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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was “so proud” that a women’s health research initiative he launched last year at his wife’s urging has already invested nearly $1 billion because a healthy female population improves U.S. prosperity.  “That’s a fact,” he said in closing remarks at the first White House Conference on Women’s Health Research. “We haven’t gotten that through to the other team yet,” Biden said, referencing President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration.  Trump’s three conservative nominees to the Supreme Court from his first term as president voted to overturn a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. Democrats campaigned on reproductive rights and women’s health issues in this year’s elections.  Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, said the president-elect would keep his promise to improve health in the U.S.  “President Trump campaigned on making America healthy again for ALL Americans including men, women, and children, and he will deliver on that promise,” Leavitt said in an email.  Women make up half of the U.S. population, about 168 million people, but medical research into their unique health circumstances has largely been underfunded and understudied, officials have said.  First lady Jill Biden has said she brought the idea for the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to the president after Maria Shriver, herself a women’s health advocate and member of the influential Kennedy political family, brought it to her.  The first lady told the researchers, advocates, and business and philanthropic leaders attending the conference that she would keep pressing the issue.  “My work doesn’t stop in January when Joe and I leave this house,” she said. “I will keep building alliances, like the ones that brought us here today, and I will keep pushing for funding for innovative research.”  Jill Biden said the U.S. economy loses about $1.8 billion in working time every year because of how menopause affects women. And she is interested in learning more about extreme morning sickness during pregnancy.  “I heard this a couple weeks ago and I was particularly interested because my own granddaughter was going through the same thing, because we’re going to be great-grandparents,” Jill Biden said.  Granddaughter Naomi Biden Neal and her husband, Peter Neal, are expecting their first child.  Since its launch, the women’s health research initiative has attracted nearly $1 billion in federal funding, including from the Defense Department and National Institutes of Health.  “In … “Biden says healthy women help US prosperity as he highlights White House initiative” →

washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to face questions for the last time about some of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency: the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The hearing comes at the twilight of Blinken’s diplomatic career, with only weeks left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and at the end of the chairmanship of Representative Michael McCaul, who will no longer lead the committee in the next Congress. It’s the capstone to nearly four years of animosity between the two men over the end of America’s longest war. “This catastrophic event was the beginning of a failed foreign policy that lit the world on fire,” McCaul, a Texas Republican, said in his opening statement. “I welcome your testimony today and hope you use this opportunity to take accountability for the disastrous withdrawal.” Blinken was expected to defend the decision to withdraw U.S. troops in August 2021. He said previously that the Biden administration was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions and those of previous presidents. His long-awaited testimony comes months after House Republicans issued a scathing report on their investigation into the withdrawal, blaming the disastrous end on Biden’s administration. They downplayed Trump’s role in the failures even though he had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban. The Republican-led review laid out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America’s fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame. …

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Jordan and Turkey Wednesday to rally regional countries around an aligned vision for Syria’s future following the ousting of longtime authoritarian ruler Bashar al-Assad. Blinken will travel to Aqaba, Jordan, and Ankara, Turkey, and meet leaders to discuss developments in Syria, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and across the region, said the U.S. State Department. A spokesperson said Blinken aims to secure consensus among regional leaders on key principles for Syria’s post-Assad transition. He said these include full respect for minority rights, the facilitation of humanitarian aid, the prevention of Syria becoming a haven for terrorism or a threat to its neighbors, and the securing and safe destruction of chemical or biological weapons stockpiles. Blinken has said that the United States will recognize a Syrian government that upholds those principles. The spokesperson said that in Aqaba, Blinken will meet with senior Jordanian officials to discuss bilateral issues, highlight the U.S.-Jordan strategic partnership, and reaffirm U.S. support for regional stability. In Ankara, Blinken will engage with senior Turkish officials to strengthen bilateral cooperation on shared priorities, including counterterrorism and regional stability, with NATO ally Turkey. On Tuesday, Blinken held talks with counterparts from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt, where he reiterated the need for a Syrian-led transition. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, will hold an emergency session to address the situation in Syria. The OPCW — the implementing body for the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention — said it is monitoring Syria with “special attention” to chemical weapons sites and has reminded the country of its duty to declare and destroy all banned weapons. The U.S. State Department said it will await the session’s outcome to determine the next steps. Also, U.S. President Joe Biden will join leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in a virtual summit on Friday to discuss Syria and other pressing issues in the Middle East. Last Sunday, Syrian rebel groups toppled the Assad regime after a swift offensive of under two weeks, ending a decadeslong reign of brutal oppression. While many Syrians celebrate Assad’s departure, uncertainty looms over the nation’s future. The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant faction among opposition forces, is rapidly consolidating power. At the same time, foreign actors are vying for influence with the nascent government or seeking to limit … “Blinken travels to Mideast as Syria navigates post-Assad path” →

