Australia proposes extending storage of users' phone metadata to 2 years

© Reuters / Jason Lee

A new bill that would force Australian telecom firms to store clients' personal data to help law enforcement agencies track down extremists conspiring to carry out acts of terrorism has attracted the scrutiny of analysts.

Committee chair, Liberal MP Dan Tehan, said the legislation forwards 38 recommendations to enhance safeguards.

"These recommendations, which are all bipartisan, will ensure that those mechanisms there operate efficiently and effectively and the public can be confident the regime is being used appropriately," he said, as quoted by Sky News.

The future success of turning the bill into law, however, largely hinges on the question of metadata, and, more specifically, what the definition of metadata is.

While experts fail to agree on a single definition, the government wants the freedom to determine the definition of metadata without consulting with MPs should the bill become law.

The government has previously explained metadata as the information that is contained on an envelope, including the name of the sender, the recipient and their relative addresses. The contents of the letter inside of the envelope, however, would be off limits for prying eyes.

The metadata with telephone calls is similar, with only the numbers contacted, the duration, time and date of the call. The contents of the conversation would not be recorded.

Providing a definition of internet metadata, however, poses an altogether different problem, and one that the government apparently does not wish to consider in a public and transparent manner.

This presents a problem for security experts and privacy advocates alike. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee has called for the definition to be put down in the legislation rather than decided later by government.

University of New South Wales Law Professor George Williams told AP the recommendations addressed his two major issues with the bill: that it does not define what metadata was, while not disclosing who could access it.

Opposition has come from the Greens, with Senator Scott Ludlam saying the proposed changes to the bill did not amount to much.

"We're really concerned that the Labor Party, instead of treating this proposal with the skepticism that it deserves, appears to have thrown Prime Minister Tony Abbott some kind of mass surveillance lifeline," Ludlam said, as quoted by ABC News of Australia.

Attorney-General George Brandis supported the legislation, emphasizing the importance of storing metadata.

"Metadata is used in virtually all serious criminal investigations, including murder, sexual assault, child exploitation and kidnapping investigations," he said. Brandis appears to be better versed in metadata than he was last August when, in an interview with Sky News Australia, he became utterly lost on the issue.

Meanwhile, several Australian firms have expressed concern that any new storage requirements for clients' metadata would cost millions of dollars.

At the same time, since Australians are notorious for being some of the biggest offenders of illegally downloading movies and video games, many fear that any future legal action on the part of law enforcement will extend beyond the hunt for terrorists.

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Japanese island grows 11 times its size since 2013 volcano eruption

Japanese island Nishinoshima has grown to 11 times its original size due to the volcanic eruption started in 2013. A recent observation has shown that the volcano goes on erupting ever since and a new increase of the island's area is expected.

The actual size of the island is 1.95 km from east to west and 1.8 km from north to south, its area is 2.46 square kilometers, but the scientists say there is still plenty of magma to erupt.

"There have not been any significant changes at the volcanic vent of the pyroclastic cone, where eruptions of lava are seen several times a minute," Kenji Nogami of the Tokyo Institute of Technology said, the Daily Mail reported. "Magma has risen to shallow areas of the vent, and lava flows to the east have continued to stretch out. Therefore, I conclude a stable supply of magma is continuing."

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The authorities recommend vessels to navigate in 6 km distance from the island as the volcano can spit steam, ash and rocks. The smoke billows up to an altitude of 1,200 meters. Japanese Coast Guard observes the island from the air using various modern technologies.

The island is located 1,000 km south of Tokyo in the Ogawasara islands chain, also known as the Bonin Islands. The volcanic explosion that happened on November 20, 2013, formed a new piece of land to the southeast of Nishinoshima, made of cooling magma.

The eruption continued unabated and increased the size of the island, with scientists predicting it would link up to the Nishinoshima island. On December 26, 2013, the Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that the two islands had in fact joined up.

The authorities said they would not give the combined island a name until it became stable.

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U.S. Navy flies spy plane over South China Sea, inciting even more tension with China

© Reuters

A US NAVY P-8 Poseidon aircraft

As disputes over South China Sea islands continue, the US Navy has acknowledged flying its most advanced scout aircraft over the area, from a base in the Philippines, during the first three weeks of February.

Older P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft have flown from Philippine bases since 2012 under a bilateral agreement, according to Philippine Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla. This is the first time, however, that the newer P-8 Poseidon model was deployed.

Developed from the Boeing 737 civilian airliner, the P-8 entered service in November 2013. It is intended to eventually replace the P-3, in service since 1962, and is equipped with the latest sensors and electronics in the US Navy arsenal. The P-8 can even "pack a serious punch," according to aviation analyst Tyler Rogoway.

