Syrian group hacks Skype

Syrian group hacks Skype
BBC’s Sherlock returns from the dead
Bump, Flock apps to be discontinued
Syria opposition says jihadists ‘serve regime interests’
Global fireworks party welcomes in 2014
Six killed as violence mars Philippine New Year celebrations

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 05:23 PM PST

The Syrian Electronic Army hacker group set its sights on Skype's social media accounts Wednesday to accuse Microsoft of spying on user data.

Microsoft-owned Skype's Twitter account displayed the message: "Don't use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments.More details soon #SEA."

It was posted around 1030 GMT but was removed less than two hours later.

Microsoft could not immediately be reached for comment.

The SEA account belongs to the Syrian Electronic Army, which backs the Damascus government.

In a posting on its own Twitter account, the SEA said "You can thank Microsoft for monitoring your accounts/emails using this details," and listed Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's contact information.

The group has previously hacked accounts of The New York Times, Agence France-Presse and other media organizations.

The SEA's latest attack appears to be linked to documents released by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, which revealed the PRISM surveillance program.

PRISM is said to give the NSA and FBI easy access to the systems of nine of the world's top Internet companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and Skype.

The program apparently allowed the NSA to spy on audio and video calls using so-called secret backdoors. Skype has denied the existence of such access.

Tech blogs said that at one point, the Skype blog had the headline: "Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army.. Stop Spying!"

Skype's Twitter account was also said to have posted the message: "Stop spying on people! via Syrian Electronic Army."

But links provided by the SEA's Twitter account to Skype's blog and Facebook account did not work, and no SEA message appeared on those sites around 0030 GMT, having apparently been removed.-AFP

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BBC’s Sherlock returns from the dead

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 05:21 PM PST

Benedict Cumberbatch made his long-awaited comeback as Sherlock Holmes on Wednesday, but the hit BBC series still left fans scratching their heads over how the super-sleuth managed to cheat death.

The show's creators teased fans by depicting some of the more far-fetched ways Holmes may have survived, in a nod to the speculation that has swept the Internet since he leapt from a rooftop a year ago in an apparent suicide bid.

The BBC series, starring Cumberbatch as a modern-day version of the 19th century British detective, has been broadcast in more than 200 countries since 2010.

When British Prime Minister David Cameron set up a page on China's Twitter-like website Weibo in November, one of the most popular questions he was asked was, "When is the third series of 'Sherlock' due for release?"

There were plenty of surprises for fans in the first episode of the new series, including a cameo appearance by Cumberbatch's own parents.

But some viewers complained that the storyline, centering on a terrorist plot to blow up the British parliament, was difficult to follow.

Fans delighted and disappointed alike flooded the Internet with comments and reactions.

The Times newspaper gave the episode four stars, but complained: "You wait two years to find out how Sherlock dunnit, and three solutions come along at once."

The series has helped both Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who plays his loyal sidekick Doctor Watson, to Hollywood stardom.

Freeman plays the eponymous "Hobbit" in the new movie trilogy.

Cumberbatch starred last year as the villain in the latest "Star Trek" film and as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in "The Fifth Estate". He also features in the latest instalment of "The Hobbit" as the voice of the dragon Smaug.-AFP

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Bump, Flock apps to be discontinued

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 05:14 PM PST

Smartphone file-sharing apps Bump and Flock have announced that they will be discontinued at the end of January.

US Internet giant Google bought the Bump Technologies startup behind the apps in September for a deal reportedly worth between $30 million and $60 million.

"We are now deeply focused on our new projects within Google, and we've decided to discontinue Bump and Flock," Bump co-founder and chief executive David Lieb wrote in a blog post late Tuesday.

On January 31, Bump and Flock will be removed from both the App Store and Google Play, after which neither app will work and all user data will be deleted.

Over the coming weeks, users can export their data by opening either app and following instructions. They will then receive an email with a link containing their photos, videos, contacts and other data.

Lieb thanked users for their feedback, enthusiasm and support over the years, saying it "brought much meaning to our work."

