UK Foreign Office Hacked
This photo is licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0b y the UK Government.
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The UK’s Foreign Office was hacked in a major cybersecurity incident forcing it to call in additional support with “extreme urgency” from its cybersecurity contractor BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, reports The Stack. The UK government’s online release of this information was accidental and has been removed, says BBC. Daily Mail reports BAE’s contract was concluded on January 12 this year, noting the time or amount of damage has not been confirmed, although it is not believed secret information was obtained by the hackers.
The busiest crossing on the US-Canada land border was blockaded Tuesday as the demonstrations against vaccine mandates that have paralyzed Canada’s capital spread to a crucial trade artery, while inspiring similar protests from Europe to Australia, reports The Washington Post.
A UH-60 Alpha-model Black Hawk helicopter flew for the first time entirely unmanned, reports Defense News. ALIAS is a cockpit automation system Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky and DARPA have been working on for roughly six years.
About 100 US service members have arrived in Romania to lay the groundwork for a follow-on deployment to reassure allies worried about potential Russian aggression, reports Stars and Stripes. President Joe Biden ordered 2,000 troops from Fort Bragg, NC, to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank; 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will work out of Poland; and another 300 soldiers will set up a task force headquarters in Germany.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies last week warning a Russian cyberattack could happen in response to US or NATO actions if Russia were to invade Ukraine, reports CBS Austin.
Out of a task force meant to bolster unions, the Biden administration recommends schools should hire cafeteria workers as full-time employees. This first report describes the measure as reducing labor shortages in the sector and empower another frontline group to bargain as a collective unit. President Biden may be rethinking the low-wage work that supported much of the economy pre-pandemic, says Business Insider. In recent months, low wages, unpredictable schedules, and a lack of benefits seem to have destabilized many service jobs as workers quit en masse in search of a better deal.
Maryland educational officials say more than a third of the state’s school systems may see a change in leadership this year. That echoes a national trend and potentially places Maryland’s turnover rate for superintendents at more than double the pre-pandemic national average, reports The Baltimore Sun.
White-tailed deer on Staten Island have become the first wild animals with documented omicron infections. The coronavirus has now been found in deer in 15 states, reports The New York Times.
A group of three Russian warships capable of landing tanks and troops ashore are in the Black Sea, as Russia amasses ships in the Mediterranean, reports USNI News. Three Ropucha-class tank landing ships – RFS Minsk (127), RFS Korolev (130) and RFS Kaliningrad (102) – entered the Black Sea, as seen in photos from ship spotter Yörük Işık. The same photographer recorded the ships entering the Dardanelles Strait on Tuesday morning.
US Africa Command’s GEN Stephen Townsend said that “the hand of Russia” may be present in a few of the recent coups the African continent has seen in the past year, reports Military Times.
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace is due to head to Moscow later this week as London cranks up its efforts to head off a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, reports Defense News.
The White House has added five new technology areas to its list of critical and emerging technologies — including hypersonic capabilities, directed energy, renewable energy generation, and storage, nuclear energy, and financial technology, reports C4ISRNET.
Long-awaited, bipartisan legislation overhauling the Postal Service’s finances and operations sailed through the House on Tuesday in a 342-92 vote, despite threats that the head of the Postal Service would tank Republican support, reports Politico. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it also enjoys considerable bipartisan support.
NASA has awarded a $194 million contract to Lockheed Martin to build a small rocket that will transport samples collected by the Mars’ Perseverance rover, reports Space News. The Mars Ascent Vehicle is an essential element of the overall Mars Sample Return campaign being developed by NASA and the European Space Agency.
Maryland Matters reports Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) declared on Tuesday that he will not run for the US Senate this year, ending persistent rumors that he will attempt to unseat Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D).
USS Montana, the Navy’s newest attack submarine, successfully completed its initial sea trials, operating off the Virginia coast last week. The sea trials included submerging for the first time. The sub also conducted high-speed maneuvers while on the surface and submerged, reports Daily Press.
The University of California system has reached a $243.6 million settlement with more than 200 people who allege they were sexually abused by former UCLA obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. James Heaps, according to a statement Tuesday from university officials and the plaintiffs’ attorneys, reports CNN.
