Jeremy Corbyn faces David Cameron in his first prime minister's questions - Politics live by Andrew Sparrow
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Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen, including Jeremy Corbyn’s first PMQs as Labour leader
- Corbyn campaign team dismisses anthem row as ‘tittle tattle’
- Corbyn faces shadow cabinet split over abolishing benefits cap
- Corbyn sidesteps question about singing national anthem in future
- Labour sources say Corbyn will sing national anthem in future
PMQs - Snap Verdict: Corbyn held is own, and the rather more elevated, serious tone of the exchanges was definitely welcome, but I would be surprised if crowdsourcing PMQs lasts long as an experiment, because mostly all it did was give Cameron a platform to sell his message. Labour MPs expect their leader to use PMQs not as a fact-finding exercise, but as an opportunity for political point-scoring, and in this respect Corbyn failed to score.
Corbyn says he hopes the extra spending planned for mental health is brought forward. Angela says beds are unattainable, or people go into hospital too far away from home. What does Cameron say to people who want to know that people take seriously their conditions?
Cameron says he would say that we need to do more as a country to help tackle mental health. Corbyn talks about mental health beds. But so is the service people get from their GP. They need access to better treatment there. So let’s change public attitude to mental health, but we won’t be able to do that without a strong economy, he says.
Corbyn says people should be able to live decently. He received more than 1,000 questions on mental health. Do you think it is acceptable that mental health services are on their knees, Gail asked, he says.
Cameron says mental and physical health have parity in the health system. There is funding for better health services.
Corbyn says the IFS says there are 8m people eligible for tax credits. They will only get 26% of this compensated by the national living wage. He asks a question from Claire, who says her income will plummet. How is this fair?
Cameron says the country has to live within its means and the government was left with a system where it did not pay to work. Unemployment is falling in every region, except the south east. We are moving from a low wages, high tax, high welfare economy to one with higher wages, less tax and less welfare. Let’s not go back to days of unconditional welfare, he says. Labour’s policy is to remove the benefits cap, he says.
Corbyn turns to the tax credit changes. They are shameful. He had more than 1,000 questions on this. Paul asks why the government is taking tax credit away from families. More is need to stop people being reliant on food banks.
Cameron says we need a country where work pays. That is why the government is brining in the national living wage. After some jeering, he says: “I thought this was the new question time.”
Corbyn says cutting rents to housing associations will cause problems. Stephen says 150 jobs will be lost where he works because the housing association will have less money to spend on repairs.
Cameron says what he would say is for years we had a merry-go-round, with rents going up, housing benefit going up, and then taxes going up. He would rather see more people have higher pay.
Jeremy Corbyn starts thanking those who took part in the Labour leadership election. He has taken part in many conversations with people about the Commons, and PMQs. Many said PMQs was too theatrical. They wanted their voice heard. So he decided to do things in a different way.
Cameron will welcome this, he says, because he said he wanted to do it differently in 2005. But something happened to his memory.
Gordon Henderson, a Conservative, asks about the Battle of Britain. It is appropriate that the RAF defended the Isle of Sheppey. Will Cameron pay tribute to those airmen?
David Cameron says he will. There was a moving service at St Paul’s yesterday. Many people paid tribute the RAF, and to an important moment in world history.
PMQs absolutely packed - MPs, press, public, peers, all galleries. Jeremy Corbyn studying his script. He has one.
Standing room only in press gallery #PMQs
And here’s Sky News’ Joey Jones’s very sound summary of the task facing David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn.
@JeremyCorbyn4PM job at PMQs quite straightforward: turn up, read serious questions, don't get rattled.
@David_Cameron job is to be respectful. No hint of arrogance, nothing that might rally Labour MPs behind leader. Let them stew, in short.
And here’s what it says about how David Cameron will approach the exchanges.
Downing Street has been thinking long and hard about how to respond to Corbyn. The prime minister will be personally respectful towards Corbyn and will acknowledge his personal achievement in winning such a strong victory.
The two men had a friendly chat during the summer as the prime minister waited in a Westminster corridor to attend his end-of-term meeting with the 1922 committee. The prime minister joked to Corbyn that they agreed on one thing – that he should be elected Labour leader.
Jeremy Corbyn also told Sky New in his brief clip this morning that he wanted to take the “yah-boo” element out of PMQs.
I want things to be rather different because I think the public have had enough of yah-boo sucks theatrical politics and that’s what I am going to try and bring to PMQs today.
