Olympics: France says rail lines repaired after sabotage

Arson attacks paralyzed the French rail network, hours before the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Rail operator SNCF says most trains are now running again without delay.

French national train operator SNCF said Sunday that repairs have been completed on the country's rail network, caused by several arson attacks on the first day of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Thanks to the exceptional efforts of SNCF Network staff, who worked non-stop since Friday morning, repairs are now fully completed on all the high-speed rail services affected by the sabotage attacks," SNCF said.

"Tests have been conclusive and the train lines can now function as normal," the operator said, adding that there would be no more disruption from Monday morning.

On the route between Paris and the southwest, practically all the scheduled trains were said to be running again, according to the rail operator.

From Paris heading north, three out of four scheduled trains were running with no delays, SNCF said.

The eastbound line from Paris has been back in regular service since Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of rail passengers were stranded across France on FridayImage: Olivier Lejeune/MAXPPP/dpa/picture alliance

What do we know about the vandalism?

Three arson attacks overnight into Friday severely disrupted rail traffic as dignitaries, athletes and fans were due to arrive for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The saboteurs targeted the high-speed TGV lines Atlantique, Est and Nord, which run from Paris to Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Lille respectively. Maintenance workers thwarted a fourth attack.

The Nord line also carries Eurostar trains between the French capital and London and Brussels.

Around 800,000 passengers were affected by delayed and canceled train services on Friday and Saturday, according to SNCF, including commuters and holidaymakers.

July and August are the peak vacation months in France.

Who was behind the act of sabotage?

Investigators still do not know who was behind the attacks or if they were timed to disrupt the Olympics.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the arson attacks could have been carried out by radical left-wingers.

Several French and international media outlets received a letter with references to the far-left, claiming responsibility for the sabotage incidents and saying their motive was to disrupt the Games, the newspaper said.

Investigators are now looking into whether it was a genuine confession or a false claim.

Others have questioned whether Russia sought to cause embarrassment and disruption to the Games.

Police in Paris arrested a Russian national this week, saying he was suspected of "organizing events likely to lead to destabilization during the Olympic Games."

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster France 2 on Saturday that a "number of findings" had raised confidence that authorities would "know fairly quickly who is responsible."

mm/wd (AFP, dpa)

French high speed train services still disrupted after sabotage

GREEN ANARCHISTS

By AFP
July 27, 2024

The Paris Montparnasse train station was packed with desperate passengers after 'sabotage' attacks on the rail network paralysed services ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games. — © AFP

Traffic on three major French high-speed train lines remained disrupted Saturday, a day after saboteurs paralysed much of the rail network ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris.

Seven out of 10 trains will run Saturday on the three key routes with delays averaging one to two hours, the state railroad SNCF said.

Kathleen Cuvellier, speaking in the northern city of Lille, said her journey to Avignon in the south was going to be “hell” now.


Up to 800,000 passengers could be affected by the sabotage – Copyright AFP/File Mandel NGAN

Cuvellier, travelling with her two-year-old son, said she now had to take a slower train to Paris to take another one for Avignon, adding: “The travel time was four hours and now it’s going to be seven”.

Cecile Bonnefond, whose train from Lille to the western city of Nantes was cancelled, added: “One doesn’t have any choice”.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the coordinated overnight arson attacks on cabling boxes at junctions strategically picked out north, southwest and east of the French capital where the Olympics opening ceremony was staged on Friday night.

Traffic will remain disrupted into Sunday on the northern line running to Lille and Brussels, but should gradually improve on the Atlantic route to Brittany and the south-west, the SNCF said.


Rail employees and investigators inspect the scene of an attack on the high speed railway network in northern France — © AFP Denis CHARLET

The eastern line to Strasbourg and Germany had largely returned to normal.

Rail workers thwarted an attempt to destroy safety equipment on a fourth line to the Mediterranean in what the SNCF rail company called a “massive attack”.

The SNCF said “agents worked all night under difficult conditions in the rain to allow improved traffic on high-speed lines affected by the acts of sabotage.”

The coordinated attacks staged at 4:00 am (0200 GMT) early Friday cut and burned fibre optic cables running along the tracks that transmit safety information to train drivers.

The attacks were well prepared and carried out by the same organisation, a source close to the investigation said.

SNCF estimated that about 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday. Junior transport minister Patrice Vergriete said 800,000 could face the fallout over the three days.

Many travellers were on their way to the French capital for the start of the Olympics, while others were hoping to travel in the opposite direction to start their summer holidays.

“Customers will be contacted by text message and email to confirm the running of their trains,” the SNCF said.

Unwanted commerce: How retailers are selling forest destruction

ByDr. Tim Sandle
July 28, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

A new study finds forests could absorb vastly more carbon with better protection - Copyright AFP/File MAURO PIMENTEL

A new study indicates that retail giants like Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, Kroger, and others are profiting from harms to biodiverse and climate-critical forests. This is by selling toilet paper, paper towels, and other goods sourced from climate-critical forests.

