US says Russia has sent out over $400m to meddle in elections
Russia has covertly sent at least US$300 million (S$400 million) to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen countries since 2014 in bids to gain influence, a declassified US intelligence assessment said on Tuesday.
US intelligence “assesses that these are minimum figures and that Russia likely has transferred additional funds covertly in cases that have gone undetected,” a senior administration official said.
“We think this is just the tip of the iceberg,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The US intelligence did not declassify information on specific countries. In one of the most egregious cases cited in the new assessment, US intelligence said that the Russian ambassador in an unnamed Asian country provided millions of dollars to a presidential candidate.
Twitter ex-security chief tells US Congress of safety concerns
Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko told the US Congress on Tuesday that the platform ignored his security concerns, as its shareholders decided whether to approve a US$44 billion (S$60 billion) takeover deal that Elon Musk is trying to exit.
"I'm here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors," Zatko, a hacker widely known as "Mudge" who was Twitter's former security chief, told the hearing.
He said that, during his time as head of security for the platform from late 2020 until his dismissal in January this year, he tried to alert management to grave vulnerabilities to hacking or data theft, to no avail.
Queen's coffin arrives at Palace, huge crowds line route
King Charles and members of the royal family received the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, after tens of thousands of people lined the streets in heavy rain to mark its arrival in the British capital.
On a dark night, the well-lit hearse travelled slowly from a nearby airport through London, with crowds stood all along the route, some in the road, others throwing flowers, and many ditching their cars or running from nearby streets to catch a glimpse of the cortege.
As it entered the grounds of the London palace, the police outriders who had led the way stopped to bow their heads.
Second US monkeypox death, virus linked to brain inflammation
A second US death was linked to monkeypox on Tuesday as health authorities published a study describing how two previously healthy young men experienced inflammation of the brain and spinal cord as a result of the virus.
There have been nearly 22,000 US cases in the current global outbreak, which began in May, but new infections have been falling since mid-August as authorities have distributed hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses.
The latest fatal case involved a severely immunocompromised resident of Los Angeles County who had been hospitalized, the local health department said, without revealing further details about the case.
Football: Late Matip header earns Liverpool win over Ajax
Liverpool's Joel Matip headed in an 89th-minute winner as last season's runners-up left it late to beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-1 in their Champions League Group A match at Anfield on Tuesday.
Juergen Klopp's side had lost their opening game in the group 4-1 at Napoli and were heading for another disappointing result until the centre back rose to meet a corner which appeared to be cleared off the line, but the assistant referee raised his flag to indicate a goal.
It was an improved performance from the English team but one which was still far below their best.
