Funds vanish at bankrupt crypto exchange FTX; probe underway
Collapsed cryptocurrency trading firm FTX is confirming there was unauthorized access to its accounts just hours after the company filed for bankruptcy protection. The embattled company’s new CEO John Ray III said Saturday that FTX is switching off the ability to trade or withdraw funds and taking steps to secure customers’ assets. Analytics firm Elliptic estimates $477 million was missing from the exchange. A debate formed on social media about whether the exchange was hacked or a company insider had stolen funds. That’s a possibility that cryptocurrency analysts couldn’t rule out.
Internal documents show how close the FBI came to deploying spyware
Dozens of internal FBI documents, produced in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by The New York Times, show that FBI officials made a push in late 2020 and the first half of 2021 to deploy Pegasus, hacking tools made by the Israeli spyware firm NSO, in its own criminal investigations. The officials developed advanced plans to brief the bureau’s leadership and drew up guidelines for federal prosecutors. It is unclear how the bureau was contemplating using Pegasus, but the FBI eventually decided not to deploy the tool in criminal investigations in July 2021.
Two historic aircraft collide at Veterans Day show in Dallas
Two historic aircraft have collided at an air show in Dallas. It was unclear how many people were on board the aircraft. Emergency crews were responding to the scene at the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show at the Dallas Executive Airport. The FAA says a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed around 1:20 p.m. Saturday. Several videos posted on Twitter showed two aircraft appearing to collide in the air before they both quickly crashed, causing a large fire and plumes of black smoke to billow into the sky. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were launching investigations.
Ukrainian police, TV broadcasts return to long-occupied city
Authorities say Ukrainian police officers and TV and radio broadcasts are returning to the southern city of Kherson following the withdrawal of Russian troops. The chief of the National Police of Ukraine said 200 officers were at work in the city, setting up checkpoints and documenting evidence of possible war crimes. He says police teams also were working to identify and neutralize unexploded ordnance, and one sapper was injured. Ukraine’s communications watchdog said national TV and radio broadcasts had resumed. Yet an adviser to Kherson’s mayor described the situation in the city after more than eight months of Russian occupation as “a humanitarian catastrophe.” He said residents desperately needed water, medicine and food.
Computer chip ban signals new era as Biden and Xi meet
The Biden administration’s recent move to block exports of advanced computer chips to China signals a new phase in relations between the globe’s two largest economies. Trade matters less than an increasingly heated competition to be the world’s leading technological and military power. The export ban helps set the tone for President Joe Biden’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Asia. Both leaders are likely to touch on the export ban, which Chinese officials were quick to condemn.
Iranian who inspired ‘The Terminal’ dies at Paris airport
French officials say an Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and loosely inspired the Steven Spielberg film “The Terminal” has died in the airport. Mehran Karimi Nasseri died Saturday after a heart attack in the airport’s Terminal 2F. That’s according to official with the Paris airport authority, who said police and then a medical team treated him but were not able to save him. Karimi Nasseri, believed to have been born in 1945, lived in the airport’s Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, first in legal limbo because he lacked residency papers and later by choice, according to French media. The airport official said Karimi Nasseri had been living in the airport again in recent weeks.
Yellen calls for ‘stabilizing’ US relations with China before G-20
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Saturday called for stabilizing the United States’ relationship with China and reopening regular lines of communication between the world’s two largest economies before a global gathering next week where their leaders are expected to meet. “I think stabilizing the relationship and trying to get it on a better footing while recognizing that we have a whole range of concerns, and we would like to address those,” Yellen told The New York Times Saturday when asked how the relationship could be improved. Yellen’s comments came as she prepared to meet with Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China.
Police: No powder found in envelopes in candidate’s office
Police say no powder was in two suspicious unopened envelopes found at the Phoenix campaign headquarters of the Republican candidate for Arizona governor. The Kari Lake campaign said Saturday that an additional envelope containing a white powdery substance was earlier tossed into the trash by a staffer who did not notify security before it was emptied. Phoenix emergency officials say they were called to the building last weekend on a report of an envelope containing suspicious powder. The gubernatorial race between Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs remained too early to call as of Saturday morning.
By wire sources