The charge is based on a new NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) report. The report is titled Selling the World’s Forests, and it details how top retailers neglect to stock store shelves with the numerous available sustainably-made options.

“Even when consumers want to vote with their dollars for sustainable goods, all too often retailers don’t carry them, depriving people of the opportunity to choose the products they want in their homes,” states Ashley Jordan, who is the corporate campaign advocate at NRDC and author of the report.

Jordan adds: “Retailers need to step up and provide access to truly sustainable products for their shoppers, because how can you vote for something that’s not even on the ballot?”

Citing an example, Jordan explains that the logging industry clearcuts millions of acres of forests each year in part to make the ultimate disposable, single-use items: toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels.

In its annual Issue with Tissue report, the NRDC has documented the way Procter & Gamble and other companies do harm by making and selling products made almost entirely of forest fibres.

There is hope for those who wish to see more sustainable living. Jordan indicates how the report shows that the market is shifting, and investors, policymakers, and consumers alike are demanding that retailers take responsibility for their part in securing a liveable future for the planet and curbing the mounting financial risk presented by a business-as-usual approach to forests.The Brazilian Amazon recorded its worst February for deforestation in 2023 – Copyright POOL/AFP Stanislav Kogiku

Globally, Jordan notes, about 250 million acres of net forest area have been lost—and likely an even larger area degraded—over the past two decades, the majority of which can be tied to the production of just a handful of global commodities that end up in a range of consumer goods.

In another example, Jordan points out the extent that brands linked to environmental and human rights abuses in Indonesia are still available at informed major retailers like Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe’s, and Walmart.

The report goes on to spotlight pioneering shareholder actions at companies like Procter & Gamble, Costco, Home Depot, and Lowe’s that reflect growing concerns in the investment community around forest- and climate-related impacts.Burnt trees are seen after illegal fires were lit by farmers in Manaquiri, Amazonas state in September 2023 – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH

As alternatives, Jordan says the recommendations for retailers include the following nine-point action plan:Consider alternatives to forest-risk commodities
Adopt commitments to ‘No Deforestation, No Peatland, and No Exploitation’ (NDPE) and no forest degradation across all forest-risk commodity supply chains, including mandatory requirements for all suppliers to adopt these policies.
Require that all suppliers that provide forest-risk commodities used in private-label products and those manufactured by brands obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples who could be impacted by their operations.
Establish and implement a zero-tolerance policy for attacks or threats against environmental and human rights defenders and require the same for all brands they sell.
Account and set targets for reducing its Scope 3 emissions, including those associated with the products it sells.
Publish an annual forest footprint disclosure and require the same for all brands they sell.
Establish clear, transparent, and accessible grievance mechanisms, including protocols for addressing supplier or brand noncompliance.
Actively engage with civil society stakeholders (including environmental NGOs) to inform company policy development and implementation and help ensure alignment with accepted best practices.
Support public policies that set standards for responsible forest sourcing.

These sorts of measures can help to ‘green’ retail and its reliance on tree-based products.

Ancient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved

By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 27, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, who helped Hong Kong battle SARS and Covid-19, fears a future pandemic could be far worse - Copyright AFP ISAAC LAWRENCE

The study of ‘ancient’ microbial life provides clues as to how humanity’s single-celled ancestors mixed viral DNA into their own genetic code. This adds to our understanding of the evolutionary process.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have discovered that a single-celled organism, a close relative of animals, harbours the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code.

This finding increases our understanding of how complex organisms may have acquired some of their genes and highlights the dynamic interplay between viruses and their hosts.

The study focused on a microbe called Amoebidium, which is a unicellular parasite found in freshwater environments. Amoebidium species attach to the exoskeleton of freshwater aquatic arthropods such as midge larvae and water fleas.

By analysing Amoebidium‘s genome, the researchers led by Dr Alex de Mendoza Soler, found an abundance of genetic material originating from giant viruses – these are some of the largest viruses known to science. These viral sequences were heavily methylated, a chemical tag that often silences genes.

“It’s like finding Trojan horses hiding inside the Amoebidium’s DNA,” de Mendoza Soler explains.

He adds: “These viral insertions are potentially harmful, but Amoebidium seems to be keeping them in check by chemically silencing them.”

The scientists investigated how widespread this phenomenon might be. They compared the genomes of several Amoebidium isolates and found significant variation in the viral content. This outcome suggests that the process of viral integration and silencing is ongoing and dynamic.

According to de Mendoza Soler: “Traditionally, viruses are seen as invaders, but this study suggests a more complex story. Viral insertions may have played a role in the evolution of complex organisms by providing them with new genes. And this is allowed by the chemical taming of these intruders DNA.”

The researcher explains further how the findings in Amoebidium offer intriguing parallels to how our own genomes interact with viruses.