"In many ways, Bump was a revolutionary product that inspired many subsequent advances and helped push the world forward," Lieb wrote. "We hope our new creations at Google will do the same."

The Bump application lets smartphone users easily share data by gently knocking knuckles while holding devices.

Flock software taps into smartphone location-sensing technology to note when friends are in proximity of one another and lets them contribute to sets of photos reflecting shared experiences such as a concerts or sporting events.-AFP

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Syria opposition says jihadists ‘serve regime interests’

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 03:13 PM PST

Syria's opposition National Coalition on Wednesday accused an Al-Qaeda-linked group in the country of ties to the Syrian regime, saying it was serving the government's interests.

The criticism is the strongest yet by the coalition of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and comes after the group reportedly tortured and killed an opposition doctor in northern Syria.

"The Coalition believes that ISIL is closely linked to the terrorist regime and serves the interests of the clique of President Bashar al-Assad, directly or indirectly," it said in a statement.

"The murder of Syrians by this group leaves no doubt about the intentions behind their creation, their objectives and the agendas they serve, which is confirmed by the nature of their terrorist actions hostile to the Syrian revolution," it added.

It called on rebels who had joined ISIL to abandon the group and for the "prosecution of the leaders of this terrorist organisation along with the criminals of the regime".

The Coalition said an opposition doctor, Hussein al-Sleiman, known by the pseudonym Abu Rayyan, had been held by ISIL in Maskana in Aleppo province, though there were no details on when he was detained.

The statement said he had been shot dead after being subjected to "the worst forms of torture".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the doctor belonged to the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group and that "one of his ears was cut off before he was shot".

"His body was handed over on Tuesday as part of a prisoner exchange," the NGO said.

The Coalition has in the past accused the regime of having helped to set up extremist groups among the opposition in a bid to "steal" the revolution, without naming ISIL.

It has also accused the group of abandoning the fight against the regime and instead battling other opposition fighters and civilians.

The Observatory said ISIL is fighting in the area around Damascus and the north, though it has also been accused of fighting rebels and committing abuses against civilians.

Syria's conflict began with peaceful anti-government demonstrations in March 2011, and spiralled into a war after a brutal regime crackdown.

Initially, the rag-tag armed opposition welcomed the arrival of jihadist fighters, who were mostly better-equipped and trained, but relations soured with the increasing strength of the foreign groups.

The Syrian regime has always branded all those fighting against it as "terrorists".-AFP

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Global fireworks party welcomes in 2014

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 02:51 PM PST

NEW YORK: Times Square erupted in joy and a shower of multi-colored confetti as New York City's famed glass ball eased down to mark the final seconds ushering in 2014.

In the latest scene of global New Year celebrations an estimated one million people, braving freezing temperatures and some of them camping out since morning for a good spot at the festivities, joined in a chorus to boom out the final countdown to 2014.

None other than US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor – a native New Yorker – activated the mechanism that sent the Big Apple's famed 5,500 kilo multicolour, flashy ball on its way down a pole to signal the end of one year and the start of another.

Times Square blazed with neon lights above the jubilant crowd, many wearing blue top hots advertising a brand of skin cream.

Parties in other cities further west were to follow.

Three astronauts from the International Space Station appeared on a giant screen TV to wish the crowd a happy new year.

The crowd withstood the sub-freezing cold thanks in part to lots of live entertainment including Melissa Etheridge singing a version of the John Lennon song "Imagine."

"It's really cold but there's a lot of entertainment. It's fun!," said Sara, a New Jersey woman who arrived at the square at seven in the morning to get a front row spot.

Elsewhere around the world, fireworks boomed and lit up the skies to welcome the new year.

Some 2.3 million thronged Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach for a raucous celebration about 24 tonnes of fireworks.

Europe joined in the party with a giant salvo in London, after Dubai attempted to break the work record for the biggest-ever fireworks show and Sydney got the ball rolling ahead of Asia with a dazzling display.

In London, huge cheers went up as parliament's clock tower chimed in 2014, as people packed the banks of the River Thames to watch the pyrotechnics at the London Eye observation wheel.

