position:general

“We’re in a start-up phase”
▻http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-03-29-were-in-a-start-up-phase

Thalita Malago, General Secretary of Italian trade body AESVI, maps out a nascent industry

#Publishing #Development

Israeli troops shoot Palestinian teen in the back amid firebomb plot
▻http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.779082

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.779185.1490285101!/image/1784014178.jpg_gen/derivatives/headline_1200x630/1784014178.jpg

Soldiers in ambush shot Murad Abu Razi while he was fleeing. He died on the spot.
Gideon Levy and Alex Levac Mar 24, 2017 5:22 PM

Last Friday night, 17-year-old Murad Abu Razi went to a party celebrating the release of a resident of his refugee camp from Israeli prison, after 13 years. The party in honor of Ismail Farjoun, who had been let out that very day, was held in the clubhouse run by the popular committee at the Al-Arroub camp, which lies on the main road between Bethlehem and Hebron. It’s a crowded, hardscrabble place where happy events are few and far between. Perhaps that’s why so many people showed up to welcome the liberated prisoner home with sweets and cries of joy.

Murad left the party in the early evening, accompanied by both his father, Yusuf, who has been hard of hearing since birth, and an uncle, Hassan, a retired teacher. Murad bade them farewell without saying where he was going. Not long afterward he was shot in the back and killed by an Israel Defense Forces soldier who had been lying in ambush.

From the clubhouse, Murad had walked toward the camp’s western edge, which is delineated by a fence, toward Highway 60. There’s a permanent IDF post there – a fortified watchtower, concrete cubes that serve as roadblocks, and an almost constant presence of soldiers. Murad was joined by four more youths his age. They carried plastic bags that held improvised Molotov cocktails of their making.

On the way the teens encountered Murad’s cousin, who prefers to remain anonymous. He is 28 and lives in a small one-room apartment situated a few dozen meters from the camp’s fence. Fearing that Murad would get into trouble, he tried to persuade him – in vain – to go home. In the meantime, two members of the group left. Now they were three, approaching the fence.

They took the firebombs out of the bags and placed them on the concrete cubes. Their plan was to throw them over the high fence that had been built years ago by the Israeli authorities in order to prevent stones and incendiary devices from being thrown at vehicles on the busy road. Parked on the other side of the fence at the time was an IDF jeep. In the dark of evening the youths didn’t notice the soldiers who were lying in ambush inside the camp.

Suddenly, from a nearby abandoned tin shack with torn, perforated walls, soldiers sprang out. Spotting them, the three teens started to run toward the camp. The soldiers shot at them from behind as they fled. Murad was hit by a single bullet in the back. One of his friends, Seif Rushdi, was also hit, in one of his legs; he lost a great deal of blood, and is now in intensive care in Hebron’s Al-Ahli Hospital and could not be visited this week. The third teenager, who was wounded lightly, did not want to identify himself, for obvious reasons.

Murad collapsed, lying in a pool of his blood. He died almost immediately.

A trail of bloodstains, still visible this week on the road, marks their path of flight. This is the camp’s main road, traversing it from west to east without any sort of sidewalk. On both sides and in adjacent alleys, it’s lined with houses and shops, all appallingly crowded together.

As we walked, from the site of Murad’s death to the building where the celebration was held for the released prisoner – which has now become a house of mourning – we were engulfed by hundreds of children, who were just getting out of school. In light of the fact that six of Al-Arroub’s residents have been killed in the past two years, it was impossible to avoid wondering how many of the children who were streaming past would share a similar fate.

We had begun our visit at the end of the road, on the outskirts of the camp near the fence and the concrete cubes, where two soldiers were eating a meal from disposable aluminum trays. Maybe they’re the ones who shot Murad. Soldiers are posted at every entrance to the camp and in the watchtower that looms above it. To evade them, we left our vehicle at the car wash near one of the entrances and quickly stole into the camp on foot.

Murad’s cousin invited us for coffee in his tiny room, which resembled a beach hut, though in his case it’s accessed through a junkyard. An old television was tuned to an Egyptian movie channel, a pack of painkillers lay on the table along with the remnants of a snack. There was also an unmade steel bed and a wall painting of the Lebanese singer Fairuz as a young woman and next to it a quote from one of her best-known songs: “You are my prison, you are my freedom.” The cousin’s car is draped with posters commemorating the dead youth. He was the last person to see Murad alive.