Similar to Amoebidium, humans and other mammals have remnants of ancient viruses, called Endogenous Retroviruses, integrated into our DNA. While these remnants were previously thought to be inactive “junk DNA,” some might now be considered to be beneficial.

Unlike the giant viruses found in Endogenous Retroviruses are much smaller, and the human genome is significantly larger. It is hoped that future research will be able to explore these similarities and differences to understand the complex interplay between viruses and complex life forms.

The research appears in the journal Science Advances, titled “DNA methylation enables recurrent endogenization of giant viruses in an animal relative.”

Research: Just how big could dinosaurs get?

By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 27, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Tyrannosaurus rex holotype specimen at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. — ScottRobertAnselmo — CC BY-SA 3.0

Scientists have assessed just how large dinosaurs could really get. The answer is much bigger than we had previously realised. The inquiry finds, as an example, that the maximum size of T. rex is estimated to be 70% heavier than current values.

The focus of the research from the Canadian Museum of Nature is with the maximum possible sizes of dinosaurs, using the carnivore Tyrannosaurus rex, as an example. Using computer modelling, scientists produced new estimates that T. rex might have been 70 percent heavier than what previous assessment based on the fossil evidence had suggested.

The research was led by Dr. Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature and Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University of London. The problem they faced exists because most dinosaur species are known from only one or a handful of specimens.

Current research suggests that previous assessments were under-estimates. Hence, the question remains: how big were the largest individuals, and are we likely to find them?

To address this question, Mallon and Hone used computer modelling to assess a population of T. rex. They factored in variables such as population size, growth rate, lifespan, the incompleteness of the fossil record, and other measures.

The dinosaur T. rex was chosen for the model because it is a familiar dinosaur for which many of these details are already well estimated.

Body-size variance at adulthood, which is still poorly known in T. rex, was modelled with and without sex differences, and is based on examples of living alligators, chosen for their large size and close kinship with the dinosaurs.

The palaeontologists found that the largest known T. rex fossils probably fall in the 99th percentile, representing the top 1 percent of body size. However, to find an animal in the top 99.99 percent (a one-in-ten-thousand individual) scientists would need to excavate fossils at the current rate for another 1,000 years.

To overcome this, computer models can provide the necessary data. The computer models suggest that the largest individual that could have existed (one in 2.5 billion animals) may have been 70 percent more massive than the current largest-known T. rex specimens (an estimated 15 tonnes vs 8.8 tonnes) and 25 percent longer (15 metres vs 12 metres).

The values are estimates based on the model, but patterns of discovery of giants of modern species tell us there must have been larger dinosaurs out there that have not yet been found.

This study adds to the debates about the largest fossil animals. Many of the largest dinosaurs in various groups are known from a single good specimen, so remains impossible to know if that one animal was a big or small example of the species.

An apparently large species might be based on a single giant individual, and a small species based on a particularly tiny individual — neither of which reflect the average size of their respective species.

The research appears in the journal Ecology and Evolution, titled “Estimation of maximum body size in fossil species: A case study using Tyrannosaurus rex.”

OLYMPICS INC.

LVMH’s publicity in Olympics ceremony raises eyebrows

By AFP
July 28, 2024

LVMH got 'free' publicity at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, marketing experts believe -

 Copyright AFP ISAAC LAWRENCE

Pirate IRWIN

LVMH’s high profile and highly visible product placement in the Paris Games opening ceremony surprised marketing experts and raises the possibility it could cause problems for the International Olympic Committee with their long-term sponsors.

The world’s largest luxury group has eked everything possible out of a partnership with the IOC which cost LVMH a reported 150 million euros ($163 million) when it was agreed in 2023.

What sets the Olympics apart from other events is that its stadia are free from advertising.

The uniforms worn by the French team at Friday’s opening ceremony were designed by LVMH, although due to the heavy rain they were largely covered by ponchos.

However, their branding was clearly on display on their trademark trunks and suitcases in one segment of the ceremony.

Aside from that, at this Olympics LVMH made the trunk for the torches, the medal bearers will be dressed in outfits designed by the group and both the medals and their presentation trays are created by them.

The global exposure could not come at a better time for the group after they announced earlier this week their half-year net profit slid 14 percent.

Michael Payne, a former head of IOC marketing who was credited with overhauling its brand and finances through sponsorship, says that while LVMH’s partnership with the IOC for the Paris Olympics has been “brilliant”, he thinks they got a “massive free ad” at the opening ceremony.

Payne says it could upset the IOC’s 15 TOP partners — who unlike LVMH are tied in for several Games at great expense. He himself helped found the programme and he advises several of the TOP partners.

During the last quadrennial, they accounted for approximately 30 percent of the IOC’s $7.6 billion revenue.

“I thought the ceremony was spectacular,” Payne told AFP on Saturday.

“The direction of stylish sponsor product placement may not be wrong but needs exceptionally careful management.