About 50,000 took part in "the world's first multi-sensory fireworks display", when peach snow, edible banana confetti and orange-scented bubbles descended on a section of the crowd.

In Dubai, the Middle East hub was attempting to break the Guinness World Record by setting off more than 400,000 fireworks.

The glittering display lasted around six minutes and spanned 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the coast, focusing on the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower at 830 metres high.

People crowded in the streets below took pictures as the thundering display filled the skies.

"It's amazing," said May Hinnawi, a 35-year-old Syrian. "I will tell my children and grand children I was here to see this event."

Kuwait set the record in 2011 with an hour-long blast of 77,282 fireworks.

In Europe, Berliners partied at the Brandenburg Gate, while hundreds of thousands in Paris thronged the Champs Elysees.

"Paris is wonderful tonight," said Hu Lichu, a Chinese woman in her 60s who came with her husband.

Thousands of cheering Spaniards in Madrid saw in 2014 by gobbling down twelve grapes – one with each clock chime – in a New Year tradition.

One man was killed by fireworks in the Netherlands and another in France.

Kiribati and Samoa in the Pacific were the first to see in the New Year at 1000 GMT Tuesday, in a wave of celebrations that will finish on the United States' remote Howland and Baker Islands at 1200 GMT yesterday.

Sydney had the first of the world's major pyrotechnic shows, with seven tonnes of explosives lighting up Australia's biggest city.

Fireworks shot off the Opera House for the first time in more than 10 years in a show which attracted some 1.5 million people.

In Japan, millions visited local temples and shrines to greet the new year with contemplation and to pray for peace for relatives.

For areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, celebrations were muted.

In the ruined farming village of San Isidro, residents are still grappling with the overpowering stench of death as 1,400 corpses stacked in black body bags lay in a field, more than seven weeks after the tragedy.

Seoul rang the city's 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient custom for marking a new year.

In Indonesia's sharia stronghold of Banda Aceh, New Year's Eve celebrations were banned for the first time. – AFP

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Six killed as violence mars Philippine New Year celebrations

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 02:48 PM PST

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: A suspected bomb attack left six dead while a separate grenade blast wounded five as violence marred New Year celebrations in the Philippines, authorities said yesterday.

A blast from what is believed to be an improvised bomb caused the deaths in the town of Sumisip on the volatile southern island of Basilan two hours before midnight Tuesday, police said.

Basilan is a known hotbed of the Abu Sayyaf, an al Qaeda-linked group blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks.

Troops and police said the blast ripped through a party at the residence of Manuel Cisneros, a pro-government volunteer militiaman and driver for a nearby Catholic church.

Police said the motive for the attack was not clear, although Cisneros had apparently been helping protect rubber plantation workers from extortion by armed gangs including the Abu Sayyaf.

"We suspect it was the Abu Sayyaf," provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Mario Dapilloza said over DZBB radio in Manila, describing the blast as "very powerful".

However, investigators were also considering the possibility of an accidental explosion involving a grenade carried around by the militiaman.

The Abu Sayyaf, founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden, has been blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks, including kidnapping of foreigners and deadly bombings.

The government has said the group degenerated into a crime gang with no clear ideology over the years, and its ranks fell to just over a few hundred.

Last year Abu Sayyaf gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying plantation workers, killing six and wounding 22 in the same area.

Authorities said an Abu Sayyaf faction on a nearby island was believed still to hold a number of foreign as well as Filipino hostages, including two European birdwatchers and a Japanese treasure hunter.

In December a Jordanian TV reporter held in captivity for 18 months claimed to have escaped from his captors.

Elsewhere in the south Tuesday, five civilians were wounded when gunmen aboard a motorcycle lobbed a grenade outside a church in the town of Carmen on Mindanao island. The victims were about to attend mass.

Local mayor Rogelio Talino said it was not clear whether they were targeted or whether it was a random attack.

Muslim rebels negotiating peace with the government as well as other armed factions are known to operate in the area, the police and military said. — AFP

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