Buffett's Berkshire opposes shareholders' climate change, diversity proposals


FILE PHOTO: Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha

Jonathan Stempel
Mon, March 15, 2021

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Monday urged the rejection of shareholder proposals that annual reports be produced about its efforts to address climate change and promote diversity and inclusion.

The proposals were disclosed in Berkshire's annual proxy filing, ahead of the Omaha, Nebraska-based company's scheduled May 1 annual meeting.

Berkshire also said Buffett's compensation in 2020 totaled $380,328, comprising his usual $100,000 salary plus $280,328 for personal and home security.

Though Buffett's salary is low for a chief executive of a major company, his 16.2% stake in Berkshire was worth about $98.2 billion as of Friday.

Vice Chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, who respectively oversee Berkshire's non-insurance and insurance operations and whose pay Buffett sets, were each awarded $19 million, unchanged from 2019.

Berkshire's dozens of operating businesses include the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Geico car insurer, and the smaller Brooks running shoes and Fruit of the Loom clothing.

Citing its decentralized model, Berkshire said the climate proposal from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Federated Hermes and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec was unnecessary, and that many businesses' climate decisions already made "great sense" for the environment.

The company also cited its business model and Buffett's record of "opposing efforts, seen or unseen, to suppress diversity or religious inclusion" in opposing the proposal on diversity from As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocate.

Berkshire said its businesses "represent dissimilar industries" operating around the world, and it was "unreasonable to ask for uniform, quantitative reporting" to compare them.

Buffett controls 32.1% of Berkshire's voting power, and shareholder proposals he opposes normally fail by big margins.

Berkshire's annual meeting will be in Los Angeles, allowing Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 97, a Californian, to join Buffett in person to answer 3-1/2 hours of shareholder questions.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)

Exxon urges shareholders to reject seven ESG proposals up for vote at annual meeting


FILE PHOTO: An Exxon sign is seen at a gas station in the Chicago suburb of Norridge

Tue, March 16, 2021

(Reuters) - Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp on Tuesday urged shareholders to reject seven proposals up for voting at its annual meeting on May 26, including the proposition to split its chairman and CEO roles.

The shareholders' proposals also include BNP Paribas' demand for a report on Exxon's climate-related lobbying and whether such activities align with the Paris Accord. Another proposal asks for an analysis of how 2050 net zero carbon emission targets affect Exxon's business.

Last year, Exxon's shareholders rejected climate-related proposals and splitting the chairman and chief executive's roles at the company's annual meeting.

Exxon is also facing a proxy fight from activist investor Engine No. 1 that last year took on the top U.S. oil producer for what it said were poor financial returns and a lagging approach to cleaner fuels.

Engine No. 1 on Monday named four directors it wants shareholders to remove at Exxon's upcoming annual general meeting.

The fund singled out three former chief executives of prominent U.S. companies and the former head of Malaysia's state-run oil firm who joined the board last month, for removal.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Diverse Coalition Urging Passage Of First Ever Climate Legislation

SEATTLE, March 15, 2021

Business, Environmental, Labor & Social Justice Groups Join Together on SB 5126

SEATTLE, March 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A diverse group of business leaders, social justice advocates, environmentalists, labor and philanthropists are joining together to call on the Washington State Legislature to pass the Climate Commitment Act, the state's largest investment in creating a clean economy while generating billions of dollars that will be fairly and equitably invested across the state. The bill is being heard today in the Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee.

(PRNewsfoto/Clean & Prosperous America)

The group includes the Washington Business Alliance, Clean & Prosperous Washington (CaPWA), Washington Build-Back Black Alliance (WBBBA), the Working Group on Seafood and Energy, Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, SEIU 1199 NW, and multiple environmental groups. Washington business members of the group sent a letter to the Senate Ways and Means Committee this morning urging committee members to put Washington back on a leadership path to addressing global climate change. "Despite some notable progress in addressing climate change and ushering in a clean energy economy, carbon emissions in the state are still growing. To meet the state's climate goals and those of the Paris Climate Accords, more needs to be done."