Washington — President Joe Biden has approved a new national security memorandum ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House that could serve as a road map for the incoming administration as it looks to counter growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the White House said Wednesday.  Biden administration officials began developing the guidance this summer. It was shaped to be a document that could help the next administration build its approach from Day 1 on how it deals with the tightening relationships involving America’s most prominent adversaries and competitors, according to two senior administration officials.  The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the classified memorandum would not be made public because of the sensitivity of some of its findings.  The document includes four broad recommendations: improving U.S. government interagency cooperation, speeding up the sharing of information with allies about the four adversaries, calibrating the U.S. government’s use of sanctions and other economic tools for maximum effectiveness, and bolstering preparation to manage simultaneous crises involving the adversaries.  The U.S. for many years has been concerned about cooperation among the four countries. Coordination has accelerated between the countries in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  The officials noted that as Russia has become more isolated by much of the world, Moscow has turned to Iran for drones and missiles. From North Korea, the Russians have received artillery, missiles and even thousands of troops that have traveled to help the Russians try to repel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region. China, meanwhile, has supported Russia with dual use components that help keep its military industrial base afloat.  In return, Russia has sent fighter jets to Iran and assisted Tehran as it looks to bolster its missile defense and space technology.  North Korea has received from Russia much-needed fuel and funding to help build out its manufacturing and military capabilities. The officials added that Russia has “de facto accepted North Korea as a nuclear weapon state.”  China, meanwhile, is benefiting from Russian know-how, with the two countries working together to deepen their military technical cooperation. The two nations are also conducting joint patrols in the Arctic region.  Biden and Trump have sharply different worldviews, but officials in both the incoming and outgoing administrations said they have sought to coordinate on national security issues during the transition.  … “Biden approves national security memo on China, Iran, North Korea and Russia ahead of Trump’s return” →

PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. East Coast was beginning a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather on Wednesday that was rainy, windy and potentially dangerous, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Places like western Maine could see freezing rain, downpours, unseasonably high temperatures and damaging winds — all in the span of a day, said Derek Schroeter, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. The heavy rain and fierce winds will last until Wednesday night in many areas, and flooding is possible in some locales, forecasters said. Utilities were also gearing up for potential power outages from damage caused by winds that could exceed 97 kph in some areas. One of the key factors driving the weather is an atmospheric river, which is a long band of water vapor that can transport moisture from the tropics to more northern areas, said Schroeter, who’s based in Gray, Maine. The storm has the ability to hit New England hard because it could tap moisture from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. Southeast, and transport it to places like Maine. The state was preparing for a “multifaceted storm” that could bring two to three inches of rainfall in some areas, Schroeter said. Similar conditions had been possible elsewhere from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. “We’re looking at the risk of slick travel (Tuesday night) with the freezing rain,” Schroeter said, “and we are going to be watching for the potential for flash flooding and sharp rises on streams as temperatures rise into the 50s (10-15 Celsius).” Forecasters also said the storm had the potential to include a process that meteorologists call bombogenesis, or a “bomb cyclone.” That is the rapid intensification of a cyclone in a short period of time, and it has the ability to bring severe rainfall. Parts of the Northeast were already preparing for bad weather. In Maine, some schools operated on a delay on Tuesday, which began with a few inches of snow. A flood watch for Vermont runs from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning. The city of Montpelier, Vermont, was advising residents to prepare for mild flooding in the area and to elevate items in basements and low areas that are prone to flooding. The city said Tuesday that it has been in contact with the National Weather Service and Vermont Dam Safety and “will be actively monitoring the river levels as this … “Atmospheric river and potential bomb cyclone bring chaotic winter weather to East Coast” →

