Latest news with #militaryequipment
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Somalia State Probing Turkey-Linked Cargo Seized Off Its Coast
Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region acknowledged it's holding a vessel full of military equipment until it can work out who the cargo belongs to. The federal government on Wednesday accused Puntland authorities of seizing MV Sea World with a shipment destined for a Turkish military training facility in the capital, Mogadishu. Puntland said traders in the city had claimed ownership and that Turkey's ambassador had also reached out.
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Somalia Accuses Semi-Autonomous State of Seizing Turkish Arms
Somalia accused the semi-autonomous Puntland region of hijacking a ship with military equipment destined for a training facility in the capital, Mogadishu, that's run by the Turkish government. 'In accordance with bilateral agreement between Somalia and Turkey, the cargo was legally authorized and fully compliant with both national and international laws,' Somalia's Ministry of Information said in a statement demanding the release of the vessel christened Sea World.
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Meta allows ads crowdfunding for IDF drones, consumer watchdog finds
Meta is hosting ads on Facebook, Instagram and Threads from pro-Israel entities that are raising money for military equipment including drones and tactical gear for Israeli Defense Force battalions, seemingly a violation of the company's stated advertising policies, new research shows. 'We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia,' one ad on Facebook read, first published on 11 June and still active on 17 July. These paid ads were first discovered and flagged to Meta by global consumer watchdog, Ekō, which identified at least 117 ads published since March 2025 that explicitly sought donations for military equipment for the IDF. It is the second time the organization has reported ads by the same publishers to Meta. In a previous investigation from December 2024, Ekō flagged 98 ads to Meta, prompting the tech giant to take many of them down. However, the company has largely allowed the publishers to start new campaigns with identical ads since then. The IDF itself is not running the fundraising calls. 'This shows that Meta will literally take money from anybody,' said Ekō campaigner Maen Hammad. 'So little of the checks and balances the platform ought to be doing actually takes place and if it does, they'll do it after the fact.' Meta said it reviewed and removed the ads for violating company policy after the Guardian and Ekō reached out for comment, according to Ryan Daniels, a spokesperson for the social media firm. Any ads about social issues, elections or politics are required to go through an authorization process and include a disclaimer that discloses who is paying for the ad, the company said. These ads did not. These ads garnered at least 76,000 impressions – a term that indicates the number of times an ad is shown to a user – in the EU and UK alone, according to Ekō. The group was unable to determine the number of impressions in the US. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion At least 97 ads within the more recent crop, including many that remain active, are seeking donations to fund specific models of civilian drones. A new investigation from +972 magazine reveals these types of drones have allegedly been used by Israeli combat units to drop grenades on Palestinians, many who were unarmed. These quadcopters are primarily used for photography and can be purchased on Amazon, but IDF units are retrofitting the machines with grenades, primarily because they are orders of magnitude cheaper than military-grade drones, according to several IDF soldiers who spoke to +972 anonymously. 'Most of our drones are broken and falling apart—and we don't have any replacements,' another ad reads. 'Donate now—every second counts, every drone saves lives.' While it's unclear if these combat units used funds received from these particular ads to purchase drones, soldiers told +972 they did receive cheap drones, manufactured by a Chinese firm called Autel, through donations and fundraisers as well as Facebook groups. Fundraising ads from one of the publishers Ekō identified, Vaad Hatzedaka, links to a donation page that lists the variety of equipment the organization is fundraising for, including two Autel drones. Vaad Hatzedaka, a non-profit, has raised more than $250,000 of its $300,000 goal to provide these drones and other aid to various IDF units, according to the donation page. The second publisher, Mayer Malik, a singer-songwriter based in Israel, has published ads linking to a landing page that includes sponsorship opportunities for various pieces of tactical equipment, among them an Autel thermal drone. Malik has raised more than $2.2m in total donations for the IDF. Meta's ad policy prohibits most attempts to donate, gift, buy, sell or transfer 'firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements' with some exceptions. While Meta has taken down this recent crop of ads as well as some of the ads fundraising for military equipment Ekō previously flagged, the company did so because the content lacked a disclaimer required for ads around social issues, elections or politics, according to disclosures included in the Meta ad library. The ads may also violate certain terms of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), according to Ekō. Under the DSA, platforms like Meta are required to take down content that violate national or EU law. In France and the UK, laws limit whether and how charities can fundraise for foreign militaries. In the UK, for instance, in January 2025, the Charity Commission issued an official warning to a London charity that was raising funds for an IDF soldier and said it was 'not lawful, or acceptable'.
