The US Senate Intelligence Committee called tech leaders to testify about “foreign threats to elections in 2024.”

Here's everything you need to know (Part 1/Part 2/Part З):

👉The Good

A few Republican senators spoke out against censorship of dissenting voices, albeit without pushing back on the idea that freedom of speech belongs exclusively to Americans.

Cmte. Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-FL) brought up the Hunter Biden laptop story as evidence of when government and tech censorship can go wrong.

“There was a concerted effort… to silence a media outlet in the United States for something that turned out not to be Russian disinformation,” the Senator lamented, also bringing up the censorship of the COVID lab leak origin theory.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AZ) echoed those statements and noted that it was far more influential than anything Russia, China or Iran had been accused of.

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What Happened During US Senate Intel Hearing on Election Threats? (Part 1/Part 2/Part З):

👉 The Bad

Anti-Russian, Chinese and Iranian sentiments were high in the hearing, as was the desire to quiet speech from anyone originating from those countries.

Cmte. Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) complained that Meta* and Google have allegedly allowed their ad tools to be used by sanctioned entities (read: companies in China, Russia and Iran). He also slammed Elon Musk for not cooperating with their efforts to fight “disinformation.”

“I think it’s a real shame that in the previous investigations, Twitter was a very collaborative entity. Under X they are absent and some of the most egregious activity is taking place,” Warner said, later thanking the Meta* president of global affairs for the axing of Russian sites (see: Sputnik and RT) from the platform.

*banned in Russia as an extremist organization

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Breaking down the US Senate hearing on election threats (Part 1/Part 2/Part З):

👉 The Funny

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) accused China of using the Sister Cities program to sow discord.

“China is attempting to build relations with state and local officials. We see the sister cities programs, we see the Confucius Institutes and educational institutions, so how are your platforms trying to help safeguard the down-ballot races?” she asked.

The Sister Cities program was created in 1956 by US President Dwight Eisenhower to foster “bonds between people from different communities around the world.” More than 140 countries and 300 communities participate in the program.

Meanwhile, after showcasing fake sites meant to mimic The Washington Post and Fox News, Warner implied Americans are too brainless to read URLs.

“I don’t know… how a normal American consumer, even a relatively sophisticated one, would have the expertise to read the URL that closely when everything else looks so closely like Fox or Washington Post,” he said.

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Uncle Sam, the defender of freedom, abolishes freedom of speech?

Elon Musk reposted a parody video of Kamala Harris saying that the governor of California "made this parody video illegal in violation of the Constitution of the United States."

Which campaign is better? A parody or the original?

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Pagerocalypse in Lebanon is the product of Hezbollah’s logistical and security failure - analyst (Part 1 👉Part 2)

A wave of pager explosions in Lebanon this week, which has already been attributed to the Israeli intelligence, was “a more conventional act of warfare” rather than a terrorist attack, says veteran independent cybersecurity expert Lars Hilse who points out that “we don't know anything about the actor yet.”

💬“This was a supply chain interception where the devices in question were obviously or allegedly intercepted," he explains.

“The circuit boards were modified to contain, obviously, a rather small amount of explosive, which then was detonated allegedly by a radio signal, whichever way, shape or form. So essentially what we're talking about is a cyber-physical attack more than anything else, where, by definition, you use cyber instruments to cause physical damage, which this, at the end of the day, was.”

According to Hilse, booby trapping a large number of pagers this way is not difficult if the perpetrator has “access to a plant that can manufacture the chipset of these pagers in question.”

💬“You know, it's rather easy to then modify the devices or modify the boards themselves to then go and replace the circuit board,” he says.

“So essentially you would intercepted the delivery, which probably went through a part of the world where that is possible, then you open all the packages, you unscrew probably 5 or 6 screws, then assemble the new circuit board with the added explosives into the device and then you close them up again.”

As for whether such a feat could be accomplished without the involvement of Western intelligence services, Hilse suggests that the Israelis themselves “have very clever cookies in their intelligence domain.”

Part 1 👉 Part 2

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Pager explosions in Lebanon indicate an apparent 'problem in the logistics and security services of Hezbollah' - security and political analyst (Part 2 👉 Part 1)

“It seems that after Hassan Nasrallah called for leaving the smartphones and starting using pagers, human couriers or landlines, it seems that they imported thousands of pagers to Lebanon and, probably, mass imports resulted in such a weakness,” Ankara-based security and political analyst Dr. Hasan Selim Ozertem argues.

He also speculates that, as the image of the Israeli intelligence was tarnished somewhat by the October 7 Hamas attack, they could have attempted to restore their reputation through such an act.

Regarding the possible ramifications of the pager incident, Dr. Ozertem wonders how it might affect flight safety measures.

