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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
The Mission: Tim Weiner's book explains how the CIA lost its way
Throughout The Mission, Weiner hammers on an agency that seems to be repeatedly blinded by its sense of American supremacy NYT THE MISSION: CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner Published by Mariner 452 pages $35 On June 21, President Trump took to the airwaves to announce that his secret directive for the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities had just been carried out. 'Tonight,' he proclaimed, 'I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,' with those facilities 'completely and totally obliterated.' Trump's triumphalist tone was swiftly undercut by a preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analysis that found the airstrikes were likely to set back Iran's nuclear capabilities by a mere few months. The furious president not only doubled down on his 'obliterated' claim but insisted that further analysis would confirm it. Sure enough, his Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director, John Ratcliffe, soon scurried forward to cast doubt on the DIA's assessment and to insist that 'new intelligence' from an unidentified source confirmed the sites had been 'severely damaged,' not quite Trump's adverb of choice, but close. Nothing on the ground is any clearer now, but to many observers one thing is: These events served as yet another example of the rank politicisation of America's pre-eminent intelligence agency. As Tim Weiner demonstrates in The Mission, this trend is likely only to accelerate with Trump in the White House. Both as a one-time reporter for The New York Times and as a book author, Weiner has made tracking the fluctuating fortunes of the American intelligence community his life's work. His masterly 'Legacy of Ashes,' detailing the CIA's first half-century, won a National Book Award in 2007. The Mission picks up where that book left off, narrating the agency's history beyond the fall of communism. It is exhaustive and prodigiously researched, but also curiously ungainly. The story begins in the 1990s. Grasping for a new mission in the wake of the Cold War, the CIA played a supporting role in the war on drugs, and then, after the 9/11 attacks, the war on terror. Agents hunted for the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and tortured high-value prisoners in hopes of gaining information on future attacks. Much of the testimony, Weiner writes, was gathered by a quickly raised army of often inexperienced interrogators. At the same time, Weiner notes, intelligence officers often felt their intelligence was beside the point. As one former CIA Iraq operations chief insists, 'These guys would have gone to war if Saddam had a rubber band and a paper clip.' Throughout The Mission, Weiner hammers on an agency that seems to be repeatedly blinded by its sense of American supremacy. In the past decade and a half, the CIA has been caught off guard again and again, including in China, where the country's intelligence services apparently excel at rooting out and killing American assets. The agency was also back-footed by the onset of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2010, Weiner writes, because US spies depended on the accuracy of information coming from aging counterparts within the dictatorial regimes that were about to crumble in the unrest. Weiner saves his greatest scorn, however, for the first Trump administration, detailing both the vast web of contacts between his campaign staff and Russian intelligence officials as well as Trump's subsequent efforts to bring the CIA to heel, even as he leaned on his intelligence advisers to vet his rash proposals. 'How would we do,' Trump's first CIA director, Mike Pompeo, later recalled the president musing, 'if we went to war with Mexico?' There is something simultaneously illuminating and saddening in contemplating the course the CIA has travelled during the past quarter-century. In this regard, one episode Weiner recounts stands out. In 2007, the CIA gathered compelling evidence that Syria, no friend of the US, was well on its way to building a nuclear weapon. The news set off a spirited debate within the Bush administration over whether it should launch a pre-emptive strike to eliminate the site. The idea was vehemently opposed by one of Bush's closest advisers — 'We don't do Pearl Harbors' — and the bombing scheme was shelved (though it was taken over by a country willing to do the job: Israel). Compare that with Trump's 'Pearl Harbor' assault on Iran's nuclear facilities even though the CIA and almost every other Western intelligence agency had concluded that Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon. The attack starkly underscored just how shamelessly the American intelligence community has already succumbed to Trump's will. In this regard, Weiner's warnings about the peril facing both the CIA and the US seem prophetic.
AsiaOne
3 days ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
Children living with or near parents to get priority in HDB sales exercises, regardless of marital status, from July , Singapore News
Singles applying for new flats can join married couples in getting priority access when they buy a home near or with their parents, beginning with the Housing Board's July 2025 sales exercise. That is when the new Family Care Scheme will kick in, said the HDB in a statement on Sunday (July 20). The launch date for the July BTO sales exercise has not been announced. News that singles can get priority during the BTO application process was first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the National Day Rally last year. He had said that the Government will extend priority access to new flats to all parents and their children, regardless of marital status. Priority access was previously reserved only for married couples and their parents. HDB said in its statement last November that the new FCS — which has two components — streamlines three priority schemes for married couples, parents and seniors, and will also include singles. The two components are FCS (Proximity) — which will be rolled out with the July BTO sales exercise — and FCS (Joint Balloting), which will be implemented end-2025. For FCS (Proximity), both parents and children will have priority access if they are applying for a new flat to live with or near each other, regardless of marital status. This replaces the current replaces the Married Child Priority Scheme and Senior Priority Scheme. The FCS (Joint Balloting) is where parents and their children, regardless of marital status, will be able to jointly apply for two units in the same BTO project, where there are 2-room Flexi or 3-room flats in the BTO project. This will replace the current Multi-Generation Priority Scheme, which prioritises married couples and parents who live near each other in the same BTO project. More flats for second-tier families In their statement on Sunday, HDB also provided more details on the additional allocation of BTO flats for second-timer families, as earlier announced in March. Second-timer families will have an increased allocation quota of 3-room and larger BTO flats by five percentage points, said HDB. This is to support their upgrading aspirations or "right-sizing plans", they said. The proportion of BTO flats set aside for second-timer families will now be: • Up to 20 per cent (from up to 15 per cent currently) of 3-room Standard flats; • Up to 10 per cent (from up to 5 per cent currently) of 3-room Plus and Prime flats, and 4-room and larger Standard, Plus and Prime flats HDB added that at least 80 to 90 per cent of 3-room and larger flats will continue to be set aside for first-timer families. Increase in Fresh Start Housing Grant Other enhancements that will take effect from the July 2025 sales exercises include the Deferred Income Assessment (DIA) scheme and the Fresh Start Housing Grant for eligible second-timer families The DIA scheme allows eligible couples to apply for a new flat first and defer their income assessment for the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) and an HDB housing loan until nearer to key collection. The enhanced scheme will mean that only one of the two parties will have to be studying or serving National Service where previously both parties have to meet this requirement. In addition, the Fresh Start Housing Grant will be increased from $50,000 to $75,000 to support more second-timer public rental households with children to own a flat. Eligible ST families can use the increased grant to buy a new 2-room Flexi or 3-room Standard BTO, or SBF flat, on a shorter lease, said HDB. HDB will offer over 10,000 new flats in the July sales exercise. Over half of these, or 5,500 flats, will be Build-To-Order (BTO) units, elaborated Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post on July 16. [[nid:719872]] candicecai@
New York Post
15-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
North Korea now supplying up to 40% of Russia's munitions in Ukraine war: report
North Korea is now supplying almost half of Russia's ammunition for its war against Ukraine, South Korean military data shows. Pyongyang is accused of shipping millions of artillery shells and other munitions to Vladimir Putin's military, South Korea's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said on Sunday. The 28,000 containers loaded with shells and munitions are believed to exceed roughly 12 million rounds when converted into 6-inch artillery shells, the DIA said. Advertisement 'North Korea is continuing to supply weapons to Russia. Our military is constantly reassessing the scale of North Korea's weapons support to Russia in coordination with relevant agencies and allied nations,' the DIA said in a statement shared with South Korean lawmaker Kang Daeshik. 3 South Korea claims Kim Jong-un is now supplying as much as 40% of Russia's ammunition for the Ukraine war. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT/AFP via Getty Images Pyongyang is now supplying Russia with as much as 40% of its ammunition needs for the war, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, told Bloomberg. Advertisement Kim Jong-un's regime is also sending other weapons including ballistic missiles and artillery systems to aid Putin's war, Budanov said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on a visit to Pyongyang last week that North Korea had affirmed its 'clear support' for Russia's war and for the Kremlin's leadership. 3 Vladimir Putin has established close ties with the communist regime. via REUTERS 3 North Korea has sent millions of shells to Russia. via REUTERS Advertisement In return, Russia is supplying the hermit communist dictatorship with money and technology, Budanov said. 'Ukrainian and South Korean sources have been warning about Russia's increasing reliance on North Korean shells for a while, and it is indicative of how Russia's allies are propping up this war effort,' Russia Analyst from the Washington-based think-tank the Institute for the Study of War, Angelica Evans, told The Post. 'Russia's alliance with North Korea is a huge asset to the war effort, as North Korea has a defense industrial capacity that Russia has benefited from and will likely continue to draw on,' she said. 'Putin is working very hard to minimize the impact of the war on regular Russians, and whatever industrial support Russia gets from its allies helps offset money that Russia can use to fund social programs and keep the Russian people placated,' Evans added.
