Month: October 2024

In a video posted to social media, Melania Trump confirm a report from The Guardian stating that she voices support for abortion rights in her new memoir, “Melania,” set to be released on Tuesday, Oct. 8th (preorder: HERE).

The video from Mrs. Trump comes shortly before the November election, with former President Donald Trump failing to reveal his position on abortion rights consistently. Vice President Kamala Harris said during her debate against Trump last month that the former President would pass a national abortion ban; however, earlier this week Trump said he would veto a national abortion ban. Trump has insisted that states having the right to determine abortion laws is “where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint.”

Melania Trump says in the video posted to her X account : “Individual freedom is a principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom — what does my body, my choice really mean?”

According to the Guardian report (which obtained a copy of Melania’s memoir), the former first lady writes that “it is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government. Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes. Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

According to the Guardian, Mrs. Trump also writes that there are “legitimate reasons for a woman to choose to have an abortion”(including rape or incest, the mother’s life being at risk, congenital birth defects and severe medical conditions). She noted that “many women opt for abortions due to personal medical concerns. These situations with significant moral implications weigh heavily on the woman and her family and deserve our empathy. Consider, for example, the complexity inherent in the decision of whether the mother should risk her own life to give birth.”

Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement: “Sadly for the women across America, Mrs. Trump’s husband firmly disagrees with her and is the reason that more than one in three American women live under a Trump abortion ban that threatens their health, their freedom, and their lives. Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear: If he wins in November, he will ban abortion nationwide, punish women, and restrict women’s access to reproductive health care.”

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com

Microsoft and U.S. authorities said on Thursday that a hacking group tied to Russian intelligence attempted to hack into the systems of dozens of Western think tanks, journalists and former military and intelligence officials. Targets included former U.S. intelligence employees, former and current Department of Defense personnel, Department of State employees, Department of Energy staff, U.S. military contractors and U.S.-based companies.

The Department of Justice revealed that authorities have seized 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies, and coordinated the takedowns with tech giant Microsoft, which seized an additional 66 unique domains operated by the same group.  The domains were intended to steal valuable information from U.S. government computers and email accounts.

In an unsealed warrant, the DOJ accused the “Callisto Group,” a unit under Russia’s FSB security service, of orchestrating an “ongoing and sophisticated spear phishing campaign” aimed at gaining unauthorized access to the computers and email accounts of victims. The group, known as Star Blizzard to cyberespionage experts, targeted its victims with emails that appeared to come from a trusted source — a tactic known as spear phishing. The Callisto Group has been actively launching cyberattacks since at least 2017 and had recently targeted nonprofits, think tanks and officials who have “provid[ed] support to Ukraine and in NATO countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as in the Baltics, Nordics, and Eastern Europe.”

According to a blog post published by Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit on Thursday, Microsoft observed the nation state cybercriminals target “over 30 civil society organizations (journalists, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) core to ensuring democracy can thrive) by deploying spear-phishing campaigns to exfiltrate sensitive information and interfere in their activities’ between January 2023 and August 2024.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement: “The Russian government ran this scheme to steal Americans’ sensitive information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing account credentials. With the continued support of our private sector partners, we will be relentless in exposing Russian actors and cybercriminals and depriving them of the tools of their illicit trade.”

Editorial credit: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com