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The U.S. Department of Justice has announced criminal charges against three Iranian men for their alleged participation in state-sponsored identity theft and hacking by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, a designated foreign terrorist organization.The men are all residents and citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, U.S. authorities said Thursday in a press release. Officials also say the men conspired to infiltrate the networks of American companies in search of commercial data and intellectual property.The Reuters news agency said attempts to locate contact information for the Iranian defendants were not immediately successful and that a message left with Iran’s mission to the United Nations was not returned.The hacking campaign used malware to attempt to steal the identities of thousands of U.S. citizens to accomplish unlawful acts and steal information related to U.S. aerospace and satellite technology, officials said in the written statement announcing the indictment. It also said the hacking campaign was launched in July 2015 and continued until February 2019.According to the U.S. government, at one point in time the defendants possessed a target list of approximately 1,800 online accounts, including accounts belonging to various companies and organizations, in addition to international government organizations in Australia, Israel, Singapore, the United States and Britain.Officials say the defendants are accused of engaging in an attempt to identify U.S. citizens working in the satellite and aerospace fields and whose identities could be stolen by the IRGC online. The impersonation of those individuals allowed the defendants to register email addresses and fraudulently purchase domains and hacking tools to be used in the coordinated campaign, the U.S. government said.U.S. officials said phony online personas were created and the defendants sent customized spearphishing emails that purported to be from the individuals whose identities had been stolen, with malicious links embedded throughout that were then sent to members of the public. When clicked, malware would be downloaded onto the recipients’ computers and provide unauthorized access to their devices and networks.Through these methods to steal data sought by the IRGC, authorities allege that the defendants were able to compromise a number of victims’ networks, resulting in the theft of sensitive commercial information, intellectual property and personal data from victim companies.The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has issued arrest warrants for Said Pourkarim Arabi, Mohammad Reza Espargham and Mohammad Bayati.Charges include conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers, intentional damage to protected computers, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit fraud.News of the charges follow an indictment of two other Iranians accused of participating in similar attacks.Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security John Demers called the campaign “another effort by a rogue foreign nation to steal the fruits of this country’s hard work and expertise.”
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The British auction house Christie’s announced this week that it would sell the largest and most complete known skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex in early October.The auction house said the dinosaur skeleton is nearly 12 meters long and just under 5 meters tall. It has been known as Stan, named after amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison, who discovered it in the upper Midwestern U.S. state of South Dakota in 1987.Christie’s science and natural history specialist James Hyslop said scientists that looked at the bones initially misidentified them as belonging to a triceratops, a more common dinosaur discovery.It was not until Sacrison took the remains to the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in 1992 that anyone realized what he had found.A detail of the teeth of Stan, one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils discovered, is pictured Sept. 15, 2020, at Christie’s in New York.Hyslop said the paleontologists from the institute carefully excavated and reassembled the skeleton, ultimately finding 188 of the estimated 300 total bones in a T. rex, more than for any previously found specimen.Hyslop said Stan eventually went on tour to Japan between 1995 and 1996, and he later went on permanent display in Hill City, South Dakota.Complete T. rex skeletons are very rare, and the last time one was put up for auction was in 1997, when the Field Museum in Chicago bought the now-famous Sue for $8.36 million. Hyslop said Christie’s hopes to beat that price when Stan goes up for auction October 6.Christie’s will display the dinosaur until mid-October at its Manhattan auction house, making Stan visible to the public through Christie’s windows.
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Britain’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced new lockdown measures on the northeast of England after a significant surge in coronavirus cases there. Hancock told parliament that beginning Friday, people in the region would not be allowed to socialize with others outside their households or support groups. Restaurants and bars would be allowed to provide only table service, and “leisure and entertainment venues” would have to close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.  The health secretary told parliament Thursday the government does not take the steps lightly, and it understands the impact the restrictions can have on families, business and communities. But, he said, “We must follow the data and act. And the data says that we must act now.” Earlier this week, the British government had tightened restrictions across the country, banning social gatherings of more than six people. Residents across England have been struggling to access the COVID-19 testing system since an increase in cases raised the demand for tests. Hancock said the huge spike in demand for coronavirus testing for people who do not have symptoms was creating challenges in the system, after members of parliament shared stories of people without symptoms not being able to get tested. Reuters news agency reports official statistics show Britain recorded 3,991 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, compared with 3,105 the day before. The news agency also reported a further 20 new deaths from COVID-19. Britain’s overall death toll from the virus is 41,773, the highest in Europe, according to Johns Hopkins University. 
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Authorities in Sudan say 41 people have been arrested for possessing a large amount of explosive materials.Sudan Attorney General Tagelsir al-Hebr told reporters Wednesday the suspects had enough explosives to destroy the capital, Khartoum.A spokesperson for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said an August investigation into the activities of terrorist groups led to the arrests.Jamal Jumaa, said there is concern some Sudanese people will turn to carrying out bombings after the suspects were found with a stockpile of explosives that could cause destruction similar to the blast in Lebanon last month.The explosion of tons of ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port killed at least 190 people and left a large section of the city in rubble.Jumaa also warned that the smuggling of explosive materials to other countries could derail the peace process in Sudan, where a transitional government has been in power since the ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in April of last year. 
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Only about six percent of the world’s professional classical music orchestras are headed by women. But in France, there is a drive to change that, including La Maestra – an international competition for women conductors in Paris.  The winner of the contest, which attracted more than 200 applicants from Asia, Europe and the Americas, will be announced later this month.Laurent Bayle, director of the Paris Philharmonic which is co-hosting La Maestra, said the victor and runner-ups will get two years of intensive mentoring and other support.Experts say there is a need for that kind of encouragement. While women head nearly 40 percent of Belgian orchestras, just three percent of French orchestras have female conductors.  In the U.S., only eight percent of orchestras are led by women. The Philharmonic is doing better— 30 percent of its visiting conductors this current season are women, an uptick from a few years ago.A mix of factors hamper women’s advancement in the field, from historical to cultural. Bayle said that in France, for example, the country’s theoretically egalitarian, so-called “Republican values” frown on affirmative action initiatives supporting women and other minorities.  Claire Gilbault is one of France’s rare female conductors, heading the Paris Mozart Orchestra, which is co-hosting this event. She noted that men head all major musical institutions — and share power among themselves. This contest is breaking new ground in another way: the jury is headed by a female conductor and is gender balanced.Of course, for this all-women competition, performance is the key criteria.Italian Sara Caneva competes in La Maestra. She is both a conductor and classical music composer. (L. Bryant/VOA)Twenty-nine-year-old Sara Caneva from Italy faced extra stress as the first candidate to perform. The coronavirus pandemic has not helped.”It’s the first, it’s after a long time without conducting because of the lockdown, and all the potential commitment that just vanished,” she said.Holly Hyun Choe from the U.S. felt better about her performance. She is currently a conductor in Switzerland.”My first goal is to be an international conductor, to be conducting at the highest level possible,” Choe said. “Of course that has to come with a lot of luck and a lot of hard work, and your own talent. And I also have to be honest with myself…can I make it to the top, do I have what it takes? …But I think to dream big is always good.”The Philharmonic’s Bayle said this contest’s ultimate goal is not just to hand out prizes, but rather to encourage other European orchestras to invite these conductors to perform and, as Choe puts it, to dream big.
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A Rwandan court could decide Thursday whether the man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” will be granted bail after being charged earlier this week with terrorism, complicity in murder and forming an armed rebel group.Paul Rusesabagina, who has been detained since late last month, is asking to be released because of poor health.Rusesabagina refused to plead to all 13 charges on Monday, including being linked to murders, claiming some of the charges are baseless.Prosecutors accuse Rusesabagina of orchestrating crimes against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians in 2018.The film “Hotel Rwanda” portrayed Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager, as a hero who protected Tutsis fleeing the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.He is credited with saving more than 1,000 lives.
