Recall petition begins against Cowboys for Trump founder

Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, discussed his past and future in politics from the porch of a tidy double-wide trailer in Tularosa, N.M., on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Griffin is reviled and revered in politically conservative Otero County as he confronts criminal charges for joining protests on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Griffin is fighting for his political future amid a recall initiative and state probes into his finances. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

July 1, 2021

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A political committee has begun circulating a petition to recall Cowboys or Trump founder Couy Griffin from public office as a commissioner in Otero County.

The Committee to Recall Couy Griffin said Thursday in a news release that it has begun collecting signatures in efforts to scheduled a recall election.

The petition alleges that Griffin neglected and misused his position as a county commissioner while skipping public meetings and promoting a support group for President Donald Trump that Griffin treated as a for-profit business.

Griffin, elected in 2018, says allegations in the petition are frivolous and without merit. Separately, Griffin is confronting federal charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6, where he appeared on an outdoor terrace and attempted to lead a prayer.

The recall committee needs to collect about 1,540 signatures from registered voters in Griffin’s district to trigger a vote on whether Griffin stays in office through 2022.


Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes says a successful petition would put the question on the November general election ballot for local, nonpartisan races.

If Griffin is recalled from office, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham would name a replacement. A Democrat last sat on the Otero County Commission in 1994.

Myanmar trapped in a vicious cycle of violence

New forms of armed resistance against the military government continue to emerge in Myanmar. But, without a common strategy, they have little chance of success.

The emergence of new flashpoints throughout Myanmar is exacerbating the already precarious humanitarian situation

Since the military coup in Myanmar and the army's violent suppression of pro-democracy protests, new armed resistance groups and conflict regions have been emerging in the Southeast Asian country.

While a kind of urban guerrilla combat has begun in major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, the ousted democratically elected government has been trying to form a federal army underground, the so-called People's Defense Force (PDF).

The emergence of new flash points throughout the country is exacerbating the humanitarian situation, which is already precarious because of the coronavirus pandemic and the rapidly advancing collapse of the economy.

Aid organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to get assistance to those in need because of the poor security situation.

The situation is also leading to an increase in crime, especially drug trafficking.

This has an impact on not only Myanmar's immediate neighbors, but also all across South, Southeast and East Asia, the regions where synthetic drugs from Myanmar are flooding the markets.

Watch video 04:56 Myanmar defectors reveal junta's grip on soldiers' lives

 

Junta relies on coercion and violence

The military, called Tatmadaw in Myanmar, has branded the opposition as "terrorists" and ruled out negotiations. As in the past, the generals are relying on coercion and violence to maintain their grip on power. 

According to the US-based Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, the military has killed 883 people and arrested more than 5,000 since the coup.

Opposition forces, which have in turn declared the military "terrorists," also categorically ruled out talks with the army leadership.

"The resistance has taken on an increasingly revolutionary character, with most dissidents no longer aiming for restoration of the status quo ante, but for the Tatmadaw's disbandment and its replacement by a new armed force that is not dominated by the Burman ethnic majority," Richard Horsey, a Myanmar expert at the international Crisis Group (ICG), wrote in a report. "This revolutionary agenda requires the Tatmadaw's defeat or capitulation," Horsey wrote. 

 

New armed resistance groups  

In response to the hardened fronts, new armed resistance groups have been formed, such as in the city of Mindat in western Chin State. There, the new Chinland Defense Force (CDF) had been formed and, in May, several skirmishes broke out with the military after negotiations failed. The latter shelled the city with artillery before dropping airborne troops and regaining control of Mindat. 

The CDF fighters and most of the town's inhabitants fled to the surrounding hills, where they still live in deplorable conditions. 

Watch video 02:45 Myanmar violence: A protester speaks out

Mindat is not the only place to have witnessed such developments. Other parts of the country, such as Sagaing in the center of the country and Kayah State near the border with Thailand, have also seen fierce fighting.

To fight the insurgencies, the military follows its "four-cut strategy," which involves targeted attacks — including on the civilian population — to cut off the insurgents from food, money, recruits and information.
Urban violence on the rise

Horsey fears that the current situation makes it likely "that new armed groups will emerge in these regions on a permanent basis, along the lines we've seen in various parts of Myanmar over many decades."  

In cities, small groups of civilians and protesters have taken to fighting the military regime through sabotage, arson, bombings and the murder of perceived or actual informants. Since April, there have been several hundred attacks throughout the country.

The attacks are targeted not only at administrative buildings, banks, police and military installations, but also at schools. The aim is to deter parents from sending their children to school. Opponents of the coup had called for a boycott of schools.

