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Voting experts warn of ‘serious threats’ for 2024 from election equipment software breaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — An effort to access voting system software in several states and provide it to allies of former President Donald Trump as they sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election has raised “serious threats” ahead of next year’s presidential contest, according to a group of experts who urged federal agencies to investigate.The letter sent by nearly two dozen computer scientists, election security experts and voter advocacy organizations asks for a federal probe and a risk assessment of voting machines used throughout the country, saying the software breaches have “urgent implications for the 2024 election and beyond.” The breaches affected voting equipment made by two companies that together count over 70% of the votes cast across the country, according to the letter.“The multistate effort to unlawfully obtain copies of voting system software poses serious threats to election security ...

Why Celtics could benefit after being eliminated from In-Season Tournament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

Jayson Tatum didn’t hide his frustration after the Celtics lost to the Pacers in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament, which forced them to go home to Boston instead of a free trip to Las Vegas for the semifinals.“I wanted to (expletive) go to Vegas,” Tatum told reporters in Indiana, flashing a mild smirk. “I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go to Vegas, so yeah I’m mad. Next year, I guess.”Added Jaylen Brown: “It’s unfortunate for us that we’re not going to Vegas, but I guess we’ll have to settle for Encore in Boston.”Certainly, there should be some disappointment for the Celtics as their hopes of claiming the first in-season tournament championship came to an end. It certainly does not replace the ultimate goal of an NBA championship, but the IST proved as something of a playoff simulator. It was an opportunity for growth for a group that’s figuring out how to get over the hump. Not to mention the incentives of a trip to Vegas and a significant cash reward.But it’s als...

Alex Cora says Josh Winckowski could be a candidate for starting rotation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

The Red Sox are expected to add multiple starting pitchers to bolster their rotation this winter, but until they actually do the club is also preparing its younger arms to shoulder the load.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Alex Cora said they’ll be stretching out Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck, and presumably Kutter Crawford as well, but the Red Sox manager also made a point to highlight Josh Winckowski as a guy to watch, too.“(Winckowski is) somebody that towards the end of the season I viewed more as a reliever than a starter, but with the information provided and the new group, there’s a new vision with him,” Cora said. “I’m not saying he’s going to be a starter but he’s a guy that can go multiple innings with his stuff and the characteristics of his pitches against lefties and righties. So stretch everybody out, that’s what they’re working at and we’ll see what happens in the upcoming weeks and months.”A...

JetBlue: Spirit deal vital to compete

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

A lawyer for JetBlue Airways said Tuesday that the biggest U.S. airlines are using their size to cement their dominance in a post-pandemic world, making it critical that a federal judge allow JetBlue to buy Spirit Airlines.The lawyer, Ryan Shores, said JetBlue needs Spirit to be a “viable challenger” to the four airlines that control most of the domestic air-travel market.“That mandate is even more urgent today,” Shores said during closing arguments in a federal court trial over the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit to block JetBlue’s $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit, the nation’s biggest low-fare carrier.A Justice Department lawyer argued that the deal would push fares higher by 30% and leave fewer options for travelers on a budget.Edward Duffy said if JetBlue absorbs Spirit, it would cut the ultra-low-cost-carrier share of the market by half — or 6 million fewer budget flights per year.Duffy said JetBlue was contradicting itself by arguing ...

US made offer to bring home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Russia rejected it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has made a new and significant offer aimed at securing the release of American detainees Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, but Russia has rejected the offer, the State Department said Tuesday.Spokesman Matthew Miller did not reveal the details of the offer nor why Russia had turned it down, but the revelation of the proposal was a fresh indication that Washington is continuing to try to negotiate with Moscow to get both men home.“This was a new proposal, in recent weeks. It was a significant proposal,” Miller said. “And it was rejected by the Russians but it does not, it will not deter us from continuing to do everything we can to try and bring both of them home.”The U.S. government has declared both Whelan and Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained.Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S....

