Mcallen

Democrats seize on U.S. Supreme Court election deadlock in Barrett fight

The Supreme Court's deadlock this week in a key election case illustrates the power President Donald Trump's nominee Amy Coney Barrett could wield and reveals why Republicans are hurrying to install her as a justice, Democrats said on Wednesday in their latest pitch to block her U.S. Senate confirmation. Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the four other conservative justices and joined with the court's three liberals on Monday in denying a request by Republicans seeking to block a state court's ruling that extended the deadline for the delivery of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania by three days.

In emails, Sacklers fret over wealth, opioid business

On May 17, 2007, Jonathan Sackler, who has since passed away, emailed relatives and a financial advisor, triggering an anxious discussion, according to settlement documents U.S. prosecutors disclosed on Wednesday. Between 2008 and 2019, Purdue transferred more than $10 billion, including roughly $4 billion in cash to Sackler-controlled entities, according to filings. Family members on Wednesday said the transfers were proper and that documents scheduled to be released in the future would support that claim.

There was a frozen rat and a baseball bat. That was a recipe for trouble, Keys police say

A Florida Keys man attacked his roommate with a baseball bat after finding a dead rat in their freezer, police said.

Ecuador signs COVID-19 vaccine supply deals with pharma companies

Ecuador has signed supply agreements with major pharmaceutical firms including Pfizer Inc and BioNTech to provide millions of COVID-19 vaccines, the health minister said on Wednesday, adding it is seeking talks with Chinese laboratories for more supplies. The Andean country, facing an economic downturn exacerbated by the pandemic, has obtained funds through the Inter-American Development Bank to finance access to the COVAX vaccine, which is being led by the World Health Organization, Carlos Zevallos said.

Purdue Pharma agrees to plead guilty over OxyContin marketing

Purdue Pharma could pay up to $8 billion in the settlement related to the opioid crisis.

Army: Slain Texas soldier's family entitled to compensation

The family of a Texas soldier whose on-base killing sparked calls in Congress for changes in the way the military handles sexual abuse and harassment is entitled to benefits, including compensation, because her death happened “in the line of duty,” U.S. Army officials announced. Vanessa Guillén, 20, was conducting her assigned duties at Fort Hood when a fellow soldier killed her in April, according to results of a report the Army announced Tuesday. Guillén was listed as missing for six weeks before her remains were found in July.

Aggressive pet monkey won’t stop attacking neighbors in small Tennessee town, cops say

One victim said the monkey ambushed her in the driveway and tried to bite her

Purdue Pharma to plead guilty in $8bn opioid settlement

The deal with the US Department of Justice settles some of the most serious claims against the OxyContin-maker.

James Dale Reed: Baltimore man charged with threatening to kidnap Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

A Baltimore man has been charged by the US Secret Service after he threatened to kidnap Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. James Dale Reed, 42, allegedly wrote a letter in which he threatens to beat "Grandpa Biden," to rape Ms Harris, and to target supporters of the Democrats with violence. Mr Reed was caught on a home security camera delivering the letter to a home in the middle of the night.

Police in all 50 states are using secret tools to break into locked phones — and they're using them for cases as low-level as shoplifting, records show

Once they break into someone's phones, police can extract their photos, text messages, contacts, and web browsing history.

The Police Can Probably Break Into Your iPhone

In a new Apple ad, a man on a city bus announces he has just shopped for divorce lawyers. Then a woman recites her credit card number through a megaphone in a park."Some things shouldn't be shared," the ad says, "iPhone helps keep it that way."Apple has built complex encryption into iPhones and made the devices' security central to its marketing pitch.That, in turn, has angered law enforcement. Officials from the FBI director to rural sheriffs have argued that encrypted phones stifle their work to catch and convict dangerous criminals. They have tried to force Apple and Google to unlock suspects' phones, but the companies say they can't. In response, authorities have put their own marketing spin on the problem. Law enforcement, they say, is "going dark."Yet new data reveals a twist to the encryption debate that undercuts both sides: Law enforcement officials across the nation regularly break into encrypted smartphones.That is because at least 2,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states now have tools to get into locked, encrypted phones and extract their data, according to years of public records collected in a report by Upturn, a Washington nonprofit that investigates how the police use technology.At least 49 of the 50 largest U.S. police departments have the tools, according to the records, as do the police and sheriffs in small towns and counties across the country, including Buckeye, Arizona; Shaker Heights, Ohio; and Walla Walla, Washington. And local law enforcement agencies that don't have such tools can often send a locked phone to a state or federal crime lab that does.With more tools in their arsenal, authorities have used them in an increasing range of cases, from homicides and rapes to drugs and shoplifting, according to the records, which were reviewed by The New York Times. Upturn researchers said the records suggested that U.S. authorities had searched hundreds of thousands of phones over the past five years.While the existence of such tools has been known for some time, the records show that authorities break into phones far more than previously understood -- and that smartphones, with their vast troves of personal data, are not as impenetrable as Apple and Google have advertised. While many in law enforcement have argued that smartphones are often a roadblock to investigations, the findings indicate that they are instead one of the most important tools for prosecutions."Law enforcement at all levels has access to technology that it can use to unlock phones," said Jennifer Granick, a cybersecurity lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union. "That is not what we've been told."Still, for law enforcement, phone-hacking tools are not a panacea to encryption. The process can be expensive and time consuming, sometimes costing thousands of dollars and requiring weeks or more. And in some cases, the tools don't work at all."We may unlock it in a week, we may not unlock it for two years, or we may never unlock it," Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, testified to Congress in December. "Murder, rape, robberies, sexual assault. I do not mean to be dramatic, but there are many, many serious cases where we can't access the device in the time period where it is most important for us."Along with officials at the Justice Department, Vance has complained for years that smartphone encryption by Apple and Google has hamstrung investigations. His crime lab has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on phone-hacking tools, he told lawmakers, yet remains locked out of roughly half of the iPhones it has warrants to search, or about 300 to 400 a year.Law enforcement regularly searches phones with owners' consent, according to the records. Otherwise, a warrant is required.An Apple spokesman said in an email that the company was constantly strengthening iPhone security "to help customers defend against criminals, hackers and identity thieves." But, he added, no device can be truly impenetrable.Google, which also offers encryption on its Android smartphone software, did not respond to a request for comment.The companies frequently turn over data to the police that customers store on the companies' servers. But all iPhones and many newer Android phones now come encrypted -- a layer of security that generally requires a customer's passcode to defeat. Apple and Google have refused to create a way in for law enforcement, arguing that criminals and authoritarian governments would exploit such a "back door."The dispute flared up after the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, in 2015 and in Pensacola, Florida, last year. The FBI couldn't get into the killers' iPhones, and Apple refused to help. But both spats quickly sputtered after the bureau broke into the phones.Phone-hacking tools "have served as a kind of a safety valve for the encryption debate," said Riana Pfefferkorn, a Stanford University researcher who studies encryption policy.Yet the police have continued to demand an easier way in."Instead of saying, 'We are unable to get into devices,' they now say, 'We are unable to get into these devices expeditiously,'" Pfefferkorn said.Congress is considering legislation that would effectively force Apple and Google to create a back door for law enforcement. The bill, proposed in June by three Republican senators, remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but lobbyists on both sides believe another test case could prompt action.Phone-hacking tools typically exploit security flaws to remove a phone's limit on passcode attempts and then enter passcodes until the phone unlocks. Because of all the possible combinations, a six-digit iPhone passcode takes on average about 11 hours to guess, while a 10-digit code takes 12.5 years.The tools mostly come from Grayshift, an Atlanta company co-founded by a former Apple engineer, and Cellebrite, an Israeli unit of Japan's Sun Corp. Their flagship tools cost roughly $9,000 to $18,000, plus $3,500 to $15,000 in annual licensing fees, according to invoices obtained by Upturn.The police can send the trickiest phones to crack, such as the latest iPhones, to Cellebrite, which will unlock them for about $2,000 a device, according to invoices. Law enforcement can also buy a similar premium tool from Cellebrite. The Dallas Police Department spent $150,000 on one, according to the records.David Miles, Grayshift's chief executive, said in an email that its products can help the police get into some iPhones in one day and that they have helped law enforcement "solve crimes faster in many areas, including child abuse, narcotics, human trafficking, sexual assault, homicide and terrorism." He confirmed that Grayshift's flagship tool costs $18,000 but declined to comment further on prices or customers.Cellebrite said in a statement that it sold a range of products to law enforcement, and that it now had more than 7,000 customers in 150 countries."We have experienced double-digit growth for the last few years, and we expect that trend to continue," the company said. "As long as criminals increasingly turn to technology, there will be a need for law enforcement to stay one step ahead of them."Records obtained by Upturn show that law enforcement agencies have spent tens of millions of dollars on such tools in recent years. Andrea Edmiston, director of government affairs at the National Association of Police Organizations, said such prices had created a divide in the justice system, where officers in metro police departments can afford to search phones while rural sheriffs cannot. Money spent on such tools also can take funds away from other needs, she said.Yet the Upturn data shows that police departments in many smaller communities have invested in phone-hacking tools. For instance, officials in Bend, Oregon, population 100,000, have spent more than $62,761 on the technology since 2017. And the police department in Merrill, Wisconsin, population 9,000, with just 10 vehicles and two bicycles, has spent $32,706 on the tools since 2013, although it has divided the cost with two nearby agencies.With the proliferation of such tools, law enforcement has also sought to search phones for minor crimes. For instance, Upturn obtained warrants that authorized police to search phones related to a case involving $220 worth of marijuana in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as an investigation into a fight over $70 at a McDonald's in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. At the Baltimore County Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol, a majority of warrants for phone searches that Upturn obtained involved drug investigations.Logan Koepke, the lead author of the Upturn report, said the findings worried him because they showed that many police departments could gain entry to highly personal and private data, with little oversight or transparency. (Upturn is suing the New York Police Department for its records on phone searches.)Koepke's group asked 110 of the largest U.S. law enforcement agencies for their policies on using such tools and handling the data they extract from smartphones. Only half of those that replied said they had a policy, he said, and of those, just nine policies included substantive restrictions."They're getting a window into your soul; it's all of your contacts, your text messages, your entire location history, potentially embarrassing pictures, your account credentials," he said. "We are placing in the hands of law enforcement something that I think is a dangerous expansion of their investigatory power."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Borat bounces back just ahead of U.S. elections