UNITED NATIONS — Sudan – for the second year in a row – topped a 2025 watchlist of global humanitarian crises released Wednesday by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization, followed by Gaza and the West Bank, Myanmar, Syria and South Sudan. The New York-based IRC began the watchlist more than 15 years ago as an internal planning tool to prepare for the year ahead, but chief executive David Miliband said it now also served as a call to action globally. The report said 305.1 million people around the world are in humanitarian need – up from 77.9 million in 2015 – and that the 20 countries on the IRC watchlist account for 82% of them. Miliband described the numbers as “crushing.” “There are more resources to do more good for more people than at any time in history. This makes it all the more bewildering that the gap between humanitarian need and humanitarian funding is also greater than ever,” he wrote in the watchlist report. The report said the humanitarian crisis in Sudan was the largest since records began and that the country accounts for 10% of all people in humanitarian need, despite being home to just 1% of the global population. War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. The remaining 15 countries on the IRC watchlist are: Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Ukraine and Yemen. …

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it is in touch with all rebel groups in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and wants the process of forming a new government to be led by Syrians. White House national security communications adviser John Kirby spoke with VOA Turkish’s White House correspondent Begum Donmez Ersoz and said whatever governance comes out of the process, Washington wants to make sure it meets the aspirations of the Syrian people. Kirby says it’s too soon to tell whether Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Sunni Islamic al-Qaida offshoot that the United States has designated a terror group, and its leader, Mohammed al-Golani, have undergone an ideological transformation. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. VOA: Did Israel give the United States prior notification of their strikes on the Golan Heights and their deeper push into Syria? John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser: I’m going to let the Israelis speak to their operations, and I’m not going to speculate about what they’re doing. I would just tell you that they certainly have the right to self-defense. We recognize that they see threats across that border as things unfold in Syria, and they’ve taken some actions. … We, too, share a concern that the Israelis have over chemical weapons and the possibility of stockpiles in Syria and the potential use … so we’re in constant communication with the Israelis about what they’re doing, and that will continue. VOA: Does the U.S. believe that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has undergone an ideological transformation? Kirby: I think it’s too soon to tell. Mr. al-Golani is saying the right things about inclusiveness, about not being interested in persecuting either minorities or other groups. But I think, you know, we have to wait and see what they actually do in terms of trying to establish good governance. … They are still a designated terrorist group. … Whatever kind of governance comes out of this, we want to make sure it meets the aspirations of the Syrian people, that they have a vote and a voice in their future. So, we want it to be a Syrian-led process, and the United States will continue to support that kind of process. VOA: There is a concern in Turkey about the potential of an independent Kurdish state in northern Syria. How will the United States mitigate Turkey’s concerns? Kirby: They … “White House wants Syrian-led process for new government after Assad’s ouster” →

