Reveals Two-Tier Justice System for Leaks
David Petraeus, the former Army general and CIA director, admitted today that he gave highly-classified journals to his onetime mistress and that he lied to the FBI about it. But he only has to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor that will not involve a jail sentence thanks to a deal with federal prosecutors. The deal is yet another example of a senior official treated leniently for the sorts of violations that lower-level officials are punished severely for.
According to the plea deal, Petraeus, while leading American forces in Afghanistan, maintained eight notebooks that he filled with highly-sensitive information about the identities of covert officers, military strategy, intelligence capabilities and his discussions with senior government officials, including President Obama. Rather than handing over these “Black Books,” as the plea agreement calls them, to the Department of Defense when he retired from the military in 2011 to head the CIA, Petraeus retained them at his home and lent them, for several days, to Paula Broadwell, his authorized biographer and mistress.
In October 2012, FBI agents interviewed Petraeus as part of an investigation into his affair with Broadwell — Petraeus would resign from the CIA the next month — and Petraeus told them he had not shared classified material with Broadwell. The plea deal notes that “these statements were false” and that Petraeus “then and there knew that he previously shared the Black Books with his biographer.” Lying to FBI agents is a federal crime for which people have received sentences of months or more than a year in jail.
Reuters covers a return contemplated:
Fugitive ex-U.S. spy Snowden in talks on returning home: lawyer
A Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden said on Tuesday the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government’s mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home.
Anatoly Kucherena, who has links to the Kremlin, was speaking at a news conference to present a book he has written about his client. Moscow granted Snowden asylum in 2013, straining already tense ties with Washington.
“I won’t keep it secret that he… wants to return back home. And we are doing everything possible now to solve this issue. There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I’m dealing with it on the Russian side.”
The United States wants Snowden to stand trial for leaking extensive secrets of electronic surveillance programs by the National Security Agency (NSA). Russia has repeatedly refused to extradite him.
From Nextgov, Hillary insecurity:
Were Clinton’s Personal Emails an Open Door to Hackers?
Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email account during her time as secretary of state is raising alarm over how secure her communications were from hackers and foreign governments interested in prying into private files of the nation’s top diplomat.
Clinton, who is expected to be the Democratic front-runner for president in 2016, exclusively relied on a personal account to conduct official business during her four-year stint running the State Department, The New York Times first reported late Monday.
“The focus here really needs to be on the information-security piece,” said Chris Soghoian, principal technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s irresponsible to use a private email account when you are the head of an agency that is going to be targeted by foreign intelligence services.”
From the National Journal, Hillary hucksterism:
Clinton Emails Raise Red Flags for Keystone Review, Greens Say
Revelations that Clinton used private email at State erode trust among key environmental allies
Major environmental organizations are sounding the alarm over revelations that Hillary Clinton used a personal email account to conduct official business during her tenure as secretary of State, pointing to disputes about her review of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Green groups Friends of the Earth and 350.org warn that the private correspondence could have been used to cover up a conflict of interest during Clinton’s review of the controversial pipeline. And Clinton’s penchant for private email, first reported by The New York Times on Monday, is all but guaranteed to deepen distrust between the likely 2016 Democratic front-runner and her presumed allies in the environmental movement.
“This is deeply concerning,” said Ben Schreiber, the climate and energy program director for Friends of the Earth. “The total lack of transparency is a real red flag for us and adds to other concerns that we have about Clinton’s ties to the oil industry.”
From the ACLU Blog of Rights, mum’s the word:
Feds Refuse to Release Documents on “Zero-Day” Security Exploits
Federal agencies served with a Freedom of Information Act request are refusing to release documents related to their purchase, use and disclosure of zero-day exploits, keeping the American public in the dark about a practice that leaves the Internet and its users less secure.
Zero-day exploits are special software programs that take advantage of security vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to the software’s manufacturer. These exploits are frequently used by intelligence agencies and the military as well as, we suspect, by federal law enforcement agencies. But they can be used by any hackers, whether they work for the U.S. government, a foreign government, a criminal group, or anyone else. Zero-day vulnerabilities and the tools that exploit them are extremely powerful, because there is very little that potential targets can do to protect themselves.
But the effectiveness of such exploits depends on their secrecy—if the companies that make the affected software are told about the flaws, they will issue software updates to fix them. Governments thus have a strong incentive to keep information about the exploits they have developed or purchased secret from both the public and the companies who create the software we all use.