“LVMH got a massive free global ad last night and other partners are all going to be asking, how did that work?”

He said the IOC’s other partners could well be asking “why were we left out and given no chance to propose ideas or even had them rejected?”

“LVMH partnership potential is right — but at your peril don’t get caught being unfair with your long-standing international partners,” said Payne.

Ricardo Fort, the founder of Sport by Fort Consulting and a former sponsorship executive for Visa and Coca-Cola, cast an admiring glance at LVMH’s ceremony exposure.

“I can’t remember in an International Olympic Committee – IOC Opening Ceremony a branded moment like Louis Vuitton today in Paris. Their trunks were an integral part of the story,” he said on social media.

The chief organiser of the Paris Olympics, Tony Estanguet, said he had no qualms with the LVMH segment.

“We are very proud to have LVMH as a partner and they have contributed to the success of Paris 2024,” he told a press conference on Saturday, adding the group had “really bought into our ambition of organising this ceremony in the city.”

– ‘Clean venue’ –

Terrence Burns, another former IOC marketing executive, says the Olympics would lose its unique appeal if advertising was permitted.

“The clean venue is the most powerful example of the Olympics’ true differentiation,” he told AFP.

“The clean venue affords an arena that is free of psychological or commercial intrusion.”

Which begs the question what the TOP partners get out of their partnership if their brands are not seen at the stadia, but Payne says it is simple.

“This is why the Olympics is different from everywhere else. You’re not buying exposure,” said Payne.

“If you’re buying at the World Cup, maybe 50% of your fee is allocated to the advertising around the stadium.

“What you’re buying is an association with the Olympic brand and everything it stands for. It buys you national depth because you then become a partner of the 200-plus Olympic teams.”

Payne recalled how things were very different at the 1996 opening ceremony in Atlanta when he took extreme measures to prevent ambush advertising.

“I broke into a McDonald’s restaurant to turn off the electricity to pull down the big M sign,” he said.

“They had positioned it front and centre of where each team had to march in.

“It took me until I think Djibouti marching in to break in. The staff member said, we’ll get arrested.

“I said, we’re all going to get arrested if you don’t turn that light off!”

Payne says a balance must be struck when it comes to Olympics and branding.

“You can’t turn the Olympics into a massive product placement exercise, you would totally destroy the brand,” he said.

Video game makers see actors as AI ‘data,’ says union on strike

ByAFP

July 26, 2024

Sarah Elmaleh (R) is the chair of SAG-AFTRA's negotiating committee for the video games contract - Copyright AFP Chris DELMAS
Andrew MARSZAL

Artificial intelligence was key to last year’s Hollywood strikes, and it has now sparked a second walkout by those actors who work in a far larger industry, at the heart of advancing technology — video games.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) on Friday began its second strike in nine months, this time against gaming giants that dominate an industry which grosses well over $100 billion each year.

And while many demands are the same — consent and compensation for actors, whose voices and movements are used by AI to build game characters — the latest talks are posing unique challenges, union negotiators told AFP.

Technology companies, by their nature, tend to view actors simply “as data,” said Ray Rodriguez, lead negotiator for the video game contract.

“They’re getting performances that are nuanced, that are informed by the psychology of the character and the circumstance,” he said. “That’s what makes it compelling.”

But “the fact that they see themselves as technology companies” is directly connected to “their unwillingness to perceive the performance value,” he added.



– ‘Secrecy’ of video game companies –



The work stoppage began immediately after midnight Friday.

The struck deal concerns some 2,600 artists who provide voice dubbing services for video games, or whose physical movements are recorded in order to animate computer-generated characters.

The strike followed more than a year and a half of fruitless negotiations between the union and the likes of Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Games.

Talks have been sporadic, as video game companies have not appointed dedicated full-time negotiators, and are “absolutely obsessed with secrecy,” said Rodriguez.

There are other complicating factors.

Video game characters often fuse multiple human performers — for example, one person may voice a hero whose movements are motion-captured by another actor.

It’s “a really joyful, cool” way to collaborate, said Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the union’s negotiating committee.

But video game companies have tried to exploit that ambiguity to create “loopholes” in their counteroffers, she warned.

This is because video game companies can use AI not just to replicate a specific actor, but to create “new” voices or body movements from a composite of human performers.

Such use of generative AI can make it far harder for actors to trace their work, and therefore to deny consent or get paid.

“There are a lot of ways that you could try to be evasive around this,” Elmaleh told AFP, at this week’s Comic-Con gathering in San Diego, California.



– Jobs could ‘go away’ –



Picket lines outside iconic Hollywood studios, often attended by A-list stars, helped draw attention to last summer’s strikes.

The video game walkout may call for a more “surprising and diverse” approach, said Elmaleh.

She suggested strike strategies could focus on “streamers and the online arena, as well as the in-person arena,” without elaborating.

