On 21 October 2016, major sites across the internet were disabled as a result of a massive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack by unknown actors. By the end of the day, some extraordinary statements appeared on Twitter. They claimed the attack was in retaliation to events surrounding the fate of WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.
But the attack could have gone on for much longer if WikiLeaks hadn’t made it clear that Assange was not in danger, and asked for an end to the DDoS attack. And unless Assange’s safety is proven, a similar attack could well be on the cards.
The Canary
4: Hedge Fund Chief Uses Pay-to-Play Loophole to Put $500,000 Toward Pro-Trump Ads
Officers of any firm that manages money for Indiana’s pension fund are not allowed to donate to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
That’s because the state’s pension fund is controlled by Donald Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence. Pay-for-play regulations established by the Securities and Exchange Commission prohibit firms handling pension fund money from using campaign donations to influence officials who oversee their contracts.
But Stephen Feinberg, the billionaire chief executive of Cerberus Capital Management, a firm with a major contract to manage Indiana’s retirement money, donated $500,000 to help elect the Trump-Pence ticket nonetheless
Feinberg, like many hedge fund managers, can legally sidestep the pay-to-play rule by donating not directly to the presidential campaign — but to a presidential Super PAC. Those groups are supposed to be independent from campaigns — although the coordination between PACs and campaigns has become particularly rampant and overt this election cycle.
The Intercept
3: Iraq: Coalition huddles as forces inch towards Mosul
Iraqi forces inched to within striking distance of eastern Mosul on Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group’s bastion.
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, the last major urban stronghold of ISIL, also known as ISIS, in Iraq.
“On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul,” their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told the AFP news agency.
“We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated” attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla.
Aljazeera
2: Pussy Riot celebrate the vagina in lyrical riposte to Donald Trump
Pussy Riot have released a song celebrating the vagina, in an unashamed feminist riposte to Donald Trump and his boast that when he meets beautiful women he “grabs them by the pussy”.
The Russian punk band’s latest video Straight Outta Vagina, released on Tuesday, features Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova wearing white clerical robes and trademark balaclava, plus a chorus line of men and women sitting in toilet cubicles and standing at urinals. There is also an inflatable duck.
In typically provocative style, the video includes the lyrics: “If your vagina lands in prison, then the whole world’s going to listen.” And: “Don’t play stupid, don’t play dumb, vagina’s where you’re really from.”
The Guardian
1: Native Americans Most Likely to Be Killed by Police Than Other Groups, Investigation Reveals
Amid a report of another police killing of a Native American woman, we continue our interview with reporter Stephanie Woodard, author of the investigation, “The Police Killings No One Is Talking About,” which reveals that compared to their percentage of the U.S. population, Native Americans were more likely to be killed by police than any other group, including African Americans.
Democracy Now
