Sony issues PlayStation Network warning

Six days after a security breach of its PlayStation Network, Sony said Tuesday that the incursion was much worse than expected and hackers had obtained personal information on 70 million subscribers.
The company, in a blog entry posted Tuesday afternoon, added it is still unsure if the intruder also obtained credit card data for members who have that on file with the service, which provides online functionality for the PlayStation 3.
"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID," wrote Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment America. "It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address ... and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. ... While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility."

Sony (SNE) says the attack has led it to begin rebuilding the system. It expects to restore some services within a week.
The company is urging subscribers to be on alert for identity theft attempts as well as email, telephone and postal scams. (Users can contact the three major U.S. credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - and have their accounts put in "high alert" status for no charge.) It is also advising them to change their password when service is ultimately restored.
Sony's stock was down just one percent in after-hours trading. Analysts say they don't believe investors will punish the company substantially, given that this was an external attack and not the result of an internal error.
"Any time you have a break of fidelity like that, it's an issue," said Mike Hickey of Janco Partners. "It's pretty clear that someone has taken an illegal action to make a point. So do I hold Sony to blame for that? No. But should Sony have better security to protect their subscribers personal information? Probably."
So far, no hacker group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The rogue group known as Anonymous, which has famously launched attacks on both Gene Simmons and Hustler Magazine, was initially suspected, after it vowed in early April to target Sony after the company's legal action against a hacker who dismantled the PS3's security.
The group managed to disrupt the service with a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack earlier this month. (Anonymous attackers, using software known as "Low Orbit Ion Cannons," repeatedly pinged the company's servers. When done simultaneously by enough users, this can bring the site down - usually quickly and without warning.)
However, Anonymous denies responsibility for this incident, saying on its site, "While it could be the case that other Anons have acted by themselves, AnonOps was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened."
While consumers impacted by the hack are Sony's first priority, the continued outage of the PlayStation Network is also impacting its developer partners (both internal and external).
The company released "SOCOM 4," a multiplayer focused action game that is traditionally one of its biggest franchises, last week. Additionally, the eagerly anticipated "Portal 2," which comes with a co-operative mode, also hit store shelves last week - with an integration of Valve's Steam online service into the PlayStation Network being touted as one of the chief reasons to opt for the PS3 version of the game, rather than the Xbox 360 version.
The company has reportedly vowed to help some of the game makers who are seeing their revenues dry up.
"Sony will be helping us retain key focus [PSN store promotion] for a few extra weeks as they understand how something like this can affect a small dev studio like ours," Paddy Murphy, CEO of Open Emotion, told IGN.
The outage and data breach could give Microsoft (MSFT) an advantage in the online gaming space, as its Xbox Live service has never suffered such a compromise. Unlike Microsoft, which requires a $60 annual subscription fee for access to most features of its Xbox Live service, Sony does not charge most users for access to the PlayStation Network. (A PlayStation Plus program is available, giving early access to demos, priority invitations to game beta tests and discounts on products in its online store.)

Beijing removes controversial 'Confucius'

A large statue of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, controversially erected outside a Communist Party museum incentral Beijing, has quietly been removed from its plinth following an online uproar about its location. The 9.5-metre (30 foot), 17-tonne statue had pride of place in front of the north gate of the recently renovated National Museum Of China, just off Tiananmen Square and not far from the gaze of...

Libya Fighting: U.S. Warns Of 'Stalemate' As Misrata Battle Rages

 The top U.S. military officer said air strikes had hobbled Libyan forces but the conflict was moving into "stalemate" as Muammar Gaddafi's troops pressed on with their punishing siege of rebel Misrata. Rebels welcomed U.S. plans to deploy unmanned aircraft, typically operated remotely from the United States. But it emerged that bad weather had forced the first two drones sent to Libya to turn back. "It's certainly moving toward a stalemate," said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's joint chiefs of staff, addressing U.S. troops during a visit to Baghdad. "At the same time we've attrited somewhere between 30 and 40...

Japan officially declares no-go zone around Fukushima

Tokyo

Thursday’s decision to declare the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant a no-go zone has compounded the difficulties facing tens of thousands of Japanese forced to leave their homes after the March 11 tsunami, as well as a beleaguered Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Despite signs of progress in bringing the plant’s damaged reactors under control, the government banned residents from entering the 20-kilometer (12 miles) evacuation zone due to concerns about high levels of accumulated radiation.

After midnight on Thursday local time, anyone found entering the area without permission could be fined up to 100,000 yen ($1,220) or detained for a maximum of 30 days. Previously, police had been unable to enforce the evacuation order for the zone, once home to about 80,000 people.

