Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel resumes combat operations in Gaza as cease-fire stalls Israel plans to kill Hamas leaders around the world after war JPost’s Editorial: Israelis will not feel safe until Hamas is eradicated Washington Examiner’s Tom Rogan: US clearly wants Israel to rely more on ground force operations over airstrikes Saudis discuss defense ties with Iran in further sign of detente German government’s meeting with Iranian dissident ends in acrimony Ukraine's Zelenskiy calls for fortifications in key frontline areas At least 10 killed in Iraq roadside bomb attack US issues new North Korea sanctions targeting 8 people and hacking group Kimsuky North Korea's Kim calls for military readiness against any 'provocation' Taiwan reports more Chinese military activity as election nears Somali maritime police intensify patrols as fears grow of resurgence of piracy in the Gulf of AdenIn The News
Israel
Israel said that it had renewed combat operations in Gaza and that Hamas had fired toward Israeli territory, as a weeklong truce expired early Friday morning. The resumption of fighting came as mediators engaged in intense negotiations with the two sides in which Hamas didn’t provide a list of hostage names needed for the cease-fire extension, Egyptian officials said. – Wall Street Journal
Israel’s intelligence services are preparing to kill Hamas leaders around the world when the nation’s war in the Gaza Strip winds down, setting the stage for a yearslong campaign to hunt down militants responsible for the Oct. 7 massacres, Israeli officials said. – Wall Street Journal
As bombs fell and tanks penetrated deep into Gaza in late October, Israeli President Isaac Herzog held a fraught phone call with Pope Francis. The Israeli head of state was describing his nation’s horror over the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 when the pope issued a blunt rejoinder. – Washington Post
Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out. – New York Times
As Hamas released more hostages on Thursday under a fragile truce deal, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Israeli leaders and urged them to take concrete steps to reduce civilian deaths before the military resumed an expected offensive against Hamas in Gaza. – New York Times
At least three people were killed and six others wounded when two Palestinian gunmen affiliated with Hamas opened fire near a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Thursday morning, according to the Israeli authorities. – New York Times
As Palestinians celebrated Israel’s release of prisoners outside Ramallah’s sand-colored municipality last Friday, green Hamas flags dotted the crowd and young men donned green caps, the latest signs of the Islamist group’s growing popularity on the West Bank. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Now is the time to acknowledge that, until this war ends, until Hamas is destroyed entirely, and until Hezbollah is deterred and pushed away from the border, there is no way to make Israelis feel safe. That is the message that we and our leaders need to internalize and it is the message that should be conveyed to the entre international community. It is time to eradicate the threat once and for all. – Jerusalem Post
Molly Roberts writes: This state of affairs is admittedly unfortunate for clearing up controversies or rebuilding a shared reality. The upside is that the sort of emotional and moral big-T Truth that the internet can broadcast around the world could go some way toward building more empathy. Platforms that allow for real-time sharing, with no editing and little vetting, allow us to witness the raw emotions of people far away as those people experience them — or of people close by but unlike us in background or perspective. – Washington Post
Tom Rogan writes: Israeli ground forces have the capacity to conduct a similar operation at scale in southern Gaza. The brutal question is whether Israeli leaders and the Israeli people are willing to accept even higher losses on the part of their own people in order to reduce civilian losses in Gaza. – Washington Examiner
Rob Geist Pinfold writes: If Israel wants to create security and stability on its southern border, it needs a plan to leave Gaza, not to aimlessly entrench itself within it. In the words of Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council: “withdrawal is like having life-saving surgery: even though it is very painful right now, you need it to cure you in the long run.” The longer Israel prolongs its occupation of Gaza with no coherent plan for exit and a political vision for the territory’s future, the more painful an eventual but inescapable withdrawal will be. – War on the Rocks
Iran
Senior defense officials from Iran and Saudi Arabia discussed military cooperation in a rare call, the latest sign that the war between Israel and Hamas is bringing the former rivals closer together. – Bloomberg
The House passed a bipartisan measure Thursday that would block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion recently unfrozen by the US in a prisoner swap, a step Republicans pushed in response to the nation’s alleged role in the deadly attacks last month by Hamas on Israel. – Times of Israel
