New report confirms Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato was indeed hacked with #Paragon #spyware. More evidence that the EU finally needs to act (1/2).
06.03.2026 16:13
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New report confirms Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato was indeed hacked with #Paragon #spyware. More evidence that the EU finally needs to act (1/2).
SCOOP: Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media.
"However, sources told the Guardian they included the partner of a Labour MP. A second person is understood to be the partner of a former Labour MP. The identity of the third, or whether they have any links to parliament, is unknown."
A photo of the front cover of issue 1670 of Private Eye magazine, with the caption “on shelves now.” The main headline reads “TRUMP ATTACKS IRAN,” with a subheading “HOW OPERATION EPIC FURY UNFOLDED.” The cover features four photo panels set in the situation-room with US political figures seated around a table. Speech bubbles add dialogue: “Is the Supreme Leader dead?” followed by “No, Trump always looks like this!”; “Mission accomplished!” answered with “Yes, I’ve killed the Epstein story”; “What happens next?” with the reply “Popular revolt and regime change,” and a follow-up, “In America?”; and finally, “Why have you started this war?” answered with “So that I can stop it,” alongside “I’ll ring the Nobel Committee.”
Trump Attacks Iran. How Operation Epic Fury unfolded…
The new Private Eye is out now.
“It’s Monday to Friday with Ray giving his own world view while surrounded by friends of the show."
Want to know how to detect fake cell phone towers that intercept your calls, texts, and get your location? How often do cops really use this tech? Fascinating stuff here
Watch/subscribe www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEFP...
This nonsense of ‘allies of’ spinning BS and getting it regurgitated by senior journalists really needs to end
Josh Simons resigned before a full independent investigation could examine how he paid PR to investigate journalists when running Labour Together
That’s the story
“In January, WashPost reporter Yeganeh Torbati, who had been covering Iran, appealed to Jeff Bezos on social media, noting she had spent months covering developments inside the country and wanted to continue the work.
“The appeals to Bezos went unheeded.”
elink.mail.status.news/ss/c/u001.zg...
The Belgian navy has seized a tanker suspected of busting EU sanctions on Russia, sailing under a false flag in Belgian waters. France assisted the operation, which targets Moscow's shadow oil fleet. #EuropeNews
WSJ reporting that the U.S. used Claude for the air strikes in Iran. Centcom has been using Claude "for intelligence assessments, target identification and simulating battle scenarios" www.wsj.com/livecoverage...
Wow. Josh Simons has resigned as govt minister
Follows weeks of reporting by Democracy for Sale and others about how he paid PR firm to smear journalists investigating Labour Together
Huge thanks to all our supporters. Couldn’t have done it without you
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...
For 2+ years, Palestinian journalists in Gaza have carried the burden of bringing the world vital coverage under impossible conditions. The FPA is calling on the U.S. and leaders around the world to demand that Israel allow international journalists into Gaza immediately. c.org/BfXbQdXjd9
#LetUsIn
Seems legit
Further disarray in the Chinese military just weeks after the removal of top general Zhang Youxia. www.bbc.com/news/article...
I first wrote about Intellexa's use of Ireland as a financial hub in 2022 - it moved about €50m through Irish shell companies, the vast majority from government clients in the Middle East, paying almost no tax. Today, the director of those companies, Sara Hamou, was sentenced in Greece.
The evidence clearly shows years-long surveillance of journalists by the PSNI - but how far did that surveillance go? Have journalists been targeted with spyware in Britain or NI? We don't know - and the official policy of police services on this topic is NCND - neither confirm nor deny. (4/4)
We also know that police across Britain and NI contract with controversial surveillance firms such as the Israeli phone cracking firm Cellebrite - and that Cellebrite's UFED tool was used on a device owned by the journalist Barry McCaffrey in 2018 during an unlawful PSNI spying campaign. (3/4)
But we know that, in 2024 alone, police across Britain and NI were issued 88 warrants to intercept comms of people working in "sensitive professions," defined as "lawyers, journalists, members of relevant legislatures, ministers of religion or doctors." We know nothing more about these cases. (2/4)
Thanks to Vincent Kearney, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, we have some insight into how the PSNI treats journalists - but the tribunal's powers are limited. It is legally precluded from disclosing if "targeted interception" tools - spyware - were used on journalists. (1/4)
Scoop: Rubio has ordered US diplomats to fight data sovereignty initiatives worldwide
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Shein founder emerges from shadows to hail Chinese roots ft.trib.al/N8fftBR
NEW: A hobbyist has created Nearby Glasses, an app that warns you if someone close by is wearing smart glasses. 404 Media spoke to the creator who said he was inspired by our coverage that uncovers how men are wearing Meta's Ray-Bans to covertly film massage parlor workers.
"All four men told us in graphic detail about the dreaded meat storm missions... 'You send three guys, then another three. It didn't work out, send 10. It didn't work out with 10, send 50, eventually you will break through. That's the logic of the military.'" www.bbc.com/news/article...
Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital halts mass eviction after London Centric uncovered what was going on. Hundreds of Londoners now receiving bizarre door-to-door visits blaming misinformation and being asked to record videos saying they don't want to be evicted. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
aaaaaand: 175 entities in the network were sanctioned today by the UK.
I had the opportunity to contribute to @immikesheridan.bsky.social's brilliant doc Amplified, on how US culture wars and extreme ideas are influencing Ireland. It's now available to watch on Apple TV, Amazon, and Google Play.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaFJ...
Among the funders of this group? Meta and Google.
www.lobbyfacts.eu/datacard/con...
SAM ALTMAN: “People talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model … But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human. It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart.”
🚨 Cabinet Office investigating Labour Together and Josh Simons over campaign to smear journalists
But...ministers overseeing inquiry have received £150,000+ from Labour think tank
Experts and MPs demand 'full independent investigation'
New on D4S: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g... 🧵
NEW: Last year, Cellebrite stopped Serbia from using its tools after allegations that local police had abused them to hack into the phone of a journalist.
Now there are similar allegations in Kenya and Jordan, and Cellebrite is taking an entirely different approach.