Murad was shot at 8:40 P.M. on Friday, apparently from a distance of about 15-20 meters. He was obviously not endangering the soldiers as he fled. He managed to lunge forward after being shot, before he collapsed. He fell at the foot of the wall decorated with the image of Che Guevara, such as exists in almost every refugee camp, near a local medical laboratory. On the road we found a red casing with the inscription, “Stun grenade. Delay 3.5 seconds.”

Murad had run along the left side of the road, with Seif on the right side; paths of bloody drops are splattered on both sides of the road. The two must both have lost a great deal of blood. The cousin, hearing a woman shouting, said that he went outside and saw Murad lying in a pool of blood. The driver of a private car took the youth to Sa’ir Junction, where he was transferred to a Palestinian ambulance that rushed him to the hospital in Hebron.

A scratchy loudspeaker at the Popular Front clubhouse is blaring out Palestinian war songs from the period of the Lebanon War and the Israeli siege of Beirut. This is where the mourners were accepting condolences from camp residents, who arrived in a steady stream. Here, too, is where Murad attended his last celebration. When we got there, on Monday, a delegation from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah was just arriving. Murad’s father, who, in addition to being hard of hearing, has a speech impediment as well, shook the sympathizers’ hands mutely. He’s in a very bad way, his brother, Hassan, tells us. Murad was the youngest of his nine children.

The hall is adorned with photographs of Murad, yellow Fatah flags and images of the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat. There’s also a photo of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. As is the custom, young people – wearing shirts with the deceased’s photo emblazoned on them – offer dates and bitter coffee to those who come to pay condolences. The arrival of the PA delegation is announced. Faces are grim.

Murad’s uncle, Hassan Abu Razi, takes us up to the second floor, where it’s quieter. He tells us that his nephew was already wanted by the Israeli authorities as a boy, for frequently throwing stones. Murad dropped out of school in the 10th grade and at the age of 13 or 14, was already hiding out and sleeping in various places in the camp. One time he was hit by an IDF jeep but wasn’t injured. Soldiers frequently came to his house looking for him. He had spent four months in jail.

Hassan tells us about the grinding poverty of his brother’s family, which mostly lives off charity. It was in this clubhouse where he saw his nephew for the last time. Murad behaved normally that evening, his uncle recalls, and said nothing about his plans. Hassan himself was in Hebron when his wife called him later with the dreadful news. He hurried to the hospital, first to the wrong one and then to Al-Ahli, where Murad had already been pronounced dead, at 9:15 P.M. The Palestinian media initially said that two people had been killed; the mistake was later corrected.

The hospital wanted to perform an autopsy but Hassan objected. Murad was already dead, he says, so what good would that do? He was shown the body: a hole in the back and a hole in the chest. From the medical report: “The wounded individual arrived at the ER in a Red Crescent ambulance after being shot by the occupation army. He was unconscious and had no pulse. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. After an examination we found that he had been shot with one bullet that entered his back and exited via the chest, on the left side.”

The IDF Spokesman’s Unit told Haaretz this week: “A Military Police investigation was opened in the wake of the event, and upon its conclusion, the findings will be conveyed to the office of the military advocate general for examination.”

▻https://seenthis.net/messages/579251

What This Drawing Taught Me About Four-Dimensional Spacetime - Issue 46: Balance
▻http://nautil.us/issue/46/balance/what-this-drawing-taught-me-about-four_dimensional-spacetime

http://static.nautil.us/11874_786ab8c4d7ee758f80d57e65582e609d.png

My aim as a theoretical physicist is to unite quantum theory with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. While there are a few proposals for this unification, such as string theory and loop quantum gravity, many roadblocks to a complete unification remain.Einstein’s theory tells us the gravitational force is a direct manifestation of space and time bending. The sun bends the fabric of space, much like a sleeping person bends a mattress. Planetary orbits, including Earth’s, are motion along the contours of the bent space created by the sun. This theory provides some critical insights into the nature of light.As I gazed at the drawing, I could feel the artists challenging me to reconsider the nature of light. Quantum mechanics, however, says many weird things about physical reality. For (...)

Turkish, US, Russian Army Chiefs Hold Surprise Meeting – Al-Manar TV Lebanon
▻http://english.almanar.com.lb/207128

Turkey’s military says Turkish, US and Russian chiefs of military staff are meeting in southern Turkey to discuss developments in Syria and Iraq.