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Military's Fight For The Right To Repair Is One It Can't Lose
A U.S. service member is repairing a vehicle in Iraq. Today, such work might require a vendor's ... More technician instead! getty The United States military has been quietly engaged in a fight that it can't afford to lose. It isn't facing off against a near-peer adversary or even a rogue state. Instead, this fight is about how it can maintain its equipment and hardware, rather than relying on contractors. The situation the Pentagon faces is one not all that dissimilar from the milkshake machines at McDonald's. Anyone looking to top off their burger meal at the Golden Arches with a frozen drink may have gone to discover they're out of luck, as the machines are broken. It isn't due to laziness on the part of the employees; however, until recently, they weren't allowed to repair the milkshake machine. The United States military faces a similar challenge due to the issue of "Right to Repair," a concept that is often not granted to the end user. The problem has impacted farmers, who find that their expensive tractors and other equipment can only be serviced by the manufacturer. Consumers have seen similar issues with electronics and automobiles. The root of the problem is about manufacturers retaining intellectual property rights, which for the Pentagon restricts service members from repairing crucial systems. In theory, this was actually meant to benefit the manufacturers, who have seen their profits erode. Another aspect is that today's high-tech systems can be much more challenging to repair, requiring specialized tools and even specialized training. "The reason why vendors don't want you to mess with their products falls into two categories, one is they don't want to deal with people returning products or asking for warranty coverage when the repair attempt did more damage than good," explained technology industry analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group. "The other is they want the service revenue associated with the repair," Enderle added. He acknowledged that this has been problematic because it can lead vendors to intentionally create flawed products to maximize service revenues. In other cases, it is about ensuring that hardware can't be easily reverse-engineered. "Apple, John Deere, and McLaren are all infamous for not wanting people to work on their products," said Enderle. For the military, its platforms are also highly classified, so there is no concern that a sailor could reverse-engineer the equipment while being trained to work on it. Having a tractor sidelined can be costly for a farmer, but having a key system on a warship out of service creates a very modern "For Want of a Nail" scenario. No one wants to see a warship sunk "For Want of a Technician." To address the issue, lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation, dubbed the "Warrior Right to Repair Act of 2025," which seeks to prohibit the United States Department of Defense from entering into contracts for goods unless the contractor agrees to provide access to the necessary parts, tools, software and technical information to diagnose, maintain and most importantly repair the particular piece of equipment. "The Pentagon's move to secure the right to repair is not just about cost savings; this is about sovereignty and resilience. When critical systems break, the ability to repair, adapt, and restore them should not depend on a single vendor or proprietary code. For the military, that is not just inefficient; it is a strategic vulnerability. And it is clearly a national security risk," warned Angeli Gianchandani, global brand strategist and adjunct instructor of marketing and public relations at New York University and a graduate of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Gianchandani said the issue mirrors the broader shift across industries, such as agriculture, automotive, and aerospace; namely, as systems become more software-driven and complex, organizations are realizing they need more control. However, the military can't be dependent on the OEM's teams to handle these repairs. It is a situation that is impractical in peacetime and utterly unimaginable in wartime. Battles Aren't Delayed By Broken Systems, They're Lost The Federal News Network recently reported on the "countless examples of how restricting service members from repairing their own equipment" has impacted military readiness. It cited contractors who were flown out to sea, and how the Marines were forced to ship broken engines back to the United States. This is unacceptable, primarily since the service invests billions in equipment and boasts some of the best training programs in the world. "The military typically can and has people with sufficient training, more importantly, the military deploys its people into war zones and areas where a vendor repair team would be either unwanted or that would put that team at mortal risk," suggested Enderle. The military needs platforms that its personnel can maintain and repair without having to call tech support, as has been the case with reports of Ukrainian soldiers needing to call tech support. In at least one case, the call was made to a Russian company. "Thus products with this restriction should be failed out of the bid process unless the military can show a critical need for it that can't be met by anyone else, and the vendor can accurately and honestly report that the military lacks the skills, tools, experience, or safety protocols that make such work viable," Enderle continued. "So this rule might successfully apply to a unique or experimental offering, but for anything that is widely deployed, no right to repair should be a non-starter." AI To The Rescue One solution could be greater use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to help maintain and, when necessary, repair key systems. "That is where AI could be a game-changer," said Gianchandani. "The Pentagon cannot afford to take a reactive stance. They need to plan forward to embed repair intelligence into every layer of the system. AI is the perfect enabler. It can detect issues before they escalate, guide in-field repairs, and reduce dependence on OEMs. This is the future of readiness."