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General Eduardo Pazuello has become Brazil’s third health minister after taking the job on an interim basis in April.Pazuello, who has no health credentials, was officially sworn in Wednesday at the Planalto Palace, in the country’s capital, Brasilia.Pazuello first became health minister following the resignations of the previous ministers after being at odds with President Jair Bolsonaro over policies to curb the spread of the coronavirus.President Bolsonaro, who has been infected with the coronavirus, has always downplayed its threat, clashing with local leaders who imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, saying the measures hurt the economy.During the ceremony Wednesday, Bolsanaro repeated his support for a controversial anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, which most experts reject as an effective treatment for the coronavirus.Brazil has the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Latin America, with more than 4 million cases and more than 134,400 deaths.
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The smoke from dozens of wildfires in the western United States is stretching clear across the country – and even pushing into Mexico, Canada and Europe. While the dangerous plumes are forcing people indoors along the West Coast, residents thousands of kilometers away in the East are seeing unusually hazy skies and remarkable sunsets.The wildfires racing across tinder-dry landscape in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington are extraordinary, but the long reach of their smoke isn’t unprecedented. While there are only small pockets in the southeastern U.S. that are haze free, experts say the smoke poses less of a health concern for those who are farther away.The sun was transformed into a perfect orange orb as it set over New York City on Tuesday. Photographs of it sinking behind the skyline and glinting through tree leaves flooded social media. On Wednesday, New Jersey residents described a yellow tinge to the overcast skies, and weather forecasters were kept busy explaining the phenomenon and making predictions as to how long the conditions would last.Fire crews still workingOn the opposite coast, air quality conditions were among the worst ever recorded. Smoke cloaked the Golden Gate Bridge and left Portland and Seattle in an ashy fog, as crews have exhausted themselves trying to keep the flames from consuming more homes and even wider swaths of forest.Satellite images showed that smoke from the wildfires has traveled almost 8,000 kilometers to Britain and other parts of northern Europe, scientists said Wednesday.A runner descends a trail on Pilot Butte, a lava dome overlooking the city of Bend, Ore., Sept. 15, 2020. Wildfires have created hazardous air quality in Bend and other cities across the U.S. West.Westerly winds, up highThe current weather system, which favors a westerly wind across the higher levels of the atmosphere, is to blame for the reach of the smoke, experts explained.”We always seem, at times, to get the right combination of enough smoke and the upper-level jet stream to line up to bring that across the country, so we’re just seeing this again,” said Matt Solum with the National Weather Service’s regional operations center in Salt Lake City, Utah. “It’s definitely not the first time this has happened.”There could be some easing of the haze this weekend as a storm system is expected to move into the Pacific Northwest and could affect the conditions that helped the smoke travel across the country. But Solum said there’s always a chance for more smoke and haze to shift around.”Just due to all the wildfires that are going on, this is likely going to continue for a while,” he said. “You might have ebbs and flows of that smoke, just depending on how the upper-level winds set up.”Making health problems worseKim Knowlton, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City, said she woke up Wednesday to a red sunrise and more haze.She said millions of people who live beyond the flames can end up dealing with diminished air quality, as it’s not uncommon for wildfire smoke to travel hundreds of miles.Although the health impacts are reduced the farther and higher into the atmosphere the smoke travels, Knowlton and her colleagues said the resulting haze can exacerbate existing problems such as asthma and add to ozone pollution.