The letter, went on to say, "This bill aligns the state's climate goals with a regulatory cap on emissions that will ensure that Washington state achieves its 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets. The legislation will improve the productivity of Washington's economy by reducing costly energy waste, creating good jobs, improving public health and fostering equitable outcomes while providing a clear signal for business to innovate."

Business supporters signing the letter include Puget Sound Solar, McKinstry, MacDonald Miller Facility Solutions, Vulcan Inc, bp America and business associations like Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) and American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington Council.

MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions Vice President Perry England said, "We have lost a decade or more trying to get to a consensus on climate policy while carbon emissions have increased in Washington State. It is time to make reducing carbon emissions a priority while growing our economy. A cap and invest program will make both happen."

Washington Build-Back Black Alliance's Paula F. Sardinas said, "There can be no significant climate policy unless we have a commitment to cap and reduce emissions. But reducing the carbon footprint is not enough. We must create meaningful involvement giving affected community residents an appropriate opportunity to participate in any proposed public policy that will affect their environment and/or health." Sardinas went on to say they were proud to offer their "strong support" of this legislation which represents a significant commitment to improving the lives of marginalized people and overburdened communities.

Integrated with a transportation funding package, Senate Bill 5126 will also be the state's largest investment in mobility and climate protection, generating billions of dollars of investments into a transition to a low-carbon economy.


The Working Group on Seafood and Energy, a trade association representing seafood producers, suppliers, tribal and nontribal fishing communities, and other people who depend on healthy oceans, noted that "carbon pollution threatens productive fisheries and marine food webs that support more than 42,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in economic activity in the state, according to NOAA."


"Cap and invest is a model that is working and spreading across our country and world," said thought leader and entrepreneur David Giuliani, founder of Washington Business Alliance, inventor of Sonicare, and an early backer of the legislation. "This legislation is urgently needed and will create jobs and drive growth, by capping carbon pollution and investing in low-carbon, high-efficiency solutions to our transportation, energy, and manufacturing needs."

The full Ways and Means Committee letter can be found below and here. Additional information on the bill, supporters and other updates can also be found at this DropBox Link. Media, please contact Lee Keller for interviews at the contact information above.

More About Clean & Prosperous Washington, a project of the Washington Business Alliance
The Washington Business Alliance launched Clean & Prosperous Washington (CaPWA) in support of the Climate Commitment Act legislation. The bill was recently introduced by Governor Inslee and sponsored by Senator Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle). We are calling for the broad participation of individuals, organizations, and businesses in shaping this legislation, and collecting signatories for a declaration of support for the policy.

Letter transmitted today to Washington State Senate Ways and Means Committee


Honorable Senator Rolfes, Chair
Honorable Senator Frockt, Vice-Chair
Honorable Senator Robinson, Vice-Chair
Honorable Senator Wilson, Ranking Member
Honorable Senator Brown, Assistant Ranking Member
Honorable Senator Honeyford, Assistant Ranking Member
Honorable Senator Schoesler, Assistant Ranking Member
Honorable Committee Members

March 15, 2021

Washington State has achieved some notable progress in addressing climate change and ushering in a clean energy economy, and yet carbon emissions in the state are still growing. To meet the state's climate goals and those of the Paris Climate Accords, more needs to be done.

The Washington State Legislature and the Ways and Means Committee is well positioned to take immediate climate action with PSSB 5126, the Climate Commitment Act. This bill aligns the state's climate goals with a regulatory cap on emissions that will ensure that Washington state achieves its 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets. The legislation will improve the productivity of Washington's economy by reducing costly energy waste, creating good jobs, improving public health and fostering equitable outcomes while providing a clear signal for business to innovate.

Integrated with a transportation funding package, PSSB 5126 will be the state's largest investment in mobility and climate protection, generating billions of dollars of investments into a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Recent changes to PSSB 5126 strengthen the act's commitment to advance EJ review and outcomes.

