PARIS (AP) — A pro-Russian hacking group claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack that halted package deliveries by France’s national postal service just days before Christmas, prosecutors said Wednesday.
After the claim by the cybercrime group known as Noname057, French intelligence agency DGSI took over the investigation into the hacking attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The group has been accused of other cyberattacks in Europe, including around a NATO summit in the Netherlands and French government sites. It was the target of a big European police operation earlier this year.
Central computer systems at French national postal service La Poste were knocked offline Monday in a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, cyberattack that still wasn’t fully resolved by Wednesday morning, the company said.
Postal workers couldn’t track package deliveries, and online payments at the company’s banking arm were also disrupted. It was a major blow to La Poste, which delivered 2.6 billion packages last year and employs more than 200,000 people, during the busiest season of the year.
France and other European allies of Ukraine allege that Russia is waging a campaign of “hybrid warfare” to sow division in Western societies and undermine their support for Ukraine. The AP has tracked more than 145 incidents including sabotage, assassinations, cyberattacks, disinformation and other hostile acts that are increasingly draining police resources.
A postal delivery man leaves a post office, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
FILE - A general view of France's national postal service, La Poste, in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Bertrand Combaldieu, File)
Hilary Knight is heading to the PWHL’s expansion team in Detroit as part of a sign-and-trade deal involving one of women's hockey’s most recognized stars, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person said Knight will first sign a foundational contract with Las Vegas as part of Phase 2 of the league’s expansion signing process. Las Vegas in turn has reached an agreement to trade Knight to Detroit for the team’s first-round pick in the draft next week, the person added.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the trade. The deal won’t become official until the PWHL’s trade freeze lifts on June 16, a day before the draft.
The 36-year-old Knight is a five-time U.S. Olympian and one of the most decorated players in her sport. She is coming off captaining Team USA to a gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games in February, in which Knight deflected in the championship game-tying goal late in the third period of a 2-1 overtime win against Canada.
Though Knight said the Olympics in Milan would be her last, she planned on continuing her pro career.
Knight is on the move for a second straight PWHL offseason. After spending her first two PWHL seasons in Boston, she left the Fleet to sign with the expansion Seattle Torrent to be closer to her offseason home in Idaho.
Now, it’ll be the Chicago-area town where she grew up that she’s closer to.
As much as Knight and the Torrent would have preferred she remain in Seattle, the team under the expansion rules was restricted to protecting three players. The Torrent chose to protect forward Alex Carpenter, defender Anna Wilgren and goalie Hannah Murphy.
Knight at least gets the benefit of signing a foundational offer, which guarantees her at least $100,000 per season. She made $106,090 last year.
Each of the PWHL’s four expansion teams were allowed one foundational contract offer. Las Vegas still had its foundational slot open, while Detroit used its offer to sign Toronto forward Daryl Watts last week.
Las Vegas, meanwhile, lands an additional first-round pick in a draft class stocked with young talent and led by five U.S. national team members, including defender Caroline Harvey and defender/forward Laila Edwards. The PWHL has yet to set the draft order, with the exception of Vancouver picking first.
Knight counts toward one of the five players Las Vegas must add in this expansion phase, which closes on Monday. The team filled its final two slots by signing Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire teammates forward Hayley Scamurra, a two-time U.S. Olympian, and defender Erin Ambrose, a two-time Canadian Olympian.
San Jose rounded out its initial five-player roster by signing New York forward Maddi Wheeler to a two-year contract. Wheeler is the third Sirens player to join the team, joining Anne Cherkowski and Kristin O’Neill.
Phase 2 of the expansion process closed with Vancouver not losing a player, and Boston losing just one, with forward Alina Muller signing with Hamilton.
In Detroit, Knight joins a team that already features three U.S. gold medal-winning teammates in forwards Britta Curl-Salemme, Hannah Bilka and defender Cayla Barnes, who were signed in the expansion process. She also is reunited with newly hired Detroit coach Josh Sciba, who was an assistant on the U.S. Olympic team.
And Knight joins a team headed by one of women's hockey's trailblazers in GM Manon Rheaume. The 54-year-old Rheaume was a goaltender, and the first woman to appear in an exhibition game of any of North America’s four major sports.
Earlier in the day, Detroit filled its fifth expansion spot by signing Toronto forward Jesse Compher to a three-year contract. Compher won a silver medal representing the U.S. at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Knight finished last season with five goals and 14 points in 22 games, while missing the final two months of the season with a lower-body injury. A year earlier, she finished tied for the league lead with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists). Overall, she ranks 12th in the PWHL with 54 career points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 76 games.
The trade caps an eventful stretch for Knight. A day before winning gold, she became engaged to American speedskater Brittany Bowe. Her goal against Canada was her 15th and 33rd point of her Olympic career, U.S. records for both categories.
In 2024, Knight was the International Ice Hockey Federation's female player of the year. She has won two Olympic gold and three silver medals since making her Team USA debut at the 2007 world championships. She has won 10 gold medals at worlds and holds the career tournament records for goals (67), assists (53) and points (120).
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
FILE - Seattle Torrent's Hilary Knight (21) waits for a face off against the Vancouver Goldeneyes during the second period of a PWHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP,File)