For video game voice actors like Lindsay Rousseau, any industrial action cannot come soon enough, as AI rapidly encroaches on her job.

“I do ancillary characters, those NPCs (non-player characters) that give you side quests, characters that you fight and die, a lot of creature voices,” she said.

“That’s the first work that’s going to go away.”

Without AI protections, only a few famous voice actors at the top of the video game industry will make a living, while those starting out or scraping by will be left behind, Rousseau warned.

For vulnerable actors, still reeling from the impact of the Hollywood strikes, the idea of more time out of work is challenging.

But “the way that strike went last year really demonstrated to us that we are right about the issue,” said Rodriguez.

“It did not make us reluctant to go into another fight about AI. In fact, it underscored the righteousness of fighting this fight, and the need to fight it now.”

G20 agrees to tackle taxation of the super-rich, but forum not yet decided


G20 Finance Ministers and Central Banks Governors meeting

Fri, Jul 26, 2024
By Bernardo Caram and Marcela Ayres

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The first-ever joint declaration by G20 finance leaders vowing to cooperate on effectively taxing the world's largest fortunes on Friday papered over deeper disagreement about the right forum to advance the agenda.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major economies agreed to reference fair taxation of "ultra-high-net-worth individuals" in both their joint communique and a separate declaration on international tax cooperation on Friday.

"We will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed," said the final draft of the G20 ministerial declaration in Rio de Janeiro, seen by Reuters.

However, fault lines have already emerged about whether to do that in talks at the United Nations or via the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of wealthier democracies founded by U.S. and European allies.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting that she believes the OECD, which shepherded negotiations for a global two-part corporate tax deal for the past three years, is better placed to handle such talks.

"We don't want to see this shifted to the UN," Yellen said, adding that the OECD "is a consensus-based organization. We've made a huge amount of progress, and the UN doesn't have the technical expertise to do this."

Major developing nations have already bristled at that approach, according to an official familiar with the matter, who said Brazil should use its G20 presidency to advance discussion at both the UN and OECD.

Some of the most vocal advocates of a global minimum tax on billionaires, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, insisted that the UN was the proper forum for global tax cooperation.

"We call on G20 leaders to align with the progress being made at the UN and establish a truly democratic process for setting global standards on taxing the ultra-rich," said Oxfam International's Tax Policy Lead Susana Ruiz.

"Entrusting this task to the OECD — the club of mostly rich countries — would simply not be good enough," she added.

Brazilian Finance Ministry official Guilherme Mello, said that the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation represented a victory for the developing nations of the "Global South" who seek a venue where they are better represented, as most countries are not members of the OECD.

Still, Mello recognized both the OECD and the UN as legitimate forums, and he said an ongoing discussion of how to effectively tax the super-rich is progress, whatever the forum.

"The shape this will take depends on many dialogues that will be held," he added.

Some observers remained skeptical about the chances for a global "billionaire tax" targeting the world's largest fortunes.

European officials pointed out that not even the 27-nation European Union has power of taxation as a bloc. Although France lent early support to a global minimum wealth tax, Germans have offered stiff resistance.

"It seems that it might be very difficult to bring this forward," said one European official at the G20 meetings.

(Reporting by Bernardo Caram, Marcela Ayres, David Lawder and Jan Strupczewski in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Brad Haynes and Diane Craft)

Ukraine's IT army is a 'world first' in cyberwarfare — but it's a major gamble for the government, experts say

Cameron Manley
Sat, July 27, 2024 

Ukraine's IT army says it has launched thousands of attacks on Russian organizations.


The group, formed shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has members from around the world.


Experts told BI that there are risks with putting so much responsibility in civilian hands.

Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government issued a clarion call to tech wizzes around the world to use their skills in the fight against the invading nation.

"We are creating an IT army. We need digital talents," Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's then-deputy prime minister, wrote on X at the time.

Eager volunteers quickly responded to the plea, and within a month, the group's Telegram channel counted around 300,000 subscribers.

As the number of members increased, so did the IT army's activity, and by late May, the group had already launched an estimated 2,000 cyberattacks on Russian organizations, Ukraine's Digital Transformation Ministry said on Telegram.

A spokesperson for the group, who goes by the name Ted, told Business Insider that they "currently see tens of thousands of devices and possibly thousands of people behind them."

"While we experience a constant decline in the number of subscribers [to the army's Telegram channel], the number of active devices involved is growing," Ted added.

Though the exact location of participants is unknown, the army is international in reach, Ted said.

The IT army website provides detailed resources that explain in Ukrainian and English how volunteers can help, with guides on how to install the "IT Army Kit," which contains tools required for conducting cyberattacks.

Volunteers can even use the toolkit to set up the attacks to run in the background, preventing tasks from disrupting their daily activities.

Leaderboard statistics are also posted to help gamify the process, increasing engagement and promoting competition among users.
Russian organizations are vulnerable to cyberwarfare, experts say

Russian organizations are particularly susceptible to things like a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack — which is an effort to overload a website or network.

