Putin Vows Support for Islamic World

by
Share this
Share

He sent a message to the third meeting of the Russia – Islamic World strategic world group in Grozny, Chechnya (held there for the first time), which was later published by the Kremlin website. The message included the following statement:

“Today, many Muslim countries are facing serious challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, growing ethnic and religious contradictions, economic and social difficulties. I would like to stress that the Islamic World can fully count on Russia’s support and cooperation.”

He also said Russia would help search for peaceful means of resolving crises. “I am confident that by joining our efforts, we can do much to strengthen global security and stability, as well as to build a fair and democratic world order, free of any kind of intolerance, discrimination and military dictate,” he stated.

NYT Says Trump Urged Comey to Drop Russia Investigation

by
Share this
Share

The New York Times has reported that, according to James Comey, Trump tried to get a “pledge of loyalty” from the former FBI head, which Comey would not give, days before Trump fired Comey. There were questions flying around if the reason for the firing was Comey’s refusal.

NYT reported that Comey became concerned about what was going on between the president and himself and kept memos of the conversations which he shared with associates. They reported that during a Feb. 14 private meeting, Trump expressed concern about leaks and suggested maybe they should throw a couple of reporters in jail to send a message. Trump also talked to Comey about Michael Flynn, who he fired earlier for his relations with Russia, and suggested Comey just let Flynn go, which Comey interpreted as dropping the investigation into Flynn’s dealings, according to the Times.

The White House responded to the NYT article, stating it was “not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation.”

White House Calls Trump Story False, Cites Things Not Related to News Story

by
Share this
Share

White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster made a public statement in response to the Washington Post and other news organisations stories this week that Trump told Russian officials information he say he shouldn’t have, denying the news.

McMaster stated:

“The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false. The President and the Foreign Minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two counties, including threats to civil aviation.

“At no time – at no time – were intelligence sources or methods discussed. And the President did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. Two other senior officials who were present, including the Secretary of State, remember it being the same way and have said so. Their on-the-record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources. And I was in the room. It didn’t happen.”

However, none of the news stories had anything to do with the things McMaster said the president didn’t say — the reports were that Trump revealed highly classified intel to an American adversary. Later, when asked, McMaster did not deny that, but said he doubted whether the president “wasn’t even aware of where this information came from. He wasn’t briefed on the source or method of the information either.”

Microsoft Releases Large Update After WannaCry Event

by
Share this
Share

Microsoft issued a large Windows update days after the WannaCry malware pandemic infected thousands of computers and led to a huge wave of Windows users updating their OSs to close the SMBv1 exploit left open by Windows until March when a leak of NSA intel made the vulnerability, as well as the NSAs exploit tool, public.

The update was unusually large, taking over an hour on some computers.

Most noticeable changes after the update: Microsoft adds a mail icon to the toolbar (currently, more people use Google for mail); OneDrive is added to the tools menu; Windows Defender Security Center also added to toolbar. In “Apps & Features,” Microsoft OneConnect (paid Wi-Fi cellular) is added.” Techies have recommended the removal of OneConnect, which has been part of Windows “Pre-Installed Apps” for a while.

It also “installs” apps that you already have installed, so it is more difficult to find what things Microsoft actually added when you update. However, Windows installed a lot of new apps (their own) in this update.

Microsoft removed the option to set the program to open types of files with. Now, it only opens automatically with Windows new file viewing apps. (This can be corrected by going to “Default Apps” in Start Menu and selecting apps for media types.)

Did You Know … French Election Media Blackouts

by
Share this
Share

Two days before the French Election, there is a media blackout for anything political.

This is supposed to provide a few days of uninterrupted consideration of the candidates, without the distraction of big news headlines, scandalous revelations, or campaigning last minute.

Similar things are done in other countries.

In the UK, for example, on the day of an election news can’t be about anything that could potentially favor a particular party. The parliament, as soon as it is dissolved before an election, enters a state of “purdah” (a Persian word for “curtain”) and can’t announce any controversial or contentious legislation.

Spain, although it does not have a media blackout, does have a “reflection” period after official campaigning ends the day before the election, and no more electoral acts are performed. They also forbid news to publish polls in the week leading up to an election.

French Candidate Macron Email Hack

by
Share this
Share

Many parties are concerned about hacking having an effect on the election, and there are questions about whether false material is mixed in with the email leaks, which are purported to be from four top-level members of the Macron campaign.

Macron is the front-runner in the the election, which is itself a runoff (with Macron and Le Pen combined receiving less than 50% of the vote in the first stage of the election.

In France, the media is not allowed to report on political topics 24 hours before the election begins.

Some are alleging that the hacks stem from the Russian government, which has been active in trying to influence other elections around the world. There is no hard evidence to support this, though, and no evidence is likely to be found, given the nature of the type of activity (cyber).

The First U.S. Offshore Windfarm Just Shut Down a Diesel Plant

by
Share this
Share

2017 marks the first offshore windfarm in the U.S.

The wind farm, located off Block Island, isn’t providing all of the island’s power, but whereas before the island’s grid was isolated from the mainland, the windfarm allowed Block to be connected to the New England power grid for the first time, and therefore the island’s 2,000 residents no longer need the diesel plant.

They burned around 1 million gallons of diesel per year.

China’s Solar Output Increased 80% in First Quarter

by
Share this
Share

China, the world’s biggest solar power market, added 21.4b kilowatt-hours in the three months before March 31, compared with a year earlier, according to the NEA.

It’s total installed capacity is now 85gw. Their increase is despite an unused capacity (congested transmission infrastructure) worth 2.3b kilowatt-hours in the first quarter.

Confederate Monument Removal Protesters Clash

by
Share this
Share

New Orleans has been removing monuments to its Confederate history, led by Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Sunday afternoon protesters met at Lee Square, as did people who support monument removal.

The protesters included some considered to be white supremacists, but the peaceful protesters of all beliefs were aligned, as, in the words of one man who attended who did not give his full name: “As long as they’re fighting for my interests I’m with them.”

Many have voiced their concern about the erasing of history, whether they agree with the beliefs of those commemorated at the time or not.

However, monument removal advocates voiced their opinion in chants such as “Go home racists,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, white supremacy’s got to go.”

Macron Still Faces Challenges

by
Share this
Share

The French president-elect, the youngest leader of the country since Napoleon and a man who was unknown a year ago, could find himself without much power to act if he doesn’t quickly form a movement to win a majority in the French national assembly.

In the run up to the election, two candidates were chosen from a dozen, with Macron getting voter support from 24% of French citizens and Le Pen getting 22%.

Between the two candidates, Macron won a decisive victory, getting 65% of the votes in an election in which relatively few people went out to vote for either option. In all, less than a third of the country voted for the president in the election.

Evidence of how divided France is can be seen in the 35% garnered by Le Pen, whose political views are considered extreme and very different from those of the new president, who was the first choice of less than a quarter of the French public. Another important statistic: 40% of France is against the EU (which represents globalization in Europe), which Macron is in favor of.

Analysts said that there has never been a similar situation in French political life.