RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД

In many ways, Russian corruption is the new Soviet Communism. Kremlin-sponsored graft is the new Red Menace.

Mike Nova's Shared NewsLinks Review

» Handwriting Study Finds Clues on When Biblical Texts Written
12/04/16 19:02 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Israeli mathematicians and archaeologists say they have found evidence to suggest that key biblical texts may have been composed earlier than what some scholars think. Using handwriting...

» NATO, Russia Schedule First Formal Talks Since 2014
12/04/16 19:01 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Officials from NATO and Russia are scheduled to hold their first formal meeting in almost two years, covering Ukraine, the security situation in Afghanistan, and military activities, the ...

» Pope Replaces Vatican Ambassador to US
12/04/16 19:00 from Mike Nova's Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Voice of America. Pope Francis has replaced the Vatican ambassador who arranged a controversial secret meeting between the pontiff and Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to comply wi...

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Handwriting Study Finds Clues on When Biblical Texts Writtenby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 7:02 PM

Israeli mathematicians and archaeologists say they have found evidence to suggest that key biblical texts may have been composed earlier than what some scholars think. Using handwriting analysis technology similar to that employed by intelligence agencies and banks to analyze signatures, a Tel Aviv University team determined that a famous hoard of ancient Hebrew inscriptions, dated to around 600 BC, were written by at least six different authors. Although the inscriptions are not...

NATO, Russia Schedule First Formal Talks Since 2014by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 7:01 PM

Officials from NATO and Russia are scheduled to hold their first formal meeting in almost two years, covering Ukraine, the security situation in Afghanistan, and military activities, the Western alliance said Tuesday. The meeting scheduled for April 20 at NATO headquarters in Brussels will take place at the ambassadorial level. NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia back in 2014 in response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea. “This meeting is the continuation of our...

Pope Replaces Vatican Ambassador to USby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 7:00 PM

Pope Francis has replaced the Vatican ambassador who arranged a controversial secret meeting between the pontiff and Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to comply with a court order to issue same-sex marriage licenses. The Vatican said Tuesday that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano submitted his resignation in January after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. Vigano is being replaced by French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who previously served as...

LGBT Issues Spark Broader Rights Debate in USby webdesk@voanews.com (Katherine Gypson)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:59 PM

A debate in the United States over differences between religious beliefs and individual rights shows no signs of flagging. Laws seen as undermining LGBT rights in several southern states have sparked protests and threats of boycotts from businesses and entertainers, as well as counter-demonstrations by conservatives. Hundreds of people gathered Monday in Raleigh, North Carolina, near the governor's offices in a local landmark that formerly was the state Capitol building to support the...

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Corruption Probes Close in on Argentina's Fernandezby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:59 PM

Corruption allegations always swirled around former President Cristina Fernandez during her two terms in office, but they never stuck. Now, the walls seem to be closing on the fiery populist leader who typically criticized those who dared to question her management and ethics. In the past week, a federal prosecutor has asked that she be included in a widening investigation into money laundering. Her former transportation secretary and a businessman with close ties to her family were...

Brazil's Rousseff Brands Vice President a Traitorby webdesk@voanews.com (Ken Bredemeier)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:58 PM

Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff branded Vice President Michel Temer a traitor on Tuesday, saying he is a conspirator trying to engineer a "coup" against her with impeachment proceedings. Rousseff said Temer and Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha "now are conspiring openly, in the light of day, to destabilize a legitimately elected president." The Brazilian leader, speaking to teachers and students at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, said Temer and...

Trump's clash with Las Vegas union highlights his unpredictability - Los Angeles Times
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:57 PM

Los Angeles Times

Trump's clash with Las Vegas union highlights his unpredictability
Los Angeles Times
Protesters from Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas gather outside Trump Tower in New York. The union workers delivered a petition inviting Donald Trump to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract. Protesters from Trump International Hotel in ...
Donald Trump's Rivals Are Spending a Staggering Amount of Money Attacking HimSlate Magazine (blog)
Donald Trump says kids Eric and Ivanka can't vote for him in New York primaryWashington Times
How to Stream and Watch Donald Trump's CNN Town HallNewsweek
New York Times-Observer- The Week Magazine-Salon
all 303 news articles »

Senator Grassley and Judge Garland Meet, and Rehash the Obvious - New York Times
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:57 PM

