Today in History (September 11th, 2001)
On this day, in 2001, 19 militants associated with the terrorist group al-Qaeda attacked World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Summary of Today’s News
African Union (AU)
The African Union (AU) is a continental organization comprising 55 member states in Africa. It was established in 2002 to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was founded in 1963. The AU’s primary goal is to foster unity, cooperation, and development among African nations, while advocating for the continent’s interests globally. It strives to enhance political, economic, and social integration among African countries, with a vision of achieving a unified, prosperous, and peaceful Africa. The AU’s headquarters is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The AU’s structure includes:
- Assembly: Comprising the heads of state and government of member countries, it serves as the highest decision-making body.
- Executive Council: Consisting of foreign affairs ministers, it handles policy matters and provides recommendations to the Assembly.
- AU Commission: Based in Addis Ababa, it is the administrative arm responsible for implementing decisions made by the Assembly and Executive Council.
- Peace and Security Council: Tasked with maintaining peace and security on the continent.
Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
Section 69 of the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) outlines two violations related to sexual intercourse with a woman. The first involves engaging in sexual activity through deceitful means or by making a false promise of marriage without any intention of fulfilling it. The second violation, “false promise to marry,” occurs when a man deliberately promises to marry a woman with the intent of breaking it, aiming to obtain her consent for sexual exploitation. Both offenses carry a penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment. Deceitful means encompass false promises related to employment, promotion, inducement, or marriage after concealing one’s true identity.
Storm-0558
Storm-0558 is a China-based hacking group known for cyber-espionage activities, primarily targeting U.S. and European governmental bodies. Their core working hours align with China’s time zone, suggesting their geographical origin. The group’s tactics include exploiting cryptographic keys, vital in securing data. These keys, strings of characters, encode and decode information, ensuring it’s only accessible to authorized parties. In this attack, Storm-0558 acquired a Microsoft Service Account (MSA) key, granting unauthorized access to Outlook Web Access (OWA) and allowing them to impersonate users, highlighting the critical importance of safeguarding cryptographic keys in cybersecurity.