Iran is looking to capitalize on its improved ties with longtime rival Saudi Arabia to expand cooperation with the Kingdom and neighboring Arab states at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States were heating up in the waters of the Persian Gulf. – Newsweek
A planned meeting between prominent Iranian dissident, Masih Alinejad, and senior German officials collapsed in acrimony on Thursday over the government’s alleged insistence that the meeting be kept confidential. – Politico
Iran’s president claims he will not attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, citing the presence of his Israeli counterpart. Israeli president Isaac Herzog will be in the United Arab Emirates along with around 140 other world leaders for the world’s biggest climate summit which begins Friday, to be opened by Britain’s King Charles. – Iran International
Russia & Ukraine
As snow fell silently in a secret location in eastern Ukraine, the Russian infantrymen huddled on a garage floor, their hands dirty and their faces exhausted. The men had been captured by Ukrainian troops during intense fighting for the city of Avdiivka. Now they waited to be sent to prisoner-of-war facilities, far from the front line. – Wall Street Journal
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for faster construction of fortifications in key sectors under pressure from Russian forces, particularly in eastern Ukraine, the focal point of Moscow’s advances 21 months into its invasion. – Reuters
Yevhen Tkachov, a volunteer aid worker and devout Pentecostal from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, spent much of his life travelling to the world’s war zones helping civilians in need. Nearly 10 years ago, his own homeland erupted into conflict, and the war never went away. – Reuters
Ukraine will need to wait until next year before it receives its first big shipment of rocket-propelled bombs the U.S. has adapted to strike at a nearly 100-mile (160km) range, according to the Pentagon and people familiar with the timing. – Reuters
Two people were killed, 10 were wounded and a family of three were believed to be still trapped under rubble following overnight Russian missile attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. – Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov faced Western critics while attending international security talks Thursday in Northern Macedonia, where he blamed “NATO’s reckless expansion to the East” for war returning to Europe. – Associated Press
Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at least two people and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons. – Associated Press
Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at least two people and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons. – Associated Press
Elizabeth M.F. Grasmeder writes: But there is also cause for caution. Cornered creatures can easily turn nasty. We know that leaders feeling under the gun at home and abroad will sometimes prolong even a losing or costly war in hopes of staying in office — a ploy known as gambling for resurrection. In such a context, migrants and other foreigners in Russia could easily become cannon fodder for a government that is beyond all care of international cost or censure. – War on the Rocks
Lebanon
While trying to fulfil their mandate to keep the peace, U.N. soldiers deployed along Lebanon’s border with Israel during the worst hostilities there in nearly 20 years have another urgent concern: keeping their own forces safe. – Reuters
The Israeli military said it intercepted an “aerial target” that crossed from Lebanon on Thursday, in an incident that jolted the calm prevailing at the frontier since the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel agreed a temporary truce. – Reuters
Editorial: In the long term, Israel – either through military force, diplomacy, or a combination of the two – needs to ensure that UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is honored and that Hezbollah does not have armed personnel, assets, or weapons south of the Litani. – Jerusalem Post
Ameer al-Kaabi and Michael Knights write: Even Badr, the most politically and economically-focused of the muqawama actors has taken on more risk by openly threatening the U.S. than AAH has in this crisis. Another finding is that Abu Hussein’s paramilitary wing of KH is getting more and more visible and vocal – in this case doubling down on its listing of active muqawama militant groups by even speaking on behalf of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claim brand, somewhat undoing the point of a facade strategy. – Washington Institute
Gulf States
At least 10 people were killed and 14 others wounded in an attack with roadside bombs and gunfire on a vehicle and rescuers in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province on Thursday evening, two security sources said. – Reuters
President Isaac Herzog met his Emirati counterpart on the sidelines of UN climate talks on Thursday as part of a diplomatic push to release hostages held by Hamas. – Times of Israel
Tom Rogan writes: The UAE has the right to pursue whatever foreign policy it sees fit. But its current trajectory is not compatible with keystone U.S. national security interests. The U.S. should respond in recognition of that basic fact. – Washington Examiner
