Anonymous dumps US State Dept database

Anonymous dumps US State Dept database 19 Feb 2013 Anonymous claims to have hacked the United States State Department website and captured a database, which has now been published on the Internet. The data dump by the hacktivists contains the names and email addresses of State Department consular and careers staffers and in some cases, their phone numbers and date of birth. Usernames are also found in the database dump. Searching state.gov and other sites shows that several email addresses and other data match State Department staffers in the United States and legations around the world.

U.S. State Department hacked by Anonymous --'www.state.gov database owned hard by #Anonymous' [Full post is here.] 18 Feb 2013 Our reasons for this attack are very simple. You've imprisoned or either censored our people. We will not tolerate things as such. You don't see us going around censoring everything that is inappropriate or we do not like. Basically, you tried to put an end to us and you got owned, there's nothing more you can say or do. You took away Topiary, Avunit, Neuron, Pwnsauce, lolspoon, Aaron Swartz shall we go on? [Yes, they also took away Jeremy Hammond and John Kiriakou.] Heck you think this makes us weak? We are only growing stronger because of the fact that you are forcing us to revolt. When the lions roar you will hear them. And when it's feeding time you'll be our dinner. Aaron Swartz this is for you, this is for Operation Last Resort.

Anonymous activists hack into 600,000 Israeli email accounts 17 Feb 2013 Activists associated with the group "Anonymous" claimed on Friday to have hacked some 600,000 email accounts from the Israeli server Walla!, stealing user details and information. A report in Australia's SC Magazine says hackers published email addresses and passwords in 93 different posts on Pastebin.com, a website used by hackers to communicate. The campaign targeted Israeli websites, such as those of the IDF spokesperson's unit, the Prime Minister's office, and other official websites.

Westwood supports Assange on London catwalk 17 Feb 2013 British designer Vivienne Westwood showcased more than her fashion designs at London Fashion Week on Sunday by sporting a Julian Assange T-shirt in support of the WikiLeaks founder. British designer Westwood selected a T-shirt emblazoned with her face and the words "I am Julian Assange" to wear at her Red Label fashion show, which sent models in ribbed, woolen dresses striding down the halls of London's Saatchi Gallery. Westwood, a leading name on the London leg of the international fashion circuit, called Assange a "hero" and said she had raised 3,000 pounds ($4,700) for him through selling the T-shirts.

US to play active military role in Mali: US Senator 19 Feb 2013 An American Senator says the United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where a French-led war is raging, after the West African country holds elections. "There is the hope that there will be additional support from the United States in these and other areas, but... American law prohibits direct assistance to the Malian military following the coup," Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, told journalists in the Malian capital, Bamako, on Monday. The US has been providing intelligence, transport and mid-air refueling to France since it started its military campaign in Mali last month. US law prohibited direct assistance to Mali's armed forces because of last year's military coup, led by a US-trained Malian army captain, who toppled the country's elected government.

Israeli president Shimon Peres to give Obama medal 18 Feb 2013 President Barack Obama will be the first sitting American president to receive Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction, the office of Israeli President Shimon Peres announced on Monday. "It will be the first time in history that a serving president of the United States of America will receive an award of this kind from the president of the State of Israel," the office said in a statement, according to the Israeli publication The Times of Israel. The announcement comes ahead of Obama's first presidential trip to the Jewish state next month, when he is set to receive the award.

Venezuela celebrates Chavez return after surgery 19 Feb 2013 President Hugo Chavez made a surprise return to Venezuela on Monday, 10 weeks after leaving for cancer surgery in Cuba, sparking celebration among his supporters. VTV, the government television station, said he arrived at 2:30 a.m. and was taken to the Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital in the capital, where he will continue his treatment for an unspecified form of pelvic cancer. "We have arrived again in Venezuela," said a post at 3:42 a.m. on Chavez's long-dormant Twitter account. "Thank you, my God! Thank you, beloved people! We will continue treatment here." It was the first message on his Twitter account since November.

