Egyptian Officer Says Army Needs Help From Russian PMCs To Confront ISIS In Sinai

The Egyptian military should seek help of Russian private military contractors from the so-called ‘Wagner’ group to eliminate ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian officer argued in an interview that was shared by the Vancouver-based Elminbar al-Awsat outlet on January 24.

The officer, whose name was not disclosed due to security concerns, revealed in the interview a number of problems faced by the Egyptian military in Sinai.

Egyptian government forces have been actively battling the insurgence in Sinai since early 2011. In 2014, this was further complicated by the ISIS factor. Despite the immense efforts of Cairo, the terrorist group is still present in the peninsula. Earlier this month, the group released a video documenting dozens of its recent attacks there.

According to the interviewed officer, Egyptian soldiers and warrant officers lack training and are not able to make the most out of advanced weapons bought from the US, France and Russia. Furthermore, the troops in Sinai allegedly operate in a predictable manner.

“The terrorists have studied our tactics well,” the officer said. “Unprotected posts are easily spotted and attacked, then they [the terrorists] simply hide in the desert and avoid direct clashes.”

The officer went on to say that air power is useless against ISIS cells in Sinai. Moreover, Egyptian troops involved in counter-insurgency operations do not benefit from large-scale drills which are focused on traditional tactics.

In the end of the interview the officer concluded that the Egyptian military needs support from organizations with experience in the war on ISIS, like Russia-linked private military contractors.

“Egypt should seek the services of private military companies with extensive experience in fighting ISIS, and I believe that the Russian Wagner is ideal for these tasks,” the officer said. “Moving Wagner units to the Sinai, conducting joint counterterrorism operations, and training our soldiers by specialists from them, will bring us much greater benefit than hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid to buy expensive military equipment, which in turn will remain useless in military bases.”

Thousands of Russia-linked private military contractors saw actions against terrorists in Syria as well as in other parts of the world over the last five years. The decision to seek the help of Russian PMCs to secure Sinai is not an easy one for the government in Cairo as it will reveal the complicated situation in Sinai. Nonetheless, the experience of Russian military specialists could help to improve the situation in the region.

https://southfront.org/egyptian-officer-says-army-needs-help-from-russian-pmcs-to-confront-isis-in-sinai/

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: Individual Rights and Freedoms Under Siege in Era of COVID

Dear Colleague,

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven an opportunity of convenience for totalitarian elements who have put individual rights and freedoms globally under siege. A medical cartel composed of pharmaceutical industry, government regulators, financial houses, and telecom and internet billionaires are systematically obliterating freedom of speech and assembly, religious worship, property rights, jury trial, due process, and — ultimately — America’s exemplary democracy.

That’s why I am sending you this new Special Report, “Protecting Individual Rights in the Era of COVID-19.”

As a fellow lawyer who has practiced in our country’s courts for more than 40 years, I am alarmed by the growing power of global corporations to overwhelm our justice system, obliterate our constitutional liberty, and destroy public health. Throughout my career as a litigator, law professor, public advocate and author, I have worked to hold corporate giants and government institutions accountable. My life’s work has provided me with a unique perspective on our individual rights to clean air, clean water, unobstructed access to the commons, and our rights to make our own decisions about our bodies.

As chairman and chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), I have now dedicated myself to protecting children’s health by ending harmful environmental exposures to children, ending the exploding chronic disease epidemic that has debilitated over half of American kids born after 1989, and to holding those responsible accountable.

A 2006 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) study found that 54% of America’s children today have chronic health conditions — allergies, ADHD, autism, eczema, asthma, obesity, autoimmune conditions and more. When I was growing up, most of these conditions were rare or unknown. When I was a boy, I received three vaccines. Today, children receive 72 mandated doses of 16 vaccines, prior to age 18. A mountain of peer-reviewed studies points to vaccines as the primary culprit in this public health calamity. That isn’t stopping our health authorities from mandating more hugely subsidized, shoddily tested, zero-liability vaccines for children. Our vaccine safety program falls dangerously short of what our children deserve.

