/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

31 Dec 2024 08:41

Luke Gromen on X:

"Interesting timing coming so close on the heels of the latest round of "BTC might eventually get hacked by quantum computing" articles in US mainstream financial media, given that China reportedly hacked US Treasury but not BTC."

📎 Luke Gromen

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

31 Dec 2024 07:17

🇺🇸/🇨🇳 ‘Major incident’: China-backed hackers breached US Treasury workstations

The US Treasury Department notified lawmakers on Monday that a China state-sponsored actor infiltrated Treasury workstations in what officials are describing as a “major incident.”

A Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the compromised service has been taken offline and officials are working with law enforcement and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“There is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” the Treasury spokesperson said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/30/investing/china-hackers-treasury-workstations

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

31 Dec 2024 01:44

🇺🇸💸🤝🇺🇦 — 🌟 Reuters | US announces $5.9 billion in military and budget aid to Ukraine | December 30, 2024:

"WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday announced nearly $6 billion in additional military and budget assistance for Ukraine as President Joe Biden uses his final weeks in office to surge aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes power.

Biden announced $2.5 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States has made available $3.4 billion in additional budget aid to Ukraine, giving the war-torn country critical resources amid intensifying Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Source:

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 19:29

🇸🇳🇫🇷 Senegal says it’s closing ‘all foreign military bases,’ a move aimed at French troops in the country

Senegal’s prime minister said on Friday that the government is closing “all foreign military bases,” an announcement essentially aimed at France, the West African nation’s former colonial power.

Although Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko did not specifically name French troops, no other foreign forces have military bases in Senegal.

France has suffered similar setbacks in several West African countries in recent years, including Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso, where French troops that have been on the ground for many years have been kicked out.

https://apnews.com/article/senegal-france-military-bases-close-e525f3a11825fbe397b90363c9417224

📝 Cameron Hudson on X: "France is being wiped off the map from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Despite years of colonialism, it is strangely Macron who has bungled and mismanaged France’s relations with Africa more than any of his predecessors."

📎 _hudsonc

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 16:20

🧵Thread by U.S. Tech Workers on X:

"You thought the H-1B visa was bad? Wait until you hear about the largest guest worker program killing jobs for new American college grads—the Optional Practical Training (OPT):

• No caps
• Employers get payroll tax exemptions
• No wage requirements"

https://fxtwitter.com/USTechWorkers/status/1873644035023516072

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 09:53

🇷🇺🇪🇺 Telegram blocks Russian state-owned media channels in several EU countries

A number of major Russian news outlets had their Telegram channels blocked across several European Union countries on Dec. 28. Users attempting to access these channels now see a notice saying that the content has been restricted and is no longer available.

Restrictions apply to several Russian state-run or controlled media outlets, including RIA Novosti, Izvestia, Rossiya 1, Channel One, NTV, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

https://kyivindependent.com/telegram-blocks-russian-state-owned-media-channels-in-eu/

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 23:14

🇺🇸 Former President Jimmy Carter Dies at age 100

🔗 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-president-jimmy-carter-dies_n_55cbb0f8e4b0cacb8d32db5f

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 20:18

📰 The Progressive Moment in Global Politics Is Over

Weak economic growth and record immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists

This past year showed that the progressive politics that dominated most industrialized countries over the past two decades or more is shifting to the right, fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration, and growing fatigue with issues from climate change to identity politics.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House is the most dramatic and important example—but it is far from the only one.

Across Europe, where economic growth has largely stalled, conservatives and populist right-wing parties are making unprecedented gains. Three-quarters of governments in the European Union are either led by a right-of-center party or are ruled by a coalition that includes at least one.

The shift is set to continue. Canada appears poised to kick out a deeply unpopular progressive prime minister and Germany is expected to dump its center-left government.

Part of the shift is the normal pendulum of politics swinging back and forth between established parties on the left and right. The difference this time is a strong strain of populism and a growing rejection of traditional parties.

In country after country, many working-class voters—especially those outside the biggest cities—are signaling the same thing: They mistrust the establishment—from academics to bankers to traditional politicians—and feel these elites are out of touch and don’t care about people like them.

Years of increased migration and trade, coupled with low economic growth, have led to a backlash and a rise in nationalism, where people want more of a sense of control, political analysts say. The rise of social media has exacerbated divisions and led to an upsurge in antiestablishment parties.

The rapid reshuffling of voters’ priorities in the past few years has made issues associated with the center-left—such as climate change, social justice and identity politics—seem less relevant. That could mean governments become more concerned with national rather than international priorities, reducing cooperation in areas from security to the environment.