Simon Henderson writes: COP28 also holds implications for competition between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who are developing a keen sense of the benefits associated with hosting prestige international events. The UAE is a leader in this regard, having also hosted the most recent World Expo in 2021-22. Its rivals are not far behind, however—Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup, while Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 tournament and the 2030 World Expo. Yet these seemingly innocuous diplomatic victories can conceal sharp edges. For instance, Saudi Arabia has reportedly told international corporations that they must locate their regional headquarters in Riyadh rather than the UAE. And Qatar’s status as a major exporter of gas (a greener fuel than oil) could up the economic ante of its often-tense diplomatic competition with major oil producers like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. – Washington Institute
Husain Haqqani writes: Two Hindu temples now operate in Dubai, and several cremation facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah provide Hindu burial rites. The UAE’s first Sikh temple opened in Dubai in 2012 and the country is also home to the Parsi, Baha’i, and Druze communities. The UAE’s economic success, technological ambitions, and its growing international influence are largely the outcome of the culture of tolerance fostered by its leaders and their preference for pragmatism over hardline ideologies. – The News International
Middle East & North Africa
As world leaders feted Qatar for brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas last week, its negotiators doubled down on their mediation efforts, fearful the ceasefire was about to collapse before it started. – Reuters
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday asked United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to use his “political weight” to help free all of the Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. – Reuters
The U.S. Treasury’s top terrorism financing official said on Thursday he had discussed with Turkish government officials his deep concerns about Palestinian militant group Hamas raising funds in Turkey and potentially breaking local laws. – Reuters
A US Navy warship shot down a drone on Wednesday launched from a part of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the American military’s Central Command said. – Times of Israel
Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday urged U.N. aid officials and international groups to pile pressure on Israel to allow more aid into the beleaguered Gaza enclave where the humanitarian situation is worsening, officials and aid workers said. – Reuters
Britain has sent the Royal Navy ship Diamond to help bolster regional security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, the government said on Thursday. – Reuters
Mohammed Mahmoud writes: Anthropogenic climate change propelled by nearly two centuries of unabated and unmitigated greenhouse gas emissions has yielded warming impacts that have disrupted multiple spheres of human life due to droughts, global warming, and extreme weather, and threaten the environmental sustainability of our planet. Without corrective mitigation action, continued patterns of energy use, land development, industrial production, and human consumption could propel the earth, and especially extreme heat-prone regions like MENA, into an irreversible climate regime that could prove uninhabitable. – Middle East Institute
Marta Vidal writes: As domestic pressures mount, the government has increased its efforts to contain popular anger. It has forbidden demonstrations or gatherings in the Jordan Valley and near border areas. In Amman, Jordanian forces have fired tear gas at demonstrators trying to storm the Israeli Embassy, closed roads, and prevented protestors from reaching the U.S. and European embassies. Several protestors have been detained on charges of unlawful assembly, vandalism, disturbing public order, and assaulting security and public officers. Protesters have demanded the release of all detainees, chanting “enough arrests!” in the streets. – Foreign Policy
Neville Teller writes: Fortunately, many of the rockets and one-way attack drones were intercepted by US air defenses, and only minor injuries have resulted so far. By manipulating events and avoiding any direct involvement, the Iranian regime has succeeded in souring the political atmosphere in the Middle East to the point, they hope, that any normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel – very much on the cards only a few short weeks ago – would be out of the question. As for the Houthi organization, it has responded, as ever, to the self-interest of its Iranian masters and has willingly assumed the role of combatant against Israel on their behalf. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
The United States on Thursday issued fresh North Korea-related sanctions, the website of the U.S. Treasury Department showed, with the sanctions targeting eight individuals and hacking group Kimsuky. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for his military to be ready to respond to any “provocation” by the enemy, state media said on Friday, after Pyongyang vowed to deploy stronger armed forces and new weapons along its border with the South. – Reuters
