Transcript
Alexa Weibel (0:00)
Hi, it's Alexa Weibel from New York Times Cooking. We've got tons of easy weeknight recipes and today I'm making my five ingredient creamy miso pasta. You just take your starchy pasta water, whisk it together with a little bit of miso and butter until it's creamy, add your noodles and a little bit of cheese.
Tracy Mumford (0:17)
Hmm.
Alexa Weibel (0:18)
It's like a grown up box of Mac and cheese that feels like a restaurant quality dish. New York Times Cooking has you covered with easy dishes for busy weeknights. You can find more@nytcooking.com.
Tracy Mumford (0:33)
From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, December 31st. Here's what we're covering. The U.S. treasury Department says it was hacked by a Chinese intelligence agency, calling it a major cybersecurity incident. In a letter to lawmakers yesterday, the department said it learned about the incident earlier this month. The hackers were able to get remote access to some employees, computers and unclassified documents. It's not clear what they did with that access, but senior U.S. officials tell the Times it appears to be an espionage operation. The Treasury Department keeps sensitive data about global financial systems, including estimates about China's own economy, which has been struggling. It also implements sanctions, including against some Chinese firms who are helping Russia in its war against Ukraine. Chinese officials have long denied any government role in hacking, but the treasury breach is the latest in a series of incidents that the US Says China is behind in. One of the most far reaching and damaging of those incidents, a Chinese intelligence group hacked into US Telecom firms this year, getting access to text messages and phone conversations. Investigators say phone lines used by Donald Trump, J.D. vance and others were targeted, though it's not clear what, if anything, hackers were able to monitor beyond data collection. There's been a Chinese effort to insert malicious code into US Utility grids and water supply systems, potentially giving hackers the capability to shut off critical infrastructure. The Treasury Department said it's working with the FBI and other investigators to determine the full impact of the latest breach. Yesterday, a man who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay since the day the US Military prison opened was sent home. Rida bin Saleh Yazidi was captured along with a group of other men on the Afghanistan Pakistan border in December of 2001. Some of them were suspected of being bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. Yazidi was sent to Guantanamo Bay the next month and spent almost 23 years there without ever being charged with a crime. He was approved for transfer back to his home country of Tunisia more than a decade ago. But the deal got caught up in bureaucratic red tape, and Yazidi didn't want to meet with other countries that might have taken him in. His repatriation is part of a final push by the White House to follow through on an Obama era promise to close Guantanamo. It's now clear, though, that that won't happen in this administration. There are still 26 detainees left at the prison. Meanwhile, a plea deal with the most high profile remaining prisoner at Guantanamo appears to be moving forward. Earlier this year, senior Pentagon officials said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused Mastermind of the September 11 attacks, would plead guilty to conspiracy and murder charges in exchange for a life sentence instead of a death penalty trial. The secretary of defense stepped in to try and block the deal, saying he alone should be responsible for that kind of decision. But yesterday, an appeals panel at the Pentagon ruled the deal is valid, clearing the way for a guilty plea hearing next week. In Ecuador, the country is in the grips of an extreme energy crisis, and my colleague Julie Turkowitz has been covering the blackouts that have become a near constant reality.