5: Even with Increased Surveillance, UK Terror Attacks Are Likely to Rise
Experts say we’ll see at least another 15 years of attacks on European soil, and that – in the grand scheme of things – there’s little authorities can do.
Three terror attacks in the UK in as many months: Westminster, Manchester and now London again. As the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed Caliphate loses its hold on its heartlands of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, disaffected young European Muslims drawn to its nihilistic vision are increasingly conducting the group’s murderous revenge on the streets of European cities.
Following each incident this year the government has called for increased online surveillance, despite the UK already having some of the widest-ranging surveillance powers of any democratic state. In a speech on Sunday morning, Theresa May again pressed the point, saying there has been “far too much tolerance of extremism” in the UK and that “we need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning”.
While this may have some popular support – a survey immediately after the Manchester attack saw 68 percent of respondents backing wider state powers to intercept encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram – the tactic has been criticised by internet freedom campaigners Open Rights Group as having the potential to “push these vile networks into even darker corners of the web, where they will be even harder to observe”. Furthermore, it is as yet unclear what, if anything, such powers could have done to prevent any of the incidents this year, with MI5 currently undertaking inquiries into both the Westminsterand Manchester attacks.
Vice News
Twelve people have been arrested in London after three attackers killed seven people and injured 48 more on Saturday night. The three attackers were shot dead by police. It’s the third terror attack in the U.K. in three months. British Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed a sweeping review of the nation’s counterterrorism strategy. All of this comes as the country gears up for national parliamentary elections scheduled for this Thursday. Prime Minister May has also called for increased web surveillance so the internet is no longer a “safe space” for terrorists. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump used the London attacks to call for the United States to impose his proposed Muslim travel ban. Here to discuss all of this with Democracy Now! is Guardian columnist Paul Mason.Democracy Now
3: Qatar diplomatic crisis: All the latest updates
The latest developments since three Gulf Arab states cut ties with Qatar on Monday morning:
Aljazeera
2: TOP-SECRET NSA REPORT DETAILS RUSSIAN HACKING EFFORT DAYS BEFORE 2016 ELECTION
RUSSIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept.
The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence very recently acquired by the agency about a months-long Russian intelligence cyber effort against elements of the U.S. election and voting infrastructure. The report, dated May 5, 2017, is the most detailed U.S. government account of Russian interference in the election that has yet come to light.
While the document provides a rare window into the NSA’s understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying “raw” intelligence on which the analysis is based. A U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive.
The Intercept
Butt, 27, is a British citizen who was born in Pakistan and was previously known to both police and MI5. Redouane, 30, has claimed to be both Moroccan and Libyan
The Guardian
