WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
GUNMAN OPENS FIRE ON NYC SUBWAY
A sudden act of apparent terror shook morning riders in one of the world’s largest subway systems.
The incident took place April 12 in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. During rush hour at around 8:30 a.m., a person who reportedly was mumbling to himself put on a gas mask, released a smoke canister and starting firing 33 shots at people with a Glock 9mm handgun. The gunfire caused the civilians to flee a Manhattan-bound N subway car right as it reached the 36th Street subway station in terror. Ten people suffered gunshot wounds, with at least 29 people reported as injured, likely due to the rush of others running from the scene. There were no working cameras in the station, and all related video is from social media postings.
Even more alarming, reports from witnesses indicate that the gun had actually jammed, meaning that the perpetrator intended far more damage. Also, the NYFD initially said there were “explosive devices” in the subway, but authorities quickly said that there were no active explosive devices. This was again confirmed by NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
The suspect, who was said to be wearing construction attire and gray hoodie along with the gas mask, was identified by authorities as 62-year-old Frank R. James, and was still at-large until the next day, when he was apprehended in the East Village without incident. According to reports, James had several prior arrests, including some in NJ.
Police had been on the lookout for a U-Haul vehicle with Arizona plates, which was rented by James. The suspect also had several social media posts which have been deemed as worthy of concern.
After the shooting, virtually all subway service in New York City was suspended, while surface streets near the incident were blocked off, even closing a ramp from the Gowanus Expressway, causing traffic snarls. Nearby schools were put on lockdown as a precaution.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who is working remotely due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, addressed the situation.
“The individual today had a desire of creating terror in our subway system,” Adams told 1010 WINS in a phone interview.
Adams also said that New Yorkers would not be terrorized by the suspect’s actions.
The shooting reached beyond New York, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was informed of the attack, while White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that President was also aware of the situation.
WORLD
UKRAINE WAR CRUSHING GLOBAL TRADE
The war in Ukraine has created immense human suffering but it is also putting the fragile recovery of global trade at risk, and the impact will be felt across the planet, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on April 12.
World merchandise trade volume is expected to grow just 3 per cent this year, down from the previous forecast of 4.7 percent, and 3.4 percent in 2023, though these figures could be revised given the uncertainty surrounding the conflict.
The Russian invasion began on Feb. 24 and WTO said the most immediate impact of the war has been a sharp rise in commodity prices.
Both Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of essential goods such as food, energy, and fertilizers, supplies of which are now threatened. Grain shipments through Black Sea ports have also been halted, with possible dire consequences, particularly for poorer countries.
“Smaller supplies and higher prices for food mean that the world’s poor could be forced to do without. This must not be allowed to happen,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO Director-General.
The war is taking place as other factors impact global trade, including the latest COVID-19 lockdowns in China which are again disrupting maritime trade just as supply chain pressures appeared to be easing.
Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged governments to work with multilateral organizations like WTO to facilitate trade.
“In a crisis, more trade is needed to ensure stable, equitable access to necessities. Restricting trade will threaten the wellbeing of families and businesses and make more fraught the task of building a durable economic recovery from COVID‑19,” she said.
Given the scant data on the economic impact of the conflict, WTO economists have had to rely on simulations for their assumptions about global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth through 2023.
Their estimates capture the direct impact of the war, including destruction of infrastructure and increased trade costs; the impact of Russian sanctions, including blocking Russian banks from the SWIFT international banking payments system; and reduced aggregate demand in the rest of the world – in part due to rising uncertainty.
WTO said world GDP at market exchange rates should increase by 2.8 percent this year, or 1.3 percentage points down from the previous forecast.
Output growth should rise to 3.2 per cent in 2023, “assuming persistent geopolitical and economic uncertainty,” which is close to the 3.0 per cent average rate for the period 2010-2019.
In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region – created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and which excludes Ukraine – GDP is expected to drop 7.9 percent, leading to a 12 percent decline in imports.
However, exports should increase by nearly five per cent as other countries continue to rely on Russian energy.
“If the situation were to change, we might see stronger export volume growth in other fuel producing regions,” said WTO.
EUROPE
HACKER MARKETPLACE SHUT DOWN
On April 12, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of the RaidForums website, a popular marketplace for cybercriminals to buy and sell hacked data, and unsealed criminal charges against RaidForums’ founder and chief administrator, Diogo Santos Coelho, 21, of Portugal. Coelho was arrested in the United Kingdom on Jan. 31, at the United States’ request and remains in custody pending the resolution of his extradition proceedings.
