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China behind ‘largest ever’ digital influence operation

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

People with ties to China’s law enforcement agencies conducted the largest known covert digital influence operation aimed at discrediting the West and promoting Beijing’s agenda across more than 50 social media and online platforms, according to a report published Tuesday by Meta.On Facebook, clandestine users with ties to the authoritarian government racked up more than 550,000 followers by spouting lies about the United States’ alleged role in creating the COVID-19 pandemic and criticizing Washington’s support of Taiwan.On Reddit, other China-linked keyboard warriors falsely implicated former British Prime Minister Liz Truss in the death of Queen Elizabeth II.And in multiple online forums and social media sites — including Medium, YouTube, Twitter and Quora — even more users targeted Chinese dissidents and promoted Beijing’s talking points.The campaign, which lasted over a year, garnered few, if any, eyeballs from real social media users, based on Meta̵...

State police ID man killed, driver charged in crash on I-95 in North Attleboro

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

A man is expected to be arraigned on criminal charges Tuesday in connection with a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in North Attleboro on Monday that left one person dead and another critically injured, state police said. Troopers responding to a reported crash on the southbound side of the highway determined the crash started when two vehicles collided near Exit 7. Police said the collision sent the driver of a Cadillac, a 61-year-old Providence man, across the median before colliding with a Jaguar that was heading nortbound.The driver of the Jaguar, later identified as Randall Rickets, 58, was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital, according to police. The driver of the Cadillac was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Two occupants were also transported to Rhode Island Hospital and are in stable condition. Police say the other driver involved fled the scene.Soon after, Joseph Pompei, 50, was located by state troopers and arrested on...

Column: Manager matchup between David Ross and Craig Counsell adds some spice to Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers rivalry

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

There might not have been an obvious turning point to the Chicago Cubs’ season.But the extra-inning win in Milwaukee on the Fourth of July, which ended with manager David Ross’s profane postgame rant about the closing of the roof at American Family Field, was probably as good a place as any to start.“It’s really un-American to shut the roof on the Fourth of July,” Ross said the next day. “I don’t know who does that. It was a beautiful day.”The Cubs were seven games under .500 at 38-45 entering the holiday. They went 31-16 over their next 47 games, a .660 winning percentage that catapulted them into a wild-card spot and kept them within spitting distance of first place, four games behind the Brewers in the National League Central entering Monday’s showdown at Wrigley Field.It was another beautiful day as Cubs starter Jameson Taillon faced Brewers left-hander Wade Miley in the opening game of a key three-game series.Sister Jean of ...

Biden targets diabetes drug Jardiance, blood thinner Eliquis and 8 others for Medicare price talks

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

By TOM MURPHY, AMANDA SEITZ and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The blood thinner Eliquis and popular diabetes treatments including Jardiance are among the first drugs that will be targeted for price negotiations in an effort to cut Medicare costs.President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday released a list of 10 drugs for which the federal government will take a first-ever step: negotiating drug prices directly with the manufacturer. The move is expected to cut costs for some patients but faces litigation from the drugmakers and heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers. It’s also a centerpiece of the Democratic president’s reelection pitch as he seeks a second term in office by touting his work to lower costs for Americans at a time when the country has struggled with inflation. The diabetes treatments Jardiance from Eli Lilly and Co. and Merck’s Januvia made the list, along with Amgen’s autoimmune disease treatment Enbrel....

MBTA outlines another slew of service disruptions

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

Parts of the Red Line will shutter for nearly a dozen weeknights and a pair of weekends in September, and a few Orange and Green Line stops will also face more than three weeks of disruptions in downtown Boston, MBTA officials announced Monday.The T rolled out its schedule of planned closures and diversions for maintenance work in September, setting sights on the Red Line’s Braintree branch, where several miles of track are so deteriorated that they cannot safely support full-speed travel.Shuttle buses will replace trains between North Quincy and Braintree Station starting around 8:45 p.m. each night from Sept. 5-7, Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 19-22. That stretch of track will also be completely shuttered the weekend of Sept. 23 and 24.A similar segment, from Quincy Center to Braintree, will also go offline and be replaced by shuttle buses starting around 8:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8 through the end of the day on Sunday, Sept. 10.Those closures will precede a 16-day October shutdown...

