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In unusually passionate and stark terms, the head of the nations top spy agency made clear on Saturday in Colorado that he will stand up to anyone -- even the president of the United States -- who asks him to use the U.S. intelligence community as a political prop.

We are not about particular viewpoints. We are not about particular parties. We just cant work that way, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers said at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.

Rogers added that the U.S. intelligence community owes U.S. citizens honesty and integrity.

Saturdays remarks come only months after Rogers and at least two other senior U.S. officials were personally asked by President Trump to publicly rebut news reports laying out details of the federal governments probe into Russias alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Although Rogers has refused to publicly discuss his private conversations with Trump, he has previously vowed to keep politics out of his agencys work. But his remarks today at the annual gathering of senior officials, reporters and others tied to the U.S. intelligence community were noteworthy in their intensity and passion.

Punctuating each word -- one by one -- the U.S. Navy admiral said, I will not violate the oath that I have taken in the 36 years as a commission officer.

Rogers face hardened and his voice cracked as he added: I wont do that.

He went on to say that he often relays this message to his workforce: We are intelligence professionals. We raise our right hand and we take an oath to defend the citizens of this nation and the values that are embodied in the Constitution he said. Your integrity isnt worth the price of me or anybody else. You stand up and you remember that oath that we take.

Rogers comments drew a round of applause inside the room.

Nevertheless, Rogers added he has never been directed to do anything that I felt was illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. Nor have I felt pressured to do so. Nor would I do so.

Rogers also said hes more than willing to offer Trump his assessment even when he knows the president disagrees.

He has never shut me down, Rogers said. He gives me good, direct feedback, sometimes, Mike I dont agree with that. Mike Im in a different place than you are.

Thats exactly the way this is supposed to work, Rogers insisted.

Rogers joined other senior officials at the Aspen Security Forum in affirming the U.S. governments conclusion that Russia is to blame for a cyber assault on the 2016 election.

No doubt at all, Rogers said.

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In midst of Russia probe, NSA chief vows: 'I will not violate' my oath to Americans - ABC News

The Hindu

China media set much store by NSA visit The Hindu The NSA's visit will be key to solving the current dispute and if the two sides failed to reach some agreement on the issue, the China-India ties would be severely damaged, Mr. Ma observed. The daily prefaced the anticipation of Mr. Doval's visit by ... Doklam standoff: India-China row may continue till November, says former NSAHindustan Times 'NSA Ajit Doval's Beijing visit key to ease Sikkim standoff'Daily News & Analysis China banking on Indian NSA Ajit Doval's visit to ease current border tensionsIndia Samvad all 182 news articles »

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China media set much store by NSA visit - The Hindu

A lot has been happening in the midst of the European migrant crisis. Most notably, the political debate between EU member states is widening on how to best handle this significantly deteriorating crisis. Specifically, the Visegrad Group, consisting of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have opposed Brussels quota system on accepting refugees from war-torn areas. Criticism of the Visegrad countries, known as the V4, specifically on this ground, is unjustified, and rather than focusing on efforts to distribute thousands of migrants, Brussels must focus on helping resolve the crisis so that people are not forced to undertake this journey to Europe.

First, there is no guarantee that all migrants seeking refuge in Europe are indeed coming from war-torn regions in Syria and Iraq, and this is highlighted by the lack of documentation on hand during the current crisis. Countries might have significantly effective vetting systems but these fail to work if documentation is unavailable or can be forged. With the risk of stating the obvious, no country desires an influx of unidentified individuals.

Second, and most importantly, the V4 countries are correct in their decision on the grounds of ensuring safety and security for their own citizens. The migrant crisis in Europe has been correlated with a huge influx of crime. In Germany, which has accepted the largest number of migrants, this has increased by more than 50 percent since the previous year. This was manifested in the Cologne New Years Eve sexual assault incident, where most of the perpetrators were migrants.

In parallel, Europe has witnessed some of the worst attacks of terrorism on its soil since the beginning of this crisis. While most of these attacks have been conducted by their own citizens who have either fought for or supported ISIS, some attacks have seen the involvement of foreigners who have taken advantage of the migrant crisis to enter Europe. Two of the terrorists in the November 2015 Paris attacks, who eventually blew themselves up outside the Stade de France, had entered Europe on fake Syrian passports. A year later, a Tunisian man murdered a Polish driver and drove his truck at a Christmas market in Berlin, leading to Germanys worst terror attack since the start of the crisis. In light of these events, the V4 countries have been reluctant to accept migrants. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who heads the ruling PiS party in Poland, has asserted that security considerations are the reason for Polands stance. And as recent events have shown, he is right.

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The EU Can't Afford to Ignore Europe's Migrant Crisis | The National ... - The National Interest Online

Highlights

During the first half of 2017, close to 93,000 refugees and migrants arrived on European shores mainly through the Central Mediterranean Route - around half of them arrived in just May and June 2017. While barely one in six of sea arrivals this year are children, the number of unaccompanied or separated children (UASC) coming to Italy is on the rise with 11,406 newly registered UASC between January and June 2017.