Illinois scraps plan for building migrant winter camp due to toxic soil risk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced Tuesday that it is scrapping plans for a temporary winter camp for migrants in Chicago, citing the risk of contaminants at the former industrial site.The setback comes as Chicago struggles to house more than 24,000 migrants arriving from the border with Mexico since August of last year, most in buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to city data released Tuesday. With the coldest weather looming — and despite a partnership with religious leaders to provide temporary housing — hundreds of asylum-seekers still await placement at airports and police stations, some of them still camped on sidewalks outside precinct buildings.Responding to the urgent need, the state put up $65 million for a tent camp in Brighton Park designed to hold 2,000, and for permanent structures at a 200-bed site in the Little Village neighborhood giving priority to families and people with disabilities. Construction at the Brighton Park site be...

Senators were intimidated, had their privilege breached, Speaker rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagné says nothing could justify the “disproportionate reaction” some senators had to a decision to adjourn debate on a carbon pricing bill last month.Gagné ruled today that the events that transpired on Nov. 9 breached the privilege of some senators.Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain raised the question of privilege saying she and Sen. Bernadette Clement felt physically intimidated and harassed that day when another senator stood over their desks and berated them for their positions on the bill.Conservative Sen. Don Plett apologized in the Senate on Nov. 24, saying he was angered by moves to amend the bill and to adjourn debate on that amendment, which he saw as an attempt to delay passage of the legislation.The private member’s bill, which is in its third and final stage of debate in the Senate, would take the carbon price off natural gas and propane used for farming for at least the next eight years.Gagné says what happened in the Senat...

Roger Goodell says football will become a global sport in a decade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sees football becoming a global sport within the next decade, with his league at the forefront of that effort.That includes, Goodell said Tuesday, adding another international market to next year’s regular-season schedule. He wasn’t specific, but Brazil and Spain are the front-runners. An announcement is expected in the next month or two.“We’re really excited about that,” Goodell said of entering a new market. “I don’t see that as much as expanding the number of franchises as I do expanding the opportunity for people to really just enjoy the game.”Goodell was speaking at a forum that included officials from Las Vegas teams and events to promote the Super Bowl, which will be played at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11.He said the league’s championship game will return to Las Vegas many times after this season.“I think probably I would not have said 10 years ago that I would see myself sitting here for a Super Bowl,” Goodell...

Doug Ford considering reversal of dissolving Peel Region: sources

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

Doug Ford’s provincial government is reconsidering its plan to dissolve Peel Region, sources tell CityNews.A formal announcement is expected, likely later in the week.In May, the Ford government tabled legislation to turn Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon into independent cities and towns. A month later, the Ontario government passed Bill 112, also known as the Hazel McCallion Act. The province aimed to complete the dissolution process by Jan. 1, 2025.#BREAKING – The Ford government is considering doing away with its plan to dissolve Peel Region, sources tell CityNews. A formal announcement possible later in the week. First to report was @robertbenzie— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) December 5, 2023The province appointed a facilitator to review the community needs of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe, Waterloo and York and determine if it should pursue a similar-type dissolution for those regions.Caledon mayor Annette Groves urged the province to rethink its pl...

Peruvian constitutional court orders release of former President Alberto Fujimori

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:40 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s constitutional court ordered an immediate humanitarian release Tuesday for imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, 85, who was serving a 25-year sentence in connection with the death squad slayings of 25 Peruvians in the 1990s.The court ruled in favor of a 2017 pardon that had granted the former leader a release on humanitarian grounds but that later was annulled. In a resolution seen by The Associated Press, the court told the state prisons agency to immediately release Fujimori “on the same day.”Fujimori was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison on charges of human rights abuses. He had been accused of being the mastermind behind the slayings of 25 Peruvians by a military death squad during his administration from 1990 to 2000, while the government fought the Shining Path communist rebels. The Associated Press