Saturday, October 18, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Israeli hacker group claims to have rigged over 30 national elections abroad

Published 19 February 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Tal Hanan is very proud of his manipulation business.
3 minute read

The Tel Aviv-based hacker group is led by 50-year-old Tal Hanan, who has a background in the Israeli Special Forces. Believing that the journalists who meet with him are in fact potential clients, he boasts of influencing election campaigns around the world and of hacking into accounts, using bot armies and variously sabotaging political opponents on behalf of his clients.

Tal Hanan refers to himself as “Jorge” in his shady work at the anonymous office outside Tel Aviv. His group’s work includes creating tens of thousands of fake social media accounts – which are then used to spread disinformation in order to influence election results. For a fee, Gmail and Telegram accounts can also be hacked to gain access to potentially sensitive information that could be used politically.

Several major media outlets, including Haaretz, The Guardian and Der Spiegel, have jointly made the revelation – which includes journalists meeting Tal Hanan and pretending to be consultants working for a regime in an unstable African country seeking help in delaying an election. The journalists also secretly filmed the entire conversation.

According to the review, Tal Hanan and his team have been manipulating political elections for over 20 years, hired by intelligence agencies, political parties and private companies to secretly manipulate public opinion – in developing countries in Africa and Central America – but also in the US and Europe.

One of the “services” it offers is a software package that “controls a large army of thousands of fake social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Gmail, Instagram and YouTube” that can be used to manipulate public opinion.

If this is not what the customer is looking for, Tal Hanan’s group can also gather intelligence on political opponents – including by hacking their accounts on various platforms. He also boasts that it has managed to “plant material on legitimate news sites” – which then gets very wide distribution through the software and can be used to sway opinion.

 

The professional election manipulator tells the journalists that much of the company’s strategy is to disrupt or sabotage opponents’ political campaigns – including allegedly ordering sex toys to a male politician’s home in order to make his wife think he was cheating on her.

“The revelations could cause embarrassment for Israel, which has faced growing diplomatic pressure in recent years over its export of cyber weapons that undermine democracy and human rights”, the paper writes, pointing out that Tal Hanan appears to have collaborated with at least one Israeli security and intelligence firm (Demoman International) that is also highlighted by the Israeli defence ministry on a website that promotes Israeli defence exports.

According to him, his team consists of former government personnel with “expertise” in finance, social media campaigns and “psychological warfare” – and it carries out its work from six offices around the world. During the meeting with journalists, he also boasts that his team is currently “involved in an election in Africa” and that it has rigged 33 national elections – 27 of which the sabotage is said to have been “successful”. He also claims to be involved in “two major projects in the US”.

The paper notes that it’s hard to tell if all the claims are really true – or if it’s just bragging a little extra to attract potential customers. It also reveals that it charges hundreds of thousands of dollars for its services and that it secretly influenced the 2015 Nigerian presidential election with the now-defunct British consultancy Cambridge Analytica, among others.

One of the most important things is to create antagonism between the right people, Hanan explains, showing how he can send fake messages from politicians or high-ranking political officials to create conflict.

When confronted by the magazine before publication of the revelation, he says he “did nothing wrong”.

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Ambassador warns: US has underestimated China’s strength

The new multipolar world order

Published today 15:24
– By Editorial Staff
Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns believes that one of China's greatest advantages is the Chinese Communist Party's ability to think strategically and long-term.
3 minute read

Nicholas Burns, who served as U.S. Ambassador to China for three years, argues that the Western world has systematically underestimated the Chinese superpower’s capabilities in technology, military, and infrastructure.

In a recent interview, the experienced diplomat highlights several areas where China is far ahead of the United States – and warns that American policymakers still fail to see the full gravity of the situation from the perspective of U.S. strategic interests.

Nicholas Burns, 68, concluded his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to China in January 2025 after three intense years in Beijing. With a long career in American diplomacy behind him – having served under six presidents and nine secretaries of state – he returned to Harvard University where he is a professor of diplomacy and international relations.

