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FBI: Thousands of remote IT workers sent wages to North Korea to help fund weapons program

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Thousands of information technology workers contracting with U.S. companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI and Department of Justice officials said.The Justice Department said Wednesday that IT workers dispatched and contracted by North Korea to work remotely with companies in St. Louis and elsewhere in the U.S. have been using false identities to get the jobs. The money they earned was funneled to the North Korean weapons program, FBI leaders said at a news conference in St. Louis.Federal authorities announced the seizure of $1.5 million and 17 domain names as part of the investigation, which is ongoing.Jay Greenberg, special agent in charge of the St. Louis FBI office, said any company that hired freelance IT workers “more than likely” hired someone participating in the scheme.“This scheme is so prevalent that companies must be vigilant to verify whom they’re hiring,̶...

Hollywood’s actors strike is nearing its 100th day. Why hasn’t a deal been reached and what’s next?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — While screenwriters are busy back at work, film and TV actors remain on picket lines, with the longest strike in their history set to hit 100 days on Saturday after talks broke off with studios. Here’s a look at where things stand, how their stretched-out standoff compares to past strikes, and what happens next.INSIDE THE ACTORS-STUDIO TALKS THAT FAILEDHopes were high and leaders of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists were cautiously optimistic when they resumed negotiations on Oct. 2 for the first time since the strike began 2 1/2 months earlier.The same group of chief executives from the biggest studios had made a major deal just over a week earlier with striking writers, whose leaders celebrated their gains on many issues actors are also fighting for: long-term pay, consistency of employment and control over the use of artificial intelligence.But the actors’ talks were tepid, with days off between sessions and...

Financial investigators probing suspected contracts descend again on HQ of Paris Olympic organizers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Organizers of next year’s Paris Olympics said their headquarters have again been visited by French financial prosecutors who are investigating suspicions of favoritism, conflicts of interest and misuse of funds in the awarding of contracts.The Paris organizing committee said Thursday in a short statement that the national financial prosecution service visited its north Paris offices on Wednesday “and obtained all the information it requested.”“Paris 2024 is cooperating fully with the investigation, as it has always done,” the statement said.The headquarters were first searched in June.Financial investigators have been zeroing in on 20 or so of the many hundreds of business contracts that Olympic organizers have signed as they race to prepare the French capital for 10,500 athletes and millions of spectators.In an Associated Press interview, Paris organizing committee president Tony Estanguet previously vigorously defended colleagues whose homes also have been searc...

Vaughan man charged after teen sexually assaulted at park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

A man is facing charges after a teen was sexually assaulted at a park in Vaughan last month.Police say the incident happened at Agostino Park, near Confederation Parkway and Rutherford Road, around 9:30 p.m. on Sep. 22.It is alleged a 15-year-old was at the park when they were approached by a male suspect. Police say the man touched the teen in a sexual manner.Investigators say tips from the public led to them identifying a suspect. On Tuesday, 35-year-old Vaughan resident Irakli Logua was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.“Investigators with the York Regional Police Sexual Assault and Crimes Against Children Unit would like to thank the public and the media for their help in identifying a suspect,” said police in a Thursday release.Police believe there could be more victims and have released photos of the suspect. Anyone with additional information is being asked to contact police.

Slovenia to introduce border checks with Hungary, Croatia after Italy did the same with Slovenia

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia said on Thursday it will introduce border checks with neighboring Hungary and Croatia following Italy’s decision to do the same with Slovenia because of security concerns due to violence in the Middle East. The government said border controls will be introduced on Saturday and last for at least 10 days. Italy on Wednesday said it will suspend an open-border agreement with Slovenia, also on Oct. 21 for the next 10 days. The decisions reflect increasing security concerns in Europe because of the war between Israel and Hamas. European Union interior ministers on Thursday debated how to manage the impact of the war on the 27-nation bloc after a firebomb assault on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamist extremists.The shooter in the Belgian attack, a Tunisian national, had been denied residency in four European countries and was issued with a deportation order from Belgium in 2021, but disappeared from sight. ...