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
Geology trumps US firepower in failed strike on Iran's Fordow
In a detailed report by renowned NPR senior editor and science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel, the Pentagon's messaging ahead of Sunday's predawn airstrike on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility appeared unequivocal: the United States had the technological edge to penetrate even the most fortified targets. Widely circulated infographics depicted the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound 'bunker buster', plunging from a B-2 bomber, slicing through layers of rock, and detonating inside a fortified mountainside. Yet, as Brumfiel writes, the operation, touted as one of the most ambitious US bombing campaigns in recent memory, may not have achieved its intended outcome. The Fordow site, buried beneath nearly 300 feet of dense rock, endured the attack because of the geological resilience of the mountain itself. Fordow is Iran's most heavily fortified uranium enrichment site, buried beneath a mountain outside Qom. It has long been considered one of the most difficult targets for US or Israeli forces, and only the GBU-57, a weapon developed specifically for such scenarios, was believed capable of reaching it. Yet according to a classified assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the bomb failed to 'obliterate' Fordow, despite President Donald Trump's claim to the contrary. A US official, speaking to NPR on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the site suffered only 'limited damage,' setting back Iran's nuclear activities by just a few months. The White House quickly rejected the leaked assessment. 'The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump,' said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a post on X. 'Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.' But physics tells a more complicated story. Even the world's most advanced bunker busters have limitations, particularly when confronted with solid rock, according to Brumfiel. The GBU-57 was designed to crack deeply buried targets. But as experts have long warned, its real-world performance depends on multiple factors: bomb velocity, soil density, and most crucially, the geology of the target. 'It depends enormously on the kind of rock,' said Raymond Jeanloz, a geophysicist at UC Berkeley and contributor to a 2005 National Academies study on earth-penetrating weapons. According to that study, a GBU-57 could penetrate up to 262 feet in soft materials like silty clay. But in denser, fractured rock, typical of Fordow's mountainside, the effective depth drops to around 25 feet. That's a fraction of what would be needed to reach Fordow's centrifuges, estimated to be buried beneath nearly 300 feet of bedrock. Natural variations or fractures in the rock further complicate penetration. 'If there are fractures or gaps,' Jeanloz told NPR, 'that can deflect the trajectory or disperse the bomb's energy, reducing impact.' Satellite imagery from June 22 showed surface craters near the Fordow site, likely impact points for the GBU-57s. Reports suggest the US dropped the bombs in tandem: one to fracture the rock, the next to follow through. Some strikes appeared aimed at the facility's ventilation systems, possibly seen as a vulnerability. The strikes certainly delivered a jolt. But shockwaves in rock diminish rapidly, and Fordow's deep-buried location beneath a ridgeline appears to have blunted the force of the blasts. 'The mountain acts like a shock absorber,' Jeanloz stressed, adding that Fordow's position offers maximum geological shielding. The US explored even more extreme options in the past. After 9/11, it briefly considered developing a nuclear earth-penetrator, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, only to abandon the idea due to concerns over containing fallout. Even then, the basic math was clear: it's easier and cheaper to dig deeper than to blast through solid earth. As Jeanloz put it in 2005, and reiterated this week, 'It's cheaper and easier for someone to dig deeper than it is to penetrate through that depth.' The Fordow strike, while symbolically bold, may be remembered less for what it destroyed than for what it revealed. Despite America's unmatched military capabilities, the mission was ultimately limited not by adversarial strength or strategic error, but by geology. "Geology, it turns out, may have foiled one of the most audacious American air operations in recent memory," Brumfiel concluded.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US stock market futures today: Nasdaq jumps on Nvidia's 5% surge after China chip news, S&P 500 hits record highs, Dow lags on trade tariff worries
