The Obama administration “has no foreign policy,” says Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP’s 2012 vice-presidential candidate. While we may tune out this kind of election year rhetoric, similar complaints, no matter which president is being denounced, are common on both sides of the aisle. When the Democrats are in power we hear it from Republicans, and when the GOP is in the saddle we hear similar... 

Government requests for Facebook user data shot up nearly a quarter worldwide in the first six months of 2014 over the second half of last year, a biannual report from the company reveals. Over 40 percent of those requests originated in the United States. Between January and June of this year, governments made 34,946 requests for data globally. During the same period, the amount of Facebook content... 

Samsung’s new global privacy policy for its line of Smart TVs states that a user’s personal conversations will be recorded by the device’s microphone and transmitted to third parties. A 46-page privacy policy which is now included in all newly purchased Samsung Smart TVs states that voice recognition technology “may capture voice commands and associated texts” in order to “improve the... 

A Liberal-Democratic party MP is suggesting jailing people for giving false testimony in court claiming that such measure would bring down the number of wrongful sentences in the country. Presently Russian law punishes perjury only by fines of up to 80,000 rubles, or about $2000. A prison sentence of up to five years is possible if a witness lies within a hearing into a grave case, but prosecutors... 

An ominous Federal Security Service (FSB) bulletin issued to all Ministries within the past hour has ordered that all information relating to the crash of the Dassault Falcon 50 business jet at Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) that killed Christophe de Margerie [photo top right], CEO of French oil giant Total [the world’s 13th biggest oil producer and Europe’s 2nd largest], earlier... 

To infiltrate foreign networks and gain access to sensitive systems, the NSA has been using the tactics of “physical subversion” – deploying undercover agents in Chinese, German, South Korean and possibly even American companies, The Intercept reports. Past reports on the National Security Agency (NSA) have typically depicted a government organ that hacks other systems or works with private... 

Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency (something similar to America’s CIA) says a local militia shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July, Der Spiegel reports. The BND is said to possess “ample evidence,” though none of it has been made public. The statement was made on October 8, when Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) president Gerhard Schindler was holding... 

Ukrainian CyberBerkut hacktivists claim that they have penetrated the internal network of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and found proof that Kiev is getting secret data from MH17 crash investigators, including information which implies its involvement. A document, posted on the website cyber-berkut.net, and allegedly downloaded from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry network, dates back to August 7 and appears... 

US 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition manufactured in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence, Missouri, US. An analysis of cartridges used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria shows that their newest ammunition is of American origin. China and the Soviet Union were identified as the biggest sources of munitions, but with bullets made 25 years ago. The Conflict... 

Intelligence service BND failed to protect the private data of German citizens as it handed over internet data collected at a Frankfurt traffic hub to the US, German media report citing secret documents. The documents cited by VDR and EDR television and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which broke the news together, were obtained from the federal government during an ongoing parliamentary investigation... 

Members of a medical team disinfect people at an Ebola treatment center in Liberia, October 2, 2014. Liberia has passed a law that will restrict the media coverage of the Ebola outbreak in an attempt to protect privacy of the patients. “We have noted with great concern that photographs have been taken in treatment centers while patients are going in to be attended by doctors. That is invasion of... 

The US cites a potential asteroid attack for the delay in the dismantling of its nuclear weapons. The United States holds on to its stockpile of nuclear weapons in order to defend the earth against a potential asteroid attack, according to a report. Government auditors have found that, among other reasons, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is delaying the dismantling of the nation’s... 

General Motors is scrambling to prevent owners of the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette from breaking the law with the car’s high-tech recording device. Apparently, the company never got the memo that secret recordings are illegal in many states. One of the new features of GM’s sports car is a part of the Performance Data Recorder called “Valet Mode.” The high-tech equipment allows ‘Vette owners to... 

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Mainstream media outlets have censored the comments made by the Argentine president at the United Nations General Assembly where she harshly criticized the US international policies. During her speech before the United Nations 69th General Assembly on September 24, Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner covered a variety of issues... 

For $10 a month, residents of New Orleans suburb can hook home cameras up to law enforcement surveillance grid just like in the USSR… at least this is optional and not mandatory, for now… Police in Louisiana are urging residents to add surveillance camera security systems to their homes and then to hand over control of those systems to law enforcement, an effort they claim will help make...