Employee reveals how Russian trolls targeted Hillary Clinton before election - after studying House of Cards

A former employee of the Russian “troll factory” that bought thousands of Facebook ads during the US presidential election has revealed how he wrote comments on Western news sites to ridicule Hillary Clinton and inflame political divisions. A young man quoted under the pseudonym “Maksim” told independent channel TV Rain about the trolls' mission to meddle in US politics and wage an “information war” against the country. “Our goal wasn't to turn Americans toward Russia. Our goal was to set Americans against their own government,” he said. “To provoke unrest, provoke dissatisfaction, lower (Barack) Obama's rating.” Maksim's records listed his employer as Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory” in St Petersburg that Facebook said had purchased 3,000 ads around the time of the election, reaching 10 million people with politically charged content. Leaked emails have linked the agency to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a restaurateur known as “Putin's chef” for his close ties to the Kremlin. Twitter and Google have said Russian agents also targeted their platforms.  Whistleblowers have said this building in St Petersburg houses the "troll factory" Credit: Dmitri Beliakov/For The Telegraph Maksim and the trolls in his department made 50,000 roubles (£650) a month posting tens of thousands of comments on Western media sites like The New York Times and Washington Post, he said. Having honed their English watching House of Cards, they would receive spreadsheets with links to articles and instructions on “what we needed to write about them to blow up the discussion”. Some employees even traveled to the United States. He worked at the agency until early 2015, a time when Ms Clinton was already the clear front-runner for the Democratic Party nomination. “Everything was always bad about Hillary Clinton; we bashed her. For her leaked emails, for the fact that she's rich,” he said. “The main message was, Aren't you, my American brothers, tired of the Clintons, how much of them you've had already? The corruption scandals were put in there as well.”  Ms Clinton told Channel Four this week that Russia's “massive propaganda effort” in support of Donald Trump was one of the reasons she lost. Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, goes to speak with members of congress last week about Russian interference during the election. Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Maksim said he most often tried to rile religious Americans with comments about guns and gays. His comments echoed recent reports that Russians were behind shuttered groups like LGBT United and Tea Party News.  Across from his workspace was the Facebook department, which created fake groups and left hundreds of English-language comments every shift. Facebook sometimes banned their accounts, he said, suggesting it was aware of the troll problem as early as 2014. Maksim also made phony Facebook accounts to comment on news sites. “You needed to develop the account, add friends, upload photos, think up a name and a history,” he said. “Over a few weeks you could do this really well.”

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Monday's Morning Email: Inside Trump's Moves With Obamacare To 'Blow That Thing Up'

TOP STORIES (And want to get The Morning Email each weekday?

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Iraqi federal forces seize oil-rich Kirkuk in shock blow for Kurds

