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Three women, two of them from Africa, advanced to the second round of selection to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization as the field was cut from eight to five, the Geneva-based body said Friday.  The WTO is looking for a new director-general to replace Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down a year earlier than expected at the end of August.  The 25-year-old trade body has never had a leader who is female or from Africa.  The five to go through to the next round are Kenyan minister Amina Mohamed, former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri and British ex-minister Liam Fox.  This confirms Reuters’ reporting on Thursday that Mexico’s Jesus Seade, Egypt’s Hamid Mamdouh and Moldovan Tudor Ulianovschi were eliminated.  Azevedo’s successor will face a considerable challenge with rising global tensions and protectionism during a COVID-induced slowdown, most obviously between Beijing and President Donald Trump’s U.S. administration, and pressure to drive reform.  Round two, in which the WTO’s 164 members will give their preferences from Sept 24 to Oct 6, will whittle the candidates down to two. The WTO has said it wants to select the winner by early November.Trade experts and former WTO officials say that the U.S. presidential election, on Nov. 3. could extend the process, even if that goes against the WTO’s prescribed deadline.  However, the WTO said the process had gone well so far and that all members had taken part.  “The objective is to have this process completed within 2 months – it began on 7 September so on or about 7 November, so we are on track for this. The process has gone smoothly,” WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters.
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China said Friday it was conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait, as a top U.S. diplomat visits the self-ruled island in a move that has angered Beijing.Relations between the United States and China are at their lowest point in decades, with the two sides clashing over a range of trade, military and security issues, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.Keith Krach, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, landed in Taipei Thursday for a three-day visit, the highest-ranking State Department official to visit in 40 years.At a press conference on Friday, a Chinese defense ministry spokesman said Beijing was “holding actual combat exercises near the Taiwan Strait” when asked how it would respond to the visit.”This is a legitimate and necessary action taken to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the current situation in the Taiwan Strait,” Ren Guoqiang told reporters.Ren also warned that the Chinese military had “sufficient ability” to counter any external threat or challenge from Taiwan separatists.Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, to be absorbed into the Chinese mainland — by force if necessary.China’s Communist leadership baulks at any recognition of Taiwan — which has been ruled separately from China since the end of a civil war in 1949 — and has pursued a decades-long policy of marginalizing the democratic island.Ren accused the United States of “frequently causing trouble” over Taiwan, which he said “is purely China’s internal affairs, and we won’t tolerate any external interference”.According to Taipei’s defense ministry, 18 Chinese aircraft — including bombers and fighters — entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday and also crossed the so-called median line that divides the Taiwan Strait.The ministry said Taiwan’s military “scrambled fighters, and deployed air defense missile system to monitor the activities”.”We hope the other side can exercise restraint and not… heighten conflicts between the two sides. These military intimidations have caused resentment among the Taiwanese people,” it said in a statement.In recent weeks, Taiwan has reported a sharp rise in incursions by Chinese warplanes into its ADIZ.Chinese jets also made a brief incursion across the midline of the strait separating the two sides in August, as US health chief Alex Azar made his country’s highest-level visit to Taiwan since 1979 — the year Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.Washington’s increased outreach to Taiwan under President Donald Trump has become yet another U.S.-China flashpoint.The U.S. said Krach was visiting Taiwan to attend Saturday’s memorial service for late president Lee Teng-hui, who died in July aged 97.  On Friday, Krach met with foreign minister Joseph Wu to discuss various bilateral issues and exchange view on future collaborations, according to Taipei authorities. He is also scheduled to join President Tsai Ing-wen for dinner at her official residence.China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai came to power in 2016, as she refuses to acknowledge its idea that the democratic island is part of “one China”.