It’s going to be interesting. I don’t expect it’s going to be easy but then our job is to hold government to account; our job is to speak up for ordinary people over the country and the day-to-day problems they are facing in their lives. That is the function of Parliament. It is not a club - or should not be a club - and I will try and treat it with the respect it deserves.
Michael Crick has posted more on Twitter about the incident involving a cameraman outside Jeremy Corbyn’s house.
BBC quote Labour as saying man involved in incident at Corbyn house was a Government driver not Labour Party driver.
The Labour MP John Mann told the BBC just now that he was getting letters from Labour supporters unhappy at what is happening under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. He would be passing them on to Corbyn, he said.
On the Daily Politics Lisa Nandy, the new shadow energy secretary, says she finds it offensive to suggest that the only way to show respect for those who served in the second world war is to sing a particular song.
This is getting confusing. Labour sources are now briefing that Jeremy Corbyn will sing the national anthem at future events.
Labour sources say @jeremycorbyn will sing national anthem at future events
Labour sources say when @jeremycorbyn spoke about taking part "fully" at future events - "that includes singing"
Here is the full transcript of what Jeremy Corbyn said in his clip for Sky News about anthemgate.
Corbyn declined to say he would be willing to sing the national anthem at future events. All he would say was that he would take “a full part”.
Q: You want to be PM, representing the country abroad. Are you really not going to sing the national anthem?
JC: I was at the Battle of Britain memorial yesterday. I was there out of respect for that amazing moment in British history. I was also thinking about my family, my mum and dad who were there at that time in London and who worked as air raid warnings during the Blitz. I was thinking about them. It was a respectful ceremony, and I stood in respect throughout it.
Jeremy Corbyn has given an interview about not singing the national anthem.
He says that he was thinking about his parents during the service yesterday, and their service during the second world war.
Here are some of the more interesting tweets I’ve seen about anthemgate.
From the Times’s Philip Collins
Let's not waste this crisis. Let's change the national anthem to Jerusalem, Jeremy Corbyn will sing it and we'll all get a better song.
There is an entirely principled justification for Corbyn not singing the anthem. But wishful thinking to believe it's not terrible politics.
It says a lot about UK media that they lead on Jeremy & National Anthem instead of how the Tories pushed through cuts for the working poor
Corbyn a hypocrite for kneeling before the Queen and a traitor for not singing the National Anthem; 2 days in, the new media is in chaos.
I may be wrong but surely something more important happened in the world over last 24 hours than@JeremyCorbyn4PM not miming to anthem?
Problem for Labour isn't that Corbyn didn't want to sing national anthem. It's that is everyone is arguing about this, not tax credits cut
As a WW2 veteran what offends me are those who use ancient wars to sell their dubious war on terror http://t.co/QDpFARANFc #nationalanthem
Corbyn is being attacked over trivialities rather than policy: button undone & anthem unsung. But why gift daft stories to right-wing press?
I've given it some thought, & I've concluded that there is nobody alive who might have voted for Corbyn but now won't because of the anthem.
Judging by the reaction to Corbyn's disinclination to sing the national anthem, Facebook's dislike button comes at just the right time.
Things Labour should alienate middle England on: single mums, international aid, tax credits. Things not worth the candle: the Queen.
Sky News’s Darren McCaffrey has posted video footage on Twitter of an incident involving a TV camera outside Jeremy Corbyn’s house.
WATCH: #Corbyn not having great luck with cameras at the moment. pic.twitter.com/fK5iysQVJM
Michael Crick, the Channel 4 News political correspondent, has posted these on Twitter. A Guardian colleague has confirmed that there was an incident, and we will be publishing our own story soon.
BBC cameraman in hospital last night with neck and face injuries after Corbyn aide allegedly assaulted him as Corbyn left his home yesterday
Cameraman in alleged incident outside Corbyn home was seen in hospital wearing neck brace & with bruise to his face
Video - up soon - of incident outside Corbyn home yesterday shows camera going to ground & voice of someone who seems to say "I warned you"
Yesterday 2nd time in 5 days where cameraman filming Corbyn leaving house has allegedly been assaulted by an aide. Earlier incident too
BBC cameramen are angry with their bosses whom they say have done nothing about it, not reported it, nor complained to Corbyn
"You've smashed my camera," says voice on video of Corbyn incident
We are trying to seek clarity from Corbyn’s team and Labour about whether “Jeremy Corbyn 4 PM” officially speaks for the leader. The Twitter account has a blue tick to show it is verified but the Facebook page that published the longer statement does not. There are separate official “Jeremy Corbyn” pages.
