China alleges U.S. hacking of Defense Ministry websites

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two major Chinese military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were subject to about 144,000 hacking attacks a month last year, almost two-thirds of which came from the United States, the ministry said on Thursday.

This month a U.S. computer security company said that a secretive Chinese military unit was likely behind a series of hacking attacks mostly targeting the United States, setting off a war of words between Washington and Beijing.

China denied the allegations and said it was the victim.

It has now provided some details for the first time of the alleged attacks from the United States.

"The Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites have faced a serious threat from hacking attacks since they were established, and the number of hacks has risen steadily in recent years," said ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.

"According to the IP addresses, the Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites were, in 2012, hacked on average from overseas 144,000 times a month, of which attacks from the U.S. accounted for 62.9 percent," he said.

The comments were made at a monthly news conference, which foreign reporters are not allowed to attend, and posted on the ministry's website.

Geng said he had noted reports that the United States planned to expand its cyber-warfare capability but that they were unhelpful to increasing international cooperation towards fighting hacking.

"We hope that the U.S. side can explain and clarify this."

The U.S. security company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries.

The hacking dispute adds to diplomatic tension between China and the United States, already strained by Chinese suspicion about Washington's "pivot" back to Asia and arguments over issues from trade to human rights.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-says-u-routinely-hacks-defense-ministry-websites-084447505.html

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One of ten national laboratories monitored and funded primarily by ...

27 February 2013 by admin

Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities to the university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven for for DOE?s Office of Science to Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited liability company by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization founded.. One of ten national laboratories monitored and funded primarily by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy , Brookhaven National Laboratory performs research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences , as well as in energy technologies and national security.

The New York Times reported about a man?s struggle with the health care system: ?In the debate on health care reform, there are countless stories of families with hospital bills and unemployed, insurance insurance saddled But the story of Eric De La. Cruz, Las Vegas stands out as a striking example of both the best and the worst that the American health care system has to offer ? extraordinary medical skills, which is all too often out of reach for all but the luckiest and best insured ?.Of inflammation, marker of inflammation is also important on statin is Special How to Falling LDL .

In this study, lead investigator Dr. Paul Ridker and fellow follow-up 15,548 first healthy men and women out the JUPITER trial ? 87 percent the initial subjects in this study. You assessed the effects of rosuvastatin 20 mg versus placebo on rate out of non-fatal heart attack, nonfatal apoplexy, hospitalization for unstable angina, arterial revascularization , or cardiovascular death. Levels of LDL have been measured (?

The conference will, organized by the Department on health , brought the crowd from public health and local governmental field health inequities the heart of health White Paper contact advice. At the conference, stated John Reid:.

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Americans have "the right to be stupid": John Kerry (Reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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NBA Regular Season: Utah Jazz (31-24) at Los Angeles Clippers (39-18) -- Game 56

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Grief besets family of Pistorius' slain girlfriend

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Far from the courtroom drama that has gripped South Africa, the family of Oscar Pistorius' slain girlfriend has struggled with its own private deluge of grief, frustration and bewilderment.

The victim's relatives also harbor misgivings about efforts by the Olympian's family to reach out to them with condolences.

Pistorius, meanwhile, spent Saturday at his uncle's home in an affluent suburb of Pretoria, the South African capital, after a judge released him on bail following days of testimony that transfixed South Africa and much of the world. He was charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day, but the athlete says he killed her accidentally, opening fire after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.

"We are extremely thankful that Oscar is now home," his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said in a statement that also acknowledged the law must run its course. "What happened has changed our lives irrevocably."

The Pistorius family took steps to lower its profile on social media after someone hacked into the Twitter account of his older brother, Carl, family spokesman Janine Hills said.

"Carl did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva," Hills said in a statement. "We are busy cancelling all the social media sites for both Oscar's brother and his sister."

Mike Steenkamp, Reeva's uncle, told The Associated Press that the family of the double-amputee athlete initially did not send condolences or try to contact the bereaved parents, but had since sought to reach out in what he described as a poorly timed way. After Pistorius was released on bail in what amounted to a victory for the defense, Arnold Pistorius said the athlete's family was relieved but also in mourning "with the family" of Reeva Steenkamp.

"Everybody wants to jump up with joy," Mike Steenkamp said, speculating on the mood of Pistorius' family after the judge's decision. "I think it was just done in the wrong context, completely."

