Billionaire fracking brothers spend millions to promote right-wing propaganda: report

Story by Sky Palma • RAW STORY

(AFP)© provided by RawStory

Texas fracking billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks have donated millions of dollars to conservative operations that are skeptical about climate change and promote anti-LGBTQ ideology, The Guardian reported.

Among the right-wing organizations receiving funds from the brothers are the Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family.

"Farris Wilks and his wife control the Thirteen Foundation, while Dan Wilks and his wife lead the Heavenly Fathers Foundation, both of which have been funded with proceeds from the 2011 sale of their majority stake in Frac Tech Services for $3.2bn," The Guardian's report stated.

"Since they created their foundations, six- and seven-figure checks from the Wilks brothers have bolstered numerous pro-fossil fuel and evangelical projects."

Conservative media outlets Daily Wire and Prager U, which have promoted climate change skepticism, have also received funds, with at least $8 million going to Daily Wire and over $4 million going to Prager U. GOP politicians such as Sen. Ted Cruz and Ken Paxton, who is facing impeachment, have also benefited from the brothers' donations.

Read the full report over at The Guardian.

Famed hacker and Twitter whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko is joining the Biden administration

Story by Tim Starks, David DiMolfetta •

Welcome to The Cybersecurity 202! What were you all up to over our break? I made it back to Indiana for a lovely wedding between two dear friends.

Below: House GOP members sound off on a new cyber disclosure rule, and a U.S. official told China she did not appreciate being hacked. First:

First in The Cybersecurity 202: CISA snags ‘Mudge’ for ‘secure by design’ role


Famed hacker and Twitter whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko is joining the Biden administration© Matt McClain/The Washington Post

Famed hacker and Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko is joining the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency with an emphasis on helping its campaign to push software manufacturers to bake security into their products while they’re being developed, The Cybersecurity 202 is first reporting.

Zatko begins in a part-time role this week as a “senior technical advisor.” It’s a high-profile hire for the Biden administration’s focus on products that are “secure by design,” a key component of this year’s National Cybersecurity Strategy as well as CISA’s strategic plan.

“Mudge joins us in a part-time capacity to help us collaboratively shape a culture of security by design that is foundational to every security team, every C-suite, and every board room in the country,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a written statement. “The National Cybersecurity Strategy and CISA’s Strategic Plan call for a fundamental cultural shift in which cybersecurity accountability is principally borne by technology vendors rather than customers and by business leaders rather than security professionals.”
“To enable this shift, we need team members with extraordinary expertise to help us identify the right levers and lead the hard conversations,” Easterly continued. “That’s why we’re so excited to welcome Mudge to the CISA team — a legendary security researcher, CISO, and visionary.”

On Mudge

Zatko was a prominent member of the groundbreaking L0pht hacking collective. In 1998, seven of its members testified before a Senate committee in one of the first-ever congressional cybersecurity hearings, where they delivered urgent — and prophetic — warnings about security vulnerabilities.

It’s his second go-round in the federal government, following a stint at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from 2010 to 2013.

“I am honored to formally return to public service and work with CISA on the critical cybersecurity issues we face, including enabling secure-by-design principles to be accessible, measurable, and adopted by government and industry alike,” Zatko said in a written statement.
“Cybersecurity has been the mechanism through which I have had impact,” he said. “Through this I have devoted my life to moving the field forward by way of transparency, education, and innovation. I have endeavored to do this irrespective of being in the public sector, private sector, nonprofit, through technical contributions, or in executive and leadership positions. I look forward to continuing my mission to serve everyone the best I can.”

His wide-ranging career recently took another turn when, a little more than a year ago, he filed a whistleblower complaint against Twitter with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. He alleged that executives at Twitter — where he had served as security chief for less than two years — deceived federal regulators about “extreme, egregious deficiencies” at the social media platform and violated the terms of a security agreement with the FTC, as my colleagues Joseph Menn, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Cat Zakrzewski reported.

The allegations saw him return to testify before the Senate.

“It doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors,” he told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee last September. “It’s not far-fetched to say an employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all the senators in this room.”

Most recently, he has been serving as “executive in residence” with the cybersecurity company Rapid7.

On secure by design

Zatko’s experience dovetails with the Biden administration’s crusade (with CISA playing a key role) for manufacturers to develop products that are secure by design and secure by default — the latter meaning that they are secure “out of the box” and requiring no additional cost.

“Too many vendors ignore best practices for secure development, ship products with insecure default configurations or known vulnerabilities, and integrate third-party software of unvetted or unknown provenance,” the National Cybersecurity Strategy reads.

