Microsoft has detected cyberattacks linked to Iranian hackers that targeted thousands of people at more than 200 companies over the past two years.

That’s according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday that the hacking campaign stole corporate secrets and wiped data from computers.

Microsoft told the Journal the cyberattacks affected oil-and-gas companies and makers of heavy machinery in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, India and the U.S., and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Microsoft attributed the attacks to a group it calls Holmium, and which other security researchers call APT33. Microsoft says it detected Holmium targeting more than 2,200 people with phishing emails that can install malicious code.

Iran is denying involvement. Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, says the allegations are coming from a private company and such reports “are essentially ads, not independent or academic studies, and should be taken at face value.”

 
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From: MeNeedIt

Embattled R&B star R. Kelly angrily blamed his ex-wife for “destroying” his name and claimed other people stole from his bank accounts during new portions of an interview that aired Thursday, a day after he was sent to jail for not paying child support.

Kelly, who is also facing felony charges that allege he sexually abused three girls and a woman in Chicago years ago, shouted and cried as he spoke with Gayle King of “CBS This Morning.” He said his ex-wife was lying when she accused him of domestic abuse and his voice broke as he asked: “How can I pay child support if my ex-wife is destroying my name and I can’t work?”

The 52-year old singer was jailed Wednesday after he said he couldn’t afford to pay $161,000 in back child support. He said he had “zero” relationship with his three children but knows they love him.

The interview, which was recorded earlier this week, marked the first time Kelly has spoken publicly since his arrest last month in the sexual abuse case. In segments that aired Wednesday, Kelly whispered, cried and ranted while pleading with viewers to believe that he never had sex with anyone under age 17 and never held anyone against their will — likely hoping the raw interview would help sway public opinion.

The interview also marked the first time he addressed allegations in the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” which aired in January and alleged he held women captive and ran a “sex cult.”

Experts said Kelly’s appearance was also risky and could backfire if it gives prosecutors more information to use against him at trial. That’s why most defense attorneys urge clients to keep quiet.

“In my history as a prosecutor, I loved it when a defendant would say things or make comments about his or her defense,” said Illinois Appellate Judge Joseph Birkett, who said he did not watch the Kelly interview and was speaking only as a former prosecutor. “I would document every word they said … (and) I could give you example after example where their statements backfired.”

There have been cases in which people who spoke up pointed to evidence that ultimately helped win their freedom, but “historically it’s a bad idea,” Birkett said.

A recent example of where such an interview might have done more harm than good was in the case against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who was charged with falsely reporting a racist, anti-gay attack against him in Chicago. In charging documents, prosecutors cited statements he made during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” identifying two people in a photo of the surveillance video as his attackers. The two brothers pictured in the photo later told police that Smollett had paid them to stage the attack because he wanted a raise and to further his career, prosecutors say.

In Kelly’s case, he and his attorney might have decided they had nothing to lose after the Lifetime series, said Fred Thiagarajah, a prominent Newport Beach, California, attorney and former prosecutor.

“A lot of the public already thinks he’s guilty, and there is a very negative image of him, so the only thing he might think he can do is try to change their minds,” Thiagarajah said. If the evidence against him is overwhelming, “this kind of interview might be kind of a Hail Mary” to influence a potential jury pool.

But the dangers of such an interview might outweigh any benefits if Kelly locked himself into a particular defense, Thiagarajah said, adding: “He may not know all the evidence against him.”

In the CBS interview, for example, he denied ever having sex with anyone under 17, even though he married the late singer Aaliyah when she was 15. A videotape given to prosecutors in his current case purports to show Kelly having sex with a girl who repeatedly says she’s 14. And police in Detroit are looking into a woman’s claims that Kelly had sex with her in that city in 2001 when she was 13.

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, has said his client did not “knowingly” have sex with underage girls. He wasn’t immediately available Thursday to comment on the Detroit allegations.

Thiagarajah said he might allow a client to do such an interview — but only if he were confident the client could keep his emotions in check and “stick to a script.”

“If you get someone who is ranting and raving, I would never let that kind of person ever do an interview,” he said.

On Wednesday’s broadcast, Kelly’s emotions swung wildly as he explained he was simply someone with a “big heart” who was betrayed by liars who hoped to cash in.

In a particularly dramatic moment, he angrily stood up and started pacing, his voice breaking as he yelled, “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me!” He cried as he hit his hands together, saying, “I’m fighting for my (expletive) life.”

He insisted people were trying to ruin his 30-year career, but then said his fight was “not about music.”

“I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids and I can’t do it” because of the sexual abuse allegations, he shouted. “You all just don’t want to believe it.”