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Top U.S. law enforcement, military and intelligence officials are expressing confidence in their ability to maintain the security of the upcoming presidential election, despite mounting evidence that several countries remain intent on meddling with the vote.Officials have been bracing for some sort of attack on the election for nearly four years, ever since the U.S. intelligence community concluded Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But with less than 50 days until voters head to the polls on November 3, they say there are no signs Russia or anyone else is trying to hack critical election systems.”We haven’t seen cyberattacks to date this year on voter registration databases or on any systems involved in primary voting,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday at a virtual summit hosted by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).And despite describing the FBI’s efforts to protect critical U.S. systems as a “never-ending battle,” Wray said it appears precautions put in place since the 2016 election are paying off.”To our knowledge, no foreign government has attempted to tamper with U.S. vote counts,” he said.Speaking at a separate virtual conference Wednesday, the commander of the U.S. Cyber Command also sought to assure voters ahead of Election Day.”I am very confident we will have a tremendous, continuing success based upon the work that has really come together across the interagency (government) and with our partners,” said General Paul Nakasone, who is also director of the National Security Agency.These assessments are in line with others offered by high-ranking U.S. officials in recent weeks about the threat to the presidential election — that while U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are seeking to interfere with the election, those efforts have yet to penetrate systems the country will rely on to conduct the vote.“This will be the most secure election in modern history,” CISA Director Christopher Krebs said last week, repeating a phrase he has used numerous times since July.As part of the efforts to secure the election, the U.S. government has been working with states to increase the number of sensors watching for malicious cyberactivity. More than 90% of the country’s voting precincts now have systems in place to ensure there is a paper record of every vote cast, just in case something goes wrong.Senior officials have also downplayed concerns raised by President Donald Trump that an increased reliance on mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic could lead to “the most RIGGED Election in our nations (sic) history.”Because of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, 2020 will be the most RIGGED Election in our nations history – unless this stupidity is ended. We voted during World War One & World War Two with no problem, but now they are using Covid in order to cheat by using Mail-Ins!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020“We have no information or intelligence that any nation-state threat actor is engaging in any kind of activity to undermine any part of the mail-in vote or ballots,” a senior U.S. intelligence official said last month, while briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity.Yet while U.S. officials are confident in the country’s strengthened voting infrastructure, they remain concerned about how adversaries are aiming to alter the outcome of the election with influence campaigns and propaganda.On Wednesday, Nakasone described influence operations as a threat that is only likely to get worse as technology continues to advance.“Influence operations, just in general, for us will be one of the things that we’ll be dealing with not just every two or four years,” he said. “I think we’re going to see it in our diplomatic processes. We’re going to see it in warfare. We’re going to see it in sowing civil distrust in different countries.”There are signs that China, Russia and Iran are ramping up their efforts.Last week, Microsoft announced it had uncovered evidence that hackers linked to all three suspect countries have been actively targeting Trump’s reelection campaign, as well as the campaign of his main challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.“Foreign activity groups have stepped up their efforts targeting the 2020 election as had been anticipated, and is consistent with what the U.S. government and others have reported,” Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate vice president for customer security, wrote in his blog last week.“The majority of these attacks were detected and stopped by security tools built into our products,” he added.Last month, William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, warned that China, Russia and Iran were all seeking to “undermine the American people’s confidence in our democratic process.”In that rare public assessment, Evanina said Russia appeared intent on hurting the Biden campaign, while some Kremlin-linked actors were “seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television.”Evanina said both China and Iran appeared to favor Biden’s candidacy.But despite the concerns, there are lingering questions about what type of impact the Chinese, Russian and Iranian influence operations will have on U.S. voters when they actually cast their ballots.“Even if you can attribute an operation, even if you can really gather as much, it’s very hard to assess what the impact is,” said Daniel Kimmage, the principal deputy coordinator of the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center. “It remains, I think, one of the outstanding challenges in this field.”