The surprise meeting between Turkey’s Gen. Hulusi Akar, the U.S. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, is underway Tuesday in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya.

Turkey’s military announced the meeting in a brief statement. It comes amid renewed Turkish threats to hit US-backed Syrian Kurdish targets in the northern Syrian city of Manbij.

The US and Turkey are also discussing plans to recapture the ISIL’s self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria. Turkey strongly opposes the involvement of Syrian Kurdish forces in the operation.

Turkey, US, Russia stage surprise tripartite regional security meeting in Antalya - INTERNATIONAL

▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-us-russia-stage-surprise-tripartite-regional-security-meet

The top soldiers of Turkey, the United States and Russia came together in Antalya in a first of its kind tripartite summit, the Turkish military has stated, highlighting developments in Syria and Iraq as top issues of the agenda. 

In a written statement issued by the office of the Chief of General Staff, Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, U.S. Chief of General Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov met in Antalya. 

Sources said the meeting began early on March 7 and is expected to continue through the day. Pictures distributed by the Turkish army feature the three top soldiers sitting side by side. 

The top soldiers of the three countries held bilateral meetings in recent months, particularly on security issues in Syria and Iraq, but have never met in a three-way meeting. 

The statement said they discussed security issues concerning Syria and Iraq, without further elaborating. The meeting comes as Turkey presses both Russia and the U.S. to cease cooperation with the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) for defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Raqqa ops possible with coordination

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım hinted about a military-to-military meeting between the three countries in an interview with the private broadcaster A Haber late on March 6. 

“There is no point in doing an operation [on Raqqa] without coordinating with Russia and the U.S. It would be futile and the consequences may become more complicated. For that, there are military, technical negotiations going on,” Yıldırım said.

He recalled Turkey’s proposal for a joint operation on Raqqa on the condition that the PYD will be excluded but stressed that Washington has not yet replied to Ankara. 

“We have conveyed our offer to the U.S. There has not been a formal response yet. So it would not be right to say ‘they have other plans’ just by taking what has been written about the issue into account. But we will not be anywhere there are terrorist organizations. It is that clear,” Yıldırım added.

‘PYD to east of Euphrates’ 

Yıldırım said Turkey’s main purpose in possible operations toward Manbij, al-Bab or other parts of Syria is to push the PYD and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), to the east of the Euphrates River. “It is quite natural that there would be Syrian elements there after it is provided. Because it is Syrian territory,” he said. 

“It can be the U.S. or it can be Russia. We are saying, if it is desired, we can make a triple mechanism with Russia, the U.S. and Turkey,” he said.

“When terrorist groups like the PYD and the YPG are completely cleared, same as we did in Jarablus with the Euphrates Shield operation, or in al-Rai, Dabiq and as we have started to do in al-Bab, Syrians will come and settle there. Life will go back to normal,” he added.

Are U.S. Immigration Centers the Next #Abu_Ghraib?

By all accounts, Gen. John Kelly was a fine Marine. He served with Gen. James Mattis, now the secretary of defense, and was seen as being in the Mattis mold — a low-key, prudent, rigorous thinker. So it is with surprise that I see Mr. Kelly, in his new role as secretary of Homeland Security, presiding over a ham-handed crackdown on immigrants.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/02/27/opinion/28ricks/28ricks-master768.jpg

THE MISSING MIGRANTS MAP - Corriere della Sera on Behance
▻https://www.behance.net/gallery/34680727/THE-MISSING-MIGRANTS-MAP-Corriere-della-Sera

https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/disp/9bd0e034680727.56d9cb3ba549e.png

Voir aussi ce qui est apparemment la source
Missing Migrants Project |
►https://missingmigrants.iom.int

via @odilon et @cdb_77

The Missing Migrants Map’ is the visual representation of all the incidents recorded by “The Missing Migrants Project”.
This visualization is based on the data tracked by the “Missing Migrants Project”, a joint initiative of IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) and Media and Communications Division (MCD).