CISA’s strategic plan, meanwhile, says, “We recognize that technology products must be designed and developed in a manner that prioritizes security, ensures strong controls by default, and reduces the prevalence of exploitable vulnerabilities.”

Since the administration released its overall strategy, CISA and two other federal agencies joined forces with several allied foreign governments to release a voluntary “principles and approaches” document on how to implement secure by default and secure by design.

CISA recently teamed up with Microsoft to announce that the tech giant would expand free logging services following a hacking campaign that breached the company’s cloud-based email system to claim victims at the State and Commerce departments, among others.

Easterly said earlier this year that Congress should pass legislation to hold software manufacturers legally liable for the insecurity of their products. It’s an issue lawmakers have barely scratched the surface on, despite security professionals making decades of calls to act. It might take another year or more for legislation to even emerge, according to Biden administration officials.

The keys

House GOP members sound off on new SEC cyber disclosure rule


Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler testifies before the Senate Banking Committee. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)© Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

A trio of House Republicans alleges that a recently approved cyber incident disclosure rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission is duplicative and confusing and compromises the confidentiality of firms’ cybersecurity programs. The lawmakers are urging the agency to delay the rule, which is set to take effect this week, according to a letter sent Friday.

The missive addressed to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, from House Homeland Security Committee members Andrew R. Garbarino (N.Y.) and Mark Green (Tenn.), as well as Rep. Zachary Nunn (Iowa), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, argues that the rule goes against efforts to standardize cyber incident disclosure reporting for critical infrastructure entities.
The SEC in July voted to approve a rule that would require publicly traded companies to report major cyber incidents within four days once it is determined that the hack is significant enough to affect investors’ decisions.
The triad argues that the disclosures “are in direct conflict” with provisions in the 2022 Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act, which requires the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to craft rules requiring entities to report certain cyber incidents within 72 hours from the time the entity believes the hack occurred.

“It is unfathomable that the SEC is moving forward with its public disclosure requirements, which will only increase cybersecurity risk, without a congressional mandate and in direct contradiction to public law that is intended to secure the homeland,” the letter says.

Related video: What to know about hackers taking over LinkedIn accounts (WNCN Raleigh) Duration 2:00 View on Watch

While Republicans and some industry representatives argue the rule means requiring disclosure of too much highly sensitive information (a thematic concern among opponents of Biden-era cyber regulations), supporters view the measure as a way for investors to gain more transparency into firms’ cybersecurity practices and incentivize organizations to protect themselves further while alerting others of potential large-scale cyberthreats.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Raimondo complained to Chinese officials about being hacked


Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo talks to U.S. Ambassador to China Nick Burns, left, as they head to a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug. 29. (Andy Wong/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)© Andy Wong/AFP/Getty Images

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on a trip to China this past week, complained to officials in Beijing about a recent hack that breached her Microsoft email account, Politico’s Katherine Long reports.

“They did hack me, which was unappreciated, to say the least. I brought it up, clearly. Put it right on the table,” she told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” She “did not pull any punches” on other national security concerns, she added.
She said that hacking her account “erodes trust” between China and the United States. The hack also compromised the accounts of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink.
The hack came at a crucial moment in U.S.-China relations, as Raimondo and other Cabinet members make trips to Beijing in an attempt to stabilize trade, business and security relations with the nation.
In a related development, China’s Huawei announced the rollout of a new smartphone that was timed to Raimondo’s visit. The move has signaled to some that U.S. restrictions that aim to stifle Beijing’s access to AI chips and other cutting-edge hardware are being circumvented.

China-linked hackers since May have leveraged a digital key and a now-resolved code flaw to break into the emails of U.S. government agencies and other clients. The incident has put Microsoft in hot water and has led some officials and policymakers to question whether the United States is over-reliant on the tech giant’s services.

Northern Ireland police chief resigns following major data incident


Northern Ireland’s police chief, Simon Byrne, resigned after weeks of political pressure following a major incident in which the personal data of all of its officers was accidentally released. (Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images)© Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images

Northern Ireland’s police chief, Simon Byrne, resigned after weeks of pressure following an incident in which the personal data of all of the police force’s officers was accidentally released, Olivia Fletcher reports for Bloomberg News.