Hours later, Kelly went to the child-support hearing “expecting to leave. He didn’t come here to go to jail,” said his publicist, Darryll Johnson. Johnson said Kelly was prepared to pay as much as $60,000. He said Kelly did not have the whole amount because he has not been able to work.

A spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said Kelly would not be released from jail until he pays the full child support debt. His next hearing was scheduled for next Wednesday.

Kelly spent a weekend in jail after his Feb. 22 arrest in Chicago before someone posted his $100,000 bail. His defense attorney said at the time that Kelly’s finances were “a mess.”

After Wednesday’s hearing, the publicist said that the singer “feels good” about the TV interview.

Interviews with two women who live with Kelly — Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary — also are set to air. Savage’s parents insist she is being held against her will. Kelly suggested during the interview that her parents were in it for the money and blamed them for his relationship with their daughter, saying they brought her to watch him perform when she was a teenager.

A lawyer representing the couple bristled at the allegation, saying Timothy and Jonjelyn Savage never asked for or received money from Kelly. The couple said they have not spoken to their 23-year-old daughter for two years. They spoke later that day.

“At no point did this family sell their daughter to anyone or provide their daughter for anything for money,” attorney Gerald Griggs said Wednesday during a news conference.

Kelly acknowledged in the interview that he had done “lots of things wrong” when it comes to women, but he said he had apologized. The singer blamed social media for fueling the allegations against him. He also said that all of his accusers are lying.

The 52-year-old recording artist has been trailed for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves. Kelly has consistently denied any sexual misconduct and was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008. Those charges centered on a graphic video that prosecutors said showed him having sex with a girl as young as 13.

He has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.

Rising from poverty on Chicago’s South Side, Kelly broke into the R&B scene in 1993 with his first solo album, “12 Play,” which produced such popular sex-themed songs as “Your Body’s Callin’” and “Bump N’ Grind.” He has written numerous hits for himself and other artists, including Celine Dion, Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga. One of his best-known hits is “I Believe I Can Fly.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Microsoft has detected cyberattacks linked to Iranian hackers that targeted thousands of people at more than 200 companies over the past two years.

That’s according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday that the hacking campaign stole corporate secrets and wiped data from computers.

Microsoft told the Journal the cyberattacks affected oil-and-gas companies and makers of heavy machinery in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, India and the U.S., and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Microsoft attributed the attacks to a group it calls Holmium, and which other security researchers call APT33. Microsoft says it detected Holmium targeting more than 2,200 people with phishing emails that can install malicious code.

A call seeking comment from Iran’s mission to the United Nations wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday.
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From: MeNeedIt

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek said he has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer but intends to fight the disease and keep on working.

In a video posted online Wednesday, the 78-year-old said he was announcing his illness directly to “Jeopardy!” fans in keeping with his long-time policy of being “open and transparent.”

He’s among 50,000 other American who receive such a diagnosis each year, Trebek said. Normally, the “prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working.”

He plans to beat the disease’s low survival rate with the love and support of family and friends and with prayers from viewers, Trebek said.

Trebek lightened the difficult message with humor: He said he must beat the odds because his “Jeopardy!” contract requires he host the quiz show for three more years.

“So help me. Keep the faith and we’ll win. We’ll get it done,” he said, his voice calm and steady.

Trebek, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has been host of the syndicated quiz show since 1984. He and his wife, Jean Currivan, have two children.

Ken Jennings, a longtime “Jeopardy!” player who took part in the show’s “All-Star Games” that ended Tuesday, posted a tweet in which he compared Trebek to the late TV journalist Walter Cronkite.

“I’ve said this before but Alex Trebek is in a way the last Cronkite: authoritative, reassuring TV voice you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual,” Jennings wrote.
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From: MeNeedIt

Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook will start to emphasize new privacy-shielding messaging services, a shift apparently intended to blunt both criticism of the company’s data handling and potential antitrust action.

In effect, the Facebook co-founder and CEO promised to transform a service known for devouring the personal information shared by its users. Going forward, he said, it will emphasize giving people more ways to communicate in truly private fashion, with their intimate thoughts and pictures shielded by encryption in ways that Facebook itself can’t read.

But Zuckerberg didn’t suggest any changes to Facebook’s core newsfeed-and-groups-based service, or to Instagram’s social network, currently the fastest growing part of the company. Facebook pulls in gargantuan profits by selling ads targeted with the information it amasses on its users and others they know.

“It’s not that I think the more public tools will go away,” Zuckerberg said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “All indications that Facebook and Instagram will continue growing and be increasingly important.”

Critics aren’t convinced Zuckerberg is truly committed to meaningful change.

