Twitter Hacked: Up To 250,000 Passwords Taken

Around 250,000 Twitter users may have had their accounts compromised by computer hackers.

The social networking site said usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords may have been taken during an "extremely sophisticated" attack on its systems.

It said one attack was shut down moments after it was detected, adding that the passwords of users who may have been affected had been reset.

In a blog, Bob Lord, director of information security at Twitter, said there had been "a recent uptick in large-scale security attacks aimed at US technology and media companies", with the New York Times among those targeted.

He said: "Our investigation has indicated the attackers may have had access to limited user information - usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords - for approximately 250,000 users.

"As a precautionary security measure, we have reset passwords and revoked session tokens for these accounts.

"This attack was not the work of amateurs and we do not believe it was an isolated incident.

"The attackers were extremely sophisticated and we believe other companies and organisations have also been recently similarly attacked."

One expert said the hackers may have gained access through an employee's home or work computer by exploiting vulnerabilities in Java, a widely-used computing language.

Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher, said such a move would give attackers "a toehold" in Twitter's internal network, potentially allowing them to track user information as it travelled across the company's systems or break into specific areas, such as the authentication servers that process users' passwords.

Although the hackers are unlikely to have gained any confidential information, Mr Soltani said the stolen credentials could be used to access other services for which a person has signed up using the same username and password.

Mr Lord said that although "only a very small percentage" of users were potentially affected, everyone who uses the site should ensure their password is secure.

He said passwords should be at least 10 characters long, contain upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, and be different to passwords used for other online accounts.

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Egypt: Police Beat Protester Outside Palace

Bloody Scenes Expected In Port Said

Updated: 11:11pm UK, Thursday 31 January 2013

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, in Port Said

This city has always prided itself on resistance to invaders.

The people of Port Said believe they saw off the British in the 1950s and the Israelis in the 1960s.

Now they're rolling up their sleeves to take on Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi, promising a second round of bloodletting in as many weeks.

A beach resort city that guards the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez Canal, Port Said, was torn by violence last weekend.

Thirty people and two policemen were killed in running street battles.

Locals deny that any of them shot at the police. But there are bullet holes in the walls of the partly burned officers club on the sea front that say otherwise.

Still, there is no hiding the violence that the city met when protestors attacked the prison.

Dozens of market stalls and tiny homes were razed during the fighting – local businesses were riddled with bullets.

The prison was attacked because it housed 21 men condemned to death for their parts in the killing of 74 football fans during a riot on February 1 last year.

Some 59 others, among them nine police, are still waiting for their verdicts in the jail.

The killings last week have fuelled what was already going to be an incendiary brew on the day marking the first anniversary of the riot in which supporters of the Cairo team Al Ahly were beaten and crushed to death.

Ansaf Mousa's son Osama el Sherbiri, 23, an IT graduate was killed last week during the demonstrations.

"Morsi has blood on his hands. Osama el Sherbini exploded the whole world. His death will fuel an explosion.

"There will be a protest against Morsi like none before. This will be the nuclear explosion that blows up the whole place."

Her anger is shared by families across the city.

The bullet that killed Osama wounded his friend Mohammed.

"The youth will be on the streets (on February 1), they have to be to take revenge for Osama and all the others. This isn't going to end here."

A state of emergency was declared in Port Suez, Ismailia and Port Said last week. Curfews imposed for most of the night hours have since been cut back to a token regulation of the small hours of the morning as they were entirely ignored anyway.

General Abdel Fatteh al Sisi, the commander of the Egyptian armed forces, has warned that he fears the nation may fall apart .

He singled out the Suez City as especially troubling – promising to ensure the security of the canal as his top priority.

The region, though prosperous and benefiting from tax free zones and $5.2bn (£3.3bn) in revenues to Egypt for transit fees for shipping, is not associated with the secular middle class that had driven so much of the revolution in Cairo.

Osama's family are deeply religious. Many of the men have callused foreheads from years of prayer.

Yet they object to the Muslim Brotherhood's domination of Egypt's constitutional process and presidency.

"The Muslim Brotherhood are not Muslims – they are just after power," said Osama's mother.

That, in Port Said, seems to be the dominant view.

In a downtown coffee house clattering with domino players El Badry Farghali, a veteran MP who has opposed the military governments which were swept away two years ago and the new Muslim Brotherhood regime ever since, held court to a new generation of young protestors.

"The Muslim Brotherhood will not give up power. They will only manoeuvre. They are backward. They do not have the capacity to run the country on their own. And they will not make concessions. But the Egyptian people will force them to back down," he said.

Port Said has chosen the anniversary of the football chaos to drive home a political message. The odds are that it will be written in blood.

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Pakistan Army Checkpoint Attack: 23 Killed

Militants have attacked an army checkpoint in Pakistan's northwest, killing at least 23 people - including 10 members of one family.

