Fedge

Revelations about the Jeffrey Delisle spy case have been found in a treasure trove of documents obtained by The Globe and Mail – including his confession to police and the apocalyptic postmortems by federal officials. A naval ‘threat assessment analyst,’ he had been cleared to acquire reports from civilian agencies – including CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, and the PCO, Ottawa’s bureaucratic nerve centre.

About 250 shipyard workers stormed the Greek Defense Ministry in Athens on Thursday, demanding to be paid their wages and calling for an audience with the Greek Defense Minister. The shipyard workers were from the Hellenic Skarmangas shipyard. Furious over not having been paid for six months, they chanted “We want solutions, not layoffs!" according to a Reuters report. The protestors forced their way past security guards, and streamed into the compound. Scuffles broke out between police officers and protestors. Greek television aired video of police officers beating protestors with batons, leaving their faces bloodied. There have been reports on Twitter that 70 protestors have been arrested. General Mihail Kostarakos tried to calm the protestors, but departed to a chorus of boos. Defense Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos was not at the ministry on Thursday. The protests come amidst a new series of austerity measures that the Greek government is enforcing in order to try and curb its spending in the hopes of winning a new bailout package from the European Union. The Greek government has also been withholding pay to its contractors in an attempt to save money. The Hellenic Skarmangas shipyard mainly works on naval contracts on order from the Greek government, according to the Wall Street Journal. ­ No sign of let-up in protests Greece has seen persistent protests ever since it first started receiving bailout packages in 2010, and the unrest at government austerity measures to keep the country in the eurozone has only grown. On September 26, around 70,000 people, as estimated by Reuters, gathered in front of the parliament for the country’s biggest anti-austerity protest since the new government came to power in June. The rally turned violent when protesters lobbed Molotov cocktails at police, who retaliated by firing teargas at the demonstrators. Security forces also reportedly used flashbang grenades and pepper spray to push protesters back from the parliament building. According to Greek newspaper Kathimerin, police had been ordered to refrain from using chemicals against protesters. Greece faces a record 24 per cent unemployment rate combined with one third of their population living below the poverty line. Greeks feel that the repeated austerity measures have devastated their lives, but any attempt to steer a new course would cut off the bailout funding, forcing the government to default on its debt and exit the eurozone in a matter of months. ­ ­ Shipyard workers face police near the Defense Ministry in Athens.(AFP Photo / Louisa Gouliamaki) ­ ­ ­ ­ Screenshot from YouTube user alfavitagr

Researchers from the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center have developed malicious software that can remotely seize control of the camera on an infected smartphone and employ it to spy on the phone’s user. The malware, dubbed “PlaceRaider,” “allows remote hackers to reconstruct rich, three-dimensional models of the smartphone owner’s personal indoor spaces through completely opportunistic use of the camera,” the researchers said in a study published last week. The program uses images from the camera and positional information from the smartphone’s gyroscopic and other sensors to map spaces the phone’s user spends a lot of time in, such as a home or office. “Remote burglars” could use these three-dimensional models to “study the environment carefully and steal virtual objects [visible to the camera] … such as as financial documents [or] information on computer monitors,” the researchers reported. The program they developed for research purposes easily could be disguised by a malicious user as an app — the programs that run on smartphones — and unwittingly downloaded by victims, according to the study, which first was reported by the newsblog ThreatPost. Because users often do not realize that a smartphone is basically a small computer, and because there are few security products available, smartphones are considered highly vulnerable to hackers. Commercial software, for instance, can turn smartphones into microphones and tracking devices. But PlaceRaider is the first known example of malware developed to exploit the high-definition cameras that are now ubiquitous on smartphones. The study was a collaboration between the Navy center team and researchers from the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University.

Days after the US and 30 other nations began naval exercises in the Persian Gulf; Tehran has announced it is sending a Russian submarine to bolster its forces in the area.

A third US aircraft carrier, USS Stennis, is moving into place for leading 25 nations in a 12-day naval exercise off Iran’s Gulf coast. A large-scale minesweeping drill will simulate the prevention of Iranian efforts to block the Strait of Hormuz. debka

At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice.

A new U.S. military program aims to cultivate a battlefield sixth sense among all of its soldiers based on learning related to intuition.

Alan Schultz, Director of NRL's new Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research, talks about the cutting-edge capabilities of the new facility.

Tehran's leadership has decided to order a blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz if the country's oil exports are blocked, a senior Revolutionary Guard Commander said as reported by Iranian press.

A partial meltdown is likely under way at a second quake-stricken nuclear reactor while efforts are under way to stop a meltdown at another, a top Japanese official says.