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US to adopt new restrictions on using commercial spyware

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued Monday by President Joe Biden. The order responds to growing U.S. and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programs — so-called “zero-click” exploits — can infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link. Governments around the world — including the U.S. — are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week...

Twitter celebs balk at paying Elon Musk for blue check mark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some household names, others little-known journalists — could soon be losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identity on the social media platform.They could get the marks back by paying up to $11 a month. But some longtime users, including 92-year-old Star Trek legend Shatner, have balked at buying the premium service championed by Twitter’s billionaire owner and chief executive Elon Musk.After months of delay, Musk is gleefully promising that Friday is the deadline for celebrities, journalists and others who’d been verified for free to pony up or lose their legacy status. “It will be glorious,” he tweeted Monday, in response to a Twitter user who noted that Friday is also April Fools Day.After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform’s revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his ...

Hungarian parliament approves Finland’s bid to join NATO

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s parliament on Monday approved Finland’s bid to join NATO, ending months of delays and bringing the Nordic country one step closer to becoming a full member of the Western military alliance.Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions. The vote came after Hungary’s government frustrated allies in NATO and the European Union by repeatedly postponing the measure for months after nearly all other members of the alliance had ratified Finland’s bid. With Hungary’s approval, Turkey is now the only one of NATO’s 30 members not to have ratified Finland’s NATO accession. Admitting a new country requires unanimity among all member nations.The Associated Press

Sharpton to speak at funeral of man pinned down by deputies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of a 28-year-old Black man who died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff’s deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital in Virginia.Sharpton’s National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced plans for the funeral of Irvo Otieno on Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) south of Richmond.Video released publicly last week shows sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees attempting to restrain a handcuffed and shackled Otieno for about 20 minutes after he’s led into a room at Central State Hospital, where he was going to be admitted March 6. For much of that time, Otieno is on the floor being held down by a fluctuating group that at one point appeared to reach 10 people.Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s dea...

At least 16 people killed in landslide in central Ecuador

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — At least 16 people were killed and 16 others injured when a massive landslide buried dozens of homes in an Andean community in central Ecuador, the country’s emergency response agency reported Monday.Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat said seven people remained missing hours after the landslide Sunday in Alausí, about 137 miles (220 kilometers) south of the capital, Quito. The disaster also destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.The governor of Chimborazo, Ivan Vinueza, told The Associated Press that some of the injured have been taken to area hospitals. He added that people have been ordered to evacuate the area due to the imminent risk of new landslides. The Associated Press

Indigenous groups hope for infrastructure dollars and economic development in budget

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

OTTAWA — Funding for infrastructure and economic development are two of the main asks some prominent Indigenous organizations have put to the Liberal government ahead of its upcoming budget. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has promised that the spending plan to be made public Tuesday will demonstrate fiscal restraint. It is also expected to include money to advance Canada’s green energy transition and measures to keep it competitive with the United States, which is aggressively funding clean technology with its Inflation Reduction Act. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed says that despite the government’s talk of restraint, it will still be spending billions — and he hopes that includes a 35-year, $75-billion commitment for infrastructure in Inuit communities. Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron says in a statement she hopes to see funding for the organization to create an economic development fund specifically targeted to help Métis businesses. Th...

'Going to learn about Jesus': Mother still searching for answers 20 years after Dalton Mesarchik's abduction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

STREATOR, Ill. — Twenty years ago Sunday, 7-year-old Dalton Mesarchik was all ready to go a youth program."My child was safe inside," Michelle Mesarchik said.The church's van, which was set to pick Dalton and other kids up for the program, was thought-to-be late, but Mesarchik said they were reassured after her daughter called asking if it was still coming.Mesarchik then asked if Dalton still wanted to go and he said "yes" and went back out on the enclosed porch to wait for the van."My boy loved Jesus," Mesarchik said. "He was going to learn about Jesus."At some point after Dalton went back on his Streator porch, authorities believe he was coaxed or forced into a vehicle. Once family realized he was gone, they called the church again and were told the driver had called out for the night due to a family emergency."That's when everything went crazy," Mesarchik said. "He wasn't the type of child that wandered off — he was the super glue child that was always right by me."Mesarchik imme...

Netanyahu’s Ousting of Defence Minister Sparks Mass Protest In Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

TxDOT to break ground on North I-35 project this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Department of Transportation will host a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the start of construction on its Interstate 35 north project.The I-35 Capital Express North Project is a $600 million initiative to add one non-tolled, high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction along the interstate. The project boundary runs from State Highway 45 North to U.S. Highway 290 East. TxDOT NEWS: TxDOT requests feedback on statewide 2050 transportation plan Additionally, the project will reconstruct six bridges, construct a diverging diamond interchange at Wells Branch Parkway and "make additional safety and mobility improvements," per a project fact sheet. Other elements include reconstructing entrance and exit ramps, creating shared-use paths for pedestrians and bikers as well as adding intersection bypass lanes.The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at TxDOT's Austin District headquarters, located at 7901 N. I-35, Austin.

These factors could make your car a target for theft in Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:26 GMT

TEXAS (FOX 44) - Auto theft is a big money crime in Texas. According to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, "65,000 cars and trucks are stolen and almost 200,000 are burglarized each year."  But not all vehicles are as susceptible to break-ins and theft across the state. Several factors raise the risk of your vehicle becoming a target. Here are some of the key considerations: LocationIt may seem obvious, but a vehicle parked safely in your garage is less likely to be targeted than one on the street. Cars parked outside of homes are common targets for car thieves, according to law enforcement. "Auto thefts happen in mostly residential neighborhoods in the early morning hours, when most persons are asleep," Temple Police Department spokesperson Nohely Mackowiak said.The problem is made much worse if your car is left unlocked. "Suspects are looking for easy targets and unlocked vehicles to search for the targeted items," said Mackowiak. "They normally wear hooded shirts or ja...