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Peruvian lawmakers will hold an impeachment hearing Friday, a day after the country’s top court rejected a request by President Martin Vizcarra to stop the proceedings.Congress voted last week to begin impeachment hearings against Vizcarra on grounds of moral incompetence, following allegations he tried to interfere in a probe into government contracts given to a singer.The move by Congress was fueled by opposition legislators airing secretly recorded audio that appears to show Vizcarra orchestrating a strategy with his aides to answer questions about his meetings with singer Richard Cisneros.Media reports say Cisneros claims the $50,000 worth of contracts were legal.On Thursday, the president did not comment on the allegations while touring a banana plantation in the region of Piura, but a day earlier Vizcarra seemed to lash out at his detractors for attempting to create a political crisis in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. 
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FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday warned lawmakers that Russia is not letting up in its efforts to sway the outcome of the November presidential election by trying to hurt the campaign of Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden – testimony that appears not to be sitting well with U.S. President Donald Trump.Wray, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, described the Kremlin’s influence operations as “very, very active” on social media, on its own state-run media and through various proxies.The aim of these influence operations is “primarily to denigrate Vice President Biden and what the Russians see as kind of an anti-Russian establishment,” he said.Wray’s public appraisal of the stepped-up Russian influence operations is his first since the U.S. presidential campaign entered its final stretch. It is also in line with a rare public assessment offered in early August by the nation’s top counterintelligence official, William Evanina.Evanina, though, also warned Russian-linked actors were “seeking to boost” Trump’s candidacy, something the FBI’s Wray did not say when asked about Russian meddling.Trump, who has been known to take top intelligence and law enforcement officials to task on social media, responded late Thursday, calling the FBI director by his first name.“But Chris, you don’t see any activity from China, even though it is a FAR greater threat than Russia, Russia, Russia,” Trump wrote, adding “They will both, plus others, be able to interfere in our 2020 Election with our totally vulnerable Unsolicited (Counterfeit?) Ballot Scam. Check it out!”But Chris, you don’t see any activity from China, even though it is a FAR greater threat than Russia, Russia, Russia. They will both, plus others, be able to interfere in our 2020 Election with our totally vulnerable Unsolicited (Counterfeit?) Ballot Scam. Check it out! https://t.co/mH3vrHWvS8— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2020Despite the president’s allegations about mail-in ballots, allegations he has raised repeatedly, the FBI director told lawmakers just hours earlier such concerns were baseless.”We have not seen, to date, a coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election,” Wray said, echoing assurances given by senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity just last month.Instead, Wray said, his fears have centered on the barrage of disinformation, from Russia and others, targeting U.S. voters.“What concerns me the most is the steady drumbeat of misinformation and amplification of smaller cyber intrusions,” Wray said. “I worry they will contribute over time to a lack of confidence of (among) American voters.”“That would be a perception, not reality. I think Americans can and should have confidence in our election system and certainly in our democracy,” he added.Antifa & US protestsThe FBI director also clashed with Trump, over antifa, a left-wing protest movement that has been increasingly visible in demonstrations that have spread across the country.“We look as antifa as more of an ideology or a movement than an organization,” Wray told lawmakers, adding there is no evidence that antifa is behind any sort of coordinated campaign to incite violence at protests that have gripped parts of the country.In another tweet late Thursday, Trump chastised both Wray and the entire FBI for allowing antifa, “to get away with “‘murder.’”“I look at them as a bunch of well-funded ANARCHISTS & THUGS who are protected because the Comey/Mueller inspired FBI is simply unable, or unwilling, to find their funding source,” the president said….And I look at them as a bunch of well funded ANARCHISTS & THUGS who are protected because the Comey/Mueller inspired FBI is simply unable, or unwilling, to find their funding source, and allows them to get away with “murder”. LAW & ORDER! https://t.co/yHLzB0RQ8e— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2020But during his testimony before lawmakers, Wray said that while the FBI does have “quite a number of properly predicated investigations into violent anarchist extremists, any number of whom self-identify with the antifa movement,” the evidence does not support claims of a larger conspiracy.