Two Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers have been arrested and charged in relation with  anti-government protests last year that rocked the semi-autonomous city. Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui were arrested early Wednesday morning at their homes, according to a post on the Facebook page of the Democratic Party.   Lam was arrested on suspicion of taking part in a riot on July 21 of last year, when more than 100 men attacked pro-democracy protesters and passengers at the Yuen Long  subway station with steel rods and canes.  Protesters have accused police of arriving late on the scene and allowing some of the armed attackers to leave.   Lam has also been charged with Hui in connection with a July 6 protest in the Tuen Mun district.Pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui (R) speaks to the media outside the West Kowloon Court in Hong Kong on August 24, 2020.At least 14 other people were also arrested Wednesday in relation to last year’s massive protests, which began when the government announced plans to approve an extradition bill that would have sent criminal suspects to mainland China to face trial.  The controversial measure was eventually withdrawn, but the protests continued and evolved into a demand for greater democracy for Hong Kong, which was granted an unusual amount of freedom when Britain handed control of the city back to China in 1997. The often violent protests prompted Beijing to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong that would subject anyone believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces to trial and possible life in prison if convicted. Lam and Hui are the latest high-profile pro-democracy figures who have been arrested since the law went into effect on July 1.  They include 72-year-old Jimmy Lai, the publisher of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, and 23-year-old Agnes Chow, a former leader of Demosisto, a political party founded by fellow activist Joshua Wong.  The party disbanded shortly after the new security law went into effect last month.    Hong Kong authorities have also disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in September’s legislative elections that have since been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The disqualified candidates included Wong, who was one of many pro-democracy activists who were nominated in an unofficial primary held back in July.  
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One person has been shot and killed during a third consecutive night of protests in the midwestern U.S. city of Kenosha, Wisconsin over the shooting of a Black man by police on Sunday. The victim was one of several people who were shot and wounded as protests stretched from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.  News outlets say the shooting occurred during a confrontation between protesters and several bystanders several blocks from the city courthouse, where protesters had clashed with police for several hours until they were forced out of the area.   Cell phone video on social media reportedly showed a man firing into a crowd after he fell to the ground.  Tuesday’s violent protests came hours after the father of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot Sunday, said his son is paralyzed from the waist down.  Blake’s father, who is also named Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper Tuesday his son has “eight holes” in his body from his confrontation with police. He said doctors do not know if the paralysis will be permanent.   Ben Crump, the lawyer for the injured man, said it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again. He said Blake’s spinal cord was severed and his vertebrae shattered. Another family lawyer said several organs were damaged as well.A protester tosses an object toward police during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse late Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis., on third night of unrest following the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.Police have so far released almost no information about what led up to the shooting Sunday evening other than to say they were responding to a domestic dispute.   Wisconsin Governor Police clear a park during clashes with protesters outside the Kenosha County Courthouse late, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis., during demonstrations over the Sunday shooting of Jacob Blake.Cellphone video of the incident on Sunday shows Blake walking around the front of an SUV, in which three of his children were sitting. Two police officers appear to be following with their guns pointed at him. When Blake opens the car door and leans in, an officer appears to grab his shirt from behind and fires. In the video, seven shots were heard along with people screaming and shouting.  Crump told ABC News one officer fired all seven shots, four of which hit Blake. Crump said there is no sign Blake was armed, adding he was trying to break up an argument between two women. It is unclear who the women are and their ties to Blake and his children.   Sunday’s shooting came after a spring and summer of nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in May while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. There have also been other highly publicized killings of African Americans by police.  The shootings gave new life to the Black Lives Matter movement, and elevated racism and law and order into key issues for the presidential campaign.  The officers involved in Sunday’s shooting are on administrative leave.   The president of the Kenosha police union, Pete Deates, is urging people not to jump to conclusions about Sunday’s incident.  “As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident,” he said.    Pastor Norma Urrabazo of the International Church of Las Vegas included Blake as she led the opening prayer on the second night of the Republican National Convention Tuesday.     “We pray for healing and comfort to Jacob Blake and his family. We pray for your protection over those who put their lives in harm’s way to bring safety and security to our streets,” she said.    Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Monday “These shots pierce the soul of our nation. Equal justice has not been real for Black Americans and so many others … we must dismantle systemic racism.”  
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Greece and Turkey say they are ready for talks to settle rival claims to an energy-rich section of the Mediterranean, but the hostility was clear when the foreign ministers of both countries called for dialogue Tuesday.  After talks in Ankara with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Greece must drop what he called its “maximalist demands.” “We are open to talks without pre-conditions. But, when one side starts imposing pre-conditions, then there are many things we will put forth too,” he said. Maas also met in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who also said Greece wants talks with Turkey but will not go if it is “under threats.” He said Greece is ready to defend its rights and said the dispute with Turkey is a matter for the security of the entire European Union.  Maas said a military conflict between Greece and Turkey would be “absolute insanity.” “The situation is very risky, because in the end, whoever moves closer and closer to the abyss, can at some point fall down. That’s a development which we want to avoid,” he said in Ankara. Both Greece and Turkey say they will hold military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean.  Germany is the current EU president and has been trying to mediate talks between Greece, which belongs to the EU, and Turkey, which does not but would like to join. Greece and Turkey are locked in a dispute over boundaries in the Mediterranean and the rights to drill for offshore gas and oil deposits. Greece claims a Turkish research ship is in its waters, in which it has exclusive rights to whatever is under the sea floor.  Turkey insists the Exclusive Economic Zones of Greek islands in the Agean near the Turkish coast should be greatly reduced. 
