Reuters Video: China goes crazy over ‘shake money’ programme |
- Reuters Video: China goes crazy over ‘shake money’ programme
- Report: US and British spies hacked mobile SIM card keys
- As massive cyclone roars ashore, Australia warns of calamity
- Turkey sets standards for sweet pastry baklava
- British teenager found guilty of planning attack plot
- Most hated man on the Internet, US revenge porn kingpin Hunter Moore, pleads guilty
| Reuters Video: China goes crazy over ‘shake money’ programme Posted: 19 Feb 2015 05:08 PM PST Duration: 1:42, Published 20 Feb 2015 Millions of Chinese people shook their smartphones on Wednesday night, the eve of the Spring Festival, to compete for digital "red envelopes" containing holiday prize money. — Reuters  |
| Report: US and British spies hacked mobile SIM card keys Posted: 19 Feb 2015 05:01 PM PST
The report, from investigative website The Intercept, said the US National Security Agency and its British counterpart GCHQ obtained encryption keys of the global SIM manufacturer Gemalto. Citing a 2010 document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the report said that with the encryption keys, the intelligence services can secretly monitor a large portion of global communications over mobile devices without using a warrant or wiretap. The Intercept said a covert operation led by GCHQ with support from the NSA was able to mine private communications of unwitting engineers at Gemalto, which is based in the Netherlands. The report suggests the intelligence services could have access to a wider range of communications than has been previously reported. Other documents have indicated NSA can monitor email and traditional phone communications. The NSA did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. A Gemalto spokeswoman said in an email to AFP that the company "is especially vigilant against malicious hackers and of course has detected, logged and mitigated many types of attempts over the years." Gemalto "at present can make no link between any of those past attempts and what was reported by The Intercept," the statement said. "We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such highly sophisticated technique to try to obtain SIM card data." It added that the intended target was "not Gemalto, per se—it was an attempt to try and cast the widest net possible to reach as many mobile phones as possible." Gemalto, which produces billions of SIM cards and other digital identity products, describes itself as a provider of "trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals." The company was formed in 2006 by a merger of Axalto Holding NV and French-based Gemplus International. — AFP |
| As massive cyclone roars ashore, Australia warns of calamity Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:55 PM PST
Tropical Cyclone Marcia slammed into the Queensland coast just after 2200 GMT yesterday and is expected to cause significant damage after being upgraded to a category five, the most severe. "Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia, category 5, is currently moving onto the Capricorn coast near Shoalwater Bay, north of Yeppoon," the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said. Yeppoon, home to around 16,000 people, is some 670km north of Brisbane. "It is expected to continue moving in a southerly direction over land close to the coast during today," the bureau added. Massive seas, a deluge of rain, flash flooding and wind gusts of up to 295kph were expected along with abnormally high tides. "The wind is starting to really pick up," Katrina McDonald, who lives just outside Yeppoon, told the Brisbane Courier Mail newspaper as the storm hit. "The creek that runs through our property is roaring." Resort operator Sian Appleton said Great Keppel Island off Yeppoon was preparing for serious damage. "We've lost a lot of sand, erosion has been fairly heavy," she told national broadcaster ABC. "I think we'll probably lose three cabins and maybe even some of the bistro area." Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said it was a "desperate situation". "This is going to be a calamity, no doubt about that," he said ahead of the tempest making landfall. "Our primary focus from this point on is the safety of all human life in that area." Two fishermen who were missing have since been found and no other major incidents have been reported so far, Stewart added, while urging people to stay indoors. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's senior forecaster Sam Campbell said significant damage was expected. "This is an extremely dangerous system," he said. "There's likely to be significant damage to roofs, buildings, debris flying through the air, widespread power failures and really the potential for widespread destruction over the warning area." Standing by your side Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the full brunt of the storm would be felt around the Yeppoon area before it eases to a category three as it travels south. More than 60 schools have been closed and businesses shuttered. As far away as Brisbane, residents were urged to start sandbagging and clear their yards of any objects that could be whipped away by the wind. "Over the next few hours, many thousands of Queenslanders are about to go through a harrowing and terrifying experience and I want those people to know that we are with you every step of the way," said Palaszczuk. "We will be standing by your side. This a severe cyclone. I want everyone to take all the precautions that they possibly can take." She added that all Queensland hospitals had activated emergency plans and additional ambulance services had been moved to some areas. Queensland has been smashed by several major storms and cyclones over the past few years with Cyclone Oswald, also a category five, flooding parts of the state in 2013, racking up insurance claims of some A$977 million (RM2.766 billion). In a rare occurrence, a second big storm — Tropical Cyclone Lam — crossed the coast further north just hours earlier after intensifying to a category four overnight. That area, around the Northern Territory Aboriginal communities of Milingimbi and Gapuwiyak, is far less populated. Meteorologists described both storms as having a "very destructive" core. Police said the remoteness of the region meant authorities were not yet able assess damage in the area. — AFP |