Amid all the fury over anthemgate, you might have missed the claim yesterday that Jeremy Corbyn pinched some sandwiches intended for veterans after yesterday’s Battle of Britain service. Helpfully,Huffington Post has a story saying that allegation is totally untrue, and that the sandwiches were intended for anyone attending the service.
My colleague Roy Greenslade has read all the newspaper coverage of Jeremy Corbyn, and the national anthem row, so that you don’t have to. He’s written a round-up of their coverage here.
Roy’s with Corbyn on this one.
At this point, I need to declare that I do not sing the national anthem. I am a member of Republic, the organisation dedicated to the abolition of the monarchy. And I shared a platform with Corbyn at a Republic annual meeting many years ago.
It also means that I, like Corbyn, am a republican in the UK and a republican in Ireland - but definitely not a Republican in the US.
“Whatever your view of him, it is absurd to suggest he was showing a lack of respect to our country’s war heroes. He was there to pay them respect and he chose to do so silently.
People are inevitably divided on the issue. Those who enjoy singing the anthem should be allowed to do so and those who prefer to reflect shouldn’t be abused or bullied.”
The Labour MP Simon Danczuk, one of the Labour MPs who has been most critical of Jeremy Corbyn, has been out again today having a go at him over not singing the national anthem.
"Crass and immature" - @SimonDanczuk's response to Jeremy Corbyn's silence during national anthem.
He's "not just a backbench MP now" says @SimonDanczuk after Corbyn's national anthem silence..http://t.co/5QMykLHpIX pic.twitter.com/gOi6hszgCg
Here are the headline unemployment figures.
There is some consolation for Jeremy Corbyn this morning. In his Telegraph column, William Hague,the Conservative former foreign secretary, says he has some admiration for him.
I have a confession to make: as foreign secretary I always respected and made time for Jeremy Corbyn. He was an inveterate campaigner on many issues, from the return of the Chagos Islanders to nuclear disarmament. Consistent and predictable, he asked his own questions in the Commons without paying the slightest attention to his front bench, a quality which, provided it was confined to Opposition, seemed to me to be entirely commendable.
Here’s Jeremy Corbyn leaving home this morning.
But the Corbyn team view is not shared by Lord West, the former head of the navy and a former Labour security minister (although not a tribal Labour figure - he was one of Gordon Brown’s “government of all talents” (goat) appointments). Asked about Jeremy Corbyn not singing the national anthem, West said:
I think [the military] will be offended, and a large number of people in this country will be offended by it and I think extraordinary is the right word but they will be offended by it as well and I think that should have been thought through.
Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign team has dismissed the row about his not singing the national anthem at the Battle of Britain service yesterdays as “tittle tattle” and “demeaning” to the political debate he has launched. The campaign posted this on its official Twitter account.
We haven't got time for tittle tattle. People are suffering in this country - and we have work to do. What's next? pic.twitter.com/ZDUwiVF02k
Here is more from Kate Green, the shadow minister for women and equalities, explaining Labour’s position on the benefits cap. (See 8.38am.)
Referring to Labour’s general election manifesto, she said that the party’s current position was to “support the principle” of the benefits cap. But that could change, she acknowledged.
Well, the party has a collective process for making policy. That has led us to our present position which is to support the principle of the benefits cap introduced in the last Parliament. The government is now seeking to reduce the level of the cap. We think that will cause very significant hardship to a number of people who can’t do very much about their circumstances.
I don’t think it is any secret that Jeremy and other London MPs in particular are against the cap because they have seen it having a particularly harsh affect in London where housing costs are very high. The present policy position of the party, decided collectively by the party - and that is the way we make policy in the party; Jeremy is very respectful of that collective approach - is that we accept the principle of the cap but it is not currently before parliament to have a vote to remove it altogether. Obviously if that becomes a possibility in Parliament the party will collectively decide where we stand...
It is not the current policy of the Labour party [to oppose the principle of a cap] but it is clearly something that Jeremy feels very strongly about.
Jeremy Corbyn faces his first PMQs today with two fresh Labour controversies in the news. Both of them illustrate how his election as leader is taking the party into very unfamiliar territory.
As far as I am concerned, the amendments we are putting forward are to remove the whole idea of the benefit cap altogether.