The United States on Thursday targeted North Korea with fresh sanctions after its launch of a spy satellite last week, designating foreign-based agents it accused of facilitating sanctions evasion to gather revenue and technology for its weapons of mass destruction program. – Reuters
To the steady rat-tat-tat of machine guns and exploding bursts of smoke, amphibious tanks slice across a lake not far from the big green mountains that stand along the world’s most heavily armed border. – Associated Press
Clint Work and Hanbyeol Sohn write: The innumerable, complex challenges and enormous demands on U.S. forces and resources in a potential conflict with China are such that Washington needs to clarify what other allies and partners can bring to bear. Shoring up these commitments now, during peacetime, would not only help with preparedness, but also send a powerful collective deterrent signal, thus reducing the chances of conflict to begin with. A true peace on the peninsula may continue to elude the United States, China, and the two Koreas (at least for the foreseeable future). At the very least, efforts should be made to stabilize the armistice. – Foreign Policy
China
Henry Kissinger influenced how the U.S. and China interacted until the final weeks of his life. His death Wednesday at age 100 sparked recollections in both nations about how the former secretary of state’s secret trips to Beijing more than a half-century ago paved the way for the momentous 1972 visit by then-President Richard Nixon that allowed the U.S. and China to form a relationship. – Wall Street Journal
Taiwan again reported Chinese warplanes and warships around the island on Thursday, including aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing keeps up its military activities ahead of Taiwan’s January election. – Reuters
China’s leadership is too “overwhelmed” with its internal problems to consider an invasion of Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with the New York Times. – Reuters
China’s defense ministry said Thursday that the U.S. should stop interfering in both Taiwan and the South China Sea, saying U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are making the situation more dangerous. – Associated Press
Dr. Alessandro Arduino writes: Three developments during Xi presidency are likely to lead to more Chinese private security companies venturing overseas: the ongoing preference for state-owned enterprises, the acceleration of civil-military integration, and an increase of violent attacks against Chinese individuals and infrastructure abroad. Safeguarding Chinese ports and vital sea communication routes, collecting critical local intelligence, and deploying personnel for non-combatant evacuation operations are just a few of the strategic offerings within the future arsenal of Chinese private security companies. Given China’s growing global economic and diplomatic engagement, the Chinese government will increasingly rely on private security companies, whatever its reservations. Beijing clearly does not want to replicate the Russian experience, but it remains to be seen how effectively it can keep control over this growing industry. – War on the Rocks
James Crabtree writes: Yet the fundamental regional challenge remains. As Samir Saran of the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi put it at a recent conference, China seeks a multipolar world order—but a unipolar East Asia. The United States wants the opposite: It seeks to sustain its global unipolar position while ensuring East Asia remains multipolar. Deals like those struck in San Francisco can calm Sino-U.S. relations temporarily. Just don’t bet on them lasting. – Foreign Policy
South Asia
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has no question about who wants him dead. “The conspiracy and plot to kill me comes from the government of India,” he said in an interview. – New York Times
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada accused the Indian government in September of being behind the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist near Vancouver, there was fierce denial, skepticism and muted support. – New York Times
In page after page of fly-on-the-wall detail, the indictment unsealed in New York this week describes a chilling plot: A criminal operative, on orders from a government official in India, tried to arrange the killing of a Sikh American on U.S. soil. – New York Times
On a rainy night in June, President Biden toasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India during a state dinner at the White House, celebrating “two great friends, and two great powers” — a gesture of flattery for a leader he has enlisted to help the United States check China’s ambition and counter Russia’s aggression. – New York Times
A brazen murder-for-hire plot against a U.S. citizen, which authorities say was directed by an Indian government official, outwardly seems like a development that could upend the fragile new U.S.-India partnership. But the countries – each eager for an ally to counterbalance a rising China – appear ready to try to look past the assassination attempt detailed in an U.S. indictment released on Wednesday. – Reuters
Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearings on Friday on a petition by rights activists seeking to halt deportation of Afghan refugees, a lawyer said, as authorities are combing refugee settlements in an effort to find and send home thousands. – Reuters
A former high-profile Myanmar army officer who had served as information minister and presidential spokesperson in a previous military-backed government has been convicted of sedition and incitement, a legal official said Thursday. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. – Associated Press
Asia
Malaysia has invited China’s President Xi Jingping to visit, its ambassador to Beijing said on Friday, as the Southeast Asian country also seeks to boost the number of Chinese tourists to five million a year to fuel economic growth. – Reuters
China and Vietnam are working on a possible significant upgrade of their underdeveloped rail links to boost a line that crosses Vietnam’s rare earths heartland and reaches the country’s top port in the north, senior officials and diplomats said. – Reuters
Beijing has sponsored cut-price trips to China for hundreds of Taiwanese politicians ahead of key elections on the island, according to Taiwan sources and documents, unnerving officials with a broad campaign that one called “election interference”. – Reuters
France’s defence and foreign ministers travel to the Indo-Pacific next week as part of a diplomatic offensive to strengthen political and military ties, and rebuild its relationship with key partner Australia. – Reuters
About two weeks into a major offensive against Myanmar’s military-run government by an alliance of three well-armed militias of ethnic minorities, an army captain, fighting in a jungle area near the northeastern border with China, lamented that he’d never seen such intense action. – Associated Press
Bonnie S. Glaser, Jessica Chen Weiss, and Thomas J. Christensen write: Many might argue that assurances would signal weakness and invite Chinese aggression. On the contrary, these assurances would help strengthen a deterrence strategy that includes reinforcing the U.S. military presence in East Asia and hardening Taiwan’s defense. It is precisely because tough measures are needed that it is imperative that Washington and Taipei accompany them with productive diplomatic ones, assuring Beijing that it will not be punished if it forgoes the use of force. – Foreign Affairs
Peter Chalk writes: The current Opposition also shares many of the present government’s reservations over Beijing’s increasingly belligerent behavior in the Indo-Pacific. Britain Reconnected, for instance, specifically notes that “China’s growth has been matched by greater repression at home and more assertive behavior abroad” — reflecting the same line emphasized by Prime Minister Sunak. Within this context, Lammy has confirmed Labour will carry out, for the first time, a complete audit of the United Kingdom’s relationship with China to ensure that it reflects British concerns and values. – War on the Rocks
Europe
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday that the West was killing off any chances of reviving the grouping which he said was on the brink of collapse. – Reuters
Russia accused Bulgaria of malice and stupidity on Thursday for refusing to allow Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s plane to fly through its airspace. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual press conference and field questions from the public on Dec. 14, the Kremlin said on Thursday, stoking speculation he will use the event to announce he is seeking another six years in power. – Reuters
Top diplomats from more than 50 countries arrived in North Macedonia on Wednesday for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, while others boycotted the event due to the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. – Associated Press
A 15-year-old boy and an alleged accomplice are accused of plotting to blow up a small truck at a Christmas market in western Germany in an attack modeled on the methods of the Islamic State group, prosecutors said Thursday. – Associated Press
Kosovo’s government on Thursday postponed a deadline by two weeks for ethnic Serbs living in the country to register their vehicles with Kosovo license plates instead of Serbian ones. – Associated Press
Aura Sabadus writes: Although the EU cannot mandate transparency in Turkey’s gas sector, it can help finance education programs in southeast Europe to explain how gas markets function and how energy supplies have been weaponized by Russia to destabilize Europe. Resisting Russia’s energy depredations is not a secondary issue; it is key to resisting an extremely dangerous form of warfare. – Center for European Policy Analysis
William Mockapetris and Ivanna Kuz write: As with any strategy, implementation is key. Its success will depend on the willingness of the US to maintain sustained efforts to increase its diplomatic, political, and security ties in the region. Failure risks squandering a crucial opportunity for NATO to minimize Russian aggression. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Africa
The two warring sides in Sudan have been forcibly recruiting civilians to join the fight, and conditions in some refugee camps outside the country are so awful that some men who fled have returned to Sudan, only to be captured and pressed into combat, refugees said. – Washington Post