We urge you to pass PSSB 5126 and put Washington back on a leadership path to addressing global climate change.

MacDonald Miller Facility Solutions
bp America
McKinstry
UMC Inc
Pacific Mobility Group
Earth Up
Eco Consulting LLC
Pacific EV Solutions
Puget Sound Solar
Ecotope
The Jia Group
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington Council
Northwest Energy Efficiency Council
Pacific North Westy
Sustainable Living Innovations
Appropriate Technology Group
Sphere Solar Energy
Rick Steves Europe
Vulcan, Inc

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diverse-coalition-urging-passage-of-first-ever-climate-legislation-301247681.html

SOURCE Clean & Prosperous Washington

Yellen vows to use 'full power' of U.S. government to tackle climate change


FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden

 announces members of his economic policy 

team in Wilmington, Delaware

Andrea Shalal
Tue, March 16, 2021, 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will marshal all of its resources to address climate change as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday, as she stressed that the poor suffer the most from climate change.

President Joe Biden has tasked the Treasury Department with using the "vote and voice" of the United States to advance emissions reduction goals, and working to end international financing of carbon-intensive fossil-fuel-based energy sources.

Yellen underscored her focus on tackling climate change and reducing global poverty in a meeting with Christian and Jewish religious leaders and Jubilee USA Network, a non-profit that advocates for debt relief, according to a Treasury statement.

She "stressed that the global poor are the least responsible for climate change, but will suffer most from it," Treasury said. "She noted that the Administration is committed to using the full power of the U.S. federal government to address climate change as part of the Build Back Better plan."

Yellen said the pandemic had accelerated global economic inequality, and low-income countries would need continued international support to address the COVID-19 crisis.

The United States would work with international partners to tackle the crisis, including through support of a Group of 20 debt moratorium and adoption of a common framework to help countries restructure their debts, she said.

Yellen also said she saw a potential new allocation of the International Monetary Fund's emergency reserves, or Special Drawing Rights, as part of a broader package of assistance to low-income countries, but gave no details.

Yellen's support, first announced last month, reversed the opposition of the Trump administration, paving the way for a likely SDR allocation this year. U.S. support is critical because it is the IMF's largest shareholder.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, said the discussion made clear that climate policies were a growing focus of the G7 and G20 major economies.

"Treasury is looking at climate issues in very deep ways," he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Blacklisted Chinese firms eye lawsuits after Xiaomi win against Trump ban

By Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper 

3/16/2021

© Reuters/XXSTRINGERXX xxxxx FILE PHOTO: The logo of Xiaomi is seen inside the company's office in Bengaluru

(Reuters) - Chinese companies targeted by a sweeping investment ban imposed by former President Donald Trump are considering suing the U.S. government after a federal judge on Friday suspended a similar blacklisting for Beijing-based smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Lawyers familiar with the matter said some of the banned Chinese companies are in talks with law firms including Steptoe & Johnson and Hogan Lovells, emboldened by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras' preliminary order halting Xiaomi's inclusion on a U.S. list of alleged Communist Chinese military companies that are subject to an investment ban.

The Trump administration's move to blacklist Xiaomi Corp, which knocked $10 billion off its market share and sent its shares down 9.5 percent in January, would have forced investors to completely divest their stakes in the company.

"Companies are reaching out to lawyers to challenge the listings and the grounds for the listings," said Wendy Wysong, managing partner of the Hong Kong office of Steptoe & Johnson, a worldwide law firm headquartered in Washington. Wysong and a person familiar with Hogan Lovells, another global law firm, declined to name the companies involved in discussions.

Contreras flagged the U.S. government's "deeply flawed" process for including the company in the investment ban, based on just two key criteria: its development of 5G technology and artificial intelligence, which the Defense Department alleges are "essential to modern military operations," and an award given to Xiaomi founder and Chief Executive Lei Jun from an organization said to help the Chinese government eliminate barriers between commercial and military sectors.