I think the truth is we still must support overall reductions in welfare spending. I think we have also got to have limits on what individuals and individual families can draw down. Can I be clear - our policy is to oppose the Welfare Bill which includes the reduction from £26,000 to £23,000 on the benefit cap for individual households.
No, our policy is to review that aspect of it. We are very clear. We are in favour of an overall reduction in the amount of money we spend on benefits in this country and we are in favour of limits on what individual families can draw down. Because I don’t think the country would support us saying we were in favour of unfettered spending.
Jeremy absolutely stands with and respects everybody who has fought, who has lost their life, been wounded in fighting oppressions and defending our freedoms. For many people, the monarchy, singing the national anthem is a way of showing that respect. I think it would have been appropriate and right and respectful of people’s feelings to have done so.
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Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, during his first Prime Minister's Question Time in the House of Commons in London on Wednesday.
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Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview aired Wednesday that his priority is "defeating terrorism" in Syria and urged all political and armed factions in the country to unite in the fight against terrorist groups.
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Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) criticized President Obama for pursuing the Iran nuclear deal with only a minority of Senate votes in a speech Tuesday night, and sketched a strategy for the agreement’s opponents as the debate continues.
As the congressional review period for the Iran nuclear agreement expired on Tuesday, Cotton said, “It [is] bad precedent to allow a nuclear arms control agreement with a sworn enemy to go into effect without even a bare majority of support.”
The president’s agreement with Iran was protected by a Democratic filibuster on Tuesday night, despite opposition from a Senate majority and the American public.
In an address before an audience from Hillsdale College, Cotton announced he will continue to fight the deal despite setbacks.
Cotton said he intends to “put other countries on notice” that the agreement can be revoked at any time by a future president, a tactic that recalls his letter to the leadership of Iran as the agreement was being negotiated.
By “isolating and impugning” the agreement as an aberration, Cotton says he hopes to discourage future presidents from pursuing major diplomatic agreements outside of the U.S. Constitution’s treaty process.
“Future presidents will see that securing the advice and consent of the Senate is the foundation of a truly secure legacy,” Cotton said.
Cotton argued that the Founding Fathers intended for important international agreements to be passed with broad support by the Senate.
The Iran deal is not a treaty but an “executive agreement,” a legal accord that has historically been used for minor administrative matters, not major rapprochements. This maneuver allowed President Obama to strike a deal without the two-thirds support in the Senate necessary to approve a treaty.
His administration has defended this approach, arguing that it is “physically impossible” to pass a treaty in an age of partisanship.
“Obama’s disregard for the treaty process is the height of hubris,” Cotton said. “He mistook his desire for a legacy for a vital national interest.”
The post Cotton: Iran Deal Can Be Repealed at Any Time appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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The air war against the Islamic State provides a perfect real-life story line to a sequel, but much has changed since Tom Cruise starred as Maverick in the iconic 1986 blockbuster.
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
Intelligence analysts have presented investigators with documents they claim demonstrate that senior military officers manipulated the conclusions of reports on the war against ISIS, according to government officials, report Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo. [New York Times]
The White House is weighing whether to engage in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Syria, as President Obama has refused to engage with the leader for over a year due to Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. [New York Times’ Peter Baker and Andrew E. Kramer] And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Russia next week for talks with President Putin on a growing Russian military presence in Syria, an Israeli official said. [The Daily Star]
Russia will continue its military support of the Assad regime against “terrorist aggression,” President Putin said yesterday at a security summit in Tajikistan. [Wall Street Journal’s Nathan Hodge]
Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Moscow to clarify the intentions of Russia’s military build-up in Syria, saying that the country “risks exacerbating and extending the conflict,” in a statement. [BBC]
The Pentagon has no plan for how to handle the presence of Russian aircraft operating in Syrian airspace, despite defense officials expressing concern about how to deconflict US air operations with Russia’s. [The Hill’s Kristina Wong]
Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad will only step down from power “if the people demand it,” saying that he will not give in to pressure from the international community. [Reuters]
France will begin airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State targets in the coming weeks, the country’s defense minister said today. [AP] France’s willingness to engage in strikes “reflects new intelligence reports” which indicate that ISIS is planning to use European recruits to execute attacks on home soil, especially in France, according to officials. [Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Dalton]
A three-member panel has been named to head up the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) tasked by the United Nations with identifying those responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict. [UN News Centre]
US-led airstrikes continue. The US and partner military forces carried out three airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Sept 14. Separately, coalition forces conducted a further 15 strikes on targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
The refugee situation facing Europe should be treated as a “security crisis,” not just a humanitarian crisis as it is being considered by Germany and its “less-welcoming European partners,” opines Clemens Wergin. [New York Times]
The Department of Homeland Security is designing its strategy for taking in a minimum of 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, within current budget constraints, Secretary Jeh Johnson said yesterday to Reuters.
