The US Treasury Department said Monday Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into its systems earlier this month. In a letter informing lawmakers of the breach, the department said Chinese hackers remotely accessed Treasury workstations and stole unclassified documents. The hack is being treated as a "major cybersecurity incident." What do we know about the breach? The department did not say how many workstations were accessed or what documents the hackers might have taken. However, it informed lawmakers that a Chinese state-sponsored group compromised BeyondTrust, a third-party software provider, and accessed the Treasury workstations. "There is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information," the department's spokesperson said. The department said it was working with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to assess the exact scope of the hack. Chinese cyberattacks against governments Several countries, notably the US, have expressed concern over alleged hacking activities linked to the Chinese government in recent years. Beijing has denied these accusations, saying it opposes and actively combats all forms of cyberattacks.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, who served in the White House from 1977 to 1981, died on Sunday. He was 100. Carter died "peacefully" at his home in Plains, "surrounded by his family," The Carter Center said in a statement.  The former US president died Sunday afternoon at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, spent most of their lives. He had been in hospice care for almost two years. “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” his son, Chip Carter said. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.” First US president to live to be a 100 years old Carter lived longer after his term in office than any other US president. His term is mostly remembered for historic moments in the Middle East. Those include brokering the 1978 Camp David Peace accords between Egypt and Israel which led to the historic peace treaty between the two countries in 1979.  He was also president when the US negotiated the release of 52 staff members held at the US embassy in Tehran, who were held hostage after the 1979 Islamic Revolution for 444 days. As he was campaigning for the 1980 US presidential election, a US rescue mission for the hostages failed in April, with eight Americans dying. This proved to be a turning point and is often seen as a critical reason for his landslide defeat to Ronald Reagan. The hostages were released minutes after Reagan's inauguration in 1981. After failing to win a second term in office, Carter set up in 1982 The Carter Center, which he aimed to focus on international peacemaking, championing democracy, public health and human rights. Peanut farmer-turned-president Carter was the first US president to be born in a hospital, on October 1, 1924, to a nurse and an owner of a general store. After a childhood marked by the Great Depression, he attended the Naval Academy and fell in love with his sister's friend Rosalynn Smith. The Carters married in 1946 and were together for 77 years, until Rosalynn died in November 2023 at the age of 96. Carter was relatively unknown outside of Georgia when he secured the Democratic nomination, and later the presidency, in 1976. He promoted moderately progressive policies during his single term, which was also marred by economic malaise and the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, the year he lost his second presidential run to Ronald Reagan. Carter became best known for defining the concept of the "post-presidency." Alongside his wife, he worked to promote humanitarian causes around the world and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Legacy beyond presidency Carter's continuous diplomacy efforts long outlived his stint at the White House. He once said, no longer encumbered by the Washington order, that he went "where others are not treading." "I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don't," Carter said. He was openly critical of former President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized the US approach to Israel and in 2006 released the book: "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Carter also repeatedly argued that North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position which long went against the official US line. His 2002 Nobel Peace Prize crowned what the committee called his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."  The chairman even argued it was a couple of decades too late, adding he should have won it alongside former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who both won the prize in 1978 over the Carter-mediated Camp David Accords.

President-elect Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court on Friday to delay a law that would ban TikTok or force its sale by its Chinese owner ByteDance. The law, set to take effect on January 19 — one day before Trump's inauguration — requires ByteDance to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban. Trump's legal team asked the court to allow the incoming administration the time "to pursue a political resolution." President Joe Biden signed the law in April in a bid to address TikTok's potential national security risks, including its ties to China. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on January 10. Trump finds 'a warm spot' for TikTok Trump's latest stance marks a reversal from his first term when he sought to ban the app over national security concerns. US officials then had voiced concern over the popularity of the video-sharing app with young people. Last week, Trump said TikTok has a "a warm spot" in his heart for helping him connect with young voters, just ahead of his meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Concerns over China's access to US data TikTok, which has over 170 million US users, and its parent company have sought to have the law struck down arguing that the legislation violates US First Amendment rights. If the court does not rule in their favor, the app could be effectively banned in the US on January 19, one day before Trump takes office. Officials claim Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to share data on US users or manipulate the spread of information. However, the platform has denied sharing data with Chinese officials. TikTok's legal filing points out that the US government "concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so," adding that the concerns are based solely on probable future risks. Meanwhile, free-speech advocates told the Supreme Court on Friday that the law banning TikTok evokes the censorship regimes put in place by the United States' authoritarian enemies.

Greenland on Monday said it was "not for sale" after US President-elect Donald Trump suggested that Washington purchase the island. "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale," Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a statement. What did Trump say about Greenland? In an statement on Sunday announcing Washington's new ambassador to Denmark, Trump said, "for purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." In response, the office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it looked forward to working with Trump's administration while stressing that Greenland is not for sale. Denmark's government is "looking forward to welcoming the new American Ambassador [and] looking forward to working with the new administration." "In a complex security political situation as the one we currently experience, transatlantic cooperation is crucial," the statement said, adding that Greenland is "not for sale" but "open for cooperation." Greenland is the world's largest island and an autonomous territory of Denmark. It has a population of around 55,000. In 2019, during his first term as president, Trump cancelled a trip to Denmark after the country said Greenland was not for sale. Trump says US could retake control of Panama Canal Over the weekend, Trump also suggested that the United States could retake control of the Panama Canal if shipping fees are not brought down. "Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform. The United States largely built the Panama Canal and administered its territory for decades before transferring complete control to Panama in 1999. He also warned against Chinese influence in Panama.

Former US President Bill Clinton was admitted to a hospital in Washington D.C. on Monday afternoon for "testing and observation,” after he developed a fever. The 78-year-old was hospitalized in the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Local news reported that it was not an emergency situation. "He remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he is receiving," Angel Urena, Clinton's deputy chief of staff, said in a statement on social media platform X.  Clinton served two terms as the 42nd president from 1993 to 2001. More recently, he addressed the Democratic National Convention while campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris's bid for the White House. Clinton's health scares The ex-president has had a number of health issues since his time in office. Clinton underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 after experiencing continuous chest pains and returned to the hospital for a partially collapsed lung in 2005. In 2010, he had stents implanted in his coronary artery but his health improved after he embraced a largely vegan diet. In 2021, the former president was hospitalized again for an infection which had spread to his bloodstream.