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MI6 door ‘always open’ to Russian defectors, says UK spy chief Richard Moore

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

The U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service is “always open” to recruiting Russians unhappy with Vladimir Putin’s regime, the spy agency’s chief said Wednesday.In a rare speech in Prague, MI6 boss Richard Moore said Russians wrestling with “tugs of conscience” amid Putin’s war in Ukraine would be welcomed on board by the service.“I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 months and join hands with us — our door is always open,” Moore said.“We will handle their offers of help with the discretion and professionalism for which our service is famed, their secrets will always be safe with us,” Moore added.Moore’s speech — at a POLITICO event at the British ambassador’s residence in Prague — marks only the second time he has given a public address in his historically-secretive role as MI6’s ‘C’.He used the speech to argue that Russia is failing in its military aims in Ukraine, a...

11 dead after a wall collapses near an under-construction bridge in Pakistan during monsoon rains

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Eleven workers were killed early Wednesday after a portion of the outer wall of a sprawling compound collapsed after being weakened by rains near an under-construction bridge on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, police and rescue officials said.The wall fell while the workers sat inside their roadside tents at the construction site. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed his sorrow and grief over the deaths.Local police official Mohammad Akram and Emergency Service Rescue 1122 said the collapse happened amid the monsoon rains near the neighborhood of Golra and that the bodies of the deceased were recovered. At least five construction workers were also injured, senior police officer Khan Zeb said.Officials said the rains hadn’t caused any damage to the walls of the under-construction bridge and that the laborers were killed or injured when the wall of a nearby building collapsed, burying them under the rubble.Monsoon rains ha...

36 years later, London’s Met Police apologizes to family of murdered private investigator

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

LONDON (AP) — London’s Metropolitan Police apologized Wednesday to the family of private investigator Daniel Morgan, who was killed with an ax in a pub car park 36 years ago, for the force’s failure to bring those responsible to justice.The Met, which has been embroiled in a series of scandals over many years that have led to it being labelled racists, misogynistic and homophobic, admitted that its investigation had been “marred by a cycle of corruption, professional incompetence and defensiveness.”“I unequivocally and unreservedly apologize for the failure of the Metropolitan Police Service to bring those responsible for the murder of Daniel Morgan to justice,” said Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley.In addition to the apology, the Met agreed a “mutually satisfactory settlement” with Morgan’s family, who brought a civil suit against the force.No financial details were disclosed, but the payout is believed to be around 2 million pounds ($2.6 million), accord...

Britain’s MI6 chief says his spies are using AI to disrupt flow of weapons to Russia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — British spies are already using artificial intelligence to hamper the supply of weapons to Russia, the head of Britain’s MI6 agency said Wednesday, predicting that Western spies will increasingly have to focus on tracking the malign use of AI by hostile states.In a speech that depicted machine learning as both a huge potential asset and a major threat, Richard Moore said his staff at Britain’s foreign intelligence agency “are combining their skills with AI and bulk data to identify and disrupt the flow of weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.”Calling China the “single most important strategic focus” for his agency, Moore said, “we will increasingly be tasked with obtaining intelligence on how hostile states are using AI in damaging, reckless and unethical ways.”Moore, who has previously warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, said his service “together with our allies, intends to win the race to master the ethical and...

Chinese e-retailer Temu files lawsuit in US against rival Shein, alleging antitrust violations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese e-commerce retailer Temu has filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts accusing its rival Shein of violating U.S. antitrust law by preventing garment makers from working with it.Temu, which is owned by popular Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo Inc., is alleging that Shein has compelled clothing manufacturers to submit to unfair supply chain arrangements preventing them from working with Temu after it entered the U.S. market in 2022.Shein (SHE-in) and Temu (TEE-mu) are fast-rising online shopping platforms. Shein has grabbed the largest share of the fast fashion market in the U.S., at over 50%, according to Temu’s complaint. Temu is the most downloaded app in the U.S., according to the website data.ai, formerly App Annie, which tracks app rankings. It offers everything from apparel to household goods at similarly competitive prices.“Shein has engaged in a campaign of threats, intimidation, false assertions of infringement, and attempts to impose baseless punitiv...