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The Trump administration says it strongly objects to Turkey’s recent hosting of two leaders of Hamas, which the United States regards as a terrorist group. “President Erdogan’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza,” a State Department statement said Tuesday.  It pointed out that one of the Hamas members who was in Istanbul is alleged to have been involved in multiple terrorist attacks, hijackings, and kidnappings.  “We continue to raise our concerns about the Turkish government’s relationship with Hamas at the highest levels,” it adds.  Turkey is dismissing the U.S. criticism.  “Declaring the legitimate representative of Hamas, who came to power after winning democratic elections in Gaza and is an important reality of the region, as a terrorist will not be of any contribution to efforts for peace and stability in the region,” its foreign ministry said. This is the second time since February Turkey has played host to Hamas leaders, the United States says. Hamas rules Palestinian Gaza and has fought three wars with Israel. Palestinian militants occasionally launch rockets into Israel from Gaza, sparking a harsh response from Israel. 
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U.S. forces are taking an aggressive approach in cyberspace ahead of November’s presidential election, aiming to wipe out threats from foreign countries and other actors before they have a chance to disrupt voting or other critical, election-related systems. “Cyber Command needs to do more than prepare for a crisis in the future; it must compete with adversaries today,” Gen. Paul Nakasone, head of U.S. Central Command, and senior adviser Michael Sulmeyer said in a piece published Tuesday in FILE – National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2019.“U.S. forces must compete with adversaries on a recurring basis, making it far more difficult for them to advance their goals over time,” the officials wrote, outlining the strategy for the public with the presidential election now less than three months away. “Additionally, cyber effects operations allow Cyber Command to disrupt and degrade the capabilities our adversaries use to conduct attacks.” Nakasone and Sulmeyer say the more proactive approach to protecting the upcoming U.S. election began, in part, in October 2019, after a team from Cyber Command traveled to Podgorica, Montenegro, to investigate attempts, possibly by Russia, to infiltrate that country’s networks. In the process, the Cyber Command team “saw an opportunity to improve American cyber defenses ahead of the 2020 election,” they said in the article. Nakasone and Sulmeyer also say they are building on efforts from 2018, when Cyber Command joined with the National Security Agency to form the Russia Small Group (RSG) to help protect the congressional mid-term elections, shoring up vulnerabilities within the U.S. election infrastructure, sounding alarms about Russian disinformation campaigns, and hunting for malware. “Thanks to these and other efforts, the United States disrupted a concerted effort to undermine the midterm elections,” they wrote. “Together with its partners, Cyber Command is doing all of this and more for the 2020 elections.” Managing riskCritics point out that the more aggressive approach to cyber defense carries risks. Namely, they worry that whether due to a miscalculation or an accident, a confrontation in cyberspace could escalate and lead to all-out war. But U.S. Cyber Command officials argue the risk is manageable and that the “hunt forward” strategy allows them to impose necessary costs on adversaries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. “Inaction poses its own risks: that Chinese espionage, Russian intimidation, Iranian coercion, North Korean burglary, and terrorist propaganda will continue unabated,” Nakasone and Sulmeyer wrote in the magazine. “So, the question is how, not whether, to act.” Determining whether Cyber Command’s “hunt forward” approach is paying off may be difficult. U.S. officials charged with protecting key voting-related systems said at least so far, there are no signs of any country-directed attacks on the United States. FILE – Senior Cybersecurity Adviser at the Department of Homeland Security Matthew Masterson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 22, 2019.“We are not and have not seen specific targeting of those election systems that has been attributable to nation-state actors at this time,” Matthew Masterson, senior cybersecurity adviser for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told the Atlantic Council on Tuesday. “(We) aren’t seeing a broad campaign in that way,” he said, adding, “We’re cognizant that’s in the playbook.” Evidence of meddlingEarlier this month, U.S. counterintelligence officials warned they have evidence that Russia, China and Iran are trying to meddle with the November election. “We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President (Joe) Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,’” National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina said in a statement.  “Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President (Donald) Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television,” he added. China and Iran, according to Evanina, appear to prefer a Biden presidency.  Official: US Adversaries Taking Sides, Wielding Influence Ahead of Election  US counterintelligence officials, splitting with President Trump, warn Russian-linked actors are pulling for his reelection as China and Iran aim to put Democrat Joe Biden in the White HouseBut for now, descriptions by counterintelligence officials portray such efforts by Russia, as well as by China and Iran, more as disinformation campaigns as opposed to attacks on computer systems and networks that could play a key role in collecting and tabulating votes. Most of the activity on that front, for the time being, appears to be coming from criminal actors with no definitive ties to Russia, China or other U.S. adversaries. “We do see regular scanning, regular probing of election infrastructure as a whole, what you’d expect to see as you run IT systems,” said CISA’s Masterson, citing the use of ransomware as a top concern.  “What we see is an ability to shut down county (local government) networks as a whole, which obviously has an impact on the election office to operate,” he said. Still, U.S. election security officials are optimistic that measures put in place since 2016 will be enough to ward off any attacks. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The 2020 election will be the most secure election in modern history,” CISA Director Chris Krebs told reporters last month. US Officials Promising ‘Most Secure Election in Modern History’The officials say while the November presidential election will not be risk free, defense and back-up systems should guarantee a free and fair result 
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Two firefighters were rescued, Saturday, August 22, after a fast-moving fire trapped them in the Point Reyes National Seashore, about 50 kilometers north of San Francisco. (REUTERS)
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