WASHINGTON — A shield law known as the PRESS Act that would give journalists greater federal protections failed to pass the Senate on Tuesday evening after it was blocked by Senator Tom Cotton.   Shield laws protect journalists from being forced by the government to disclose information such as the identities of sources. The PRESS Act would also limit the seizure of journalists’ data without their knowledge.   Nearly every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has either a shield law or court recognition of qualified privilege for sources, but no federal law is in place.   The Republican-controlled House of Representatives unanimously passed the PRESS Act in January.   But an attempt to pass the bill in the Senate via unanimous consent failed Tuesday evening after being blocked by Cotton. Any single senator has the power to halt a bill put forward by a unanimous consent request.  In a speech, Cotton, a Republican, said he was blocking the bill over national security concerns.   “Passage of this bill would turn the United States Senate into the active accomplice of deep-state leakers, traitors and criminals, along with the America-hating and fame-hungry journalists who help them out,” Cotton said.  “Contrary to what members of the press may think, a press badge doesn’t make you better than the rest of America,” Cotton later added.   The PRESS Act makes exceptions for terrorism and other emergencies.  Democratic Senator Ron Wyden made a rebuttal after Cotton’s speech.   “I understand that we don’t have unanimous consent today. I think it’s unfortunate. I think America would be stronger and freer if we were passing this legislation today. But we’ll be back,” Wyden said.   “This is about as important as it gets. Free speech is fundamental to what makes our country so special,” Wyden said later.  Press freedom groups expressed disappointment over the bill’s failure to pass.  “This is a commonsense bill with broad bipartisan support,” Gabe Rottman, policy director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told VOA. “It’s time to get it across the finish line.”   After President-elect Donald Trump won election to the White House in November, several press freedom groups said they were making a final push to get the bill through Congress and signed into law before President Joe Biden left office.   Trump has previously threatened to jail journalists if they don’t reveal sources in stories … “Bill to protect journalists fails in US Senate” →

Donald Trump has signaled he wants to avoid involvement in Syria following an insurgent group’s ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. However, as White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports, the president-elect might need to balance his stance with U.S. goals of protecting Israel, isolating Iran, and dealing with Russia, Turkey and other actors. …

New York — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to lead the federal consumer protection and antitrust agency. Ferguson has said the agency should tackle perceived censorship of conservative viewpoints online. If social media platforms collaborate to suppress such views or advertisers coordinate to pull business from platforms such as Elon Musk’s X, they should be charged with violating U.S. antitrust law, Ferguson has said. “We must vigorously enforce the antitrust laws against any platforms found to be unlawfully limiting Americans’ ability to exchange ideas freely and openly,” Ferguson said in a recent statement. The agency became a political flashpoint under FTC Chair Lina Khan, who promoted antitrust enforcement as a check on corporate power. Her efforts won fans among some Republicans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, but drew criticism as overly aggressive from some antitrust lawyers and business groups. Her successor will inherit a full slate of cases against Big Tech companies, a lawsuit against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, and at least a half dozen lawsuits by companies arguing it has outstripped its authority. It is unclear whether the incoming chair will continue with unfinished probes, including into practices at Microsoft that competitors have complained keep customers from switching to other cloud service providers, and potential privacy concerns involving OpenAI. New leadership could also shift course in two major FTC cases against Amazon.com. One takes aim at practices the agency says keep sellers bound to its platform and help Amazon unlawfully dominate the landscape for online marketplaces, and another targets practices allegedly meant to trick Prime subscribers out of canceling service. The new FTC chair would also oversee a case brought against Meta Platforms, then known as Facebook, in 2020, during Trump’s first term. The agency is seeking to unwind its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. But the judge overseeing the case has cast doubt on whether the agency can prevail at trial in April. Trump also picked Tom Barrack, a onetime private equity executive and fundraiser for the president-elect, to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey. …

