💼 NewsNeat Weekend Read #5
Iran's Response, Hawaii Erupts, Anti-Kremlin Protests, Russian Propaganda Revealed
Welcome to NewsNeat, a summary of major news of the week, compiled and edited by Kingi Gilbert. I attempt to source multiple country perspectives in the NewsNeat report - to illuminate additional information and provide a new perspective. For example, in the Iran nuclear deal story I also reviewed a variety of middle eastern news sources alongside Reuters, CNN & The Guardian. Also I drew from local Hawaii sources instead of just CNN & Fox (which reported that residents from a neighbour island Oahu were being evacuated - totally incorrect Fox).
“… if we want AI to lead to a better world, is looking at who is building algorithms, for what purpose, and looking at how we fund the development of algorithms for social good rather than just private profit.”
Iran nuclear deal suspense puts Trump into spotlight … again
President Trump took the USA out of the Iran nuclear deal and earned his top spot in the news cycle this week (last week he was 2nd to comedian Michelle Wolf).
“We cannot prevent an Iranian bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement … Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.”
The Obama-era deal between the US, Iran, and five other countries lifted heavy economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for it curbing its nuclear weapons program. The agreement, which was signed by the U.S., Russia, China, U.K., France, Germany and Iran in 2015, prevents Iran from performing nuclear-weapon research and restricts its storage of nuclear materials. In exchange, the signatories agreed to lift economic sanctions on Iran.
All signatories, including the United States, say Iran is in compliance with the specific terms of the deal and that the deal has prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and Iran had given international inspectors wide latitude to make sure it isn’t cheating.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic April 30 presentation on Israel’s acquisition of Iran’s nuclear weapons development archives was intended not to strengthen the Iran nuclear deal but to seed doubt about the legitimacy of Iran’s claims (target audience of one, Donald Trump).
It is clear that President Trump objects to the agreement because its limits on possession of nuclear materials end after 15 years, and because it doesn’t restrict Iran’s non-nuclear regional missile development. Additionally, critics of the deal argue that lifting sanctions has allowed the Iranian government, which is a religious dictatorship, to sustain itself financially and wage proxy wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.The American sanctions against Iran, which went back into effect after Trump's announcement, prohibit financial transactions between American entities (banks, businesses or individuals) and Iranian entities. Entities currently doing business that would violate the sanctions will have three to six months to end those relationships.
Where is Iran?
Iran is a mountainous country located between Turkey and Iraq (to its west) and Afghanistan and Pakistan (to its east). It’s the same area as Spain, France and Germany combined, or about four times the size of California. Its population is 80 million, about the same as Germany (or twice the population of California).
Whats the political situation?
Since 1979, Iran has been ruled as a Shia Muslim theocracy, putting it at odds with Sunni Muslim countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia today and Iraq under Saddam Hussein. (The Islamic State and Al Qaeda are Sunni extremist groups.)
Iran is a military and diplomatic adversary of Israel and the United States, and it is allied with Russia against the U.S. and Europe in the Syrian civil war. It also supports a military group in Yemen that’s fighting for control of the country against a Saudi-backed group, making Yemen’s civil war a proxy for Iran and Saudi Arabia’s rivalry. Israel and Saudi Arabia both support Trump’s decision to end the nuclear agreement.
What do American’s say?
More Americans say they disapprove than approve of the Iran nuclear agreement, and fewer than half say they are very or somewhat confident in Trump’s handling of the situation with Iran.
What does Iran say?
Some in Iran parliament showed their anger by lighting the US flag.Watching the events unfold, the speaker of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, quipped, "Be careful not to set the parliament on fire too."
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani responded in a speech to the nation that Tehran would, for now, remain within the accord, and would negotiate with Russia and China– "the world's two super powers"– on a path forward. But he said that Iran would prepare to resume uranium enrichment as a contingency.
"Iran is a country that adheres to its commitments … and the US is a country that has never adhered to its commitments."
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani
What about other countries on the deal?