In the West, there are a number of services that help protect companies from DDoS attacks, Alan Woodward, a professor at the Surrey Centre for Cyber Security at the University of Surrey, told BI.

In Russia, however, "they have the expertise but not necessarily the service providers who sit in front of organisations to detect and deflect DDoS attacks," Woodward added.

In June, the IT army said it had launched a major DDoS attack against Russian banks, including VTB, Gazprombank, Sberbank, and a number of others, as well as the country's Mir payment system — Russia's equivalent of Visa or Mastercard.

A VTB bank.SOPA Images/Getty Images

Woodward said the incident "certainly left the impression that the group is capable of mounting significant attacks."

The IT army and other hacktivist groups have also managed to hit Russian media outlets.

In June 2023, Russian state TV and other channels were targeted by hackers, with a video broadcast in Ukrainian warning viewers: "The hour of reckoning has come."

Cyberattacks such as these play a "very important role" in Ukraine's cyberdefense, Stefan Soesanto, a senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, told BI.

"While most of their DDoS efforts only cause short term disruptions, they are persistent when it comes to specific Russian businesses and platforms," he said. "They will target them over and over again."

Roskomnadzor, Russia's federal censorship agency, said it had repelled almost three times more DDoS attacks in the first quarter of 2024 than in all of 2023, Russian news website Kommersant reported.

Such attacks may also help "support defensive movements of the Ukrainian army," said Vasileios Karagiannopoulos, an associate professor in cybercrime and cybersecurity at the University of Portsmouth.

They can "help with countering misinformation efforts and facilitate things at a cyberespionage level," he said.

"It also helps to symbolically generate an image of vulnerability that can impact on the morale of the opponents and respectively boost the morale of Ukrainian troops and citizens," Karagiannopoulos added.
Ukraine's government may want to keep its distance from the group

The IT army has an internal team, which some experts believe was taken over by the Ukrainian intelligence service and the country's Ministry of Defense.

"The IT Army is managed by the SBU and the Ukrainian MoD," Soesanto said, adding that they receive support from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation.

"The volunteers who are nowadays participating in the IT Army do not know which sites, IP addresses, and services they are DDoS [attacking]," he said, adding that it had all been "centralized, with a handful of people making the targeting decisions."

Ted told BI that "the MoD does not run the IT army, but there is collaboration to ensure efforts are synchronized."

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment from BI on the nature of its relationship with the IT army.

The Ukrainian government likely wants to keep the group "at arms length," Woodward said.

"Or at the very least organise matters such that there is plausible deniability by the Ukrainian government if an attack results in unwelcome, albeit unintentional, consequences," he added.

One of the main risks with the force, Karagiannopoulos said, is that sometimes "volunteers might not follow instructions" and "organize their own attacks," potentially impacting people "across different countries and networks.

It is also unclear "whether these individuals could be targeted by the Russian military as combatants when they are considered to take direct part in hostilities," he added.

Nonetheless, the IT army is a "world first," Karagiannopoulos continued. "We have an explicit call from government officials for people to join," yet these hackers are not a formal part of the Ukrainian military.

This will set a precedent for future conflicts as cyberwarfare becomes more common, he added.

Business Insider

Takeaways from AP's story on inefficient tech slowing efforts to get homeless people off the streets

MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Sat, July 27, 2024 

FILE - A man walks past a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles is the nation’s epicenter of homelessness, where more than 45,000 people live in weather-beaten tent encampments and rusting RVs. But even in the state that is home to Silicon Valley, technology has not kept up with the long-running crisis.

Billions of dollars have been spent to get homeless people off the streets in the region, but outdated computer systems with error-filled data are all too often unable to provide even basic information.

Better Angels United is developing a series of apps — to be donated to participating groups — that the nonprofit group hopes could revolutionize shelter and services for homeless people that includes a mobile-friendly prototype for outreach workers. It is to be followed by systems for shelter operators and a comprehensive shelter bed database the region now lacks.

Here are some of the key findings by The Associated Press:

What's going on? No one really knows

More than 1 in 5 of all homeless people in the U.S. live in Los Angeles County, or about 75,000 people on any given night. The county is the most populous in the nation, home to 10 million people, roughly the population of Michigan.

Dozens of governments and service groups within the county use a mishmash of software to track homeless people and services that results in what might be called a tech traffic jam. Systems can't communicate, information is outdated, data is often lost.

A homeless person wants a shelter, but is a bed available?

Again, it's possible no one really knows. No system exists that provides a comprehensive listing of available shelter beds in Los Angeles County. Once a shelter bed is located, there is a 48-hour window for the spot to be claimed. But homeless case workers say that window sometimes closes before they are aware a bed is available.

“Just seeing ... the general bed availability is challenging,” said Bevin Kuhn, acting deputy chief of analytics for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the agency that coordinates homeless housing and services in Los Angeles County.