Watch video01:35 Myanmar crackdown leads to deaths, arrests and displaced people

In response to the attacks on schools, the underground National Unity Government (NUG) formulated a code of conduct for opposition forces on May 26 prohibiting attacks on schools, medical facilities and other civilian targets. Since then, there have been fewer attacks on schools, but they have not stopped entirely.   

In the initial months after the coup, the NUG attempted to forge a military alliance with long-standing ethnic armed groups. "But so far, none of these groups has been willing to join the military alliance," Horsey said. These armed groups do harbor fugitive dissidents and also train them in weaponry and sabotage, but they do not report to the NUG.   

Having failed to form a united front, the NUG announced the formation of a federal army, the PDF, on May 5. However, the PDF does not control any territory, nor does it have any heavy weapons. It is also completely unclear where the officers will come from and whether there is a functioning chain of command.
Little prospect of success  

Lucas Meyers, a political analyst at the US-based think tank Wilson Center, said the military appeared to have the upper hand. "The prospects of opposition military victory against the Tatmadaw are slim under current circumstances."

Watch video 03:13 Myanmar unrest: Can India offer a new life?

Horsey doesn't seem to share this view entirely.

"The rise of new militias in many different locations has created a much more complex conflict landscape for the Tatmadaw," Horsey said. Confronting these militias while also dealing with escalated fighting with ethnic armed groups and deploying troops to the main cities to suppress dissent will likely stretch the regime's forces, he pointed out.

Nevertheless, he said, counterinsurgency campaigns "have been the Tatmadaw's stock in trade."

Meanwhile, Myanmar expert Andrew Selth warns against the opposition's engaging in unrestrained violence. "As such, it is a propaganda gift to the junta, particularly when innocent people are killed or injured," he said.

"The use of these tactics also restricts the scope for foreign governments and international organizations to assist the opposition movement," he added. 

This article has been translated from German.

US hits Myanmar with new sanctions, revokes ICC penalties

Protesters holding National League for Democracy (NLD) flags raise three-finger salutes during flash protests against the military coup at Bahan township in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP Photo)


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday hit 22 senior Myanmar officials and family members with sanctions over the government’s crackdown on democracy protests after the coup. The action was accompanied by the removal of sanctions on three Iranian industrial executives whom the Trump administration penalized for supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Treasury announced the move against seven members of the Myanmar military and 15 spouses and adult children of previously sanctioned officials as part of the U.S. response to the February coup and subsequent violence against demonstrators in the country, also known as Burma.

“The military’s suppression of democracy and campaign of brutal violence against the people of Burma are unacceptable,” it said. “The United States will continue to impose increasing costs on Burma’s military and promote accountability for those responsible for the military coup and ongoing violence, including by targeting sources of revenue for the military and its leaders.”

Among the officials targeted are Minister for Information Chit Naing, Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Aung Naing Oo, Minister for Labor, Immigration and Population Myint Kyaing, Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Thet Thet Khine and three members of the State Administrative Council that the military set up after the coup.

The sanctions freeze any assets they or any companies they own may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.

Treasury offered no explanation for the lifting of sanctions on the three Iranians, but administration officials have said previous similar removals were based solely on the targets no longer meeting the criteria for the penalties and were unrelated to indirect negotiations on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.

The Iranians — Behzad Daniel Ferdows, Behzad Daniel Ferdows and Mohammed Reza Dezfulian — were sanctioned by the Trump administration in September 2020 for their work with the Mammut Industrial Group and an affiliated company, Mammut Diesel, which Treasury said at the time were “key producers and suppliers of military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs.”

Also Friday, Treasury issued a final rule revoking Trump-era sanctions against International Criminal Court prosecutors and staff. The rule, which will take effect on July 6 after its publication in the Federal Register, completes President Joe Biden’s April 1 revocation of Trump’s authorization to impose sanctions on ICC officials involved in war crimes investigations into U.S. citizens.

That authority was the basis for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hitting the now ex-chief ICC prosecutor and a top aide with sanctions. Current Secretary of State Antony Blinken had lifted those sanctions shortly after Biden’s announcement and the publication of the final rule is mainly a housekeeping measure.

“Although the United States continues to object to the ICC’s assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of such non-States Parties as the United States and its allies absent their consent or referral by the United Nations Security Council, the threat and imposition of financial sanctions against the ICC, its personnel, and those who assist it are not an effective or appropriate strategy for addressing the United States’ concerns with the ICC,” Treasury said.

