Friday Briefing: Brace for Russian cyber attacks, Britain says

Friday, January 28, 2022

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

Russia sends a less hawkish message on Ukraine, anti-vaccine truckers roll toward Ottawa, and New York City's mayor can hire his brother - for $1

Today's biggest stories

Service members of the Ukrainian National Guard attend a ceremony in tribute to fallen defenders of Ukraine at a memorial in Kyiv, January 28, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

WORLD

Russia sent its strongest signal so far that it is willing to engage with U.S. security proposals and reiterated that it does not want war over Ukraine. Meanwhile, Britain warned big business to bolster defenses against possible Russian cyber attacks.

The U.S. and Taiwanese vice presidents had a brief conversation at the inauguration of the new Honduran president, a rare encounter that is highly symbolic and provoking anger in Beijing at a time of simmering tension with Washington.

An inquiry into lockdown-breaking gatherings in Downing Street that might determine the future of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be further delayed after the police asked for the report to make only "minimal reference" to those events.

Canadian truck drivers determined to shut down central Ottawa over a federal government vaccine mandate rolled across the country toward the capital, boosted by praise from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk.

Six men accused of involvement in a 2019 jewel heist at a museum housing one of Europe's greatest art collections appeared in court in Germany's Dresden, with the whereabouts of the treasures still a mystery.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer holds up a copy of the Constitution while President Joe Biden looks on at the White House, January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S.


President Joe Biden has tapped a team of White House advisers with lengthy Supreme Court and Senate confirmation experience as he prepares to nominate the first Black woman to be an associate justice. Here are some potential contenders.

Federal agents arrested a Nevada man for threatening a state election worker last year and telling her that she was “going to f------ die” for stealing the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump, the Justice Department said, the second arrest in a week by its election threats task force.

U.S. border officials are preparing for as many as 9,000 border arrests per day by the spring, according to two Department of Homeland Security officials, which would be significantly larger than last year's peak and could cause a headache for the Democratic administration ahead of midterm elections.

A New York City ethics panel has agreed that Mayor Eric Adams can hire his brother as a senior security adviser, but only at $1 per year and with no power over department personnel. The decision follows an uproar that erupted after Adams sought to hire his younger brother Bernard as a deputy police commissioner at a yearly salary of $240,000.

The Michigan teenager charged with first-degree murder in the deadliest U.S. school shooting of 2021 will assert an insanity defense, his lawyers wrote in a court notice.

BUSINESS

Persistently high inflation will haunt the world economy this year, according to a Reuters poll of economists who trimmed their global growth outlook on worries of slowing demand and the risk interest rates would rise faster than assumed so far.

Chinese bourses have halted processing at least 60 initial public offering applications as regulators investigate intermediaries in the deals, including Deutsche Bank's Chinese securities venture.

Hong Kong's market regulator has fined a Citigroup subsidiary $45 million for misconduct in its cash equities business and is launching disciplinary proceedings against some former senior managers at the bank.

Japan's Toyota said its vehicle sales rose by 10.1% last year, making it the world's biggest carmaker for a second straight year and putting it further ahead of its nearest rival, Germany's Volkswagen.

Swedish fashion group H&M drew a line under the pandemic, reporting a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit and hiking investments with the aim of doubling sales by 2030.

Quote of the day

"They've navigated the supply chain better than everybody, and it's showing in the results"

Apple sales and profit top estimates as hit from chip shortages eases

Video of the day

Scientists want protection for mysterious Weddell Sea

Long near-impenetrable to human exploration, the remote Weddell Sea is - for now at least - much cooler than the rest of Antarctica.

And finally…

Scientists amazed by blinking star's 'totally unexpected' behavior

Scientists have detected what appears to be an incredibly dense star behaving unlike anything else ever seen - and suspect it might be a type of exotic astrophysical object whose existence has until now been only hypothesized.

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