In 2006, he shocked the world with his scathing cultural satire of the United States in "Borat." Now British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is back with a mockumentary sequel that is garnering mixed reviews two weeks ahead of the U.S. elections. "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," available on Amazon Prime from Friday, sees Baron Cohen back in character as racist, sexist Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev who once again travels to America.

Sheriff’s patrol truck stolen while he was doing radio interview, Michigan police say

“Lock your vehicles,” the sheriff’s office said.

How social media companies will handle post-U.S. election scenarios

The companies, which have been criticized by social media researchers and lawmakers over the enforcement of their content policies, have laid out plans for how they will handle candidates claiming victory before results are certified or calls for election-related violence. If candidates or campaigns make premature victory claims, Facebook said it will add labels to the content and show notifications in news feeds with information about the state of the race.

'We are the ones your children have nightmares about': A Maryland man has been charged with threatening to kidnap and kill Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

"We are the ones with those scary guns," James Dale Reed wrote in a note left outside a house with Biden-Harris campaign signs in the front yard.

As U.S. election odds narrow, market analysts factor in higher risks

A higher risk of a split U.S. Congress and a contested election is being factored into some market analysts' models after some odds on the Presidential election have shown a narrowing. European betting exchange Paddypower said on Wednesday that while Biden was clearly "odds-on" to win, over the last few days "punters have started backing Trump again." According to Real Clear Politics' presidential election results betting odds from Sept. 30 through Oct. 12, the probability of a Biden win increased, but have more recently slipped.

France beheading: Two teenage pupils among seven being investigated for suspected complicity in murder

Two schoolchildren are among seven people who will appear before a judge to face possible charges over the beheading of a teacher who showed his class cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday. The announcement came hours before the nation paid tribute to Samuel Paty, who was decapitated outside his school on Friday, in a solemn ceremony at the Sorbonne University. Emmanuel Macron, the president, awarded him the Légion d’honneur posthumously. We will not give up cartoons," Mr Macron told the ceremony, attended by the family of the murdered teacher. Mr Macron said Paty was killed "because he incarnated the Republic." He added: "He was killed because Islamists want our future... they will never have it." The killing has stunned France and prompted a clampdown on Islamist militants. A Paris mosque has been closed for six months and a group that supported the Palestinian group Hamas has been banned.

Activists arrested after pro-Trump billboard is vandalized in North Carolina, cops say

New Hanover County GOP, which pays for the billboard, called the vandalism “an attack on First Amendment liberties.”

AstraZeneca vaccine trial would have stopped if deceased volunteer part of active arm - source

The Brazilian trial of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca would have been suspended if the volunteer who died had been part of the active arm, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Man arrested for letter threatening to kill Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, officials say

“If you are a Biden/Harris supporter you will be targeted,” the letter reads.

Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting says it's "not a race thing"

"This is not us hunting somebody down, not kneeling on a neck. This is nothing like that," Jonathan Mattingly said.

U.S. to seek Trump's exit from rape accuser's defamation lawsuit

A U.S. judge on Wednesday will consider whether to excuse President Donald Trump from a defamation lawsuit by a writer who accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store a quarter century ago and then falsely denying it happened. In an afternoon hearing, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan is expected to weigh a request by E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, to stop Attorney General William Barr's effort to intervene on Trump's behalf. The Department of Justice has argued that Trump acted in his official capacity when denying Carroll's claims because they were matters that interested the public or his constituents, and therefore could not be sued personally for defamation.

Rome imposes nightly curfew to curb Covid infections, following Milan's lead

Italy's Lazio region, including the capital Rome, is set to introduce a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. to try to curb its surging COVID-19 infections, a regional government source told Reuters on Wednesday. On Wednesday Italy reported 15,199 new coronavirus infections, its highest ever daily figure, of which 1,219 were recorded in Lazio.

Oxford's Brazil vaccine trial to continue after volunteer dies: university

The University of Oxford's Brazilian trial of its vaccine candidate will continue after the death of a volunteer, the university said on Wednesday, adding an independent review had revealed no safety concerns. "Following careful assessment of this case in Brazil, there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial and the independent review in addition to the Brazilian regulator have recommended that the trial should continue," a spokesman for the university said in a statement.

Miami attorney arrested as Coral Gables and Aventura bank robbery suspect

A Miami attorney was called a “serial bank robber” by the FBI, which believes he robbed five banks since Sept. 30 before his Tuesday night arrest.

Maryland man charged for leaving letter threatening Biden and Harris

The man was caught on a Ring door camera leaving the note threatening to kill Biden and Harris at a Maryland house.

Officials find Trump Tower dangler after he jumped out of ambulance transporting him, Chicago police say

CHICAGO - The man who dangled from Trump Tower for more than 13 hours from Sunday into Monday then jumped out of a private ambulance taking him to another hospital was later found after a missing person's report was made, according to Chicago police. The man, 31, was being taken from Northwestern Memorial Hospital about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday just west of State Street on Washington Street in the ...