The judge noted that 5G and AI technologies were fast becoming standard in consumer electronics, and that over 500 entrepreneurs had received the same award as Lei since 2004, including the leaders of an infant formula company.

"The facts that led to Xiaomi's designation are almost laughable, and I think it absolutely is going to lead to additional companies seeking relief," said Washington lawyer Brian Egan, a former legal adviser in both the White House and State Department who also works at Steptoe.

GOVERNMENT UNDECIDED ON PATH FORWARD

In a joint filing on Tuesday, the government said it had not decided on the "appropriate path forward" in the Xiaomi case in light of the judge's decision.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the case, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense referred questions to the White House, which has not responded.

Xiaomi and 43 other companies were added https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2434513/dod-releases-list-of-additional-companies-in-accordance-with-section-1237-of-fy in the waning months of the Trump administration to the blacklist, which was mandated by a 1999 law requiring the Defense Department to publish a compilation of companies "owned or controlled" by the Chinese military.

Seeking to cement a tough line on China and box his Democratic successor, Joe Biden, into hardline policies, Trump signed an executive order that was later expanded to bar all U.S. investors from holding securities in the named companies beginning on Nov. 11, 2021.

Other companies listed include video surveillance giant Hikvision, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and China's top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.

SMIC, Hikvision and CNOOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Luokung Technology Corp, a mapping technology company on the list, also sued the U.S. government earlier this month, and is expected to seek preliminary relief similar to that awarded to Xiaomi.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Additional reporting by Mike Stone; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Apple just gave Russia a spot on the iPhone to advertise its favorite apps to its citizens

Mitchell Clark 

3/16/2021

WHEN WE GO TO  HANG THE LAST ARISTOCRAT 

IT WILL BE THE CAPITALIST WHO SELLS US

THE ROPE. 

V. I. LENIN

Starting April 1st, users setting up a new iPhone in Russia will see a screen that allows them to automatically install apps that are officially sanctioned by the Russian government, in compliance with Russian law (via Engadget).

IT IS NOT THAT CAPITALIST THAT DEFENDS BOURGEOIS DEMOCRACY, IT IS THE PROLETARIAT

© Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The law in question was passed back in 2019, and requires smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and smart TVs sold in Russia to come pre-installed with specific apps made by Russian companies by April 1st, according to Russian news site Vedomosti. (The law was originally set to go into effect in July 2020, but was pushed back to April 2021). Vedomosti also says that apps won’t be installed if users don’t want them. Apple confirmed to The Verge that it will comply with the law by giving the users the option to install the apps when activating the phone.

Which apps are specifically going to be offered to users remains unclear, though Vedomosti cites a government services app, and apps from Russian companies including Yandex, Mail.ru, and Kaspersky Lab. The government seems to be aware that it might be problematic to favor specific apps, and is planning to expand its list over time: “The Ministry is not at all interested in seeing popular apps included in the mandatory pre-installation list take dominant positions. If alternatives emerge on the market, prove interesting to users and gain popularity quickly, they will be included in this selection and also offered for pre-installation,” a Russian official told Vedomosti.

Apple has historically kept tight control over the iPhone’s setup process, and that appears to now be changing, if only in one market. While Apple has previously made changes to stay on the side of local laws — it’s changed maps, blocked pride watch faces in Russia, and now stores iCloud data on state-run servers in China — this may be one of the more dramatic changes, as it affects a screen that every user will see when they set up their iPhone.

Apple has slowly been allowing users to change how iOS works out of the box, with the ability to change some default apps in iOS 14, but now it’s given a small amount of control over the setup process to the Russian government, too. As the company faces legal challenges from the EU and US over antitrust, and over giving its competitors a level playing field, we may see Apple having to give over some more control to governments if it wants to sell its phones to their citizens — though it probably won’t be compelled to ask users if they want to install Spotify at setup. 

Probably.