Fletcher writes: “Byrne stepped down after an emergency meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Monday, having previously refused to do so in the face of a no-confidence motion submitted by the Democratic Unionist Party following the mistaken release of officers’ personal information.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was responding to a Freedom of Information request last month when a staffer gave the surnames, initials, ranks or grade, and work locations of all 10,000 of its police officers and civilian employees. The data was publicly available for several hours, and PSNI officials urged anyone with the information to delete it immediately.
Since the incident, the PSNI has been aggressively searching for those who have held onto the leaked data. One man was arrested and charged last month with two terrorism offenses connected to possessing documents from the breach.
Byrne confirmed that dissidents have access to the information, and he said he fears it will be used to intimidate and target police, Sky News reported at the time. Sectarian violence in the region decreased heavily following a 1998 treaty, though dissident groups still target police officers.

Government scan

‘Excited and terrified’: On a high-stakes trip to China, Gina Raimondo confronts a complex future (The Information)

Securing the ballot

Why Trump’s vow to appeal his D.C. trial date probably won’t work (Devlin Barrett)

Industry report

Staying on alert for after-hours cyberattacks (Axios)

Why is .US being used to phish so many of us? (Krebs on Security)

National security watch

Why the West is concerned about the UN cybercrime treaty (Semafor)

Global cyberspace

Hackers push anti-Iranian government messages to millions via breached app (CyberScoop)

Saudi dissident’s brother is sentenced to death in social media case (New York Times)

Meta identifies Iran and Turkey's network of ‘adversarial threat’ (Jerusalem Post)

Huawei teardown shows chip breakthrough in blow to US sanctions (Bloomberg News)

Musk’s new Twitter policies helped spread Russian propaganda, E.U. says (Joseph Menn)

Britain sets priorities for November global AI safety summit (Reuters)

Cyber insecurity

Maker of ‘smart’ chastity cage left users’ emails, passwords, and locations exposed (TechCrunch)

Freecycle confirms massive data breach impacting 7 million users (Bleeping Computer)

Encryption wars

Barracuda patch bypassed by novel malware from China-linked threat group (Cybersecurity Dive)

Privacy patch

The endless battle to banish the world’s most notorious stalker website (Nitasha Tiku)

X, formerly known as Twitter, may collect your biometric data and job history (CNN)

Daybook
Jen Easterly, Anne Neuberger, Kemba Walden and other U.S. cyber officials speak at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in D.C. throughout this week.
DHS Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis Kenneth Wainstein speaks with the Atlantic Council tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.
The Institute of World Politics convenes a cyber intelligence seminar tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Secure log off

Polish official harshly criticizes film that explores migration crisis at Poland-Belarus border


 Polish director Agnieszka Holland

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A leading member of Poland’s conservative government has sharply criticized a film that explores the humanitarian disaster affecting migrants along the Poland-Belarus border which premiered Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival.

“Green Border,” by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, puts a spotlight on the refugee crisis that emerged two years ago at Belarus' borders with the European Union nations of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The film is in competition at the festival.

Poland’s hard-right justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, slammed the film, comparing it to Nazi propaganda.

“In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that,” Ziobro wrote Monday on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.

According to the film festival’s description, the feature film dramatizes the tragedy that has played out in this “green border” of swamps and forests in a story showing the intertwining lives of a Polish activist, a young Polish border guard and a Syrian family.

Holland directed the 1990 Holocaust film “Europa, Europa.” She has been a critic of the hard-line treatment of refugees and migrants by governments in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, a viewpoint reflected in the film.

At a news conference in Venice, she described the large-scale migration to Europe by people escaping conflict and poverty as an existential crisis for the continent, saying that the issue will exacerbate in the future due to climate change. Holland said that Europeans would have to decide whether to face the challenge humanely or not, appearing pessimistic.

She said the lessons learned from the Holocaust "somehow evaporated and we have to deal today with the future which can be, I'm afraid, similar to the experience of the past,” she said.

In 2021, the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, eased access to flights and visas for migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Belarus, facilitating their way to the border. Belarusian guards in some cases used force to push them across the border to EU countries.

Poland accused Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, of seeking to sow discord in the region. In many cases, Polish border guards pushed the migrants back to Belarus and refused to allow them to apply for asylum. In the summer of 2021, migrants became stranded in the no-man's land between Poland and Belarus where they were denied humanitarian and medical help.

Activists have reported the deaths of dozens in the border zone.

“I understood that a training camp of cruelty was being established on the border. In my opinion, it was a purely political decision,” Holland said in a recent interview with Polish Newsweek in which she accuses populist politicians in Poland and elsewhere of seeking to win political points with what she described as a short-sighted and inhumane approach to migration.

Holland has been among prominent public figures in Poland who have condemned Polish authorities for their treatment of the migrants. The critics argue that even though Belarus was guilty of using the migrants as pawns in a cynical geopolitical game, a democracy and EU member like Poland should have treated them in line with international law by allowing them to apply for asylum.