Maryland man charged with threatening Biden, Harris in letter on supporter's doorstep

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged a Maryland man with threatening Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris in a letter left on the doorstep of a someone with a yard sign supporting their campaign. James Dale Reed, 42, of Frederick, is accused of leaving the handwritten letter that issued a warning to supporters of the Democratic candidates. "We are the ones with those scary guns, We are the ones your children have nightmares about ... When We capture Grandpa Biden We will all severely beat him to the point of death."

Greece reports new peak in COVID-19 cases

Greece on Wednesday reported 865 new cases of COVID-19, a new peak since an outbreak in late February, and authorities announced a regional lockdown of a northern district. Authorities declared the northern region of Kastoria on an elevated risk, the highest of a 4-tier risk assessment. Restrictions would be imposed from Oct. 23, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said.

Punk lives again as The Damned reform for 2021 tour

The group on Wednesday announced a four-date UK tour including shows in London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester, which will mark 45 years since the band's formation. "We do think our audience would like to see the original line-up playing the records that they used to," drummer Rat Scabies, whose real name is Christopher John Millar, told Reuters. The band was founded in London in 1976 by Scabies, guitarist Brian James (Brian Robertson), lead vocalist Dave Vanian (David Lett) and bassist Captain Sensible (Raymond Ian Burns).

Trump's reported Chinese bank account raises security concerns Pelosi

U.S. President Donald Trump's bank account in China raises serious national security concerns, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday following a New York Times report revealing the previously undisclosed account. Pelosi cited the Chinese government's ties to its financial industry and said Trump's banking there risked his exposure and opened him up to vulnerabilities. The Times, which has obtained Trump's tax records, late Tuesday reported that the documents show the president maintains a previously undisclosed bank account in China, one of only three foreign nations where he holds accounts along with Britain and Ireland.

Renewable energy giant to buy New Mexico's largest utility

The parent company of New Mexico’s largest electric utility will become part of energy giant Iberdrola’s global holdings under a multibillion-dollar merger. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Iberdrola's majority-owned U.S. subsidiary Avangrid will acquire PNM Resources and its assets in New Mexico and Texas. Officials say the transaction is part of Iberdrola’s strategy for investing in regions where regulations related to renewable energy are stable and offer opportunities for growth.

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi expects Democrats to increase House majority in November: MSNBC interview

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she expects Democrats to increase their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nov. 3 elections. "I know we will increase our numbers in the House," Pelosi said.

Fastest food: The Thai street cooks who get to protests first

Thai street food sellers have earned the nickname "CIA" for the intelligence that helps them reach protests not only before police, but before many protesters too. Selling everything from fishballs and fried chicken to dimsum and coconut ice cream their business is booming as tens of thousands of people take to the streets in protests against the government and the monarchy. By the time most protesters show up, the first hawkers are there with mobile food carts.

OxyContin drugmaker Purdue Pharma pleads guilty to federal criminal charges

Sackler family members agreed to pay $225 million to resolve civil fines.

'This is not kneeling on a neck': Breonna Taylor raid officer compares shooting to George Floyd's death

“This is not relatable to George Floyd. This is nothing like that," Louisville Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly said of the police raid that resulted in Taylor's shooting death.

Analysis: Biden presidency could cut slow path to resumed Iran, Venezuela oil exports

Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Joe Biden's promised return to diplomacy with OPEC-members Iran and Venezuela could cut a path for a return of their oil exports should he win, but not before many months at least of verifications, talks and deal-making. The timing of a potential resumption of shipments is crucial to world oil markets: U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral sanctions on the two countries since taking office in 2017 have blocked up to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of world supply. Iran has taken the biggest hit, with exports shrinking by around 2 million bpd to around 500,000 bpd.

San Francisco officials let people sue over racist 911 calls

“I really want to emphasize that 911 is not a customer service line for someone’s racist behavior,” Supervisor Shamann Walton said.

