Ukraine attacked key element of Russia’s nuclear umbrella — Russian senator

The US is so deeply involved in the conflict that it likely knew about Kiev’s plans, Senator Dmitry Rogozin says

The US should be seen as directly responsible for a Ukrainian strike on a key element of Russia’s nuclear umbrella, Senator Dmitry Rogozin has said, warning that such attacks could lead to the collapse of the entire global nuclear security architecture.

In a statement on Telegram on Saturday, Rogozin, a senator who previously headed up the Russian space agency Roscosmos and is now in charge of a military technical center called Tsar’s Wolves, said that the attack targeted a nuclear early warning system in the southern Krasnodar Region. The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the matter, while the extent of the damage remains unclear.

Rogozin suggested that it was extremely unlikely that the strike, which Ukrainian media reported involved several drones, was carried out at Kiev’s sole initiative and without US involvement.

According to the senator, Washington has always sought to achieve military superiority over Moscow since the very dawn of the nuclear age, but this rivalry was mostly limited to a battle of minds between scientists, strategists, and policymakers.

This seems to have changed, however, as “the US has commissioned a crime by hiring an irresponsible bandit” to attack Russia’s early warning system, the official said, apparently referring to Vladimir Zelensky.

Rogozin claimed that Washington’s “deep involvement in the armed conflict and total control over Kiev’s military planning means that the version that the US does not know about Ukrainian plans to strike Russia’s missile defense system can be discarded.”

Thus, we stand not on the precipice, but on the very edge… If such enemy actions are not stopped, an irreversible collapse of the strategic security of nuclear powers will begin.

The attack apparently targeted an advanced Voronezh radar station in the city of Armavir, which went into operation in 2013. The system can detect incoming cruise and ballistic missiles at a range of 6,000km and can track up to 500 targets. During the inauguration of the system, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it would significantly increase the country’s defense capabilities in the southern and southwestern directions.

https://www.rt.com/russia/598238-ukraine-attack-warning-system/

Over 40 Democrat Mayors Demand Biden Give Illegal Aliens Jobs and Work Permits, Claim They Will Boost Economy By $7 TRILLION!

Over 40 Democratic mayors and county officials have demanded that Joe Biden give jobs and work permits to migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally, claiming that new arrivals will add a staggering $7 trillion to the economy over the next decade.

In a letter signed by the likes of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, the Democrats plead with Biden to force the Department of Homeland Security to “leverage its authority to grant parole for longterm undocumented immigrants and our most recent arrivals to create a process for streamlined work authorization.”

The letter states:

Our request is rooted in the belief that extending the dignity of legal authorization to work for our residents born in Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and other countries would be a positive step forward. These individuals have embraced the United States as their home and have, over decades, worked diligently, paid taxes, raised families, started businesses and bought homes. A substantial majority of Americans, including approximately half of surveyed Republican voters, strongly endorse the extension of work permits for individuals who have made long-term contributions.

Today, approximately 11.3 million U.S. citizens share a home with someone who is undocumented, making this issue resonate in key electoral states like Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. Both recent arrivals and the long-standing undocumented community are susceptible to dangerous work conditions and exploitation that often result when individuals lack access to work authorization and the protections that come with it.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/40-democrat-mayors-demand-biden-give-illegal-aliens/

Biden's $320M Gaza Pier Has Detached & Drifted Onto Israeli Beach

A section of the $320 million floating pier built and erected off Gaza's coast has broken off and floated onto an Israeli beach. The Saturday mishap is the latest setback for the US humanitarian aid project, after three US troops were reported injured aboard the pier two days prior, including one critically.

The Times of Isreal's military correspondent Emanuel Fabian has reported that "An American vessel used to unload humanitarian aid from ships into the Gaza Strip via a floating pier disconnected from a small boat tugging it this morning due to stormy seas, leading it to get stuck on the coast of Ashdod, eyewitnesses say."

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bidens-320m-gaza-pier-has-detached-drifted-israeli-beach

FFS another one

‘God has sent me for a purpose’ – India’s Modi

The Indian prime minister, who is eyeing a third term in office, has claimed that the almighty is directing his actions

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed that God has sent him “for a reason” and that his work “will be done” once the purpose is achieved.” The Indian leader made the statement during his latest interview with the news channel NDTV amid the six-week-long election in the country.

Modi, who is seeking a third term as the prime minister of the world’s most populous country, has lately appeared in a string of interviews with several prominent news channels. “I am convinced that God has sent me for a purpose and once that purpose is completed, my job will be done,” he told NDTV, adding that he has “completely devoted” himself to God.