Polish authorities have accused its critics and the Polish activists who mobilized to help the migrants of harming Poland's interests.

The film is being released in Poland on Sept. 22.

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

HINDUTVA; BJP HINDU NATIONALISM
India's government replaces 'India' with ancient name 'Bharat' in dinner invitation to G20 guests



India's government replaces 'India' with ancient name 'Bharat' in dinner invitation to G20 guests© Provided by The Canadian Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week's Group of 20 summit, in a move that reflects his Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to eliminate what it sees as colonial-era names.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu is referred to as “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India” in the invitation sent to G20 attendees. The nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally.

Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word which many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word also means India in Hindi.

The change in nomenclature is backed by officials of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. They argue that the name India was introduced by British colonials and is a “symbol of slavery.” The British ruled India for about 200 years until the country gained independence in 1947.

“Another blow to slavery mentality,” the top elected official of Uttarakhand state, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Dhami, who is a leader of Modi's governing party, shared the dinner invitation sent to G20 guests in his post.

Modi’s party has long tried to erase names related to India’s Mughal and colonial past.

Related video: “Whole world knows us with name ‘India’, why change now?” WB CM asks Centre (ANI Video)  Duration 1:14   View on Watch

India Toda yBharat is not a new name, it is there in the Constitution: S Gurumurthy

15:33

ANI VideoMy country’s name is Bharat and will remain so: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

1:34

ANI Video“PM’s hatred increased towards name INDIA…”: AR Chowdhury on ‘India vs Bharat’ controversy

2:34

In 2015, New Delhi’s famous Aurangzeb Road, named after a Mughal king, was changed to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road after protests from Modi’s party leaders. Last year, the government also renamed a colonial-era avenue in the heart of New Delhi that is used for ceremonial military parades.

Modi’s government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu past.

India’s opposition parties, however, criticized the move.

“While there is no constitutional objection to calling India “Bharat,” which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India,” which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries,” opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said on X.

Tharoor said Indians should “continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognized around the world.”

Disputes over “India” versus “Bharat” have gained ground since opposition parties in July announced a new alliance — called INDIA — to unseat Modi and defeat his party ahead of national elections in 2024. The acronym stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.

Since then, some officials in Modi’s party have demanded that the country be called Bharat instead of India.

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press

India astir over rumoured plans to change country's name

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 05 2023

Devotees play drums during a procession to carry a tall idol of the Hindu deity Ganesha, in Mumbai, India on September 3, 2023. 

PHOTO | PUNIT PARANJPE | 


By AFP

India was buzzing with speculation Tuesday over rumoured plans to scrap official usage of the country's English name, after a state-issued invite sent to world leaders referred to it as "Bharat".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has worked to remove lingering symbols of British rule from India's urban landscape, political institutions and history books, but its next move could be the biggest such action yet.

Modi himself typically refers to India as "Bharat", a word dating back to ancient Hindu scriptures written in Sanskrit, and one of two official names for the country under its constitution.

Members of his Hindu-nationalist ruling party have previously campaigned against using the country's better-known moniker, India, which has its roots in Western antiquity and was imposed during the British conquest.

This weekend India hosts the G20 summit of world leaders, capped with a state dinner that invitation cards said would be hosted by the "President of Bharat".


The government has called a special session of parliament for later in the month while remaining tight-lipped about its legislative agenda.

But broadcaster News18 said unnamed government sources had told it that BJP lawmakers would put forward a special resolution to give precedence to the name "Bharat".

Rumours of the plan were enough to spark a mix of opposition lawmakers and enthusiastic support from other quarters.

"I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with 'India'," Shashi Tharoor of the opposition Congress party said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world."

Former Test cricketer Virender Sehwag said he welcomed the prospect of a name change and urged India's cricket board to begin using "Bharat" on team uniforms.

"India is a name given by the British (and) it has been long overdue to get our original name 'Bharat' back," he wrote.

For decades, Indian governments of various stripes have sought to excise traces of the British colonial era by renaming roads and even entire cities.

The process has intensified under the government led by Modi, who has in public speeches stressed the need for India to abandon traces of a "colonial mindset".

His administration renovated the capital New Delhi's parliamentary precinct, originally designed by the British, to replace colonial-era structures.

Last month, it outlined plans for a sweeping overhaul of India's pre-independence criminal code to remove references to the British monarchy and what Home Minister Amit Shah described as "other signs of our slavery".

Modi's government has also removed Islamic place names imposed during the Mughal empire that preceded British rule, a move critics say is emblematic of a desire to assert the supremacy of India's majority Hindu religion.

