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Leaked documents may have origin in chatroom for gamers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major leak of classified U.S. documents that’s shaken Washington and exposed new details of its intelligence gathering may have started in a chatroom on a social media platform popular with gamers.Held on the Discord platform, which hosts real-time voice, video and text chats, a discussion originally created to talk about a range of topics turned to the war in Ukraine. As part of debates about Ukraine, according to one member of the chat, an unidentified poster shared documents that were allegedly classified, first typing them out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, beginning to post images of papers with folds in them.The posts appear to have gone unnoticed outside of the chat until a few weeks ago, when they began to circulate more widely on social media and get picked up by major news outlets. The leaks have alarmed U.S. officials and sparked a Justice Department investigation. The records have provided startling and surprisingl...

Trump due back in NY for questioning in AG’s fraud lawsuit

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is scheduled to return to New York for a deposition Thursday in a business fraud lawsuit filed against him and his company by the state’s attorney general, according to a person familiar with the matter.It will be the former president’s first trip to New York City since his arraignment last week on felony charges in a separate criminal case involving hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury claims of extramarital sexual encounters that Trump says never happened.Trump is expected to face questioning at New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office in lower Manhattan, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and did so on condition of anonymity.Trump previously sat for a deposition at James’ office last August, just weeks before she filed the lawsuit. That time, Trump declined to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 t...

Boston heads to Fever as No. 1 pick in WNBA draft

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Aliyah Boston was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on Monday night, going to the Indiana Fever.It’s the first time that the Fever have had the top choice in the draft, and they chose the South Carolina star. Boston, a three-time AP All-American who also was the Player of the Year as a junior, will solidify the post for Indiana. The Fever had the worst record in the league last season, going 5-31.“It’s really special, I’m thankful to God for putting me in this position,” said the 21-year-old Boston, from the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Everyone in Indiana, they saw something in me, I’m ready to get there and get to work.”Boston, like many other players, have had to choose whether to return to college for a fifth season because of the extra year granted for the COVID-19 virus or turn pro. She decided to enter the draft, joining 111 other players to declare.She was joined by three other South Carolina players, who were expected to be taken in the first two rounds ...

Kansas man sentenced in Capitol riot ‘ridiculously ashamed’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Kansas City, Kansas, contractor said he was was “ridiculously ashamed” before he was sentenced Monday to four months of incarceration for joining a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan also ordered 48-year-old Kasey Hopkins to pay $500 restitution in a video conference hearing. His incarceration will be followed by 24 months of probation, The Kansas City Star reports.Hopkins acknowledged during the hearing that he was sent to prison in 2002 for a rape conviction. He said that after getting out, he tried to make amends and started a business.But on Jan. 6, 2021, Hopkins breached the Capitol twice and entered a senator’s private office, where he took pictures of rioters ransacking the room. “I’m ridiculously ashamed to be here right now,” he said, adding that “the mob mentality is a very, very real thing.”Chutkan praised Hopkins for undergoing “personal transformation,” but she said his involvement in the riot “boggled my mind...

What we know about victims of the Louisville bank shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tributes were growing Monday for the four people slain in a shooting at a Louisville bank, with friends sharing details of their lives and mourners gathering at vigils. Details were also emerging about some of the wounded, including a rookie officer who was just recently sworn in. Louisville’s former Mayor Greg Fischer said he’d known 63-year-old Tommy Elliott, one of those killed, for 40 years. He likes to tell a story about how they met: Elliott was a young banker and Fischer was a young businessman. They were both ambitious and “wet behind the ears,” Fischer said. Elliott called him up and said he wanted to be his personal banker.“I reminded him that my net worth was less than $5,000 and thought he was crazy,” Fischer said. “I said, ‘Your prospect list must be getting pretty bad, Tommy, to be calling me.’”Fischer said that story highlights Elliott’s work ethic and his ability to see things in people they might not see in themselves.“He got great joy out of ...

