Monthly Archives: <span>October 2020</span>

Spy Agency Ducks Questions About ‘Back Doors’ in Tech Products

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. National Security Agency is rebuffing efforts by a leading Congressional critic to determine whether it is continuing to place so-called back doors into commercial technology products, in a controversial practice that critics say damages both …

Zeta Threatens to Hit New Orleans With Powerful Wind, Floods

Hurricane Zeta is strengthening as it whirls across the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to slam the Louisiana coast south of New Orleans tonight with 90-mile-per-hour winds, massive power outages and floods. It’s expected to come ashore about 7 p.m. local …

Utility Says its Equipment May Have Sparked California Blaze

LOS ANGELES — Southern California Edison said its equipment may have sparked a fast-moving wildfire that forced evacuation orders for some 100,000 people and seriously injured two firefighters on Monday as powerful winds across the state prompted power to be …

Defamation Costs Allstate $4M, Even After Court Erases Wrongful Termination Verdict

Allstate Insurance Co. was within its rights to fire Michael A. Tilkey from his $200,000-a-year job as a broker after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a California appellate court ruled Monday. On the other hand, the carrier’s decision to …

Arctic Headache for Ship Insurers as Routes Open Up

LONDON — When Captain Will Whatley guides a ship through Arctic waters, he is starkly aware of what can go wrong. Double the manpower is needed to navigate. Lookout shifts are kept to just one hour, so sailors don’t lose …

Election Could Stoke US Marijuana Market, Sway Congress

Voters in four states from different regions of the country could embrace broad legal marijuana sales on Election Day, and a sweep would highlight how public acceptance of cannabis is cutting across geography, demographics and the nation’s deep political divide. …

Big Power Shutoffs in California as Winds Boost Fire Danger

SAN FRANCISCO — Large swaths of California had no electricity Monday as utilities tried to prevent the chance of their equipment sparking wildfires while the fire-weary state was buffeted by powerful winds and dangerously dry weather conditions. About 300,000 power …

Snow, Cold Weather Puts Damper on Colorado Wildfire

DENVER — Snow and cold weather on Sunday put a damper on a wildfire that has forced thousands of people to evacuate in northern Colorado and burned part of Rocky Mountain National Park, but fire officials warned it would not …

Finland Shocked by Therapy Center Hacking, Client Blackmail

HELSINKI — Finland’s interior minister summoned key Cabinet members into an emergency meeting Sunday after hundreds _ and possibly thousands _ of patient records at a private Finnish psychotherapy center were accessed by a hacker or hackers now demanding ransoms. …

Failure to Report Contamination Site Labeled an ‘Oversight’

MADISON, Wis. — A 2015 report identified hazardous substances on the site of the Sheboygan Municipal Armory near Lake Michigan, but contamination was only recently reported to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at the request of state environmental regulators. …