RELATED A hard-hit Japanese city sees signs of hope in road repair, reopened shops

Within hours of the announcement, a steady flow of evacuees rushed back to the homes some have not seen for almost six weeks to collect clothes and valuables before the order went into effect.

None knows when, if ever, they will be able to return permanently. The nuclear plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), says it will take up to nine months to bring down radiation levels and stabilize the plant.

But the firm and the government have dodged the question of when evacuees might be able to return.

The government’s chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said one member from each household would be permitted to spend up to two hours inside the area to collect belongings, adding that they would be able to make multiple visits.

The evacuees will be bused into the area under police escort over the next one to two months. They will be required to wear protective suits and to undergo screening for radiation on their way out.

Mr. Edano said anyone found trying to break the order would be punished. “All I can do is ask for the residents’ understanding so that no legal action will be taken against them,” he said.

The authorities’ chief concern is the accumulation of radioactivity in areas near the plant, where livestock have been left to die and the contaminated bodies of an estimated 1,000 people remain uncollected.

Last week, the government added five locations outside the evacuation zone to the list of areas that could pose a long-term threat to health.

“The plant is not stable," Edano said. "We have been asking residents not to enter the area as there is a huge risk to their safety."

RELATED: Japan earthquake: 5 ways the international community is helping

Prime minister under fire

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has come under fire for his handling of the crisis, with almost 70 percent of people in a recent poll by the Nikkei business paper calling on him to make way for a new leader.

On Thursday, Mr. Kan was harangued during a visit to an evacuation center in Fukushima prefecture.“Are you leaving?” one man shouted as Kan and his aides left the building. Kan turned to apologize, but was criticized again by a woman, who said: “You should bring cabinet ministers here and let them try living here. How do you think we feel?”

A clearly chastened Kan conceded he had underestimated the depth of feeling among nuclear evacuees. “I need to put myself in their shoes and think more about their needs,” he said.

Meanwhile at the Fukushima plant...

Demands from residents to bring the Fukushima plant under control are unlikely to be met soon, however. Workers have only just started storing radioactive water that has accumulated inside reactor turbine buildings.

The build-up of water has prevented them from gauging the extent of damage to fuel rods and repairing internal cooling systems knocked out by the quake and tsunami.

At the start of the month, Tepco was forced to pump contaminated water into the sea, angering neighboring South Korea and China. The amount of radiation included in the pumped water was 20,000 times that permitted outdoors annually by Japan’s nuclear safety agency, Kyodo News reported.

Days after he thanked the international community for their support during the biggest crisis in Japan’s postwar history, Kan on Thursday voiced “extreme regret” for the nuclear crisis in a letter published in Chinese newspapers.

Maundy Thursday: Queen Elizabeth gives out money, Czech children go skinny dipping

Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, falling every year on the day before Good Friday. While the Roman Catholic Church calls it "Holy Thursday," the Anglican Church uses the name "Maundy Thursday" in accordance with the Old English phrasing of Jesus' commandment that humans should love one another. Here are ways that five European nations celebrate the Christian holiday, starting in Britain with Queen Elizabeth.

- Stephen Kurczy, Staff writer

Enlarge

Britain's Queen Elizabeth hands out Maundy money during the Maundy Thursday service at Westminster Abbey in London, April 21. (Arthur Edwards/Reuters)

1. Britain: Queen gives 'Maundy money'

Queen Elizabeth handed out "Maundy money" to the needy today. It was the first time in 10 years that the ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey, where Prince William will soon marry Kate Middleton, and was reportedly something of a dress rehearsal to the April 29 wedding day.
For the first time ever, it also coincided with the Queen's birthday.
"The practice of distributing 'alms' to the needy or worthy on the Thursday of Holy Week dates back centuries and is an important annual event in the Queen's calendar," reports The Daily Telegraph. "The recipients of the Maundy money – 85 women and 85 men, one for each of the sovereign's 85 years – were retired pensioners selected because of their tireless work for the Church and their communities."

Barbadian economy will row 2.5% in 2011

2010 saw the Caribbean region trying to recover from the economic trauma of 2008-9, and despite encouraging signs, the recovery has been a slow one, writes Kris Sookdeo

22 Feb 2011

 

Not yet rated

With the collapse of natural gas and oil prices, Trinidad and Tobago operated on a budgetary deficit to the tune of TTD3.8bn in the 2010 fiscal year. Net public sector debt is estimated at 49.4 percent of GDP, and the budget deficit is expected to grow to TTD7.7bn in 2011 while debt levels remain at just under 50 percent of GDP.