washington — The United States is moving to grant federal protections to the monarch butterfly — a once-common species recognizable by its striking black and orange patterns that has faced a dramatic population decline in recent decades. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said Tuesday it has initiated a public comment period to consider listing the insect under the Endangered Species Act. But the looming presidency of Donald Trump, who rolled back numerous wildlife protections during his first term, casts uncertainty over the decision. “The iconic monarch butterfly is cherished across North America, captivating children and adults throughout its fascinating lifecycle,” said FWS Director Martha Williams in a statement. “Despite its fragility, it is remarkably resilient, like many things in nature when we just give them a chance.” The proposed listing comes at a critical time for the species, which has been designated as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2022. Monarchs are divided into two migratory populations in North America. The larger eastern group has declined by approximately 80% since the 1980s, while the western population has plummeted by 95%. According to the FWS, the species faces a host of threats, including the loss and degradation of its breeding, migratory and overwintering habitats; exposure to insecticides; and the growing impacts of climate change. As part of its conservation efforts, the FWS is also recommending the designation of critical habitat at specific overwintering sites along California’s coast. These habitats serve as vital winter refuges, providing monarchs the resources needed to rest and prepare for spring breeding. “The fact that a butterfly as widespread and beloved as the monarch is now the face of the extinction crisis is a tri-national distress signal warning us to take better care of the environment that we all share,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For 30 years, we’ve watched the population of monarch butterflies collapse. It is clear that monarchs cannot thrive — and might not survive — without federal protections,” added Dan Ritzman, director of conservation at Sierra Club. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is widely credited with saving iconic American species such as the gray wolf, bald eagle and grizzly bear. During Trump’s first administration, however, key provisions of the law were weakened. These changes, later reversed by President Joe Biden, included measures that allowed industrial projects such as roads, pipelines and … “US moves to save once-common monarch butterflies from extinction” →

A national security review of Nippon Steel’s $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel is ongoing and President Joe Biden will see what it yields before making a decision on whether to block it, the White House said on Tuesday, cautioning he still opposes the tie-up. The statement comes after shares of U.S. Steel tumbled more than 10% on Tuesday afternoon following a Bloomberg report suggesting the deal would be killed in short order. CFIUS, a powerful committee charged with reviewing foreign investments in U.S. firms for national security risks, has until December 22 to make a decision on whether to approve, block or extend the timeline for the deal’s review, Reuters has reported. “The President’s position since the beginning is that it is vital for U.S. Steel to be domestically owned and operated,” Saloni Sharma, a White House spokesperson said in a statement. “As we have said before, the President will continue to see what the CFIUS process yields. We have not received any CFIUS recommendation. The CFIUS process was and remains ongoing.” Bloomberg’s initial headline read that Biden was “set to” block the deal, suggesting a final decision had been made, but the outlet later updated it to say he “plans to” kill it, echoing prior comments and leaving the door open to a last-minute change. CFIUS declined to comment. Japan’s Nippon Steel said it was inappropriate that politics continued to outweigh true national security interests. “Nippon Steel still has confidence in the justice and fairness of America and its legal system, and — if necessary — will work with U.S. Steel to consider and take all available measures to reach a fair conclusion,” it added in a statement. U.S. Steel said the transaction should be approved on its merits. “The benefits are overwhelmingly clear,” it said in a statement. “Our communities, customers, investors, and employees strongly support this transaction, and we will continue to advocate for them and adherence to the rule of law.” The two companies are poised to pursue litigation over the process if Biden decides to block the merger. The acquisition has faced opposition within the U.S. since it was announced last year with both Biden and his incoming successor Donald Trump both publicly indicating their intention to block it. CFIUS told the two companies in September the deal would create national security risks because it could hurt the supply of steel needed for critical … “US says review of Nippon-US Steel tie-up ongoing as US Steel shares tumble” →