 #BANFURFARMING

USA
Bipartisan Proposal Would Ban Mink Fur Farms Over COVID, Cruelty Concerns


Twin concerns of cruelty and protection from COVID-19 are behind a new bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban the sale, purchase, import and export of mink

© iStock/Getty A bipartisan proposal would ban mink farming and the selling of mink products in the U.S. in order to stem potential mutations of the COVID-19 virus.

H.R. 4310, proposed by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), would amend the Lacey Act of Amendments to include mink. The Lacey Act makes it illegal "to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife or plants that are taken, possessed, transported, or sold: 1) in violation of U.S. or Indian law, or 2) in interstate or foreign commerce involving any fish, wildlife, or plants taken possessed or sold in violation of State or foreign law."

For example, under the Act, it is illegal to buy wooden products made from trees logged illegally, or to buy products made from endangered animals.

"What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur," Mace told The Associated Press on Friday. "At the same time, it's also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations."

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people.

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means "the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population."

Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.

"What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur," Mace said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. "At the same time, it's also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations."

"Knowing that there are variants, and being someone who cares about the humane treatment of animals, this is sort of a win-win for folks," she added. "And I believe that you'll see Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle work on this together."

According to Fur Commission USA, a nonprofit representing U.S. mink farmers, there are approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states across the United States, producing about 3 million pelts per year. That amounts to an annual value of more than $300 million, according to the commission.

There have been several mink-related coronavirus cases in the U.S. In December, a mink caught outside an Oregon farm tested positive for low-levels of the coronavirus. State officials said they believed the animal had escaped from a small farm already under quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak among mink and humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mink on a Michigan farm "and a small number of people" were infected with a coronavirus "that contained mink-related mutations," something officials said suggested that mink-to-human spread may have occurred.

While mink-to-human spread is possible, CDC officials said "there is no evidence that mink are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people."

 Products made from mink fur would be illegal to buy and sell if the bill passes. iStock/Getty

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Proposal would ban mink farming to stem coronavirus mutation

By MEG KINNARD

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2020, file photo Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals. The bill introduced this week is an effort from Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. It would prohibit the import, export, transport, sale or purchase of mink in the United States. (Al Drago/Pool Photo via AP, File)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

The bill introduced this week is an effort from Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. It would prohibit the import, export, transport, sale or purchase of mink in the United States.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people.

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means “the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population.”

Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.

“What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur,” Mace said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. “At the same time, it’s also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations.”

“Knowing that there are variants, and being someone who cares about the humane treatment of animals, this is sort of a win-win for folks,” she added. “And I believe that you’ll see Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle work on this together.”

According to Fur Commission USA, a nonprofit representing U.S. mink farmers, there are approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states across the United States, producing about 3 million pelts per year. That amounts to an annual value of more than $300 million, according to the commission.

There have been several mink-related coronavirus cases in the U.S. In December, a mink caught outside an Oregon farm tested positive for low-levels of the coronavirus. State officials said they believed the animal had escaped from a small farm already under quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak among mink and humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mink on a Michigan farm “and a small number of people” were infected with a coronavirus “that contained mink-related mutations,” something officials said suggested that mink-to-human spread may have occurred.

While mink-to-human spread is possible, CDC officials said “there is no evidence that mink are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.”

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.

ANTI MIGRANT BIGOT

GOP donor pays $1M to deploy South Dakota national guard

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and STEPHEN GROVES

July 1, 2021


FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2021, file photo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla. A billionaire Republican donor is paying $1 million to help defray the cost of deploying the South Dakota National Guard to the U.S. -Mexico border. The amount of the donation was confirmed Wednesday by Gov. Kristi Noem's office. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)


SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Willis Johnson said he just wanted to help.

So, earlier this month the billionaire Republican donor, who amassed a fortune building an international junkyard empire, took the unusual step of calling South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a rising Republican star who has railed against illegal immigration and aligned herself firmly with former President Donald Trump.

He asked if she wanted to send National Guard troops from South Dakota to the U.S.-Mexico border — and offered up $1 million to help.

Noem said, “Yes.”

Her acceptance of the donation from Johnson, who doesn’t even live in Noem’s state but rather in Tennessee, has drawn intense scrutiny. It landed in state coffers Tuesday and though it came from Johnson’s private foundation and appears to be legal, experts say it sets a troubling precedent in which a wealthy patron is effectively commandeering U.S. military might to address private political motivations.

“I didn’t know it would build into a bonfire,” said Johnson, who answered his phone on the second ring and estimates he’s talked to about 50 reporters since the news broke. “It’s getting out there a lot more than I thought.”

Whether the decision to accept his help will amount to smart politics or policy blunder for Noem is unclear. In the short term, at least, the decision has catapulted her into the headlines and generated even more attention for a possible presidential run in 2024.