Uber to give UK drivers minimum wage, pension, holiday pay

LONDON — Uber is giving its U.K. drivers the minimum wage, pensions and holiday pay, following a recent court ruling that said they should be classified as workers and entitled to such benefits.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The ride hailing giant's announcement Tuesday comes after it lost an appeal last month at the U.K. Supreme Court following a yearslong court battle. The court's decision holds wider implications for the country's gig economy.

Uber said it's extending the benefits immediately to its more than 70,000 drivers in the U.K. Drivers will earn at least the minimum wage, which currently stands at 8.72 pounds ($12.12), after accepting a trip request and expenses, and will still be able to earn more.

Drivers will also get holiday pay equal to about 12% of their earnings, paid every two weeks. And they'll be enrolled in a pension plan that both they and the company will pay into.

“This is an important day for drivers in the U.K.," Uber's regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, Jamie Heywood, said in a filing to the SEC. He noted that drivers will still be able to work on a flexible basis. “Uber is just one part of a larger private-hire industry, so we hope that all other operators will join us in improving the quality of work for these important workers who are an essential part of our everyday lives.”

The drivers who filed the case welcomed the news but said it's not enough.

Uber has “arrived to the table with this offer a day late and a dollar short, literally,” James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam of the App Drivers And Couriers Union said in a statement. They said the changes stopped short of the Supreme Court's ruling that pay should be calculated from when drivers log on to the app until they log off. And they said the company can't decide by itself the expense base for calculating the minimum wage, which should be based on a collective agreement.

Farrar and Aslam had taken their case to an employment tribunal, which found drivers are not independent contractors, but should be designated workers, which under British law means their work terms are more casual than employees but still come with some benefits. Uber lost two rounds of appeals before the Supreme Court decision.

Providing more benefits for its drivers is likely to raise costs for San Francisco-based Uber, which already was struggling to make a profit and had previously run into regulatory trouble in London, where authorities had sought to revoke its license. It said, however, that it wasn't adjusting its earnings forecast for the year.

The move in the U.K. contrasts with the outcome of a November ballot proposition in California, where voters passed an initiative exempting app-based ride-hailing and food delivery services from classifying their drivers as employees instead of contractors.

___

For all of AP’s tech coverage, visit https://apnews.com/apf-technology

___

Follow Kelvin Chan at www.twitter.com/chanman

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press

American who freed Canadian girl calls on world to repatriate children stranded in Syrian camps

Ashley Burke 

3/16/2021

© Issam Abdallah/Reuters Children look through a chain link

 fence at the al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate,

 Syria, March 8, 2019.

The former U.S. diplomat who freed a 4-year-old Canadian girl from a detention camp in Syria Friday is calling on Canada and other countries to repatriate all of the children still stranded there.

Peter Galbraith said he also wants Canada to bring home the girl's mother. He said he doesn't believe she was radicalized and the Kurds controlling the ISIS detention camp in northeastern Syria agree with him.

At least 23 Canadian children — most of them under the age of six — remain in detention camps in Syria, according to Human Rights Watch. Many are living in al-Roj and al-Hol, where hundreds of adults and children have died from the fighting in the region, or from a lack of medical care or unsanitary conditions, the group said.

Galbraith said the children are "completely innocent" and not responsible for what their parents did, or their ties to ISIS.

"All governments should make an effort to try to get their children back," said Galbraith. "I also think it's possible to distinguish between those those women who are no longer radical and those who still are.

"Certainly the mother of this little girl is somebody who, in my opinion, is not radical."

Canada is a laggard among nations when it comes to repatriating children connected to suspected foreign fighters.

Kazakhstan has repatriated more than 600 of its citizens, mostly women and children, along with some suspected ISIS fighters. Russia took into custody dozens of orphans. Finland freed six children and two mothers last year. The Belgian government says it plans to repatriate dozens of children and is considering accepting some women with children on a case-by-case basis.

