Inside a hotel ballroom near the nation’s capital, a U.S. Army officer with battlefield experience told 120 state and local election officials that they may have more in common with the military strategists than they might think.

These government officials are on the front lines of a different kind of high-stakes battlefield — one in which they are helping to defend American democracy by ensuring free and fair elections.

“Everyone in this room is part of a bigger effort, and it’s only together are we going to get through this,” the officer said.

That officer and other past and present national security leaders had a critical message to convey to officials from 24 states gathered for a recent training held by a Harvard-affiliated democracy project: They are the linchpins in efforts to defend U.S. elections from an attack by Russia, China or other foreign threats, and developing a military mindset will help them protect the integrity of the vote.

Election security worries

The need for such training reflects how elections security worries have heightened in the aftermath of the 2016 election, when Russian military agents targeted voting systems across the country as part of a multipronged effort to influence the presidential election. Until then, the job of local election officials could had been described as something akin to a wedding planner who keeps track of who will be showing up on Election Day and ensures all the equipment and supplies are in place and ready to go.

Now, these officials are on the front lines. The federal government will be on high alert, gathering intelligence and scanning systems for suspicious cyber activity as they look to defend the nation’s elections. Meanwhile, it will be the state and county officials who will be on the ground charged with identifying and dealing with any hostile acts.

“It’s another level of war,” said Jesse Salinas, the chief elections official in Yolo County, California, who attended the training. “You only attack things that you feel are a threat to you, and our democracy is a threat to a lot of these nation-states that are getting involved trying to undermine it. We have to fight back, and we have to prepare.”

Defending Digital Democracy

Salinas brought four of his employees with him to the training, which was part of the Defending Digital Democracy project based at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. The group has been working actively with former and current military, national security, political and communications experts — many of whom dedicate their time after work and on weekends — to develop training and manuals for state and local election officials. Those involved with leading the training asked for anonymity because of their sensitive positions.

The project’s latest playbook focuses on bringing military best practices to running Election Day operations, encouraging state and local election officials to adopt a “battle staff” command structure with clear roles and responsibilities and standard operating procedures for dealing with minor issues. The project is also providing officials with a free state-of-the-art incident tracking system.

Eric Rosenbach, co-director of the Belfer Center and a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served as chief of staff to Defense Secretary Ash Carter in the Obama administration, told the group gathered for the training that it “shouldn’t be lost on you that this is a very military-like model.”

“Let’s be honest about it,” Rosenbach said. “If democracy is under attack and you guys are the ones at the pointy end of the spear, why shouldn’t we train that way? Why shouldn’t we try to give you the help that comes with that model and try to build you up and do all we can?”

Beyond just putting out fires

Instructors stressed the need for election officials to be on the lookout for efforts to disrupt the vote and ensure that communications are flowing up from counties to the state, down from states to the counties, as well as up and down to the federal government and across states.

Piecing together seemingly disparate actions happening in real-time across geographical locations will allow the nation to defend itself, said Robby Mook, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager in 2016. Mook co-founded the Defending Digital Democracy project with Matt Rhoades, Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign manager.

“Find a way to input data in a consistent, efficient and reliable way to ensure you know what is going on and prevents things from falling through the cracks,” Mook told the election officials. “You got to rise above just putting out fires.”

At the training were officials from California, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, West Virginia and other states. In one exercise, election officials were paired up as either a state or county under an Election Day scenario, charged with logging incidents and trying to piece together what turned out to be four different coordinated campaigns to disrupt voting.

“One of the big takeaways was just how the lack of one piece of information moving up from the counties to the state or moving from the states to counties, if either of those things don’t happen, it can have a significant impact,” said Stephen Trout, elections director for Oregon.

Trout said he would move quickly to acquire, customize and implement the incident tracking system, which would be an upgrade from the paper process currently in use. Dave Tackett, chief information officer for the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, said he will recommend some structuring changes at his state operations center, including bringing key personnel into the room and incorporating elements of the incident tracking system like mapping and the ability to assign individuals to specific incidents.

“Events like today are helping us zero in on how to structure ourselves better, how to really think in a different mindset so that we can carry out all the different tasks that have to be done with elections,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections. “(It’s) the importance of communications, the importance of having standard operating procedures in place so all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed ahead of time and you are prepared for the unknown.”

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From: MeNeedIt

Botswana’s former President Ian Khama is strongly denying allegations of corruption and voicing his concerns about the direction of the country.

In an interview with VOA’s Nightline Africa radio program, Khama said claims made by the administration of current President Mokgweetsi Masisi that he misappropriated billions in the local currency are “laughable.” He said he plans to take the matter to court.

Khama said the false accusation is payback by members of the ruling party for his decision to campaign against them in the recent presidential election. The party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), was founded by Khama’s father.

“The only reason that this was done was because a few months ago I resigned from the ruling party. Because they had abandoned our democratic credentials that we have had such a good reputation with up to this point in time,” he told VOA.

Botswana had an election in October where Khama campaigned against the ruling party.

“They swore that they would ‘get at me and fix me’ in their own words for having done that,” he said.

Earlier this month, Jako Hubona, of Botswana’s Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime, accused Khama and two other former high-ranking officials of transferring state funds to personal bank accounts in South Africa and Hong Kong. Only one official, senior intelligence officer Weleminah Maswabi, has been formally charged so far.

Trophy hunting licenses

Khama claims the current president, who previously served as his vice president, has become “drunk on power.” One policy difference between the two men is a decision by Masisi earlier this year to reverse a ban on trophy hunting of elephants. Conservation had been a major part of Khama’s administration.

But Khama said that although he disagrees with the decision, he did not seek to interfere.

“A new administration is at liberty to introduce its own policies. So when he did it I just said, ‘Well that’s fine,’” he said. “He’s the president today. If he wants to bring about those policy changes, he’s quite entitled to do so. I did the same thing. So who am I to try and challenge them?”

Decline in democracy

But Khama is gravely concerned about the state of democracy in his country and the ethics of the party he led for 10 years. He pointed to the fact that the BDP postponed primary elections three times this year and has incurred accusations of cheating. In recent history, Botswana has won accolades from organizations such as Transparency International for being among the least corrupt on the continent. Khama says that reputation is now in jeopardy.

“I would say it’s definitely in decline. If you’ve been following how our elections went, you would see that a number of petitions before the courts about allegations of rigging of the elections. Something certainly went wrong there that we’ve never, ever seen before,” he said.

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From: MeNeedIt

Hundreds of anti-government protesters and their supporters gathered outside a tiny restaurant in Hong Kong for an unconventional Christmas dinner, sharing paper plates piled high with food under neon street signs.

“Hong Kongers are more united this Christmas (than) in previous years,” said Glory, the 31-year-old owner of Kwong Wing Catering, as he dished out noodles, fried chicken, and pasta from silver trays.

“Actually there is no Christmas atmosphere (this year), but there is a strong sense of unity,” he said. All of the food on offer Wednesday was free and prepared by the restaurant or donated by several sponsors.

Outside the eatery, hundreds of customers, many of them off-duty protesters, waited in line as tourists and other shoppers crowded the popular Tsim Sha Tsui area.

Jeanette, a 22-year-old university student, slurped bubble tea and pudding with her friend Yoyo as they discussed their holiday plans.

They would normally spend Christmas with their families, but felt this year had to be different. Both women said they had been involved in peaceful protests since the summer.

“We’re all family now,” said Jeanette, looking around at all of the other supporters eating around her. “We’re here because we want to support this shop, which has supported so many teenagers and protesters on the front line,” said Yoyo between mouthfuls of pudding.

Kwong Wing Catering is one of many businesses that are part of the so-called “yellow economy” across Hong Kong that are known for their support of the pro-democracy campaign. Colorful post-it notes with words of support from customers decorated the restaurant’s windows.

One of the chefs scheduled to cook at the eatery became a sort of folk hero after cooking for besieged student protesters at Polytechnic University in November.

He was supposed to cook for his supporters Wednesday, but was arrested by police earlier in the week, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page. It was not immediately clear why the chef had been arrested.

Hong Kong has been embroiled in anti-government protests since June which show no signs of abating.

Black-clad protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping malls across Hong Kong Wednesday as police fired tear gas and pepper spray to disperse crowds.

The protesters are angry about what they see as an encroachment by China on the wide-ranging autonomy Hong Kong was guaranteed under a “one country, two systems” framework that governs the former British colony.

China rejects such complaints.

Ivan, a 20-year-old university student, said he waited for an hour and a half to receive his hot meal.

“I feel very comforted that someone is willing to cook a meal for us,” he said, adding that Hong Kong still had a “festive” atmosphere despite the protests and clashes with police.

“I just got tear-gassed yesterday so I think it’s very special.”

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From: MeNeedIt

Singapore police are investigating an Indian national for allegedly being involved in a public protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law. 

Unauthorized public assemblies and protests over political situations in other countries are banned in Singapore.  

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to Indian streets to protest the citizenship law enacted by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government that provides non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who moved there before 2015 a pathway to Indian citizenship. 

Singapore police said following a report on December 24 they were investigating a 32-year-old male Indian national for participating in “a public assembly without a police permit” at the Marina Bay waterfront financial and tourist district.  

“He allegedly carried out the activity in Marina Bay, to show his opposition to India’s Citizenship Amendment Bill,” police said in a statement late Wednesday. 