During the first half of 2017, UNICEF helped identify and support a total of 9,190 children at risk through outreach activities in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; supported structured non-formal education for 4,256 children in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; and strengthened the capacity of 2,674 frontline workers on child protection across Europe.

The situation in Europe is characterized by a spike in perilous, often fatal, sea crossings through the Central Mediterranean, continuous irregular movements in the Balkans and across Europe, as well as tightened border control and heated political debate on migration across the continent. Confronted with uncertain future, isolation, insufficient access to services and slow family reunification, relocation and asylum procedures, refugee and migrant children remain at high risk and require urgent action by national and European stakeholders to step up action for their protection.

Situation in Numbers

92,794 # of arrivals in Europe through Italy and in JanuaryJune 2017 (UNHCR, 7 July 2017)

1 in 6 Of all arrivals in January-June 2017 are children (UNHCR, 7 July 2017)

69,200 # of child asylum-seekers in Europe between January and May 2017 (Eurostat, 7 July 2017)

22,663 # of estimated stranded children in Greece, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia in June, 2017 (UNICEF, 7 July 2017)

7,379 # of children relocated from Greece and Italy under the EU relocation scheme by mid-June 2017- 6,737 from Greece and 642 from Italy. (IOM, Italian MoI, 23 June 2017)

UNICEF Appeal 2017 US$ 43,452,000

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

During the first half of 2017, a total of 92,794 refugees and migrants arrived on European shores mainly through the Central Mediterranean Route1 - over half of them were registered in just May and June 2017. While just one in six of all sea arrivals in 2017 are children, compared to over one in three during the same period last year2 , the number of unaccompanied or separated children (UASC) arriving in Italy remain significantly high with 11,406 newly registered UASC between January and June 2017 (compared to 10,640 in the first six months of last year). An estimated 300 children are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2017- a trend, which is on the rise with the spike in perilous sea crossings from Libya to Italy since May. Moreover, the multiplying reports of violence, abuse and exploitation, experienced or witnessed by children in Libya, suggest their high vulnerability and require urgent action for their protection.

The number of children stranded in Greece and the Balkans continue to decrease. As of June 2017 total number is estimated to be 22,663 of children (down from 25,602 two months ago). While this may be partly due to relocation and family reunification from Greece, there is constant irregular movements throughout the Balkans. The situation remains challenging in Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, where 40 per cent of all stranded refugees and migrants are children. Despite officially closed borders, Serbia is facing constant new arrivals, mainly from Bulgaria, coupled with reported increasing push-backs and returns from Hungary and Croatia. Confronted with uncertain future, isolation, insufficient access to services and slow and bureaucratic family reunification, relocation and asylum processes, many young people decide to resort to smugglers to continue their journey within Europe. During May and June, UNICEF observed an increase of newly registered refugee and migrant UASC along the Balkans route. Similarly, in Italy, a recent study found that the majority of Eritrean UASC arriving through the Central Mediterranean route drop out of the system shortly after registration as they want to reach family and friends elsewhere in Europe and do not have sufficient access to services and information on legal pathways and asylum procedures. According to the Italian Special Commissioner for Missing People, the number of unaccompanied children absconding from reception centres reached 28,000 children just last year- a trend that is continuing throughout the first half of 2017.

Detention of children for migration control purposes remains another issue of serious concern. In Greece, despite efforts to identify alternatives to detention with the creation of safe spaces for UASC in accommodation sites, the number of UASC in closed facilities almost doubled in just one month (reaching the total number of 94 children in those facilities), which is a reflection of significant increase in arrivals in June. In Bulgaria, both accompanied and unaccompanied children continue to be detained upon interception, and on average spend 13 days in closed facilities before being able to claim asylum. In Italy, according to a recent report, unaccompanied children (boys and girls) may stay in Lampedusa hotspot for over one month. A positive development in the hotspot is the presence of INMP3 that applies a multidisciplinary approach for the age assessment.

Despite the heated political debate on migration, 2017 has seen the adoption of a new law in Italy (n.47, 7 April 2017) considered one of the most progressive pieces of legislation on unaccompanied refugee and migrant children, and the EU Communication on the Protection of Children in Migration. Both documents define concrete measures and steps to improve the protection of refugee and migrant children in Europe, and help guide actions at European, national and local level. Other positive developments include a recent decision by the UK government to expand the Syrian Vulnerable People Resettlement Scheme, ongoing efforts by French authorities to improve the reception and protection of refugee and migrant children and actions to address bottlenecks related to the relocation of UASC from Italy and Greece.

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UNICEF Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe: Regional ... - ReliefWeb

London:A group of far-right activists soon to set sail on the Mediterranean to "turn back the boats"say they shouldn't be judged on youthful links to extremist and neo-Nazi groups, because they've grown out of it.

Next week the activists begin a ten-day sea mission they have dubbed Defend Europe, which they hope will expose humanitarian groups acting as a 'taxi service' helping people smugglers transport migrants north from Africa.

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Generation Identity has crowdfunded $100,000 to crew a ship to stop refugees from entering Europe.

