Inquirer hit by cyberattack causing largest disruption in decades
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Inquirer experienced the most significant disruption to its operations in 27 years due to what the newspaper calls a cyberattack.
The company was working to restore print operations after a cyber incursion that prevented the printing of the newspaper’s Sunday print edition, the Inquirer reported on its website.
The news operation’s website was still operational Sunday, although updates were slower than normal, the Inquirer reported.
Inquirer publisher Lisa Hughes said Sunday “we are currently unable to provide an exact time line” for full restoration of the paper’s systems.
TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security
BALTIMORE - A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through - all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.
It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.
“What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration of the technology to reporters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The effort comes at a time when the use of various forms of technology to enhance security and streamline procedures is only increasing. TSA says the pilot is voluntary and accurate, but critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out.
NYC skyscrapers turning to carbon capture to lessen climate change
NEW YORK - From the outside, the residential high-rise on Manhattan’s Upper West Side looks pretty much like any other luxury building: A doorman greets visitors in a spacious lobby adorned with tapestry and marble.
Yet just below in the basement is an unusual set of equipment that no other building in New York City - indeed few in the world - can claim. In an effort to drastically reduce the 30-story building’s emissions, the owners have installed a maze of twisting pipes and tanks that collect carbon dioxide from the massive, gas-fired boilers in the basement before it goes to the chimney and is released into the air.
The goal is to stop that climate-warming gas from entering the atmosphere. And there’s a dire need for reducing emissions from skyscrapers like these in such a vertical city. Buildings are by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions here, roughly two-thirds, according to the city buildings department.
New York state’s buildings also emit more air pollution than any other state’s.
So building owners must make dramatic cuts starting next year or face escalating fines under a new city law. About 50,000 structures - more than half the buildings in the city, are subject to Local Law 97. Other cities such as Boston and Denver followed suit with similar rules.
Turkey appears headed for runoff in presidential race
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey’s presidential elections appeared headed for a runoff Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
The vote was being closely watched to see if the strategically located NATO country - which has a coast on the Black Sea to the north, and neighbors Iran, Iraq and Syria to the south - remains under the president’s firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course envisioned by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
While Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to end amid economic turmoil, a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government’s response to a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. Western nations and foreign investors were particularly interested in the outcome because of Erdogan’s unorthodox leadership of the economy and often mercurial but successful efforts to put Turkey at the center of international negotiations, including in Ukraine.
With 99.4% of the domestic votes and 84% of the overseas votes counted, Erdogan had 49.4% of the votes, with Kilicdaroglu, garnering 45%, Ahmet Yener, the head of the Supreme Electoral Board, told reporters. A third candidate, nationalist politician Sinan Ogan received 5.2%.
- Associated Press