MALIBU, CALIFORNIA — Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu that burned near seaside mansions and Pepperdine University, where students sheltering at the school’s library watched as the blaze intensified and the sky turned deep red. A “minimal number” of homes burned, but the exact number wasn’t immediately known, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said. More than 8,100 homes and other structures were under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents have been ordered to evacuate. Some 6,000 more people were warned to be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Ryan Song, a resident assistant at Pepperdine University, said he first noticed the power went out at his dorm late Monday and then looked out the window and saw a huge pink glow. “I thought, ‘This is too bright,’ and it got bigger and bigger,” the 20-year-old junior said. “I immediately went outside and saw that it was a real fire.” Song and the other resident assistants went door to door, evacuating students. Most were calm and followed instructions, he said; a few who were scared rushed to their cars to get off campus. Song spent the next few hours racing back and forth in the dark between his dorm and the main campus to ensure no one was left behind as fire raged down a mountain, he said. “It felt really close,” he said, adding he was probably less than a mile away. “Seeing the fire rampaging down the hill is obviously scary for students, but I felt like our staff was prepared.” The university later said the worst of the fire had pushed past campus. It was not immediately known how the blaze, named the Franklin Fire, started. County officials estimated that more than 9 square kilometers of trees and dry brush had burned. There was no containment. The fire burned amid dangerous conditions because of notorious Santa Ana winds expected to last into Wednesday. Marrone said at least a thousand firefighters would be scrambling to get a handle on the blaze before 2 p.m., when winds were expected to regain strength. “Time is of the essence for us to grab ahold of the fire and start getting some containment,” the chief said at a morning news conference. The fire erupted shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday and swiftly moved south, jumping over … “Homes burn in California as wind-driven wildfire prompts evacuations” →

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists’ sources could again be resurrected.  The report Tuesday from the Justice Department inspector general’s office also found that some congressional staffers had their records obtained by prosecutors by sheer virtue of the fact that they had accessed classified information despite that being part of their job responsibilities.  Though the report chronicles Justice Department actions from several years ago, the issue has new resonance as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, has spoken of his desire to “come after” members of the media “who lied about American citizens” and his belief that the federal government should be rid of “conspirators” against Trump.  Those comments raise the possibility that the Justice Department under new leadership — Trump has picked former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to serve as his attorney general — could undo a three-year-old policy that, with limited exceptions, prohibits prosecutors from secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during investigations into leaks of sensitive information.  The action from Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 followed an uproar over revelations that the Justice Department during the Trump administration had obtained records belonging to journalists at The Washington Post, CNN and The New York Times as part of investigations into who had disclosed government secrets related to the investigation into Russian election interference and other national security matters.  The inspector general found that the Justice Department didn’t follow certain department rules that had been implemented years earlier when seeking reporters’ records in 2020, including having a News Media Review Committee review the request, according to the report. The committee is meant to ensure that officials other than prosecutors, including the head of the department’s office of public affairs, are able to weigh in on such efforts.  Then-Attorney General William Barr, who authorized obtaining the records from CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post, did not expressly sign off on the use of non-disclosure agreements that were sought — as was required under department policy, according to the report.  The Justice Department also seized data from the accounts of some Democratic members of Congress over leaks related to the Russia investigation, and sought records through Apple from … “US Justice Department ignored some policies when seizing reporters’ phone records, watchdog finds” →

WASHINGTON — The United States slapped sanctions on a Chinese cybersecurity company and one of its employees Tuesday, accusing it of compromising more than 80,000 firewalls in a 2020 attack. The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that it had sanctioned Sichuan Silence Information Technology Company and an employee named Guan Tianfeng over the April 2020 attack, which targeted firewalls around the world, including critical infrastructure in the U.S. Over a three-day period, Guan exploited a vulnerability in a firewall product and proceeded to deploy malware against some 81,000 businesses around the world with the aim of stealing data, including usernames and passwords, while also attempting to infect the computers with ransomware, according to the Treasury Department. More than 23,000 firewalls were in the United States, of which 36 were protecting “critical infrastructure companies’ systems,” the Treasury said. “Today’s action underscores our commitment to exposing these malicious cyber activities … and to holding the actors behind them accountable for their schemes,” Bradley Smith, Treasury acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. The Treasury, he said, “will continue to leverage our tools to disrupt attempts by malicious cyber actors to undermine our critical infrastructure.” Alongside the sanctions, the Department of Justice has also unsealed an indictment against Guan and announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about the employee or company, according to the Treasury Department. …