If the government intends to borrow locally to meet the deficit, now is as good a time as any as interest rates are very low. The respective yields on 90–day and 180-day Treasury bills have fallen from 1.44 percent and 1.51 percent in November 2009 to a mere 0.35 percent and 0.48 percent respectively in November 2010 (keep in mind that in November 2008 the 90-day Treasury bill rate was 7.17 percent). The government of Trinidad and Tobago came to the market with four bond issues during the year:

- GOTT 5.95% 2023 – issued at 5.75%
- GOTT 6.50% 2025 – issued at 6%
- NIPDEC 6.25% 2028 – issued at 6.25%
- NIPDEC 6.10% 2028 – issued at 5.9%

Some of these issues were oversubscribed and the lower issue yields indicate that in such a low interest rate environment, investors were willing to accept a lower rate. Additionally, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has lowered the repo rate to 3.75 percent from 5.25 percent at the start of 2010. As a result, the entire TT Dollar yield curve has trended downwards since 2009.

In their World Economic Outlook, the IMF indicated that Trinidad and Tobago’s economy should have expanded by 1.2 percent in 2010 and estimated growth of 2.5 percent in 2011.

Thankfully, the economy’s lacklustre performance did not affect Trinidad and Tobago’s credit rating in 2010 which remains at A/Baa1 (Standard and Poor’s/Moody’s), but other countries in the Caribbean were not as fortunate. The majority of Caribbean tourist arrivals originate from Europe and the depressed economic conditions in the EU, along with the imposition of a distance based duty by the UK on British flights, negatively affected the regional tourism industry and the economies that depend on it.

On 22 October 2010, Standard and Poor’s downgraded the foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Barbados to BBB- from BBB, just one notch above junk/speculative grade. The downgrade was triggered by rising concerns over Barbados’ debt profile. As at the end of August 2010, the government of Barbados recorded a gross debt level above 100 percent of GDP. The IMF believes that public debt could reach 115 percent by March 2011. Barbados’ tourism industry generates approximately 50 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and accounts for 15 percent of GDP. Given the downturn in tourism, Barbados’ GDP contracted by one percent in the first half of 2010. This compares favorably to a contraction of 7.1 percent in the first half of 2009.

Indicative of weak demand, the inflation rate in the first six months of the year was estimated by the Central Bank of Barbados to be in the region of 3.3 percent. Unemployment in June 2010 increased slightly to 10.6 percent from 10.1 percent in June 2009.

In an attempt to improve the island’s revenues, VAT was increased from 15 percent to 17.5 percent as a ‘temporary measure’ for an 18 month period starting on 1 December 2010. The excise tax on gasoline was also increased by 50 percent along with a hike in bus fares from BDS $1.50 to BDS $2.00. Tourist arrivals have shown some signs of recovery with a 3.8 percent (year on year) increase by October.

The Barbados dollar yield curve remained relatively stable during the year. The yields on 90-day and 180-day Treasury bills fell from 3.48 percent and 3.5 percent in 2009 to 3.3 percent and 3.31 percent respectively in November 2010. The Government of Barbados came to the market with several new issues:

- GOB 2013 T-note at 4.25%
- GOB 2016 T-note at 6%
- GOB 2019 T-note at 6.5%
- GOB 2020 Debenture at 6.625%
- GOB 2030 Debenture at 7.75%

The IMF expects that the Barbadian economy would contract by 0.5 percent in 2010 but projects growth of 2.5 percent in 2011.

Jamaica lies 1,900 km to the west. During 2009 it was pummelled by all the major rating agencies, but was able to recover some of its former credit rating strength in 2010.

The credit rating recovery was largely due to the approval of a $1.27bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) by the International Monetary Fund. The SBA seeks to “support Jamaica’s plan to recover from mounting government debt, weak economic growth, and the effects of the global economic crisis.”

The SBA became necessary following the continued deterioration of the Jamaican economy. The island remains heavily indebted with a debt of 120 percent of GDP. Like Barbados, tourism is a major part of Jamaica’s economy, contributing some 20 percent to GDP. Remittances from Jamaicans working abroad also contribute approximately 20 percent to economic activity and this, along with tourism, makes Jamaica’s economy heavily dependent on external factors. In 2010, an improvement in tourism was noted with a 4.2 percent (year on year) increase in arrivals by August. Additionally, bauxite plants on the island that were closed in 2009 due to poor market conditions reopened in 2010. The IMF predicts that if the government’s plans are implemented, growth rates will increase from -3.5 percent in 2009 to 0.5 percent in 2010. Growth in 2011 is expected to rise to two percent.