The U.S. repatriated 27 Americans from Syria and Iraq last fall, including 10 charged with terrorism-related offences related to alleged support for ISIS.

Canada has helped to process paperwork in two cases so that families could repatriate Canadian children from detention camps in the region — but only after being goaded into action by the families, say human rights advocates.
'The circumstances were exceptional'

A Canadian man went to great lengths to bring his niece — a five-year-old orphan — to Toronto last year after her family was killed in an airstrike in Syria.

He flew to Syria to try to secure her release but was unsuccessful. The family then filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government arguing the girl's rights were being violated by Canada's refusal to help bring her back and issue her travel documents. It was only after those efforts that the Canadian government acted to bring the girl to Canada in 2020.

François-Philippe Champagne, who was the minister of foreign affairs at the time of the orphan's return, said today during an unrelated press conference that the government does not have a diplomatic presence in Syria and will not put consular officials in danger.

Champagne said that, in the case of the orphan, the government mounted a "very complex operation with the help of local authorities" to bring her back. He did not offer details.

"The circumstances were exceptional," said Champagne. "I think we have demonstrated compassion and we will continue, and there are always ways we're trying to support Canadians who are still in Syria."

© Goran Tomasevic/Reuters Children hold water containers in al-Hol camp, Syria, on January 8, 2020.

CBC News spoke to Galbraith after his return to the U.S. He said the four-year-old Canadian girl's mother did everything she could to secure her daughter's release.

Galbraith said the woman contacted him in 2019 after his number was passed around the camp. He said he has a relationship dating back 35 years with the Syrian Kurds that allows him to negotiate with their leaders, and has arranged for the release of children from the camp in the past.

Galbraith said he got to know the Canadian woman in the Syrian camp over the past two years. The woman lost a brother to gun violence when she was a teenager, he said, which affected her "enormously." She was recruited by ISIS and taken to Syria by her husband, he said — a decision she regretted almost immediately.

"She told me that she realized she made a huge mistake the second she got to Syria and very much rejected the Islamic State ideology," said Galbraith.
Mother has 'good chance' of being released: Galbraith

Galbraith said there is a "good chance" the Syrian Kurds would agree to a request from Canada to repatriate the woman, adding the U.S. might be willing to help with her evacuation. The U.S. has been urging the international community to repatriate its citizens detained in Syria and hold them accountable for any crimes they may have committed.

But Canada has not agreed to repatriate adults trapped in Syria. So Galbraith focused instead on getting the 4-year-old girl to safety. That process involved years of negotiation and paperwork, culminating Friday in a visit to the camp by the girl's aunt.

Galbraith said he watched the woman say goodbye to her daughter and promise her that they would soon see each other again in Canada. But Canada has not indicated when that might happen — or whether it will happen at all.

"It was a very brave decision on the part of the mother to look after their little girl, one that showed just how much she loved her daughter," said Galbraith.
'There is a future for that child'

"It's wrenching for a child to be taken away from her mother. But there is a future for the child. I was just happy that I could make that happen."

He said that during the trip to Erbil, the capital in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the girl missed her mother and wanted to know where she was. She kept telling herself she would see her mother soon, said Galbraith.

The Canadian embassy in Baghdad sent a consular officer to Erbil to help complete all of the necessary paperwork, said Galbraith. He said the Canadian government did a "superb job of looking after this little one once the child was brought out of Syria."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear yesterday that the federal government only provided travel documents — that the girl's release was the result of her family's efforts.

"This story was one where the family themselves took the initiative to bring the daughter to Canada. The mother remains in Syria," Trudeau told a press briefing.

Galbraith said he understands why governments wouldn't want to bring adults back who chose to join a terrorist organization and may have committed "unspeakable atrocities." He said he still hopes Canada acts to bring home the girl's mother, along with others the Kurds say do not pose a threat.

"I'm absolutely convinced that the child needs her, that she's a very good mother and that if she had the chance to come back to Canada, she would contribute to Canadian society," said Galbraith.