A South African newspaper, the Afrikaans-language Beeld, quoted the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, law school graduate and participant in a television reality show, as saying the family had received a bouquet of flowers and a card from the Pistorius family.

"Yes, but what does it mean? Nothing," June Steenkamp said, according to the Saturday edition of Beeld. She also said Pistorius' family, including sister Aimee, a somber presence on the bench behind the Olympian during his court hearings in the past week, must be "devastated" and had done nothing wrong.

"They are not to blame," June Steenkamp said. According to Beeld, she said she had hoped to plan a wedding for her daughter one day.

In an affidavit, 26-year-old Oscar Pistorius said he was "absolutely mortified" by the death of "my beloved Reeva," and he frequently sobbed in court during the several days during which his bail application was considered. However, prosecutor Gerrie Nel, suggested in a scathing criticism that Pistorius was actually distraught because his vaunted career was now in peril and he was in grave trouble with the law.

"It doesn't matter how much money he has and how good his legal team is, he will have to live with his conscience if he allows his legal team to lie for him," Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, told Beeld.

"But if he is telling the truth, then perhaps I can forgive him one day," the father said. "If it didn't happen the way he said it did, he must suffer, and he will suffer ... only he knows."

Barry Steenkamp suffered "heavy trauma" at the loss of his daughter and his remarks to the newspaper partly reflect how he is working through it, said his brother, Mike Steenkamp.

Steenkamp was cremated in a funeral ceremony on Feb. 19 in her family's hometown of Port Elizabeth on South Africa's southern coast. Mike Steenkamp delivered a statement about the family's grief to television cameras, at one point breaking down in tears.

The three-story house where Pistorius is staying with his aunt and uncle lies on a hill with a view of Pretoria. It has a large swimming pool and an immaculate garden.

Pistorius was born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect and had his legs amputated at 11 months. He has run on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He was later cleared to compete. He is a multiple Paralympic medalist, but he failed to win a medal at the London Olympics, where he ran in the 400 meter race and on South Africa's 4x400 relay team.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/grief-besets-family-pistorius-slain-girlfriend-143751649--oly.html

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South Africa puts top detective on Pistorius case

PRETORIA | Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:13pm GMT

PRETORIA (Reuters) - A judge is likely to decide on Friday whether to grant bail to Oscar Pistorius, with prosecutors arguing he is a cold-blooded killer and his own lawyers that he is far too famous to have any chance of fleeing prosecution.

The bail hearing, which began last Friday, was set to resume at 0800 GMT.

Defence lawyers for Pistorius say the athlete shot dead his girlfriend only by terrible mistake, and deserves bail to prepare for a case that has garnered global attention and has been marred by a bungled police investigation.

The star "blade runner", whose lower legs were amputated in infancy, has become an even more globally recognised figure since he killed model Reeva Steenkamp, 29, in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day at his home.

Prosecutors have told the court it was a premeditated murder, with Pistorius firing four shots through a locked toilet door at a cowering Steenkamp on the other side. She was hit in the head, arm and hip.

Witnesses said they heard a gunshots and screams from the home in a gated community surrounded by 3-metre- (yard-) high stone walls and topped with an electric fence.

Pistorius contends he was acting in self-defence, mistaking Steenkamp for an intruder and feeling vulnerable because he was unable to attach his prosthetic limbs in time to confront the threat, he said in an affidavit read in court.

The 26-year-old said he grabbed a 9-mm pistol from under his bed and went into the bathroom.

Pistorius described how he fired into the locked toilet door in a blind panic in the mistaken belief that the intruder was lurking inside.

Bail hearings in South Africa allow for prosecutors and defence lawyers to lay out their basic arguments, based on preliminary evidence.

The arrest of Pistorius stunned millions who watched in awe last year as the Olympic and Paralympic sprinter reached the semi-final of the 400 m in the London Olympics.

The impact has been greatest in sports-mad South Africa, where Pistorius was seen as a rare hero who commanded respect from both blacks and whites, transcending the racial divides that persist 19 years after the end of apartheid.

Police investigating Pistorius pulled their lead detective off the athlete's case on Thursday after it emerged he himself faces attempted murder charges for shooting at a minibus.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/21/uk-safrica-pistorius-idUKBRE91K06L20130221?feedType=RSS&feedName=sportsNews

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Wal-Mart U.S. shoppers feel gas pains, tax-return delay

CHICAGO/BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that U.S. sales weakness persisted into early February, as Americans absorbed the impact of higher payroll taxes and gasoline prices, along with slow tax refunds that put some spending on hold.

