An ex-Army employee that had top-secret clearance has been charged with leaking classified information, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). In a Wednesday press release, the DOJ said that 40-year-old Courtney Williams of North Carolina was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday. Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday regarding “her… Source link
Gas burners can leak pollutants into homes Maria Kray/Shutterstock Many people in Europe may be exposed to dangerous chemicals as a result of slow leaks from gas cookers or ovens. Nearly 10 per cent of homes tested in the UK, Netherlands and Italy had leaks large enough to exceed exposure limits for the cancer-causing chemical benzene. “It’s akin to living with a smoker,” says Drew Michanowicz at the research institute PSE Healthy Energy in Oakland, California. “Secondhand smoke creates a similar level of benzene indoors.” Besides methane, natural gas can contain many volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some are known to be harmful, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and hexane. Benzene is the main concern as it can trigger cancers, especially leukaemia, suppress the immune system and cause anaemia and excessive bleeding. Previous studies have found high levels of benzene in natural gas from the North Sea and the Netherlands, but it hasn’t been clear what levels people are exposed to. So Michanowicz’s team first collected samples of gas from cookers in 72 homes in the …
Joe Kent, the former counterterrorism director who resigned this week in protest of the Iran war, on Friday denied allegations that he improperly shared classified information. The Associated Press reported that the FBI is investigating whether Kent leaked such information, citing someone familiar with the matter. The person said the investigation preceded his resignation on Tuesday. No additional details were available. “As for the leak allegations, I’m not concerned because I know I did nothing wrong,” Kent said on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.” He suggested he was targeted because he spoke out. “I am concerned because we’ve all seen the FBI and the full weight of the government come down on individuals who speak out,” Kent said. The Justice Department has undertaken several probes into perceived political foes of President Donald Trump, including former FBI Director James Comey, although prosecutors have struggled to make charges stick. Kent, the director of the U.S. government’s National Counterterrorism Center, stepped down Tuesday saying he “cannot in good conscience” support the Trump administration’s war in Iran. “Iran posed …
Police are investigating allegations of misconduct in public office after Lord Mandelson was accused of leaking sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. It comes after emails appeared to show conversations between the pair about political matters while the former was serving as business secretary, and the de-facto deputy prime minister in 2009, in Gordon Brown’s government. Tap here for the latest on the Epstein files The emails prompted calls for police to investigate, while Sir Keir Starmer has urged the former Labour cabinet minister to quit the House of Lords. Lord Mandelson has not responded to the latest allegations. However, in an interview with The Times carried out last week but published on Monday, he referred to a “handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending”, and described Epstein as “muck that you can’t get off your shoe”. In the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the US Justice Department, emails appear to show Mandelson giving the paedophile financier advance notice of a €500bn EU bank bailout in 2010. Mandelson was …
Two reasons many people switch to smart home products, such as lightbulbs and thermostats, are the promise of convenience and savings. I’d argue that, at least on the first point, that’s correct. Unfortunately, my experience is that they don’t necessarily save the average homeowner any money unless key changes are made. There are several ways smart products can actually waste your hard-earned money. Luckily, you can fix the five biggest money leaks with quick settings or habit changes. Related The Easy Fixes That Slashed My Home Energy Bill Use these energy-saving strategies to lower energy costs. Beware the energy vampires Why “Standby” is costing you more than you think Credit: Bryan M. Wolfe / MakeUseOf Products like smart TVs, game consoles, chargers, hubs, speakers, and set-top boxes have built-in standby modes. In some respects, this design is intended to save energy while still enabling the device to wake quickly, listen for commands, and run background tasks such as updates and notifications. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. These devices still consume power, and this consumption will …
Researchers at Göttingen University have uncovered new evidence that some of Earth’s most precious metals began their journey far deeper than once thought. Working with volcanic rocks from ocean islands, the team shows that gold and related metals can leak from Earth’s core, move through the mantle, and eventually reach the crust. The study, published in Nature, was led by geochemists Nils Messling and Matthias Willbold. Their work focuses on tiny chemical differences locked inside volcanic rocks formed far below the surface. These differences help trace where the material came from and how it moved through the planet. “When the first results came in, we realized that we had literally struck gold!” Messling said. “Our data confirmed that material from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into the Earth’s mantle above.” Researchers from Göttingen found tiny traces of the precious metal Ruthenium with an anomalous isotopic composition in lavas from Hawaii. The new findings prove that the Earth’s core is leaking metallic material, including gold and other precious metals. (CREDIT: United …