Yet the pay-to-play transaction also highlights another way that big-dollar donors have insinuated themselves into governmental process to drive decisions. It also shows the lengths to which some GOP governors will go to show their fealty to Trump even as they try to position themselves for higher office.

“We don’t need this donation and whether it’s legal or not, it’s a terrible idea because it looks like our guardsmen are being used as political pawns,” said South Dakota state Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Democrat.

Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury said the money could legally be accepted into a state fund designated for responding to emergencies, alleviating costs to taxpayers. South Dakota currently has a budget surplus, which Noem has boasted about.

Fury disputed the suggestion that Johnson’s donation motivated deployment of the 50-person contingent. The state would have sent the guard without it, he said.

Noem herself took to social media Wednesday, arguing the state has a history of relying on private donors. But those projects have typically been focused on local projects — like an events complex at the state fair grounds — not deploying the National Guard.

“This deployment is vital for the security of our state and our nation,” Noem said in a Twitter video.

South Dakota state law suggests that’s not the way such donations are intended to be used. The law states that the fund can only be used “to meet special emergency requirements of the Division of Emergency Management,” an agency tasked with preparing the state for natural disasters or other emergencies.

Republican governors from Arkansas, Florida, Nebraska and Iowa have all committed to sending law enforcement officers or national guardsmen to the border. But Johnson says South Dakota is the only state he’s donated to, a decision motivated by Noem’s quick response to a call from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for assistance.

Immigration continues to be an animating issue in the Republican Party, stoked by Trump. On Wednesday, the former president and a group of about two-dozen Republican members of Congress toured the border in the Rio Grande Valley, where they railed against President Joe Biden’s handling of the border.

“The other ones were slow to react,” said Johnson, 74. “If they are procrastinators then I’m not going to help.”

Johnson, who also donated to Trump’s presidential campaign, amassed his fortune starting almost literally from a scrapheap.

A native Oklahoman, he learned the trade from his father. After serving in Vietnam, Johnson bought an old tow truck and his own wrecking yard in Vallejo, California. Through aggressive acquisition and an embrace of online technology, he built what is now known as Copart Inc. into a publicly traded global business.

He relocated to suburban Nashville over a decade ago, buying a home from country music star Alan Jackson.

Now a prolific donor, he’s given at least $2.3 million to federal campaigns over the past decade, including $900,000 to Trump, records show.

“America has been good to me. The Lord has been good to me,” said Johnson, whose memoir is titled “From Junk to Gold: Lessons I Learned.”

“I help upcoming senators, congressmen and governors. I’m behind the scenes. I try to keep it quiet.” Until now.

Separately, his family’s philanthropy, Willis and Reba Johnson’s Foundation, typically gives $1 million or more a year to churches and charities — including so-called abortion alternative services, disclosures show.

According to U.S. Defense officials and tax experts, his foundation’s donation to South Dakota is highly unorthodox but permissible.

As South Dakota’s governor, Noem has the legal authority to send her troops to Texas on state-activated duty, funded by the state, the defense officials said. The two states are also working within an existing emergency pact that allows them to send guard troops to each other when needed. Once in Texas, the South Dakota Guard troops would be under the Texas governor’s authority.

Officials said that the private funding given to South Dakota did not go directly to the National Guard. Instead it goes into the state treasury, and the state has wide latitude over how the money can be spent. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations on state matters.

The White House said the use and funding of the National Guard was the governor’s prerogative. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

The duties of the South Dakota National Guard contingent are not yet precisely known. Texas’ own guard will have a limited scope of duty that does not include making arrests and will focus instead on observing and reporting, according to statement from the agency.

Steven Bucklin, a professor emeritus at the University of South Dakota who has written on the history of the National Guard, said he was concerned about how the private donation threatened the distinction of the military as an apolitical organization.

“The optic is one that the South Dakota National Guard are soldiers of fortune and will go anywhere that some billionaire sends them,” he said, adding, “I think this is all politics.”

___

Slodysko reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Gov. Kristi Noem’s spokesman is Ian Fury, not Ian Fry.

Ransomware cyberattack hits hundreds of US businesses

US IT company Kaseya urged its customers to shut down their servers after hackers smuggled ransomware onto its network. Such attacks infiltrate widely-used software and demand ransom to regain access.



A cybersecurity firm said the REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack

US technology company Kaseya urged customers to shut down their servers on Friday after cyberattackers smuggled ransomware onto its network platform.

The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs. He added that the criminals used Kaseya's network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers.

Huntress Labs said in a Reddit forum that it was working with partners targeted in the attack, and that some 200 businesses "have been encrypted."