Now he speaks openly about his experiences and observations from his time in China. And the picture he paints is more alarming than many are willing to acknowledge.

Impressive infrastructure

We’ve underestimated Chinese power in the world, Burns states bluntly. As an example, he highlights China’s high-speed rail system:

Those trains are fabulous. We rode those trains. You know, you can go from Beijing to Shanghai in four and a half hours.

The distance is over a thousand kilometers, he points out, drawing a clear comparison with the American rail system Amtrak:

We have Amtrak’s just not like that.

But it is in scientific and technological capacity that Burns sees the greatest challenge.

That’s the coin of the realm in our decade, he says and continues:

In the next few decades. Which society will turn out more scientists and engineers?

Former US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns shakes hands with Xu Kunlin, governor of Jiangsu Province in China during a meeting in 2023. Photo: US Department of State

“Alarming” education statistics

The statistics he presents are striking. 34 percent of first-year students at Chinese universities study engineering or STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). In the United States, the corresponding figure is 5.6 percent.

And they’re a much bigger country, Burns adds.

He also points to a peculiar paradox in American society. At Harvard’s graduation ceremony, where he himself teaches, the pattern is clear:

At Harvard graduation, where I teach, when we ask our graduate students to stand up as a class, chemistry majors, biology majors, physics majors, largely Asian Americans, Some American citizens, excuse me, Asians, American citizens of Asian ethnicity or Chinese.

The same pattern is visible in business.

Last week, when President Trump gathered all the tech titans of the United States in the White House, tremendous number of those tech titans are Indian Americans and Chinese Americans, Burns says.

His conclusion is scathing:

We’re not competing when it really matters for the future. And that’s on technology.

Overlooked military strength

Burns also addresses the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), whose capabilities he believes the Western world underestimates.

Some people have said, well, it hasn’t fought since 1978. What is what it’s worth? I’ve seen the PLA, he says firmly.

I think we’ve underestimated their military strength, their technology strength.

Strategic long-term thinking

One of China’s greatest advantages, according to Burns, is the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to think strategically and long-term.

The Communist Party of China is strategic and they don’t have to worry about, you know, we want to worry about what the press says. I mean, that’s a good thing to have the press challenging the government. They have nobody opposing them. And so they can make big bets over 10, 20, 30 years.

As an example, he mentions China’s systematic Africa policy:

For 35 consecutive years, the Chinese foreign minister, whoever that person is, has made his first trip of the year in January to Africa to show the Africans you are our priority.

The contrast with the United States is striking.

I think President Trump never went to Africa in his first term. President Biden went once to Angola for two or three days in December, at the very end of his term, Burns says.

His conclusion is unequivocal:

They’re strategic, and we’re not competing on that level. So actually, I think the Chinese technology military economics are stronger than we think they are. And I think we’ve underestimated them, and we can’t do that any longer.

Bolton indicted – shared top secret information with family

Donald Trump's USA

Published yesterday 13:31
– By Editorial Staff
John Bolton has consistently argued for an aggressive and hawkish American foreign policy.
3 minute read

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has been indicted for storing top secret documents in his home and sharing classified information with family members. Bolton’s hacked email account also gave unidentified hackers access to sensitive material.

The neoconservative figure John Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term and later became one of his sharpest critics, was indicted on Thursday for violations related to handling classified documents.

The indictment suggests that secret information was exposed when hackers – allegedly linked to the Iranian regime – broke into Bolton’s email account. A representative for Bolton informed the FBI in 2021 about the hack, according to prosecutors, but did not disclose that he had shared classified information via the account or that the hackers now had access to government secrets.

Bolton denied the charges in a defiant statement.

— Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.

The indictment alleges that Bolton, between 2018 and August of this year, shared more than 1,000 pages of diary-like notes containing top secret information with two family members – identified as his wife and daughter. The material included information from meetings with US government officials, intelligence documents, and conversations with foreign leaders.