The projects aims at tracking all the deaths of migrants and those who have gone missing along migratory routes worldwide. The research behind this project began with the October 2013 tragedies, when at least 368 migrants died in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Since then, Missing Migrants Project has developed into an important hub and advocacy source of information that media, researchers, and the general public access for the latest information.
Missing Migrants Project uses statistical data from governments and sources other agencies, as well as NGOs and media.
Data has been filtered on 2015 incidents happened in the european and mediterranean area.
The map is characterized by a purely geographical guise, to show both the morphology of the territory, and to highlight the fact that we all are citizens of the world.

The visualization was originally developed in september 2015, than updated in february 2016 with new events.

#migrations #asile #réfugiés #mourir_en_mer #cartographie

Riyadh celebrates first Saudi Women’s Day | Arab News
▻http://www.arabnews.com/node/1048461/saudi-arabia

The event, organized and hosted by the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, will include women’s operetta for a female audience only.
“We want to celebrate the Saudi woman and her successful role, and remind people of her achievements in education, culture, medicine literature and other areas,” Mohammed Al-Saif, general supervisor of the center, told Arab News.

!

#arabie_saoudite

Forget Protest. Trump’s Actions Warrant a General National Strike
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/forget-protest-trumps-actions-warrant-a-general-national-strike

On the morning after Donald Trump’s so-called Muslim ban went into effect – preventing all Syrians from entering the US, halting refugee admissions for 120 days and banning the citizens of seven...

McCain blasts Bannon placement on National Security Council - POLITICO
▻http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/mccain-bannon-nsc-234329

As the Senate Armed Services chairman, McCain said it’s concerning that Trump has centralized power around #Bannon, a former executive at #Breitbart who is credited with developing Trump’s form of populist and combative politics. The Arizona Republican said the most important decision-maker on the National Security Council, Gen. Joseph Dunford, is now being shut out of critical meetings.

#dr_strangelove

Russia ’starts to withdraw’ forces from Syria - CNN.com
▻http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/06/middleeast/syria-russia-forces-start-to-leave

Russia has started to cut back its forces in Syria, beginning with an aircraft carrier group, Russian state news agency TASS reported Friday.

Warships led by Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, will be the first to leave the conflict area, the chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, is quoted as saying.
It is not clear if the Kuznetsov’s warplanes will leave with it or if any will stay behind in Latakia, Syria.

Pas certain que le retrait du porte-avions modifie fortement les capacités militaires russes en Syrie ;-)
Après cette brillante #mission_accomplished, l’Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov va pouvoir entamer son périple de retour, sans doute avec un peu moins de frénésie occidentale pour l’accompagner, et rejoindre son chantier naval où l’attend le grand carénage programmé depuis belle lurette.

Sin is Good | i read the word
▻http://www.enjoytrueliving.com/iread/through-the-bible-january-3

Sin is Good

How can that be? That is how Eve saw the fruit God had forbidden that she or Adam eat. She observed that it was “good for food…a delight to the eyes, and…desired to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6).

It was “good” but it ruined the blessing of life in the garden.

It was “good” but it damaged the first couple’s marriage.

It was “good” but it destroyed a family.

It was “good” but it made worship worthless.

It was “good” but severed man’s intimate relationship with God.

No matter how “good” we may consider sin to be, it will have the last word and it will destroy what is genuinely good.

#Bible #sin #goodness

Government officials meet with Shenhua Group | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2016/12/13/government-officials-meet-with-shenhua-group

Government officials met with representatives from Shenhua Group Corporation Limited, China’s leading state-owned mining and energy company, to discuss further negotiations concerning the Tavan Tolgoi project.

The delegation from Shenhua Group was headed by General Manager Ling Wen. Wen stated, “We placed our bid for the Tavan Tolgoi project twice and won the bid twice. We are pleased that the new government has expressed their interest in cooperating with us and continuing the negotiations for the Tavan Tolgoi project.”

Earlier this year, by the decree of the Prime Minister, a working group headed by Minister of Mining Ts.Dashdorj was tasked with renegotiating and improving the contracts established with investors in the Tavan Tolgoi project.

This statement has been seen by analysts as Shenhua Group’s way of saying they will be involved in the Tavan Tolgoi project.

Why Congress Mandates Civilians Lead the Military - NBC News
▻http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/why-congress-mandates-civilians-lead-military-n691296

Before retired Marine Gen. James Mattis can get a confirmation hearing to become the nation’s next secretary of defense, he’ll have to get past a decades-old law meant to ensure a cornerstone of American democracy — civilian control of the military.

