Lockdown lifted at US naval base in Italy after ‘security incident’
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(LONDON) — A U.S. naval base in Italy was briefly placed on lockdown on Wednesday due to an “security incident,” officials said.
Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily said its shelter-in-place order was cleared at about 11:25 a.m., more than 3 hours after it first posted about an “ongoing situation” at an entry control point.
“We are grateful to our Navy Security Force personnel for their quick response,” the base said, without offering details on the nature of the incident.
The base said in an earlier social media post that a “lockdown/shelter-in-place remains in effect.” Traffic into and out of the base had been “secured” at that time, but was later reopened, the base said.
Signolla supports dozens of U.S. military commands from several branches, including the Navy, Army, Marine Corp and Air Force. NATO commands are also supported by the base.
The air base has been in operation since 1957 and covers some 1,300 acres over four main sites.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — DeepSeek, the explosive new artificial intelligence, tool that took the world by storm, has code hidden in its programming which has the built-in capability to send user data directly to the Chinese government, experts told ABC News.
DeepSeek caught Wall Street off guard last week when it announced it had developed its AI model for far less money than its American competitors, like OpenAI, which have invested billions. But the potential risk DeepSeek poses to national security may be more acute than previously feared because of a potential open door between DeepSeek and the Chinese government, according to cybersecurity experts.
Of late, Americans have been concerned about Byte Dance, the China-based company behind TikTok, which is required under Chinese law to share the data it collects with the Chinese government.
With DeepSeek, there’s actually the possibility of a direct path to the PRC hidden in its code, Ivan Tsarynny, CEO of Feroot Security, an Ontario-based cybersecurity firm focused on customer data protection, told ABC News.
“We see direct links to servers and to companies in China that are under control of the Chinese government. And this is something that we have never seen in the past,” Tsarynny said.
Users who register or log in to DeepSeek may unknowingly be creating accounts in China, making their identities, search queries, and online behavior visible to Chinese state systems.
Tsarynny says he used AI software to decrypt portions of DeepSeek’s code and found what appeared to be intentionally hidden programming that has the capability to send user data to one website: CMPassport.com, the online registry for China Mobile, a telecommunications company owned and operated by the Chinese government.
China Mobile was banned from operating in the U.S. by the FCC in 2019 due to concerns that “unauthorized access to customer…data could create irreparable damage to U.S. national security.” It was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 and added to the FCC’s list of national security threats in 2022.
John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis for the Department of Homeland Security, said DeepSeek is a most blatant example of suspected surveillance by the Chinese government.
“China Mobile is part of a growing list of Chinese-based technology companies that have been determined to pose a risk to U.S. national security,” Cohen said .
“National security officials always suspect that technology sold by a Chinese-based company has a backdoor making that data accessible to the Chinese government. In this case, the back door’s been discovered, it’s been opened, and that’s alarming.”
“It’s alarming to say the least,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC News.
“I think we should ban DeepSeek from all government devices immediately. No one should be allowed to download it onto their device. And I think we have to inform the public,” Gottheimer said.
DeepSeek’s terms of service specify that they “shall be governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China.”
DeepSeek’s privacy policy discloses that they collect all kinds of data including chat and search query history, keystroke patterns, IP addresses, and activity from other apps.
However, experts say it’s impossible to know what of this data DeepSeek is potentially sending to China Mobile.
Tsarynny’s analysis found that DeepSeek’s web tool creates a digital “fingerprint” for each unique user, which has the capability to track users’ activity not only while they use DeepSeek’s website, but all web activity going forward.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said the possibility of covert collection of DeepSeek user data by the Chinese government is “very disturbing.”
“I think there’s absolutely the intention by the CCP to collect data of Americans and user data worldwide,” Krishnamoorthi told ABC News. “This pattern of data collection is really familiar to people who study the use of CCP controlled-company apps and you use those apps at your own risk.”
DeepSeek, its hedge fund founder High-Flyer, and China Mobile did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
(SEOUL) — The final four minutes of flight recordings before a Jeju Air flight crashed into an embankment at the end of a runway in South Korea are missing, a preliminary report into the investigation of the crash that left 179 people dead said.
Recordings from both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are missing, according to the report released Monday.
The crash occurred at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024. There were a total of 175 passengers and six crew members aboard the Boeing 737, which had taken off from Bangkok, Thailand.
There were two survivors of the crash, both crew members, one man and one woman, according to officials at the time.
The preliminary report into the deadly crash was released on Monday by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board.
Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder recordings from the flight stopped minutes before the airplane hit the concrete structure, or embankment, at the end of the runway at the Muan International Airport, according to the report.
The last four minutes and seven seconds of the recordings before the plane crashed are missing, the preliminary report stated.
Right before the end of the recording, the air traffic control tower advised the airplane to be “cautious of bird activity” at 08:57:50, the preliminary report says.