Also contributing to the recovery of Jamaica’s ratings (and also a prerequisite of the SBA) was the Jamaica Debt Exchange. The exchange, offered in January, sought to manage Jamaica’s debt repayment by exchanging existing Jamaican dollar denominated debt for new debt instruments at lower interest rates and longer maturities.

Jamaica’s debt refinancing will also benefit from the lower yields on Jamaican dollar securities as the yield curve fell considerably over the year (See Figure 3). The yields on 30-day and 90-day Treasury bills fell from 14.41 percent and 15.46 percent one year ago to 8.06 percent and 8.19 percent respectively in September 2010.

During the same period, Jamaica’s 270-day and 365-day Treasury bills fell from 16.89 percent and 17.16 percent to 8.51 percent and 8.73 percent respectively in 2009. The Bank of Jamaica has lowered the rate on its benchmark 30-day certificate of deposit to 7.5 percent from 12.5 percent at the start of the year.

As the new year begins the region still has a long way to go to achieve a sustainable recovery. Notwithstanding the useful initiatives taken by individual island states, the revival of the Caribbean economy ultimately depends on the revival of the global economy. This, unfortunately, is not certain to take place in 2011.

Kris Sookdeo is an analyst in the Research Department of First Citizens Investment Services

French jets resume Libya sorties

 

Col Muammar Gaddafi says Libya will fight a "long war" after Western air strikes against his forces to protect rebel-held areas.

Military officials are said to be assessing the damage after at least 110 missiles were fired by the US and UK.
After an attack by French planes, some 14 bodies were lying near destroyed military vehicles outside the rebel-held city of Benghazi, Reuters says.
The head of the Arab League has criticised the bombardments.
His comments are significant because the Arab League's support for the no-fly zone was a key factor in getting UN Security Council backing for the resolution authorising the move.
"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Allan Little BBC News, Tripoli

---

The capital this morning is relatively calm, with traffic moving around as normal, although the atmosphere is quite tense.
At 0230 there was a loud barrage of anti-aircraft fire, but I could hear no sounds of incoming ordnance, and apart from that there's been no audible sign of the war here in Tripoli.
That is not to say targets on the periphery of the city have not been hit. State TV says 48 civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded. Last night the speaker of the parliament said hospitals were filling up and that there had been a bombardment of a civilian part of the city, but there's been no independent confirmation of that.
We're reporting under restricted circumstances and can't go out independently. It's easy to find people swearing undying loyalty to Col Gaddafi - and there's no doubting their sincerity - but you wonder what's in the heads of the many millions who do not take part in these angry demonstrations of support for the leader.

BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas says if no Arab states participate in the no-fly zone, and there is criticism from the Arab world, the US could decide to pull out. The UK and France had also been told the Arabs would participate, she adds.

Meanwhile, US military chief Adm Mike Mullen says aircraft from Qatar are moving into position near Libya to participate in the operation establishing a no-fly zone.
Earlier, he said the initial raids had been "successful".
Damage done
US fighter planes and B-2 stealth bombers were also involved in the overnight raids early on Sunday, Pentagon officials said.
Cruise missiles hit at least 20 air-defence sites in the capital, Tripoli, and the western city of Misrata, they said.
Italy has now said its aircraft will be ready to take part in operations against Libya from Sunday.
Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam called the attack a "big mistake".

"Believe me, one day you will wake up and you will find out that you were supporting the wrong people and you had made a big mistake in supporting those people," he told Christiane Amanpour for ABC This Week. "It's like the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq. It's another story."
Libyan TV has broadcast footage it says showed some of the 150 people wounded in the attacks. It said 48 people had been killed.
There was no independent confirmation of the deaths and UK Finance Minister George Osborne told the BBC that such claims should be treated with caution as the military was striving to avoid civilian casualties.
Adm Mullen also said he had not received any reports of civilian deaths or injuries.
BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says coalition military planners will be urgently studying satellite and other reconnaissance imagery to determine how much damage has been done to Col Gaddafi's air defences and to see if some targets may have to be hit again.
He says they will also be monitoring the activities of Libyan government ground forces near key populated areas like Benghazi and Misrata, with any offensive action on their part bringing down urgent air strikes.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata told the BBC that pro-Gaddafi forces had launched fresh attacks on Sunday with heavy shelling in the city.
Inch by inch

Continue reading the main story

Coalition forces

• US: Cruise missiles fired from USS Barry and USS Stout; amphibious warships, submarines and command-and-control ship USS Mount Whitney. Air strikes by fighter jets and B-2 stealth bombers
• France: Air strikes by Mirage fighters and Rafale jets; Awacs surveillance plane; Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier sailing
• UK: Missiles fired from submarines; Typhoon and Tornado jet fighters; surveillance planes; HMS Westminster and HMS Cumberland; Using Akrotiri military base in Cyprus
• Italy: Nato base at Naples understood to be central hub; other Mediterranean bases made available
• Canada: Six F-18 fighter jets and 140 personnel
• Forces from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Qatar Spain, ready to participate

• UN's calculated gamble
• Libya no-fly zone: Weaponry

"We promise you a long, drawn-out war with no limits," Col Gaddafi said in a phone call to Libyan state TV on Sunday morning.