The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack on the isolated post at Lakki Marwat was in response to a US drone strike in neighbouring North Waziristan last month, which killed two commanders.

Officials said nine soldiers and four members of the Frontier Constabulary that polices the area died during the initial assault and subsequent crossfire.

Ten civilians - including three women and three children - were killed in a rocket attack on a house next to the camp. Twelve militants also died.

Friday's mosque attack

"Pakistan has been co-operating with the US in its drone strikes that killed our two senior commanders, Faisal Khan and Toofani, and the attack on military camp was the revenge of their killing," a Taliban spokesman said.

He said four suicide bombers targeted the camp in the town of Serai Naurang in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and blew themselves up. More than a dozen soldiers were killed, he added.

The raid followed a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the northwest on Friday that killed 24 people.

It was the latest in a rising number of sectarian attacks in the country.

Since 2009, the military and pro-government militias have regained territory from the Taliban, who once controlled land a few hours' drive from the capital Islamabad.

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India Gang Rape Accused Plead Not Guilty

Five men accused of the brutal murder and gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student on a Delhi bus have denied the allegations.

They pleaded not guilty after being indicted on 13 charges in a special fast-track court in the capital.

The defendants are due back in court on February 5, when the prosecution will call three witnesses to the formal start of the trial.

The accused, who have been named as Ram Singh, Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta, could face the death penalty if convicted.

They reportedly filed into the courtroom with their faces covered.

Demonstrators have called for tougher punishments for sex crimes in India

A sixth 17-year-old suspect will be tried separately in a juvenile court where the maximum sentence is three years in a reform facility.

The victim was repeatedly raped and assaulted with a metal bar during the attack on December 16.

Her male companion was beaten up, before they were both thrown off a moving bus and dumped naked on the roadside.

The young woman died from her internal injuries two weeks later in a hospital in Singapore.

Her death has triggered nationwide protests about violence against women, and sparked debate about their treatment in India and the inability of law enforcement agencies to protect them.

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Mexico: Pemex Oil Company HQ Blast Kills 25

Twenty-five people are dead and at least 100 injured after an explosion at the headquarters of Mexican oil company Pemex.

Some 46 people remain in hospital following the blast at the state-owned firm which blew out windows and damaged three floors of the 52-storey skyscraper in Mexico City's commercial centre.

Authorities said 17 women and eight men were killed in the blast which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the tower, where thousands of people work.

Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works in the building. She last heard from him at 1pm.

"I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," she said.

The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying, "My son. My son."

Television images showed people being carried out of the building on office chairs. Most of them showed injuries likely to have been caused by falling debris.

More than 500 firefighters, soldiers and rescue workers dug through chunks of concrete with dogs, trucks and a crane.

The blast happened in a busy central district of Mexico City

Pemex - full name Petroleos Mexicanos - said in a tweet that several workers were injured in the blast but no one answered at its offices.

There was no immediate cause given for the blast, but in an earlier tweet, the company said it had evacuated the building because of problems with the electricity.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg.

President Enrique Pena Nieto urged people not to speculate.

"We have no conclusive report on the reason," he said, pledging a probe "to get to the bottom" of the blast.

The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up.

Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong said it was uncertain if any of the 10,000 people who work in the five-building headquarters were still trapped, but that the search would continue.

Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of Pemex building, said: "We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows.

"People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying."

Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead or injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters.

Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around.

Shortly before the explosion, Pemex operations director Carlos Murrieta said on Twitter that the company had reduced its accident rate in recent years. Most Pemex accidents have occurred at pipeline and refinery installations.

A fire at a pipeline metering centre in northeast Mexico near the Texas border killed 30 workers in September, the largest-single toll in at least a decade for the company.

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Royal Hoax Call DJs Will Not Face Charges

The Australian DJs who made a prank call to the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge will not be prosecuted.

No charges will be brought against Mel Greig and Michael Christian over the hoax, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Details of the Duchess' rare form of morning sickness were revealed on air on December 4, 2012, when the pair made the prank call to King Edward VII's Hospital in central London, posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who transferred them to a colleague, who then described Kate Middleton's condition in detail, was found hanged three days later in her living quarters at the hospital, sparking a backlash against the 2Day FM DJs.

Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of special crime at the CPS, said there was no evidence to support a manslaughter charge and any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.

Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha and her husband Ben Barboza

Scotland Yard provided the CPS with a file of evidence on December 19 and asked advice on whether a prosecution should be brought.

Mr McHaffie said the CPS had taken into account, among other matters, that it is not possible to extradite people from Australia on the potential offences in question.

He also said it considered that "however misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank".

"The consequences in this case were very sad. We send our sincere condolences to Jacintha Saldanha's family," he added.

The funeral of mother-of-two Ms Saldanha was held in the Catholic parish church Our Lady of Health in Shirva, near Mangalore, in India.