Kaseya said Friday evening that it had limited the attack to a "very small percentage of our customers" who use its software, "currently estimated at fewer than 40 worldwide."

Ransomware attacks typically involve locking data in systems using encryption and making companies pay to regain access. Such attacks infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.

Unclear how many customers affected

"We are in the process of investigating the root cause of the incident with an abundance of caution but we recommend that you immediately shutdown your VSA server until you receive further notice from us," Kaseya said in a message shared in a Reddit forum. "It's critical that you do this immediately, because one of the first things the attacker does is shut off administrative access to the VSA."

It was not immediately clear how many Kaseya customers might be affected. A virtual systems administrator, or VSA, is the company's main offering, which allows companies to manage networks of computers and printers from a single point. The company's US headquarters are in Florida and its international headquarters are in Ireland.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said that it was "taking action to understand and address the recent supply-chain ransomware attack" against Kaseya VSA and the service providers using the software.

The agency urged businesses to follow Kaseya's guidance and quickly shut down VSA servers to avoid having systems compromised. Active since April 2019, REvil provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops network-paralyzing software and leases it to affiliates who infect targets and earn most of the ransoms.

The group is among ransomware gangs that steal data from targets before activating the ransomware.

The UN Security Council this week held its first formal public meeting on cybersecurity, addressing the growing threat of hacks to countries' key infrastructure. Multiple US companies, including the computer group SolarWinds, the Colonial oil pipeline and meat producer JBS have recently been targeted by ransomware attacks. The FBI has blamed those attacks on hackers based in Russian territory.

lc/rc (AP, AFP)

Ransomware hits hundreds of US companies, security firm says

By FRANK BAJAK, ERIC TUCKER and MATT O'BRIEN

today


FILE - This Feb 23, 2019, file photo shows the inside of a computer in Jersey City, 

N.J. A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies 

on Friday, July 2, 2021, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company

 was responding to the incident. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)


WASHINGTON (AP) — A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident.

The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs. He said the criminals targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers. Other researchers agreed with Hammond’s assessment.

“Kaseya handles large enterprise all the way to small businesses globally, so ultimately, (this) has the potential to spread to any size or scale business,” Hammond said in a direct message on Twitter. “This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack.

Such cyberattacks typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically.

It was not immediately clear how many Kaseya customers might be affected or who they might be. Kaseya urged customers in a statement on its website to immediately shut down servers running the affected software. It said the attack was limited to a “small number” of its customers.

Brett Callow, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said he was unaware of any previous ransomware supply-chain attack on this scale. There have been others, but they were fairly minor, he said.

“This is SolarWinds with ransomware,” he said. He was referring to a Russian cyberespionage hacking campaign discovered in December that spread by infecting network management software to infiltrate U.S. federal agencies and scores of corporations.

Cybersecurity researcher Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec, said he was already working with six companies hit by the ransomware. It’s no accident that this happened before the Fourth of July weekend, when IT staffing is generally thin, he added.

“There’s zero doubt in my mind that the timing here was intentional,” he said.

Hammond of Huntress said he was aware of four managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers. He said thousand of computers were hit.

“We currently have three Huntress partners who are impacted with roughly 200 businesses that have been encrypted,” Hammond said.

Hammond wrote on Twitter: “Based on everything we are seeing right now, we strongly believe this (is) REvil/Sodinikibi.” The FBI linked the same ransomware provider to a May attack on JBS SA, a major global meat processer.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement late Friday that it is closely monitoring the situation and working with the FBI to collect more information about its impact.

CISA urged anyone who might be affected to “follow Kaseya’s guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately.” Kaseya runs what’s called a virtual system administrator, or VSA, that’s used to remotely manage and monitor a customer’s network.

The privately held Kaseya says it is based in Dublin, Ireland, with a U.S. headquarters in Miami. The Miami Herald recently described it as “one of Miami’s oldest tech companies” in a report about its plans to hire as many as 500 workers by 2022 to staff a recently acquired cybersecurity platform.

Brian Honan, an Irish cybersecurity consultant, said by email Friday that “this is a classic supply chain attack where the criminals have compromised a trusted supplier of companies and have abused that trust to attack their customers.”

He said it can be difficult for smaller businesses to defend against this type of attack because they “rely on the security of their suppliers and the software those suppliers are using.”

The only good news, said Williams, of Rendition Infosec, is that “a lot of our customers don’t have Kaseya on every machine in their network,” making it harder for attackers to move across an organization’s computer systems.

That makes for an easier recovery, he said.

Active since April 2019, the group known as REvil provides ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it develops the network-paralyzing software and leases it to so-called affiliates who infect targets and earn the lion’s share of ransoms.