The other signatories have said they want to maintain the agreement without the United States; Iran has said it will negotiate with those other countries in the coming weeks, and that it will not start new nuclear weapons development unless those negotiations fail.
Can Iran & Israel Relations Get Any Worse?
Some say Iran and Israel are creeping closer to an all-out war. The two countries have long been enemies. In recent years, Iran's been building up its military presence in neighboring Syria and Israel's been especially edgy. Last month, Syria blamed Israel for a missile attack that killed some Iranians. Then earlier this week, it accused Israel of pulling a repeat, killing about 15 people - including eight Iranians. Yesterday, Israel accused Iran of firing 20 rockets at Israeli forces. If confirmed, it'd be the first time Iran's directly hit Israel from Syria. Since then, Israel's hit back with dozens of rockets.
Hawaii Erupts
The volcano on the Big Island is causing a big problem. Last week, the volcano started erupting. Then two major earthquakes added to the threat. So far the volcano has destroyed 26 homes and nine other buildings. About 1,700 people have evacuated.
The volcano briefly calmed down, but continues to be a threat. Another big concern is sulphur dioxide gas - which can lead to breathing and other health problems. So most residents aren't being allowed to come home just yet.
Anti-Kremlin Protests in Russia
Over the weekend, more than 1,000 people were arrested during anti-Kremlin protests in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin won a fourth term in office earlier this year. He didn't have much competition since his main opponent Alexei Navalny was conveniently banned from running. And Putin reportedly had some help from people stuffing ballots. He was sworn in to his fourth term today.
Thousands turned out across the country to protest Putin's continued grip on power. And chanted things like "Putin is a thief." About 1,600 people were detained, including Navalny, who's been released.
Russian Propaganda Ads & Facebook
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee published more than 3,500 Facebook and Instagram ads linked to the Russian propaganda group, the ‘Internet Research Agency’.
We’ve now got a better view into how one Russian propagandist group leveraged Facebook ads to try and influence voting in the 2016 elections. More than 3,500 ads run on Facebook between 2015 and 2017 were released by the Democrats of the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday (previously only around 50 had been released).
Facebook has said it is taking steps to prevent these sort of ads from popping up again on its platform. But distinguishing these ads from those paid for by American political groups was not easy.
Facebook has sought to downplay the damage caused by these ads, often emphasizing that the Russian Internet Research Agency spent just $100,000 on them, compared to the nearly $40 billion in ad revenue the company earned in 2017. But Congress disclosure shows how far even a small sum can go. One ad, purchased on June 23, 2015, by the page LGBT United, cost 99.95 Russian rubles, or the equivalent of $1.59. That ad garnered 26 clicks and 374 impressions in a single day. Looked at this way, Facebook's argument that 50 percent of the ads cost less than $3 doesn't sound all that compelling and it certainly doesn’t seem to affect any Facebook earnings:
Sources: Wired & Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Israeli Intelligence
The Israel based private-intelligence firm Black Cube was exposed as they undertook research for Harvey Weinstein and compiled profiles on Obama Administration advisers (Colin Kahl and Ben Rhodes).
Black Cube offers its clients access to operatives from “Israel’s élite military and governmental intelligence units,” including the Mossad. The campaign was first reported, on Saturday, by the British newspaper the Observer. However, sources familiar with the effort and pages of documents obtained by The New Yorker reveal that there is more to understand.
On the list of a private Israeli spy company that was snooping on former Obama officials were at least four journalists: Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, Andrea Mitchell and the NYT’s Mark Landler and Glenn Thrush, the NYT reports. The same company, Black Cube, spied on women who alleged sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein.
In brief:
Northern India
This week, powerful dust storms there killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more. The storms brought more than 80 mph winds, heavy rain, and lightning. A lot of the victims were sleeping during the storm - and were killed while their homes were being destroyed. The storms are expected to continue today, just weeks before the monsoon season there will start.