“This does nothing to address the ad targeting and information collection about individuals,” said Jen King, director of consumer privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. “It’s great for your relationship with other people. It doesn’t do anything for your relationship with Facebook itself.”

Zuckerberg laid out his vision in a Wednesday blog post , following a rocky two-year battering over revelations about its leaky privacy controls. That included the sharing of personal information from as many as 87 million users with a political data-mining firm that worked for the 2016 Trump campaign.

Since the 2016 election, Facebook has also taken flak for the way Russian agents used its service to target U.S. voters with divisive messages and being a conduit for political misinformation. Zuckerberg faced two days of congressional interrogation over these and other subjects last April; he acknowledged and apologized for Facebook’s privacy breakdowns in the past.

Since then, Facebook has suffered other privacy lapses that have amplified the calls for regulations that would hold companies more accountable when they improperly expose their users’ information.

As part of his effort to make amends, Zuckerberg plans to stitch together its Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram messaging services so users will be able to contact each other across all of the apps.

The multiyear plan calls for all of these apps to be encrypted so no one but senders and recipients can see the contents of messages. WhatsApp already has that security feature, but Facebook’s other messaging apps don’t.

Zuckerberg likened it to being able to be in a living room behind a closed front door, and not having to worry about anyone eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Facebook and the Instagram photo app would still operate more like a town square where people can openly share whatever they want.

While Zuckerberg positions the messaging integration as a privacy move, Facebook also sees commercial opportunity in the shift. “If you think about your life, you probably spend more time communicating privately than publicly,” he told the AP. “The overall opportunity here is a lot larger than what we have built in terms of Facebook and Instagram.”

Critics have raised another possible motive _ the threat of antitrust crackdowns. Integration could make it much more difficult, if not impossible, to later separate out and spin off Instagram and WhatsApp as separate companies.

“I see that as the goal of this entire thing,” said Blake Reid, a University of Colorado law professor who specializes in technology and policy. He said Facebook could tell antitrust authorities that WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger are tied so tightly together that it couldn’t unwind them.

Combining the three services also lets Facebook build more complete data profiles on all of its users. Already, businesses can already target Facebook and Instagram users with the same ad campaign, and ads are likely coming to WhatsApp eventually.

And users are more likely to stay within Facebook’s properties if they can easily message their friends across different services, rather than having to switch between Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. That could help Facebook compete with messaging services from Apple, Google and others.

As part of the process, Zuckerberg said Facebook will meet with privacy experts, law enforcement officials concerned about the new encryption making it impossible to uncover illegal activity being discussed on the messaging service and government officials.

Creating more ways for Facebook’s more than 2 billion users to keep things private could undermine the company’s business model, which depends on the ability to learn about the things people like and then sell ads tied to those interests.

In his interview with the AP, Zuckerberg said he isn’t currently worried about denting Facebook’s profits with the increased emphasis on privacy.

“How this affects the business down the line, we’ll see,” Zuckerberg said. “But if we do a good job in serving the need that people have, then there will certainly be an opportunity” to make even money.
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From: MeNeedIt

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is warning of a slowdown in most of the world’s largest economies, citing concerns about ongoing trade tensions, policy uncertainty and a decrease in business and consumer confidence.

In its Interim Economic Outlook released Wednesday, the OECD is forecasting 3.3 percent growth worldwide this year, down from 3.6 percent in 2018.

The report highlights lower estimates for China, the world’s second biggest economy, as well as those in Europe as the main stresses on the global economy.

It also says tariffs China and the United States have imposed on each other have hurt both economies and boosted inflation. Forecasts for the U.S. economy show it slowing from 2.9 to 2.6 percent growth.

“A sharper slowdown in any of the major regions could derail activity worldwide, especially if it spills over to financial markets,” said OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone. “Governments should intensify multilateral dialogue to limit risks and coordinate policy actions to avoid a further downturn.”

The OECD slashed its expectations for the euro area from 1.8 percent last year down to 1 percent in 2019, with Germany’s growth expected to be cut in half and Italy expected to fall into negative growth this year.

Uncertainty about Britain’s exit from the European Union remains a weight on the economy there with individuals and business unsure of how the eventual resolution will affect them. The OECD projects Britain’s growth to be cut nearly in half this year, down to less than 1 percent.

Turkey is another major source of concern, with the OECD seeing that country’s economy plummeting from a nearly 3 percent growth rate in 2018 to a negative 1.8 percent rate this year.

“Financial markets have stabilized and external competitiveness has improved, but weak confidence, high corporate debt service burdens, tight monetary policy and soft demand in euro area markets still weigh on domestic and external demand,” the report says. It shows a Turkish recovery back to 3 percent next year.

