Monday, July 19, 2021

Six In The Morning Monday 19 July 2021

 



Key Modi rival Rahul Gandhi among potential Indian targets of NSO client


Leak suggests Indian opposition leader among hundreds selected for possible surveillance by Modi government

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s most prominent political rival, the opposition figure Rahul Gandhi, was twice selected as a potential surveillance target in leaked phone number data, making him one of dozens of Indian politicians, journalists, activists and government critics whose numbers were identified as possible targets for the Israeli company’s government clients.

Two numbers belonging to Gandhi, who led the Congress party during India’s 2019 national elections, were selected as candidates for possible surveillance in the year before the vote and in the months afterwards by NSO, whose spying tool Pegasus allows customers to infiltrate mobile phones and monitor messages, camera feeds and microphones.


Germany ponders lessons from deadly floods


As Germany mourns after deadly floods devasted swaths of the country, the cleanup operation goes on. The situation remains tense in some areas. 

Hundreds of soldiers deployed in affected regions

The German Defense Ministry said that around 1,000 soldiers had been deployed in some 20 towns and localities in the three states most affected by the recent flooding.

More than half, some 550, were in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with around 300 and 100 deployed in Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria respectively.

While some were helping with clearing away debris and mud, other members of the Bundeswehr were involved in the regular transporting of goods such as water and medicine to the affected regions by helicopter.


Ethiopia reaches second-year target for filling disputed Nile mega-dam


Ethiopia has completed filling the reservoir of its huge dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year, a minister said on Monday, a move that has already angered Egypt.

Addis Ababa says the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4 billion hydropower project, is crucial to its economic development and to provide power. 

But the dam has been a source of dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011, with Egypt and Sudan viewing it as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters.


American father, son get prison terms for helping Ghosn escape


A Tokyo court handed down prison terms for the American father and son accused of helping Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, escape to Lebanon while awaiting trial in Japan.

Michael Taylor was sentenced Monday to two years in prison, while his son Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months.

They were charged with helping a criminal in the December 2019 escape of Ghosn, who hid in a big box that was flown on a private jet via Turkey to Lebanon. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan.


Illegal gold miners threaten fragile way of life, deep in Amazon rainforest

Updated 1348 GMT (2148 HKT) July 19, 2021

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, the Yanomami people are battling an old and elusive enemy -- one they haven't seen since the 1980s.

Dressed in traditional headdress, faces decorated with paint, this indigenous community prepares its bows and spears to defend their land against garimpeiros -- illegal gold miners looking for glimmers of gold in this vast and rich territory.
Fernando, one of the Yanomami leaders, told CNN on a recent reporting trip to the riverside Palimiu settlement what the community has been enduring for months now.



China accused of cyber-attack on Microsoft Exchange servers


By Gordon Corera
Security correspondent


The UK, US and EU have accused China of carrying out a major cyber-attack earlier this year.

The attack targeted Microsoft Exchange servers, affecting at least 30,000 organisations globally.

The UK said Chinese state-backed actors were responsible, while the EU said the attack came from "the territory of China".

The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) was also accused of wider espionage activity and a broader pattern of "reckless" behaviour.




 

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