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Leaders of West African states and Mali’s military coup failed to agree on a transfer to civilian rule in talks this week, raising concerns about the political standoff and regional security in that country.Security experts in Ghana, where the talks took place, say the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) needs to help Mali return to “normalcy,” because it is in a dire situation.Ghana’s president and ECOWAS chairman, Nana Akufo-Addo, told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting that they “have not reached any agreement with the military junta.”The regional bloc wanted the military leaders to immediately hand over power to a civilian government. The bloc had imposed economic sanctions after the coup and given a Tuesday deadline for the junta to appoint a new president.There are fears the coup could undermine the fight in Mali and the Sahel region against Islamist militants with links to al-Qaida and Islamic State.Quick resolution urgedSpeaking before the talks began, Akufo-Addo said the situation required Mali to resolve its political crisis immediately.“The terrorists are taking advantage of the situation in Mali, and to flex their muscles even more,” he said. “Today is supposed to be the day when the military junta in Mali is to put in a government which should respond to the criteria we set out at our last summit on 28th August 2020. That has not been.”David Agbee, executive director of the Ghana Institute of Governance and Security, said many factors at play in Mali need to be considered, including ethnic tensions, poverty and the influence of France in the country.He said the deadline ECOWAS had given the junta would not work.“We are just jumping the gun, preaching that the country needs to return to democratic rule of governance,” Agbee said. “The internal problems, the domestic issues need to be understood by ECOWAS. They need to deal with the domestic issues and look at the significance of the citizens.”FILE – A man holds a sign reading “A transition led by the army” as supporters of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People take part in a rally on Independence Square in Bamako, Mali, Sept. 8, 2020.He said in these circumstances, citizens generally do not respect civilian rule. He said better outcomes could be achieved by helping the military bring back stability and then handing over power to civilians while building up democratic structures.If this situation is not handled sensitively, Agbee said, there will be “dire consequences” for the stability of the Sahel region.Vladimir Antwi-Danso, the dean of academic affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, shared similar sentiments.More ‘mature’ tackAntwi-Danso said he wanted to see a more “mature” approach to help Mali transition to democracy, and for ECOWAS to play a key role with mediation.“We need to help a transition to that normalcy, but to stampede the junta to hand over quickly — the junta is now to make a charter and make an 18-month transition. Fine, I’m not staying that is best, but we need to help to bring about a kind of understanding between the opposition and the junta,” he said.ECOWAS leaders said they would be willing to allow a transitional government to stand for 18 months, longer than the original year it asked for.They also said they would fully “accompany” Mali toward the restoration of constitutional order and lift sanctions once the country had a president and prime minister in place for the transitional period.
 
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Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan” is drawing criticism beyond what’s on the screen. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren examines China’s influence on Hollywood movies and the convergence of economics and entertainment with movie industry executive Chris Fenton and Aynne Kokas, University of Virginia communications professor and expert on  the intersections of the U.S. and China media and technology. Airdate: September 16, 2020.
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Multiple Taliban attacks in three provinces across northern Afghanistan since Tuesday killed at least 17 people, including six civilians, and wounded scores of others even as a Taliban political team was negotiating peace with Afghan government representatives in Doha, Qatar.    According to local officials, Taliban fighters targeted security checkpoints or outposts of local anti-Taliban militias that operate with government support.     In Balkh province, the chief of Char Kent district, Salima Mazari, confirmed two separate Taliban attacks, one on a local force outpost and the other near the district center. She said three local fighters and six civilians were killed and multiple others wounded. This was in addition to a third attack the previous day that killed two security personnel.    In nearby Kunduz province, Taliban attacks killed six security personnel, according to Esmatullah Muradi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. The head of the provincial council, Mohammad Yosouf Ayubi, said the death toll was higher.    Meanwhile, in Takhar province, two civilians were killed and 12 wounded from a blast caused by an improvised explosive device. Police said the device was hidden on a motorcycle.   The spate of violence accompanied historic peace negotiations that started Saturday in Doha. Both sides acknowledge ending four decades of conflict would be difficult and require patience.    FILE – Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan is seen during talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 12, 2020.Welcoming the start of the negotiations, Zalmay Khalilzad, a senior United States official who was paramount in bringing the Taliban to sign a deal with the U.S. in February, reminded both sides that they would have to compromise and share power for a lasting solution.   “Recent Afghan history shows that seeking a monopoly of power and enforcing one’s ideology by force leads to conflict and makes the country vulnerable to interference by others,” Khalilzad tweeted.   Both the Afghan team and Taliban indicated Wednesday that the negotiation process was progressing, and the two sides had agreed on procedural matters.    A handout picture provided by the Afghanistan Peace Negotiation Team on Sept. 15, 2020 shows negotiators from the government of Afghanistan preparing before their meeting with representatives of the Taliban (unseen) in Qatar’s capital Doha.The two sides shared the same details of the Tuesday meeting with the media, indicating an effort to show forward movement and minimize discussion on disagreements, at least at the start of the crucial process.     Nader Naderi, the spokesman for the Afghan team, said they had decided to “finalize the remaining part ASAP.”    The start of negotiations Saturday was welcomed inside and outside Afghanistan; however, Afghan activists have warned against sacrificing human rights, particularly the rights of women and freedom of speech, in the name of ending the war.    Sediqullah Tawheedi, the deputy head of the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee, said the government’s negotiation team should defend freedom of the press and freedom of speech in the Doha talks.           
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