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The southern New Zealand city of Christchurch has declared a state of emergency amid a severe storm that has already resulted in hundreds of homes evacuated across the nation. Vision: Seven News

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Two years after Cecil the Lion was killed in Zimbabwe, sparking international outrage, officials say his six-year-old son Xanda was recently killed in a trophy hunt.

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Chaos after the resignation of Minneapolis' police chief following the fatal police shooting of the unarmed Australian woman who dialled 9-1-1.

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President Donald Trump's embattled spokesman during the first six months of his presidency is resigning his position.

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Parisians and tourists were shocked to see a beached whale on the banks of the river Seine, many not realising it was a stunt.

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Two years after Cecil the Lion was killed in Zimbabwe, sparking international outrage, officials say his son Xanda was recently killed in a trophy hunt.

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Anthony Scaramucci has been hired as the new Communications Director in a major shake-up of President Donald Trump's communications operation.

Generation Identity has crowdfunded $100,000 to crew a ship to stop refugees from entering Europe.

And they told Fairfax Media they intend to return rescued migrants back to Africa even Libya, which "can't be that bad" a place, a spokesman for the group said.

Robert Timm is a 26-year-old Berlin architecture student and an activist with Germany's "identitarians", who joined similar groups in France, Austria and Italy to set up the Defend Europe mission.

He spoke with Fairfax Media on Thursday from Catania in Sicily, where he and his colleagues are waiting for their boat to arrive from Djibouti.

On Thursday the boat, named the C-Star, was seizedby security authorities in the Suez Canal because of "a matter of security due to the lack of documentation and papers", Huffington Post reported.

However Defend Europe posted on its Facebook page that "after a false claim by a leftist organisation our ship was controlled and as nothing was found, our mission to defend Europe goes on," they said. "We need to implement an Australian 'No Way' Policy to save Europe and to save lives."

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Timm said Egyptian authorities had boarded the ship "checking some documents" but it was again on the move.

The boat would arrive in Catania within days and would set off for its first ten-day mission early next week.

The crew of about 10 would take videos and photographs of NGO and migrant boats, Timm said.

About a dozen boats crewed by humanitarian groups are currently working in the areato help with rescues.

Around 85,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat in the first six months of 2017, 21 per cent more than in the same period in 2016.

More than 2200 people have died attempting the crossing this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Rescues are happening much closer to Libyan waters, prompting accusations the NGOs are encouraging people smugglers.

"Our first objective is to just look how the other NGOs are working, if [there are]signs that they are actually cooperating with the human traffickers," Timm said.

They will track NGO boats using radar, to check if they stray into Libyan waters, and monitor radio channels to see if they were communicating with people smugglers.

"This is something we want to see and document," Timm said. "The more evidence we collect the better."

NGOs may also be picking migrants up from boats that were intact and not in danger, he said.

"There are rumours that the traffickers themselves are still on the boat, then the people are brought to an NGO ship then the guy brings the ship back [to Libya]."

He said the mission was "already a success" because of new scrutiny of the actions of humanitarian NGOs. If somebody genuinely needed rescuing during their mission Defend Europe would come to their aid, Timm said.

"But we will make sure that we are not making ourselves also responsible for bringing migrants to Europe. If we have to take people on board we will make sure they go back somewhere to Tunisia or somewhere else close by."

Timm denied that the human rights principle of non-refoulement required them to take rescued migrants to the safety of an Italian port.

Tunisia was safe enough to take rescued migrants as a first choice. If Tunisia rejected them then Libya was an option, he said.

"Libya is definitely not a cosy place, but they took the risk of being in Libya in the first place so it can't be that bad actually," Timm said. "If your life is really in danger you don't really complain that you are being brought back to Africa, you should be happy that you are still alive."

He suggested Defend Europe may join in rescues with other NGOs and offer to take the migrants back to Africa.

"That tells a lot about the actual motives they have" if they refuse the Defend Europe option, Timm said.

If their mission is successful they will try to repeat it.

In Germany the identitarians are registered as "a kind of club" but they were trying to become a professional NGO, Timm said.

He said they admired Australia for "dealing pretty well" with migrants arriving by boat.

"This is something we should establish in Europe as well," he said.

Nick Lowles, director of the anti-extremist Hope Not Hate group, said Defend Europe were "anything but cuddly".

He wrote for the Huffington Post on Thursday that "they hold deeply anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views and, in many cases, have links to notorious far-right groups as well as being actively supported by white supremacists worldwide".

But Timm said his colleagues were not racist.

"Europe is pretty small and we are very few people and if we now take in a certain amount of migrants and we become a minority within our own territory then our culture will vanish and that is something we just want to prevent," he said.

He said there was "nobody that is actively a neo-Nazi" in the group.

"There are people that have a right-wing past" but "they usually were at the age of 14 to 18", he said.

Timm used to be "very radical left", he said. "Nobody is judging me for my past but they are judging these people and I think this is kind of insane.

"When you grow older and you start reflecting on your past you will figure out that radicalism is not the way it works."

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Migrant crisis: 'We're not neo-Nazis any more', say Defend Europe activists - The Sydney Morning Herald