After sending one document, Bolton wrote to his relatives: “None of which we talk about!!!” In response, one of the relatives wrote: “Shhhhh”, prosecutors state.

— There is one tier of justice for all Americans. Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law, commented Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Neoconservative war hawk

Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell said that the underlying facts were investigated and resolved several years ago, and that the charges concern parts of Bolton’s personal diaries from his 45-year career in government.

He suggests that the case is linked to the Department of Justice’s failed attempt to block the publication of his 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened”, which portrayed Trump as deeply ignorant about foreign policy.

— These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct, Bolton claimed.

Bolton has, throughout his long career in Republican foreign policy circles, become known as a neoconservative war hawk with hardline views on American military power.

He was, among other things, a strong advocate for the Iraq War and has consistently argued for an aggressive foreign policy toward Iran and North Korea. Trump once called him a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six”.

When President Trump was asked about the indictment of his former National Security Advisor, he responded that he was not aware of it.

I didn’t know that. You’re telling me for the first time, but I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy. Too bad. But that’s the way it goes, the president stated.

China drops visa requirements for Swedes

The new multipolar world order

Published yesterday 9:21
– By Editorial Staff
Soon it will be easier for Swedes to visit the Great Wall of China and other Chinese travel destinations.
1 minute read

Swedish citizens will soon be able to travel to China without a visa. This was announced by Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergård (M) during a visit to Beijing.

Sweden has until now been one of few European countries lacking visa-free entry to China, despite most other nations on the continent having gained access to the new rules.

This is very welcome news, and businesses in particular have been requesting this for a long time. We don’t know the details regarding implementation or exact design, but I expect we will have this shortly. But as I understand it, it will cover Swedish citizens, Stenergård told publicly funded broadcaster SVT.

In July this year, China expanded its visa-free policy to cover a total of 74 countries, where citizens can visit the country for up to 30 days without a visa. Nearly all of Europe is included in the agreement, but Sweden and the United Kingdom have until now remained outside.

For Swedish travelers and businesses, the change represents a major relief, as visa applications were previously time-consuming and costly.

Swedish companies have unfortunately been affected by excessive red tape for a long time, not least at the EU level, she says.

Trump plans to prioritize white refugees

Donald Trump's USA

Published 16 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Trump administration is considering a radical transformation of the US refugee program.
2 minute read

The Trump administration is considering sweeping changes to the US refugee system that would give priority to English-speaking, white South Africans and regime-critical Europeans.

According to internal documents obtained by the New York Times, the program would be transformed from primarily accepting refugees from Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world to focusing more on white refugees.

The proposals were presented to the White House in April and July by officials from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump has previously ordered agencies to investigate whether refugee resettlement serves US interests and paused the entire program on his first day in office.

The proposed changes emphasize whether applicants can adapt to the US, and refugees would be instructed to participate in courses on “American history and values” as well as “respect for cultural norms”.

Trump is recommended to prioritize Europeans who have “targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties”.

Trump has already granted priority status to Afrikaners, the white population group that once ruled South Africa’s apartheid regime. Trump has claimed they face racial persecution, an assertion that South African government officials reject.

Drastic reduction

According to the documents, US refugee resettlement has made the country far too “multicultural”.

“The sharp increase in diversity has reduced the level of social trust essential for the functioning of a democratic polity”, the documents state.

Trump plans to reduce the number of refugees from 125,000 to 7,500 per year. The administration also proposes that hundreds of thousands of people already in the application process should have their applications terminated.

— It should come as no surprise that the State Department is implementing the priorities of the duly elected president of the United States, commented Thomas Pigott, spokesman for the State Department.

Anger over the plans

Reports that the US may focus more on white refugees have been met with anger and outrage from refugee activists and left-liberal figures.

Barbara L. Strack, former chief of the refugee division at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, is among many who are highly critical of the proposals:

— It reflects a preexisting notion among some in the Trump administration as to who are the true Americans, she laments, continuing:

— And they think it’s white people and they think it’s Christians.

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