The reasons behind putting a civilian in charge of the Department of Defense are numerous. The secretary of defense has immense responsibilities as the only person aside from the president who can authorize military action and is an influential voice in the decision to launch a nuclear strike.

The National Security Act of 1947 states that a secretary of defense will be appointed “from civilian life” by the president. The law calls for a grace period of ten years before an active duty officer can hold the post, though Congress knocked down the waiting period to seven years in 2008.

“The provision is a law because of America’s nervousness of giving the military too much power,” said Charles Stevenson, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

“There is a concern that someone who has been a general all their adult lives doesn’t really understand civilian life,” Stevens added. “The secretary of defense has to deal with domestic businesses, has to recruit people from the civilian job sector. If he is just used to commanding he might not be used to commanding civilian society.”

Mattis would be just the second retired general to lead the military. Army Gen. George C. Marshall, a five-star general, served as President Harry Truman’s secretary of defense from 1950 to 1951 as he oversaw the Marshall Plan aimed at rebuilding Europe after World War II.

Computer scientists urge Clinton campaign to challenge election results
▻http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/hillary-clinton-challenge-results

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of the request.

The computer scientists believe they have found evidence that vote totals in the three states could have been manipulated or hacked and presented their findings to top Clinton aides on a call last Thursday.

Ah oui ! Pour répondre à la demande populaire,16 ans plus tard, enfin le remake du feuilleton du comté de Palm Beach.

James Mattis, Possible Trump pick for defense post sees Israel turning into apartheid state
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who was known as ’Mad Dog,’ also has said that the United States pays a ’price’ for its support of Israel.

JTA Nov 21, 2016
read more: ▻http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.754253

James Mattis, a former Marine General seen as one of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s leading candidates for Defense Secretary has said West Bank settlements are turning Israel into an apartheid state.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who was known as “Mad Dog,” also has said that the United States pays a price for its support of Israel, the Times of Israel reported.
Mattis met with Trump Saturday at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey
An unnamed official “familiar with the transition process” told CNN that Mattis can be considered a leading candidate for secretary of defense.
When Trump was asked by reporters whether Mattis is a candidate to lead the Defense Department, Trump said, “All I can say is he is the real deal. He is the real deal.”
Mattis ran U.S. Central Command in from August 2010 to March 2013. In that position he had command authority for all U.S. forces in the Middle East.

FBI director received millions from Clinton Foundation, his brother’s law firm does Clinton’s taxes - RipouxBlique des CumulardsVentrusGrosQ
▻http://slisel.over-blog.com/2016/11/fbi-director-received-millions-from-clinton-foundation-his-brother

https://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/0/94/68/83/20161108/ob_8ce015_fbi.jpg

A review of FBI Director James Comey’s professional history and relationships shows that the Obama cabinet leader — now under fire for his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton — is deeply entrenched in the big-money cronyism culture of Washington, D.C. His personal and professional relationships — all undisclosed as he announced the Bureau would not prosecute Clinton — reinforce bipartisan concerns that he may have politicized the criminal probe.

These concerns focus on millions of dollars that Comey accepted from a Clinton Foundation defense contractor, Comey’s former membership on a Clinton Foundation corporate partner’s board, and his surprising financial relationship with his brother Peter Comey, who works at the law firm that does the Clinton Foundation’s taxes.

Lockheed Martin

When President Obama nominated Comey to become FBI director in 2013, Comey promised the United States Senate that he would recuse himself on all cases involving former employers.

But Comey earned $6 million in one year alone from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin became a Clinton Foundation donor that very year.

Comey served as deputy attorney general under John Ashcroft for two years of the Bush administration. When he left the Bush administration, he went directly to Lockheed Martin and became vice president, acting as a general counsel.

How much money did James Comey make from Lockheed Martin in his last year with the company, which he left in 2010? More than $6 million in compensation.

Lockheed Martin is a Clinton Foundation donor. The company admitted to becoming a Clinton Global Initiative member in 2010.

According to records, Lockheed Martin is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which paid Bill Clinton $250,000 to deliver a speech in 2010.

In 2010, Lockheed Martin won 17 approvals for private contracts from the Hillary Clinton State Department.

HSBC Holdings

In 2013, Comey became a board member, a director, and a Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee member of the London bank HSBC Holdings.

