ATB

FBI headquarters (by Aude via Wikimedia Commons ) On August 29 Donald Trump tweeted: "Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China." Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018 The tweet came shortly after Fox News reported on a story by the right-wing media outlet  Daily Caller alleging that China had hacked Hillary Clinton's e-mail server .  "A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington, D.C., area hacked Hillary Clinton’s private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails," the report claimed, citing "two sources briefed on the matter." However, on Augu...

Headquarters of Germany's Federal Intelligence Office, Berlin (by Fridolin Freudenfett [CC BY-SA 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons ) Cyber security experts of the German government have warned of possible Russian cyber attacks on power plants that could cause blackouts across Europe. According to German magazine Der Spiegel , the National Cyberdefence Centre (Nationales Cyber-Abwehrzentrum, NCAZ), an agency set up by the German federal government in 2011, issued a report warning that Russian hacking attacks on infrastructure could disrupt energy, water and gas supply as well as traffic. Due to the interdependence of Europe's infrastructure, a cyber attack on Germany could impact other European countries. The report was drawn up by experts from the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Intelligence Service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Office for Information Security and other government bureaus.  The German authori...

In July 44 airlines bowed to Chinese pressure and listed on their websites Taiwan as part of China . Now the official website of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) has changed the name of Taiwan to "Taiwan, China". TOEFL is a test organized by the Educational Testing Service  (ETS), which according to its website develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually in more than 180 countries at more than 9,000 locations worldwide. Apple Daily reports that in the past Taiwan was listed as a separate country and that Taiwanese students recently noticed the change. Not only the website, but also registration forms and grade reports show Taiwan as being part of China.   Asked by an Apple Daily reporter to comment on Taiwan's name change, ETS replied that the organization values "students coming from every part of the world" and that it looks forward to "continuing to serve all test takers."  C...

Taiwanese President Ts'ai Ing-wen visits El Salvador, 2017 (official photo by the Presidency of El Salvador via Flickr ) On August 21 Taiwanese Foreign Minister Wu Chao-hsieh announced Taiwan's decision to sever diplomatic ties with El Salvador after the Central American country had asked Taipei for an "astronomical sum" of financial aid. The statement came shortly after the end of Taiwanese President Ts'ai Ing-wen's  visit to the United States, Paraguay and Belize . The trip had been deemed a success by Taiwan, but it had angered China. On Tuesday  El Salvador and China  signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations at a ceremony in Beijing. "The Government of the Republic of El Salvador recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's t...

(Image by kees torn (CSCL GLOBE) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver made fun of Donald Trump's tariffs and mocked him for not understanding how free trade works.   Oliver noted that tariffs are paid by importers and typically passed along to US consumers, leading to higher prices. Tariffs could cost the US hundreds of thousands of jobs, Oliver argued.  Trade deficits "aren't actually always bad, and many economists believe, for very complex reasons involving savings rates and the dollar's special status as the world's reserve currency, that America's trade balance might be more or less where it should be," he said. Oliver argued that "the overwhelming consensus among economists is that trade between countries generally speaking can create jobs, lower costs, and be a net benefit to both nations."  But is John Oliver right? We shall argue that although Tr...

Vladimir Putin (by Kremlin.ru [CC BY 3.0 ] via Wikimedia Commons ) Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl's curtsy to Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn criticism from Austrian politicians and international media. On Saturday, August 18, Putin attended Kneissl's wedding in the state of Styria, in southeastern Austria. Among the guests were Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, and vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ). Karin Kneissl  is a former journalist. On December 18, 2017, she was sworn in as Austria's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Integration. She is an independent, but she was recommended for the role by the Freedom Party. At the wedding Vladimir Putin gave a short speech congratulating Kneissl and her husband, businessman Wolfgang Meilinger. Kneissl danced with Putin and at the end of the dance she gave the Russian leader a curtsy. Foota...

Donald Trump 2016 RNC speech (By Voice of America via Wikimedia Commons ) Immigration has always been a thorny issue in American society. Demographic changes have oftentimes resulted in the emergence of nativist movements opposed to the arrival of new people who were deemed dangerous and "unassimilable". In 1840 the US population was a little over 17 million. The largest city, New York, had but 312,000 people. In that decade, however, a new wave of immigration, mainly from Ireland and Germany, led to a rapid increase in the US population, which by 1860 had reached 31.4 million. Those immigrants, despite being white and Christian, were often met with suspicion and hostility. An anti-immigrant movement arose among native-born English-speaking protestants, who viewed the newcomers as a threat to the identity and the political system of the country. Associations spreading xenophobic ideas were formed, the most influential of which was the Know-Nothing Party . ...

European Parliament (photo by David Iliff. CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) Austrian EU lawmaker Claudia Schmidt has apologized for publishing a racist Facebook post  claiming that "African and Muslim culture" are incompatible with European culture, and calling for a complete ban on African immigrants. Schmidt is a member of the ruling Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei; ÖVP) and a lawmaker in the European Union parliament.  In the controversial post, which has now been deleted, Schmidt wrote : "One can read it daily in the press, and I have experienced it myself in refugee camps and while monitoring elections. Neither African nor Muslim culture are compatible with our culture." Schmidt argued that "Africans" and "Muslims" cannot be integrated into European societies and their immigration must be stopped altogether. "I view arbitrary mass migration from places that have alien cultures (kulturfremden ...

Taiwan's defensive capabilities continue to decline as China prepares for a possible conflict, according to the United States Department of Defense 2018 Annual Report to Congress on military and security developments involving the People's Republic of China (PRC).  The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is undergoing the most comprehensive reform in its history to become a force capable of conducting complex joint operations, the report says. The PLA aims at developing the capabilities to fight and win "informatized local wars" - regional conflicts based on data-networked command and control and precision strikes.  China's Taiwan strategy continues to incorporate elements of both persuasion and coercion to hinder the development of political attitudes in Taiwan favoring independence, the report says. Beijing attempts to restrict Taiwan's role in the international community and international organizations, and it seeks to woo Taiwan's few diplomati...

85C store in Shanghai (by Tzuhsun Hsu , via Wikimedia Commons China said that private companies are not allowed to support Taiwan independence if they want to do business in the country.  On August 16 Long Mingbiao (龙明彪), deputy director of the  Taiwan Affairs Office , the Chinese agency tasked with implementing the Communist Party's Taiwan policy, slammed companies that support Taiwan independence .  "We welcome Taiwanese companies' investment and development on the mainland, but we will absolutely not allow any company to make money on the mainland while at the same time supporting Taiwan independence forces and activities," Long said. Those remarks came after Chinese netizens called for a boycott of the Taiwanese company 85C Bakery and Cafe, which they accused of supporting Taiwan independence.  On August 14 Taiwanese President Ts'ai Ing-wen had visited an 85C cafe in Los Angeles during her stopover in the United States en route to Parag...