One-in-five Syrians recently surveyed thought the Islamic State to be a positive influence on the country, and 82% of the 1,365 Syrians interviewed believed the Islamist group was created by the US and allies, reports Sudarsan Raghavan. [Washington Post]
IRAN
Senate Democrats once again blocked a resolution rejecting the Iran nuclear accord; a second vote had been called by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell despite cries from Democrats that it was a waste of time, reports David M. Herszenhorn. [New York Times]
McConnell has scheduled what is considered to be a tough vote for Democrats on Thursday, seeking political consequences for those who have expressed support for the deal. Thursday’s proposals would require Iran to recognize Israel as a nation and to release Americans held in Iranian detention. [Politico’s Burgess Everett]
House Republicans are calling on McConnell to invoke the “nuclear option,” changing Senate rules to require only a simple majority to push through a resolution against the Iran deal. [The Hill’s Cristina Marcos]
A team of IAEA investigators have arrived in Tehran to discuss the country’s past nuclear work. The nuclear watchdog has until Oct 15 to complete its probe; IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano is expected to report his findings to the agency’s board by Dec 15, reports Laurence Norman. [Wall Street Journal]
ISRAEL and PALESTINE
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has warned Israel that clashes around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem in recent days could weaken relations between the two countries; violence took place again on Tuesday between Palestinians and Israeli police. [New York Times’ Diaa Hadid]
Vice President Joe Biden spoke to King Abdullah during a phone call yesterday in which he called on all parties to “exercise restraint” and to “refrain from provocative actions.”
The latest violence risks igniting new Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process warned the Security Council yesterday. [UN News Centre]
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Egypt has rejected criticism over an airstrike that hit a group of Mexican tourists, killing a dozen people, the Egyptian foreign minister defending the professionalism and sacrifice of the country’s security forces. Mexico has demanded answers to the “unjustified aggression.” [New York Times’ Jared Malsin]
Nigeria’s military has freed at least a dozen women and children kidnapped by the military group, Boko Haram; the rescue took place as the army cleared out camps held by the group in the country’s restive Borno state, a spokesman for the military said. [AP’s Bashir Adigun]
A Taliban leadership struggle has been resolved, the group said of the disagreement which had challenged its unity. The announcement renews hopes that peace talks with the central Afghan government can resume. [Wall Street Journal’s Margherita Stancati and Saeed Shah]
A UN civilian staff member is accused of sexual exploitation in the Central African Republic, the 17th person accused of sexual abuse since the peacekeeping mission arrived last year, the UN said yesterday. [AP]
The Wall Street Journal editorial board calls for the release of files captured by Navy SEALS during the operation to take out Osama Bin Laden, asking why the public has not been allowed to see the papers which document al-Qaeda’s plans as well as the group’s cooperation with Iran.
“Ever greater constraints” on the use of force by the UK military may “embolden” the country’s enemies, head of the British armed forces, Gen Sir Nicholas Houghton told the Chatham House think tank in a speech. [BBC]
“This is the first time in my life I’ve had to bury one human being twice.” Nasser M. Kutabish describes the death of a family member in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, killed “almost certainly” by the Saudi-led coalition. [New York Times]
More than a dozen states on the UK’s list of “countries of concern” will attend the Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition (DESI) in London, one of the world’s largest arms fairs, which began yesterday. [Defense One’s Aamna Mohdin]
Libyan “forever prisoner” Omar Mohammed Khalif has been cleared for release from Guantánamo Bay detention facility by a federal parole board. [Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg]
Australia will resist a renewed push for nuclear disarmament because of the country’s reliance on the deterrent capability of its ally, America. [The Guardian’s Ben Doherty]
The UN has called on Sri Lanka to establish a special court to investigate “horrific” abuses committed during the country’s 26-year civil war, reports Nick Cumming-Bruce. [New York Times]
A new report shows how Moscow has tried to cover up the deaths of Russian soldiers during the Ukraine conflict; Catherine A. Fitzpatrick provides the details at The Daily Beast.