| Turkey sets standards for sweet pastry baklava Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:47 PM PST
The move is aimed at standardising the production of the trademark dessert, which is often manufactured with counterfeit ingredients to cut costs, Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) said in a statement. The pastry "should have its trademark golden yellow colour, its syrup should not be too thick, it shouldn't cause a sensation of burning in the throat and it should dissolve in the mouth without the need for chewing." Baklava should be made of flour, salt, water, a tiny amount of fat and white sugar, and pistachio and each piece must be a minimum of 35 millimetres in size, TSE said. The statement noted that unscrupulous producers have in recent years been cheating their customers by using alternative ingredients, with some using peas instead of pistachios or corn syrup instead of white sugar. The intensely sweet pastry is the subject of a long-running dispute, with Turkey steadfastly claiming it as its own, as does Greece and half the Middle East. The origin of the word "baklava" is also disputed, but TSE said that it is of Turkish origin and called "baklagu", or "baklagi" in the old Turkish. The Gaziantep baklava, described as a "pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with semolina cream and Antep pistachio", won the EU's prized "protected status", becoming the first Turkish product to receive the coveted status. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| British teenager found guilty of planning attack plot Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:41 PM PST
Brusthom Ziamani, 19, was detained in August 2014. The jury at London's central criminal court convicted him of "preparing an act of terrorism" and he now faces years in jail when sentenced on March 20. The court was told that he had been inspired by the brutal murder of British soldier Lee Rigby on a south London street in 2013. Ziamani became radicalised by members of extremist organisation al-Muhajiroun (ALM), attending their meetings in a halal sweet shop in east London. During the meetings, Ziamani produced his black flag and said: "I'm going to rock it everywhere I go" and wrote online that he was "willing to die in the cause of Allah". Police said they were alerted to his intentions after he showed his weapons to his ex-girlfriend. He had previously been arrested in June 2014 on an unrelated matter, and police found a ripped-up letter in his trousers in which he wrote about attacking a British soldier. Ziamani claimed he was only "ranting and raging about the situation in Muslim countries" and that his postings were an attempt to "fit in" with the ALM group. He said he was carrying the weapons as protection after getting out of a credit card theft operation. — AFP |
| Most hated man on the Internet, US revenge porn kingpin Hunter Moore, pleads guilty Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:33 PM PST
Hunter Moore, 28, faces up to seven years in prison in connection with Isanyoneup.com, a virtual space for spurned lovers to post explicit photos of ex-girlfriends. "It's where revengeful exes come for peace of mind," said Moore when he defended the website in 2012 on ABC television's "Nightline" current affairs programme. In a 20-page document filed Wednesday in US District Court, prosecutors said Moore had agreed to plead guilty to two charges—hacking a computer to gain information for personal gain and aggravated ID theft. He also agreed not to use a computer without a probation officer's permission, and to stay away from the several victims whose testimony had led to his indictment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took up the case after a young actress, Kayla Laws, found nude selfies of herself on Is Anyone Up that she thought had been safe and secure inside her personal email. Her mother, Charlotte Laws, who doggedly pursued the case, appealed to victims via Twitter to testify at Moore's sentencing. Isanyoneup.com reportedly pulled as many as 350,000 visitors a day before it was shut down in April 2012 after it was anonymously bought out by BullyVille, a website that campaigns against online bullying. A profile in Rolling Stone magazine called Moore "the most hated man on the Internet". Others dubbed him "the king of revenge porn." "We are looking forward (when Moore is sentenced) to sharing the hundreds of victim impact statements that we received the day Isanyoneup.com was shut down," BullyVille founder James McGibney told AFP yesterday by email. Moore's plea deal does not extend to co-accused Charles Evans, who Moore allegedly paid to hack into hundreds of email accounts in search of nude images to add to Is Anyone Up. Evans' trial date has been set for March. Earlier this month, Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 28, was convicted in San Diego of extortion and identity theft over his revenge porn website, ugotposted.com, that hosted more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos. Prosecutors said Bollaert ran a second website that offered to remove people from ugotposted.com in return for a fee. — AFP |
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