Obama aide: WH computers secure
Obama aide: WH computers secure
WASHINGTON
A top aide to President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the White House’s classified computer systems are secure while acknowledging vulnerabilities in its unclassified system.
Obama adviser Ben Rhodes made the remarks in response to a CNN report that Russian hackers got access to sensitive White House information such as the president’s private schedule.
The White House acknowledged in October that it had detected suspicious activity on its unclassified network while assessing possible cyberthreats.
Rhodes would not confirm CNN’s report that sensitive information was accessed or comment on where the threat originated.
But he said, “There’s always vulnerability.”
Emanuel wins 2nd term as mayor
CHICAGO
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won a second term Tuesday in a runoff election that hinged on serious financial challenges facing the nation’s third-largest city and the brusque management style of the former White House chief of staff.
Emanuel was forced to campaign furiously across the city to beat Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia after failing to capture a majority against four other candidates in a February election. The mayoral runoff was the first since the city changed the way it conducts elections in the 1990s.
With nearly 90 percent of voting precincts reporting results, Emanuel had 56 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for Garcia.
Pakistani judge: Charge CIA lawyer, operative over strike
ISLAMABAD
A Pakistani judge Tuesday ordered that criminal charges be filed against a former CIA lawyer who oversaw its drone program and the one-time chief agency operative in Islamabad over a 2009 strike that killed two people.
Former acting general counsel John A. Rizzo and ex-station chief Jonathan Bank must face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism and waging war against Pakistan, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court ruled. A court clerk and a lawyer involved in the case, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, confirmed details of the judge’s ruling.
DC power outages
WASHINGTON
Problems at a Maryland electrical station caused widespread power outages across the nation’s capital Tuesday, affecting the White House, the Capitol, museums, train stations and other sites.
Many of the outages were brief, but some were longer and forced evacuations. Officials said a mechanical failure at a transfer station led to the outages, and terrorism was not suspected. Tens of thousands of customers lost power.
Md. family died of gas poisoning
PRINCESS ANNE, Md.
A divorced father and the seven children he was trying to raise on a kitchen worker’s salary were poisoned in their sleep by carbon monoxide only days after the power company discovered a stolen meter and cut off electricity to their rental home, police said Tuesday.
Delmarva Power said it did not cut off the family’s electricity because they were behind on their bills, but for safety reasons after discovering the illegal connection March 25.
Rodney Todd, 36, then bought a gas-powered generator and installed it in his kitchen to keep his two sons and five daughters warm. Friends and relatives last saw them alive March 28.
Associated Press