On February 5, we received a response from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to a Freedom of Information Act request we filed for the disclosure of guidance or directives related to the government’s policies for the purchase, discovery, disclosure and exploitation of zero-days. The ODNI claimed that these records are classified under Executive Order 13526, Section 1.4(c), which states that information can be considered for classification if its disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause damage to national security issues pertaining to “intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology.” This response is consistent with the Obama administration’s refusal to make public most information related to its surveillance and cybersecurity policies.
From Threatpost, not reassuring:
Government Report Critical of FAA Security Controls
Federal Aviation Administration has been put on notice that its information security controls are not up to par and that a risk-based program must be implemented from the ground up in order to assure the safety of its networks and passengers in the sky.
A scathing Government Accounting Office (GAO) report released earlier this year hammered the FAA about vulnerabilities on the networks used to support communication between the ground and aircraft and monitoring systems for air traffic control that make up the national airspace system (NAS).
The GAO contends that the FAA has ignored mandates and procedures as outlined by NIST and FISMA guidelines, and has not established a governance structure in order to align security decisions with its overall mission. More specifically, the GAO said the FAA has not established specific security roles and responsibilities for the NAS, or updated its information security strategic plan in order to line it up with the FAA’s reliance on computer networks.
From the Guardian, a Berlin/London spooky rift:
British refusal to cooperate with spy inquiry causes row in Germany
Committee under pressure to censor disclosures about UK activity after Downing Street threatens to break off intelligence-sharing with Berlin
Downing Street and the German chancellery are embroiled in a worsening dispute over intelligence-sharing and the covert counter-terrorism campaign because of conflicts arising from the surveillance scandals surrounding the US National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ.
According to German newspaper reports citing government and intelligence officials in Berlin, the Bundestag’s inquiry into the NSA controversy is being jeopardised by Britain’s refusal to cooperate and its threats to break off all intelligence-sharing with Berlin should the committee reveal any UK secrets.
The weekly magazine Focus reported last month that a national security aide to David Cameron had written to Peter Altmaier, Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, refusing all requests for help in the inquiry and warning that Britain would cease supplying terrorism-related intelligence to the Germans unless Berlin yielded.
It emerged during the NSA revelations that the Americans had hacked into Merkel’s mobile phone, generating outrage in Germany and feeding growing anti-American sentiment.
From Techdirt, so that’s why your calls are dropping:
In Unsealed Document, FBI Admits Stingray Devices Will Disrupt Phone Service
from the making-Stingray-omelets-required-breaking-a-few-communications dept
A small crack in the FBI’s Stingray secrecy has appeared. A 2012 pen register application obtained by the ACLU was previously sealed, but a motion to dismiss the evidence obtained by the device forced it out into the open. Kim Zetter at Wired notes that the application contains a rare admission that Stingray use disrupts cellphone service.
[I]n the newly uncovered document (.pdf)—a warrant application requesting approval to use a stingray—FBI Special Agent Michael A. Scimeca disclosed the disruptive capability to a judge.
“Because of the way, the Mobile Equipment sometimes operates,” Scimeca wrote in his application, “its use has the potential to intermittently disrupt cellular service to a small fraction of Sprint’s wireless customers within its immediate vicinity. Any potential service disruption will be brief and minimized by reasonably limiting the scope and duration of the use of the Mobile Equipment.”
Hacking songs British tabloid style, via the Independent:
Mirror hacking trial: Staff ‘sung Ying Tong song’ as they hacked Yentob’s phone
The “industrial scale” phone hacking conducted by journalists at Mirror Group Newspapers went “right to the top” of the organisation, the High Court has heard.
Senior journalists at Trinity Mirror’s three national titles presided over a culture that made hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World “look like a cottage industry”, the first civil trial related to voicemail hacking was told.
Phone hacking was so endemic that one senior journalist even suggested that an Enigma-style code-breaking machine should be developed that would automatically “crack” protected voicemail pin-numbers, to make listening to messages even easier.
After the jump, Ukraine demands a Crimean return, Russia and Egypt hold naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean, imams lose visas for Dutch speeches, a Gaddafi kin’s European 9/11/ warning, the Turkish president’s high tech food tasters, a Mossad report debunks Netanyahu’s Iranian claims, straight from the plot of a 1983 James Bond thriller to the phone in your pocket, allegations of overzealous federal monitoring of corporate cybersecurity, your hardwired-for-self-subervison tech?, casting an iCloud over iPhone security, an American military satellite explodes, and on to the ISIS front with Iran engaged and the battle for Tikrit bogs down, Iran eyes a Japanese nuclear reactor buy, then on to the Boko Haram front with a beheading video and Cameroon vows a prolonged Boko Haram fights as the country’s own youth sign up, Pakistan welcomes a prolonged U.S. Afghan stay, a Chinese admiral welcomes tension with the U.S., and Beijing documents Japanese militarism for a World War II reminder, Shinzo Abe mulls his own World War II declaration, a Japanese minesweeping mission assertedwhile Abe faces a donor conflict of interest allegation, plus U.S. police chiefs financially tied to a body cam maker. . .
