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WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities expressed increased alarm Thursday about an intrusion into U.S. and other computer systems around the globe that officials suspect was carried out by Russian hackers. The nation's cybersecurity agency warned of a "grave" risk to government and private networks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in its most detailed comments yet that the intrusion had compromised federal agencies as well as "critical infrastructure" in a sophisticated attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo. CISA did not say which agencies or infrastructure had been breached or what information taken in an attack that it previously said appeared to have begun in March. "This threat actor has demonstrated sophistication and complex tradecraft in these intrusions," the agency said in its unusual alert. "CISA expects that removing the threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging."
Bill may need weekend sessions
WASHINGTON -- It's a hurry up and wait moment on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggled through a handful of remaining snags on Thursday. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, along with a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday. All sides appeared hopeful that the wrangling wouldn't derail the legislation from becoming law.
Panel endorses Moderna vaccine
WASHINGTON -- A government advisory panel endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine Thursday, paving the way for the shot to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow the recommendation for the vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. The FDA advisers, in a 20-0 vote, agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks for those 18 years old and up. The FDA's green light for emergency use is expected quickly. Moderna would then begin shipping millions of doses, earmarked for health workers and nursing home residents, to boost the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history. The campaign kicked off earlier this week with the first vaccine OK'd in the U.S., developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Moderna's shot showed similarly strong protection, providing 94% protection against COVID-19 in the company's ongoing study of 30,000 people.
Jobless claims rise to 885,000
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy's recovery from its springtime collapse. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 862,000 the previous week. It showed that nine months after the virus paralyzed the economy, many employers are still slashing jobs as the pandemic forces more business restrictions and leads many consumers to stay home. The number of claims was much higher than the 800,000 that economists had expected. Before the coronavirus erupted in March, weekly jobless claims had typically numbered only about 225,000. The far-higher current pace reflects an employment market under stress and diminished job security for many. The total number of people who are receiving traditional state unemployment benefits fell to 5.5 million from 5.8 million. That figure is down sharply from its peak of nearly 23 million in May. It means that some jobless Americans are finding jobs and no longer receiving aid. But it also indicates that many of the unemployed have used up their state benefits, which typically expire after six months.
Real houswife hubby assaulted
NEWARK, N.J. -- A reputed mobster admitted assaulting the then-boyfriend and now husband of a former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast member in exchange for a deeply discounted lavish wedding reception. John Perna, 43, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity. Prosecutors allege the former husband of cast member Dina Manzo, Thomas Manzo, hired Perna to assault his ex-wife's then boyfriend. Perna is part of the Lucchese organized crime family and carried out the assault with a member of his crew in July 2015, prosecutors said. Authorities said a month later, Perna held a wedding reception for 330 guests at Thomas Manzo's Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson for "a fraction of the price." Many of the guests were members of the Lucchese crime family, according to prosecutors. Perna faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he's sentenced on April 28.
Self-immolation persists in Tunisia
KASSERINE, Tunisia -- In his old life, Hosni Kalaia remembers strolling the streets of his hometown of Kasserine in central Tunisia with confidence. He flashed his heavy gold bracelets and rings, and puffed out his chest, broad and sculptured from regular workouts. Today, Kalaia hides his face from the world behind dark sunglasses and beneath a woolen hat. On his left hand, three blackened, gnarled fingers protrude from one glove; on his right, he has none at all. He lost them in the few seconds it took to disfigure his life forever, when -- distraught about abuse and injustice he'd suffered at the hands of a local police chief -- Kalaia doused himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. He's among hundreds of Tunisians who have turned to the desperate act of self-immolation in the past 10 years, following the example of Mohammed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit seller in the town of Sidi Bouzid who set himself ablaze on Dec. 17, 2010, to protest police harassment. Bouazizi's gruesome death unwittingly unleashed mass demonstrations against poverty and repression, leading to the downfall of Tunisia's dictator of 23 years; that in turn sparked the Arab Spring uprisings and a decade of crackdowns and civil wars across the region. The anniversary of Bouazizi's act is normally marked with a festival of concerts, sports and conferences, but the 10th anniversary was scaled back because of coronavirus concerns.