Iraqi federal forces seized the contested city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces almost unopposed on Monday in a stunning reversal of fortunes for Iraq’s Kurds. The loss of the city and its nearby oil fields is a massive blow to dreams of independence for the Kurds, who last month held an independence referendum in anticipation of entering secession talks with Baghdad. “We took Kirkuk easily,” a lieutenant in the Iraqi federal police Emergency Response Division told the Telegraph via telephone on Monday. “We are all brothers, there were not problems, some of the Kurdish Peshmerga even took pictures with me,” said the 27-year-old, who gave his first name as Moqtader. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Security Council reported that “Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces” attacked in “a major, multi-pronged operation” that deployed “US military equipment, including Abrams tanks and Humvees.” The statement also said “Peshmerga Forces have destroyed at least five US Humvees used by PMF.” Most Peshmerga forces withdrew from the contested city without fighting however after Baghdad issued the Kurds an ultimatum to pull back to pre-2014 positions. Long columns of armoured vehicles and pick up trucks filled with Kurdish fighters withdrew from positions around the city on Monday, jamming roads already crowded with fleeing Kurdish civilians who said they felt abandoned and feared Shia militias entering the city. Military vehicles enter Kirkuk Credit: Stringer/Reuters “They cheated us and we’ve been betrayed,” a Kurdish man Kawa Mustafa Mohamed shouted from his car as he and his family waited in heavy traffic to leave the city. “I don’t know where I’m going now but my father was killed by the Iraqis and I don’t want that to happen to my family.” Another man, Malla Bahir, had packed five of family members and piles of hastily gathered possessions crammed in his pick up truck. “I want to keep my daughters and wife safe,” he said. Left behind were disorganised bands of enraged Kurdish gunmen who vowed to defend the city. “Only us volunteers fought, not the Peshmerga,” said Hardi Farouk, a 27-year old in bleached blue jeans clutching an AK-47 assault rifle in south Kirkuk. Moments earlier a pickup truck carrying two grievously injured Kurdish fighters had careened through the intersection where Forouk stood and then the lightly armed band of Kurdish men nearby started firing their weapons in the direction of the distant K1 military base which had just been seized by Iraqi forces. Shortly afterwards mortars began exploding nearby and soon after the men had scattered a convoy of Iraqi federal forces would enter the city unopposed. The prospect of a new civil war in the ethnically mixed city is a potential boon for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).  The international coalition said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and urged all sides to avoid “escalatory actions”. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army officer now advising the Kurdish Peshmerga, said: “The greatest evil everywhere is Isil and the greatest threat to the UK is Isil. It’s the defeat of Islamic State that is key and the trouble is people in Iraq believe that the fight against Isil is over and it’s focused in Raqqa and Syria. But there are still pockets in Iraq and anything that deflects from that could have a global impact.” The Foreign Office in London last night urged "calm on all sides" and said it wanted to "encourage steps to de-escalate tensions in Kirkuk". Iraqi boys walk over the Kurdish flag in Kirkuk Credit: Stringer/Reuters Kurdish forces have controlled Kirkuk since summer 2014 when federal forces abandoned their defences ahead of an Islamic State advance across northern Iraq. Since then the Kurds have exported oil from Kirkuk fields — some 350,000 barrels of oil per day— a critical contribution to their economy since Baghdad stopped budget payments to the region following a dispute over oil revenues in 2015. In recent weeks Baghdad stepped up demands for the return of Kirkuk and its oil fields after the Kurds proceeded with holding a disputed referendum on independence that extended voting to disputed territories. Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi took pains to portray the military operation as being in the interests of Iraqi citizens. In a statement released Monday, he said: “We assure our people in Kurdistan and in Kirkuk in particular that we are keen on their safety and best interest. We have only acted to fulfill our constitutional duty to extend the federal authority and impose security and protect the national wealth in this city, which we want to remain a city of peaceful coexistence for all Iraqis.” Both federal and Kurdish leaders have attempted to paint the other as aggressors in the dispute. “Peshmerga will continue to defend Kurdistan, its peoples and interests,” wrote the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Security Council. Not all Kirkuk residents were dismayed by the change in control in the city. Photos shared on social media showed Turkmen residents celebrating in the streets near the citadel at the heart of the city and Iraqi Arabs bringing tea and sweets to advancing federal forces. A banner showing an image of the Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani, as Iraqi forces advance towards Kirkuk Credit: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP In other areas though, Kurdish men said they would fight to the death despite their leaders’ decision to withdraw from the city. “I’m going to stay to the end,” said Baran Abdullah, a 25-year-old Peshmerga fighter who said he’d come to the city without orders with his father and two brothers after seeing the news on television. As he stood on an overpass, vehicles continued streaming out of the city passed an enormous statue of a Kurdish fighter. The 26-metre high edifice was recently inaugurated by former Kirkuk governor Najmaddin Karim in honour of the Kurdish fighters who had defended the city against Isis in 2014. “Our leaders sold us out, they sold Kirkuk and they sold the martyrs,” said Abdullah. Standing alongside him were two female fighters from the the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). On Sunday evening the National Security Council in Baghdad had characterised the presence of the outlawed militant group in the city as a “declaration of war” by the Kurds, despite the fact that they had been in the city since 2014. The women declined to be interviewed but said the PKK would also stay to defend the city. Just hours later though, photos shared online showed Iraqi forces stationed next to the statue amid reports that federal control over the city was complete.

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Trump Accuser Demands Release Of Documents On All His Sexual Assault Allegations

A woman who accused President Donald Trump  of unwanted groping has subpoenaed all documents held by his presidential campaign about any harassment and assault allegations against him, BuzzFeed News reported Saturday.

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Pope adds 35 saints to church, nearly all martyrs

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who often laments current persecutions of Christians, has given the Catholic Church 35 new saints, nearly all of them martyrs, from past centuries.

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Weinstein Company May Be Sold To Firm Led By Donald Trump's Close Friend

As allegations of sexual misconduct made against Harvey Weinstein continue to surface, The Associated Press and other outlets report The Weinstein Company is in negotiations with real estate investment firm Colony Capital for a potential sale.