From Reuters, a return sought:
Ukraine says return of Crimea a must for mending ties with Russia
No normalization of ties between Ukraine and Russia is likely unless the region of Crimea, now under Russian control, is returned to Kiev’s sovereignty, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Tuesday.
Klimkin, on the second day of his two-day trip to Japan, also said the border between Ukraine and Russia needed to be completely closed to achieve any settlement to the armed conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
He reiterated his government’s stance as a ceasefire deal, reached last month in Minsk, is broadly holding on the front line, but fighters in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk are training for another round of clashes against government troops.
From RT, Russia and Egypt hold naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean:
Russia, Egypt to hold joint naval drill in Mediterranean
Russia and Egypt have agreed to hold a joint naval drill in the Mediterranean and to carry out joint anti-terrorist exercises, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement following talks between ministers of the two countries.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Egyptian counterpart Sedki Sobhi agreed to sign a deal on military cooperation between the two countries. The agreement will “determine the vector of our military cooperation for years to come,” said Shoigu following the talks.
“The parties agreed to continue the practice of inviting Egyptian military to Russian exercises in the capacity of observers, and also to hold a naval exercise in the Mediterranean this year and an anti-terrorist exercise of rapid reaction forces,” Russia’s Defense ministry said in a statement.
From DutchNews.nl, imams lose visas for Dutch speeches:
Rijswijk imams visas cancelled on ‘public order fears’
benefit poster imamsThe visas for imams invited to speak at a charity fund-raising event in Rijswijk were cancelled because of ‘public order concerns’, the cabinet told parliament on Tuesday in a written briefing.
The meeting was due to be held in Rijswijk on March 8, but the Telegraaf reported that several imams accused of preaching hatred and encouraging jihad would be at the event.
The visas for a number of preachers were subsequently cancelled on the recommendation of the counter terrorism unit NCTV.
A Gaddafi kin’s European 9/11/ warning, via the Independent:
Colonel Gaddafi’s cousin warns of a ‘9/11 in Europe within two years’
Colonel Gaddafi’s cousin has warned of a “9/11 in Europe within two years”, as fighters from the Islamic State join the tens of thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to European shores.
Ahmed Gaddafi al-Dam, one of the late dictator’s most trusted security officers, predicted at least half a million migrants would set sail from Libya to Europe this year as Isis gained a stronger foothold in the country.
“There are many terrorists among them, between 10 and 50 in every thousand,” he told MailOnline. “They are going all throughout Europe. Within one year, two years, you will have another September 11.”
From the Guardian, the Turkish president’s high tech food tasters:
Erdogan’s meals tested for poison amid security fears
Turkish president’s personal doctor says ‘It’s usually not through bullets that prominent figures are being assassinated these days’
Every meal that goes before the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is rigorously tested both at home and abroad for fear of assassination, his personal doctor said.
And now a special food analysis laboratory will be built at Erdogan’s controversial presidential palace to make sure all his food is safe to eat, Cevdet Erdol told the Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday.
“It’s usually not through bullets that prominent figures are being assassinated these days,” Erdol said. Currently, samples of the president’s food are analysed in laboratories in both Ankara and Istanbul and during his visits abroad, he said.
A Mossad report debunks Netanyahu’s Iranian claims, via GlobalPost:
The Israeli government has exaggerated the Iranian nuclear threat for years
Analysis: A leaked Mossad report suggests Israel’s own spy agency disagrees with the threat posed by Iran.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood on the podium at the UN General Assembly in 2012 — a picture of a cartoon bomb in hand — and claimed that Iran was a year away from being able to build a bomb, he did so in the knowledge that his country’s own spy agency disagreed with him.
A classified Mossad report leaked to Al Jazeera and the Guardian this week revealed that its own assessment was very different from the prime minister’s.
At the time, Netanyahu told the UN: “By next spring, at most by next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move[d] on to the final stage. From there, it’s only a few months, possibly a few weeks before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb.”