“Mr. Comey’s appointment will be for an initial three-year term which, subject to re-election by shareholders, will expire at the conclusion of the 2016 Annual General Meeting,” according to HSBC company records.

HSBC Holdings and its various philanthropic branches routinely partner with the Clinton Foundation. For instance, HSBC Holdings has partnered with Deutsche Bank through the Clinton Foundation to “retrofit 1,500 to 2,500 housing units, primarily in the low- to moderate-income sector” in “New York City.”

“Retrofitting” refers to a Green initiative to conserve energy in commercial housing units. Clinton Foundation records show that the Foundation projected “$1 billion in financing” for this Green initiative to conserve people’s energy in low-income housing units.

Who Is Peter Comey?

When our source called the Chinatown offices of D.C. law firm DLA Piper and asked for “Peter Comey,” a receptionist immediately put him through to Comey’s direct line. But Peter Comey is not featured on the DLA Piper website.

Peter Comey serves as “Senior Director of Real Estate Operations for the Americas” for DLA Piper. James Comey was not questioned about his relationship with Peter Comey in his confirmation hearing.

DLA Piper is the firm that performed the independent audit of the Clinton Foundation in November during Clinton-World’s first big push to put the email scandal behind them. DLA Piper’s employees taken as a whole represent a major Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign donation bloc and Clinton Foundation donation base.

DLA Piper ranks #5 on Hillary Clinton’s all-time career Top Contributors list, just ahead of Goldman Sachs.

And here is another thing: Peter Comey has a mortgage on his house that is owned by his brother James Comey, the FBI director.

Peter Comey’s financial records, obtained by Breitbart News, show that he bought a $950,000 house in Vienna, Virginia, in June 2008. He needed a $712,500 mortgage from First Savings Mortgage Corporation.

But on January 31, 2011, James Comey and his wife stepped in to become Private Party lenders. They granted a mortgage on the house for $711,000. Financial records suggest that Peter Comey took out two such mortgages from his brother that day.

This financial relationship between the Comey brothers began prior to James Comey’s nomination to become director of the FBI.

DLA Piper did not answer any question as to whether James Comey and Peter Comey spoke at any point about this mortgage or anything else during the Clinton email investigation.

▻http://endingthefed.com

a Mirai botnet perturbed Liberia’s internet connectivity

Liberia is connected to internet via only one undersea cable (part of ACE - African Coast to Europe) of 5.12 Tbps, shared between all 23 countries connected via ACE.

Mirai has been targeting IP addresses of Lonestarcell MTN, a telecom operators managing the Liberian ACE leg, flooding the pipe with 500 Gbps and thereby impacting Liberia’s internet several times. (well, the 6% of the country that actually has internet access).
Lonestarcell MTN is one of the 4 telecom operators

▻http://thehackernews.com/2016/11/ddos-attack-mirai-liberia.html

Many media, including BBC, PC World, The Guardian, Forbes, IBtimes, Quartz, Mashable, The Register, inaccurately reported that Liberia was totally cut off.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Cable_map18.svg

▻https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/11/did-the-mirai-botnet-really-take-liberia-offline

“Both our ACE submarine cable monitoring systems and servers hosted (locally) in LIXP (Liberia Internet Exchange Point) show no downtime in the last 3 weeks,” [the general manager of Cable Consortium of Liberia] said. “While it is likely that a local operator might have experienced a brief outage, we have no knowledge of a national Internet outage and there are no data to substantial that.”

Mirai announces its attacks here:

▻https://twitter.com/MiraiAttacks

#Mirai #DDoS #botnet
#undersea_cable #câble_sous-marin

Malaysia to Purchase Four Navy Ships From China in Landmark Deal - Bloomberg
▻http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-02/malaysia-to-purchase-four-navy-ships-from-china-in-landmark-deal

Malaysia said it will buy at least four Littoral Mission Ships from China as Prime Minister Najib Razak announced “new steps” in military cooperation between the two countries.

Najib oversaw the purchase of the vessels on Tuesday during a state visit to Beijing. While no details were released on the value of the ships, the deal comes after Malaysia recently announced that it was cutting its defense budget by 13 percent.

“Now we have agreed the first significant defence deal between our two countries, with Malaysia purchasing littoral mission ships from China,” Najib said Wednesday in an editorial published in the China Daily newspaper. The first two will be built in China and the next two in Malaysia, with further Malaysian-built ships subject to government financing, he said.