The statement did not give any more details of the assembly. Local media reported the man posted a picture of himself on social media with a placard “to express his unhappiness.” 

The police said organizing or participating in a public assembly without a police permit in Singapore is illegal and that they would not grant any permit for assemblies that advocate political causes of other countries. 

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From: MeNeedIt

Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti told Reuters on  Wednesday that he had resigned after failing to obtain from the government billions of euros he said were needed to improve the country’s schools and universities. 

The resignation was a blow to the embattled government, whose ruling parties are at odds on issues ranging from eurozone reform to migrant rights. 

It also underscores the problems of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Fioramonti’s party, which is trying to reorganize amid widespread internal dissatisfaction with its leader, Luigi Di Maio. This month three 5-Star senators jumped ship to join the right-wing League in opposition. 

Fioramonti told Reuters he had tendered his “irrevocable resignation” to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a letter on Monday. 

Pledge to quit

Fioramonti said shortly after the government of 5-Star and the center-left Democratic Party was formed in September that he would quit unless education spending was raised by 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in the 2020 budget. 

Few believed him, even as the budget continued its passage through parliament and it became clear the government had little intention of hiking taxes or cutting spending to find the funds he demanded. The budget was approved on Monday ahead of a December 31 deadline. 

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that a minister keeps his word,” Fioramonti told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. 

Fioramonti said he would still support the government in parliament, where he is a lower-house deputy. 

Italy spends 3.6% of gross domestic product on primary to university education, compared with an average of 5% among 32 countries in a report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Fioramonti, a former economics professor at South Africa’s Pretoria University, has been one of Italy’s most outspoken ministers during his three months in office. His proposals for new taxes on airline tickets, plastic and sugary foods to raise funds for education were attacked by critics who said Italians were already overtaxed. 

Green policies

A vocal supporter of green policies, Fioramonti made headlines when he announced Italy would next year become the first country to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development. 

Earlier this month, he said Italian energy giant ENI should halt oil exploration and focus on renewable energy. 

“I have sometimes felt I could have had more support from my own party over my proposals on the environment,” Fioramonti said. “5-Star was born 10 years ago with a strongly green platform, but it seems to have got lost along the way.” 

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From: MeNeedIt

Australian firefighters used cooler conditions Christmas Day to try and contain bushfires ahead of hot, dry weather later in the week, as leaders and communities thanked them for sacrificing time with their families over the holidays.

In the state of New South Wales (NSW), which saw entire towns devastated by fires over the weekend, state premier Gladys Berejiklian and the head of the NSW rural fire service, Shane Fitzsimmons, attended a breakfast organized by volunteers in the small town of Colo, 90km (55 miles) northwest of Sydney.

“Community volunteers provided food, company, conversation, wrapped presents & hampers to share for crews heading into the field,” Fitzsimmons tweeted. “It was just lovely & spirits were high.”

Christmas Day offered cooler conditions in many parts of the country as firefighters, many of them volunteers, spent the day trying to contain blazes.

Intense heat is forecast to return again by the weekend, especially in Australia’s south, where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The last few months have seen more than 900 homes lost across the dry continent, according to authorities, even though the southern hemisphere summer has not yet reached its midpoint.

The fires have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) across five states and at least six people have died in NSW and two in South Australia during the bushfire emergency.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison used a Christmas message to thank volunteers for their willingness to spend the day away from their families.

“As we look forward to next year and as we celebrate this Christmas I want to thank all of those who serve our nation,” Morrison said in a video shared on social media Wednesday morning.

Morrison has faced sustained political pressure as the bushfires have raged, following his decision to take a family holiday to Hawaii last week and his conservative Liberal-National coalition government’s climate policies.

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From: MeNeedIt

Sudan this month marks one year since protests over prices turned into a monthslong demonstration that led the military to oust former president Omar al-Bashir after three decades in power. The coup was followed by a deadly crackdown on protesters before a deal was made on a transitional government. But, as Naba Mohiedeen reports from Khartoum, protesters are still demanding justice for those killed.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. President Donald Trump was assured of a place in history this month when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach him over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden. Trump is expected to be acquitted in an impeachment trial early next year in the Republican-controlled Senate, but the political fallout from the impeachment drama will be a factor in the 2020 presidential election. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

Typhoon Phanfone pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet and miserable holiday season to millions in the mainly Catholic nation.

Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centers at the height of the festive season Wednesday, and residents cowered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone leapt from one small island to another for the second day. 

The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines’ most storm-prone region, but no deaths were reported.

Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country’s deadliest cyclone on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.

Thousands stranded

More than 10,000 people spent the night in schools, gyms and government buildings hastily converted into evacuation centers as the typhoon made landfall Tuesday, civil defense officials said.

“It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs,” Ailyn Metran told AFP after she and her 4-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband works.

A metal window frame flew off and landed on a car parked outside the building, she said.

With just two hours’ sleep, the family returned to their home in the central city of Tacloban early Wednesday to find their two dogs safe, but the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house.

The weather office said the typhoon strengthened slightly overnight Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometers (121 miles) an hour, velocities that can knock down small trees and destroy houses made of light materials.

More islands in storm’s path

More islands along the storm’s projected path are expected to be hit with destructive winds and intense rainfall before it blows out into the South China Sea early Thursday, the weather office added.

More than 25,000 people trying to get home for the traditional Christmas Eve midnight dinner with their families remained stranded at ports on Christmas Day with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said.

Scores of flights to the region also remained canceled, though the populous capital Manila, on the northern edge has so far been spared.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.

As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing scores of people and wiping out harvests, homes and other infrastructure and keeping millions perennially poor.

A July 2019 study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop 1 percent off the Philippine economic output, with the stronger ones cutting output by nearly 3 percent.

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From: MeNeedIt

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement Tuesday to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement, officials said.

Kuwait’s oil minister Khaled al-Fadhel said on Twitter that the memorandum of understanding signed with Saudi Arabia included “the resumption of production in the divided zone.”

The state-run KUNA news agency reported that the two countries also signed an agreement on the demarcation of land and maritime borders in the neutral zone.

KUNA did not give details on the contents of the deal which likely revolves around amending previous border agreements between the two Arab nations.

The two fields were pumping some 500,000 barrels per day before production was halted, first at Khafji in October 2014 and then at Wafra seven months later, over a dispute between the neighbours.

Riyadh said at the time that the decision was due to environmental issues.

The oil produced in the neutral zone in the border area is shared equally between the two nations.

Khafji, an offshore field, was jointly operated by Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations, while the onshore Wafra field was operated by KGOC and Saudi Arabian Chevron.

Kuwait had blamed Saudi Arabia for unilaterally halting output at Khafji, noting it was entitled to five years’ notice under a joint agreement signed in 1965.

The two countries have been negotiating to resolve the row and resume production since June 2015.

The talks involved Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah visiting Riyadh and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Kuwait City.

Tuesday’s agreement comes as oil prices are under pressure due to abundant reserves and weak global economic growth.

Continued soft pricing has prompted OPEC and its allies to make deeper production cuts starting next month.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia pumps just under 10 million barrels per day (bpd), while Kuwait produces around 2.7 million bpd.

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From: MeNeedIt

Russia has released five Japanese fishing boats and their 24 crewmen after detaining them for a week for allegedly violating fishing agreements near a group of disputed islands.  

The five ships and their crews were accused of exceeding their catch quota for octopus when they were detained on December 17.  The boats were released after a Russian court ordered the crews to pay a fine of $100,000.  

The ships were seized near a group of islands in Japan’s northern region of Hokkaido.  Known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, the islands were seized by forces of the former Soviet Union in the final days of World War Two.  Japan continues to claim the island chain, which it calls the Northern Territories.  

The ongoing dispute over the islands has kept Moscow and Tokyo from reaching a formal peace treaty ending World War II.  

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From: MeNeedIt

A Russian court on Tuesday extended until late March the pre-trial detention of a US man already held in jail for a year despite Western requests for his release.

Paul Whelan, who also has Irish, Canadian and British citizenship, was arrested on December 28 last year for allegedly receiving state secrets.

On Christmas eve the Moscow City Court extended his detention by another three months, to March 29, a court spokesman told AFP.

He risks up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Whelan, 49, has denounced the case against him and said he is being held “hostage” for a possible prisoner exchange.

On Monday, U.S. charge d’affaires Bart Gorman and diplomats from Canada, Ireland, and Britain visited Whelan in Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, bringing him food and Christmas greetings from family and supporters.

“It’s two days before Christmas. A holiday Paul Whelan will spend alone in Lefortovo,” the U.S. Embassy quoted Gorman as saying.

“In the past 12 months, Paul has not heard his parents’ voices. Bring Paul some Christmas cheer and let him call home.”

Whelan, a former U.S. marine, maintains he has been framed and that he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photos.

His lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov has said the acquaintance that handed over the drive is the only witness against Whelan while the rest of his longtime acquaintances in Russia gave witness statements in his defense.

During a previous court hearing in October, Whelan insisted that he was not a spy.

“Russia thought they caught James Bond on a spy mission, in reality they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday,” he has said.

Whelan and his supporters claim that the American has been mistreated in jail.

Moscow has rubbished the claims, saying foreign diplomats have regular access to Whelan and calling the complaints a “provocative line of defense”.

“Whelan’s complaints concerning the conditions of detention and actions of investigators have never once been confirmed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

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From: MeNeedIt