He said Western forces had no right to attack Libya, which had done nothing to them.
"We will fight inch by inch," he said while a sculpture of a golden fist crushing a US jet was being shown.
He earlier said he would open arms depots to the people to defend Libya and described the attacks as "crusader aggression".
The UN Security Council has approved the use of force to protect civilians.
Western forces began their actions on Saturday after pro-Gaddafi troops attacked the main rebel-held city of Benghazi. Col Gaddafi's allies accused the rebels of breaking the ceasefire.
A French plane fired the first shots, followed shortly by US and UK forces firing at least 110 missiles.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in the rebel-held eastern city of Tobruk, says that once the air-defence systems are taken out, combat aircraft can patrol Libyan airspace more widely. It will then become clear to what extent they will attack Col Gaddafi's ground forces.
This will determine the outcome of the campaign, he adds.
Russia and China, which abstained from the UN Security Council resolution approving the use of force in Libya, have urged all parties to stop fighting, as has the African Union.
Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya for more than 40 years. An uprising against him began last month after the long-time leaders of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.

Are you in Libya? Are you affected? What is your reaction to the intervention? Send us your comments using the form below:

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Justin bieber-hilliarous moments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1XXA338cdQ&feature=player_detailpage

greatest news of all

Fasten your seatbelts, hold on tight, because you haven't seen nothing yet. You may think that you got to this page by accident, but I assure you that your here for a reason.  It may appear that this world is rapidly falling apart, it might seem that mother nature is out of control, it might look as though immorality, senseless killings, increasing violence and hatred could not get any worse, but it's going to happen. The Bible tells us of a catastrophic cataclysmic group of events that will take place shortly before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Are we seeing these events? Are we living in the last days? The answer is both yes and no?

Yes we are living in the last days, no the events we are seeing now are only the warm-ups! Its going to get much worse before it gets better. It doesn't take a Bible scholar or a rocket scientist to figure out the times in which we live. All one has to do is look outside, the weather is extreme to say the least. Record highs, record lows, record winds, record flooding, record storms, record droughts! The world's weather is rapidly changing and so is the world's population.

The population of the world is skyrocketing out of control. This in its self brings about natural consequences; increased food shortages, wars, territorial disputes, social upheavals, water shortages and other environmental impacts upon this planet. So if all these things are just the warm-ups, when and what are the signs we should be looking for?
 

To learn the signs, we have to see what the Bible says regarding them. Jesus had a Q & A session with his disciples on the Mount of Olives and they asked him what will be the sign of your second coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answered them by saying:

"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

Matthew 24:6-8

So according to the very words of Jesus, the things we are seeing are just the beginning of birth pains. There has always been wars, famines, earthquakes and distress between nations, but the kind of events about to come upon this planet will be the worst ever. Thank God, the Bible tells us exactly when the actual birth pains will begin and to what extent and severity they will be.

"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand. Matthew 24:15

"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." Matthew 24:21,22

The abomination of desolation? What is that all about? We learn from the prophet Daniel that there will come a time when Israel will have a third temple. They will be living in a time of peace and prosperity that the world has never seen. A man will come out of nowhere and take the world by surprise. He will be able to do incredible miracles. He will bring about world-wide peace, he will bring prosperity to all, he will even accomplish something no man has ever been able to do. He will bring peace to the middle-east. He will sign a peace treaty with Israel that will guarantee 7 years of peace. Sound to good to be true, will it is, because right in the middle of this 7 years of peace and prosperity this man will enter the third temple of Israel and proclaim himself to be God! That's the abomination of desolation, that's when all hell breaks loose and the real birth pains begin.

The real birth pains, the Bible tells us, will take place during the time of greatest distress this world has ever seen. Nothing has nor ever will come close to the events about to come upon this planet. As the Bible says, unless those days be shortened, no one would survive at all! There is only one sure way to survive and perhaps you already know how, but if you don't then click on the cross below to find out!