"The word 'Islam' means 'surrender and submission', enslavement to Allah, not 'peace'; and never meant peace. The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the liberal press makes it a word of "peace" and "love" . —Maven Stark
Attackers dressed in Santa Claus suits opened fire inside a packed Istanbul nightclub shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, killing at least 35 people and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said.
Gov. Vasip Sahin of Istanbul Province called it a terrorist attack.
The attack occurred about 1:15 a.m. at the nightclub, Reina, where as many as 600 people were celebrating the New Year, officials said.
Mr. Sahin said the attackers — initial reports said there had been as many as three — had fired on the police before heading inside the club.
“One person first kills the police officer outside, and then a civilian,” the governor said. “Inside, he rained bullets brutally, mercilessly over innocent people who were there just to celebrate the New Year and have fun.”
The club overlooks the Bosporus — which separates Europe and Asia — and some clubgoers jumped into the water in their panic over the attack.
Mehmet Kocarslan, the owner, told the Hurriyet news site that there had been increased security measures for the past 10 days after American intelligence officials had warned about an attack. He said the attackers had used Kalashnikov rifles.
Television footage showed dozens of ambulances rushing to the scene and people fleeing, some walking with difficulty, arm in arm.
Hurriyet said three assailants in Santa costumes had opened fire at the security staff members at the gate and stormed in.
NTV, a Turkish channel, said the police were still searching for the attackers.
On the European side of Istanbul, the neighborhood is an international travel destination known for its food stalls and vibrant night life. The area is a mix of stone, brick and wooden buildings along pedestrian lanes.
"... this is what Allah and his messenger promised us. Kill all non-Muslims. "
A statement threatening attacks in Turkey that was published this week by Nashir Media Foundation, an organization with ties to the Islamic State.
Turkey is still recovering from a failed coup attempt that began on July 15 in which at least 265 people were killed.
Though the effort sputtered in a matter of hours, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded with a sweeping, monthslong crackdown targeting dissidents across Turkish society. In addition to arresting thousands of military personnel suspected of involvement in the coup, hundreds of thousands of civil servants, educational workers and journalists have been purged.
The coup and the assassination of the Russian Ambassador Andrey G. Karlov in Ankara on Dec. 19 raised concerns that the country’s security establishment has grown ineffective. The internal turmoil also raised doubts about how well Turkey will be able to participate in international counterterrorism efforts, especially with regard to the Islamic State.
In the wake of the crackdown, protests against Mr. Erdogan have led to frequent clashes between demonstrators and the police. And reports of targeted attacks against civilians after martial law was declared in July have revived painful memories of the political violence Turkey experienced in the 1970s and 1980s.
You may have read or seen on social media a Washington Post story published Friday which claimed that Russian hackers had hacked the U.S. power system via an electrical grid in Vermont.
That’s not what happened and the incident is not necessarily connected to the alleged Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee. The Washington Post has since amended its story:
What actually happened is that a single laptop belonging to the Burlington Electric utility was found to be infected with malware—software intended to damage or disable computer systems— that originated in Russia. The most important detail of this story is that the laptop in question was not connected to the electrical grid.
In other words, a laptop belonging to the organization responsible for maintaining the grid was infected, but not the computer networks controlling the grids.
Burlington Electric discovered that the laptop had been infected after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint report Thursday that included code believed to have been used by Russian hackers to penetrate the Democratic National Committee.
The utility scanned its own systems for evidence it had been infected with malware and discovered a single laptop had been compromised -- again, one that was not connected to the electrical grid.
“We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop not connected to our organization’s grid systems. We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” said Mike Kanarick, spokesperson for Burlington Electric in a statement posted online.
Burlington Electric is working with federal officials to trace how the code got into the laptop.
So did the Russians attack a laptop at a public utility, even if it wasn’t connected to the electric grid?
It’s possible, but not certain.
The malware found was certainly Russian made and related to the malware used to infiltrate the DNC. But that does not mean that it was used by Russians.
Malware, like any software, is bought and sold. It is not necessarily used by the same people who craft it.