SECULARISM GONE MAD

French schools refuse dozens of girls wearing Muslim robe

Story by AFP 

Dozens refused do remove the abaya in defiance of a ban on the dress in schools© LOIC VENANCE

French schools sent dozens of girls home for refusing to remove their abayas -- an over-garment from the shoulders to the feet worn by Muslim women -- on the first day of the school year, a government minister said Tuesday.


Unlike headscarves, abayas occupied a grey area and had faced no outright ban until now© LOIC VENANCE

Defying a ban on the Muslim robe, nearly 300 girls showed up Monday morning wearing an abaya, Gabriel Attal told the BFM broadcaster.

Most agreed to change out of the robe, but 67 refused and were sent home, he said.

The government announced last month it was banning the abaya in schools, saying it broke the rules on secularism in education that have already seen Muslim headscarves banned on the grounds they constitute a display of religious affiliation.


An association representing Muslims has filed a motion with the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities© Denis Charlet

The move gladdened the political right but the hard-left argued it represented an affront to civil liberties.

Attal said the girls refused entry were given a letter addressed to their families saying that "secularism is not a constraint, it is a liberty".

If they showed up at school again wearing the abaya there would be a "new dialogue", the minister said.

Late Monday, President Emmanuel Macron defended the controversial measure, saying there was a "minority" in France who "hijack a religion and challenge the republic and secularism", leading to the "worst consequences".

He cited the murder three years ago of teacher Samuel Paty for showing caricatures of the prophet Mohammed during a civics education class.

"We cannot act as if the terrorist attack, the murder of Samuel Paty, had not happened," he said in an interview with You Tube channel HugoDecrypte.

- 'Elevated risk of discrimination' -

An association representing Muslims has filed a motion with the State Council, France's highest court for complaints against state authorities, for an injunction against the ban on the abaya and the qamis, its equivalent dress for men.

The Action for the Rights of Muslims (ADM) motion was being examined Tuesday.

France's Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), established to represent Muslims before the government, warned that the banning of the abaya could create "an elevated risk of discrimination" and said it was considering putting its own complaint before the State Council.

The absence of "a clear definition of this garment creates a vague situation and legal uncertainty," it said.

It expressed fear over "arbitrary" controls and that the criteria for evaluating young girls' dress could be based on "the supposed origin, last name or skin colour" rather than what they wore.

A law introduced in March 2004 banned "the wearing of signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" in schools.

This includes large Christian crosses, Jewish kippas and Muslim headscarves.

Unlike headscarves, abayas occupied a grey area and had faced no outright ban until now.

The issue has been a dominant theme of French politics after the summer holidays, with the hard-left has accusing the government of trying with the abaya ban to compete with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and shifting further to the right.

The announcement late last month of the ban was the first major move by Attal, 34, since he was promoted this summer to handle the hugely contentious education portfolio.

Along with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 40, he is seen as a rising star who could potentially play an important role after Macron steps down in 2027.

mep-jh-sjw/rox

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HIJAB 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for NIQAB 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SECULAR 

Former top banker says premiers are 'grandstanding' on interest rate hikes

Story by Tanya Fletcher •10h


On Tuesday, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey became the latest provincial leader to join the growing political chorus against another interest rate hike.

Furey's office released a letter to Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem in which the premier called on the bank to "more fully consider the negative impacts" interest rate hikes are having on Canadians and to forgo another rate hike "at this time." The bank is expected to announce its next rate decision on Wednesday.

Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby sent a letter to the governor urging a halt to rate hikes in the name of affordability.

This week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent a similar letter — and followed it up with some of the strongest language yet from any Canadian politician on rate hikes:

"[A] message to the Bank of Canada: Enough is enough. You're trying to kill the economy. You personally are responsible for creating inflation," Ford told a press conference Tuesday.

"Companies do not want to invest in new equipment because of the interest rates. A lot of people can't afford to get a mortgage because they're struggling. They're going to be losing their homes. That's on your shoulders."
The politics behind the pressure

The political pressure is coming from premiers whose governments are leaning hard on affordability as a priority.

All three premiers come from different parties: B.C.'s New Democrats, Ontario's Progressive Conservatives and Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberals.

One former Bank of Canada governor says there's politics at play.

"It's a bit of ... political grandstanding on the part of the premier[s]," said former BoC governor David Dodge when asked about the letters.

He said he doesn't see a problem with that.

"There's always a dialogue between the minister of finance and the governor of the bank, between public servants in (the federal Department of Finance) and staff at the bank," he told CBC News.

"There's always a dialogue going on. That's how the system is actually supposed to work. Where the problem would come is if there were no dialogue."