New York Times

Senator Grassley and Judge Garland Meet, and Rehash the Obvious
New York Times
Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, waited for a breakfast meeting with Senator Charles E. Grassley. Credit Drew Angerer for The New York Times. WASHINGTON — It was a balance-of-power breakfast. Senator ...
Senate Judiciary chair Grassley has breakfast with Supreme Court nominee GarlandSalt Lake Tribune
Grassley has no plans to hold hearing following meeting with GarlandUSA TODAY
Why Veterans Support Hearings and a Vote on Garland NominationHuffington Post
U.S. News & World Report -NBCNews.com -Washington Times- MSNBC
all 388 news articles »

Paul Ryan Hopes to Put to Rest Rumors of Presidential Bid - NBCNews.com
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:57 PM

NBCNews.com

Paul Ryan Hopes to Put to Rest Rumors of Presidential Bid
NBCNews.com
House Speaker Paul Ryan plans on holding a press conference Tuesday afternoon to put to rest — he hopes — once and for all speculation about running this year for president. The Wisconsin lawmaker has been suggested as a potential presidential ...
Ryan Said to Rule Out Bid for Republican Presidential NominationBloomberg
Paul Ryan to formally rule out White House bidPolitico
'Destroy ISIS': Paul Ryan Video Highlights Foreign Policy StrengthsBreitbart News
Washington Times -KSPR -MSNBC -MarketWatch
all 63 news articles »

ANALYSIS: Navy Spy Case Fraught With Intrigue and Risk to US Security - ABC News
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:56 PM

AP Top News At 12:24 P.M. EDT

New York Times

ANALYSIS: Navy Spy Case Fraught With Intrigue and Risk to US Security
ABC News
There are more questions than answers coming from the news that U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin stands accused of spying for China and Taiwan. While the extent of his alleged espionage is not yet public, he has the potential to become the most damaging ...
Asia Pacific|Taiwan Denies Role in Spy Case Involving US Navy OfficerNew York Times
Navy officer charged with espionage now held in brigFox News
US Navy Spying Case: Is This What China Was Really After?The National Interest Online (blog)
WPTZ -JP Updates -State of the State KS (subscription) -Focus Taiwan News Channel
all 40 news articles »

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US governor reconsiders 'anti-gay' law
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:55 PM

BBC News - World

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory says he wants to make changes to a controversial new state law condemned by many as anti-gay.

Trump amassing delegates who might not be loyal to himby By THOMAS BEAUMONT and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:54 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Already behind the curve in organizing for the Republican convention, Donald Trump has missed crucial deadlines in a number of states to lock up delegates who would stay loyal beyond the first ballot....

Today's Headlines and Commentary by Cody M. Poplin
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:52 PM

Lawfare - Hard National Security Choices

We begin today in Yemen, where Reuters reports that “a truce aimed at ending more than a year of war in Yemen appeared to be largely holding on Monday,” even though some residents said fighting remained ongoing in certain parts of the country. The U.N. ceasefire agreement is designed to create space for peace talks, which are scheduled to begin on April 18th in Kuwait. Yet while United Nations officials remained optimistic that the ceasefire violations were exceptions, the Wall Street Journal shares that the pockets of remaining violence are likely to dim the prospects for the talks, prolonging a war that has already killed over 6,000 Yemini civilians.

In Syria, ISIS militants recaptured the strategically important town of al-Rai, located along the Turkish border. BBC notes that since the end of March, rebel factions had captured more than a dozen ISIS-held villages along the Syrian-Turkish border, but over the last 48 hours, ISIS has retaken at least six of those villages.

Turkish artillery hit ISIS targets along the border again today in a response to repeated rocket fire that struck a town in southeastern Turkey. The town, according to Reuters, is “home to an estimated 110,000 Syrian refugees,” and is often targeted by ISIS militants firing across the border.

While ISIS made small gains in Syria to start the week, the U.S.-led offensive in Iraq appears to be gaining steam. Yet that success is raising new concerns among U.S. and U.N. officials who now worry that “efforts to stabilize liberated areas are lagging, creating conditions that could help militants endure as an underground network.” The Washington Post highlights another problematic dynamic: “most Iraqi Sunnis fear and distrust the forces that are ‘liberating’ them” from the Islamic State. In Mosul, 74 percent of Sunnis say that they do not want to be liberated by the Iraqi army on its own; a full 100 percent do not want to be liberated by Shiite militias or the Kurdish Peshmerga.