REvil is among ransomware gangs that steal data from targets before activating the ransomware, strengthening their extortion efforts. The average ransom payment to the group was about half a million dollars last year, said the Palo Alto Networks cybersecurity firm in a recent report.

Some cybersecurity experts predicted that it might be hard for the gang to handle the ransom negotiations, given the large number of victims — though the long U.S. holiday weekend might give it more time to start working through the list.

___

Bajak reported from Boston; O’Brien contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.

5 things to know about the EU single-use plastics ban

The plastic food containers, coffee cups and cutlery that came with all that take-away during lockdown are now off the table as the EU gives single-use plastics the bin.

The EU's plastics ban aims to banish toxic waste from its beaches — including this one near Odessa on the Black Sea


The great packaging purge has begun.

Ten single-use plastic (SUP) products that for years have blighted Europe's beaches will be largely banned from July 3 as the EU's Single-Use Plastics Directive of 2019 comes into force.

Plastic cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, balloon sticks and polystyrene drink and food vessels cannot be sold as of Saturday. Also getting binned are oxo-degradable plastic bags that are marketed as biodegradable but which, according to the EU, break down into microplastics that long remain in the environment.

These disposable plastics make up around 70% of marine litter in Europe. Cafes and restaurants will now be forced to stock cups and straws made of bamboo, cellulose or other biodegradable materials.

But not all has been outlawed as part of the plastics reforms.

SUP bags, bottles, beverage and food containers for immediate consumption, packets and wrappers, tobacco filters, sanitary items and wet wipes will still instead be restricted, while producers will have to pay for the clean-up and institute awareness campaigns about their environmental impact.

The end goal is an EU circular economy model via which any remaining disposable plastics will be reusable or recyclable by 2030.

Here are five things to know about the EU's plans for a plastic-free future.
1. How the new plastic regime will be implemented

EU Member States have drawn up their own laws to implement the Single Use Plastics Directive. Some have even decided to add to the list of banned SUPs.

As part of France's 'law on the circular economy and the fight against waste' adopted in February 2020, most fruit and vegetable packaging will also be banned, as will plastic tea bags, confetti and plastic toys offered as part of kids menus.

Europe's battle with marine plastic pollution: Some of the 22 kilograms (48.5 pounds) of plastic found in its belly of a sperm whale found dead off Sardinia in 2019

In Germany, measures approved in Novemberadded EPS polystyrene food containers to the SUPs included in the directive.

In Luxembourg, SUPs have been banned from being sold at festivals from July 3. In Greece, meanwhile, they've been outlawed from use in government agencies since February, the first ban of its kind.

Other countries like Italy and Belgium are also introducing a plastics tax or levy to disincentivize the use of plastics.

It might all appear haphazard, but in line with the European Green Deal, all EU member states must ultimately fall in line with a waste and pollution-free circular economy model in which any SUPs are sustainably re-used and recycled by the end of the decade.
2. Plastic drink bottles still allowed

While the plastics directive deals with a lot of throwaway plastic items that end up on Europe's coasts, it does not ban some of the 1.3 billion plastic drink bottles that are sold daily around the world.

Made of PET, these fossil-based plastic containers are, however, one of the few that can be recycled and used to make new bottles, packaging or fibers. The problem remains that only 65% of PET bottles in Europe are collected for recycling, and the rest will take hundreds of years to decompose.

The SUP directive sets a collection target of 90% recycling for PET bottles by 2029 (with an interim target of 77% by 2025). These bottles should also contain at least 25% recycled, as opposed to virgin, plastic by 2025

And manufacturers who sell PET bottles now also have more stringent accountability as part of the "extended producer responsibility" mandate included in the directive. Based on the "polluter pays" principle, producers will have to cover the cost of waste management clean-up as well as raising awareness about the environment impact of the product and the most sustainable disposal methods.

Watch video 09:02 Solving our plastic bottle problem

3. Some alternatives to plastic

Natural polymers that have not been chemically modified are exempt from the directive. Any plastics created from modified natural polymers, or fossil or synthetic feedstocks, are effectively banned.

The winners here will be a range of new sustainable materials that are not considered chemically modified. These include regenerated cellulose, which is used to create viscose, lyocell and cellulosic films.

The most abundant biopolymer on our planet, regenerated cellulose is used to create a strong, transparent and completely biodegradable film or sheet that is largely impermeable to oils and greases. A long-used food packaging material before the introduction of oil-based plastics, cellulose is back.