Memorial services were also held at the hospital where Ms Saldanha worked and in Bristol where her husband and children live.

John Lofthouse, chief executive at King Edward VII's Hospital, said it would not be commenting on the matter.

He added: "The consequences of that hoax call are well-known, and tragic. We will continue to support the family of our much-loved nurse Jacintha Saldanha during what continues to be a very sad time."

Earlier this week, Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of the radio station 2Day FM, announced the DJs would be keeping their jobs and returning to the air soon "in roles that make full use of their talents".

The DJs apologised and expressed their regrets in emotional television interviews after Ms Saldanha's death, saying they never expected their call would be put through.

Hot 30 - the show they hosted, was taken off air and later cancelled.

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Turkey: 'Deadly' Bombing Outside US Embassy

A guard has reportedly been killed after a suicide bomb attack at an entrance to the US embassy in the Turkish capital.

The bomber's device went off as he was going though an X-ray machine at a security gatehouse, Sky sources said.

The embassy is on red alert and staff have gone into shelters, sources added.

Several other people were reportedly hurt in the attack in the city of Ankara.

An Associated Press journalist reported seeing a body in the street in front of a side entrance of the embassy.

A Reuters witness reported seeing one wounded person being lifted into an ambulance.

Police cordoned off the area following the explosion, which sent smoke and debris flying into the street.

TV footage showed a door blown out and masonry from the wall around it scattered, although there did not appear to be any more significant structural damage.

Damage can be seen at a side entrance of the embassy

Another journalist Ilnur Cevik told Sky News: "There was a huge bang which really shook everywhere."

He was in his car about 400 metres away from the US embassy when the blast happened.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Kurdish rebels and Islamic militants are active in Turkey.

Kurdish rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey over the last year.

Also, homegrown Islamic militants tied to al Qaeda have carried out suicide bombings in Istanbul, killing 58, in 2003.

The targets were the British consulate, a British bank and two synagogues.

In 2008, an assault blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants outside the US Consulate in Istanbul left three attackers and three policemen dead.

More follows...

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Fireworks Truck Explodes Killing Nine In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Nine people have been killed after an explosion on a truck carrying fireworks caused a road bridge to collapse in central China.

Rescue crews search for survivors

The blast happened on the Yichang Bridge in Henan Province, injuring another 13 people, according to state media.

Photographs posted on social media just after the accident at 8.50am local time showed a large truck lying on its side way below the highway. 

Another photograph showed what appears to be a remarkable escape for other drivers with at least one vehicle seen balancing on the edge of the bridge.

Earlier, the state news agency had reported that as many as 26 people were killed. No reason was given for the discrepancy.

A truck teeters on the edge of the collapsed bridge

Up to 25 vehicles fell from the 30 metre bridge - six of which have been recovered - suggesting that the death toll could have been worse.

Details of exactly what happened are not clear but witnesses say they saw the truck explode and "about 10" cars blown off the bridge by the blast.

Six people are known to have died instantly in the accident. Others died of their injuries in nearby hospitals.

Witnesses say they saw the truck explode and cars blown off the bridge

The Yichang Bridge forms part of a busy multi-lane highway in central China. Local media reports claim that the south side of the bridge collapsed completely and cracks have appeared on the northern carriageway.

If the details of the cause are confirmed to be correct, then the incident combines two tragically common themes in China: badly constructed bridges and an abundance of badly regulated fireworks.

Annually, fireworks form a central part of Chinese New Year which this year falls next weekend.

Up to 25 vehicles fell from the bridge - six of which have been recovered.

To a far greater extent than in Europe or America, revellers use fireworks to celebrate, sometimes paying little attention to safety.

A spate of accidents over many years has promoted the authorities to impose better controls on the manufacture, transport, sale and use of fireworks.

On January 18, a firework explosion destroyed a two-storey home in Hebei Province killing three people and injuring eleven.

For a period, the transport and use of fireworks was banned in the Chinese capital Beijing but regular appeals from the public forced officials to relent.

In 2009, the newly-built China Central Television Building in Beijing was gutted by fire. The cause was confirmed to be fireworks set off inside the building.

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David Beckham 'To Sign For Paris St Germain'

David Beckham's Career Timeline

Updated: 12:20pm UK, Thursday 31 January 2013

David Beckham was born in Leytonstone in east London on May 2, 1975. Sixteen years later he joined Manchester United as a trainee.

1992: Makes debut against Brighton in the League Cup on September 23. Wins FA Youth Cup.

1993: Signs professional contract at Old Trafford.

1996: Helps United to Premier League and FA Cup double.

Scores goal of the season on opening day at Wimbledon, lobbing Neil Sullivan from the halfway line.
Makes his England debut in the 3-0 win in Moldova.