Mexico charges 4 soldiers with killings in Nuevo Laredo

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican prosecutors formally presented homicide charges Monday against four soldiers implicated in the Feb. 26 shooting deaths of five men in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. The killings in the cartel-dominated city of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, caused outrage, because the occupants of the vehicle the army fired on were apparently not armed. The civilian court system said the four soldiers will be held in pre-trial detention at an army base in Mexico City which houses a military prison. They also face attempted homicide charges, because a sixth man was wounded. The four had said they heard a loud bang and opened fire on what they claimed was a fleeing vehicle. Mexico has a separate military court system, but soldiers must be tried in civilian courts for offenses that involve non-military victims.The court will hold an initial hearing on the charges on April 12.In March, Mexico’s governmental human rights agency called the shooting unjusti...

Oklahoma man could get new trial amid prosecutor misconduct

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man convicted of murder for stabbing another man to death in 2018 could get a new trial after the district attorney acknowledged two of his former prosecutors watched jurors deliberate via a video feed into the courtroom.Robert Kraft, 34, of Choteau, Oklahoma, was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder in July 2022, and the jury recommended a life prison sentence. But Kraft’s attorney has filed a motion for a mistrial after District Attorney Matt Ballard acknowledged two of the prosecutors on the case, Isaac Shields and George Gibbs, Jr., watched jurors deliberate.A status hearing in the case was held on Monday, but the judge has yet to rule on the mistrial motion.Kraft’s attorney, M.J. Denman, Jr., said it’s a miscarriage of justice that the two prosecutors illegally observed jury deliberations and gave the prosecution an advantage that he was not afforded.“It’s like playing cards and not realizing you have a mirror behind you ...

Paper changes caused Maricopa County printer failure: report

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Problems with ballot printers that caused lines to back up at some Phoenix-area polling places last year were not caused by malicious actions but by changes to the paper, a retired Arizona Supreme Court justice concluded in a report released Monday.County officials used longer ballots on thicker paper than had been used previously, changes that were made in part to respond to unfounded conspiracy theories but which pushed the printers to the edge of their capabilities, former Justice Ruth McGregor wrote. She added that preelection testing may not have caught the problem because the test didn’t properly mimic the stresses that printers experience on Election Day.“Nothing we learned in our interviews or document reviews gave any clear indication that the problems should have been anticipated,” McGregor wrote.McGregor’s findings show the challenges confronting election officials as they respond to concerns spread by election deniers with changes that carry their ow...

Cannabis company Tilray to buy rival Hexo in all-share deal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

Tilray Brands Inc. is buying fellow cannabis company Hexo Corp. in an all-share deal valued at US$56 millionaimed at helping the business navigate a “challenging” cannabis market that has seen significant price compression. The deal announced Monday will unite Leamington, Ont.-based Tilray, which is behind Broken Coast, RIFF, Solei and Good Supply, with Gatineau, Que.-based Hexo, known for its Redecan, Original Stash and Bake Sale brands.The arrangement will see Tilray issue 0.4352 shares of its stock for each outstanding Hexo share.Tilray chief executive Irwin Simon positioned the deal as way to increase the company’s market share, broaden their product offerings and deliver at least $25 million in additional cost savings on an annualized basis.“Together we have the assets and the operating expertise to build a stronger Canadian platform that takes advantage of clear opportunities to deliver stronger topline growth and increase our market share,” he sa...

U.S. ‘allies, partners,’ including Canada, briefed by U.S. after intelligence leaked

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:17:41 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. government officials spent the weekend briefing impacted allies and partners, including Canada, following reports detailing a leak of sensitive U.S. intelligence about Russia’s war with Ukraine and its potential ramifications. The trove of documents reportedly included an assessment of claims that Russian-backed hackers managed back in February to access the systems controlling part of Canada’s natural gas infrastructure.The Canadian Press has not independently verified those claims. Some of the material — discovered Friday after it had been posted to online forums and social media channels — appeared to have been altered. “We’re still working through the validity of all the documents that we know are out there,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “U.S. officials have … communicated with relevant nations, relevant allies and partners as appropriate, at very high levels.” Federal officials in Ottawa acknowl...