Bad data in, bad data out

One of the big challenges: There is currently no uniform practice for caseworkers to collect and enter information into databases on the homeless people they interview. Some caseworkers might scribble notes on paper, others might tap a few lines into a cellphone, others might try to remember their interactions and recall them later.

All that information later goes into one or more databases. That leaves data vulnerable to errors, or long lag times before information recorded on the street gets entered.

Mark Goldin, Better Angels chief technology officer, described L.A.’s technology as “systems that don’t talk to one another, lack of accurate data, nobody on the same page about what’s real and isn’t real.”

In the home of Silicon Valley, how did tech fall behind?

There is no single reason, but challenges from the pandemic to the county's sprawling government structure contributed.

With the rapidly expanding homeless numbers came “this explosion of funds, explosions of organizations and everyone was learning at the same time. And then on top of that ... the pandemic hit,” Kuhn said. “Everyone across the globe was frozen.”

Another problem: Finding consensus among the disparate government agencies, advocacy groups and elected officials in the county.

“The size of Los Angeles makes it incredibly complex,” Kuhn added.

In search of a fix, building the app

Better Angels conducted over 200 interviews with caseworkers, data experts, managers and others involved in homeless programs as part of developing their software. They found startling gaps: For example, no one is measuring how effective the system is at getting people off the street and into housing and services.

One of the biggest challenges: Getting governments and service groups to participate, even though Better Angels will donate its software to those in L.A. county.

“Everything is safe, everything is secure, everything is uploaded, everything is available,” Goldin said.

But “it's very difficult to get people to do things differently,” he added. “The more people that use it, the more useful it will be.”


Can tech help solve the Los Angeles homeless crisis? Finding shelter may someday be a click away

MICHAEL R. BLOOD and JANIE HAR
Sat, July 27, 2024 






Los Angeles Homeless
FILE - A tarp covers a portion of a homeless person's tent on a bridge overlooking the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Billions of dollars have been spent on efforts to get homeless people off the streets in California, but outdated computer systems with error-filled data are all too often unable to provide even basic information like where a shelter bed is open on any given night, inefficiencies that can lead to dire consequences.

The problem is especially acute in Los Angeles, where more than 45,000 people — many suffering from serious mental illness, substance addictions or both — live in litter-strewn encampments that have spread into virtually every neighborhood, and where rows of rusting RVs line entire blocks.

Even in the state that is home to Silicon Valley, technology has not kept up with the long-running crisis. In an age when anyone can book a hotel room or rent a car with a few strokes on a mobile phone, no system exists that provides a comprehensive listing of available shelter beds in Los Angeles County, home to more than 1 in 5 unhoused people in the U.S.

Mark Goldin, chief technology officer for Better Angels United, a nonprofit group, described L.A.’s technology as “systems that don’t talk to one another, lack of accurate data, nobody on the same page about what’s real and isn’t real.”

The systems can’t answer “exactly how many people are out there at any given time. Where are they?” he said.

The ramifications for people living on the streets could mean whether someone sleeps another night outside or not, a distinction that can be life-threatening.

"They are not getting the services to the people at the time that those people either need the service, or are mentally ready to accept the services,” said Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur and CEO of Better Angels.

The problems were evident at a filthy encampment in the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood, where Sara Reyes, executive director of SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, led volunteers distributing water, socks and food to homeless people, including one who appeared unconscious.

She gave out postcards with the address of a nearby church where the coalition provides hot food and services. A small dog bolted out of a tent, frantically barking, while a disheveled man wearing a jacket on a blistering hot day shuffled by a stained mattress.

At the end of the visit Reyes began typing notes into her mobile phone, which would later be retyped into a coalition spreadsheet and eventually copied again into a federal database.

“Anytime you move it from one medium to another, you can have data loss. We know we are not always getting the full picture,” Reyes said. The “victims are the people the system is supposed to serve.”

The technology has sputtered while the homeless population has soared. Some ask how can you combat a problem without reliable data to know what the scope is? An annual tally of homeless people in the city recently found a slight decline in the population, but some experts question the accuracy of the data, and tents and encampments can be seen just about everywhere.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has pinpointed shortcomings with technology as among the obstacles she faces in homelessness programs and has described the city’s efforts to slow the crisis as “building the plane while flying it.”

She said earlier this year that three to five homeless people die every day on the streets of L.A.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state land in his boldest action yet following a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.

There is currently no uniform practice for caseworkers to collect and enter information into databases on the homeless people they interview, including notes taken on paper. The result: Information can be lost or recorded incorrectly, and it becomes quickly outdated with the lag time between interviews and when it’s entered into a database.

The main federal data system, known as the Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS, was designed as a desktop application, making it difficult to operate on a mobile phone.

