FBI Formally Accuses North Korea In Sony Hack – 19 December 2014

The Federal Bureau of Investigation first time on Friday officially weighed in on the colossal computer hack suffered by Sony Pictures Entertainment that in recent days has been elevated to an issue of national security.

According to a statement released by the bureau late Friday morning, the FBI says there is now “enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible” for the major breach.

“Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korea actors previously developed,” the FBI said. “The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the US government has previously linked directly to North Korea.”

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ActivistPost – Monsanto USDA Study: Mixing Non-GMO Seed With GMOs Not Helping Pest Resistance – 19 December 2014

Failure of ‘Refuge in a Bag’ Method of GM Crop Help

Heather Callaghan
Activist Post

Did you know that farmers who plant genetically engineered crops need to also plant some non-GE crops in the same field? It is supposed to delay pest resistance to Bt corn crops.

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Bulgaria Ready To Issue South Stream Permits – 19 December 2014

Bulgaria is ready to issue all the necessary permits for the construction of the South Stream pipeline, according to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. He said it will up to Gazprom whether the pipeline is built or not.

Borisov said he has the full support and understanding of the European Union and that Bulgaria is not in the wrong and should not suffer financial consequences for stopping the project, the Bulgarian news agency BGNES reports.

Bulgaria was set to reap $600 million per year in transit fees, and investment on the Buglarian side was estimated at 3.5-4 billion euros.

Russia was originally planning to build a pipeline to Southern Europe to directly export gas, but EU legislation was used to continually delay the project. On December 1 during a visit to Turkey, Putin announced the pipeline would run through Turkey to Greece, instead of Bulgaria as originally proposed.

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German Troops To Stay In Afghanistan In NATO-Led Mission – 19 December 2014

German MPs have approved a resolution to extend the country’s troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led training and advisory mission.

Plans for foreign military missions, which require parliamentary approval, received 473-102 votes with 18 abstentions to support the deployment of up to 850 German troops to Afghanistan as part of the “Resolute Support Mission” for a period of one year, DPA news agency reported. The mission is to commence at the start of the year.

The NATO mission, designed to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces post-2014, flows from the Status of Forces Agreement that NATO signed with the government of Afghanistan on September 30.

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ActivistPost – Police Pre-Crime Algorithm Uses Social Media Posts Against You In Real-Time – 19 December 2014

Melissa Melton & Aaron Dykes
Activist Post

We have finally reached the moment where Orwell’s nightmare in 1984 meets the movie Minority Report. We’re living there right now.

Cuban Reset Is ‘Gambit By Obama Administration’ – 19 December 2014

Obama and Castro are master chess players, but Fidel has never lost a game in his life: the US is betting the government will be overthrown while the Castros are sure they will consolidate their position, Daniel Bruno, Buenos Aires based expert told, RT.

RT: Why in your opinion has Obama decided to resume dialogue with Cuba?

Daniel Bruno: The Obama administration remains fully committed to the overthrow of the Cuban government and the Russian government for that matter. Just look up ZunZuneo which is the Cuban twitter program as well as the hip-hop program that was promoted to foment discontent on the island just this year.

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TAFTA Protesters Mass Outside EU Council In Brussels – 19 December 2014

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the European Council building in Brussels on Friday to voice growing disapproval of TAFTA, a proposed Transatlantic Free Trade Area between the EU and the US, and to demand changes at the EU institutions.

The rainy streets of Brussels have been filled with hundreds of protesters, with security in the city stepped up since morning and police officers in helmets and shields ready to respond in case violence breaks out. The action was expected to draw protesters from France and Germany.

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John Ward – Analysis: How Mechanical Feminism Destroyed Precious Femininity – A Personal History – 19 December 2014

After this post, as far as I’m concerned, Christmas has arrived. But this is a demolition job that’s been building up inside me for, ooh, I’d say only, you know – the last thirty years. Ever since, in fact, I started having doubts about feminism.

When I was much younger – the late Sixties and early Seventies – there was a thing called FemLib, later changed – as it became a mass movement  – to Women’s Lib. There was a real need for it, and the reason was simple: many blokes (especially in the US) still had the woman-as-chattel-I-can-hit-when-I’m-pissed Edwardian outlook to the opposite gender. Huge tracts of law were incredibly mysogynist, office environments were at best patronising towards women, and the biologically more passive and gentle side of women had been bullied into believing that their only raison d’etre was home, kids and cooking.

Turkey Issues Arrest Warrant For Top Erdogan Rival Fethullah Gulen – 19 December 2014

A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for long-time Erdogan rival Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric, state media reports.

The 1st Istanbul Penal Court of Peace accepted the request of Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office to issue an arrest warrant for Gulen on Friday, reports Anadolu Agency.The prosecutor said Gulen should be charged with setting up or running an armed “terrorist” group.

This comes in the wake of the last week’s media raids, during which over 20 suspected Gulen supporters, including chief editors and media executives, were detained.

READ MORE: 24 detained as Turkish police raid opposition media organizations

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing the self-exiled preacher of plotting to overthrow the state.

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Gazprom, BASF Abandon Multibillion Dollar Energy Asset Swap – 19 December 2014

Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom and Germany’s chemical giant BASF have scrapped a multibillion dollar asset swap deal amid the growing political tension between Russia and the West.

The decision was made together with the Russian gas major, said a representative of the German company, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. This is despite earlier reassurances from BASF the deal would be finalized by the end of 2014.

At the time BASF stressed that it will continue cooperation with Gazprom in a joint venture with its subsidiary Wintershall.

The asset swap deal was approved by the European Commission on December 4, 2013. The companies planned to complete the transaction in mid-2014. As a result Gazprom would have taken 100 percent control of the joint companies WINGAS, WIEH and WIEE that sell and store gas in Europe.

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