The Mossad report, allegedly a correspondence with South Africa’s intelligence service dated just one month later, in October 2012, said Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons”
It went further: “Even though Iran has accumulated enough 5% enriched uranium for several bombs, and has enriched some of it to 20%, it does not appear to be ready to enrich it to higher levels.”
Straight from the plot of a 1983 James Bond thriller to the phone in your pocket, via the Wall Street Journal:
Fujitsu Introduces Iris Authentication System for Smartphones
Fujitsu Ltd. on Monday unveiled a smartphone prototype that uses an iris scan to authenticate the user and unlock the device.
The company said an infrared LED and a special camera are used to scan the iris, the ring around the pupil of one’s eye. Iris identification makes it difficult for a third person to gain access to devices, while also allowing users to unlock them even while their hands are full or they are wearing gloves, Fujitsu said in its press release.
The prototype is being exhibited at this week’s Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona. Fujitsu said it is aiming at implementing the technology into commercial products by March 2016.
Allegations of overzealous federal monitoring of corporate cybersecurity, via the Hill:
Regulator accused of overstepping on cybersecurity enforcement
A federal consumer watchdog has overstepped its authority by punishing companies for weak cybersecurity, lawyers for Wyndham Worldwide argued Tuesday.
The hotel chain is battling the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a high-stakes legal case that will help define the role of the federal government in protecting the security of consumer data online.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals heard 90 minutes of spirited oral arguments Tuesday, as Wyndham’s lawyers sought to reverse a district judge’s decision endorsing the FTC’s enforcement authority.
Since 2002, the commission has brought more than 50 legal actions against companies purported to have weak cyber defenses that put consumer data at risk.
From DeepLinks, your hardwired-for-self-subervison tech?:
Are Your Devices Hardwired For Betrayal?
It’s an interesting time to be a computer security researcher. Last week, Kaspersky Lab released a report about a new family of malware from an entity they called “The Equation Group”. The report demonstrated for the first time that firmware-based attacks, previously only demonstrated in lab settings, have been used in the wild by malware authors. This should serve as a wake up call to security professionals and the hardware industry in general: firmware-based attacks are real and their numbers will only increase. If we don’t address this issue now, we risk facing disastrous consequences.
Firmware is not just limited to your computer either. There is firmware in most electronic devices that we use: cellphones, car components, printers, digital cameras, TVs, routers, etc., all contain firmware. Some firmware runs in a privileged position in your system, even though you may not be aware of its existence. For example, the firmware on your video card or monitor can read the pixels on your screen, your hard drive can read any files you write (and write its own files), and your network card can listen to all of your network traffic.
In the Equation Group report, Kaspersky described a class of malware that could replace the firmware of almost any hard drive with a malicious copy, allowing it to read and write files on the drive and re-exploit the system, even if the hard drive were formatted. This is an impressive attack—but this type of attack is not just limited to computer hard drives. Any of the above mentioned devices could have their firmware compromised, and the results would be devastating.
Casting an iCloud over iPhone suecurity, via Security Response Blog:
Cybercriminals phish iCloud credentials from victims of iPhone, iPad theft
Attackers have created phishing sites to trick users whose iOS devices have been lost or stolen into handing over their iCloud credentials
Cybercriminals have recently created multiple phishing sites in order to trick iOS device owners into providing login credentials for their iCloud accounts. The attackers appear to be focusing on users whose iPads and iPhones have been lost or stolen. It’s possible that the attackers are running this phishing operation as part of a service for iOS device thieves on underground forums.
In one particular case, a victim of iPad theft received an unsolicited message, informing him that his tablet had been found. The message then instructed him to click on a link to discover the location of his iPad.
Because the term “i-cloud” is included in the URL provided in the fraudulent messages, the user may be fooled into assuming that the link is for Apple’s official iCloud site. However, the URL instead redirects the user to a phishing site that includes “icloud” in the URL and mimics the appearance of the real iCloud login page.
From the Independent, an American military satellite explodes:
US military satellite explodes in space while orbiting the Earth
A 20-year-old US military satellite has exploded after experiencing a “sudden spike in temperature” while above the Earth, sending nearly 50 pieces of debris into the planet’s orbit.
SpaceNews reports that a “catastrophic event” has produced 43 pieces of space debris identified near the satellite’s last location, according to the US Air Force Space Command, though officials claimed that impact of the loss of the satellite itself was “minimal”.
The satellite apparently exploded after what the US Air Force described as a “sudden spike in temperature”.