Court records unsealed indicate that the United States recently obtained judicial authorization to seize three domains that long hosted the RaidForums website. These domains were “raidforums.com,” “Rf.ws,” and “Raid.lol.” According to the affidavit filed in support of these seizures, from in or around 2016 through February 2022, RaidForums served as a major online marketplace for individuals to buy and sell hacked or stolen databases containing the sensitive personal and financial information of victims in the United States and elsewhere, including stolen bank routing and account numbers, credit card information, login credentials and social security numbers.
Prior to its seizure, RaidForums members used the platform to offer for sale hundreds of databases of stolen data containing more than 10 billion unique records for individuals residing in the United States and internationally. At the time of its founding in 2015, RaidForums also operated as an online venue for organizing and supporting forms of electronic harassment, including by “raiding” – posting or sending an overwhelming volume of contact to a victim’s online communications medium – or “swatting” – the practice of making false reports to public safety agencies of situations that would necessitate a significant, and immediate armed law enforcement response.
The seizure of these domains by the government will prevent RaidForums members from using the platform to traffic in data stolen from corporations, universities and governmental entities in the United States and elsewhere, including databases containing the sensitive, private data of millions of individuals around the world.
In addition, a six-count indictment against Coelho was unsealed in the Eastern District of Virginia charging him with conspiracy, access device fraud and aggravated identify theft in connection with his role as the chief administrator of RaidForums. According to the indictment, between Jan. 1, 2015, and on or about Jan. 31, 2022, Coelho allegedly controlled and served as the chief administrator of RaidForums, which he operated with the help of other website administrators.
As administrators, Coelho and his co-conspirators are alleged to have designed and administered the platform’s software and computer infrastructure, established and enforced rules for its users, and created and managed sections of the website dedicated to promoting the buying and selling of contraband, including a subforum titled “Leaks Market” that described itself as “(a) place to buy/sell/trade databases and leaks.”
To profit from the illicit activity on the platform, RaidForums charged escalating prices for membership tiers that offered greater access and features, including a top-tier “God” membership status. RaidForums also sold “credits” that provided members access to privileged areas of the website and enabled members to “unlock,” and download stolen financial information, means of identification, and data from compromised databases, among other items. Members could also earn credits through other means, such as by posting instructions on how to commit certain illegal acts.
According to the indictment, Coelho also personally sold stolen data on the platform, and directly facilitated illicit transactions by operating a fee-based “Official Middleman” service. For the Official Middleman service, Coelho allegedly acted as a trusted intermediary between RaidForums members seeking to buy and sell contraband on the platform, including hacked data. Notably, to create confidence amongst transacting parties, the Official Middleman service enabled purchasers and sellers to verify the means of payment and contraband files being sold prior to executing the transaction.
Anyone that has any information regarding Coelho or RaidForums should file a complaint at ic3.gov with #RaidForums in the description.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
AFRICA
FOOD BECOMING SCARCE IN EASTERN REGIONS
Millions of displaced families across eastern Africa will fall deeper into hunger as food rations dwindle due to humanitarian resources being stretched to the limit as the world grapples with a toxic cocktail of conflict, climate shocks, and COVID-19, UN humanitarians warned on April 13.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and the UN World Food Program (WFP) said that spiraling costs of food and fuel were adding to the toxic mix.
Despite efforts to make resources stretch through prioritization schemes, the agencies are having to prioritize food assistance for the most vulnerable families, they said in a press release, while the sheer number of refugees in need of support has grown, along with the gap between resourcing and needs.
In the past decade the number of refugees in eastern Africa has nearly tripled, from 1.82 million in 2012 to almost five million today including 300,000 new refugees last year alone.
The growth in refugee numbers has not been matched by a growth in resources, forcing WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food assistance and who goes without. More than 70 percent of refugees in need, do not receive a full ration due to funding shortfalls.
“Refugees and internally displaced people are at the center of the food ration cuts, compounding a desperate situation for millions of people uprooted from their homes and often relying on aid to survive,” said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCR’s Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes.
“More and more children below the age of five years are experiencing high levels of stunting and wasting, as they lack the nutrients to grow and develop.”
“Families do not know where their next meal will come from and are taking on huge debt, selling off what they can, or sending their children to work,” added the Regional Director. “The risk of domestic violence is rising. Getting people out of harm’s way and shielding them from serious protection risks also requires that their food needs are adequately addressed.”
A sharp increase in food and fuel costs and conflict-caused displacement are being compounded by a worsening climate crisis.