“It turns out people [in the West] value their own jobs more than whether some islands are going to sink into the ocean,”

🔗 https://archive.ph/tXqMH

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 17:36

🇵🇱🪖🚜 Polish tractor maker turns to military production

The Ursus tractor factory in Poland, which faced bankruptcy earlier this year, will not be shutting down but instead will embark on a new chapter: producing military equipment.

The announcement comes after the factory’s acquisition by MI Crow, a company connected to Ukrainian entrepreneur Oleh Krot, for 74 million zloty.

After months of uncertainty for its employees, Ursus has confirmed that it will pivot from manufacturing tractors to producing military technology. The decision marks a return to the company’s historical roots. Before World War II, Zaklady Mechaniczne Ursus manufactured military equipment, including tank engines, chassis, and components for the Sokol motorcycle used by the Polish Army.

The transition of Ursus is part of a broader trend of Ukrainian enterprises establishing a footprint in Poland’s defense industry. Several Ukrainian companies already operate in Poland, producing reconnaissance drones, anti-tank missiles, and armored vehicles such as the Oncilla.

https://defence-blog.com/polish-tractor-maker-turns-to-military-production/

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29 Dec 2024 15:38

arctotherium on X:

"tl;dr: Overwhelmingly replacement-level white collar workers, not Einsteins or Teslas."

"What this thread doesn't mention, however is that an outright majority are straightforwardly fraudulent in an easily checkable way (not counting lying on resumes, employers lying about requirements, and other, harder-to-check forms of fraud)."

📎 arctotherium

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 14:01

🇰🇷✈️ 179 dead in South Korea’s worst plane crash in years

The final death toll from the plane crash in South Korea is 179, meaning just two people survived, the fire service says.

Two crew members survived the Jeju Air crash after being pulled from the plane’s tail, the fire service previously said. Both are in hospital, but their condition is not yet known.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/south-korea-plane-crash-12-29-24-intl-hnk/index.html

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 14:00

A Jeju Air Flight carrying over 180 Passengers has crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea, with at least 23 Deaths confirmed so far by Authorities.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 12:40

📝💊 Arnaud Bertrand on X:

"Interestingly, while Americans debate how to make medicines more affordable, China is now debating the exact opposite problem: some worry their drugs are becoming too cheap.

This is because China launched in 2018 a centralized procurement system officially called "group purchasing with guaranteed volumes" (国家集中带量采购) whereby, instead of letting individual hospitals negotiate prices, the government consolidates demand across entire provinces or the whole country, determines the total volume needed, and then conducts bulk purchases directly from manufacturers.

Importantly, this policy explicitly targets only off-patent drugs and generics - new medicines are excluded from the program and instead go through separate negotiation channels, the so-called "national medical insurance drug catalog negotiation system" (医保目录谈判). Instead of competitive bidding, this parallel system involves one-on-one negotiations between insurance authorities and pharmaceutical companies for innovative drugs that are recently approved and typically produced by a single manufacturer. The process includes extensive expert evaluation of the drug's safety, effectiveness, and innovation value before price negotiations begin.

This creates a two-track system: while bulk purchasing drives generic drug prices down through competition, the catalog negotiation system ensures innovative drugs can still command prices that sustain pharmaceutical R&D.

The results have been quite insane. In the latest bulk purchasing round that just ended - the 10th since the program's inception - the price of 62 drugs were negotiated, with some dropping to less than 10% of their original cost. For instance a breast cancer drug - Palbociclib - that previously cost 200 yuan ($28) per pill now sells for just 15 yuan ($2). Similarly annual treatment costs for hepatitis B have plummeted from 4,000-5,000 yuan to 100-200 yuan ($14-$28).

Since 2018 the program has covered 435 drugs, freeing up nearly 500 billion yuan ($70 billion) in healthcare spending. A single hospital reported saving 30 million yuan on cancer drugs alone. Some drugs are now even cheaper than water: enteric-coated aspirin, commonly used as a cardiovascular medication, now costs less than 0.04 yuan per tablet, meaning if you take 3 a day it costs you about 3.6 yuan a month (less than $0.5)!

The price reductions have been so dramatic that the debate in China now centers not on whether drugs are too expensive, but whether some of them have become too cheap - with some people worrying about quality control and sustainable production at such low prices.

A huge stark contrast to the American healthcare system, where high drug prices are a huge issue and national-scale bulk purchasing programs remain absent (despite some limited government purchasing for veterans and federal programs). I checked and the same Palbociclib tablet for breast cancer that's been negotiated at $2 in China costs a minimum of $227 a tablet in the U.S. (https://pharmacychecker.com/ibrance/), more than 100 times more expensive!

This is actually an interesting counter-example to the argument that government intervention necessarily leads to market inefficiencies. By consolidating purchasing power and guaranteeing volumes, the Chinese government has effectively created a more efficient market - one that eliminates marketing costs, reduces uncertainty for manufacturers, and drives massive price reductions that wouldn't have happened without their intervention.