The CVR and FDR recordings stopped at 08:58:50. The airplane hit the embankment at 09:02:57, the report says.
The pilots of the Jeju Air flight identified a group of birds while approaching the runway and “during a go-around” and feathers and bird blood stains were found on both of the engines of the plane, the preliminary report said.
“Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) will tear down the engines, examine components in depth, analyze CVR/FDR and ATC data, and investigate the embankment, localizers, and bird strike evidence. These all-out investigation activities aim to determine the accurate cause of the accident,” the preliminary report said.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
DECEMBER 30: Palestinians taking shelter in tent camps are battling harsh weather conditions as heavy rainfall has flooded their tents on December 30, 2024 in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. The ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza are worsen by the severe storms, which have led to widespread flooding in the camps where thousands have sought shelter. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Israel intercepts missile from Yemen, threatens Houthi leaders
A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by Israeli air forces, the Israel Defense Forces said in a Monday night statement, amid continued Israeli and Houthi long-range attacks.
Sirens sounded “due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception,” the IDF said.
The latest missile launch came shortly after Danny Danon — Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations — said Israelis “have had enough” of attacks from the Houthis in Yemen, ongoing since October 2023 in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Israel will not stand by waiting for the world to act,” Danon said.
Addressing the Houthi leadership, he added, “Let me remind you what happened to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to [former Syrian President Bashar] Assad and to all those who thought to destroy us.”
“This is not a threat, it is a promise,” Danon said. “You will share the same miserable fate.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Dana Savir and Ellie Kaufman
Ukraine foreign minister meets Syrian leader in Damascus
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa — also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
Sybiha became the latest foreign representative to meet with Sharaa in Damascus, where the latter’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces and their allies are establishing a transitional government having toppled former President Bashar Assad.
Sybiha wrote on X that he “personally conveyed the message” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We are with you and ready to assist in restoring normal life, stability and food security,” Sybiha said.
“We rely on the new Syria respecting international law, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added. “This will pave the way to fully restoring our diplomatic ties, political dialogue and diplomatic presence. We are ready to develop cooperation in a number of areas.”
The visit came days after Zelenskyy announced Kyiv’s dispatch of 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria as part of the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian program in cooperation with the World Food Program.
Gaza hospitals become ‘battlegrounds,’ WHO chief says
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said early Monday that Gaza’s beleaguered hospitals “have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.”
Ghebreyesus said the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahia “is out of service,” following an Israeli raid which itself came after several weeks of encirclement and bombardment.
Israeli forces raided the compound on Friday, forcibly evacuating all remaining patients and staff. The Israel Defense Forces said it detained 240 alleged militants, among them hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya. The IDF said the hospital was a “command center” for Hamas “military operations” in the surrounding area.
Ghebreyesus said Safiya’s “whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release.”
Kamal Adwan patients were transferred to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, both of which have also reported repeated Israeli attacks. The latter “is itself out of function,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remain at the severely damaged Indonesian Hospital, which has no ability to provide care,” he added.
Four patients were detained by the IDF during their transfer out of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the WHO chief said.
Two other facilities — the Al-Ahli Hospital and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City — were also attacked and sustained damage on Monday, Ghebreyesus said.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals,” he wrote. “People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!”
Family of Gaza hospital director asks international community to help find him
The family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, is pleading with the international community to help learn his whereabouts, alleging he was detained by Israeli forces during a recent raid on the medical facility.
The family posted a message on Abu Safiya’s official Instagram page, on which the doctor had been posting updates about the hospital’s functioning, pleading, “We do not know the fate of our father.”
“We appeal to every compassionate individual and all international organizations and institutions to take action,” said the family, asking the international community to apply media pressure and make appeals to “help us push for his swift release from captivity.”
The message said Abu Safiya is still recovering from injuries he suffered a month ago while working at the hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement released on Saturday that Abu Safiya is suspected of being a Hamas terrorist and is being held in Gaza.
Abu Safiya had not been arrested in previous IDF raids of the hospital.
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini and Nadine Shubailat
IDF issues statement on Kamal Adwan Hospital raid
The IDF released a statement outlining their operations in and around Kamal Adwan Hospital in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said the hospital was a “command center” for Hamas “military operations in Jabaliya,” although the statement and attached media do not provide corroborating evidence of this.
The statement says the IDF faced heavy fighting in areas near the hospital, and says the IDF detained 240 terrorists, including the director of the hospital, Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, whom it says is is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.”
Abu Safiya was one of the only male staff members at the hospital not detained during the IDF’s raid of the hospital in October, and he would have helped coordinate numerous resupply and patient evacuations with Israel over the last several months.
Kamal Adwan is the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza and is operating at a limited capacity due to a lack of medical supplies and the repeated attacks on the hospital.