U.S. FDA panel to discuss COVID-19 vaccine trials after emergency authorization

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) experts will also discuss on Thursday the criteria for allowing emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine and plans to monitor its safety after a regulatory go-ahead. "Emergency use authorization will be granted to a vaccine that shows a very good safety profile and efficacy at or around 60% better than placebo, but I don't think the vaccine trials right now are being run very scientifically," said Jared Holz, healthcare strategist for brokerage Jefferies.

Spanish judge accidentally releases fugitive 'senior Italian mafia member' after two-year manhunt

A judge in Spain has allowed an alleged leading member of the ’Ndrangheta mafia organisation to walk free after failing to realise that the arrested man was a most-wanted suspect in his native Italy. Vittorio Raso was arrested in Barcelona earlier this month after a two-year police operation to track him down following a tip from the Italian authorities. On October 12 the Spanish police released a statement to mark the arrest of Raso, describing him as a ‘vangelo’, a high rank in the ’Ndrangheta hierarchy, wanted in Italy on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organisation, drug trafficking and extortion. The next day, however, Raso appeared via video-link before a judge from Madrid’s National Court, specialised in organised crime, and was not remanded in custody pending the ongoing judicial investigation, apparently because the judge was aware only of the accusation of extortion. Two hours later a dossier of additional information arrived from Italy, describing in detail Raso’s alleged criminal career as a leading member of the ’Ndrangheta organisation. By that time, however, the 41-year-old had left his police holding cell in Barcelona. The National Court reacted and put out a fresh arrest warrant for Raso, but the suspect was not to be found in his apartment in Barcelona or other regular haunts used by his associates in the city. Police sources told the El País newspaper that they had included a four-page report in the file on Raso for the judge’s consideration, detailing his allegedly violent extortion activities, drug trafficking and the suspicion that he was a leading member of the ’Ndrangheta. “Everyone is looking for him. The homes where he was known to have stayed have been searched, but there is no trace of him,” one police source said. Raso, who was first traced by Spanish police to Málaga before moving to Barcelona, was suspected of planning to take a boat to Brazil using a fake identity, such as the one he was allegedly carrying when arrested. Raso remains a wanted man in Spain over payments on loans taken out by victims from the criminal group, which came with monthly interest rates of 10 per cent. Raso is accused of enforcing repayment of the loans by using violent means, as well as trafficking cannabis between Spain and Italy.

David Starkey: Police end investigation into interview with Darren Grimes

Historian Dr David Starkey gave a controversial YouTube interview about slavery to Darren Grimes.

OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma to pay $8.3 billion settlement for its role in opioid crisis

The Department of Justice and Purdue Pharma have reached an $8.3 billion settlement regarding the OxyContin maker's role in the opioid crisis, the DOJ announced during a Wednesday press conference. In addition, Purdue will plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating federal anti-kickback laws, The Associated Press reports.Purdue will plead guilty to offering doctors kickback payments if they wrote more prescriptions for Purdue's painkillers, as well as using health record software to push for those prescriptions. The company will also have to admit it held up Drug Enforcement Administration investigations into the company as part of the settlement. It will forfeit at least $2 billion to the federal government, pay at least a $3.54 billion criminal fine, and fork over $2.8 billion in damages, among other charges. Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, preventing it from paying the criminal fine right away.The settlement doesn't absolve Purdue's owners and executives from criminal liability, as a criminal investigation into them and the company is still ongoing. It will turn Purdue into a public benefit company managed by a trust and remove its owners, the Sackler family, of any involvement. The company also still has to deal with thousands of claims from local and state officials over the opioid epidemic as they dealt with more than 450,000 overdose deaths in the past 20 years. Purdue has suggested paying $10 billion to settle them all.More stories from theweek.com The left embraces rigging democracy The greatest risk for a Biden administration A new constitution? Be careful what you wish for.