France Accuses Russia of Ongoing Cyberattacks.

1 month ago 7

PULSE POINTS:

What Happened: France’s foreign ministry accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency of carrying out cyber attacks on several entities.

👥 Who’s Involved: The accusations were directed at GRU unit APT28, reportedly operating out of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

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📍 Where & When: The alleged attacks targeted France, originating from Russia, with instances highlighted since 2015.

💬 Key Quote: “These destabilizing activities are unacceptable and unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” France’s foreign ministry complained.

⚠️ Impact: Cyber attacks on government ministries, defense firms, and other sectors increased by 15 percent from 2023 to 2024, tallying approximately 4,000 incidents attributed to Russian actors.

IN FULL:

France has formally accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit of executing a series of cyber attacks targeting French entities. This announcement, made on April 29 by France’s foreign ministry, highlights alleged assaults against government ministries, defense companies, and think tanks.

“These destabilizing activities are unacceptable and unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” France’s foreign ministry complained.

The unit implicated, APT28, is noted for having operations based out of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. This claim marks the first time France publicly ascribed responsibility for certain cyber attacks to Russia.

Records indicate that APT28’s operations in France began as early as 2015. A significant incident cited was the cyber disruption of the TV5 Monde channel. Islamic State operatives initially claimed the attack.

The Russian cyber unit was also linked to incidents during the 2017 French presidential election. These were allegedly aimed at undermining President Emmanuel Macron through the dissemination of leaked and manipulated documents.

The French National Cybersecurity Agency, ANSSI, documented APT28’s alleged efforts to extract strategic intelligence spanning sectors across Europe and North America. Statistics claim that approximately 4,000 cyber attacks were linked to Russian actors in 2024, a 15 percent rise from the previous year.

The accusations from France follow similar allegations of Russia planting incendiary devices on aircraft flying over Europe last year. Germany and Britain reported finding such devices in warehouses belonging to a global courier company.

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

PULSE POINTS:

What Happened: During an interview marking his 100th day in office, President Donald J. Trump expressed frustration and criticized ABC News anchor Terry Moran for his questions, particularly regarding an MS-13 tattoo on a deported illegal immigrant, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald Trump and ABC News anchor Terry Moran were the primary figures in the interview.

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📍 Where & When: The interview took place in the Oval Office and was aired on April 29 as an hour-long special by ABC News under the title “President Trump: The First 100 Days: The Interview.”

💬 Key Quote: President Trump stated, “Why don’t you just say, ‘Yes, he does,’ and, you know, go on to something else,” during the tattoo debate with Moran.

⚠️ Impact: This interview highlighted ongoing tensions between the media and the Trump administration, underscoring issues of media trust and factual disputes in political reporting.

IN FULL:

President Donald J. Trump slammed ABC News and its senior national correspondent, Terry Moran, arguing the corporate media network was spreading “fake news” regarding tattoos found on the hand of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant alleged to be a member of the violent MS-13 gang who was recently deported to his home country. In a tense exchange, Moran insisted that an image showing the tattoos in question had actually been photoshopped, and photographs of Abrego Garcia in El Salvador did not show “M-S-1-3” tattooed across his knuckles.

An image posted to social media by President Trump had the text added above existing tattoos on the El Salvadoran national’s knuckles to denote what the inked symbols stood for. Abrego Garcia has a marijuana leaf, a smiley face with “x” over the eyes, a cross, and a skull tattooed across his knuckles, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and law enforcement officials contend are code representing M-S-1-3, the gang’s name.

“That was Photoshop? Terry, you can’t do that—he had—hey, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you’re doing the interview. I picked you because—frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK,” Trump said, responding to Moran’s assertion that the image of the tattoos had been doctored. The America First leader insisted, “He had MS-13 tattooed,” before Moran cut him off, asking that they move on to another subject.

“Terry. Do you want me to show the picture?” President Trump fired back, with Moran responding: “I saw the picture. We’ll—we’ll—we’ll agree to disagree.” After Trump continued to push back, the ABC News correspondent finally relented, conceding, “Fair enough, he did have tattoos that can be interpreted that way. I’m not an expert on them.”

Unsatisfied, President Trump continued to push Moran to acknowledge that the symbols tattooed on Abrego Garcia’s hand stood for MS-13. “Why don’t you just say, ‘Yes, he does,’ and, you know, go on to something else,” he told Moran, with the ABC News journalist responding: “It’s contested.”

As the interview progressed, Moran attempted to take several digs at the President, asking him: “I’m gonna ask—if I may, do you think the reputation of the United States has gone down under your presidency?” Exasperated, Trump replied: “I—no, I think it’s gone way up, and I think we’re a respected country again. We were laughed at all over the world. We had a president who couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs, couldn’t walk down a flight of stairs, couldn’t walk across a stage without falling. We had a president that was grossly incompetent. You knew it, I knew it, and everybody knew it. But you guys didn’t want to write it because you’re fake news.”

“And, by the way, ABC is one of the worst. I have to be honest with you,” Trump said as the interview concluded.

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A biologically male swimmer identifying as female swept gold in five individual events at the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championships.

The details: Ana Caldas, who has also competed under the names Hannah and Hugo Caldas, competed in the 45–49 women’s division and won every event he entered.

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  • He won by margins as wide as four seconds—which is considered a blowout in elite short-distance swimming.

The rules: The U.S. Masters Swimming competition allows biological men to compete against women as long as they can show proof that they’ve received hormone therapy to reduce their testosterone levels.

Reality check: We know that there is no level of testosterone suppression that can undo the physical biological advantages that a man naturally has in sports — bone density, lung capacity, muscle fiber density, skeletal structure—especially for a man his age.

What Americans think: A poll from earlier this year found that 79 percent of Americans oppose letting biological men compete against women—including 67 percent of Democrats.

The last word goes to comedian Rob Schneider, who wrote on X: “Michael Jordan at 60 years old could suit up today and be the best ‘WOMAN’ in the [WNBA] and maybe THEN the stupid people in the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship would SEE THEIR OWN INSANITY!”

🚨Breaking🚨

4/25 – A male athlete has taken 1st in the women’s 50 yard breast stroke at the U.S. Masters Spring National Championships.

Earlier today, Ana C. Caldas (formerly Hugo Caldas) took first in the 45-49 masters category of the women’s breast stroke at the U.S. Masters… pic.twitter.com/fO3YwwzUhB

— HeCheated.org (@hecheateddotorg) April 26, 2025

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Image by Oriel Frankie Ashcroft.

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A biologically male swimmer identifying as female swept gold in five individual events at the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championships. show more

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