The weakness came even as the world's largest retailer reported a bigger-than-expected profit increase, which was helped by a lower-than-anticipated tax rate. Wal-Mart also raised its dividend payout.

Wal-Mart's shares rose 3 percent, or $2.09, to $71.30 in morning trading as the company said that U.S. sales patterns became more normal as tax refunds began to pick up late last week.

Walmart U.S., Wal-Mart's largest unit by far, had a slow start to February, which Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon attributed largely to the tax refund delay. The company expects sales at Walmart U.S. stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, to be about flat during the current first quarter. A year earlier, such sales rose 2.6 percent.

"I think Wal-Mart is quite well positioned actually," Stewart Samuel, a senior analyst with food and grocery researcher IGD, said. "If there is any sort of trading down, Wal-Mart will benefit from that."

Efforts such as extending its layaway program and matching competitors' prices initially attracted shoppers during the competitive holiday season, but Walmart U.S. same-store sales rose just 1 percent in the fourth quarter. The company had forecast an increase of 1 percent to 3 percent, and analysts, on average, had anticipated a 1.5 percent gain.

A year earlier, Walmart U.S. same-store sales rose 1.5 percent.

"We are confident that our low prices will continue to resonate, as families adjust to a reduced paycheck and increased gas prices," Simon said in a statement.

CONSUMERS TAXED

The results from Wal-Mart are the latest sign of pressure on U.S. consumers due to the January 1 expiration of a 2 percent cut in payroll taxes, a delay in income tax refund payments and a 30 cent increase in gasoline prices this year through last week.

Consumer sentiment for lower-income individuals fell for a third straight month in January to its lowest level since November 2011, according to University of Michigan data.

"Wal-Mart is a proxy for the broader U.S. consumer. We have been hearing that February is off to a slow start and this adds to that view," Joseph Feldman, a senior retail analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, said.

Wal-Mart has cashed some $1.7 billion in tax return checks at its U.S. stores so far this year, Simon said. At this point last year, that amount was about $3 billion.

That not only delays spending, but may also affect what people buy. For example, Simon said that when consumers cash a tax check in the week before the Super Bowl, they tend to buy a television. The retailer does not know how the later refund checks will be spent.

But the company has also been focusing hard on its strategy of offering low prices and the economic pressure could help it in the long run, some analysts said.

Wal-Mart said its biggest unit gained market share in major categories of food, consumables, health and wellness and over-the-counter medications, as well as in entertainment and toys, which are big sellers during the holiday period. It cited data from Nielsen and the NPD Group.

The company is also changing some package sizes and other offerings in its stores to accommodate shoppers hurt by the payroll tax increase, although Simon said the company has not seen customers trading down yet.

"The delay in income tax refunds has really affected their business and they have been seeing lower volumes driven by the increase in payroll tax," said Kim Forrest, a senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "And those are things we can't escape from because more money is going to the government and less money came from the government."

FORECASTS PROFIT GROWTH

Wal-Mart earned $5.61 billion, or $1.67 per share, from continuing operations in the fiscal fourth quarter, up from $5.19 billion, or $1.51 per share a year earlier.

Wal-Mart had forecast a profit of $1.53 to $1.58 per share from continuing operations, and analysts expected it to earn $1.57 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 3.9 percent to $127.92 billion.

The company forecast first-quarter earnings per share of $1.11 to $1.16, up from $1.09 a year earlier.

It also forecast fiscal-year earnings per share of $5.20 to $5.40, including about 9 cents in increased costs for its e-commerce operations. It earned $5.02 per share in fiscal 2013.

Wal-Mart spent $157 million last year on its own probe of alleged bribery allegations in Mexico, Brazil, China and India, and on improvements to its compliance programs. A New York Times article in April 2012 unveiled alleged bribery at the major Mexican unit.

The company said its forecast includes about $40 million to $45 million in first-quarter costs related to foreign corrupt practices act and compliance matters.

Wal-Mart said its fiscal year 2014 dividend would be $1.88 per share, up from $1.59 per share in fiscal 2013.

Wal-Mart saw traffic weaken in a majority of international markets in the fourth quarter. Consumers in China were shifting to weekly stock-up trips from daily shopping, while convenience shoppers in Brazil, Canada and Mexico shopped less and bought fewer items. Sales growth also slowed at its British Asda unit.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Boca Raton, Florida; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-profit-key-holiday-quarter-120758348--sector.html

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