'Abandoned in a war zone'

Farida Deif, Canada director at Human Rights Watch, said her group is in touch with the mother in Syria. She said the woman is struggling emotionally with being separated from her daughter for the first time.

Deif said the woman told Human Rights Watch that the Canadian government indicated it would not provide her with the proper travel documents to return to Canada.

© CBC News Farida Deif of Human Rights Watch said the 4-year-old girl's mother made it clear to her group that Canada

CBC News asked Global Affairs Canada (GAC) whether it turned down a request to help the mother. In a statement, GAC said that due to privacy reasons, it wouldn't disclose details. It did say, however, that consular officials are "actively engaged with Syrian Kurdish authorities to seek information on Canadians in their custody."

"Given the security situation on the ground, the Government of Canada's ability to provide any kind of consular assistance in Syria remains extremely limited," wrote GAC spokesperson Patricia Skinner.

Deif said only two Canadian children have been repatriated from the detention camps. She said Canada's record on repatriating its citizens from detention in Syria is one of "failure."

"The remaining Canadians have been left abandoned in a war zone amidst a deadly global pandemic with no government plan to repatriate them," she said.

"It's been a piecemeal, case-by-case approach, where the family members here in Canada have to do all of the heavy lifting."
'Canada is really an outlier here'

Former federal lawyer Leah West, now a university lecturer on national security law and counter-terrorism, visited the camps in northeastern Syria in 2019. She said while she was at the refugee camp in al-Hawl, a riot erupted in which a woman was killed and seven others were shot. Just moments before the violence, West said, she was standing surrounded by a group of very young children.

"Canada is really an outlier here," said West. "Most countries in the world who've had citizens travel abroad have to some extent repatriated either children or large numbers of adults.

The Canadian government is now losing control over this situation."

Leah said she expects to see "increased efforts" by those detained in the camps to smuggle themselves out — which means Canadians associated with ISIS could be left at large.

A declassified US intelligence report threw cold water on Republican conspiracy theories about mail-in ballots

ssheth@businessinsider.com (Sonam Sheth)

3/16/2021

Trump makes a statement with Attorney General William Barr in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images

A US intelligence report released Tuesday debunked GOP conspiracy theories about mail-in ballots.

Trump and Barr claimed foreign countries mass produced mail ballots to rig the 2020 election.

"We have no indications that any foreign actor" engaged in such efforts, the report said.

A newly declassified report from the US intelligence community shot down months of Republican conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the integrity of the electoral process.

Then-President Donald Trump and some of his allies made headlines in the run-up to the November general election by claiming, without evidence, that foreign adversaries were manipulating mail-in ballots.

But that theory was debunked by the US intelligence community, which said in its declassified report: "We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results."

The determination flew in the face of Trump and his associates' claims about foreign meddling with the voting process.

"There are a number of foreign countries that could easily make counterfeit ballots, put names on them, send them in," and "it'd be very hard to sort out what's happening," then Attorney General William Barr told The New York Times last June.

It's "one of the issues that I'm really worried about," he said.

Days after Barr floated the theory, Trump jumped on the bandwagon.

"RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!" he tweeted from an account that has since been permanently banned due to the risk of inciting violence.

Barr also doubled down on the conspiracy theory in a September interview with CNN.

"You've said you're worried a foreign country could send thousands of fake ballots" to US voters, anchor Wolf Blitzer said to Barr. "What are you basing that on?"

"As I've said repeatedly, I'm basing that on logic," the attorney general replied.

"Pardon?" Blitzer asked.

"Logic," Barr said.

"But have you seen any evidence?" Blitzer pressed.

"No," Barr responded.

Indeed, US officials ultimately did not uncover evidence to support the claim.

"We have no information or intelligence that any nation or state actor is engaging in any kind of activity to undermine any part of the mail-in vote or ballots," a senior federal official told reporters last year.

Tuesday's report from the ODNI also aligned with that finding.