It also refutes the notion that such government intervention necessarily reduces R&D because what China has put in place is a 2-track system: driving generic prices down through bulk purchasing while maintaining separate negotiations for innovative drugs that ensure R&D costs are rewarded appropriately.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 08:01

Elon Musk is now claiming that he's been very clear that the program needs reform

📎 hayasaka_aryan

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 00:24

Seem like India made a grievous mistake in trying to ingratiate themselves with the west at the expense of their relationship with the Global South. These past few years they went along with the west, embracing extreme Sinophobia and Islamophobia, even supporting Zionism, and now they're realizing that the west will never accept them as equals.

The consequences are clear from the discourse over H1-B visas, Indian nationals ("jeets") are thoroughly alienated - despised by the Global South and looked down on by the west - everyone is shitting on them.

Good reminder not to bully people/groups we perceive as "weak" just because we can.

https://x.com/Senecat123/status/1872458354360193220

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

31 Dec 2024 07:41

🇺🇸/🇨🇳🧵"Sounds like it went like this:

STEP 1: First, attackers targeted Treasury vendor BeyondTrust

STEP 2: Stole BeyondTrust's key for a remote tech support cloud platform.

STEP 3: Attackers used the platform like a backdoor on Treasury machines where it was installed.

The analogy is: hacker breaks into your plumber's office & steals master keys to the buildings they service."

https://fxtwitter.com/jsrailton/status/1873869371829084484

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

31 Dec 2024 07:16

🇺🇸/🇨🇳 U.S. Treasury officials determined that a “major incident,” attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat actor, occurred this month.

Chinese hackers were able to access Treasury user workstations and steal unclassified documents.

“This incident fits a well-documented pattern of operations by PRC-linked groups, with a particular focus on abusing trusted third-party services - a method that has become increasingly prominent in recent years,” said Tom Hegel, a threat researcher at SentinelOne.

📎 Ian Ellis

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 23:08

🇮🇪🇬🇧Britain’s Collapse and Ireland’s Future

The extent to which Britain is collapsing is only now, slowly being revealed to the wider public.

Irish leaders and the Irish public at large have been largely ignorant of these developments and have not even begun to think through what they might mean. Having a close neighbor go through a very difficult period is never easy but given the historical relationship between Ireland and Britain this will prove doubly true for Ireland.

https://eriugenareview.com/home/f/britain%E2%80%99s-collapse-and-ireland%E2%80%99s-future

https://x.com/eriugenareview/status/1873658971070046606

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 18:33

Foreign workers on special visas (H-1B, OPT, etc) are taking as many as 25%-33% of all new IT jobs in America. There's strong evidence they are holding down wages: IT jobs grew 20% from 2014-2019, yet wages rose only 3% during that period.

📎 Lee Fang

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 12:20

🇪🇬 Egypt completes trial run of new Suez Canal channel extension

Egypt said on Saturday it had successfully tested a new 10 km channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal, even as its revenue from the waterway has plunged since Yemen's Houthi militants began attacking vessels in the Red Sea.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that during a trial run two ships passed through a new stretch of the canal's two-way section without incident.

Following the 2021 grounding of the container ship Ever Given that blocked the vital waterway for six days, Egypt accelerated plans to extend the second channel in the southern reaches of the canal and widen the existing channel.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypt-completes-trial-run-new-suez-canal-channel-extension-2024-12-28/

https://archive.ph/IZPEL

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

30 Dec 2024 07:02

🇨🇳 China’s first commercial heavy-water reactor for isotopes begins production

China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC) first-ever commercial reactor for the production of isotopes has officially opened. Called the Qinshan Nuclear Power Base plant, it has already produced its first batch of Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) medical isotopes.

The plant opened for business on December 26 and uses online irradiation to produce isotopes like Lutetium-177. At the heart of the facility is a kind of heavy-water reactor known for its high neutron flux.

This reactor, it is reported, can be continuously refueled without being shut down and operate stably for long periods. It offers high efficiency, large output, high specific activity, continuous production, and a stable supply of isotopes for mass production.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-first-commercial-heavy-water-103028619.html?guccounter=1

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 21:40

🇮🇱❌🇾🇪 Israel is looking into mobilizing Navy to impose naval blockade on Houthis in Yemen; IDF warships & submarines are equipped for remote operations

Israel is boosting intelligence collection in Yemen, in cooperation with friendly intel agencies, report says; IDF estimates: Houthis will try to launch daily missile and/or drone attacks on Israel in coming week

🔗 Israel Radar

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 18:11

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia is intensifying its air war in Ukraine. A secretive factory is ramping up drone production to fuel the offensive

Over the last six months, Russia’s drone attacks have increased from around 400 in May to more than 2,400 in November, according to a CNN tally of data from Ukraine’s armed forces. There have been at least 1,700 drone strikes so far in December.

