International
Microsoft details Iran’s cyber operations to influence the US elections.
The American technology company Microsoft detailed this Friday in a report its latest findings on the cyber operations of the Iranian Government to influence the presidential elections of next November in the United States.
In the report, called ´Iran advances in the 2024 elections with cybernetically facilitated influence operations´, the company indicates that it has seen that activity in Tehran in the last three electoral cycles in the United States and “in recent months.”
Iranian operations are distinguished from Russian ones “because they appear later in the electoral season and use cyberattacks more inclined to electoral conduct than to influence voters,” explains the company, which also details activities of Russia and China.
Specifically, Iran has “laid the foundations” to make campaigns of influence on hot issues of the elections and has activated them to generate controversy among voters, “especially in hinge states”, key because they can lean towards one party or another.
For example, he cites websites “that pretend to be news” and that are “actively” attracting groups of voters at the extremes of the American political spectrum “with polarizing messages about presidential candidates, LGTBI rights or the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The group behind that activity, called Storm-2035, is part of a broad campaign that has been operating since at least 2020 and has a dozen undercover news websites that target audiences that speak French, Spanish, Arabic and English with social and political content, the report says.
Those false media, among which he cites EvenPolitics and Nio Thinker, use artificial intelligence (AI) and plagiarize part of their content from the country’s publications.
Another group, the company suggests, “could be preparing for even more extreme activities” such as intimidation or incitement of violence against political figures to induce chaos, “undermine the authorities and sow doubt about the integrity of the elections.”
It also cites a third group linked to the Revolutionary Guard that carried out “phishing” or phishing in emails in a presidential campaign, and a fourth group that hacked the account of a county official in a hinge state.
In its corporate blog, Microsoft explains that its objective in publishing the reports is to “underline the importance of combating ‘deepfakes’ (manipulated audiovisual material) and promoting education and learning about possible foreign interference.”
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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