Exclusive!: P-8 Flies With Shadowy New Radar System Attached http://bit.ly/1JW5Vj7

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) April 14, 2014

The admission comes at a time of renewed tensions over the Spratly Islands, an archipelago of islands and reefs in the South China Sea claimed by China, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Beijing has rejected requests from Washington to halt construction on several of the islands. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun told reporters in January that the construction is"legitimate and conducted in accordance with law."

Earlier this week, the Philippine government announced it would not renew the work visas of 16 Chinese experts working at the national electric utility NGCP when they expire in July. China has a 40 percent stake in the NGCP.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that "third countries should say less and stop stirring up trouble."

Speaking in Tokyo on February 13, following a visit to China, Deputy US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described the conflict over the islands in terms of energy trade and control of sea lanes.

"The true question at the heart of these conflicts is who controls access to Asia's abundant energy resources," Blinken said. "Almost a third of global crude oil and over half of global LNG passes through the South China Sea, making it one of the most important trade routes in the world."

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Putin's latest deal with Cyprus will see Russian warships docking in EU - Brits furious as Russia increases foothold in 'our colony'

© EPA

A 2003 picture of Russia's nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, which could soon be sailing in the Mediterranean from new bases in Cyprus after the deal was sealed with Russia

Russia has gained a military foothold in Europe after Vladimir Putin signed a controversial deal with Cyprus to dock warships there.

British MPs said Nicosia's decision to let the Russian navy, including heavily armed frigates, use its ports for counter-terrorism and anti-piracy was ''.

Cyprus, an EU member, thrashed out the agreement despite already hosting two British military bases and 3,200 troops. President Putin insisted the deal ''.

But Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who was visiting Moscow, hinted Russian warplanes could also be allowed to use a military airbase in Paphos, on the south-west coast of the island.

The deal raised eyebrows as tensions between the West and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine continue to rise.

It will be watched warily by the UK, which has led calls for a string of punishing economic sanctions against Moscow for arming pro-Kremlin separatists who have taken over huge swathes of territory.

On Tuesday, Britain announced it would deploy 75 troops to Ukraine as trainers - a move certain to have infuriated Putin. Russian bombers have recently buzzed UK airspace in a show of strength.

The latest agreement fuelled speculation that the Kremlin had engineered the deal by putting together a multibillion-pound package to bail out debt-ridden Cyprus.

The two countries, which have long had close economic ties, signed protocols including fresh financial deals between Cyprus and the Central Bank of Russia.

There had already been a surge in Russian navy visits to the Cypriot port of Limassol, but the new agreement puts the situation on more solid legal ground.

Tory MP Richard Ottaway, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said: 'It is going to make renewing sanctions against Russia ... much more unlikely.

'Putin is trying to drive a wedge between countries in the EU.'

A senior British Army officer said: '

'.'

Dr James Ker-Lindsay, an expert on the politics of south-east Europe at the London School of Economics, said many in the EU ''.

He said Cyprus felt the EU had not helped it at the height of the financial crisis, yet Russian businesses and oligarchs stayed and did not withdraw their money.

Unveiling the deal, President Putin said: '.'

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A molecular compass for bird navigation

© Brian E. Small

Arctic Tern

Each year, the Arctic Tern travels over 40,000 miles, migrating nearly from pole to pole and back again. Other birds make similar (though shorter) journeys in search of warmer climes. How do these birds manage to traverse such great distances when we need a map just to make our way to the next town over?

Researchers have established that birds can sense the earth's magnetic field and use it to orient themselves. How this internal compass works, though, remains poorly understood.

Physicists at the University of Oxford are exploring one possible explanation: a magnetically sensitive protein called cryptochrome that mediates circadian rhythms in plants and animals. Blue or green light triggers electrons in the protein to produce pairs of radicals whose electron spins respond to magnetic fields. "As we vary the strength of the magnetic field, we can alter the progress of these photochemical reactions inside the protein," said lead researcher Peter Hore, who will present his work during a talk at the American Physical Society's March Meeting on Wednesday, March 4 in San Antonio, Texas.

Behavioral experiments have shown that even subtle disruptions to the magnetic field can impact birds' ability to navigate. In a study led by Henrik Mouritsen, in collaboration with Hore, robins were placed in wooden huts on campus at the University of Oldenburg in Germany. Without supplementary visual cues like the sun's position in the sky, the birds struggled to navigate. They only regained their ability to orient themselves when the huts were covered in aluminum sheeting and electrically grounded, blocking external oscillating electromagnetic noise but not the earth's static magnetic field.