Argentina and South Africa are rare bright spots among the projections in Tuesday’s report.

The OECD estimates Argentina to improve from a negative 2.5 percent growth rate to negative 1.5 percent his year, and to breach into positive territory in 2020. The report expects South Africa to double its growth to 1.7 percent in 2019.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

In Zimbabwe, the high cost of bread is forcing citizens to look for alternatives to this basic commodity as food shortages and soaring prices continue to worsen. Columbus Mavhunga reports for VOA from Harare.
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From: MeNeedIt

Leaders of Mexico’s agricultural sector are urging “mirror measures” on U.S. farm imports in politically sensitive products such as yellow corn and poultry, in an effort they argue would counter decades of subsidized imports from the United States.

The three-month-old government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is currently working on an updated list of products imported from its northern neighbor on which to possibly apply a second round of tariffs in response to U.S. measures imposed on Mexican steel and aluminum by the Trump administration last year.

Last June, Mexico imposed tariffs of between 15 and 25 percent on steel products and other U.S. goods, in retaliation for the tariffs applied on the Mexican metals imports that Trump imposed citing national security concerns.

Mexico’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora told Reuters last week that Mexico is reviewing the list of U.S. products to which former President Enrique Peña Nieto applied reprisals. She said a new list would be set by the end of April if the United States has not withdrawn tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum before then.

“Yes, there is the lobby, and yes we agree that a mirror policy applies,” Bosco de la Vega, head of Mexico’s National Farm Council, told reporters on Tuesday when asked if Mexican farmers are pushing to include specific U.S. grains, chicken and beef products in the new list.

“The Mexican government knows that the U.S. agricultural sector is what hurts the United States’ government the most,” said de la Vega, pointedly noting that American farmers constitute “President Donald’s hard-core base.”

He said Mexican grains farmers have been “the big losers” during decades of liberalized agricultural trade with the United States.

Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has pledged to make Mexico self-sufficient in key farm products in which U.S. imports have grown dramatically over the past couple decades, including yellow corn, used mostly by Mexico’s livestock sector.

De la Vega comments largely echo those of senior Lopez Obrador agricultural officials.

“Over the past 25 years, the government allowed corn, wheat, sorghum, soy, milk and other products to be imported below production costs,” said Victor Suarez, a deputy agricultural minister.

Suarez added the long-standing policy of previous Mexican governments to allow heavily subsidized U.S. farm products has not yielded lower prices for consumers and should be replaced by a more protectionist policy.
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From: MeNeedIt

As a child, Tatsuo Sato was terrified when the Namahage demons roared into his northern Japanese house every year, but in adulthood he mourned as the centuries-old tradition faded away.

“The kids disappeared, the young people disappeared. We had to give it up,” Sato, 78, said of the New Year’s Eve visits by men in horned masks and straw capes, all shouting “Are there any bad kids here?”

UNESCO’s registering Namahage as a cultural property late last year has given new life to the colorful tradition.

But experts say the recognition, which included several similar traditions in which costumed “gods” visit villages, doesn’t automatically guarantee survival. In some cases, it could even stifle changes that help keep the groups going, such as including outsiders or women.

“Within this UNESCO designation, there are several groups that I believe may not be able to continue – or not be able to continue in their present form,” said Satoru Hyoki, a professor of cultural history at Tokyo’s Seijo University.

Masukawa revived its traditional New Year’s Eve ritual last year after 12 years, thanks partly to a group of young transplants to the area, whose population has dwindled to just 130 in the last two decades.

Oga had 120 Namahage troupes in 1989 but just 85 in 2015; that only young men were allowed to take part didn’t help matters.

Some hamlets have raised the age limit, while others welcomed young outsiders. One of those transplants, Haruki Ito, came up with the idea of inviting young men from around Japan to take part alongside the locals in Masukawa.

“If Namahage aren’t young men, it’s no good, everyone agrees,” said Sato, who took his turn as a demon when he was younger. “Maybe if women did it we’d have enough people, but I don’t think we have to go that far.”

Tourist Treasure

Local officials hope the long-sought UNESCO designation stirs a tourism-based economic boost badly needed in places like Oga, a remote peninsula some 450 kilometers north of Tokyo, and the Masukawa district where Sato lives.

Economically, the attention has already helped. The Oga city’s Namahage Sedo festival, held in early February, drew 7,600 people, compared with 6,100 in 2018.

The festival, in which a parade of torch-bearing demons makes its way down a snow-covered mountain, swells Oga’s population by nearly 30 percent as tourists pour in, hoping straw from the demons’ capes – believed to be lucky – will fall near them during the smoky procession.