“One of the reasons the data is so bad is because what the case managers do by necessity is they take notes, either on their phones or on scrap pieces of paper or they just try to remember it, and they don’t typically input it until they get back to their desk” hours, days, a week or even longer afterward, Miller said.

Every organization that coordinates services for homeless people uses an HMIS program to comply with data collection and reporting standards mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But the systems are not all compatible.

Sam Matonik, associate director of data at L.A.-based People Assisting the Homeless, a major service provider, said his organization is among those that must reenter data because Los Angeles County uses a proprietary data system that does not talk to the HMIS system.

“Once you’re manually double-entering things, it opens the door for all sorts of errors,” Matonik said. “Small numerical errors are the difference between somebody having shelter and not.”

Bevin Kuhn, acting deputy chief of analytics for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the agency that coordinates homeless housing and services in Los Angeles County, said work is underway to create a database of 23,000 beds by the end of the year as part of technology upgrades.

For case managers, “just seeing ... the general bed availability is challenging,” Kuhn said.

Among other changes is a reboot of the HMIS system to make it more compatible with mobile apps and developing a way to measure if timely data is being entered by case workers, Kuhn said.

It's not uncommon for a field worker to encounter a homeless person in crisis who needs immediate attention, which can create delays in collecting data. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority aims for data to be entered in the system within 72 hours, but that benchmark is not always met.

In hopes of filling the void, Better Angels assembled a team experienced in building large-scale software applications. They are constructing a mobile-friendly prototype for outreach workers — to be donated to participating groups in Los Angeles County — that will be followed by systems for shelter operators and a comprehensive shelter bed database.

Since homeless people are transient and difficult to locate for follow-up services, one feature would create a map of places where an individual had been encountered, allowing case managers to narrow the search.

Services are often available, but the problem is linking them with a homeless person in real time. So, a data profile would show services the individual received in the past, medical issues and make it easy to contact health workers, if needed.

As a secondary benefit — if enough agencies and providers agree to participate — the software could produce analytical information and data visualizations, spotlighting where homeless people are moving around the county, or concentrations of where homeless people have gathered.

One key goal for the prototypes: ease of use even for workers with scant digital literacy. Information entered into the app would be immediately unloaded to the database, eliminating the need for redundant reentries while keeping information up to date.

Time is often critical. Once a shelter bed is located, there is a 48-hour window for the spot to be claimed, which Reyes says happens only about half the time. The technology is so inadequate, the coalition sometimes doesn't learn a spot is open until it has expired.

She has been impressed with the speed of the Better Angels app, which is in testing, and believes it would cut down on the number of people who miss the housing window, as well as create more reliability for people trying to obtain services.

“I’m hoping Better Angels helps us put the human back into this whole situation,” Reyes said.

___

Har reported from San Francisco.

COLD WAR REDUX

Putin warns the United States of Cold War-style missile crisis

Guy Faulconbridge and Dmitry Antonov
Sun, July 28, 2024

Russian President Putin chairs a meeting in Moscow

By Guy Faulconbridge and Dmitry Antonov

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West.

The United States said on July 10 that it would start deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 in preparation for a longer-term deployment that will include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons.

In a speech to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India to mark Russian navy day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg, Putin warned the United States that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis with the move.

"The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes," Putin said.

"We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world."

Putin, who sent his army into Ukraine in 2022, casts the war as part of a historic struggle with the West, which he says humiliated Russia after Soviet Union fell in 1991 by encroaching on what he considers Moscow's sphere of influence.

Ukraine and the West say Putin is engaged in an imperial-style land grab. They have vowed to defeat Russia, which currently controls about 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says the lands, once part of the Russian empire, are now again part of Russia and that they will never be given back.

COLD WAR?

Russian and U.S. diplomats say their diplomatic relations are worse even that during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and both Moscow and Washington have urged de-escalation while both have made steps towards escalation.

Putin said that the United States was stoking tensions and had transferred Typhon missile systems to Denmark and the Philippines, and compared the U.S. plans to the NATO decision to deploy Pershing II launchers in Western Europe in 1979.

The Soviet leadership, including General Secretary Yuri Andropov, feared Pershing II deployments were part of an elaborate U.S.-led plan to decapitate the Soviet Union by taking out its political and military leadership.

"This situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment of American medium–range Pershing missiles in Europe," Putin said.

The Pershing II, designed to deliver a variable yield nuclear warhead, was deployed to West Germany in 1983.

In 1983, the ailing Andropov and the KGB interpreted a series of U.S. moves including the Pershing II deployment and a major NATO exercise as signs the West was about to launch a pre-emptive strike on the Soviet Union.

Putin repeated an earlier warning that Russia could resume production of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles and then consider where to deploy them after the United States brought similar missiles to Europe and Asia.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by David Evans)

China's foreign minister warns Philippines over US missile deployment

Reuters
Updated Fri, July 26, 2024 

57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center in Vientiane

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the U.S. intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the U.S. intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Himani Sarkar)