The New York Times reports that “three suicide bombers tried to attack a small police station in southern Russia on Monday,” but police opened fire on the attackers, killing two. A third man exploded his device, causing some damage to the building, but authorities reported that there were no other casualties. The attack occurred in Novoselitsk, a village near the city of Stavropol, and not far from the Northern Caucasus, which has faced a two-decade long Islamic insurgency—a movement ISIS recruiters have recently tried to tap into. It is not clear whether the attackers were ISIS inspired.

It’s fighting season once again in Afghanistan according to the Taliban, who announced the start of their warm weather offensive, promising “large-scale attacks.” The group said that the offensive would begin at 5 am today. But the announced uptick in attacks was preceded yesterday by a suicide bomb attack that struck a bus of army recruits in Nangarhar province, killing at least 12 and wounding dozens more. No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, but the Times notes that “the targeting of the recruitment centers has long been a Taliban strategy.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is in Asia this week as part of a trip designed to shore up America’s relationships with key partners in the region. Earlier today in New Delhi, Carter and Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar announced that the two countries have agreed to improve their militaries capacity to coordinate during disasters. Carter also said that the United States is “more than willing” to share U.S. catapult technology necessary to launch fighters jets from aircraft carriers. The Times notes that the technology, if incorporated into India's next generation of aircraft carriers, could create opportunities for India to purchase U.S.-made FA-18 fighter jets.

As part of his trip, the Times reports that Secretary Carter will also cement a new agreement with the Philippines on Wednesday that will allow the United States to build facilities at five Philippine military bases. The agreement, made possible by a January ruling by the Philippine Supreme court, will also increase the number of U.S. troops, planes, and ships located across the country.

A former Energy Department employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday after he was convicted of “offering to help a foreign government in infiltrate the agency’s computer system to steal nuclear secrets and then attempting an email ‘spear-phishing’ attack in an FBI sting operation.” The employee, Charles Harvey Eccleston, pleaded guilty in February to one count of attempting to damage protected government computers. The Post has more.

According to the Associated Press, a former CIA operative has filed an appeal in Portugal’s Constitutional Court in an attempt to prevent her extradition to Italy, where she is set to serve a six-year sentence for her role in the U.S.’s extraordinary rendition program. The operative, Sabrine De Sousa, was convicted in absentia for her role in the 2003 rendition in Milan of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr.

The Miami Herald reports that Army Col. Judge James Pohl, the judge in charge of the military commissions trial of 5 alleged 9/11 plotters, has ruled that “remarks by political leaders stretching back to the George W. Bush presidency have the potential to taint” the trial. In the 19-page ruling, Judge Pohl said that defense attorneys will get “liberal challenges” when it is time to pick a jury. Judge Pohl declined the defense’s request to dismiss the case, however, saying that the fact-pattern did not demonstrate any unlawful influence in the decision to try the men in a capital case.

ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare

C. Christine Fair argued that the United States has approached Pakistan in the wrong way for too long and that it is now time for a new way of engaging the South Asian country.

Ben reminded us to RSVP for Thursday’s lunch event at the Hoover Institution on “Using Data to Secure Networks: Optimizing Individual Privacy While Achieving Strong Security.” There’s still time to register!

Mieke Eoyang introduced her new paper “Beyond Privacy and Security: the role of the Telecommunications Industry in Electronic Surveillance,” published as part of the Hoover Institution’s National Security, Technology, and Law Working Group.

Cody shared The Week That Will Be, Lawfare’s weekly roundup of employment and event announcements.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.

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Trump: Election System 'A Dirty Trick' - YouTube
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 6:46 PM

Published on Apr 12, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called the Republican primary elections a 'dirty trick' in at a rally in New York Tuesday, referring to the weight placed on delegates. (April 12)

Pakistan army chief accuses India of undermining China investment corridor
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 5:46 PM

Reuters: World News

GWADAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's army chief on Tuesday accused longtime regional India of seeking to undermine his country's $46 billion project to build an economic corridor to transport goods from China's western regions through the Pakistani deepwater port of Gwadar.

Corruption Is The New Communismby support@pangea-cms.com (Brian Whitmore)
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 4:45 PM

In many ways, Russian corruption is the new Soviet Communism. Kremlin-sponsored graft is the new Red Menace.

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Iran Signs Cooperation Agreements With Italian Prime Minister
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 4:45 PM

Iran and Italy have signed a series of bilateral agreements during a visit by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Tehran.

Oil Prices Surge After Report Of Russia-Saudi Deal To Freeze Production
Tuesday April 12th, 2016 at 4:44 PM