https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2lzmygr84o
The makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Claude claim to have caught hackers sponsored by the Chinese government using the tool to perform automated cyber attacks against around 30 global organisations.

Anthropic said hackers tricked the chatbot into carrying out automated tasks under the guise of carrying out cyber security research.

The company claimed in a blog post this was the "first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign".

But sceptics are questioning the accuracy of that claim - and the motive behind it.

Anthropic said it discovered the hacking attempts in mid-September.

Pretending they were legitimate cyber security workers, hackers gave the chatbot small automated tasks which, when strung together, formed a "highly sophisticated espionage campaign".

Researchers at Anthropic said they had "high confidence" the people carrying out the attacks were "a Chinese state-sponsored group".

They said humans chose the targets - large tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies, and government agencies – but the company would not be more specific.

Hackers then built an unspecified programme using Claude's coding assistance to "autonomously compromise a chosen target with little human involvement".

Anthropic claims the chatbot was able to successfully breach various unnamed organisations, extract sensitive data and sort through it for valuable information.

The company said it had since banned the hackers from using the chatbot and had notified affected companies and law enforcement.

But Martin Zugec from cyber firm Bitdefender said the cyber security world had mixed feelings about the news.

"Anthropic's report makes bold, speculative claims but doesn't supply verifiable threat intelligence evidence," he said.

https://gothamist.com/news/after-protestors-block-ice-in-chinatown-immigrant-advocates-pledge-more-resistance

Immigrant advocates urged New Yorkers Sunday to continue resisting federal immigration enforcement — a day after protestors clashed with the NYPD while trying to block ICE from conducting operations in Chinatown.

And they pressed NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to drop charges against people arrested during the altercations. Police said several people were taken into custody after a group blocked the street and multiple exits, and threw debris, but haven’t provided a count or detailed specific charges. Messages to City Hall this weekend haven’t yet been returned.

“We encourage folks not to engage in a way that is violent and in a way that will give them an excuse to come down even harder,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told a gathering at Howard Street and Centre Street Sunday, where a day earlier protesters massed to disrupt an anticipated raid.

The crowd gathered on Saturday obstructed one-way traffic with a pile of garbage to block vehicles from leaving a garage before police erected barricades and ultimately clashed with the group.

“Some people randomly were maced, others were thrown to the ground violently. For what? New York City has been a sanctuary city for decades,” Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition, said at Sunday’s rally. “Every single thing that people love about New York City is because of who makes it.”

https://www.rokna.net/Section-political-23/1183634-effort-to-retrieve-an-unexploded-israeli-missile-from-lebanese-territory

The United States has asked the Lebanese government to return an unexploded GBU-39B missile linked to Israel’s recent strike on Beirut’s southern suburb, a development that has drawn widespread media attention.

A Lebanese media outlet has claimed that one of the missiles used in Israel’s attack on Beirut’s southern suburb did not detonate. It also reported that the United States has requested the Lebanese government to hand the missile back.

According to Rokna, a Lebanese outlet called Al-Markaziya published the report, citing Al-Manar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah.

No other media organization has reported the news.

The outlet wrote that the unexploded missile is of the GBU-39B type.

The Lebanese site Al-Markaziya wrote that Al-Manar television, citing Israeli media, reported that the United States has asked the Lebanese government to return an unexploded GBU-39B missile from the recent attack on Harat Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-threatens-prosecute-senator-mark-kelly-by-recalling-him-navy-service-2025-11-24/
WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after what it described as seditious behavior by the former astronaut and decorated veteran.
Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing and who said in a statement he would not be intimidated, joined five other Democrats in Congress with backgrounds in the U.S. military and intelligence community to urge U.S. troops to refuse any illegal orders.

Kelly's November 18 video message came amid heightened concerns among Democrats, echoed privately by some U.S. military officials, that the Trump administration is violating the law by ordering the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers in strikes on their vessels in Latin American waters.
The Pentagon says those strikes are justified because the drug smugglers are considered terrorists.
The Pentagon statement said it was reviewing "serious allegations of misconduct" against Kelly. While it did not say what charges Kelly could face if it took such an extraordinary step, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted remarks on X accusing Kelly and the other lawmakers of sedition.
"The video made by the 'Seditious Six' was despicable, reckless, and false," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X.
"Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of 'good order and discipline.'"
President Donald Trump has also accused Kelly and the other Democrats of sedition, saying in a social media post that the crime was punishable by death.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, sedition and mutiny are among the most serious offenses and can be punishable by death.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kpm0rvxepo

Donald Trump has said that he will pardon the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of drug trafficking charges in a US court last year.

The US president said Hernández had been "treated very harshly and unfairly" in a social media post announcing the move on Friday.

Hernández was found guilty in March 2024 of conspiring to import cocaine into the US, and of possessing machine guns. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Trump also threw his support behind conservative presidential candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura in the Central American nation's general election, due to be held on Sunday.

Hernández, a member of the National Party, who served as Honduras's president from 2014 to 2022, was extradited to the US in April 2022 to stand trial for running a violent drug trafficking conspiracy and helping to smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine to the US.

During his trial, prosecutors in New York said Hernández ran the Central American country like a "narco-state" and accepted millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers to shield them from the law.

He was also ordered to pay a fine of $8m (£6m) as part of his sentence.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-merchandise-black-friday-deals-b2875040.html

President Donald Trump offered his supporters exclusive Black Friday "deals" on MAGA merchandise - but they appeared to be more expensive than the regular prices listed on his website.

In emails, that went out to his mailing list from November 24, the president touted special deals on items including a Christmas tree ornament of a red MAGA hat; a 2026 MAGA calendar, and wrapping paper decorated with a fist-pumping Trump in a Santa hat.

The emails, first reported by Meidas Touch Network, noted that the president feels “extra thankful” for his supporters and encourages them to “snag” the deals now.

The Black Friday offer email touted the MAGA hat ornament for $37. Yet, on the official Trump Merchandise Store website, the same decoration costs $30. Similarly, a promo for the Trump 2026 calendar boasts of a “new low price” of $32. The same calendar sells for $25 on the official merch site.

Follow-up emails, sent in the days leading up to Black Friday and again on November 29, announced that the offer on both products had been “extended,” though did not say until when.

The White House directed The Independent to the Trump Organization for comment about the president’s merchandise prices.

Supporters were also offered a “new low price” on a festive MAGA hat - featuring the words “Make America Great” with Christmas lights and trees - which was reduced to “just $35” via email. The same hat appears to retail for $28 on the official merchandise store.

A large number of Americans have said they plan to tighten their holiday spending budget this year in the face of widespread economic uncertainty.

Two in five U.S. consumers (42 percent) said they intend to spend less on Christmas shopping than in 2024, according to a recent Economic Impact Survey commissioned by insurance company Nationwide.

Patriarchy wins again! Switzerland rejected calls to treat women like equals, and men will continue being the only sex privileged enough to be enslaved! Feminists are surely devastated!

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/business/swiss-voters-reject/YAEGI2KBHU3GNEKDSXUOTVUMWU/

Swiss voters reject mandatory national service for women and new inheritance tax

GENEVA — Swiss voters on Sunday decisively rejected a call to require women to do national service in the military, civil protection teams or other forms, as men must do already.

In a referendum, over 84% of voters rejected the “citizen service initiative” and none of the country's 26 cantons, or states, came anywhere near voting in favor. Proposals need a majority of both voters and cantons to pass.

A separate proposal to impose a new national tax on individual donations or inheritances of more than 50 million francs ($62 million) was shot down by more than 78% of voters. The revenues were to be used to fight the impact of climate change and help Switzerland meet its ambitions to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-airspace-above-surrounding-venezuela-be-closed-its-entirety-2025-11-29/
Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety.
Trump, in a Truth Social post said: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."
Last week, the U.S. aviation regulator warned major airlines of a "potentially hazardous situation" when flying over Venezuela due to a "worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around" the country.
Venezuela revoked operating rights for six major international airlines that had suspended flights to the country following a warning from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-cancels-biden-orders-signed-autopen/

> Trump says he's canceling all Biden orders that were signed using an autopen

Washington — President Trump said Friday he is canceling all orders signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen, a mechanical device that reproduces signatures.

"Any document signed" by Biden via the use of an autopen "is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally," Mr. Trump said. "Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury."

Biden signed 162 executive orders during his presidency, according to the American Presidency Project. It's unclear how many were signed using an autopen, though it's not unusual for presidents to revoke their predecessor's directives.

Mr. Trump has already rolled back dozens of Biden's executive orders. The president rescinded nearly 70 of Biden's executive orders shortly after he was sworn in on Jan. 20 for his second term and another 19 on March 14, according to the White House.

Mr. Trump previously ordered an investigation into the Biden White House's use of the autopen to sign presidential documents like pardons, claiming there was a "conspiracy" to "abuse the power of presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden's cognitive decline."

In a July statement, Biden called Mr. Trump's claims "nothing more than distraction."