Model's sheds 'tears of joy'
LE PECQ, France -- A former model who testified to French police that she was drugged and raped as a teenager by an associate of disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein said she wept "tears of joy" Thursday after the modeling agent was taken into custody at Paris' main airport for an array of suspected sex crimes. The French agent, Jean-Luc Brunel, was detained Wednesday at Charles de Gaulle airport and was being held in police custody for questioning, the Paris prosecutors' office said. Prosecutors didn't specify whether Brunel was arriving or departing when he was picked up. French media said he was preparing to fly to Senegal. Dutch former model Thysia Huisman is among women who have accused Brunel of rape and sexual assault, as part of what has become a broad French probe into alleged sexual exploitation of women and girls by Epstein and his circle. Huisman described Brunel's arrest as "such great news. Best Christmas present ever."
300 abducted schoolboys freed
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- More than 300 schoolboys abducted last week by armed men in northwestern Nigeria have been released, the Katsina state governor said. Gov. Aminu Bello Masari made the announcement on Nigerian state TV, NTA. More than 800 students were at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, when it was attacked Dec. 11 by armed men. Hundreds escaped and it was believed there were more than 330 still captive. "At the moment, 344 of the students have been released and handed over to the security operatives. I think we can say at least we have recovered most of the boys, if not all of them," he said. The release came shortly after a video was released by the jihadist rebels of Boko Haram that purportedly showed the abducted boys. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the abduction. In the more than six-minute video seen by Associated Press journalists, the apparent captors tell one boy to repeat their demands that the government call off its search for them by troops and aircraft. A voice can be heard telling the boy, who is clearly under duress, what to say from behind the camera. The youth says they were kidnapped by a gang directed by Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau and some of those abducted from the Government Science Secondary School were killed.
Man jailed for life for weed freed
NEW ORLEANS -- A Louisiana man who was arrested and sentenced to life for selling $20 in marijuana to undercover officers when he was homeless has been freed from prison. Fate Winslow was released from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on Wednesday and was on his way back home after serving 12 years of a life sentence. "I was so happy to get out," Winslow told WWL-TV after his release. "A life sentence for two bags of weed? I never thought something like that could happen." Winslow was sentenced under the state's repeat offender law. His case has garnered attention as the Louisiana wrestles with criminal justice issues and overincarceration. According to the station, Winslow was approached by undercover officers in Shreveport in 2008, and they asked him where they could get some marijuana. Winslow borrowed a bike, went and found some marijuana and came back to give it to the officers who then gave him $5 so he could buy some food, according to his attorneys at the Innocence Project New Orleans. Winslow had already been convicted of three previous non-violent crimes stretching from when he was a 17-year-old to when he was 36, making him susceptible to the state's repeat offender law.
Fire kills 240,000 chickens
DADE CITY, Fla. -- A fire early Thursday killed as many as 240,000 chickens at a Florida farm operated by one of the nation's largest egg producers. Three barns each containing up to 80,000 chickens each caught fire at the plant operated by Mississippi-based Cal-Maine. It was reported about 1 a.m. The company s sells under brands including Egg-Land's Best and Land O' Lakes. The farm, one of many Cal-Maine operates, is about 40 miles north of Tampa. The company has more than 50 million chickens nationally and sells over a billion eggs annually, about 20% of the country's production.
San Diego pauses ban on dining
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County has suspended enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions barring restaurant dining and live entertainment after a judge extended his order protecting two strip clubs from a state shutdown order and indicated the ruling applied more broadly. The scope of the preliminary injunction appeared to extend far beyond the two strip clubs that sued the county and state. If so, it could lift restrictions on thousands of restaurants in the county of more than 3 million people. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil said his ruling applies to "San Diego County businesses with restaurant services," including the strip clubs. The injunction exempts them from shutdowns and "any related orders" that bar live adult entertainment and go beyond protocols "that are no greater than essential" to controlling the spread of COVID-19. The judge noted that before being ordered to close in October the clubs, Pacers Showgirls International and Cheetahs Gentlemen's Club, operated for five weeks during the pandemic under their own safety measures -- including keeping strippers 15 feet from tables, allowing no more than one stripper per stage and requiring them and other employees to wear masks.
Dentist in fraud scheme
MILWAUKEE -- A Wisconsin dentist is accused of damaging his patients' teeth so that he could bill insurance companies for crown procedures. Scott Charmoli, 60, of Grafton, was charged Tuesday in federal court with eight counts of health care fraud and two counts of false statements. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Charmoli is accused of falsely telling patients that they needed crowns and then using his drill to break off parts their teeth during the procedure. Charmoli submitted X-rays and photographs of the chipped teeth to insurance companies to obtain coverage for the crowns. Authorities say Charmoli performed more than $2 million worth of crown procedures between January 2018 and August 2019.