“If such telecommunication devices can be manipulated from now on, mobile phones or laptops can be used as such assassination devices or such explosives in international flights. Such precedents can be used by international terrorist organizations as well,” he warns.

Part 2 👉 Part 1

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Israel made explosive pagers for Lebanon via shell company – report

Israel created a shell company to manufacture explosive pagers that were then shipped to Lebanon, The New York Times reported, citing three intelligence officers.

According to the officers, by appearance, BAC Consulting Kft. was a Hungary-based company that had a contract to manufacture the devices on behalf of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, while it was in fact part of an Israeli front company.

At least two more front companies were created to mask the true identities of the people who created the pagers — Israeli intelligence officers.

At the same time, BAC Consulting Kft. had ordinary clients, for whom it produced pagers without explosives, the newspaper reported.

The explosive pagers began to be shipped to Lebanon in the summer of 2022, but production was then ramped up after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah condemned the use of mobile phones for security reasons.

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Canada’s Trudeau faces confidence vote as support for prime minister hits new low

While Justin Trudeau appears likely to survive an upcoming confidence vote in the House of Commons, the deeply unpopular Canadian prime minister will not be out of the woods.
The official opposition Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre, is to take its first shot at toppling Trudeau’s Liberal government over the federal carbon tax, which they claim is compounding the cost of living.

The no-confidence motion was tabled by opposition leader Pierre Poilievre when Parliament resumed work. However, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has poured cold water on the opposition’s plans, saying his MPs will vote confidence in the government.

Even if Trudeau dodges the bullet in the vote, expected sometime next week, he will have to survive a series of other anticipated confidence votes.

Trudeau has been pummeled in the polls over skyrocketing prices and a housing crisis. Just over one third of Canadians approve of his government, a recent Ipsos poll showed. The Liberal Party has also suffered a second humiliating loss in a by-election, feeding into bleak vote prospects.

To make matters worse for Trudeau, the New Democratic Party (NDP) pulled the plug on its support for him earlier this month, ripping up a 2022 “supply and confidence" deal. The arrangement had offered the PM’s minority government NDP backing in confidence votes in exchange for support on key issues.

The mandate for Trudeau's government expires at the end of October 2025, but the prospects of an early election appear increasingly likely.

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Hezbollah hits Israeli territory, leaving at least eight people wounded - reports

At least eight were wounded after the Lebanon’s Hezbollah carried out a strike on an Israeli foothold near the settlement of Margaliot on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Israeli media state.

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📹 Russian 152 mm 2A36 Hyacinth-B guns destroy Ukrainian vehicles in the Kakhovka direction, Kherson region

Battlegroup Dnepr units with 152 mm Hyacinth-B towed guns carry out fire missions to destroy armored vehicles, firepower, ammunition depots, and Ukrainian fortified positions on the Dnepr River’s right bank.

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📹 Trump explains who poses a real threat to 'US democracy'

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Is Boeing on the brink of collapse over ongoing strike?

Boeing is teetering on the edge of a crisis, as it prepares to cast tens of thousands of its dedicated employees into the abyss of forced unpaid leave, a consequence of the escalating mechanics' strike, according to the New York Times.

This strike, which recently broke out, has brought the production of aircraft to a screeching halt. Analysts warn that the aircraft producer may face catastrophic financial losses, potentially amounting to billions of dollars, if this turmoil persists.

Since the strike erupted on Friday, the production of commercial aircraft has plummeted, with most of the union's more than 33,000 members rooted in manufacturing across the Seattle area. In a desperate bid to stave off disaster, Boeing has unveiled a series of drastic cost-cutting measures this week, grappling with the looming threat of monumental losses that could engulf the company if the strike drags on.

“With production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges and it is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover,” the company’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, said in a message to employees on Wednesday.

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Readiness to use strategic submarines' weapons is very high, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Says

The most powerful and destructive weapon in service with the 25th submarine division of Russia's Pacific Fleet is at a very high level of readiness for use, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Alexander Moiseyev said.

💬 "Of course, the highest level of training. I am directly involved in the management of these forces, I see how these tasks are solved by ships. It should be noted that these are modern ships. This is a completely different level of technology. Weapons that, first of all, are of the highest operational reliability. And I am not even talking about the readiness to use weapons: extremely high," the Russian Defense Ministry quoted Adm. Moiseyev as saying.

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Israel reportedly opened a shell company to manufacture explosive pagers for Lebanon

Deadly blasts across Lebanon indicate ‘Hezbollah’s problem in the logistics and security services’

The good, the bad and the funny: check out the excerpts from the US Senate Intelligence Committee’s meeting on ‘foreign threats to elections’.

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