Critical Perspective on Developments in National Security, Intelligence, and Technology
This new collection of streams monitors tweets about hurricanes, tropical storms, and the National Hurricane Center.
I will likely add storm specific monitors as named storms near the US coast. That could happen as early as next week with tropical storm Debby likely to form in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend.
I’ve also worked on the ThreatStream menu. You’ll find this stream and a few others listed under a new “Weather/Environmental” section on the page.
Syrian officials have reportedly issued a rare apology:
Damascus has apologized for shooting down a military plane, which went off Turkish radars earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said as reported by Hurriyet daily.
The plane was taken down by Syrian forces, an official Turkish source confirmed to Hurriyet.
The plane crashed into Syrian territorial waters earlier today, according to reports. A missile shattered it to pieces after which the missile plunged into the Mediterranean Sea. The two pilots were later saved off the shore of Hatay, a south eastern province bordering Syria.
It appears that the parties involved are working through this rationally. Today’s events just illustrate how dangerous these situations can be. The region is increasingly just a couple of cascading errors away from shots fired. This won’t lead to war but it will does add another layer of complexity and tension to an already difficult problem.
Follow the Turkey or Syria live streams to stay on top of this emerging story.
Update:
Or not:
However, Mr Erdogan later told a news conference that he could not confirm reports that Syria had shot it down and had apologised.
He said he had no word on the fate of the pilot and navigator on board.
As I said initially, it takes a while for the facts to shake out in a story like this.
This is a developing story but initial reports are troubling:
A Turkish military aircraft has crashed in Syria, according to media reports. A local witness has told RT Arabic that the plane crashed on Syrian territory and the two pilots were captured.
The plane appears to have been shot down, the witness said. The craft went down as Syrian air defense opened fire, says Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV. These reports are yet to be confirmed.
Turkey declares it lost contact with the craft while it was flying over the Mediterranean sea off the southeastern province of Hatay, which borders Syria.
It will take a few hours for this story to firm up. However, If these details turn out to be accurate the impact will be significant – but not war as many are speculating. At least not right away. Follow the Turkey or Syria live streams to stay on top of this emerging story.
Ali-Reza Anghaie and Scot Terban
Information Security, Hackers, China, and Cyber Hype
Jon Iadonisi and Tim Newberry
Phillip Smyth
Dr. Rebecca Johnson