On to the ISIS front with Iran engaged, via the Associated Press:
US intelligence official: Iran involved in fight against IS
America’s top intelligence official says Iran is involved in the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says Tehran has “a very robust commitment to the fight” and has people there in an advisory capacity.
In an interview broadcast Tuesday on CBS, Clapper says the Iranians have “brought in large amounts of weaponry” to Iraq. Clapper also says Iran already has the “technical competence” to make a nuclear weapon and a decision will be up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
And the battle for Tikrit bogs down, via the Associated Press:
Mines, bombs slow Iraqi advance on Islamic State-held Tikrit
Iraqi troops and Shiite militias battled the Islamic State group on Tuesday on the outskirts of militant-held Tikrit, unable to advance further on Saddam Hussein’s hometown as roadside mines and suicide attacks slowed their progress.
Soldiers found some 100 mines and bombs scattered along an 8-kilometer (5-mile) stretch of road on the way to this strategic city on the Tigris River, Salahuddin deputy governor Ammar Hikmat said.
The discovery underlined how the battle likely will pivot on allied Iraqi forces’ ability to counter such weapons, a mainstay of al-Qaida in Iraq, the Islamic State group’s predecessor, as it fought American forces following their 2003 invasion of the country.
Iran wants to make a deal, via the Mainichi:
‘We want to buy Japanese nuclear reactors’: Iran atomic energy official
In multiple interviews with the Mainichi Shimbun, the Deputy Head and Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said his country would be happy to buy Japanese nuclear reactor technology in the future.
“We look forward to nuclear power plants becoming an area where we cooperate with Japan,” he said.
Japan is currently cooperating with economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. and Europe, and Kamalvandi’s comments appear to be envisioning a period after the lifting of such sanctions. Iran and six nations including the United States and European nations are working to reach a framework agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear program by the end of this month, with a final agreement to be reached in June.
On to the Boko Haram front with a beheading video, via the Associated Press:
Boko Haram video shows 2 beheaded men accused of spying
The latest video from Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamic extremist group shows the bodies of two beheaded men accused of spying, and copies some of the hallmarks of propaganda from the Islamic State group.
The SITE intelligence group said the video called “Harvest of Spies” was posted Monday on Twitter by Boko Haram’s new media arm. The video is much slicker than previous ones and SITE said it borrows certain elements from IS productions, such as the sound of a beating heart and heavy breathing immediately before the execution.
Boko Haram has said in social media messages last month that it is considering swearing allegiance to IS.
Cameroon vows a prolonged Boko Haram fights as the country’s own youth sign up, via CNN:
Cameroon in for long fight as its youth join Boko Haram
Cameroon’s security forces are predicting a drawn-out battle with Boko Haram as evidence filters out that the insurgents are now recruiting there.
“We don’t doubt that Boko Haram is recruiting in Cameroon,” said Col. Joseph Nouma, commander of Operation ALPHA, a special military operation set up by Cameroon’s government to fight the Nigerian terrorist group.
He says communities bordering Nigeria have been emptied of men between the ages of 10 and 45. “Many of them are found across the border in Nigeria, training with the terrorists,” he told CNN.
From the Christian Science Monitor, an extended stay desired:
Why Pakistan would welcome delayed US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Jalil Abbas Jilani, told reporters at a Monitor Breakfast Tuesday that the country has seen heightened militant activity along its border as US troops have drawn down in eastern Afghanistan.
Hints from senior Obama administration officials that the United States could put off the planned end-of-2016 military withdrawal from Afghanistan are viewed positively by neighboring Pakistan, the country’s ambassador to Washington, Jalil Abbas Jilani, told reporters at a Monitor breakfast Tuesday.
A slowing of the timetable for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan “would be viewed very positively in Pakistan,” given the increased militant activity the country has seen along the border as US troops in eastern Afghanistan have drawn down, Ambassador Jilani said.
The Pakistani military has had to carry out a “surge” of its troops along the border with Afghanistan “over the last several months” as the departure of US troops has led to an increase in cross-border militant activity, Jilani said.
A Chinese admiral welcomes tension with the U.S., via Want China Times:
Sino-US tensions good for China’s growth: PLA admiral
Tensions in Sino-US relations are helpful for China’s ongoing development and growth into a major world power, says Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army and chair of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies.
In an interview with Oriental Outlook, a weekly news magazine under the auspices of the official Xinhua news agency, Sun, 62, discussed a wide range of issues relating to China’s present international situation and its domestic security environment.
