Issue 6
December 12, 2023
1 Poll: Americas support for Ukraine wanes
2 Chinese hackers laying in wait inside US infrastructure
3 Global conflict surged in 2023 to highest level in 30 years
4 Congress weighs reauthorizing surveillance law
5 Google loses antitrust suit with Epic over app store
1901 First radio transmission sent across the Atlantic Ocean
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1 Poll: Americas support for Ukraine wanes
Nearly half of registered voters (48%) said the U.S. is spending "too much" on aid for Ukraine, according to a new poll by the Financial Times and University of Michigan Ross School of Business. 65% of Republicans said the U.S. is spending too much on Ukraine, compared with 52% of independents and just 32% of Democrats. (Axios)
2 Chinese hackers laying in wait inside US infrastructure
The Chinese military is ramping up its ability to disrupt key American infrastructure, including power and water utilities as well as communications and transportation systems, according to U.S. officials and industry security officials. Hackers affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army have burrowed into the computer systems of about two dozen critical entities over the past year, these experts said. The intrusions are part of a broader effort to develop ways to sow panic and chaos or snarl logistics in the event of a U.S.-China conflict in the Pacific, they said. (Source: washingtonpost.com)
3 Global conflict surged in 2023 to highest level in 30 years
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 2023 Armed Conflict Survey, there are 183 regional and local conflicts underway this year, the highest number in three decades. At the global level, the intensity of conflict has also risen year on year in the reporting period, with the number of fatalities and events increasing by 14% and 28% respectively. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 459 armed groups of humanitarian concern were active globally as of June 2023, with around 195 million people living under their full or fluid control. This phenomenon is of notable concern for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, where a total of 295 groups operate, but it is also an issue in the rest of the world, with 83, 68 and 14 such groups active in Asia, the Americas, and Europe and Eurasia respectively. The IISS video presentation of its survey is on youtube. (Sources: iiss.org, blooomberg.com, youtube.com)
4 Congress weighs reauthorizing surveillance law
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires at the end of the year. The program is meant to target foreigners’ communications, but portions of Americans’ communications get swept up as well. Politico
5 Google loses antitrust suit with Epic over app store
A federal jury on Monday found against Google in a lawsuit brought by Epic, the company behind popular video game Fortnite, which accused the search giant of suppressing competition in the Android app market to secure billions of dollars in profits from its Play Store. The case could reshape the rules of how other businesses can make money on the Android operating system. (FT, NYT)
This day in history
1901 First radio transmission sent across the Atlantic Ocean