Airspace Breached at Obama Vacation 18 Feb 2013 U.S. fighter jets intercepted three small planes and a helicopter that entered restricted airspace over the weekend near the Florida golf resort where President Barack Obama was vacationing, according to a military spokesman. After the intrusions--including one on Saturday by a single-engine Cessna that initially failed to respond to Air Force warnings--all of the aircraft safely departed the off-limits area, said Army Lt. Col. Mike Humpreys, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

BBC journalists stage 24-hour strike 17 Feb 2013 BBC journalists are staging a 24-hour strike in a row over jobs, threatening disruption to radio and TV news programmes. Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) walked out at midnight as part of a campaign against compulsory redundancies. The union said jobs were set to be axed across the corporation, including BBC Scotland, Five Live, the Asian Network and the World Service. Picket lines are due to be mounted outside BBC offices across the UK, including London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Nuclear power: ministers offer reactor subsidies until 2050 18 Feb 2013 The government is launching a last-ditch attempt to sign up energy companies to build new nuclear power stations by proposing to sign contracts guaranteeing subsidies for up to 40 years. The coalition agreement reached between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in 2010 promised that nuclear power stations would be built only if the industry got no public subsidy, but costly overruns for new reactors overseas and the exit of several major utilities from the UK programme, most recently Centrica, have driven ministers and officials to backtrack on that pledge and accept they will have to provide financial support. The Guardian has learned that ministers, intent on keeping the guaranteed wholesale cost of each unit of energy below the politically crucial figure of £100 per megawatt hour, are proposing to extend contracts from the 20 years originally envisaged to at least 30 and possibly as long as 40 years.

WHO urges vigilance over SARS-like virus 16 Feb 2013 The World Health Organisation on Saturday urged countries to be vigilant over the spread of a potentially fatal SARS-like virus after a new case in Britain brought the global number to 12. "Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns," the United Nations health agency said in a statement. A total of 12 cases have been reported to the WHO, with five of them fatal -- three in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan.

Police reportedly arrest man with loaded gun at New Jersey airport 17 Feb 2013 Officials say a Pennsylvania man was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport after screeners noticed a loaded gun in his carry-on bag. The Star-Ledger of Newark reports that 59-year-old Robert Kellerman of Long Pond was taken into custody just after 6 a.m. Sunday by Port Authority police. They were notified after Transportation Security Administration screeners saw the .22-caliber handgun at a checkpoint inside Terminal C. Kellerman was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon.

1 dead in shooting near Portland hospital, police say 18 Feb 2013 (OR) One person is dead after a shooting on the grounds of a southeast Portland hospital but none of the hospital's patients or staff were injured, Fox12 reports. Police said the shooting occurred near Portland Adventist Medical Center, but did not release more details. It was unclear who fired the gun shots but the gunman is apparently dead, according to Fox 12.

Thousands march in D.C. to protest Keystone pipeline 17 Feb 2013 Thousands of environmental activists marched in Washington Sunday to protest plans for the Keystone XL pipeline. Organizers of "Forward on Climate," who planned the event, told Reuters about 35,000 people from 30 states protested in what they said was the biggest climate rally in U.S. history. Protesters also said that President Barack Obama should put a stop on the pipeline to honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.

Hundreds march near Mission Bay to protest proposed Keystone XL pipeline project 17 Feb 2013 Hundreds of San Diegans marched near Mission Bay on Sunday, joining a nationwide protest to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project. A huge protest occurred in Washington, D.C. on Sunday to send a message to President Obama about the long-term effects of the pipeline on the environment. A similar message was heard from hundreds in San Diego.

Thousands rally in S.F. against pipeline 17 Feb 2013 Thousands of people rallied in downtown San Francisco on Sunday to urge President Obama to reject construction of the [deadly] Keystone XL oil pipeline, an action they said would prove he is committed to fighting global warming. The demonstration across from the Ferry Building was held at the same time as similar events in cities including Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. The main event in Washington, D.C., drew tens of thousands of supporters in what was billed as the largest climate change rally in U.S. history. Organizers of the San Francisco protest estimated that more than 4,000 people gathered to condemn the proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would run nearly 2,000 miles to connect Canada's oil sands to refineries around the Gulf of Mexico.

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