White House: U.S. Still Investigating Origin of Cyberattack

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government continues to investigate the extent and origin of a cyberattack that compromised the personal information of 4 million current and former federal employees, the White House said Friday.

“No conclusions about the attribution of this particular attack have been reached at this point,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily briefing when asked about stories in the Washington Post citing unnamed officials as placing the blame on Chinese hackers.

Officials are trying to determine whether the attack on the government’s Office of Personnel Management was carried out on behalf of a state, the spokesman said.

He referred, however, to previous comments from President Barack Obama expressing concerns about China’s activities in cyberspace and said that the administration would continue to raise the issue with Beijing.

Earnest said authorities may ultimately decide not to disclose what they learn about the origin of the hack.

“Even if a conclusion is reached about who is responsible, I can’t guarantee necessarily that our law enforcement professionals will assess that making that information public is in the best interest of their investigation,” he said.

China on Friday pointed to a lack of “scientific evidence” linking Chinese individuals or entities to the attack, which began in December but was only detected last month.

While unwilling to assign responsibility for the hack, Earnest took the opportunity to attack Republicans in Congress for failing to act on three cybersecurity measures the White House proposed in January.

“We need not just improved efforts on the part of the federal government, but improved coordination with the private sector on these matters, and that effort to coordinate requires congressional action,” the spokesman said.

“The fact is, we need the United States Congress to come out of the Dark Ages and come into the 21st century to make sure we have the kinds of defenses that are necessary to protect a modern computer system,” Earnest said.

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy responded to the White House on Twitter: “The House has been leading on this issue for years. Unfortunately, many of these bills died in the Democrat-controlled Senate in 2012.”

Kremlin Says No Russian Troops in Ukraine

MOSCOW – The Kremlin reiterated on Friday that Russia has no troops in eastern Ukraine, in response to the accusations of the Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, who estimated that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers are deployed in the conflict zone.

“There (in Ukraine) may be citizens of all the countries: both Ukraine and Russia, and may be citizens of European countries,” said the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, according to Itar-Tass.

“But there are no Russian Armed Forces there, about what our colleagues in Ukraine and our colleagues in Europe and Washington have been speaking all the time,” Peskov added.

Earlier on Friday, Poroshenko announced the arrest of a Russian citizen two days ago near the village of Marinka during fighting between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists, the most serious since a ceasefire reached in Minsk last February.

Peskov accused Kiev of “sabotage” to stir fighting in Marinka, while Poroshenko claimed that between 500 and 1,000 pro-Russian militants tried to storm the town, located nearly 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) west of Donetsk.

U.S. Helicopter Fired at from Mexico Side of Border

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday in Texas after being fired at from the Mexican side of the border, police said.

The spokesman for the police force in Laredo, Texas, Joe Baeza, conveyed the findings of the preliminary investigation to reporters, although he did not say if the gunfire struck the chopper.

CBP sources, meanwhile, said the helicopter landed in Laredo and no one was injured, although they also did not indicate whether or not it was hit by the gunfire.

The chopper was flying over a known drug- and people-smuggling route where gunfire is often heard, though rarely is it directed at border agents or their vehicles, Baeza said.

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Iran news in brief, 5 June 2015

UN expert slams crackdown on journalist and activists in Iran

The United Nations Special Rapportuer on Situation of Human Rights in Iran expressed concern about the arbitrary and unlawful arrest and prosecution of journalists and activists in Iran has warned that their persecution weakens the protection of human rights of all in Iran.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, who is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the situation in Iran said: “Silencing these critical voices is unacceptable – it undermines public debate and deprives Iranians and the rest of world of important information on the reality in the country.”

“The recurrent use of vague references to threats to national security, propaganda against the system and insult to authorities to prosecute and detain journalists or activists is in contradiction to both international norms relating to freedoms of expression and association and the principle of legality,” Mr. Shaheed stated.

The independent expert expressed concern at the arrest, detention of Jason Rezaian, Atena Farghdani and Nargis Mohammadi.

“Human rights defenders play a fundamental role in ensuring a democratic society which respects human rights,” the expert said.

Mr. Shaheed’s call has been endorsed by human rights expert Mads Andenas, who currently heads the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, as well as the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, Michel Forst; on freedom of expression, David Kaye; on independence of the judiciary, Gabriela Knaul; and on torture, Juan E. Méndez.