As the onslaught escalates, CNN has discovered new details about the expansion of a secretive factory fueling Moscow’s drone war. The plant at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, in Russia’s southern Tatarstan region, has significantly scaled up its production of Iranian-designed attack and surveillance drones, using a range of Chinese components, and recruiting a very young, low-skilled workforce of Russian teenagers and African women, according to CNN’s analysis of associated social media accounts and assessments by Ukrainian defense intelligence sources.

The sources, who spoke to CNN anonymously out of fear for their safety, said that the factory is now also producing thousands of “decoy” drones, designed to exhaust Ukrainian defenses. Satellite imagery analyzed by CNN and experts shows that two additional buildings have been constructed at the site, and security increased.

Alabuga is now the main plant for producing the Shahed-136 drone – or Geran-2, as Russia refers to it – with an agreement to produce 6,000 units by September 2025, according to the leaked documents. Alabuga appears to have already fulfilled that contract. The factory produced 2,738 Shahed drones in 2023, and more than doubled that number in the first nine months of 2024, producing 5,760 between January and September, according to the Ukrainian defense intelligence sources.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/27/europe/russia-ukraine-war-drones-alabuga-factory-intl-invs/index.html

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 17:12

🇵🇱🪖 Poland Signs Nearly $4B in Contracts for Howitzers, Vehicles, Drones

In a major move to strengthen its military capabilities, Poland has signed contracts worth nearly 3.9-billion euros ($4 billion) with domestic suppliers to acquire cutting-edge howitzers, military vehicles, and advanced drones.

The first contract, signed with Polish Armaments Group subsidiary Huta Stalowa Wola, includes the delivery of 96 Krab self-propelled howitzers organized into four artillery modules, each consisting of 24 howitzers.

In addition to howitzers, the Polish government has also contracted Huta Stalowa Wola to supply more than 250 vehicles accompanying its K9 self-propelled howitzers.

Additionally, Poland’s armaments agency has signed a separate agreement with WB Electronics for 12 Force Protection drone systems valued at 117-million euros ($122 million).

Poland is among the NATO member states that has significantly increased its defense spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

https://thedefensepost.com/2024/12/27/poland-howitzers-vehicles-drones/

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 14:53

📊🧵 H-1B DATA MEGA-THREAD by Robert Sterling

I downloaded five years of H-1B data from the US DOL website (4M+ records) and spent the day crunching data.

https://fxtwitter.com/RobertMSterling/status/1873174358535110953

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 14:00

In addition to the Plane Crash earlier today in South Korea, another Commercial Airline Incident occurred tonight at Halifax International Airport; when PAL Airlines Flight 2259, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 with Air Canada, was forced to make an Emergency Landing after suffering Damage to its Left-Wing Landing Gear while descending into the Airport. Passengers are reported to have suffered only Minor Injuries, with the Small Fire in the Aircraft’s Landing Gear being quickly extinguished by Fire Services.

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 12:40

It doesn't mean the Chinese system is perfect - concerns about quality control and sustainable production at such low prices are legitimate. But it does show that with intelligent government intervention it's seemingly possible to achieve both affordability and innovation - goals that have long been deemed mutually exclusive in the U.S. healthcare system."

📎 Arnaud Bertrand

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

29 Dec 2024 11:14

🇫🇮🤕🇷🇺🚢 — 🏴 ZeroHedge | Finnish Commandos Seize Russia-Linked Ship After Undersea Cable Cut | December 28, 2024:

"Finland has seized the ship which is being accused of cutting of an undersea cable connecting electricity to Estonia, allegedly on behalf of Russia, given that the vessel was carrying Russian oil. Finnish authorities and Western officials have described the damage to the Estlink 2 electricity cable as the result of "aggravated criminal mischief".

EU officials have characterized the incident as part of Russia's hybrid warfare against NATO, with a European Commission statement describing the cable severing as "the latest in a series of suspected attacks on critical infrastructure."

The vessel in question was observed traversing the same area where the cable damage occurred near in time to the incident. Four additional telecom cables were disrupted - one linking Finland and Germany and three between Finland and Estonia."

🗄 Archive

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29 Dec 2024 02:20

India has one of the most extensive and far-reaching Affirmative Action systems on Earth, predating the US one by 20 years. This is one reason Indian elites come to the US. The Culture Transplant would suggest they would bring this pro-AA attitude with them - and they do.

📎 arctotherium

/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

28 Dec 2024 23:37

🇺🇸🇮🇳 US issues over one million visas for second consecutive year India tops international student rankings

🔗 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-issues-over-one-million-visas-for-second-consecutive-year-india-tops-international-student-rankings/articleshow/116709999.cms