Desperate and disaffected, Argentines to vote whether upstart Milei leads them into the unknown

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Once an activist in a left-leaning youth movement, Rubén Dávalos is now among the millions of disaffected voters in Argentina planning to cast their ballots for right-wing populist and self-described anarcho-capitalist, Javier Milei. “In this country, you can’t plan for the future,” said the 30-year-old Dávalos, who began selling cellphone accessories at flea markets after surging inflation ate away at his manufacturing job wages. “I know I’m going to die poor.” Milei, a pundit-turned-presidential candidate, has captivated the downtrodden and most polls showing him with a slight lead in Sunday’s election in South America’s second-largest economy. Earlier this year, his eyebrow-raising bluster seemed more like a sideshow to boost television ratings than the launch of a viable candidacy — until he shocked the political establishment by winning the most votes in the August primary.Polls indicate Milei will fall short of the votes needed to avoid a Novembe...

California sheriff’s deputy, vehicle passenger wounded in gunfire exchange, sheriff’s office says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A passenger in a vehicle stopped in a hit-and-run investigation and sheriff’s deputies exchanged gunfire in southern California, wounding a deputy and the passenger, authorities said early Thursday. Both were in stable condition at a hospital. Sheriff’s deputies had responded to a call in Palm Desert shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday “to locate the suspect of a felony hit and run,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. They found a vehicle with two people inside.As the driver was being detained, the passenger fired at deputies and at least one fired back, the sheriff’s office said. One deputy and the suspect were shot. Both were hospitalized and were in stable condition Thursday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.The vehicle driver, unharmed, was arrested and booked on an outstanding felony warrant.The names of the people in the vehicle or the deputies involved in the shooting have not been released. The depu...

The US Supreme Court notched big conservative wins. It’s a key issue in Pennsylvania’s fall election

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s current conservative majority has delivered major victories for conservatives — and now liberal discontent over those rulings is playing a major role in Pennsylvania’s top-of-the-ballot election this fall.The Democrat running for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has told audiences over and over that the nation’s highest court poses a threat to rights that Democrats have fought for, now with three appointees by President Donald Trump giving it a 6-3 conservative majority.Dan McCaffery, the Democrat, portrays his candidacy as a bulwark against a U.S. Supreme Court majority that he says is undoing federally protected rights and leaving it to states to fill the vacuum.“We couldn’t do anything about the appointments of a federal judge, but in Pennsylvania we fight back, and the reason we fight back and the way we fight back is by getting judges elected,” McCaffery told an online audience of the Rev....

Shooter attack in Belgium drives an EU push to toughen border and deportation laws

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Abdesalem Lassoued had been denied residency in four European countries by the time he chased two Swedish men into a building in Brussels this week and gunned them down at close range with a semiautomatic rifle.The 45-year-old Tunisian arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in a smuggler’s boat in 2011. He spent jail time in Sweden and was refused entry to Norway. At one point Italy flagged him as a security threat. Two years ago, Belgium rejected his asylum claim and he disappeared off the map.Until Monday night, that is, when he killed the two Swedes, wounded a third and forced the lockdown of more than 35,000 people in a soccer stadium where they had gathered to watch Belgium play Sweden. In a video posted online, he claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group.Within days he has become the new face of the European Union’s campaign to toughen border controls, rapidly deport people and allow the police and security agencies to exchange information more eff...

Teen mistakenly shot by Des Plaines police at music school to receive nearly $2M settlement

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:44:16 GMT

DES PLAINES, Ill. — A settlement has been reached between the city of Des Plaines and a teenager accidentally shot by an officer who was pursuing a bank robber in 2019.Just as jury selection was set to begin, the two sides agreed to the settlement, which is close to $2 million. It comes nearly three years after the shooting.Rylan Wilder was working as an intern at UpBeat Music and Arts School, located in the 4300 block of W. Irving Park Rd., on November 19, 2019 when he was shot.It stemmed from an alleged robbery in Des Plaines and subsequent police chase into Chicago. Police had chased the suspect, they said, had just robbed a bank and fired shots at police — grazing an officer in the head.Surveillance video obtained by WGN Investigates shows the suspect running through the music store. The Des Plaines officer ran after him and then opened fire with an assault rifle as the suspect reached the store’s back door. The suspect was killed.Wilder was wounded in the crossfire. Surgeo...