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Chinese hackers breached State Dept., other government email on eve of Blinken visit, officials say

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — State-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security in hacking the email accounts of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing last month, officials said Wednesday.The surgical, targeted espionage accessed the email of a small number of individuals at an unspecified number of U.S. agencies and was discovered in mid-June by the State Department, U.S. officials said. They said none of the breached systems were classified, nor was any of the stolen data.One person familiar with the investigation said U.S. military and intelligence agencies were not among the agencies impacted in the monthlong spying campaign, which also affected unnamed foreign governments.The officials spoke on condition they not be further identified. In a technical advisory Wednesday and a call with reporters, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI said Microsoft d...

‘A puddle of emotions’: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jessica Chastain, others discuss their Emmy nominations

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

Reactions from select nominees for the 2023 Emmy Awards.SHERYL LEE RALPH“I am a puddle of emotions! It is just absolutely crazy. It, I mean, I am living one spectacular year. … In all honesty, it could never ever be about me trying to beat that moment (of last year’s ceremony, when Ralph won her Emmy and stole the show, singing much of her speech). Maybe they’ll ask me to host it! That moment was something. as all of my friends say that’s something you worked for Sheryl. That’s something you waited for and you received the gift, now, just sit back and be lovely and I’m gonna just sit back and be lovely! And so thankful to everybody who thought that it should be me … for me to be in a space where that is happening for me after all of these years, I’m just so happy. I am SO happy.” — Ralph, who’s nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” JESSICA CHASTAIN“It’s incredible … the thing that was th...

In Greece, 7 get life for stabbing death of fan that triggered crackdown on soccer violence

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Seven men in northern Greece were sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being found guilty of murder in the beating death of a 19-year-old soccer fan that shocked the country and triggered a crackdown on soccer-related violence.Twelve defendants involved in the February 2022 attack were convicted last week in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Seven received life terms at a sentencing hearing Wednesday and the five others were ordered to serve 19 or 20 years in prison.Alkis Kambanos died of stab wounds near his home and two others were injured after a group of men went to search for rival fans at random in an area next to a stadium used by Thessaloniki soccer club Aris.“This is a vindication for our family but my boy is never coming back,” the dead fan’s mother, Melina Kakoulidou, told reporters outside the court after the sentences were announced.The attackers drove to the scene of the murder in three cars, carrying knives and wooden bats. Aged bet...

Archibald removed from AFN meeting for violating code of conduct, says interim chief

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

HALIFAX — The interim chief of the Assembly of First Nations says former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was barred Tuesday from participating in the organization’s annual general meeting because she violated its code of conduct.Joanna Bernard told chiefs gathered in Halifax Wednesday that she is committed to making the assembly safe for all. “There must be zero-tolerance policies within the AFN,” Bernard said. “We pledge to ensure that happens, and we are already taking steps.” As an example, she pointed to the decision by meeting co-chairs Tuesday to exclude “a participant who was violating the code of conduct for our meetings.”Bernard did not specify how Archibald had violated the code, and she was not made available to media.The decision Tuesday came after Archibald, participating by video, denounced leaders of the First Nations advocacy organization and said her ousting last month was an example of “lateral violence” and a...

Union and employers receive mediator’s terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

VANCOUVER — A source close to negotiations over the British Columbia port strike said both sides on Wednesday received the terms of a settlement recommended by a federal mediator that could end the 12-day-old industrial action.The delivery of the terms comes after federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan late Tuesday instructed the mediator to send him the terms within 24 hours so he could forward them to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.The two sides have 24 hours upon receiving the recommendations to decide whether or not to ratify the agreement.Neither side confirmed they have received the terms.British Columbia business groups said there’s no guarantee the strike will end quickly despite O’Regan’s move.The groups, including the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the B.C. Council of Forest Industries and the Mining Association of B.C., said at an event in Vancouver on Wednesday that they are co...