Neighbor challenges Trump move
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- President Donald Trump's expected move to his Mar-a-Lago club after he leaves office next month is being challenged by a lawyer who says a 1990s agreement allowing Trump to convert the Florida property into a business prohibits anyone from living there, including him. Attorney Reginald Stambaugh sent a letter this week to the Town of Palm Beach saying he represents a neighbor who doesn't want the president to take up residence at the 17-acre property because it would decrease the area's property values. He also asserts that a microwave security barrier operated by the Secret Service is harming his client, who he says is exhibiting symptoms of microwave exposure. He did not give the client's name. The president and first lady Melania Trump changed their legal residence from New York City to Palm Beach last year. Stambaugh says that violates the 1993 agreement between Trump and the town that allowed him to turn Mar-a-Lago from a private home into a club that has 10 guest rooms for rent. The agreement says only members can stay overnight and for no more than 21 days per year, divided into three one-week stays that cannot run consecutively. The question is whether Trump is a club member and covered by those rules. Stambaugh believes he is -- and comments Trump's lawyer made in 1993 back that up.
Biden picks leader of EPA
President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday offered the leadership of the Environmental Protection Agency to Michael S. Regan, a North Carolina regulator who has made a name pursuing cleanups of industrial toxins and helping low-income and minority communities hit hardest by pollution. Biden also plans to nominate New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, making her the first Native American to head that agency.
'Unbelievable' snow in Northeast
GLENVILLE, N.Y. -- The Northeast's first whopper snowstorm of the season buried parts of upstate New York under more than 3 feet of snow, broke records in cities and towns across the region, and left plow drivers struggling to clear the roads as snow piled up at more than 4 inches per hour. "It was a very difficult, fast storm and it dropped an unbelievable amount of snow," Tom Coppola, highway superintendent in charge of maintaining 100 miles of roads in the Albany suburb of Glenville, said Thursday. "It's to the point where we're having trouble pushing it with our plows." The storm dropped 30 inches on Glenville between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday, leaving a silent scene of snow-clad trees, buried cars and laden roofs when the sun finally peeked through at noon. "If you do not have to be on the roads, please don't travel," said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who declared a state of emergency for 18 counties. He said there were more than 9,000 power outages, 600 accidents and two fatalities by midmorning Thursday. In Broome County, where the regional center of Binghamton got a record 42 inches of snow, County Executive Jason Garnar said snow fell at a rate of 4 to 5 inches per hour.
6 indicted in kidnap plot
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in what investigators say was a plot by anti-government extremists who were angry over her coronavirus policies. The indictment released Thursday by U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge levied the conspiracy charge against Adam Dean Fox, Barry Gordon Croft Jr., Ty Gerard Garbin, Kaleb James Franks, Daniel Joseph Harris and Brandon Michael-Ray Caserta. They are all from Michigan except for Croft, who lives in Delaware. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Anti-trust lawsuit against Google
DENVER -- Dozens of states filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google on Thursday, alleging the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington by attorneys general of 35 states as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. "Consumers are denied the benefits of competition, including the possibility of higher quality services and better privacy protections. Advertisers are harmed through lower quality and higher prices that are, in turn, passed along to consumers," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in announcing the action.
$20.8M for lax contractor oversight
Home Depot Inc. will pay a $20.8 million fine for failing to ensure that its contractors follow lead paint rules. The civil penalty announced Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency is the largest such penalty to date under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Under the proposed settlement, Home Depot must implement a program to ensure that the firms and contractors it hires to perform home renovations are certified to use lead-safe work practices. The EPA said that while investigating customer complaints about Home Depot renovations, it found the company subcontracted work to firms that did not use lead-safe work practices. It also did not perform required post-renovation cleaning, give EPA pamphlets on lead-based pain to occupants, or maintain records of compliance with the law, the agency said. Residential lead-based paint was banned in 1978 but still remains in many older dwellings. Exposure to lead dust and paint chips can cause health problems including behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, seizures and even death. The U.S. is joined by three states. Of the $20.75 million penalty, Utah will be paid $750,000, Massachusetts will be paid $732,000 and Rhode Island gets $50,000.