Russia launches intense nighttime attacks across Ukraine, targeting the southern port city of Odesa

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an intense series of nighttime air attacks sending drones and missiles toward places across Ukraine, targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, wounding at least 12, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian emergency officials in Crimea said that more than 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility. The fire also caused the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. He didn’t specify a cause for the fire at the facility in Kirovsky district, which came two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to Crimea that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a statement on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles sent against...

Nuke plans getting updated and BC port workers back on strike: In The News for today

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today.Nuclear threat prompts Feds review of fallout readinessCanada is dusting off and updating emergency protocols to deal with fallout from a possible tactical nuclear exchange in Europe or the spread of radiation across the ocean from a Ukrainian power plant explosion.Internal Public Safety Canada notes show the measures include updating a highly secret plan to ensure the federal government can continue to function in a severe crisis. Ottawa was also taking steps to finalize a protocol for advising the Canadian public of an incoming ballistic missile, say the notes obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year prompted a series of federal discussions and initiatives aimed at bolstering Canada’s preparedness for a catastrophic nuclear event. —Strike resumes, shutting down B.C. port...

German director of Florence’s Academy Gallery who defended David’s image fears for museum’s future

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

MILAN (AP) — The German director of Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia has succeeded in drawing visitors’ attention to masterpieces beyond Michelangelo’s towering David, while winning landmark court cases to protect the marble masterpiece’s familiar image against misuse.But even as Cecilie Hollberg highlights her achievements at Italy’s second-most-visited museum since arriving in 2015, rumors circulate that Italy’s far-right-led government intends to revoke the museum’s independence once more, potentially draining resources and energy after eight years of innovations. It would be deja vu all over again. In 2019, another right-wing government put the Accademia under the control of another Florence landmark, the Uffizi museum, and fired Hollberg on short notice. She was reinstated the following year and the Accademia’s autonomy restored after that government fell.Hollberg said she can’t explain why the Accademia’s role as an independent museum is again under s...

‘Freddie the Flyer’ chronicles exploits of the North’s first Indigenous pilot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

INUVIK, N.W.T. — Across the pages of a picture book, the northern lights dance over the Arctic landscape with brush strokes of bold colour, as caribou and muskox graze on the tundra and a bush pilot takes to the skies. As the pilot flies across the Mackenzie Delta, he rescues a stranded prospector from a blizzard, packs a team of smelly sled dogs on board and picks up a pregnant woman who gives birth as he lands. “Freddie the Flyer” chronicles the real exploits of Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Canadian Arctic. Now 88 and living in Inuvik, N.W.T., Carmichael, who co-authored the book with Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, said he hopes it will help kids pursue their dreams. “If they want to be a pilot or anything else you really want to do, you need to find the people to help you get started,” he wrote in an email.“There are always people out there like me willing to help. I was able to go from a dog-team to an airplane before I ...

Nuclear threat from Ukraine war prompts Ottawa to update plans for catastrophe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:39:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada is dusting off and updating emergency protocols to deal with fallout from a possible tactical nuclear exchange in Europe or the spread of radiation across the ocean from a Ukrainian power plant explosion.Internal Public Safety Canada notes show the measures include updating a highly secret plan to ensure the federal government can continue to function in a severe crisis. Ottawa was also taking steps to finalize a protocol for advising the Canadian public of an incoming ballistic missile, say the notes obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year prompted a series of federal discussions and initiatives aimed at bolstering Canada’s preparedness for a catastrophic nuclear event. Public Safety notes prepared in advance of an August 2022 meeting of senior bureaucrats involved in emergency management show much of the concern focused on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, whi...