Andrew Blake

Mevlut Mert Altintas iPhone unlocked by Russia investigators in assassination case: Report

Russian authorities have reportedly succeeded in unlocking an Apple iPhone owned by the off-duty police officer who shot and killed its ambassador to Turkey at an art show in Ankara last week as investigators look for potential links to terrorism.

December 23, 2016

House panel says Edward Snowden in cahoots with Russian spies

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence accused former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of maintaining contacts with Russian spies, but the leaker of classified information quickly responded by saying the report released Thursday was "rifled with obvious falsehoods."

December 22, 2016

Super Mario Run shatters iOS download records despite poor reviews

Super Mario Run was downloaded more than 40 million times by iOS users within four days of being released last week, Apple and Nintendo executives said Wednesday, shattering mobile records in spite of receiving modest reviews.

December 22, 2016

Barry Sharpe, alleged poodle thief, arrested over Craigslist pet-sitting scam

Police in Charlotte arrested a man this week accused of selling a stranger's dogs after answering a Craigslist ad for a pet sitter.

December 22, 2016

DNC hackers likely used Android exploit against Ukraine, signaling Russian involvement: Report

A cybersecurity firm hired to investigate the Democratic National Committee breach that preceded this year's presidential election said Thursday that the hack's presumed perpetrators, Russia's military intelligence agency, likely used the same malware to target Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield during their ongoing war against pro-Moscow separatists.

December 22, 2016

Justin Barkley, accused of murdering UPS driver, tells judge he killed Donald Trump

A man accused of fatally shooting an UPS driver in a Wal-Mart parking lot this month told a judge Monday that he believes the person he killed is Donald Trump.

December 21, 2016

Nicholas Tartaglione, retired cop, charged with quadruple murder

The likely remains of four Hispanic men who went missing eight months ago in upstate New York were discovered by investigators Tuesday while searching property linked to a retired police officer accused of their murder.

December 21, 2016

Woodstock concert festival site nominated for historic landmark status

The rural New York dairy farm that hosted the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair for a weekend in August 1969 was named to the State Register of Historic Places this week nearly a half-century after 400,000 concertgoers congregated there to participate in one of the era's most iconic moments.

December 21, 2016

Anti-Trump activists plan to open year-round ‘house of resistance’ in D.C. for perpetual protests

A group of young activists opposed to President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration are attempting to secure a residence in Washington, D.C. to act as a home base for future protests so that demonstrators will be able to mobilize at a moment's notice.

December 21, 2016

Wal-Mart removes ‘offensive’ Black Lives Matter apparel from website after police group complains

Wal-Mart agreed this week to remove certain "Black Lives Matter" apparel with the slogan "Bulletproof" from its online store after the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police urged the retailer to stop selling clothing items containing the slogan.

December 21, 2016

Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek sues Twitter troll over supposed seizure-inducing tweet

Newsweek senior reporter Kurt Eichenwald made good on his promise to pursue legal action this week against an Twitter user accused of purposely causing the journalist to have an epileptic seizure.

December 20, 2016

Germany considers fines for Facebook to stop spread of ‘fake news’

Facebook would be fined roughly $500,000 for each instance of "fake news" it fails to keep from being shared across its network under new rules proposed by a leading German lawmaker.

December 20, 2016

Maine marijuana ballot recount effort abandoned; recreational use allowed in a matter of weeks

Adults in Maine will likely be able to legally grow, posses and use marijuana for recreational purposes in a matter of weeks after anti-pot activists agreed to accept the results of a closely contested ballot measure that narrowly passed last month, the secretary of state's office said Monday.

December 20, 2016

Facebook, Twitter and Google sued by families of Pulse nightclub shooting victims

The families of three men killed inside an Orlando nightclub earlier this year by an Islamic State-inspired gunman accused the world's largest social media companies in federal court this week of providing the terror group with material support.

December 20, 2016

Anne Frank House asks new questions about discovery of teen’s secret hiding space

Holocaust researchers this week raised new questions about the events leading up Ann Frank and her family being captured by Nazis in 1944, casting doubts over the widely-held belief they were betrayed by an informant before being apprehended and interned at German concentration camps.

December 17, 2016

Heimlich Maneuver inventor dead at 96 after massive heart attack

Dr. Henry Heimlich, the inventor of the namesake maneuver credited with saving thousands of choking victims during the last several decades, died Saturday at the age of 96.

December 17, 2016

California secessionist leader Louis Marinelli announces opening of ‘embassy’ in Russia

An American citizen spearheading the California secessionist movement said he'll open an embassy in Moscow this weekend as his separatist campaign looks toward Russia for recognition.

December 17, 2016

Kurt Eichenwald, epileptic Newsweek reporter, says Twitter user gave him a seizure

Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald threatened legal action Friday against a Twitter user he accused of causing him to have an epileptic seizure.

December 17, 2016

Sen. Lindsey Graham accuses ‘weak’ Obama of letting Russia pull off pre-election hack

President Obama all but blamed his Russian counterpart Friday for orchestrating a campaign of computer hacks directed against the U.S. political system prior to last month's general election, and said he personally told Vladimir Putin to stop the assault in September -- a remark which spurred criticism afterwards from one of the Kremlin's biggest critics on Capitol Hill, Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican.

December 17, 2016

Yahoo breach exposed details of 150,000 government, military workers: Report

Included among the more than 1 billion Yahoo accounts compromised by a 2013 security breach disclosed Wednesday were those of at least 150,000 U.S. government and military employees, according to a researcher who first discovered the stolen data being sold online.

December 15, 2016