Tag: All Regions
UK intelligence spun 2013 Syria chemical attack, leaked docs show
US officials suppressed internal assessments that Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing had an “advanced” sarin production cell even as the US publicly blamed the Assad government for a 2013 chemical weapons attack, a report reveals. Leaked documents obtained by The Grayzone show a shadowy British intelligence contractor helped sell the story that Assad was responsible – and nearly triggered Western intervention. On September 13, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) appraisal detailing the chemical…
What we know about the Marine Corps F-35 crash in South Carolina
The crash of an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in South Carolina over the weekend has raised numerous questions about what prompted the pilot to eject and how the $100 million warplane was able to keep flying pilotless for 60 miles before crashing. Here’s what is known about the modern warplane and its latest incident: ‘Forced to eject’ A U.S. Marine Corps pilot was flying a single-seat F-35B fighter jet on Sunday when the pilot experienced a malfunction and was “forced…
Florida: West Point sued over using race as an admissions factor
West Point was accused in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of improperly using race and ethnicity as factors in admissions by the same group behind the legal challenge that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions. Students for Fair Admissions claims the U.S. Military Academy sets benchmarks for how many Black, Hispanic and Asian cadets there should be in each class. The lawsuit filed in New York’s Southern District claims West Point is violating the Fifth Amendment…
War crimes tribunal ICC says it has been hacked
The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Tuesday its computer system had been hacked, a breach at one of the world’s most high-profile international institutions and one that handles highly sensitive information about war crimes. The ICC said it had detected unusual activity on its computer network at the end of last week, prompting a response that was still ongoing. A spokesperson declined to comment on how serious the hack was, whether it has been fully resolved, or who might…
NYT: Evidence Suggests Ukraine Carried Out Missile Strike on Ukrainian Market Which They Blamed Russia
Ukrainian forces carried out a missile strike on a market in eastern Ukraine and then falsely blamed Russia for the attack, according to analysis from the New York Times. From The New York Times, “Evidence Suggests Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Tragedy”: The Sept. 6 missile strike on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine was one of the deadliest in the country in months, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring more than 30 others. The weapon’s payload of metal fragments struck a…
BAE to Explore Heavy-Lift Civilian Hybrid Airship for Military Role
BAE Systems and Hybrid Air Vehicles have agreed to jointly explore a long-range hybrid airship system for security and defense applications. Hybrid’s Airlander 10 will be trialed for new ways of communication and intelligence gathering, according to BAE. It is an “alternative sustainable and cost-effective solution to air logistics and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities,” according to Hybrid. It complements “today’s networks of air, space, and surface systems.” Heavy-Lift, High-Endurance Aircraft The Airlander 10 can stay airborne for up to…
Microsoft leaks 38TB of private data via unsecured Azure storage
The Microsoft AI research division accidentally leaked dozens of terabytes of sensitive data starting in July 2020 while contributing open-source AI learning models to a public GitHub repository. Almost three years later, this was discovered by cloud security firm Wiz whose security researchers found that a Microsoft employee inadvertently shared the URL for a misconfigured Azure Blob storage bucket containing the leaked information. Microsoft linked the data exposure to using an excessively permissive Shared Access Signature (SAS) token, which allowed full…
The FBI Establishes New Virtual Assets Unit
European council and UK government announce new Russia sanctions
On 15 March 2022, the European Council introduced a fourth package of sanctions against Russia. The move follows an informal meeting attended by EU heads of state and government on 10-11 March. The sanctions target entities and individuals. Measures include: Bans on: Transactions with certain state-owned companies which are already subject to refinancing restrictions Providing credit rating services (and access to any subscription services in relation to credit rating activities) New investments in the Russian energy sector Subjecting a greater number…
The Register of Overseas Entities – What you need to know
Originally promised “by 2021”, the war in the Ukraine has finally booted the Register of Overseas Entities onto the statute book as part of a global push towards transparency in property ownership. As we reported in December 2020, most UK entities have been required to provide information about their ultimate owners since June 2016, but plans to cast the net wider to catch overseas entities seemed to have stalled over the last two years. Now, domestic and global pressure to crack…
The ripple effects of sanctions
Having been accused of getting off to a slow start in relation to the imposition of sanctions arising out of developments in Russia and Ukraine, the UK Government appears to be generating something of a head of steam and has in recent days sanctioned 7 Oligarchs and 386 members of the Russian Duma. Indeed the unprecedented pace of sanctions from across the globe has created a major issue for many businesses, and the intended and unintended consequences of those sanctions…
Ramifications under trade credit & political risk insurance policies for insured’s decision to voluntarily cease business operations within a country
The ongoing imposition of sanctions against Russia arising from the attack upon Ukraine creates a number of significant issues for insurers which have written trade credit and/or political risk insurance policies. Even where sanctions have not forbidden companies’ business in Russia, many companies have voluntarily chosen to withdraw from the Russian market, in whole or in part. Companies which have voluntarily decided to withdraw from Russia are finding that their Russian counterparties are deeming the voluntary withdrawal to be…
Expropriation and other recent measures aimed at foreign investors in Russia
As a reaction to the international sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government enacted several economic retaliatory measures that could significantly impair foreign investments in Russia or contracts concluded with Russian companies. Below, we outline the various measures currently discussed and/or already in force and provide you with information on investment protection and related legal instruments at your disposal if you are affected by these measures. The situation regarding the various measures in force or in preparation…
