Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Now Yahoo accounts hacked in China

The Yahoo e-mail accounts of foreign journalists based in China and Taiwan have been hacked, according to a Beijing-based press association.Rival Google has been involved in a high-profile row with the Chinese government following similar cyber-attacks against Gmail accounts.he Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) has confirmed eight cases of Yahoo e-mail hacks in recent weeks.Yahoo said it condemned such cyber-attacks.But the FCCC accused Yahoo of failing to update users about the situation.

"Yahoo has not answered the FCCC's questions about the attacks, nor has it told individual mail users how the accounts were accessed," a spokesman told the news agency.Yahoo said in a statement that it was "committed to protecting user security and privacy".Clifford Coonan, a reporter for the Irish Times, told the AFP news agency that he had an error message when he logged into his Yahoo account this week.

"I don't know who's doing it, what happened. They (Yahoo) haven't given any information, but it seems to be happening to journalists and academics in China, so that's why it's a little suspicious," he said.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Ronaldo wants to maintan its Winning momentun

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo declared that los Merengues must beat Barcelona and win all of the rest of their games to claim the league title after they defeated Atletico Madrid 3-2 at the Bernabeu.Three goals in 15 second half minutes completed a rapid comeback for Madrid having trailed 1-0 at the break and although Diego Forlan converted a penalty, Madrid went on to win more comfortably than the score line suggested.

"We played very well and created many chances. We played with a great character and I'm happy," Ronaldo said afterwards, according to AS."With the attitude we have we can beat anybody, but we can't afford to go behind, if we score first it is hard to beat us."Many people think it [the Barcelona tie] will be key, but let's see, we have to beat Barcelona and win the rest of our games. You have to be consistent, because we have an obligation to do well at home."

Ricky Martin is a Gay


Martin, who has sold more than 60 million albums in a career spanning three decades, said on his website that he felt "blessed to be who he was".He added that he had kept his sexuality hidden so far because advisers had told him coming out could hurt his career.His biggest hit is Livin' La Vida Loca - a 1999 single that reached number one in more than 20 countries.Martin, who fathered two children with a surrogate mother two years ago, said on his website: "Today I have accepted my homosexuality as a gift that gives me life."He said his decision to write his memoirs had helped him to free "things that were too heavy to keep inside".Martin began his career in the 1980s with the Puerto Rican boy-band, Menudo.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Moscow hit by two consecutive terrorist attack

At least 37 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro trains in the morning rush hour, officials say.Twenty-four died in the first blast at 0756 (0356 GMT) as a train stood at the central Lubyanka station, beneath the offices of the FSB intelligence agency.About 40 minutes later, a second explosion ripped through a train at Park Kultury, leaving another 13 dead.The FSB said it was likely a group from the North Caucasus was responsible.The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says no group has yet said it carried out the attacks, but past suicide bombings in the capital have been carried out by or blamed on Islamist rebels fighting for independence in Chechnya.

In February, Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov said "the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia... the war is coming to their cities".At an emergency meeting with senior officials, President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to uphold the "policy of suppressing terror and the fight against terrorism"."We will continue operations against terrorists without compromises and to the end," he said.Federal security forces have scored a series of successes against militants in the North Caucasus in recent weeks. In February, at least 20 insurgents were killed in an operation by troops in Ingushetia.

Emergency services ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova said the first explosion tore through the second carriage of a train as it stood at Lubyanka at the peak of the rush hour.The station, on both the busy Sokolnicheskaya and Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines, lies beneath the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

"I was moving up on the escalator when I heard a loud bang, a blast. A door near the passage way arched, was ripped out and a cloud of dust came down on the escalator," an eyewitness named Alexei told Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"People started running, panicking, falling on each other," he said.The second blast at Park Kultury, which is six stops away from Lubyanka on the Sokolnicheskaya line, came at 0838 (0438 GMT). It struck at the back of the train as people were getting on board."I was in the middle of the train when somewhere in the first or second carriage there was a loud blast. I felt the vibrations reverberate through my body," one passenger told the RIA news agency.
"People were yelling like hell," he said. "There was a lot of smoke and within about two minutes everything was covered in smoke."More than 100 people were injured in the two attacks, 30 of them badly, officials said.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

US CreditCard Hacker Sentenced

Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez has been jailed for 20 years in the US for his part in stealing the details of more than 130m credit and debit cards.One judge described the crime as "the largest and most costly example of computer hacking in US history".