While most of his responses followed the Communist Party’s official line, Sun nonetheless provided some interesting insights into the current thinking of the country’s leaders.
Sun affirmed China’s ongoing international development, noting that the nation has never before been so close to the center of world affairs. In terms of relations with the United States, Sun said China was determined to uphold the principles of “no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation” put forward by President Xi Jinping during talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama during a visit to California in June 2013.
And Beijing documents Japanese militarism for a World War II reminder, via Kyodo News:
China to publish records of Japan’s past militarism for war anniv.
China will publish historical records of Japan’s past militarism as part of its commemoration this year of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, a senior political leader said Tuesday.
Yu Zhengsheng, the fourth-highest ranking member of the Communist Party, told more than 2,000 members of China’s top political advisory body as it convened an annual meeting in Beijing that the publication is intended to “keep in mind our history as a warning for the future.”
Yu, who serves as chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, did not say what kinds of cultural and historical data that China has been collecting to mark the war anniversary.
And a Japanese reminder mulled, via Jiji Press:
Japan May Omit Cabinet Approval for Abe’s War-End Statement
With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slated to issue a statement this summer to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, what he intends to say about history has come under intense scrutiny.
Although lesser known, another focal point is whether the statement will be adopted by the cabinet, a process to put a stamp of approval on it as an official document that communicates the Japanese government’s attitude at home and abroad.
As cabinet approval would require coordination with the ruling parties, some government officials averse to such onerous procedures say there is not necessarily a need for cabinet approval.
While Abe faces a donor conflict of interest allegation, via Reuters:
Japan PM Abe faces questions about political donations
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday said he received donations from firms that got government subsidies, the first time he himself has faced questions about potentially improper donations, after having lost three cabinet members to scandals.
Abe returned for a rare second term in 2012, pledging to reboot Japan’s economy, and his ruling coalition cruised to another big election win in December. His support remains above 50 percent, high for a Japanese premier.
Abe’s farm minister quit last week after questions about his funds threatened to snarl parliament, which has delayed passage of the budget for the year from April. Last year, two cabinet ministers quit, one for possible misuse of political funds and one for a campaign law violation.
More from the Asahi Shimbun:
Abe, DPJ’s Okada now tied to dubious political contributions issue
In the latest allegations of questionable political donations now aimed at top party leaders, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the main opposition party president are linked to contributions from companies after ministries awarded them subsidies, it was learned March 3.
According to reports of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Yamaguchi prefectural fourth electoral district branch, which is led by Abe, the unit accepted 120,000 yen ($1,000) in donations from Tohzai Chemical Industry Co., an Osaka-based general water processing system developer, on Sept. 20, 2012.
That followed the announcement to award 1 million yen in subsidies to the company the previous June 20 from the industry ministry’s Small and Medium Enterprise Agency.
The income and expenditure reports also show the LDP branch accepted 500,000 yen from Ube Industries Ltd., a chemical maker listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, on Dec. 20, 2013. In April of that year, the ministry announced it would award 31 million yen in subsidies to the firm.
From NHK WORLD, a Japanese minesweeping mission asserted:
Abe: Japan should join mine-sweeping
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated his view that Japan should join mine-sweeping operations in the Hormuz Strait of the Persian Gulf under peaceful conditions. Abe said he thinks Japan can engage in these missions under the right to collective self-defense.
Abe was answering questions from opposition Democratic Party secretary general Yukio Edano at a Lower House budget committee session on Tuesday.
Edano said that if the Hormuz Strait was mined and oil delivery to Japan stopped suddenly, it would have big impact on Japan economically. But, he noted this situation is clearly different from Japan coming under direct attack.
And closer to home, U.S. police chiefs financially tied to a body cam maker, via the Associated Press:
Body-camera maker has financial ties to police chiefs
Taser International, the stun-gun maker emerging as a leading supplier of body cameras, has cultivated financial ties to police chiefs whose departments have bought the recording devices, raising conflict-of-interest questions.
Taser is covering airfare and hotels for police chiefs who speak at promotional conferences and is hiring recently retired chiefs as consultants, sometimes months after their cities signed contracts with the company. Taser is planning to send two to speak in Australia and the United Arab Emirates in March at events during which they will address potential customers.
The relationships raise questions about whether chiefs are acting objectively in their dealings with Taser, whose contracts for cameras and video storage can cost millions.
As the police chief in Fort Worth, Texas, pushed for signing a contract with Taser before a company quarterly sales deadline, he wrote a Taser representative in an email, “Someone should give me a raise.”