Masukawa’s decision to revive its New Year’s Eve tradition, buoyed by the UNESCO registration, led to a scramble for everything from straw to makeshift sword materials foraged from local discount stores.

The flurry of activity made people “really happy,” said Ito, 27, adding that some elderly residents told him the revival literally gave them reason to live. “Many people feel ‘the gods must really care about me,’” he said.

Misunderstanding

Hyoki said the UNESCO designation has no money attached to it and carries the risk of unsustainable tourism or even a loss of autonomy. UNESCO recognizes that traditions change, but the Japanese registration required to apply for the listing does not, which he said creates misunderstandings.

“Some people worry that if they got the UNESCO listing, they’d just be forced to continue in the traditional ways, that if they try to change things people will say, ‘that’s not the way it was done in the old days,’” he said.

For now, Oga has parlayed growing interest into a year-round promotion of everything Namahage, including demon-themed biscuits, rubber stamps and even a facial skin mask.

Many are designed by Kokoro Ohtani, a 24-year-old from southern Japan who moved north for university and fell in love with the Namahage. She now works at the Oga town office.

Ohtani, who is close to one troupe of Namahage performers, said respect for her friends and their reverence of traditional ways has deterred her from pressing to take part.

“There’s a bit of a clash within me, but it isn’t discrimination or chauvinism,” she said. “It’s more like feeling I want to keep trying so that, one day when they let women take part, I will be the one they choose.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Hello Kitty might not have a mouth but she’s got a movie deal.

Warner Bros.’ New Line Cinema announced Tuesday that it has acquired film rights to Hello Kitty from the Japanese corporation Sanrio. The 45-year-old iconic feline has never been turned into a movie despite its merchandising ubiquity.

New Line said it will quickly begin work on a script to put a film into production. Sanrio also granted film rights to other characters including Gudetama, My Melody and Little Twin Stars.

Warner Bros. has had success with toy adaptations before, including “The Lego Movie.” That film’s sequel, however, has underperformed at the box office since opening last month.

Hello Kitty presents potentially steeper challengers, though. She doesn’t talk or, for the most part, change facial expressions.
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From: MeNeedIt

The corporation behind a Florida detention camp for migrant children is abandoning its plans to go public as controversy grows around policies that lock up children crossing the Mexico border.

The chairman of Caliburn International Corp., Thomas J. Campbell, sent a letter Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it no longer wishes to conduct a public offering.

The Virginia-based company said in a press release the reason was “variability in the equity markets,” adding that business continues to grow. Previous filings cited risks of “negative publicity” as something that could affect share price.

Federal lawmakers toured the center last month and said it had a “prison-like feel,” vowing to change a policy they say still separates families.

The government announced in December that the facility was expanding from 1,350 to 2,350 beds.
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From: MeNeedIt

The global travel industry is likely to expand by 4 percent in 2019 despite slowing economic growth in key areas such China and Europe, but a no-deal Brexit could wipe out 700,000 travel-related jobs, a top industry association said on Tuesday.

The travel and tourism sector grew 3.9 percent to $8.8 trillion in 2018, accounting for 10.5 percent of global gross domestic product, and outpacing global GDP growth of 3.2 percent, Gloria Guevara, president and chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), told Reuters.

Based on data from 185 countries, the group forecasts steady growth of 4 percent this year, given continued demand from China, the second largest travel and tourism market behind the United States, and other countries in Asia.

“Every crisis impacts the numbers, but this sector is very resilient,” Guevara said, noting that expansion in the travel and tourism sector traditionally outpaced global GDP growth.

Britain and the United States were two of few countries in which travel and tourism underperformed economic growth, she said, citing uncertainty about Britain’s departure from the European Union and what she called the “non-welcoming message” being sent out by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Travel and tourism’s contribution to Britain’s gross domestic product grew by just 1 percent in 2018, while overall GDP expanded 1.4 percent. The sector accounted for $311 billion in GDP in 2018, or about 11 percent of overall GDP.

If Britain leaves the EU without an agreement, it could lose 300,000 jobs, with an additional 400,000 jobs likely to disappear elsewhere in Europe, she said.

A rebound would depend “on how soon they can fix the situation,” she said, noting such a development would also keep Britain from benefiting fully from the expected creation of over 100 million jobs in the sector over the next 12 years.

In the United States, travel and tourism as a percentage of GDP grew 2.2 percent last year, while the overall economy expanded 2.9 percent, the association reported.

It said the travel and tourism sectors in Turkey, China, India, Thailand and France reported the highest growth rates in 2018, with Turkey reporting growth of 15 percent as it continued to recover from a sharp downturn after the 2016 failed coup.
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From: MeNeedIt