The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Friday to remove the final restrictions on weapons deliveries to Somalia’s government and its security forces, diplomats said, more than 30 years after an arms embargo was first imposed on the country. – Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he will visit Angola in a trip that could mark renewed engagement with Africa at a time of international turmoil. – Reuters
Somalia’s maritime police force on Thursday intensified patrols in the Gulf of Aden following a failed pirate hijacking of a ship earlier this week. – Associated Press
The Americas
Guy Philippe, the former Haitian police commander, politician and rebel who staged a coup against his country’s then-president in 2004 and served six years in a U.S. federal prison for money laundering, was deported to Haiti on Thursday, according to one of his attorneys in Haiti, Emmanuel Jeanty. – New York Times
Opposition candidates barred from public office in Venezuela will be able to appear before the country’s top tribunal, which will rule on their bans, the country’s government and opposition said in a joint statement late on Thursday. – Reuters
A Mexican drug cartel was so bold in operating frauds that target elderly Americans that the gang’s operators posed as U.S. Treasury Department officials, U.S. authorities said Thursday. – Associated Press
United States
Christopher Nadon writes: Like Douglas’s “popular sovereignty,” the false doctrine of “settler colonialism” denies our nation’s founding truths by holding that some groups bear the mark of irredeemable sin and thus may be resisted or punished by any means necessary. It places some above criticism and others beneath human sympathy. In a republic like ours, “devoted to the proposition that all men are created equal,” theory matters. This wouldn’t be the first time those defeated on the battlefield have imposed the yoke of their own thought on the children of their enemies. – Wall Street Journal
Mark Toth and Jonathan Sweet write: Europe’s ghosts have known far too many wars. It is time for Biden and his national security team to ensure that Ukraine decisively wins this war and brings a conclusive end to this European nightmare that is becoming global in nature. – The Hill
David Harsanyi writes: Even those who find that event distasteful might begrudgingly concede it laid the groundwork for a peace agreement between the two countries later in the decade. The American left can’t begrudgingly admit anything Kissinger did was good, of course, because he’s a supervillain. And the Kissinger Mythology allows them to feel like we were no better than our adversaries. – New York Post
Douglas Murray writes: When an American patriot showed up at Wednesday´s Christmas ceremony with an American flag a protestor tried to tear the American flag from his hands and others shouted “Allahu Akbar.” The attack in October was a tragedy for Israel. But it has also highlighted a looming tragedy in our own countries. Because it never was just about Israel. It’s about all of us. – New York Post
Bob McManus writes: It is no surprise that so many on the hard left — the AOCs, the Ilhan Omars, the democratic socialists — also are to be found in the Palestinian camp. By and large, they’re no great fans of the West either. But it is disappointing that more mainstream civic leaders — many of whom eloquently condemned Oct. 7 at the time — now fail publicly to make the obvious connection between that massacre and the current demonstrations. – New York Post
Michael R. Pompeo writes: Since October 7th, Iran’s proxies have launched at least 73 attacks on U.S. forces. Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s sporadic retaliatory strikes have failed to establish deterrence while giving a complete free pass to the head of the snake. As the world grows more dangerous, the Biden administration only sinks further into retreat. America must wake up to the looming threats on our homeland before it’s too late. – FOX News
Cybersecurity
Meta announced on Thursday that it had removed thousands of Facebook accounts based in China that were impersonating Americans debating political issues in the United States. The company warned that the campaign presaged coordinated international efforts to influence the 2024 presidential election. – New York Times
Hackers believed to be based in China are targeting the Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as people in South Korea, with a strain of malware called SugarGh0st, according to a new report. – The Record
Foreign interference groups are attempting to build and reach online audiences ahead of a number of significant elections next year, “and we need to remain alert,” Meta warned on Thursday. – The Record
Foreign interference groups are attempting to build and reach online audiences ahead of a number of significant elections next year, “and we need to remain alert,” Meta warned on Thursday. – The Record
Authorities in one of Russia’s regions have set up a Telegram chatbot that allows citizens to report colleagues and neighbors promoting “anti-Kremlin propaganda.” – The Record
When hackers linked to Iran penetrated a programmable logic controller at a water pumping station in Pennsylvania last weekend, they had their pick of a huge number of such devices connected to the internet. – CyberScoop