How are the major U.S. stock indices performing today? S&P 500 (SPY) : Trading around +0.35% , showing solid momentum. : Trading around , showing solid momentum. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) : Leading with a +0.59% jump, thanks to tech strength. : Leading with a jump, thanks to tech strength. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA): Slightly muted, hovering around –0.1% due to trade tariff concerns. What's happening with stock futures today? Live Events How are inflation numbers influencing markets? Headline CPI : +0.3% MoM, 2.7% YoY : +0.3% MoM, Core CPI (ex-food and energy): +0.3% MoM, 3.0% YoY Which major stocks are moving the market today? Nvidia (NVDA) : Soared 5.2% premarket after China allowed the company to resume sales of its H20 AI chips. This sparked a rally across the chip sector. : Soared after China allowed the company to resume sales of its H20 AI chips. This sparked a rally across the chip sector. AMD : Gained 3.6% , following Nvidia's lead. : Gained , following Nvidia's lead. Marvell Technology : Up 2.7% , riding the AI chip momentum. : Up , riding the AI chip momentum. The Trade Desk (TTD) : Surged 15% , ahead of its official inclusion into the S&P 500 on July 18. : Surged , ahead of its official inclusion into the S&P 500 on July 18. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) : Rose 0.7% after a strong Q2 earnings report, boosted by trading revenue. : Rose after a strong Q2 earnings report, boosted by trading revenue. Wells Fargo (WFC): Slipped 0.8%, despite beating earnings estimates, as it trimmed its forward guidance. What are the latest tariff developments? 30% tariffs on EU and Mexican goods, effective August 1 Higher tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, copper, and agricultural products What to expect from earnings season? S&P 500 Q2 profit growth is projected at just 4.3% YoY, per FactSet—the weakest pace since Q4 2023. Earlier this year, estimates hovered closer to 10%, but have since declined due to rising costs and global uncertainty. What's the global market picture? Hang Seng +1.6% +1.6% Nikkei 225 +0.55% +0.55% Kospi +0.41% +0.41% ASX 200 +0.7% +0.7% Nifty 50 (India) +0.43% What's the market outlook? FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel US stock market futures today are showing a mixed tone as investors react to a fresh mix of tech optimism and global trade concerns. The Nasdaq-100 futures are up nearly 0.6%, boosted by a sharp 5% jump in Nvidia shares after reports confirmed it can resume H20 AI chip shipments to China. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 futures are climbing about 0.4%, touching record highs amid growing confidence in upcoming earnings reports and signs of cooling inflation. On the flip side, Dow Jones futures are slightly down by 0.1%, dragged by renewed fears over U.S.-China trade of Tuesday morning, July 15, 2025, U.S. stock futures are showing modest gains as investors eye fresh inflation data and bank earnings:Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained about 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%, lifted by a 4.5% jump in Nvidia shares after the chipmaker announced it will soon resume sales of its H20 AI chips to China. The company said it received assurances from the U.S. government regarding stock surged 4.47% in pre-market trading after the U.S. government cleared the company to resume H20 AI chip exports to China. This greenlight could recover billions in lost revenue after Nvidia took a $4.5 billion hit when restrictions were enforced in April. AMD stock also climbed 3.18% pre-market as investor confidence in the AI chip market Dow futures dipped slightly, down around 0.05% to 0.3%, as renewed tariff threats from President Donald Trump stirred caution in broader industrial and multinational are closely watching the June consumer price index (CPI), due at 8:30 a.m. ET, for signs that tariffs are beginning to push prices higher. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect:That compares with May's increases of 2.4% and 2.8% respectively. A hotter-than-expected print could delay Fed rate cuts, which markets are currently pricing in for as early as are the top movers driving Wall Street action this morning:President Trump's latest round of tariff threats includes:Markets so far have shrugged off the risk, betting that diplomacy or partial exemptions under USMCA ("TACO trade") will limit the fallout. But analysts warn that the true economic impact of rising trade tensions may hit later this week kicks off the Q2 earnings season, with JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, and State Street reporting results. Expectations are modest:Still, some investors are hopeful that low expectations will make room for upside surprises, potentially extending the market's record markets closed broadly higher:European stocks opened firmer Tuesday, with theup around, reversing Monday's losses that followed Trump's tariff warn that after a historic rally, markets may face a period of consolidation. Still, some point to historical trends where the S&P 500 resists deep pullbacks once new highs are at Morgan Stanley and Harvard also flagged potential for increased volatility if tariff rhetoric continues to escalate.A: Nasdaq rose on a 5% surge in Nvidia shares after news it can ship AI chips to China.A: Dow Jones is under pressure due to renewed trade tariff worries impacting broader sentiment.