Meanwhile, biodegradable cotton bud sticks will typically be made from compostable bamboo, meaning they can be disposed of in the normal organic waste. All that SUP cutlery is also likely to be replaced by completely compostable, 100% biodegradable bamboo that is cheap and fast to grow.

That said, when implementing the SUP directive, countries like France and Belgiun have banned the labeling of products as "biodegradable" because it can be a form of greenwashing that encourages packaging consumption.

Watch video 04:02 Biomaterials: nature's plastic substitutes

4. Cigarette butts also on the list

Article 8 of the EU Single Use Plastics Directive specifies that tobacco producers have to foot the bill for the clean-up of cigarette butts containing plastic filters.

Made with cellulose acetate, a polymer that breaks down in the environment very slowly, some 4.5 trillion butts are discarded annually, making it the most littered item on the planet.

But the EU's SUP directive is forcing producers to label the butts and packets to create awareness as opposed to an outright ban.

Activists want plastic butts to simply be outlawed — which won't happen until 2027 when the list of banned SUPs will be updated.

In September 2020, anti-plastic campaigners collected 142,000 cigarette butts from streets across the Netherlands.

"Communication campaigns do not solve the issue," said Karl Beerenfenger from By the Ocean we Unite, which co-organized the clean-up. "We must change the product itself. Cigarette filters only serve as a marketing tool to sell more cigarettes. We want to get rid of the plastic cigarette filter altogether."

But so far there are no plans to ban butts.

Sustainable filters could be an interim solution, with the company Green Butts pitching its water dispersable filter to the EU Commission on social media, claiming its product biodegrades in days and is produced with sustainable natural fibers.



5. 'Pandemic plastics' yet to be included

The SUPs ban exempts medical-related plastics, including the masks and gloves that have become so widespread during the pandemic. In addition to the many types of packaging made from long-lasting SUPs for these pandemic response products, these materials have ended up as waste on both land and in marine environments, with potentially harmful impacts on ecosystems, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).

"Imports of face masks into the EU more than doubled compared with business as usual before the pandemic," said the EEA. The increase happened while EU production was also increasing.

With around 170,000 additional tons of these plastic-based face masks introduced into the EU during the first six months of the pandemic, calls are growing to find alternatives.

But so far, pandemic plastics are not addressed by the new SUP rules: "Notably, the directive on single-use plastics does not even apply to single-use plastic products used in the health sectors, such as single-use gloves, gowns and masks," said Justine Maillot from Zero Waste Europe in a statement.



ECO DRINKING STRAWS: GRASS IS GREENER
Natural innovation
Vietnamese entrepreneur Tran Minh Tien has tapped into the natural resources in his local area in a bid to do his bit to tackle plastic waste. His company 3T produces drinking straws from hollow grass which grows wild in the Mekong river delta, west of Vietnam's capital, Ho Chi Minh City. 1234567

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Date 03.07.2021
Author Stuart Braun
Related Subjects European Union (EU), Recycling
Keywords single-use plastics, single-use plastics ban, plastics, marine pollution, cigarette butts, circular economy, circular econonomy, EU, recycling
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COVID outbreak at China's Yantian port threatens global trade

A recent coronavirus outbreak at the Chinese port of Yantian is set to cause a bigger disruption than the Suez Canal blockage in March. The subsequent shortages could spike already rising inflation.


Containers carrying Chinese exports to Europe and the USA have been held up by a COVID outbreak at the port of Yantian


Up to 5% of global freight capacity is being held up in China following a recent COVID-19 outbreak at the country's largest container terminal, a German think tank warned this week.

The bottleneck comes as the global economy is already smarting from major delays to shipping caused by coronavirus lockdowns around the world.

Yantian port, in China's southern trade hub Shenzhen, stopped accepting export containers last month after a local COVID infection cluster involving port workers.

New data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) published Tuesday showed the strain the new backlog could have on the global economy.

It comes at a time of shortages of key commodities and surging demand which have sent inflation racing higher.

Watch video01:28 China posts stunning Q1 export growth

Second wave of COVID delays

IfW researchers found that current shipping delays around China's Pearl River Delta region have reached a similar level to August 2020 when the Asian powerhouse had only just restarted its economy after a strict lockdown.

They warned that the effects of the delays can already be witnessed near the Suez Canal — the critical chokepoint for world trade — where 10% fewer container ships are operating than expected.

Suez Canal is a 120-mile-long (193-kilometer-long) manmade passage through Egypt that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and is the shortest maritime route from Europe to Asia.

The Kiel institute's team warned the latest delays could have a huge impact on trade between Asia and Europe over the summer.

Although operations have now resumed at Yantian, Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company, last week warned that it would take several weeks to clear the backlog.