1997: Collects another championship winners' medal, voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

1998: Scores first England goal, a free-kick against Colombia in Lens on June26. Sent off in second-round penalty shoot-out defeat against Argentina.

1999: Helps United win the Premier League, FA Cup and European Cup after comingfrom behind to beat Bayern Munich with two late goals.Runner-up in World Player of the Year awards, behind Rivaldo.

2000: May - Collects fourth championship winner's medal as United win title by a record 18 points.

November - Named England captain for the November friendly with Italy in Turin by stand-in boss Peter Taylor.

2001: May - Collects another Premier League title with United.

October - Curls in a 25-yard last-minute free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford to earn England a 2-2 draw and send them into World Cup finals.

2002: May 11 - Signs new three-year contract reported to be worth between £90,000 and £100,000 a week.

2003: February - Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson accidentally kicks a boot into Beckham's face in frustration at United's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal.

June 14 - Awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to football.

June 17 - United announce they have accepted a £25m bid from Real Madrid for Beckham, who agrees personal terms.

2004: June 24 - Misses a penalty as England lose to Portugal in a shoot-out in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals in Lisbon.

2005: November: Captains England for 50th time in friendly against Argentina in Geneva.

July 2 - Stands down as England captain.

August 11 - Dropped from squad for friendly against Greece, Steve McClaren's first match as manager.

2007: January 11 - Beckham announces he will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy on a five-year contract in August.

January 13 - Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello says Beckham will never play for the club again.

May 26 - McClaren hands Beckham a shock England recall for matches against Brazil and Estonia.

June - Wins the La Liga title with Madrid, having won back his place in the team.

August 16 - Beckham scores his first goal for Galaxy on his full debut in the SuperLiga semi-final meeting with DC United with a trademark free-kick.

2008: March 26 - Wins 100th cap in the friendly against France.

October 30 - Milan announce Beckham will join them on loan on January 7, 2009.

2009: January 11 - Makes shock first start for Milan in 2-2 Serie A draw at Roma.

March 9 - AC Milan announce that under a unique "timeshare" agreement, Beckham will stay with them in Italy until the end of the season, return to the Galaxy from July to October and then rejoin the Serie A club for the rest of the 2009-10 campaign.

March 28 - Comes on as a half-time substitute against Slovakia at Wembley towin his 109th cap and break Bobby Moore's record for an outfield player.

July 20, 27 - Twice confronts fans who gave him a hostile reception in his first home games after returning to the Galaxy.

2010: March 14 - Tears his Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo - an injury that rules him out of the World Cup.

August 11 - England career appears to be at an end when Capello tells ITV: "Probably he is a little bit old."

2011: November 20  - Wins the MLS Cup as the Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 1-0 in the final.

December 31 - Five-year deal at the Galaxy expires.

2012: January 19 - Re-signs with the Galaxy.

June 28 - Announces he has not been included in Team GB's squad for the Olympic Games.

November 20 - Confirms he is to leave the Galaxy after MLS Cup on December 1.

December 1 - LA Galaxy wins 3-1 over Houston Dynamo in Beckham's final game in Major League Soccer. It is the team's second successive MLS Cup.

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South Africa Train Crash Injures 300

At least 300 people have been injured in a collision between two passenger trains in South Africa during the peak morning commute.

Dozens of school children were among those injured in the crash, which left the driver of one of the engines needing to be rescued from his cab.

The accident happened just before 8am when a train collided with a stationary locomotive near Attridgeville, a suburb west of Pretoria.

"Many are walking wounded and already left. There are 20 people in serious condition and one, the driver of the second train, is in a critical condition," local emergency services spokesman Johan Pieterse said.

|The train collided with a stationary locomotive

"Both of the trains were full of commuters and between them were lots of school children on the way to school. We counted about 50 plus children," he added.

At least three people were said to be in a "critical" condition according to Chris Botha, a spokesman for emergency services provider Netcare.

At least one person was airlifted to the nearby Milpark Hospital, others were taken by ambulance and many were treated at the scene.

The accident happened west of Pretoria

Rescue workers struggled to cut away the tangled wreckage of the trains to free the passengers. One of the train drivers was freed from the carriage where he was trapped for two hours. He was among those critically injured.

The trains were on the same line toward the capital Pretoria when one train hit the other from behind.

The cause of the accident is unknown.

The trains were operated by Metrorail, the country's rail system in cities.

It is just the latest serious rail accident to hit South Africa's urban rail network.

In 2011, 857 commuters were injured in Johannesburg's Soweto township when a passenger train smashed into a stationary train during the peak rush hour period.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South, has itself described its passengers as "travelling like cattle." 

Over 90 percent of commuter trains in South Africa date back to more than fifty years, the most recent dating from 1986.

The network is currently undergoing a major revamp to upgrade its fleet, spending 123 billion rand ($14 billion, 10 billion euros) over 20 years.

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