Car plows into Los Angeles nightclub crowd, injuring 30
The suspect was "undergoing surgery" and in stable condition, Lillian Carranza from the Los Angeles Police Department said.
"He is not free to leave, he is in the custody of Los Angeles Police Department," Carranza told local news station KCAL, adding that police were looking into charges including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
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Japan Times
19 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump was told he is in Epstein files, Wall Street Journal reports
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The disclosure about Trump's appearance in the Justice Department's records on the case threatened to deepen a political crisis that has engulfed his administration for weeks. Some Trump supporters for years have fanned conspiracy theories about Epstein's clients and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison. The White House sent mixed signals following the story. It released an initial statement characterizing it as "fake news," but a White House official later said the administration was not denying that Trump's name appears in some files, noting that Trump was already included in a tranche of materials Bondi assembled in February for conservative influencers. Trump, who was friendly with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, appears multiple times on flight logs for Epstein's private plane in the 1990s. Trump and several members of his family also appear in an Epstein contact book, alongside hundreds of others. Much of that material had been publicly released in the criminal case against Epstein's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after her conviction for child sex trafficking and other crimes. During her trial, Epstein's longtime pilot testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Trump has denied being on the plane. The Journal's report could not be immediately verified. Trump has faced intense backlash from his own supporters after his administration said it would not release the files, reversing a campaign promise. The Justice Department said in a memo earlier this month that there was no basis to continue probing the Epstein case, sparking anger among some prominent Trump supporters who demanded more information about wealthy and powerful people who had interacted with Epstein. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein and has said their friendship ended before Epstein's legal troubles first began two decades ago. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a statement that did not directly address the Journal's report. "Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts," the officials said. "As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings." Many named appeared The newspaper reported that Bondi and her deputy told Trump at a White House meeting that his name, as well as those of "many other high-profile figures," appeared in the files. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, to which he had pleaded not guilty. In a separate case, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a prostitution charge in Florida and received a 13-month sentence in what is now widely regarded as too lenient a deal with prosecutors. Under political pressure last week, Trump directed the Justice Department to seek the release of sealed grand jury transcripts related to Epstein. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (center) during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on July 8 | Doug Mills / The New York Times On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg denied one of those requests, finding that it did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret. That motion stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents; the department has also requested the unsealing of transcripts in Manhattan federal court related to later indictments brought against Epstein and Maxwell. Last week, the Journal reported that Trump had sent Epstein a bawdy birthday note in 2003 that ended, "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." The authenticity of the alleged letter could not be confirmed. Trump has sued the Journal and its owners, including billionaire Rupert Murdoch, asserting that the birthday note was fake. MAGA pushback Trump and his advisers have long engaged in conspiracy theories, including about Epstein, that have resonated with Trump's political base. The Make America Great Again movement's broad refusal to accept his administration's argument that those theories are now unfounded is unusual for a politician who is accustomed to enjoying relatively unchallenged loyalty from his supporters. Epstein hung himself in prison, according to the New York City chief medical examiner. But his connections with wealthy and powerful individuals prompted speculation that his death was not a suicide. The Justice Department said in its memo this month that it had concluded Epstein died by his own hand. In a sign of how the issue has bedeviled Trump and his fellow Republicans, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday abruptly said he would send lawmakers home for the summer a day early to avoid a floor fight over a vote on the Epstein files. His decision temporarily stymied a push by Democrats and some Republicans for a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would require the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related documents. Trump, stung and frustrated by the continued focus on the Epstein story, has sought to divert attention to other topics, including unfounded accusations that former President Barack Obama undermined Trump's successful 2016 presidential campaign. Obama's office denounced the allegations as "ridiculous." More than two-thirds of Americans believe the Trump administration is hiding information about Epstein's clients, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Chinese hackers exploit Microsoft flaws with U.S. nuclear agency hit
Microsoft warned that Chinese state-sponsored hackers are among those exploiting flaws in its SharePoint software to break into institutions globally, with the U.S. agency responsible for designing nuclear weapons now among those breached. In a blog post, the tech giant identified two groups supported by the Chinese government, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, as leveraging flaws in the document-sharing software that rendered customers who run it on their own networks, as opposed to in the cloud, vulnerable. Another hacking group based in China, which Microsoft calls Storm-2603, also exploited them, according to the blog. The number of companies and agencies subjected to breaches as a result of these exploits is meanwhile mounting: Hackers have used the SharePoint flaws to break into the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Bloomberg also reported Monday that systems belonging to the U.S. Education Department, Florida's Department of Revenue and the Island General Assembly were compromised. While Microsoft has patched its software in recent days, cybersecurity researchers have already detected breaches on more than 100 servers representing 60 victims thus far, including organizations in the energy sector, consulting firms and universities. Hackers have also exploited the software to break into the systems of national governments from Europe to the Middle East, according to a person familiar with the matter. The SharePoint flaws have been used in hacks since at least July 7, said Adam Meyers, senior vice president at CrowdStrike Holdings. Early exploitation resembled government-sponsored activity, and then spread more widely to include hacking that "looks like China,' Meyers said. CrowdStrike's investigation into the campaign is ongoing, he said. Microsoft said in its blog that its investigations into other threat actors using these exploits "is still ongoing.' The company said it has "high confidence' that hackers will "continue to integrate them into their attacks.' In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said China firmly opposes all forms of cyberattacks and cybercrime. In a blog post, Microsoft identified two groups supported by the Chinese government as leveraging flaws in SharePoint software. | Bloomberg "At the same time, we also firmly oppose smearing others without solid evidence,' it said. "We hope that relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude when characterizing cyber incidents, basing their conclusions on sufficient evidence rather than unfounded speculation and accusations.' No sensitive or classified information is known to have been compromised in the attack on the National Nuclear Security Administration, the person with knowledge of the breach said. The semiautonomous arm of the Energy Department is responsible for producing and dismantling nuclear arms. Other parts of the department were also compromised. An Energy Department spokesman said by email that the SharePoint exploitation began affecting the agency on July 18, but it was limited by the fact that the department uses Microsoft's cloud. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Education and Rhode Island legislature meanwhile didn't respond to calls and emails seeking comment. The Florida Department of Revenue said the SharePoint weaknesses were being investigated "at multiple levels of government' but declined further comment. The hackers have also breached the systems of a U.S.-based health care provider and targeted a public university in Southeast Asia, according to a report from a cybersecurity firm. The report doesn't identify either entity by name but says the hackers have attempted to breach SharePoint servers in countries including Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. The firm asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the information. Hackers have stolen sign-in credentials, including usernames, passwords, hash codes and tokens, from some systems, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information. "This is a high-severity, high-urgency threat,' said Michael Sikorski, chief technology officer and head of threat intelligence for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks Inc. "What makes this especially concerning is SharePoint's deep integration with Microsoft's platform, including their services like Office, Teams, OneDrive and Outlook, which has all the information valuable to an attacker,' he said. The cyber firm Eye Security said the flaws allow hackers to access SharePoint servers and steal keys that can let them impersonate users or services even after the server is patched. It said hackers can maintain access through backdoors or modified components that can survive updates and reboots of systems. The breaches have drawn new scrutiny to Microsoft's efforts to shore up its security after a series of high-profile failures. The firm has hired executives from places like the U.S. government and holds weekly meetings with senior executives to make its software more resilient. The company's tech has been subject to several widespread and damaging hacks in recent years, and a 2024 U.S. government report described the company's security culture as in need of urgent reforms. Eye Security has detected compromises on more than 100 servers representing 60 victims, including organizations in the energy sector, consulting firms and universities. Victims were also located in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, according to the company. In early July, Microsoft issued patches to fix the security holes, but hackers found another way in. "There were ways around the patches' that enabled hackers to break into SharePoint servers by tapping into similar vulnerabilities, said Vaisha Bernard, Eye Security's chief hacker and co-owner. "That allowed these attacks to happen.' The intrusions, he said, were not targeted and instead were aimed at compromising as many victims as possible. He declined to identify the organizations that had been targeted but said they included government agencies and private companies, including "bigger multinationals.' The victims were located in countries in North and South America, the European Union, South Africa and Australia, he said.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Trump claims Obama 'coup' as Epstein questions mount
U.S. President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to distract from the growing furor over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal by pushing extraordinary claims that Barack Obama tried to mount a coup. The accusations, delivered in the Oval Office, followed a surprise announcement that Trump's Department of Justice would question an imprisoned, key former assistant to Epstein. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X that disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein's alleged pedophile scheme, would be queried for new information. "No lead is off-limits," Blanche said. However, the show of transparency appeared to be part of a concerted effort by the White House and Trump's allies to quell speculation about the convicted sex offender, who was long rumored to be a pedophile pimp to the powerful and who died by suicide in his prison cell in 2019. While meeting with the Philippines' president in the White House, Trump dismissed the Epstein case as "a witch hunt." "The witch hunt that you should be talking about is, they caught President Obama, absolutely cold," he said, launching into a meandering series of unsubstantiated accusations around Obama trying to "steal" the 2016 election, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. A person takes a photo as a message calling on President Donald Trump to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein is projected onto the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building across from the White House in Washington on July 18. | AFP-jiji "Obama was leading a coup," Trump said. An Obama spokesperson called the claim "outrageous." The coup accusation centers on claims that fly in the face of multiple high-level official probes by the U.S. government. However, it resonates with Trump's far-right base — in part thanks to blanket coverage by the popular Fox News network. Trump's attacks on Obama are "part of a larger strategy of distraction, but they also serve another function: to cast the president as a victim of Democratic treachery," said Todd Belt, at GW University's Graduate School of Political Management. Obama's spokesperson echoed this, saying Trump engaged in a "ridiculous and weak attempt at distraction." In another ploy to bury the Epstein controversy, Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Trump Republican loyalist, said he would shut down the House of Representatives until September. This was to avoid what he called "political games" over attempts by mostly Democrats to force votes on exposing more about the Epstein case. Epstein was awaiting trial on trafficking charges when he was found hanged in his New York cell. Authorities declared it a suicide, but the death super-charged fears, especially on the far-right, that a "deep state" cover-up is in place to prevent the names of Epstein's clients from being made known. Trump's attempts to stop Epstein speculation clash with the fact that his own supporters are the ones who have most pushed conspiracy theories — and believed that Trump would resolve the mysteries. They were outraged when Trump's FBI and Justice Department said on July 7 that the death was confirmed a suicide and that Epstein never blackmailed prominent figures or even had a client list. Trump tried numerous measures to placate his base, including ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to obtain release of grand jury testimony in Epstein's aborted New York case. But the issue flamed up again last week when The Wall Street Journal reported that it had seen a birthday greeting penned in 2003 by Trump to Epstein on his 50th birthday. The letter reportedly featured a hand-drawn naked woman, with Trump's signature forming her pubic hair, and reference to their shared "wonderful secret." Trump insists he did not send the letter and has filed a lawsuit against the Journal. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing but was close friends with Epstein for years and was photographed attending parties with him. Among the other celebrities with connections to Epstein was Britain's Prince Andrew, who settled a U.S. civil case in February 2022 brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. Giuffre died by suicide at her home in Australia in April. Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate who has been convicted. She is appealing her sentence before the Supreme Court. David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's lawyer, confirmed on X that he was in discussions about her meeting with government representatives. "We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case," Markus added.