The Democratic Republic of Congo
Wednesday, the country declared an Ebola outbreak after at least 17 people died. Ebola is the deadly disease that killed more than 11,000 people a few years ago. Now the Democratic Republic of Congo is dealing with another wave of it. In the past five weeks, there have been 21 suspected cases, including 17 deaths. The World Health Organisation said it is working with the gov to control the situation.
Uber has determined
Uber determined that the Arizona crash that resulted in a pedestrian fatality in March was likely because its self-driving car's software was tuned not to react to certain road objects, according to a report from The Information.
Australia is dealing with a major increase in cases of HTLV-1
It's an ancient disease that's related to HIV, and spread through similar ways. One major issue around it is that people sometimes don't get any symptoms, and may not even know they have it. But HTLV-1 can cause things like lymphoma and leukemia. And now the rate of infection is skyrocketing in Australia's Northern Territory - where the indigenous population is reportedly taking the biggest hit. Unclear what the deal is. But some doctors are saying research needs to be done on this stat to make sure it doesn't spread.
Hate People Hiding in US Military Complex
Guess who is in one of America’s most notorious hate groups? Active-duty U.S. military, some with sophisticated weapons training. Shocking folks.
Shadiest Lawyer, Ever - Michael Cohen
Yesterday, a report came out that Michael Cohen - President Trump's personal lawyer - apparently got $500,000 from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch. You've heard of Cohen. He's the one who paid off porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. And was raided by the FBI last month. Yesterday, it came out that Cohen may have gotten money from a company linked to a Russian oligarch - who has ties to Russian President Putin and is on the US's sanctions list. After the election, the company apparently deposited some cash into a shell company that Cohen uses. The same shell company that Stormy Daniels' attorney claims might have been used to pay her off. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators are reportedly asking questions about the payments. The company is saying 'nothing to see here.'
Also it has been revealed that Cohen reached out to Novartis’s then-chief executive officer Joe Jimenez promising the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical giant access to the Trump administration. A one-year contract worth $1.2 million was signed with Cohen and his shell company in February 2017 in hopes that Cohen could help the company navigate the potential changes to a slew of issues, including changes to the Affordable Care Act. Novartis was contacted in November 2017 by lawyers from Special Counsel Robert Muller’s office regarding the agreement between Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultant.
Qatar’s Media Play
Qatar’s government, which owns Al-Jazeera, has sought to acquire a major stake in Newsmax, the conservative media company run by President Trump’s friend, Chris Ruddy, Politico’s Ben Schreckinger reports. Last week, the Guardian reported that Qatar bought a $6.5 million apartment in a Trump building in New York. Qatar has spent more than $16 million in all in that Trump building. The Gulf emirate has been scrambling for better relations with Trump after Saudi Arabia, with Trump administration support, imposed an embargo on Qatar last June.
New Zealand’s Homeless Situation
New Zealand plans to spend $70 million USD to shelter 40,000 homeless people this winter. The country has the highest homelessness rate in the developed world. Its capital city has 24,000 homeless among a population of 1.4 million. That’s a higher rate than Los Angeles, which has 55,000 homeless among a population of 4 million.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, suicide bombings at a mosque killed 24 people. The country has been fighting Boko Haram, a violent group affiliated with the Islamic State, since 2009.
On the Radar:
President Trump will meet North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12th
Americans overwhelmingly support direct talks between the United States and North Korea over its nuclear program. About half of Americans – including similar shares of both Republicans and Democrats – say North Korea’s leadership is not serious about addressing nuclear concerns.
“Trump is more unpredictable than Kim Jong Un.”
Sue Mi Terry,
Former CIA analyst on Korea from 2001 to 2008 and current Senior Fellow and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sue Mi Terry provided this insight:
Last Bits ‘n Bytes:
Change your Twitter password. The company says it accidentally stored unencrypted passwords internally; it does not believe any passwords were stolen.
The European Space Agency released the most detailed map of the Milky Way galaxy, charting measurements of 1.7 billion stars.
A city in Pakistan recorded the planet’s hottest April temperature ever,122.3 degrees Fahrenheit!