Arab News
21-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Watchdog finds hundreds of Instagram, Facebook ads crowdfunding for Israeli military
LONDON: Consumer watchdog Eko has uncovered hundreds of ads on Meta platforms — including Instagram and Facebook — that promote crowdfunding campaigns for the Israel Defense Forces, in apparent violation of the company's own advertising policies. The ads, run by pro-Israel groups, aim to raise funds for military equipment such as drones and tactical gear, despite Meta's rules prohibiting the promotion of firearms and weapons-related content. According to Eko's research, at least 117 ads have been published since March 2025 explicitly soliciting donations for equipment used by the IDF. The ads, launched by two groups, targeted users in the US, UK and EU, and generated at least 76,000 impressions — the number of times an ad is displayed to users. Combined, the campaigns raised more than $2.4 million through landing pages linked to the ads. 'We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia,' one Facebook ad read. Eko said most of the ads raised funds for Autel EVO drones, the model that Israeli soldiers have reportedly retrofitted with grenades and used in deadly attacks in Gaza, including against children. An investigation by Israeli outlet +972 Magazine recently revealed that Israel has acquired large numbers of Chinese-made Autel quadcopters — drones typically used for photography and available for purchase on Amazon — and adapted them to carry explosives. 'Most of our drones are broken and falling apart— and we don't have any replacements,' another ad said. 'Donate now — every second counts, every drone saves lives.' While Eko noted it is unclear whether funds raised through the ads were directly used to purchase drones, IDF soldiers told +972 that they had received Autel drones through donations, fundraisers and Facebook groups. One of the groups identified by Eko is the nonprofit Vaad Hatzedaka, which linked to a donation page listing equipment it was seeking to fund, including two Autel drones. As of this month, the campaign had raised more than $250,000 of its $300,000 goal. Another campaign, launched by Israeli singer-songwriter Mayer Malik, claimed to have collected more than $2.2 million for the IDF. Meta's advertising policies explicitly ban content that promotes the sale or use of restricted goods such as weapons, ammunition and explosives. 'Meta is profiting from genocide — approving ads that help funnel millions of dollars toward killer drones and military gear likely used to murder Palestinians,' Vicky Wyatt, campaign director, said. 'This isn't just a moderation failure — it's a business model built to reward whoever pays, no matter the harm.' While Meta has removed some of the ads flagged in Eko's latest report, the watchdog said the company has done little to address broader concerns raised during a previous investigation in December 2024. At the time, Eko flagged 98 similar ads, prompting takedowns, but Meta allowed the advertisers to return with near-identical campaigns. The IDF itself is not directly running the fundraising campaigns. The new findings come just days after a separate investigation by the Tech Transparency Project revealed that platforms including X and WhatsApp were being used as storefronts for weapons sales by arms dealers linked to Houthi militants in Yemen. Eko warned that Meta's approval of the IDF-linked ads may also breach the EU's Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to remove content that violates national or EU laws.