The CIA is preparing to release about 2,500 President’s Daily Briefs delivered to President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson during an eight-year period in the 1960s; the move represents a sharp turnaround to consistent agency claims that the release would endanger national security. [Politico’s Josh Gerstein]
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent nearly $1.5 million studying how infants think about food.
The project, “Infants’ and Children’s Reasoning About Foods,” is being conducted by the University of Chicago and so far has determined that young children would rather not eat food that someone has licked or sneezed on.
“Good nutrition is important for health and longevity, yet many Americans do not consume nutritionally sound diets,” according to the grant for the project. “Evidence suggests that infants’ and children’s earliest patterns of eating have lasting consequences for health across the lifespan.”
The premise for the study is that there is a dearth of research about how babies think about eating.
“Despite the complexity and significance of food selection, developmental psychologists have devoted surprisingly little attention to studying how infants and children perceive, learn, and reason about foods,” the grant said. “The current proposal employs methods from cognitive development to test social influences on infants’ and children’s food choices and consumption.”
The researchers characterize infants as having “limited knowledge in the food domain.” Children aged three to six years old are “more knowledgeable than infants and toddlers about foods” but are “notoriously picky eaters.”
The project, which began in 2012 and was renewed with a $367,020 grant this year, has cost taxpayers $1,486,521 so far. Research will continue until March 2017.
The study involves examining how one-year-old infants reason about food and “non-food objects.” Older children will be studied for how they choose which foods to eat.
The grant explains that three to six-year-olds “may be susceptible to social messages and contexts,” and the project will study how a child’s race and gender influences what they eat.
The ultimate goal of the project is to change how children eat.
“This research aims to explore the mechanisms underlying children’s food selection, with the eventual goal of effecting positive change in children’s willingness to select healthy foods that are familiar and disliked, and limiting their selection of unhealthy foods that are familiar and liked,” the grant said.
Published results for the $1.5 million study include a paper entitled, “Eww she sneezed! Contamination context affects children’s food preferences and consumption.”
The researchers found that three to eight-year-old children were not likely to eat foods if they were told that someone sneezed on them.
The post Feds Spend $1.5 Million Studying How Babies Think About Food appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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Russian hackers penetrated U.S. industrial control networks that run critical infrastructures like the electrical grid, according to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Clapper, in little-noticed testimony before Congress last week, also disclosed that Moscow has formed a cyber military command and a special hacker unit as part of preparations for future cyber warfare.
In addition to Russia, the intelligence chief singled out China, Iran, and North Korea as the primary nation states capable of conducting sophisticated cyber attacks and espionage.
“Politically motivated cyber attacks are now a growing reality, and foreign actors are reconnoitering and developing access to U.S. critical infrastructure systems, which might be quickly exploited for disruption if an adversary’s intent became hostile,” Clapper said in prepared remarks for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The testimony on Sept. 10 represents a break from past public testimony on cyber threats. Previous intelligence statements and testimony limited public mention of explicit links between nations and their cyber strikes.
Clapper revealed that Russian cyber warfare specialists are developing the capability to remotely access industrial control systems used in managing critical infrastructure.
“Unknown Russian actors successfully compromised the product supply chains of at least three [industrial control system] vendors so that customers downloaded malicious software designed to facilitate exploitation directly from the vendors’ websites along with legitimate software updates…,” Clapper stated.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported in October 2014 that Russian hackers had penetrated industrial control networks for water and energy systems.
The hacking was disclosed in a Department of Homeland Security alert to industry.
The Russian link to network penetrations involved use of malware known as “BlackEnergy,” which was traced to a Russian government cyber attack operation called “Sandworm” by security researchers.
Russia’s defense ministry is setting up a cyber command that will conduct offensive cyber activities. The military cyber operations include propaganda operations and planting malware into enemy command and control systems. The Russian military is also creating a specialized branch for computer network operations.
Clapper said the command is similar to the U.S. Cyber Command.
Asked whether the Chinese have a similar cyber command, Clapper said during a committee hearing that he did not believe the People’s Liberation Army has a similar cyber command. But he noted that “the Chinese, as you know, have very capable structure and apparatus in their current PLA staff structure.”
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), a member of the intelligence committee, said critical infrastructure networks are vulnerable to Russian cyber attacks.
“The risk from penetration of these critical industrial systems by Russian actors is very real and very serious,” Pompeo said. “The same country that invaded Ukraine and is now putting tanks in Syria is conducting reconnaissance of U.S. Industrial infrastructure. We must do more to stop Putin’s aggression.”