Chicago Cubs drop series opener 6-2 as NL Central-best Milwaukee Brewers pounce on Jameson Taillon in 1st inning

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

Jameson Taillon’s first season in Chicago has largely not played out how he and the Cubs envisioned.Lately he has pitched more like the version both sides hoped for when he inked a four-year, $68 million contract in the offseason, posting a 3.98 ERA and pitching into the sixth inning in eight of his last nine starts. Taillon knows the rotation is a big factor in what happens in the final month of the season as the Cubs try to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2020.“I feel like it’s a cliché, but starting pitching sets the tone for everything,” Taillon told the Tribune over the weekend. “So if we want to make a push and want to go where we’re trying to go, I feel like it starts and ends with pitching in general, but starting pitching always sets the tone.“For myself, I feel the ship has sailed as far as getting my numbers where I want them to be this year, and I’m not worried about it. All I’m worried about ...

Police to update case of Kenneth Law, man accused of selling deadly substance

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

Police in the GTA are expected to provide an update Tuesday morning into the case of a Mississauga man accused of selling deadly substances to people at risk of self-harm around the globe.The update from both Peel and York Regional Police comes after British investigators revealed last week they are investigating the deaths of 88 people who were allegedly shipped packages of sodium nitrite from Canadian-based websites.Investigators in the U.K. say they have identified 232 people who bought products over a two year period until April.The British probe is part of inquiries triggered by the arrest earlier this year of Kenneth Law. The 57-year-old from Mississauga has been charged by Peel police with two counts of counselling and aiding suicide.Peel police have said their investigation has revealed at least 1,200 packages were allegedly sent to 40 countries. There are also ongoing investigations in the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.Police are set to hold Tuesday’...

Stock market today: Wall Street quiet ahead of consumer, labor reports

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street was quiet early Tuesday ahead of some potentially market-moving jobs data and a survey reflecting consumers’ feelings about the economy.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 both inched down about 0.1% before the bell. Investors and economists this week will be paying close attention to economic reports that could shed more light on whether the job market remains hot and inflation is still cooling. The latest data could provide more clues about whether the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady or raise them again before the year closes.Wall Street will get an update Tuesday on consumer confidence, which jumped sharply in July and is expected to remain strong in August.Also Tuesday, the government will issue its July report on job openings, with its broader jobs report for August coming on Friday. The job market is being closely watched because it has remained strong amid high inflation. Part of the Fed’s goal in its int...

Top EU court rules that minorities in Bosnia are ‘akin to second-class citizens’

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A top European court ruled in an opinion published Tuesday that Bosnia’s political system, set up under a U.S.-brokered peace deal in the 90s amplifies ethnic divisions and undermines the Balkan country’s democratic elections. The European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, sided with Slaven Kovacevic, a Sarajevo-born political scientist, who sued Bosnia last year arguing that it prevents people who refuse to affiliate with one of Bosnia’s tree dominant ethnic groups from voting for candidates of their choosing.Tuesday’s verdict is the latest in a stream of the ECHR rulings ordering Bosnia to make its constitution less discriminatory. The country’s failure to comply with those verdicts by amending its constitution is a stumbling block on Bosnia’s path towards its stated goal of joining the European Union.In the summary of its verdict, the court ruled that Bosnia’s power-sharing arrangements have turned the country into an “ethnoc...

High Liner Foods chief executive Rod Hepponstall stepping down

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:54:33 GMT

LUNENBURG, N.S. — High Liner Foods Inc. says chief executive Rod Hepponstall is stepping down.The company says its board has accepted Hepponstall’s resignation, effective on or before Jan. 2, 2024.High Liner says it will begin a comprehensive internal and external search for a new CEO.Hepponstall has been chief executive at the seafood company since May 2018.He is expected to help the company on a transition plan.High Liner is a processor and marketer of frozen seafood.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:HLF)The Canadian Press