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The Real Reason China Has Built a Massive Military

One such origin that deserves to be explored is the “historical nightmare” of China’s subjugation at the hands of various colonial and Asian powers. In many respects, China is trying to solve a centuries-old problem that never went away: how to defeat in battle military forces that are at least in a symmetrical sense superior to its own and will be for some time to come. If we alter our perspective and take a much longer view of Beijing’s own military obsolescence, a strategy that emphasizes anti-access makes tremendous sense.

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The EPA Is Ending an Obama-Era Practice That Conservatives Say Sped Up New Rules

Environmentalists had used the practice to speed up the regulatory process

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Raw sewage contaminating waters in Puerto Rico after Maria

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (AP) — Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. People without running water bathe and wash their clothes in contaminated streams, and some islanders have been drinking water from condemned wells.

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North Korea not ready to meet with South Korea in Russia: agencies

Politicians from North and South Korea will not hold direct talks in Russia on Monday about Pyongyang's nuclear and missile program despite attending the same event and being urged to do so by Moscow, Russian news agencies said on Sunday. Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, is due to discuss the missile crisis in separate talks with a deputy head of North Korea's legislature and the head of South Korea's parliament on the sidelines of a congress of parliamentarians in St Petersburg on Monday.

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Army says battle for Philippine city to end soon, 1,000 dead

Philippine troops Sunday bombed militants loyal to the Islamic State group who have held out for over four months in a southern city and the military said the conflict would be over "very soon". The army previously set a target of Sunday to end the fighting in Marawi, which it said has killed more than 1,000 people. Troops have missed previous deadlines to flush out the militants whom authorities said intended to establish a local IS caliphate.

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'We tried nice guys': conservative hardliners stay in a trance for Trump

Donald Trump addresses the Values Voter Summit of the Family Research Council in Washington. Nearly a year ago, conservative Christians gambled on Donald Trump, a thrice-married Manhattan billionaire who bragged about sexual assault, ran casinos and used to support a woman’s right to abortion. This weekend, Trump became the first sitting president to address the Values Voters Summit, a yearly Washington symposium that brings together social conservative leaders and voters seeking “to preserve the bedrock values of traditional marriage, religious liberty, sanctity of life and limited government that make our nation strong”.

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Somalia's deadliest bombing kills 276, injures 300

Desperate Somalis searched for news of missing loved-ones on Monday, after a massive truck bomb in Mogadishu killed at least 276 people and left 300 injured in the deadliest ever attack to hit the conflict-torn nation. Residents of the Somali capital, while wearily accustomed to regular bombs and attacks by Islamist militants, have been left stunned by the monster explosion Saturday which gutted surrounding buildings and left victims burned beyond recognition. The government said it had set up an emergency committee to help relatives find the missing, with a crisis centre in the capital that residents can turn to.

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Passenger in Fiery N.Y.C. Crash Burned to Death After Driver Allegedly Abandoned Her and Hailed a Taxi

A Queens woman is dead after a fiery car accident, and the man police say was driving faces charges after allegedly fleeing the scene in a taxi, PEOPLE confirms

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Just a miniature horse riding in the back of a car

Sometimes, you need to make do with what you've got. Hannah Waskel was driving in Altoona, Iowa, with her friends on Saturday when they pulled up to a red light and spotted something a little off. In the back seat of the compact car next to them, they saw a miniature horse, just chilling. SEE ALSO: Woman tests limits of pet-friendly motel with her horse This is the most Iowa thing that has EVER happened to me http://pic.twitter.com/H4qjYBJ3bC — Hannah (@hannahwaskel) October 14, 2017 “This is the most Iowa thing that has EVER happened to me," she wrote on Twitter. It's not clear where the horse was headed, but Waskel says that the people in the car noticed they were laughing at their unusual passenger, so they waved and rolled down the window for the horse.  Never change, Iowa. Never change. WATCH: This small army of robots will do your shopping for you

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On 'SNL,' Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump Can't Stay On Message Either

Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump had a lot of ground to cover this week during “Saturday Night Live’s” cold open sketch.