Clapper concluded the prepared testimony by stating that “cyber threats to U.S. national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication, and severity of impact. The ranges of cyber threat actors, methods of attack, targeted systems, and victims are also expanding.”
A large number of cyber actors “remain undeterred from conducting economic cyber espionage or perpetrating cyber attacks,” he said.
Clapper also noted that the motivation for cyber attacks and cyber espionage “will probably remain strong because of the relative ease of these operations and the gains they bring to the perpetrators.”
“The muted response by most victims to cyber attacks has created a permissive environment in which low-level attacks can be used as a coercive tool short of war, with relatively low risk of retaliation,” Clapper said.
The comment reflects a recent classified intelligence estimate that U.S. officials say concluded that cyber attacks were likely to continue unless a greater response to the attacks is made by the government.
Recent major attacks have targeted the Office of Personnel Management system and involved the theft of sensitive records on some 22 million federal workers.
The financial company JPMorgan Chase also was hit with denial-of-service cyber attacks. The company is spending more than $250 million to bolster security.
Hackers from China also breached the networks of the U.S. company Community Health Systems and obtained records on 4.5 million people.
Russia is among four categories of cyber threat actors identified by Clapper in the testimony, including “highly sophisticated” hackers like those in Russia and China, less technically capable states like Iran and North Korea, cyber criminals, and ideologically motivated hackers and terrorists.
The hackers often belong to multiple categories, making it difficult to track the origin of digital network attacks.
Chinese cyber espionage is continuing to target a broad spectrum of targets, including national security information, sensitive economic data, and intellectual property, Clapper said.
“Although China is an advanced cyber actor in terms of capabilities, Chinese hackers are often able to gain access to their targets without having to resort to using advanced capabilities,” he said.
Iranian hackers were linked to denial-of-service attacks against U.S. financial institutions between 2012 and 2013, as well as a cyber attack on the Las Vegas Sands casino.
The Iranians also were linked to cyber attacks in December 2014 targeting computers involved in U.S. military, transportation, public utility, and other critical infrastructures.
Tehran’s hackers regard cyber attacks as “one of many tools for carrying out asymmetric but proportional retaliation against political foes, as well as a sophisticated means of collecting intelligence,” Clapper said.
North Korea’s hacking has been used for achieving political objectives. A November 2014 cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that involved theft of corporate data and hard-drive erasing malware was said to have been motivated by the company’s planned release of The Interview, a film depicting the assassination of President Kim Jong-un.
Asked about the Russian cyber capabilities, Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said it is no secret that various nations and non-state hackers want effective cyber weapons.
“While I can’t comment on specific threats, I can tell you that the threat is growing every day and the United States is wholly unprepared for it,” Nunes said.
“The cyber bill passed by the House is a big step forward, and the Senate should act on it.”
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has passed the House and is awaiting Senate action.
In the non-state cyber arena, cyber criminals are reaping cash from attacks on online markets and retail stores.
“The most significant financial cyber criminal threats to U.S. entities and our international partners can be attributed to a relatively small subset of actors, facilitators, infrastructure, and criminal forums,” Clapper said.
Clapper downplayed the relative threat from hacking by terrorist groups, compared with other kinds of cyber threats.
“Terrorist sympathizers will probably conduct low-level cyber attacks on behalf of terrorist groups and attract attention of the media, which might exaggerate the capabilities and threat posed by these actors,” Clapper said.
The Islamic State terrorist group has been conducting strategic social media campaigns to spread propaganda and recruit members since last summer.
A new trend for cyber threats is a possible future shift from theft and denial-of-information attacks to cyber operations designed to fool or mislead government and private-sector decision makers.
“In the future, we might also see more cyber operations that will change or manipulate electronic information in order to compromise its integrity (i.e., accuracy and reliability) instead of deleting it or disrupting access to it,” Clapper said.
Foreign spies also are leveraging the Internet in an effort to identify the intelligence agents of other nations.
“Foreign intelligence agencies could target the individual, family members, coworkers, and neighbors using a variety of physical and electronic methods,” Clapper said.
A “great concern” is that Chinese intelligence will exploit the masses of data taken from the Office of Personnel Management and other large-scale data theft to learn the identities of intelligence officers working abroad, he said.
The post DNI: Russians Hacked U.S. Industrial Control Nets appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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Russian state media have extolled the recent election of Jeremy Corbyn to the head of Britain’s Labour Party as the Kremlin continues to expand its influence among European political extremists.
