Nation & World Glance
AP finds hackers hijacked at least 195 Trump web addresses
WASHINGTON — Four years ago, well before the furor over allegations Moscow meddled in the 2016 election that put Donald Trump in the White House, at least 195 web addresses belonging to Trump, his family or his business empire were hijacked by hackers possibly operating out of Russia, The Associated Press has learned.
The Trump Organization denied the domain names were ever compromised. But a review of internet records by the AP and cybersecurity experts shows otherwise. And it was not until this past week, after the Trump camp was asked about it by the AP, that the last of the tampered-with addresses were repaired.
After the hack, computer users who visited the Trump-related addresses were unwittingly redirected to servers in St. Petersburg, Russia, that cybersecurity experts said contained malicious software commonly used to steal passwords or hold files for ransom. Whether anyone fell victim to such tactics is unclear.
A further mystery is who the hackers were and why they did it.
The discovery represents a new twist in the Russian hacking story, which up to now has focused mostly on what U.S. intelligence officials say was a campaign by the Kremlin to try to undermine Democrat Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and benefit Trump’s.
Lebanese premier resigns, plunging nation into uncertainty
BEIRUT — Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri resigned from his post in a televised address from the Saudi capital Saturday, accusing Hezbollah of taking the country hostage, in a surprise move that plunged the nation into uncertainty amid heightened regional tensions.
In his resignation speech, Hariri fired a vicious tirade against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah group for what he said was their meddling in Arab affairs and said that “Iran’s arms in the region will be cut off.”
“The evil that Iran spreads in the region will backfire on it,” Hariri said, accusing Tehran of spreading chaos, strife and destruction throughout the region.
Hariri was appointed prime minister in late 2016 and headed a 30-member coalition government that included members of the Shiite militant Hezbollah. But it’s been an uneasy partnership between Hariri, who heads a Sunni-led camp loyal to Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah, which represents a camp loyal to Shiite Iran.
Typhoon kills 27, leaves 22 missing along Vietnam coast
HANOI, Vietnam — A powerful typhoon battering Vietnam has killed at least 27 people and left 22 others missing amid extensive damage along the south-central coast, officials said Sunday.
The missing include 17 crew members of cargo ships that were sunk off the coast of the central province of Binh Dinh, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. Seventy-four other crew members were rescued earlier. More than 600 houses have been destroyed and nearly 40,000 others damaged as Typhoon Damrey caused widespread blackouts across the region, the disaster agency said.
Heavy rains are expected to last until Tuesday including in the central resort city of Danang, just days before the start an economic summit attended by Presidents Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, among others.
Police: Sen. Paul suffers minor injury in assault at home
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A man has been arrested and charged with assaulting and injuring U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, authorities said Saturday.
Kentucky State Police said in a news release that Paul suffered a minor injury when 59-year-old Rene Boucher assaulted him at his Warren County home on Friday afternoon.
The release did not provide details of the assault or the nature of Paul’s injury. In a statement, Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper said the Republican senator is “fine.” The statement said Paul was “blindsided” by the assault but she did not provide further details.
Boucher, of Bowling Green, is charged with fourth-degree assault with a minor injury, a misdemeanor. He is being held at Warren County’s jail on $5,000 bond.
Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Jeremy Hodges said he could not release details of the assault because of security issues. Hodges did say that Boucher is an acquaintance of Paul, an ophthalmologist who was elected to the Senate in 2010. It was not immediately clear how they knew each other.
Snow, rain in California, but fire areas are dry
KINGVALE, Calif. — Snow fell Saturday in the Sierra Nevada and rain hit the far north as a storm swept through California. But the fire-ravaged wine country remained dry despite fears of mudslides.
Santa Rosa received only about a fifth of an inch of rain from Friday night into Saturday morning. Not much more rain was forecast as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska crept its way through the state over the weekend.
In Sonoma County north of San Francisco, crews worked long days to prepare for the expected rain. They set up straw barriers to keep runoff from entering streams and removed debris to prevent mudslides in areas where fires last month killed at least 43 people and reduced entire neighborhoods to ash.
California has declared a public-health emergency in fire areas, partly out of concern that household chemicals leaching from some 9,000 burned homes and buildings could contaminate soil and water. Elsewhere, downtown San Francisco received less than a tenth of an inch of rain over 24 hours while mountain towns in the far north received 1½ to nearly 4 inches.
The Sierra Nevada, which stretches 400 miles up and down California, received 2 to 6 inches of snow with up to 2 feet expected — a welcome gift for ski resorts preparing to open for the season in the next week or two.
The Sugar Bowl resort along the Donner Pass recorded 6 inches of snow, and it was still falling.
Sprint, T-Mobile end merger talks
NEW YORK — Wireless carriers Sprint and T-Mobile called off a potential merger, saying the companies couldn’t come to an agreement that would benefit customers and shareholders.
The two companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years, and were again in the news in recent weeks with talks of the two companies coming together after all. But in a joint statement Saturday, Sprint and T-Mobile said they are calling off merger negotiations for the foreseeable future. T-Mobile and Sprint are the U.S.’ third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers, respectively, but they are significantly smaller than AT&T and Verizon, who effectively have a duopoly over U.S. wireless service.