What’s crucial is that we don’t even know if the code was intended to disrupt the utility, or if hackers just wanted to test if they could penetrate the system. We also don't know when the malware infected the laptop
An actual attack on an electrical grid has occurred in another part of the world—Ukraine.
In 2015, a well-known piece of malware called BlackEnergy was used as part of an expertly coordinated attack that shut off power for an estimated 250,000 people (but only for several hours.)
Ukraine’s intelligence community has vehemently blamed Russia for the attack, though it has not offered concrete proof to bolster its accusation. Given the political tension between the two nations, the accusation is not unrealistic, but there still is no smoking gun.
While the idea of foreign hackers targeting the national electrical grid in the United States is certainly scary, there’s no evidence that it has already occurred, at least not in Vermont.
There is, of course, a serious risk to the electrical grid from a cyberattack, but that threat isn’t as worrisome as policymakers, cybersecurity firms and others sometimes make it seem.
After all, squirrels wreak much more havoc on our electrical grid than hackers all the time.
"Retaliation is the last refuge of the incompetent which Obama displays at every post-defeat by the righteous men. Maven Stark
United States has expelled 35 Russian spies in response to Kremlin-backed interference in the presidential election, further escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The diplomatic officials from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San Francisco were deemed "persona non grata" and told to leave the country within 72 hours.
President Barack Obama also
announced it was closing two compounds owned by the Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York and Maryland, from noon on Friday.
He also ordered sanctions against Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies, and six named Russian individuals.
They included Lt Gen Korobov, head of the GRU, and three of his deputies. The other two were Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russians wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Also sanctioned were three computer companies alleged to have provided "material support" to the GRU.
The moves marked an unprecedented new low for US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
He said the 35 expelled diplomats were "intelligence operatives".
The developments marked an unprecedented new low in US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
The Russian Embassy in London called it "Cold War deja vu", and said the US "wanted to destroy" ties with Moscow.
Mr Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment" and said "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions". He said hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government".
Mr Obama said: "These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behaviour. Such activities have consequences."
He added: "This is not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicised."
A US official added: "By imposing costs on the Russian diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two facilities, we hope the Russian government reevaluates its own actions."
It was understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.
It comes after the the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party and releasing embarrassing emails with the intention of helping Donald Trump to win the White House.
Russia has repeatedly denied the hacking accusations. A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry said: "If Washington really does take new hostile steps they will be answered. "Any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."
Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, with Vladimir PutinCREDIT: AFP
Mr Trump said he would meet intelligence officials next week to hear evidence of the Russian hacking.
He said: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.
"Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
Kellyanne Conway, one of Mr Trump's top advisers, told CNN that Mr Trump stood by his claims that it was unclear whether Russia carried out the hacks and insisted that alleged Russian hacking was being used to try and delegitimise Mr Trump's victory.
The US State Department said the expelled diplomats had been "acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status".It also said the US actions were a response to increased harassment of US diplomats in Moscow over the last year. In 2001 the US expelled 50 Russian diplomats from the country over accusations of spying. Russia responded in kind, ordering 50 US diplomats to leave its own country.
The Russian Embassy in London called the US action "Cold War deja vu". It added: "Everybody, including the American people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless administration." Its post on social media was accompanied by a picture of a duck and the word "Lame".
According to one US official there are a total of about 100 Russian spies in the US, so about one third of th
em are being ejected.
Starting on Friday at noon, the White House said, Russia will be denied access to compounds in Maryland and New York that have been used for intelligence-related purposes.
A statement from the state department said the diplomatic expulsions were a response not only to hacking but to “a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas, that has increased over the last four years, including a significant increase in the last 12 months”.
The statement said the harassment has included “arbitrary police stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on state TV of personal details about our personnel that put them at risk”.
For some time, US diplomats in Russia have anecdotally reported being followed and harassed by police.
In June, a US diplomat was wrestled to the ground by a policeman as he scrambled to get inside the embassy. Russian authorities said the man was a CIA agent operating under cover.
