As we head into the Christmas weekend we are watching two big issues closely. The first is the crisis in Ukraine and we've got some new stories and developments to talk about today. The second is the Iranian nuclear talks which are expected to resume on Monday, Dec 27. Let's get to today's report broken down by region of the world.
There's a lot to report today with some big statements coming from both the US and Russia related to the Ukrainian crisis; CISA issues an advisory on the Log4j vulnerability; Terrorism threats emanating from Brazil draws US Treasury into action; US policy changes announced for Taliban and a lot more. Here's your open source report broken down by region of the world.
Harvard University Professor found guilty of lying about connection with China; US Army researchers working on a single vaccine to protect against all variants; Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has no where to retreat to over Ukraine while talks between the US and Russia are expected to begin in January; Chinese President Xi Jingping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discuss deepening economic cooperation in their first call.
The remaining 12 hostages in Haiti have been released, few details have yet emerged as to the specifics of their release; Two Army battalion commanders among the latest to be discharged over COVID vaccine refusals; DJI Technologies among the companies now blacklisted by US Treasury; Details emerge of Russia's demands for de-escalation in Ukraine crisis.
A very big national security news day. US Air Force discharges 27 for COVID vaccine refusals; Space Force begins 10 days of war games; US House passes bill to ban imports from Xinjiang; Britain releases new national cyber strategy; German court sentences Russian to life over 2019 Berlin killing of Chechen; Estonia's PM sounds alarm on Putin's Ukraine trap; Kremlin says US given concrete proposals to de-escalate while Putin touts Russia's relationship with China as a 'model' of cooperation. A lot more in this episode.
In this episode: President Biden hosts 111 world leaders today for a Democracy summit (Beijing angry over Taiwan's attendance); Many questions and few details following major AWS outage on Tuesday; US House passes Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act; US-Mexico restart Remain in Mexico Program; Russia says US to blame for diplomatic row while accusing Ukraine of increase military tensions along border and Harvard's Belfer Center out with new report about China's ability to overtake US in advanced tech.
In this episode: All eyes on Biden-Putin call and what it means for the Ukrainian crisis. We spoke with Former Senior CIA Officer Dan Hoffman to get his take on the issues. Also, three more hostages freed in Haiti; EU to announce a new economic weapon to fight coercion; Ukraine's President says he can defend against Russian invasion; Germany calls on Iran to get real in nuclear talks; Classified US intel says Beijing seeks a new navy base in West Africa.
NY Times reports that almost 9 million Afghans at risk of famine; Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns Beijing of Taiwan invasion; Iran says US sanctions are the reason for lack of progress as Israeli intelligence delegation heads to DC for talks.
In today's episode: A lot of news coming from Europe on the Ukrainian-Russian tensions with NATO again warning Russia of serious consequences while Moscow draws red lines along its border. Human Rights Watch says Taliban summarily executing former military and intelligence personnel and Japan's former PM Shinzo Abe says Beijing must understand that an invasion of Taiwan would be an emergency that requires a US-Japanese response.
At meeting in Latvia NATO and US warn Russia of serious consequences over military action in Ukraine.
Former Sec Def Mark Esper sues Pentagon over book manuscript redactions; US removes FARC from terrorist list; France considers autonomy for its Caribbean territories over recent unrest; Ukrainian President says he has evidence of a coup plot set for this week; Russia says it has conducted a 2nd successful hypersonic missile test; China says military on 'high alert' over tensions with Taiwan and US.
Former CIA officer accused of spying for Qatar in new report; US invites Taiwan to 'Summit for Democracy' and draws sharp rebuke from Beijing; Wall Street Journal report outlines major law enforcement success using surveillance on encrypted messaging service; Apple files lawsuit against NSO Group; Russia accuses US of practicing nuclear strike against Russia while Ukraine conducts air strike practice on simulated Black Sea targets; China attempts to shore up relations among ASEAN in nuclear talks; Ethiopia's PM takes command of combat operations.
In this episode: US charges two Iranians with waging a sophisticated campaign to disrupt the 2020 US presidential election; Biden says he may boycott Beijing Olympics just days after summit with Xi; US Army says get vaccinated or get out; Britain will designate entire Hamas organization as terrorist entity; China using maritime militia of 300 vessels to dominate South China Sea.
In this episode: The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission urges congress to enact tougher policy on China; Belarus says it is sending busses to move migrants away from the border with Poland while the Russian military announces the deployment of an elite military regiment to the Crimean peninsula.
In this episode: China is US Intel Community's hardest target; Travel ban on Nicaraguan officials; EU seeks to bolster military capability by 2025; Facebook says Pakistani group tracked Afghan government officials' mobile devices during Taliban offensive.