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to three cases of fraud at his trial last year.Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years for the first two cases on Thursday, and 20 years and one day on Friday for the third. The terms will run concurrently.The judge in the third case said he had to serve the extra 24 hours because the crime had been committed when he was working for the US Secret Service as an informant, reportedly receiving as much as $75,000 a year.

As part of a plea agreement, Gonzalez also agreed to hand over $1m that he had buried in his parents' garden, a condo in his hometown of Miami, a car, a diamond ring and several expensive watches.

Gonzalez was accused last August, along with two Russian co-conspirators, of hacking into the payment systems of retailers.They targeted more than 250 US companies including payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, food and drink store 7-Eleven and American supermarket Hannaford Brothers Co.

Gonzalez was found to have used SQL injection attacks to exploit weaknesses in payment software programmes and access data, stealing millions of customer card details.He blamed "curiosity and addiction" for his crimes.Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Department of Justice said that on a daily basis "cyber criminals try to steal the debit and credit card numbers of unsuspecting American consumers."

"These sentences - some of the longest ever imposed for hacking crimes - send a powerful message to hackers around the globe that US law enforcement will not allow them to breach American computer networks and payment systems, or illegally obtain identities."

Friday, March 26, 2010

BCCI announces 15 member Indian team for T20 world cup

Karnataka pacer R Vinay Kumar was, on Friday, rewarded for his consistent domestic performance as he was named in India's 15-member squad for Twenty20 World Cup starting in the West Indies next month.The 26-year-old Vinay Kumar, who has been impressive in the ongoing IPL, was the only new face in the squad to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Barring Vinay's inclusion and the recall of Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Chawla, there were no major surprises in the squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a selection panel meeting.Pacers Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and RP Singh, who were in the provisional 30-member list, failed to figure in the squad while spinners Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra also missed the bus.Delhi batsman Virat Kohli, who was in the ODI squad against South Africa last month, was also left out of the squad for the event to be held in the Caribbean from April 30 to May 16."We have selected the best team for the Twenty20 World Cup. We are happy with the performance of every member of the team. They have shown consistency," chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth said after picking the squad.

"The Twenty20 World Cup is still one month away and we hope that this team will do well in the event," he said.

Srikkanth also said as of now there is no worry. "Everyone is hundred per cent fit and all the fitness certificates have been submitted to the Board. All the members are fit and fine," he said.

Ashish Nehra, who has not played a single match in the ongoing IPL because of a rib cage injury, has been included in the squad with the selectors expecting the gangling paceman to be fully fit for the mega event.Vinay has forced his way into the team on the back of his consistent performance in domestic cricket, claiming 46 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. He has so far captured 202 wickets in 54 first class matches with eight for 32 his best figures.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Osama's new threat

World's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida will kill American soldiers if the self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed. "The day America will take such decision [to execute Khalid Mohamed and any others] it would have taken a decision to execute whoever we capture," Bin Laden said in the latest audio record, broadcast on Al-Jazeera.

He also said that US president Barack Obama was "following the footsteps of his predecessor", a reference to George Bush, the former US president. "The politicians in the White House were practicing injustice against us and still they are. Especially by supporting Israel in its continuous occupation of Palestine. "They used to think that America across the oceans is protected from the rage of the oppressed until our reaction was loudly heard at your home on the 9/11 with God's help," he said in the recording.

Osama's threat comes as Obama administration has announced it would try Khalid Mohammed and four other accused at a New York courthouse just steps from where the World Trade Centre once stood. Sheikh Mohammed and the other accused are detained at Guantanamo as they await trial over the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed close to 3,000 people, most in New York.
Osama bin Laden's last audio recording was released on January 24, earlier this year in which he claimed responsibility for alleged attempted attack on an airliner on Christmas Day and vowed there would be further attacks on the US unless Obama took steps to resolves the Palestinian situation.