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Artificial intelligence-generated propaganda supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas is deliberately targeting the American audience.
…A new Defense Intelligence Agency report details the impact of ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants, highlighted by a 90% drop in container shipping through the Red Sea.
…Chinese military researchers are examining the use of nuclear blasts in space.
…The G7 summit has begun in Italy with agreement on a U.S. proposal to underwrite a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral.
…Chinese Premier Li Qiang is in New Zealand hailing close ties and inking trade deals with the island nation.
…And the fistfight that broke out in the Italian Parliament on Wednesday sent one opposition lawmaker to the hospital.
Artificial intelligence-generated propaganda supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas is deliberately targeting an American audience, according to an Amsterdam-based deepfake detection company, in a new report studying online influence efforts that employ cutting-edge AI technology.
Investigators at Sensity AI say they have uncovered manipulated online content backing both sides of the Israel-Hamas war, but the intended audiences for each side appeared far different, providing a rare window into whom the deepfake creators seek to engage and persuade.
Francesco Cavalli, co-founder of Sensity AI, tells Threat Status that “Hamas propaganda targets were definitely [Europeans] and American citizens,” while “Israeli propaganda tried to focus more on influencing the internal audience.”
Pro-Hamas content has used AI to generate images of Gaza residents, especially children, next to rubble and victims of alleged Israeli attacks. The pro-Israel content, meanwhile, depicted large crowds waving Israeli flags and used deepfake videos and voice-cloning tools to portray celebrities expressing their support for Israel.
Members of Congress are demanding answers on reports that eight people associated with the Islamic State terror group had to be recaptured after first being caught and released by U.S. agents at the border.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked Senate leaders to schedule an immediate all-senators briefing. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Tennessee Republican, called the arrests a flashing warning sign.
The eight men, all from Tajikistan, crossed the Mexican border where they were encountered by U.S. authorities. They were given some vetting, which apparently came back clean. They were then released and allowed to go free. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later recaptured them in operations in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. The New York Post reported that a wiretap detected one of the men talking about bombs.
Chinese military researchers are examining the use of nuclear blasts in space against large numbers of targets such as Starlink satellite swarms, according to a new report by a U.S. Air Force think tank. China’s development of an orbiting nuclear strike weapon is also designed to target all 50 U.S. states, the report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute reveals.
The document provides new details of Chinese space warfare capabilities, including an orbiting hypersonic missile, roving “proximity” satellites that can crush satellites, and advanced cyberattacks on satellite control networks.
The Chinese military has already deployed a space plane, similar to the Air Force’s X-37B spacecraft, that has put into orbit several smaller satellites during recent missions.
The Biden administration is not seeking to replace China’s communist system as it pursues better relations with Beijing, says Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Responding to an article by former Trump administration National Security Council official Matthew Pottinger and former Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, until recently chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Mr. Campbell told an audience Wednesday that the U.S. has a limited ability to change China’s increasingly troubling international behavior.
Instead, the U.S. should accept China’s system as it is, despite what critics say are growing signs Beijing is seeking to replace the Western democratic system with its authoritarian model, Mr. Campbell said at a forum hosted by the Stimson Center.
“I do think we need to accept China as a major player, and doing constructive diplomacy with them is in America’s strategic interest,” he said, citing an uncertain global landscape with wars in Ukraine and Israel, Houthi rebel attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, and famine fears rising in parts of Africa.
On Sept. 15, 2021, Australia surprised the world by announcing that it would acquire nuclear submarines from the U.S. and the U.K. after canceling a significant contract with France, write David S. Jonas and Patrick Rhoads.
In a piece looking back on the history of the American nuclear submarine program, Mr. Jonas and Mr. Rhoads write that Australia’s purchase “makes sense” within the context of China’s campaign of economic coercion and famed “wolf warrior” tactics against Australia.
“China is within what the Australians consider the bookends of their neighborhood, with China to the north and India to the west,” they write. “In retrospect, the only answer for the Aussies was the acquisition of nuclear submarines, which enabled long-duration deployments with the necessary stealth to counter the Chinese navy.”
Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund an undeclared war if it chooses? Are there constitutional and legal requirements that must first be met before war is waged?
Columnist Andrew P. Napolitano writes that these questions “should be front and center” in a debate over U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Congress has authorized only weapons and cash to be sent to Ukraine, but, Mr. Napolitano claims, President Biden has “also sent troops.”
“U.S. involvement in Vietnam began the same way: no declaration of war, no authorization for the use of military force,” he writes. “Don’t be surprised if Mr. Biden secretly gives War Powers Act notice to the Gang of Eight, … the Congress within the Congress.”
“It consists of the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate with whom the president legally shares secrets. Just as Congress cannot delegate its war-making powers to the president, it cannot delegate them to the Gang of Eight.”
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