Related video: ‘Enough is enough’: Ford says Bank of Canada personally responsible for creating inflation (Global News)   Duration 0:49   View on Watch

Dodge said the Bank of Canada is transparent with its process and explicitly outlines the factors behind each interest rate decision, which include taking into account the public's best interests.

Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge says the central bank is transparent about how it makes interest rate decisions. 

(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)© Provided by cbc.ca

"How I dealt with it, and how the current governor deals with it, is to try to explain to people — and to governments — why it is that the current interest rate level, or the current policy they are pursuing, is appropriate in order to stabilize the economy, both in terms of growth and in terms of price level," he said.

Not everyone thinks the premiers' attempts to influence the bank are harmless. Ross Hickey, an economist and associate professor at UBC Okanagan, called the letters "ridiculous."

"It's reckless because we don't want our central bank to respond to politicians at all," he told CBC News Friday after Eby's letter was published.

"It's terrible because the impartiality, the independence, the non-partisanship of the central bank in Canada is extremely important and this is a reckless act that put that in jeopardy."

Hickey compared it to attempts to influence the Supreme Court of Canada and said the Bank of Canada must remain at arm's-length from politicians.

If interest rates are held where they are, he said, it should be because the data suggests that is the prudent move right now.

"I hope that the Bank of Canada speaks to all Canadians and all politicians, and restates the importance of the independence of the central bank from politics," he said.
Not harmful, not helpful

Some political experts don't see publicly lobbying the Bank of Canada as harmful.

"I don't see it as particularly negative," said Gerald Baier, associate professor of political science at the University of British Columbia.

"Obviously, the Bank of Canada collects information, collects data that helps make its decisions. But it's not hurting anyone for them to write a letter that says, 'Here's what's going on and here are the negative effects of of continued interest rate hikes.'"

Baier also suggested the premiers' actions are mostly about political optics and the only ones they're helping are themselves.

"It's a political exercise in those premiers taking the chance to sort of stand up for regular folks in their in their provinces," said Baier.

"A lot of the audience is not the Bank of Canada but voters who would look at their premiers and say, 'You gotta be doing something more to influence this policy.'"

The NDP's Jagmeet Singh was the first federal leader to wade into the debate this week.

"The Bank of Canada's approach is not working — in fact, it's creating more pain for people," Singh told a recent news conference in B.C.

"Grocery prices are extremely high and the cost of housing remains really high. How has the Bank of Canada made people's lives better? By taking on inflation when grocery prices continue to rise and housing is still completely unattainable for people."

Open Society Foundations pledge €100 million to start new Roma foundation


GEORGE SOROS

Open Society Foundations said Tuesday that it will spin off its support for Europe's Roma communities into a new foundation and pledged €100 million, around $107 million, for that work.

The Roma Foundation for Europe, which will be independent of OSF, launches in January and will be based in Brussels, said the foundations. Zeljko Jovanovic, director of OSF's Roma Initiatives Office, will lead the new foundation.

“This is a true European project because we are the biggest European minority, the most neglected and disadvantaged,” Jovanovic told The Associated Press, referring to the Roma community. “So when you support the most disadvantaged, you support the development of the whole society.”

An estimated 10 to 12 million Roma people live in Europe, with around 6 million living in the European Union, making them the continent's largest ethnic minority. Significant proportions of the community report experiencing discrimination and economic exclusion as well as higher rates of poverty and lower participation in the formal workforce, according to the European Commission.

Alex Soros, chair of OSF's board of directors and son of George Soros, who founded OSF, echoed that idea in a statement, saying the future work of the new foundation will support not only the Roma people, but all of Europe.

“I am confident the new foundation will be a dynamic force—dedicated to realizing the full potential of the Roma people, and overcoming the deep-rooted barriers they face," Alex Soros said.

Under Alex Soros' leadership, the foundations announced in July that it would significantly retool its structure and layoff 40% of its staff globally. It also paused making new grants until February. Also in July, foundation leaders told staff in Berlin that it would end much of its work in the European Union, according to an internal email seen by the AP.

Last week, Soros wrote in an op-ed in “POLITICO Europe” that OSF was not leaving Europe but that it would shift its priorities, highlighting its work in Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans. He also promised continuing support for the Central European University, which was also founded by George Soros, and the Roma people.

“We will also keep up — and dramatically increase — our efforts to secure equal treatment for Europe’s largest ethnic minority, the 12 million Roma (who mostly live in Eastern Europe),” Alex Soros wrote.

