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China’s Hamburg port deal in doubt after German security assessment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s controversial plan to sell parts of a Hamburg container terminal to China has been thrown into uncertainty after the country’s security authorities declared the facility as “critical infrastructure.”Ahead of a state visit to Beijing last year, Scholz had strongly pushed for Chinese state company Cosco to be allowed to buy a minority stake in the Tollerort terminal in the Hamburg port, overruling concerns and objections from several ministers from his own government. However, a sudden classification of the terminal as “critical infrastructure” by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security means that Berlin has to reassess the deal, and might end up banning it. A joint investigation by German public broadcasters WDR and NDR as well as daily Süddeutsche Zeitung first reported the new security assessment.“Since the prerequisites have changed, we … are examining the effects on the overal...

FBI warns consumers not to use public phone charging stations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

(CNN) — The FBI is warning consumers against using public phone charging stations in order to avoid exposing their devices to malicious software.Public USB stations like the kind found at malls and airports are being used by bad actors to spread malware and monitoring software, according to a tweet last week from the FBI’s Denver branch. The agency did not provide any specific examples.“Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead,” the agency advised in the tweet.While public charging stations are attractive to many when devices are running critically low on battery, security experts have for years raised concerns about the risk. In 2011, researchers coined the term “juice jacking” to describe the problem.“Just by plugging your phone into a [compromised] power strip or charger, your device is now infected, and that compromises all your data,” Drew Paik, formerly of security firm Authentic8, e...

MSPCA caring for Goldendoodle struck by car before finding him a forever home

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

The MSPCA caring for a three-year-old Goldendoodle who escaped his home through a fence and was struck by a car, the organization said Wednesday. Teddy was a typical happy young dog when tragedy struck, the MSPCA said. His owners brought him to Angell Animal Medical Center following the accident last month, where veterinarians confirmed Teddy’s front right leg was fractured and he had a deep wound on his front left leg – injuries that could take months to heal.“Teddy’s case is complex,” said MSPCA-Angell Director of Adoption Centers and Programs Mike Keiley . “When we discussed it with [his owners] and detailed Teddy’s expected recovery process, they decided it would be best to surrender, so we could rehome him.”“We understand and respect the owners’ decision, and are hopeful that we can give Teddy the care he needs that will allow us to find him a new family to help with the final stages of his recovery,” he added. Teddy’s injuries have left unanswered questions for his...

Meet pocket-sized Pearl, the world’s shortest dog

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

(CNN) — Pearl is no ordinary handbag dog. She’s so tiny, her owner can just slip her into her pocket.The two-year-old chihuahua, who measures around the same length as a dollar bill, has been named the world’s shortest dog by Guinness World Records.Born in Florida on September 1 2020, Pearl is shorter than a Popsicle stick at just 3.59 inches tall. She is 5 inches long — around the same as a dollar bill — and weighs a tiny 1.22 pounds, a huge gain on the less than one ounce that she weighed at birth.Pearl is related to previous record holder Miracle Milly, who measured 3.8 inches tall. She died in 2020, before Pearl was born. Pearl’s mother is one of Milly’s identical sisters, according to Guinness World Records.Pearl is smaller than every day objects such as this remote control. Credit: Guinness World RecordsHer owner Vanesa Semler, who was also the owner of Miracle Milly, told Guinness World Records: “We’re bless...

Stocks tick higher after inflation cools more than forecast

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YOR (AP) — Stocks are ticking higher Wednesday, and Wall Street is relaxing a bit after a report showed inflation is cooling faster than expected.The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 174 points, or 0.5%, at 33,858, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher. The main focus on Wall Street for more than a year has been high inflation and how much painful medicine the Federal Reserve will have to dole out to contain it. A report Wednesday morning showed that prices at the consumer level were 5% higher last month than a year earlier. That’s still well above the Federal Reserve’s comfort level, keeping a check on financial markets. But it was better than the 5.2% that economists expected, and it marked a continued slowdown from inflation’s peak last summer. That had the majority of stocks on Wall Street rising, including seven out of every 10...

Palace: Prince Harry to attend his father’s May 6 coronation; Meghan to stay home

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

By DANICA KIRKA (Associated Press)LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about his presence.Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. The coronation date coincides with their eldest son’s birthday.Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book, “Spare.”The revelations included details of private conversations with his father — and his elder brother, Prince William. The disclosures fanned tensions between Harry and his family, which had become public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.

Police investigate discovery of ‘possible infant remains’ found in Revere

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

Authorities are investigating what they describe as the discovery of the “possible remains of an infant” outside an apartment building in a community north of Boston, state police said.Revere police responded to the building in the city at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday after a man found the possible remains outside, state police said in a statement.According to broadcast reports, the remains were found inside a trash bag near some trash cans.State police assigned to the Suffolk district attorney’s office also responded to the scene.The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was expected to take custody of the possible remains for further forensic examination, state police said.No additional information was released.Massachusetts has a baby “safe haven” law, that allows parents to surrender infants up to 7 days old at a hospital, police station, or staffed fire station without facing criminal prosecution.

UN: Year is off to a deadly start for migrants crossing Med

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

ROME (AP) — The first three months of 2023 were the deadliest first quarter in six years for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ boats, the U.N. migration agency reported Wednesday, citing nations’ delays in initiating rescues as a contributing factor.The International Organization for Migration documented 441 migrant deaths along the dangerous sea route between northern Africa and Europe’s southern shores during January, February and March. In 2017, 742 known deaths were documented in the same period, while 446 were recorded in the first three months of 2015. “The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable,” IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino, commenting on the figures the agency released in a report.“With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized,” Vitorino said. ”States must respond. Delays and gaps in state-led SAR (search-and-rescue...

Palace: Prince Harry to attend his father’s May 6 coronation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about his presence.Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. The coronation date coincides with their eldest son’s birthday.Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book, “Spare.”The revelations included details of private conversations with his father — and his elder brother, Prince William. The disclosures fanned tensions between Harry and his family, which had become public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

White House moves to protect some abortion patients’ records

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:20:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Wednesday proposed a new federal rule that aims to limit how law enforcement and state officials collect medical records from health providers and insurers if they pursue criminal or civil investigations into women who flee their home states to seek abortions elsewhere. The proposal, prompted by a string of blows to abortion access across the country, follows a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that threatens to pull the most commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone, off the market. The White House’s proposed rule would prohibit health care organizations from sharing personal medical records with authorities for investigations related to reproductive care in states where a woman legally obtained an abortion. While medical records are protected by federal privacy laws, health providers and insurers can be compelled to turn over medical records with a court order. Doctors around the country have voiced concerns about protecting that medical i...