When asked what his “purpose” is, Modi said that God has not revealed the plans to him. “He keeps making me do things; I do not have direct access to dial him to ask what plans he has for me.”

Campaigning during the ongoing election has been heating up, with Modi triggering several controversies on the trail. India’s independent election body has warned the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and rival Congress party against campaigning on the basis of caste, community, language, and religion.

“You will find 10 people who will hurl the foulest abuses toward me, and 50 who will have good things to say”, Modi said. “My duty is to ensure that the ones who express goodwill are not hurt, so I try to carry out the duty.” The Indian leader also asserted that he does not view the leaders of the opposition as his “enemies,” and wishes to work with them.

During his second term in office, Modi fulfilled three of the core pledges he made in 2019: overturning Article 370 of the Constitution granting special rights to the Kashmir region, enacting a citizenship act to fast-track naturalization for ‘minority’ communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, most of them belonging to the Hindu religion, and erecting a temple devoted to the Hindu deity Ram in Ayodhya on a contested plot of land where a mosque had once stood.

In 1992, the 16th-century mosque was razed by Hindu nationalists, who believed that Muslim invaders had erected the building on the ruins of a Hindu temple. After a trial spanning 18 years that sought to determine whether Hindus or Muslims were the rightful owners of the land, the Supreme Court of India sided with the Hindus in 2019, paving the way for a temple dedicated to the deity. The temple, built for around $200 million, was inaugurated in January.

The Indian prime minister is seeking re-election from Varanasi, a town considered sacred by the Hindus. Polling in the constituency will be held on June 1, the seventh and last phase of the election. Votes will be counted on June 4.

https://www.rt.com/india/598237-india-modi-god-sent/

NATO ‘preparing for war’ with Russia – Orban

Hungary is reassessing its role within the bloc as it has no wish to take part in a conflict against Moscow, the PM has said

“Hungary’s position must be redefined, our lawyers and officials are working on ways to allow Hungary to continue to exist as a NATO member without participating in NATO activities outside the bloc’s territory. We need to create a new approach, a new definition for our position as a pro-peace force within NATO,” Orban said.

According to the prime minister, there are “alarming similarities” between the emotionally charged media publications and statements by Western politicians regarding the Ukraine conflict and the atmosphere preceding the First and Second World Wars.

https://www.rt.com/news/598168-hungary-nato-role-orban/

The goal of citizenship for all illegals is very clearly stated by the leader of the Senate.

For some reason, a lot of people still think this is some crazy conspiracy theory!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1794238958030983405

AI Relies On Mass Surveillance, Warns Signal Boss

The AI tools that crunch numbers, generate text and videos and find patterns in data rely on mass surveillance and exercise concerning control over our lives, the boss of encrypted messaging app Signal told AFP on Thursday.

Pushing back against the unquestioning enthusiasm at VivaTech in Paris, Europe's top startup conference where industry players vaunt the merits of their products, Meredith Whittaker said concerns about surveillance and those about AI were "two framings of the same thing".

"The AI technologies we're talking about today are reliant on mass surveillance," she said.

"They require huge amounts of data that are the derivatives of this mass surveillance business model that grew out of the 90s in the US, and has become the economic engine of the tech industry."

Whittaker, who spent years working for Google before helping to organise a staff walkout in 2018 over working conditions, established the AI Now Institute at New York University in 2017.

She now campaigns for privacy and rails against the business models built on the extraction of personal data.

And she is clear that she has no confidence that the AI industry is developing in the right direction.

AI systems have a hunger for data to input but they produce vast amounts of data too.

Even if it is incorrect, she said, this output "has power to classify, order and direct our lives in ways that we should be equally concerned about".

And she pointed to the power imbalances created by an industry controlled by "a handful of surveillance giants" that are "largely unaccountable".

"Most of us are not the users of AI," she said.

"Most of us are subjected to its use by our employers, by law enforcement, by governments, by whoever it is.

"They have their own goals but they may not be goals that benefit us or benefit society."

She said a striking example was the way AI firms liked to say that they were helping to find solutions to the climate crisis.

In fact, she said, they were taking money from fossil fuel companies and their technology was being used to find new resources to extract.

"Because, of course, where is the revenue? It's not in saving the climate," she said.

https://www.barrons.com/news/ai-relies-on-mass-surveillance-warns-signal-boss-20280d0a

Newly discovered ransomware uses BitLocker to encrypt victim data

A previously unknown piece of ransomware, dubbed ShrinkLocker, encrypts victim data using the BitLocker feature built into the Windows operating system.