In an octopus’s garden | The Economist

▻http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21709285-researchers-have-plan-chart-detail-depths-ocean-floor

C’était le bon temps !

http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/cf_images/images-magazine/2016/10/29/ST/20161029_STP001_facebook.jpg

THREE billion dollars sounds a lot to spend on a map. But if it is a map of two-thirds of Earth’s surface, then the cost per square kilometre, about $8.30, is not, perhaps, too bad. And making such a map at such a cost is just what an organisation called the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) is proposing to do. GEBCO, based in Monaco, has been around since 1903. Its remit, as its name suggests, is to chart the seabed completely. Until now, it has managed less than a fifth of that task in detail. But means of mapping the depths have improved by leaps and bounds over recent decades. So, with the aid of the Nippon Foundation, a large, Japanese philanthropic outfit, GEBCO now proposes to do the job properly. It plans to complete its mission by 2030.

#cartographie #fonds_marins #bathymétrie

About Australian Permanent Residency
▻http://www.permitsandvisas.com/about-australian-permanent-residency

About Australian Permanent Residency Apply for General Skilled Migration for Australia with Permits and Visas Immigration Consultants in Dubai. Our team of visa experts will assess your qualification if you meet the basic criteria for Australian immigration from Dubai UAE or anywhere else in the world. Australia is in need to skilled professionals to help […]

Why Is the Foreign Policy Establishment Spoiling for More War? Look at Their Donors. | The Nation
▻https://www.thenation.com/article/why-is-the-foreign-policy-establishment-spoiling-for-more-war-look-at-the

The Brookings Institute has taken tens of millions from foreign governments, notably #Qatar, a key player in the military campaign to oust Assad. Retired four-star Marine general John Allen is now a Brookings senior fellow. #Charles_Lister is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, which has received funding from Saudi Arabia, the major financial force providing billions in arms to upend Assad and install a Sunni caliphate stretching across Iraq and Syria. Foreign-government money is driving our foreign policy.

#Etats-Unis #Arabie_saoudite #mercenaires #guerre #donateurs #politique_étrangère

Australia General Skilled Migration Program
▻http://www.permitsandvisas.com/australia-general-skilled-migration-program

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Background Note on Aegean Disputes / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs

▻http://www.mfa.gov.tr/background-note-on-aegean-disputes.en.mfa

LA position turque à propos du différend territorial en mer Égée

Background Note on Aegean Disputes

Turkey’s General Approcah

Turkey and Greece being the two littoral states have legitimate rights and interests in the Aegean Sea. These involve their security, economy and other traditional rights recognized by international law.

The bilateral Turco-Greek relationship in the Aegean has to be based on the following principles: The Aegean is a common sea between Turkey and Greece. The freedoms of the high seas and the air space above it, which at present both coastal States as well as third countries enjoy, should not be impaired. Any acquisition of new maritime areas should be based on mutual consent and should be fair and equitable.

The fundamental source of tension between Turkey and Greece is the Greek perception to regard the entire Aegean as a Greek sea in total disregard of Turkey’s rights and interests as one of the coastal states.

#grèce #turquie #mer_égée

▻http://www.cyprus-conflict.org/index.html

The Turkish Invasion of 1974

European Commission of Human Rights - Cyprus v. Turkey - Commission Report (10 July 1976)

The Sunday Times on the 1976 European Commission of Human Rights Report on the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (23rd January 1977)

From Independence to the Turkish Invasion

Report of the United Nations Mediator Galo Plaza to the Secretary-General (1965)

Letter to Prime Minister Inonu from President Johnson (5 June 1964)

Turkish Cypriot Separatism and Partitionism

The “Plumer Letter” (October-November 1960)

The “Kutchuk/Denktash Plan” (14 September 1963)

From the EOKA Revolt to Independence

EOKA’s Preparatory General Plan (1953)

EOKA’s First Revolutionary Leaflet Distributed (1 April 1955)

The Constitutional Proposals for Cyprus submitted by Lord Radcliffe (December 1956)

The McMillan Plan and the Response of the Kingdom of Greece (1958)

EOKA leaflet ordering a cease-fire (9 March 1959)

Letter sent by General Grivas to the EOKA fighters on the declaration of a cease-fire (9 March 1959)

www.cyprus-dispute.org

#chypre