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Beyond TikTok, Dutch tell government staff to uninstall Chinese, Russian apps

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

The Dutch government has issued new guidance Tuesday for its officials to uninstall apps from countries that wage a “offensive cyber program” against the Netherlands, including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. The move is a response to questions by Dutch lawmakers about whether the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok should be banned from work phones. Government officials were told already in November not to use TikTok for government work, but formal restrictions on the app — like the ban that EU institutions issued in February — was not in place yet. In their new guidance the Dutch are going beyond TikTok. “The first step is to immediately dissuade officials of the national government to install or use apps on mobile work devices from companies originating from countries with an offensive cyber program against the Netherlands and/or against Dutch interests,” Minister of Digitization Alexandra van Huffelen wrote in a letter to lawmakers, seen by POLITI...

London’s Met Police facing ‘long road to recovery’ after damning report on its culture

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

LONDON — The Metropolitan Police is riddled with “institutional” racism, misogyny and homophobia, a blistering report on the U.K.’s largest police force concluded.The official review — conducted over twelve months by former top civil servant Louise Casey in the wake of a host of high-profile crimes involving Met officers — warns that the London force has lost the faith of the British public.The findings come in the wake of serving Met officer Wayne Couzens’ conviction for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Just last month, former Met officer David Carrick — similarly trusted to guard parliament and diplomatic sites as part of an elite team — was sentenced to life in jail for abusing multiple women while on the force.The review identifies a number of cases where female, gay or minority ethnic officers were mistreated or abused by colleagues, and derides a bullying “boys’ club” culture in which predators had “too many places to hide.”Speaking in the House of Commons Wednesd...

Home belonging to son of Sen. Elizabeth Warren destroyed in Medford fire

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

Senator Elizabeth Warren arrived at the scene of a massive fire at her son Alexander’s home in Medford Tuesday morning. Medford Fire Chief John Freedman says no one was injured, as the home was under construction and vacant, but nearby homes were evacuated. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the scene off of Governor’s Avenue around 1 a.m. and remain on scene as of 9 a.m. to monitor hot spots. Flames and heavy smoke took over the two and a half-story home and the windows were blown out. Warren was seen surveying the damage of the home on Terrace Road. According to city records, the house is worth $1.3 million“I deeply appreciate the efforts of the firefighters who worked through the night to put out a fire at our son’s house,” Warren said in a statement. “I am grateful that everyone is safe and request privacy for our family.”A family member who was with Warren told 7NEWS that it had been “a really bad morning.”Crews said the elev...

Car slams into Winchester home, causing porch to collapse

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

A car slammed into a home on Harvard Street in Winchester Tuesday morning. Firefighters responded to the scene around 8 a.m. and worked to get the car out. The impact of the crash caused the front porch to collapse onto the car. The porch has since been demolished. Homeowner Mike McGoff says he was shocked to go outside and see the damage. “I heard it, but I thought it was the dumpster because he comes out here every morning,” McGoff said. “The house is pretty old and pretty solid,” he added. “It rattled a little bit, not as much as you’d think. I didn’t really feel it.”The driver was not hurt and says he thinks the gas pedal got stuck while he was in reverse.

Wall Street opens higher as regional banks bounce back

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rallying in early trading on Wall Street on hopes for more help for banks from the U.S. government. Even the banks most beaten down by the industry’s crisis, like First Republic, were higher. The S&P 500 rose 1% early Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite were also higher. Markets around the world have pinballed this month on worries the banking system may be cracking under the pressure of the fastest set of hikes to interest rates in decades. If the S&P 500 squeezes out a gain, it would mark its first back-to-back rise in two weeks.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street is poised to open higher Tuesday ahead of a decision by the Federal Reserve this week on whether to raise interest rates again despite heightened anxiety over the stability of the global banking system.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and futures for the S&P 500 each rose 0.8%.Wall Street’s ben...

Hearings begin before Supreme Court on federal environmental impact assessment law

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

OTTAWA — Arguments are underway before the Supreme Court of Canada in a long-awaited case over the federal Impact Assessment Act.The court is expected to hear from legal experts and environmental groups that support the law.Nine of 10 provinces, led by Alberta, argue that the law intrudes on provincial jurisdiction.Alberta is particularly concerned about the effect the law might have on its ability to export its oil through pipelines.Last May, the Alberta Appeal Court ruled the law was outside federal jurisdiction.This week’s hearings are an appeal of that decision.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Drought in Spain’s northeast empties reservoirs

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

VILANOVA DE SAU, Spain (AP) — The medieval church of Sant Romà disappeared from view in the 1960s, when the town of Vilanova de Sau, an hour north of Barcelona, was flooded to create a reservoir.In the past three decades, its spectral belltower has broken the surface several times, serving as a punctual reminder of Spain’s fragile water resources.But today the church’s tower, its nave and the building’s foundations are all exposed. The bare, steep ridges of the Sau reservoir show how far its levels have receded, and the cracked earth around the remaining pool of water is trodden by tourists attracted by the ghost village’s reappearance.Drought in Spain’s northeast reached “exceptional” levels last month, menacing access to drinking water for 6 million people in the Barcelona metropolitan area.The Sau reservoir’s water levels now stand at 9% of total capacity, according to Catalan Water Agency data, so officials have taken the decision to remove its fish to stop them from asphyxiatin...

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster, with the aim of getting the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone in eight to 10 months, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.The original plan was to send Ukraine 31 of the newer M1A2 Abrams, which could have taken a year or two to build and ship. But officials said the decision was made to send the older M1A1 version, which can be taken from Army stocks and will be easier for Ukrainian forces to learn to use and maintain as they fight Russia’s invasion.The officials spoke on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been publicly announced. Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon.The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decisi...

Vote to force top aide to testify on foreign interference not a confidence matter: PM

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a motion to compel his chief of staff to testify about foreign interference at a parliamentary committee will not be considered a matter of confidence in the Liberal minority government.There will be a vote later today on a Conservative motion to get Katie Telford to appear before the House of Commons ethics committee by mid-April.The Liberals have filibustered another committee for weeks to prevent a similar motion from passing there, so the Conservatives brought a new motion before the entire House of Commons on Monday.Trudeau says the Conservatives are turning the debate into a “political circus” and the government will not add to that by making the motion a confidence vote, which could have opened the door to an election.Trudeau says he is happy to highlight what he argues is his government’s more serious approach, which includes appointing former governor general David Johnston as a special rapporteur to look into th...

Japan’s PM offers Ukraine support as China’s Xi backs Russia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:03 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the global attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who is in Moscow to show support for Russia against the West over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.The two visits, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) apart, highlighted the nearly 13-month-old war’s repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind behind Moscow or Kyiv. They follow a week in which China and Japan both enjoyed diplomatic successes that have emboldened their foreign policy.Kishida, who is to chair the Group of Seven summit in May, will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital, coinciding with Xi’s talks with President Vladimir Putin.Kishida will “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukr...