Facebook takes down 652 accounts linked to Russia, Iran
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Facebook has identified and banned more accounts engaged in misleading political behavior ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.
The social network said Tuesday that it had removed 652 pages, groups, and accounts linked to Russia and, unexpectedly, Iran, for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” that included the sharing of political material.
Facebook has significantly stepped up policing of its platform since last year, when it acknowledged that Russian agents successfully ran political influence operations on Facebook aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential election.
The social network said it had not concluded its review of the material and declined to say how or why the state-backed actors were behaving the way they did. But it said it has informed the U.S. and U.K. governments as well as informed the U.S. Treasury and State departments because of ongoing sanctions against Iran.
“There’s a lot we don’t know yet,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a hastily called conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Computer system glitch halts trains to and from Amsterdam
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Almost all trains in and around Amsterdam and its busy airport have been halted by a problem with one of the rail operator’s traffic management systems, stranding thousands of passengers.
The system crashed at the end of Tuesday afternoon and again later in the evening after the initial problem had been solved.
Long queues have formed for buses and taxis at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and trains operator NS gave out free tea and coffee to passengers stuck at the Dutch capital’s stations.
NS is appealing to passengers to find other ways of getting to their destination and to postpone any planned train journeys.
NS says it is not clear when the problem will be solved and trains will resume running.
Search called off in Italy gorge flood that killed 10
MILAN — Italy’s environmental minister on Tuesday urged prosecutors to look at possible criminal responsibility and administrative lapses that may have contributed to the deaths of 10 people swept away by a flash flood as they hiked through a narrow gorge in the southern region of Calabria.
Rescue workers saved 34 people Monday after a torrent about 2 ½ meters (8 feet) deep filled the narrow Raganello Gorge, which features rock faces as high as 700 meters (2,300 feet) inside the vast Pollino National Park. Of those, 11 were hospitalized, including at least four children — several of whom lost either one or both of their parents.
Three people who had been listed as missing had changed plans and were located elsewhere, and officials called off the search for any further possible victims.
“Italy is tired of crying for the dead. Enough,” environment minister Sergio Costa said during a visit to the scene. “If what happened is the result of negligence, sloppiness or a lack of awareness of the risks, we are facing a serious situation that we need to get to the bottom of.”
The tragedy came six days after a highway bridge collapse in the northern port city of Genoa killed 43 people.
Italian prosecutors on Tuesday opened a criminal investigation into the gorge deaths, and the government has asked for a separate administrative proceeding to determine if there were lapses that contributed to the deaths.
Rapper Post Malone’s jet blows 2 tires but then lands safely
NEWBURGH, N.Y. — A private jet carrying rapper Post Malone blew two tires during takeoff at a small New Jersey airport on Tuesday but made a safe emergency landing hours later in upstate New York, prompting the rapper to thank fans who prayed for him and diss those who “wished death” on him while he was in the air.
The face-tattooed singer/rapper, who had been headed to England, tweeted, “i landed guys.”
“Oh, my God, I hate flying in general. I don’t even know what to say, man. I’m shook,” he told the celebrity website TMZ on Facetime. “There was one hell of a team on that aircraft, and we’re here, we’re here on earth, and I need a beer, and I need some wine, at the same time, mixed together.”
The plane had 16 people on board when it left Teterboro Airport on Tuesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Fans gathered at New York Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of New York City, after hearing the rapper was on board, and they cheered when the plane landed just before 4 p.m. The rapper was scheduled to perform at the Reading and Leeds Festival in England over the weekend, according to his website’s tour schedule.