Corbyn received nearly 60 percent of the votes in Saturday’s leadership election for Labour, the major opposition party in Britain once led by Tony Blair. The left-wing Member of Parliament has been critical of NATO and expressed opposition to imposing sanctions on Russia for its support of separatists in Ukraine. He also previously referred to members of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends” when he welcomed them to Britain.
Russian news outlets lauded the victory of a candidate with views closer to the Kremlin line. RT, a Russian-funded propaganda network, noted that Corbyn was “an admirer of Karl Marx” and had won “one of the key races in recent times.”
Neil Clark, a British journalist interviewed by RT, said that his election was “a wonderful day for British democracy.”
“What this campaign showed is a massive disconnect between the establishment elite who told us Corbyn couldn’t win,” he said.
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, a columnist for the pro-Kremlin outlet Pravda.ru, wrote that Corbyn “has the Establishment on both sides of the Atlantic shaking in their boots.” He praised the new Labour leader for challenging the “lobby” of NATO officials, who have condemned Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea last March and its ongoing provision of weapons, troops, and money to Ukrainian separatists. Nearly 8,000 people have died in the Ukrainian conflict since last April.
“Predictably, the national security button will be pressed as enemies and dark forces are invented to justify NATO’s existence and new members are sought to bolster its budget and cater for the lobbies for which NATO is the cutting edge,” Bancroft-Hinchey wrote.
Corbyn has also called for abolishing Britain’s Trident nuclear system.
The Russian embassy in Britain has traded barbs with David Cameron, the UK’s current prime minister and the leader of the Conservative Party. When Cameron said on Twitter that a Labour Party led by Corbyn is “a threat to our national security, our economic security and your family’s security,” the Russian embassy responded: “Just imagine UK media headlines if Russian President called a leading opposition party threat to national security?”
Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, tweeted congratulations to Corbyn and also expressed “hope for positive change” in relations.
In Washington, John Kirby, a spokesman for the Department of State, said on Monday that, while American officials do not comment on “internal political matters,” the U.S.-UK alliance will “continue very, very strong” regardless of changes in party leadership. The Obama administration has assumed several positions seemingly at odds with Corbyn, including U.S. support for economic sanctions on Russia.
Corbyn is the latest European leader to express a desire for closer relations with President Vladimir Putin. Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front, has denied reports that her party received millions in loans from a Russian bank as a result of her support for the Kremlin. Le Pen has visited Moscow several times and praised the Russian president.
Even members of France’s main center-right party, the Republicans, have moved closer to Putin in recent years. Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president who leads the party, has said that “Crimea can’t be blamed for choosing Russia.”
Additionally, far-left and far-right politicians leading Greece and Hungary, respectively, have met repeatedly with Putin and expressed admiration for him.
Putin’s courting of extremist politicians, including some who now lead their countries, could undermine U.S. and European efforts to punish Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. While some of the fighting in eastern Ukraine has subsided, there are also reports that Russian troops have continued to supply advanced weaponry to the separatists, including T-72 tanks and anti-aircraft missiles.
The post Russia Celebrates Election of Pro-Kremlin Party Leader in Britain, ‘Admirer of Karl Marx’appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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 STATter911 |
Chief Retires After Post Criticizing Black Lives Matter
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A WWF study on more than a thousand marine species around the world shows populations declined by 49% between 1970 and 2012. Report by Claire Lomas.
USA TODAY |
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Migrant crisis: Dozens reach Croatia as Hungary border sealed
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Mullah Omar's announces support for Mullah Mansour as the new leader of the ...
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A British Isis member living in Syria has complained about the "bad manners" of Arab fellow militants he says steal his shoes, eat like children and don’t queue.
North Carolina police chief retires after post calling Black Lives Matters a terrorist group
Lebanese police beat back protesters ahead of political talks to end garbage crisis
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In shadow of Mexico's 43 missing students, thousands of others have vanished and are mourned
Albania police say they have destroyed almost all cannabis plants in the country
Croatia says it will allow migrants travelling on to northern Europe as it becomes the new centre of Europe's migrant crisis.
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Vladimir Drinkman and three others are accused of taking part in a scam reported to be have been worth around $300m (£195m).
Everything you need to know about the candidates for the Republicans and Democrats, the upcoming primaries and the latest poll data
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US secretary of state makes third call in 10 days to Russian counterpart after president Vladimir Putin defended his military assistance to Assad's government
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