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Aerial images capture beautiful autumn landscape

This beautiful autumn landscape comes to life as the leaves change color ready for fall. The aerial pictures, taken by Matt Benedetto, 28, from Burlington, Vermont, show the forests of his home state as they transition into their autumn foliage. (Caters News)

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James Corden's Harvey Weinstein Jokes At AmfAR Gala Elicit Groans, Criticism

UPDATE: Oct. 16 — Following backlash to his Harvey Weinstein jokes at the amfAR gala, Corden posted on Twitter to clarify his intentions and apologize.

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Secret of gold finally found: precious metals are forged in cataclysmic collision of neutron stars

The secret of creating gold has fascinated alchemists for thousands of years, but now scientists have finally solved the mystery. Precious metals are forged in the cataclysmic collision of neutron stars and then flung out into the universe where they eventually aggregate with other stardust into larger bodies, like planets or comets. Previously scientists had theorised that such cosmic smashes could create the vast amount of energy needed to create gold, platinum and silver, but for the first time, they have actually recorded it happening. On August 17, astronomers in the US picked up a signal from two neutron stars crashing together 130 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Jets and Debris from a Neutron Star Collision 00:44 The impact, known as a ‘kilanova’ was so powerful that it shook not only space but also time, sending ripples - or gravitational waves - through the fabric of the universe. After the ripple was detected on Earth, astronomers across the world pointed their telescopes to the area of space from which it had originated and soon also picked up the bright afterglow from the collision. Inside that light were the distinct chemical signatures for gold, silver and platinum. Dr Joe Lyman, of the University of Warwick, who was observing at the European Southern Observatory, in Germany, was the first to alert the scientific community to the fact they were witnessing a completely new event. The neutron star crash was so powerful it shook time and space sending a ripple out across the universe  Credit: LSC/Sonoma State University  “The observations showed we were observing a kilonova, an object whose light is powered by extreme nuclear reactions,” he said. “This tells us that the heavy elements, like the gold or platinum in jewellery, are the cinders, forged in the billion degree remnants of a merging neutron star.” Neutron stars are created when giant stars die in spectacular supernovas. Their cores collapse, allowing protons and electrons to meld together to form neutrons, creating small yet incredibly dense stars. Just a teaspoon of neutron star material would have a mass of about a billion tons. Einstein?s theory about gravitational waves explained 02:01 The two stars which were detected in August were as heavy as our Sun, yet only six miles (10km) across. They existed in a galaxy called NGC 4993. The pair drew towards each other over millions of years, and revolved around each other increasingly quickly as they got closer – eventually spinning around each other five hundred times per second, until they crashed, forming either a larger neutron star or collapsing into a black hole. The origins of gold The spacetime ripples created by the collision were detected by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Washington and Louisiana (Ligo). It was here the first discovery of gravitational waves was made in September 2015, confirming a prediction made by Albert Einstein 100 years ago and earning three pioneers of the project a Nobel Prize. In that instance, black holes collided so only the ripples were detected because everything else was swallowed inside. But neutron stars are relatively lighter than black holes, so when they collide and merge, a small part of their mass and radiation does escape and can be detected along with gravitational waves. The Theory of Relativity Professor David Wiltshire, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Canterbury, said: “The first discovery of gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars is an historic event. “It is every bit as exciting as the first discovery of gravitational waves from merging black holes. Since this involves neutron stars that radiate light, for the first time we can also see what is going on in an extreme astronomical event that shakes up space-time.” Dr J.J. Eldridge, astrophysicist at the University of Auckland, added: “We’re all made of stardust, but gold, silver and platinum are made of neutron stardust. “In this particular event, it’s likely that 100s or 1000s of Earth masses of gold and other elements were made. If the rate of neutron stars mergers is as high as we now think, these dying stars are now the source of most of these elements in the universe.” The discovery has also solved the mystery of what creates short wave gamma ray bursts which are picked up on Earth and could help pinpoint how fast the universe is expanding. Dr Samantha Oates, of Warwick’s Astronomy and Astrophysics group added: “This discovery has answered three questions that astronomers have been puzzling for decades: what happens when neutron stars merge? What causes the short duration gamma-ray bursts? Where are the heavy elements, like gold, made? In the space of about a week all three of these mysteries were solved.” The new findings were published in research papers in the journals Nature, Nature Astronomy and Science.  

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Pro-Trump states most affected by his health care decision

President Donald Trump's decision to end a provision of the Affordable Care Act that was benefiting roughly 6 million Americans helps fulfill a campaign promise, but it also risks harming some of the very people who helped him win the presidency.

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