"It was already hard to find containers before, and the situation is even scarier now," Alfred Wong, CEO of D&S Products Manufactory, which produces goods in Shenzhen, told AFP news agency.

Congestion at the port of Yantian is expected to take several weeks to clear

Bigger than Suez

Patrik Berglund, Chief Executive of Xeneta, an ocean freight rate benchmarking firm headquartered in Oslo, said the impact of the Yantian bottleneck will likely be bigger than the Suez blockage.

In March, a huge container ship got stranded in the Egyptian waterway, leaving nearly 600 other ships stranded for 6 days at an estimated cost of $9.6 billion (€8.1 billion) to the global economy.

Berglund added that some exporters are now "turning to trucks to send their cargo from China to Europe."

Even as congestion at Yantian begins to ease, traffic at the Shenzhen port of Shekou and the main Guangzhou port of Nansha remains high, shipping experts say.

Meanwhile, charter rates for container ships around the world remain at record levels.

Many vessels and containers have been stranded in the wrong locations following earlier COVID-related disruption, leading to shortages where containers are most needed.

Delta variant hits China

China's export woes are being further exacerbated by other COVID outbreaks, like in the major manufacturing hub of Dongguan, which this week forced entire communities to quarantine.

Although factories in Dongguan are still running, concerns are rising about the arrival of the Delta variant of COVID-19 into China. The high transmissible variant, first identified in India, has dominated infections in the latest upsurge in the country's most populous Guangdong province.

German economy takes a hit

That's led Germany's industrial sector to complain about a shortage of raw materials and intermediate products needed to fuel the country's economic rebound. The competition with China and the United States for key commodities has already contributed to a spike in inflation.

German companies say although they are sitting on bulging order books, they are unable to fulfill them.

The IfW researchers have estimated that shipping bottlenecks have already cost the German economy €25 billion ($29.7 billion) in 2021, adding that they expected German economic output to be "lower by about 1% in the second quarter."

The report forecast that German industrial production will grow as high as 10% as soon as the delays are resolved, due to strong demand and the existing backlog of orders.

mm/uhe (AFP, Reuters)

 

Coronavirus digest: India's Covaxin 'effective against all variants'

India's Bharat Biotech says late-stage trials showed Covaxin was 93.4% effective against severe symptomatic COVID. Meanwhile, Australia's New South Wales state reported its biggest daily rise in infections this year.

    

In a stage three trial, Covaxin showed effectiveness against both the Delta variant and in severe 

symptomatic cases of COVID.

Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of India's indigenous vaccine, Covaxin, said on Saturday that its vaccine showed 93.4% effectiveness against severe symptomatic COVID-19.

The company said that Phase III trials of the vaccine also showed 65.2% effectiveness against the Delta variant of the COVID virus, that severely-affected India in March, April and May. Bharat Biotech said that Covaxin also showed 77.8% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19.

Covaxin's success against the Delta variant follows similar results from AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has shown over 90% protection against hospitalization from the Delta variant. Meanwhile, the vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson is also believed to be effective against the Delta variant.

Bharat Biotech said that it now estimates to step up production to 23 million doses a month. The company, which is manufacturing Covaxin with Ocugen Inc, is planning to file a request for approval for its vaccine in the US.

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 THE EARTH WILL SHAKE

At least 19 people missing in Japan after landslides

Rescue workers in the Shizuoka prefecture are still searching after homes were swept away. Some people in the area are believed to have been evacuated.

    

Rescue workers are still searching for the missing people in the prefecture.

Japanese authorities said on Saturday that at least 20 people were missing after rows of houses were swept away by mudslides in Atami, west of Tokyo, according to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster. The country's military sent emergency rescuers to Atami in the Shizuoko prefecture following the incident.

Officials in the Shizuoka prefecture said that the mudslide happened on Saturday morning. Rescue workers are still searching for the missing people.

Takamichi Sugiyama, a prefectural disaster management official, said that some officials in the area were believed to have been evacuated, but more details were unavailable. Television footage, along with videos on social media showed a black mudslide from the mountains crushing houses on the way.

WATCH THIS PHENOMENAL VIDEO

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's prime minister, has called an emergency task force to respond to the crisis, according to the NHK.

The mudslide comes at a time when heavy rain has been hitting several parts of Japan. NHK said that rains lashing the Shizuoka and Kanagawa prefecture has already exceeded the level of rain usually expected in July. Experts cite climate change for the increased rainfall levels in Japan.

Officials in the Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Chiba prefectures have issued landslide and flood warnings. 

am/rc (AP, Reuters, dpa)

Hebrews 12:27
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Isaiah 2:19
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Exodus 19:18
Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.