BitLocker is a full-volume encryptor that debuted in 2007 with the release of Windows Vista. Users employ it to encrypt entire hard drives to prevent people from reading or modifying data in the event they get physical access to the disk. Starting with the rollout of Windows 10, BitLocker by default has used the 128-bit and 256-bit XTS-AES encryption algorithm, giving the feature extra protection from attacks that rely on manipulating cipher text to cause predictable changes in plain text.

Recently, researchers from security firm Kaspersky found a threat actor using BitLocker to encrypt data on systems located in Mexico, Indonesia, and Jordan. The researchers named the new ransomware ShrinkLocker, both for its use of BitLocker and because it shrinks the size of each non-boot partition by 100 MB and splits the newly unallocated space into new primary partitions of the same size.

“Our incident response and malware analysis are evidence that attackers are constantly refining their tactics to evade detection,” the researchers wrote Friday. “In this incident, we observed the abuse of the native BitLocker feature for unauthorized data encryption.”

ShrinkLocker isn’t the first malware to leverage BitLocker. In 2022, Microsoft reported that ransomware attackers with a nexus to Iran also used the tool to encrypt files. That same year, the Russian agricultural business Miratorg was attacked by ransomware that used BitLocker to encrypt files residing in the system storage of infected devices.

Once installed on a device, ShrinkLocker runs a VisualBasic script that first invokes the Windows Management Instrumentation and Win32_OperatingSystem class to obtain information about the operating system.

“For each object within the query results, the script checks if the current domain is different from the target,” the Kaspersky researchers wrote. “If it is, the script finishes automatically. After that, it checks if the name of the operating system contains 'xp,' '2000,' '2003,' or 'vista,' and if the Windows version matches any one of these, the script finishes automatically and deletes itself.”

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/05/newly-discovered-ransomware-uses-bitlocker-to-encrypt-victim-data/

Lindsey Graham tells UN International Court of Justice to 'go to hell' over ruling against Israel

Graham said he has also talked to Senate and House members about sanctioning ICC over Israel arrest warrants

"As far as I’m concerned, the ICJ can go to hell," he wrote Friday on X. "It is long past time to stand up to these so-called international justice organizations associated with the UN."

"The ICJ’s ruling that Israel should stop operations that are necessary to destroy four battalions of Hamas killers and terrorists – who use Palestinians as human shields – is ridiculous," he added. "This will and should be ignored by Israel."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/graham-tells-un-international-court-justice-go-hell-over-ruling-against-israel

IDF opens criminal investigation into video of reservist threatening mutiny

Clip posted to social media,shared by PM’s son, shows masked soldier warning troops will not obey orders if gov’t doesn’t pursue ‘complete victory’ over Hamas, demanding Gallant quit

The Israeli military said Saturday that it was opening a criminal probe into a video shared online showing a masked reservist threatening mutiny if the government doesn’t pursue what he defined as “complete victory” over Hamas.

“The behavior in the video is a serious violation of IDF orders and IDF values, and constitutes a suspicion of criminal offenses,” the military said in response to a query on the matter.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the Military Advocate General has ordered an immediate Military Police investigation into the clip.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-opens-criminal-investigation-into-video-of-reservist-threatening-mutiny/

IDF opens probe after social media posts show troops burning Quran, other books in Gaza

IDF says ‘severe’ incidents are ‘inconsistent with values’; Military Police’s findings to be submitted to Military Advocate General for review

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the Military Police was investigating incidents in which soldiers filmed themselves burning books, including a Quran, during operations in the Gaza Strip.

Footage of the book burnings were taken by the soldiers, uploaded to social media, and later recirculated by Palestinian accounts.

One video, reportedly taken in the Rafah area, apparently showed a soldier holding a Quran before tossing it into a fire.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-opens-probe-after-social-media-posts-show-troops-burning-quran-other-books-in-gaza/

Anti-Israel activists argue IDF mistranslated Arabic in footage of abduction of Israeli women

The debate is over the word "sabaya," which, depending on its spelling and slight pronunciation differences, can mean either young woman or sex slave.

Following the release of the footage of the abduction of five Israeli women from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas, some anti-Israel activists took to social media to argue that the English translation of the Arabic heard in the video was inaccurate, specifically, one line, which, if translated correctly, implied that the terrorists were planning on sexually assaulting their victims.

Hebrew and English subtitles were provided by IDF translators, and about midway through the clip, the subtitles read: “Here are the girls, (women who can get pregnant).”

The debate is over the Arabic word sabaya. It can either be understood to mean, depending on its spelling and slight pronunciation differences, a young woman, or – a sex slave. The IDF translated it per the latter interpretation, while Hamas sympathizers argued that the term was simply being used to refer to the captives as “women” or “girls.”

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-802586