The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed captive corporate regulators to hold the population hostage to justify the transfer of $45 billion of taxpayer money to pharmaceutical companies to finance a gold rush of new vaccines.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/robert-f-kennedy-jr-individual-rights-freedoms-under-siege-era-covid/5735584

Global Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes

https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat/global-cyber-and-intellectual-property-crimes

Emotet: The world's most dangerous malware botnet was just disrupted by a major police operation

Europol and FBI among agencies that have taken control of the botnet infrastructure used by cyber criminals behind some of the most prolific malware and ransomware attacks.

The world's most prolific and dangerous malware botnet has been taken down following a global law enforcement operation that was two years in planning.

Europol, the FBI, the UK's National Crime Agency and others coordinated action which has resulted investigators taking control of the infrastructure controlling Emotet in one of the most significant disruptions of cyber-criminal operations in recent years.

see also

Best VPN services

Best VPN services

Virtual private networks aren't essential only for securing your unencrypted Wi-Fi connections in coffee shops and airports. Every remote worker should consider a VPN to stay safe online. Here are your top choices in VPN service providers and how to get set up.

Emotet first emerged as banking trojan in 2014 but evolved into one of the most powerful forms of malware used by cyber criminals.

Those behind the Emotet lease their army of infected machines out to other cyber criminals as a gateway for additional malware attacks, including remote access tools (RATs) and ransomware.

It resulted in Emotet becoming what Europol describes as "the world's most dangerous malware" and "one of the most significant botnets of the past decade", with operations like Ryuk ransomware and TrickBot banking trojan hiring access to machines compromised by Emotet in order to install their own malware.

The takedown of Emotet, therefore, represents one of the most significant actions against a malware operation and cyber criminals in recent years.

"This is probably one of the biggest operations in terms of impact that we have had recently and we expect it will have an important impact," Fernando Ruiz, head of operations at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) told ZDNet. "We are very satisfied."

A week of action by law enforcement agencies around the world gained control of Emotet's infrastructure of hundreds of servers around the world and disrupted it from the inside.

Machines infected by Emotet are now directed to infrastructure controlled by law enforcement, meaning cyber criminals can no longer exploit machines compromised and the malware can no longer spread to new targets, something which will cause significant disruption to cyber-criminal operations.

"Emotet was our number one threat for a long period and taking this down will have an important impact. Emotet is involved in 30% of malware attacks; a successful takedown will have an important impact on the criminal landscape," said Ruiz.

"We expect it will have an impact because we're removing one of the main droppers in the market – for sure there will be a gap that other criminals will try to fill, but for a bit of time this will have a positive impact for cybersecurity," he added.

The investigation into Emotet also uncovered a database of stolen email addresses, usernames and passwords. People can check if their email address has been compromised by Emotet by visiting the Dutch National Police website.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/emotet-worlds-most-dangerous-malware-botnet-disrupted-by-international-police-operation/

NASDAQ temporarily shuts down stock trading after internet trolls destroy hedge fund with GameStop stock

The NASDAQ has paused trading after internet “degenerates” spotted Wall Street gearing up to make a killing, beat the traders at their own game, and got filthy rich while destroying the US’ top hedge funds. Buckle up.

“We are actively monitoring social media chatter and will halt stock if we match chatter with unusual activity in stocks,” NASDAQ CEO Adena Friedman announced on Wednesday morning. Speaking to CNBC, Friedman demanded regulators intervene to stop the “manipulation” that’s seen amateur investors completely leave one of America’s top hedge funds, Melvin Capital, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

As trading opened, Friedman kept her word and the buying and selling of GameStop stock was halted intermittently throughout the morning, in a bid to stave off the “manipulation” she warned about. But what was it about one failing video games retail company that sparked such panic on Wall Street?

https://www.rt.com/usa/513819-gamestop-stock-trading-wall-street/

Play by our rules or we'll turn off the game

>>12736066

>Friedman