Good Morning. 

A New York man is arrested at JFK airport after attempting to provide material support to ISIS, Ukraine is on high alert for air attacks as tens of thousands of Russian troops advance near the Kursk region, a cyberattack by ransomware group RansomHub costs U.S. oil giant Halliburton $35M, Washington D.C. financed the purchase of Israeli spy software Pegasus for Colombian security forces in 2020, and Haiti’s airport shuts down after gangs fire bullets at a Spirit Airlines plane.

Let’s dive in.

— 🐈‍⬛ Acoustic Kitty

Human Rights Watch Calls for International Force in Sudan as Paramilitary Attacks Escalate

• Human Rights Watch, a leading rights group, is calling for an international force to protect civilians in war-torn Sudan, as reports that well-established paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed dozens of civilians and committed widespread rapes during recent rampages.

• The RSF and Sudan’s military have been at war since April 2023, but according to local pro-democracy group Wad Madani Resistance, at least 169 people have been killed since new attacks began in southeastern Jazirah state last month.

• Laetitia Bader, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division, notes these violations have severely escalated suffering for a country under 18 months of war: “Sudanese women's rights groups have been documenting cases of sexual violence against women and girls … we're talking here about over 30 towns and villages which have been attacked in recent weeks, and these attacks are ongoing.”

Counterterrorism

• A New York man is arrested at JFK after attempting to provide material support to ISIS. ➚ 

• Chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's armed forces Fayyad al-Ruwaili visits Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart regarding defense ties. ➚

• North Korea ratifies a mutual defense treaty with Russia, which the two countries’ leaders signed in June. ➚

Military & Defense

• Ukraine is on high alert for air attacks as tens of thousands of Russian troops advance near the Kursk region. ➚

• China publishes baselines for contested South China Sea shoal in dispute with Philippines, likely to increase territorial tensions. ➚

• The Kremlin rejects reports that Trump and Putin spoke in recent days. ➚

• Israel's FM Gideon Saar sees progress in Lebanon ceasefire talks and notes that Russia could help efforts by halting Hezbollah rearming via Syria. ➚

• Somalia insists Ethiopia not be part of new African Union peacekeeping mission starting in January. ➚

• The U.S. military’s Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, reports a drone crash in southern Somalia. ➚

Cybersecurity

• A cyberattack by ransomware group RansomHub costs U.S. oil giant Halliburton $35M. ➚

• TSA issues anticipated proposed cyber mandates for U.S. pipelines, rail, and airlines. ➚

• The FBI warns U.S.-based organizations that cybercriminals are sending fake emergency data requests to harvest personally identifiable information. ➚

Counterintelligence & Espionage

• Washington D.C. financed the purchase of Israeli spy software Pegasus for Colombian security forces in 2020, according to senior U.S. officials. ➚

• A former U.K. solider accused of forwarding sensitive information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pleads guilty to prison escape. ➚

Transnational Organized Crime

• Haiti’s airport shuts down after gangs fire bullets at a Spirit Airlines plane, at the same time new PM Alix Didier Fils-Aime is sworn in. ➚

• Violence and crime costs Latin America and the Caribbean nearly the same amount that region budgets for education. ➚

• Among the 11 found dead in southern Mexico is a 14-year-old boy last seen in a kidnap video, in escalating violence by local drug cartels. ➚

The America Builds podcast sits at the nexus of national security, technology, and venture capital. Hosts Will Allen and Hayley Menser interview the brilliant operators and investors pushing the boundaries of frontier technology.