"We assess that it would be difficult for a foreign actor to manipulate election processes at scale without detection by intelligence collection on the actors themselves, through physical and cyber security monitoring around voting systems across the country, or in post-election audits," it said.

The report went on to say that the intelligence community "identified some successful compromises of state and local government networks prior to Election Day" and "a higher volume of unsuccessful attempts." But those efforts, it added, "were not directed at altering election processes."

That said, foreign actors like Iran and Russia "spread false or inflated claims about alleged compromises of voting systems to undermine public confidence in election processes and results," per the report.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Canadian systems compromised by malware in the Microsoft Exchange breach: officials

Hannah Jackson 
3/16/2021

Computer systems in Canada were among those impacted by a massive hack of Microsoft's Exchange email service earlier this month, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) said on Tuesday.

© AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File FILE - A man wearing a mask looks at this phone outside the Microsoft office in Beijing, China in a Friday, Aug. 7, 2020 file photo.

In an update posted to the agency's website, the CCCS said a new family of ransomware, known as DearCry, is being "leveraged by actors exploiting the recently disclosed Exchange vulnerabilities."

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According to CCCS, in addition to DearCry, "multiple proofs of concepts leveraging the Exchange vulnerabilities resulting in remote code execution have been made publicly available."

"These vulnerabilities are being leveraged to gain a foothold within an organization’s network for malicious activity which includes but is not limited to ransomware and the exfiltration of data," the update read.

The CCCS said some systems within Canada have been "further compromised with malware."

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"All organizations are encouraged to refer to the updated Indicators of Compromise and Mitigation sections of this Alert for additional detection, mitigation and post-compromise guidance."

In an email to Global News Tuesday evening, the CCCS said its Cyber Centre "does not comment on reporting by Canadian organizations or individuals regarding cyber incidents."

"As a result, we do not have any further information to add on potential victims and/or targets," the email read.

In a blog post earlier this month, Microsoft corporate vice president Tom Burt, announced the company had discovered serious vulnerabilities in its Exchange software.

The company identified Hafnuim as the threat actor behind the attack.

"Hafnium operates from China, and this is the first time we’re discussing its activity. It is a highly skilled and sophisticated actor," the blog post read.

Burt said while Hafnuim is based in China, it "conducts its operations primarily from leased virtual private servers (VPS) in the United States."

Recently, he said, Hafnium has engaged in a number of attacks "using previously unknown exploits tageting on-premises Exchange Server Software."

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According to Burt, the hackers gain access to an Exchange Server using stolen passwords or by disguising as someone who should have access.

Next, he said, "it would create what's called a web shell to control the compromised server remotely."

"Third, it would use that remote access — run from the U.S.-based private servers — to steal data from an organization's network," he wrote.

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Microsoft released security update "patches" for multiple versions of Exchange, including for older, out of date versions of the server.

"We strongly encourage all Exchange Server customers to apply these updates immediately," the blog post read. "Exchange Server is primarily used by business customers, and we have no evidence that Hafnium’s activities targeted individual consumers or that these exploits impact other Microsoft products."

However, Burt said "promptly applying" the patches "is the best protection against this attack."

A 'crazy huge hack'

Speaking at a press conference on March 5, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the cyberattack could have "far-reaching impacts."

"We are concerned there are a large number of victims, and are working with our partners to understand the scope of this, so it's an ongoing process," she told reporters.

"Network owners also need to consider whether they have already been compromised and should immediately take appropriate steps,” Psaki said.

Read more: Over 20,000 U.S. organizations breached through Microsoft email flaw: source

A source familiar with the U.S. government's response told Reuters on Friday that more than 20,000 U.S., organizations have been compromised in the breach.

In a series of tweets last week, Christopher Krebs, former director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), called the attack a "crazy huge hack."


Krebs said first, if you think you've been impacted, you should patch "if you haven't already."

Next, he said to look for activity, and hire a team to "help, disconnect & rebuild."