OSF will not have representatives on the board of the Roma Foundation for Europe, said Jovanovic, adding that the decision to start the foundation was made last year, independently of the restructuring. Jovanovic said Alex Soros was clear that OSF's, "internal organization is changing and has to change in the view of Mr. Soros, as well as the global board and the top leadership. However, our commitments do not change."

The new foundation will make grants, support networking between organizations as well as advocate for the Roma people. It will focus on preparing Roma workers with skills to help them find jobs in the digital economy and as part of the anticipated green transition, Jovanovic said.

“Most of all, we want to see our contribution to the social debate about how our societies need to be more cohesive,” he said, adding that they also want to prevent the framing, “in the populist argument: us versus them. We see ‘us’ as the Roma, but we also see ‘us’ as citizens of our countries.”

The new foundation aims to make grants to expend the entire pledge of €100 million by 2030. When asked how many staff the new foundation will employ, Jovanovic said in order for more of the funds to reach grantees, “We don’t want to become a big organization in terms of bureaucracy and administration. We want to be lean and small.”

OSF has previously supported the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, Roma for Democracy and the Roma Education Fund, and the new foundation will continue to support those organizations as well as others, Jovanovic said.

Tomáš Hrustič, senior program manager for the National Democratic Institute in Slovakia, welcomed the funding commitment to the new foundation, saying that he believed the new structure will strengthen the agency and leadership of Roma communities in the organizations that OSF has supported.

“Diverse Roma communities need to actually take ownership over those initiatives and be part it and engage because if it is just decided by someone else, then it doesn’t work at all,” Hrustič said.

He also urged OSF and others to support grassroots organizations and to continue to support Roma communities within European Union member states.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press

BACKBENCH BITCHING
UK government lifts de facto ban on onshore wind farms



LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative government relaxed planning rules Tuesday and lifted restrictions that effectively banned the building of new onshore wind farms in England.

Rules introduced in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, who also led a Conservative administration, allowed a single objection to a wind turbine application to block its development. The regulations led to a dramatic decline in the number of new turbines granted planning permission.

Some Conservatives pressured the current government to overturn the rules. Lawmaker Alok Sharma, who was president of the 2021 U.N. climate change conference and led the lobbying campaign, called them “outdated” and “not a sensible way for a planning system to operate.”

Authorities said Tuesday that the eased restrictions mean that onshore wind projects supported by local residents will get approved more quickly. They said elected local officials will have the ability to make final decisions based on the prevailing view of their communities, not just a small number of objectors.

Communities that back wind turbines in their areas will also benefit from cheaper electricity, officials said, adding that the way such energy discounts work would be considered later.

Environmental groups said Tuesday's decision, which took immediate effect, was overly cautious and that too many obstacles to building wind turbines in England still exist. Greenpeace called the changes "feeble tweaks” and “just more hot air from the government.”

“Today’s small step forward leaves new onshore wind in England still facing higher planning barriers than anything else, including new coal mines, and it will still be too difficult for communities which want wind to get it," Alethea Warrington, the senior campaigner at climate advocacy group Possible, said.

Renewable energy made up 42% of the U.K.’s electricity generation last year. Much of it came from offshore wind farms. Experts have warned that onshore wind energy production must be scaled up rapidly for the U.K. to meet its climate change goals.

Britain’s government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68% by 2030, eventually reaching net-zero — or releasing only as much greenhouse gas as can be absorbed again through natural or technological means — by 2050.

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Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press

Microsoft highlights how Russia uses the web to promote political instability

Story by Kevin Okemwa •13h

© Bing Image Creator | Windows Central
What you need to know
Microsoft shared a new report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) highlighting Russian influence operations in Africa, focusing on the Niger coup.
The report indicates that Russia is using the internet to promote political instability worldwide to further its agendas.
The MTAC has pinpointed six basic elements to Russia’s African coup playbook, including banning dissenting media, seizing control of the narrative, and more.

Political instability negatively impacts the development trajectory of a country. Besides the lack of adequate social amenities to cater to the public's needs, high unemployment rate, and insecurity, investors also tend to shy away from venturing into any business activities in a country that's in a volatile state.

While various avenues are being explored to counter the issue to achieve reprieve, it's no easy feat. That's especially true with huge income disparities.

Microsoft recently unveiled a new report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) on Russian influence operations in Africa, focusing on the Niger coup (even though the US refuses to call it one). The report unpacks how the Internet is being leveraged to promote political instability worldwide.

In the past few months, French-speaking African countries, including Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon have experienced increased military coups. The countries highlighted above have been impacted by coups for nearly two decades, and the situation isn't improving.