“Much of the violence that we’re seeing does not appear to be organized or attributed to any one particular group or movement,” the FBI director said.Instead, he described attempts by antifa and other movements, like the right-wing Boogaloo Boys, to organize in order to instigate violence as ad hoc.”We are seeing, in certain pockets, more kind of regionally organized folks coalescing, often coordinating on the ground in the middle of protests,” Wray said, adding that such attempts can even cross ideological lines, such as in one incident earlier this month in which two self-described Boogaloo Boys attempted to join with the Palestinian terror group Hamas.ICYMI: Self-described “Boogaloo Bois” charged w/attempting to provide #Hamas firearms/parts Per @FBI 30yo Michael Solomon of Minnesota & 22yo Benjamin Teeter of #NorthCarolina are part of a sub-group called the “Boojahideen” & felt their anti-US gvt views aligned w/Hamas— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) September 4, 2020Republican pushbackWray’s explanations, however, did not impress some Republican lawmakers, including Representative Dan Crenshaw, from Texas, who has been supportive of the president.“It seems strange to me that we can’t call it a group,” Crenshaw told Wray.“This is an ideology that organizes locally. It coordinates regionally and nationally. It wears a standardized uniform. It collects funds to buy high powered lasers to blind federal officers,” Crenshaw said. “It just seems to be more than an ideology.”US-based extremistsWray also told lawmakers the FBI sees U.S.-based violent extremists, whether influenced by jihadist ideology or ideology emanating domestically, as the biggest threat to the country.“Racially motivated violent extremism is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group,” he said, noting there have been a total of 120 arrests for domestic terrorism so far this year.  
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President Donald Trump has threatened a US ban on TikTok could happen as early as next week
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Federal prosecutors brought new wire fraud charges Thursday against an associate of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was involved in attempts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Lev Parnas and his business partner, David Correia, were charged with defrauding investors in a business called Fraud Guarantee. A superseding indictment also charged them with additional campaign finance violations. FILE – David Correia, center, leaves federal court in New York, Oct. 17, 2019.Prosecutors said the company “purported to insure investors against corporate fraud while in fact, as alleged, they misled investors as to what would be done with their money.” The indictment said the men misled investors about the strength of the company and their business model and in some cases used the invested money for personal expenses. “We couldn’t say it better ourselves – the behavior alleged today is indeed fraudulent – guaranteed,” FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement.  Parnas defense attorney Joseph Bondy said that the new indictment “contains no surprises” and that his client has been on “strict home confinement for nearly one year.” “We are pleased that the matter can now move forward,” Bondy said, “for both Mr. Parnas and the public interest.”  Correia’s attorney declined to comment.  Previous chargesBoth men had previously faced charges of using foreign money to make illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians to aid their political and business interests. Parnas and Correia had been charged along with two other men, Igor Fruman and Andrew Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, in a scheme to make illegal campaign donations to local and federal politicians in New York, Nevada and other states to try to win support for a new recreational marijuana business. FILE – Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, speaks in Portsmouth, N.H., Aug. 1, 2018.Parnas and Fruman also made sizable contributions while trying to get Americans interested in investigating Biden’s son in Ukraine. Giuliani, a Republican, has said he knew nothing about the donations. Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine for an investigation of the Bidens led the House to impeach Trump, though he was acquitted by the Senate earlier this year. Parnas and Fruman were arrested almost a year ago at an airport outside Washington carrying one-way tickets to Europe. They made hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations to Republicans while facing lawsuits from disgruntled investors over unpaid debts. Parnas and Correia also hired Giuliani to consult with Fraud Guarantee. Giuliani has said he was promised $500,000 to work with the company.  That money was ultimately paid to Giuliani’s company by Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island lawyer and supporter of President Donald Trump. Gucciardo’s attorney previously said that the $500,000 was intended to be an investment in Fraud Guarantee. The indictment did not name the defrauded investors. 
 
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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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