Inflation drops to 3% and Biden hopes to turn a weakness with voters into a strength

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The politics of inflation took a sharp turn Wednesday with a report showing consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since the early months of Joe Biden’s presidency. Republicans have hammered Biden over the cost of groceries, gasoline, utilities and more, saying his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package and push for electric vehicles were responsible for pushing inflation to a four-decade high. The GOP argument has resonated with voters, but the report on consumer prices for June suggests that inflation has eased dramatically without any of the job losses that some economists and Republican leaders said would occur.Prices have risen just 3% from a year ago, compared with 9.1% in June 2022, and it’s the lowest reading since March 2021. Unlike a year ago, inflation is mainly coming from a government measure of shelter based on what it would cost to rent a home. This makes the inflation argument somewhat nuanced as data from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of t...

S&P/TSX composite up almost 200 points, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was up almost 200 points Wednesday on broad-based gains led by utilities and base metals after the central bank raised interest rates to five per cent, while U.S. stock markets also rose after a new report showed inflation cooling last month.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 192.21 points at 20,070.77.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 86.01 points at 34,347.43. The S&P 500 index was up 32.90 points at 4,472.16, while the Nasdaq composite was up 158.26 points at 13,918.96.The Bank of Canada’s rate hike was not a surprise to investors, said Lesley Marks, chief investment officer of equity at Mackenzie Investments.“Over the last week or so, it looked more and more likely that the Bank of Canada was going to move. So I think that this was generally priced into the market,” she said.The announcement by the central bank came on the heels of hotly anticipated inflation data in the U.S., which showed price growth slowed s...

Quebec judge says three-month sentence could trivialize promotion of hate

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec court judge says he fears a jail sentence of just three months for a man convicted of promoting hatred against Jews would trivialize the crime.Both the prosecution and the defence today recommended a three-month sentence, followed by probation, for Gabriel Sohier Chaput, who was convicted in January in connection with an article he wrote for the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website.Defence lawyer Antonio Cabral told a Montreal court that his client is a changed man and is no longer involved with online neo-Nazis.However, Judge Manlio Del Negro says a pre-sentencing report indicates that Sohier Chaput continues to hold the same views he did when he wrote the antisemitic article.Del Negro also described an apology given by Sohier Chaput during the sentencing hearing as “opportunistic.”The judge says he’ll deliver his sentence on Sept. 22.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2023.The Canadian Press

Tornado Watch issues for Northern Illinois, most of Northwest Indiana

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

CHICAGO — A Tornado Watch is in effect for the Chicago area as heavy rain and storms move through the region Wednesday.A Tornado Watch has been issued for Cook, De Kalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, La Salle, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois until 10 p.m. In Northwest Indiana, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties are under a Tornado Watch until 10 p.m.A Flood Watch is in place until 7 p.m. for Cook County, DuPage County, Will County and some parts of Northwest Indiana. There is a slight risk of severe weather. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly cloudy conditions with heavy rain showers expected throughout the day. High temperature of 76 degrees and 73 degrees lakeside. Low of 66 degrees tonight.Thunderstorms will push eastward and waves of storms racing through Iowa will progress toward our area throughout the afternoon and evening. Storms look to move quickly, however some will have high rainfall rates, some of which may be 1-2" per ...

NASA celebrates anniversary of Webb Space Telescope: reveals moment of stellar birth, dramatic close-up of 50 baby stars

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:42 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth.NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).The region is relatively small and quiet yet full of illuminated gases, jets of hydrogen and even dense cocoons of dust with the delicate beginnings of even more stars.All of the young stars appear to be no bigger than our sun. Scientists said the breathtaking shot provides the best clarity yet of this brief phase of a star’s life.“It’s like a glimpse of what our own system would have looked like billions of years ago when it was forming,” NASA program scientist Eric Smith told The Associated Press.Smith pointed out that the starlight visible in the image actually left there 390 years ago. On Earth in 1633, Italian astronomer Ga...