According to the report, Niger coup leaders leveraged their influence and power to suppress initial protests in Niamey, closing the capital and imposing a curfew restricting movement. This was swiftly followed by multiple counter-protests that supported the coup and brandishing Russian flags. The protests were in place to get the previous government back in power and see France depart from the Sahel region of Africa.

The MTAC highlighted several Nigerien civil society groups deeply rooted in these activities but listed PARADE Niger and the Union of Pan-African Patriots as the key players in the pro-Russian stance. "The first appears to be a construct of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with little genuine local support while the second is a political vehicle for a single politician," the report detailed.

The groups have been found to be in support of the coup and have even requested more cooperation with Russia. They've also assisted in coordinating and amplifying offline protests. Not forgetting the crude methods used to promote this content online.

MTAC also pointed out Russia’s African coup playbook in Africa and narrowed it down to six basic elements.

First, with the help of its messengers in Africa, Russia can curate a substantial amount of content that's both anti-French and pro-Russian, centered on polarizing issues fueled by colonial-era issues.

Next up, Russia places itself in a strategic beneficial position whenever a coup occurs. This is why messengers with close affiliations to Russia align themselves with putschists and declare support for them through proxies.

There's also the fact that Russia can amplify affiliates via its pro-Russian propagandists and IO networks, thus making it easier to push their agendas further. This is regardless of whether they are overt or covert. This way, it's easier for them to wash down other narratives raised by other parties, ultimately selling their agenda as the popular agreement amongst the people.

Radio France International and France 24 are among the largest French-language sources of credible news from the West but have been banned from sharing stories with the public. Coup leaders, in collaboration with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, got these credible media houses from the air since they weren't pushing their narratives and agendas but reporting things as they were.

There's also the inclusion of Russian flags in pro-coup protests designed to create a facade, fronting "widespread support for both the putsch and partnership with Russia."

Finally, Russia can establish control of the narrative through its messengers who are aligned on prepositioned narratives right after the coup. This way, making the most out of the information gap is possible. "Post-coup messaging typically glorifies military and coup leaders and championing national sovereignty while denigrating France."
Abstract online facade versus reality

Whatever's portrayed online doesn't directly reflect what's going on in reality. External sources play a major role in determining the information fed to the public, regardless of accuracy. So long as they can push their agendas and narratives further, even if it's at the cost of political instability across African countries.

To this end, it's unclear what measures can be implemented to mitigate these issues and ensure that the information being relayed on the internet clearly depicts what's going on in reality. But the information shared online should be taken with a pinch of salt.

In the battle against Amazon deforestation, Brazil offers cash rewards to municipalities




RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — In a bid to slow deforestation in the Amazon, Brazil announced Tuesday that it will provide financial support to municipalities that have reduced deforestation rates the most.

During the country´s Amazon Day, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also signed the creation of two Indigenous territories that total 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) — over two times the size of New York City — and of a network of conservation areas next to the Yanonami Indigenous Territory to act as a buffer against invaders, mostly illegal gold miners.

“The Amazon is in a hurry to survive the devastation caused by those few people who refuse to see the future, who in a few years cut down, burned, and polluted what nature took millennia to create,” Lula said during a ceremony in Brasilia. “The Amazon is in a hurry to continue doing what it has always done, to be essential for life on Earth.”

The new program will invest up to $120 million in technical assistance. The money will be allocated based on the municipality´s performance in reducing deforestation and fires, as measured by official satellite monitoring. A list of municipalities eligible for the funds will be published annually.

The resources must be invested in land titling, monitoring and control of deforestation and fires, and sustainable production.

The money will come from the Amazon Fund, which has received more than $1.2 billion, mostly from Norway, to help pay for sustainable development of the region. In February, the United States committed to a $50 million donation to the initiative. Two months later, President Joe Biden announced he would ask Congress for an additional $500 million, to be disbursed over five years.

The most critical municipalities are located along the arc of deforestation, a vast region along the southern part of the Amazon. This region is a stronghold of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who favored agribusiness over forest preservation and lost the reelection last year.

“We believe that it’s not enough to just put up a sign saying ‘it’s forbidden to do this or that. We need to be persuasive." Lula said, in a reference to his relationship with Amazon mayors and state governors.

Lula has promised zero net deforestation by 2030, although his term ends two years earlier. In the first seven months of his third term, there was a 42% drop in deforestation.

Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with almost 3% of global emissions, according to Climate Watch, an online platform managed by World Resources Institute. Almost half of these emissions come from deforestation. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Brazil committed to reducing carbon emissions by 37% by 2025 and 43% by 2030.

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Associated Press, The Associated Press