AP-Newswatch

Efforts by Russia, Iran and China to sway US voters may escalate, new Microsoft report says

NEW YORK (AP) — A new threat intelligence report from Microsoft says foreign adversaries have showed continued determination to influence the U.S. election and there are signs their activity will intensify as Election Day nears. The company said Wednesday that Russian operatives are doubling down on fake videos to smear Kamala Harris’ campaign, while Chinese-linked social media campaigns are maligning down-ballot candidates who are critical of China. Microsoft says Iranian actors who allegedly sent emails aimed at intimidating U.S. voters in 2020 have been surveying election-related websites and major media outlets. Russia, China and Iran have all rejected claims that they are seeking to meddle with the U.S. election.

What to know about E. coli and the McDonald’s outbreak

A food poisoning outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders was caused by a common type of E. coli bacteria that can cause serious illness and death. Particularly vulnerable are young children, older people or those with weakened immune systems. About 50 people have fallen ill in the outbreak, and one has died. Their ages range from 13 to 88. The bacteria are common in the environment, including water, food and in the intestines of animals and humans. Symptoms typically occur within two days of eating tainted food and include fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. says 3,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be “fair game” if they go into combat in Ukraine. The deployment raises the potential for the North Koreans to join Russian forces in Ukraine and suggests expanded military ties between the two nations as Moscow seeks weapons and troops to gain ground in a grinding war that has stalemated after more than two years. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave the first public U.S. confirmation of North Korea sending troops to Russia — a development that South Korean officials disclosed but was denied by Pyongyang and Moscow.

Israeli strikes pound Lebanese coastal city after residents evacuate

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli jets have struck multiple buildings in Lebanon’s southern coastal city of Tyre, sending large clouds of black smoke into the air. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike on the nearby town of Maarakeh killed three people. There were no reports of casualties in Tyre, where the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings prior to the strikes. Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, including two that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv before being intercepted. Meanwhile, Hezbollah confirmed that Hashem Safieddine, a top official widely expected to be the militant group’s next leader, had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Boeing reports $6 billion quarterly loss as striking workers vote whether to accept contract offer

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing has reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion while waiting to see if striking factory workers will accept the company’s latest contract offer. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers are voting Wednesday in the Seattle area and elsewhere on a contract that includes pay raises of 35% over four years. Their strike since mid-September has crippled Boeing’s airplane production for nearly six weeks. It’s also served as a test for the CEO who took over at the company in August. In his first remarks to investors, Kelly Ortberg presented his plan to turn the company around after years of heavy losses and damage to the aerospace giant’s reputation.

Sensational mass trial shines a dark light on rape culture in France

AVIGNON, France (AP) — The sensational trial of 50 men accused of raping an unwitting and unconscious French woman who was repeatedly drugged by her husband has exposed what critics say is a dark rape culture in the country. The defendants include grandfathers, fathers, husbands, retirees and young workers who represent a virtual cross-section of society. The trial, which started Sept. 2 and isn’t expected to conclude until December, has exposed how pornography, chatrooms and men’s disdain for or hazy understanding of consent is fueling rape culture. The horror isn’t simply that Dominique Pelicot, in his own words, arranged for men to rape his wife, it’s that he also had no difficulty finding dozens of them to take part.

Fernando Valenzuela, Mexican-born pitcher whose feats for Dodgers fueled ‘Fernandomania,’ dies at 63

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching ace who inspired “Fernandomania” in the early 1980s, has died. He was 63. The Mexican-born phenom won the National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, when he helped the Dodgers win the World Series. His death comes as the Dodgers are preparing to open the World Series on Friday night at home against the New York Yankees. Valenzuela had left his job on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast in September without explanation. He was reported to have been hospitalized earlier this month. He was one of the most dominant players of his era and a wildly popular sports figure in the 1980s.