The researchers concluded that even low-level electromagnetic noise in the frequency range blocked by the aluminum screens—probably coming from AM radio signals and electronic equipment running in buildings —somehow interfered with the urban robins' magnetic orientation ability.

Hore hopes that the behavioral findings in the field can inform his molecular-level work in the laboratory.

"We would like to know how such extraordinarily weak radiofrequency fields could disrupt the function of an entire sensory system in a higher vertebrate. Our feeling is that this is likely to provide key insights into the mechanism either of the magnetic compass sense or of some important process that interferes with the birds' orientation behavior," said Hore.

One explanation is that the electromagnetic noise has quantum-level effects on cryptochrome's performance. This would suggest that the radical pairs in cryptochrome preserve their quantum coherence for much longer than previously believed possible. Such a finding could have broader implications for physicists hoping to extend coherence for more efficient quantum computing.

"Physicists are excited by the idea that quantum coherence could not just occur in a living cell, but could also have been optimized by evolution. There's a possibility that lessons could be learned about how to preserve coherence for long periods of time," said Hore.

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February 27 becomes 'Special Operations Forces Day' in Russia

February 27 will from now on be marked in Russia as Special Operations Forces Day, according to a decree signed Thursday by President Vladimir Putin and published on the official legislative website.

The Special Operations Forces, a branch of Russian defense apparatus operating both inside the country and abroad, was formed in March 2013. The Chief of the General Staff said at the time of its creation that the new branch was inspired by the experience of "the world's leading nations," Russian media reported.

Answering its own question of why Feb. 27 was chosen as the day, an article in government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta said: "Remember what happened and where a year ago. And how it all ended."

One year ago, mysterious troops bearing no insignia appeared in Crimea, which was shortly afterward annexed from Ukraine by Russia. The troops, who said little and declined to reveal their identity but ensured order during the annexation and subsequent referendum on joining Russia, quickly became known as "little green men" in the international media and "polite people" in Russia.

Putin initially denied that Russian troops had been dispatched to Crimea, but later admitted it.

In September 2014 State Duma deputy Igor Zotov called for the celebration of Polite People Day on October 7 — Putin's birthday.

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Missouri gubernatorial candidate dead in apparent suicide

© Wikipedia

Tom Schweich

Missouri auditor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Schweich has been found dead in an apparent suicide, according to local media reports.

Schweich, considered a leading Republican contender for the party's 2016 nomination for state governor, died Thursday after being transported to a hospital in the wake of a "medical situation" at his home. Police told the that he died from a single gunshot wound and that they are inclined to believe Schweich committed suicide.

"What we know at this point suggests an apparent suicide," Clayton Police Chief Kevin Murphy said on Thursday. However, he added that an autopsy and investigation still need to be conducted.

I am very sad and hurt so much for Tom Schweich's family. Good man. Dedicated public servant. Hug those you love.

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) February 26, 2015

Schweich spokesman Spence Jackson released a statement regarding the auditor's death, though he did not comment on reports of a suicide.

"It is with great sadness that I confirm the passing of Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich today. Please keep in mind his wife Kathy and two children," he said.

According to the Associated Press, Schweich had served as Missouri's auditor since 2011. He was re-elected in November 2014 and recently announced he would run for governor in 2016.

Just seven minutes before a 911 call was made from his home, Schweich had left a message with the Post-Dispatch requesting an interview. The interview was set to focus on what Schweich believed were attempts by the state's Republican Party chairman, John Hancock, to spread misinformation about his Jewish heritage.

Schweich was an Episcopalian, though he did have a Jewish grandfather and said he was proud of his heritage. He was reportedly set to claim that Hancock was telling potential donors that he was Jewish in an effort undermine his campaign effort. Hancock denies the allegation.

Tom Schweich told @tonymess he planned to accuse the new Missouri GOP chair of an anti-Semitic whisper campaign > http://bit.ly/18vksBM

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) February 27, 2015

The current governor, Democrat Jay Nixon, released the following statement after news of Schweich's death broke:

"I join all Missourians in mourning the passing of State Auditor Tom Schweich, a brilliant, devoted and accomplished public servant who dedicated his career to making Missouri and the world a better place," he said.

"From his courageous work to combat the illegal drug trade abroad in Afghanistan to his tireless efforts to protect the interests of taxpayers here in Missouri, Tom Schweich's exceptional intellect and unwavering dedication to public service left a legacy that will endure for many years to come. The First Lady and I send our most heartfelt condolences to Tom's wife Kathy and two children, Emilie and Thomas, Jr."

Meanwhile, Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R) said Schweich "had a long and unblemished record as a great public servant."

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