Ebay Users Urged To Change Their Passwords

By Tom Cheshire, Sky Technology Correspondent

Ebay has asked its users to change their passwords following a cyberattack that compromised the site's database.

The database, which was compromised between late February and early March, involved hackers infiltrating the database by accessing the log-in details of eBay employees.

The database included eBay customers' names, encrypted password, email address, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth. 

However, the company says extensive tests carried out on its networks confirmed the breach had not resulted in any unauthorised activity for its users or compromise of their financial data. 

Ebay said it was "best practice" for users to change their passwords as it would "help enhance security for eBay users".

The company first learnt of the initial break-in two weeks ago, and a subsequent forensic analysis confirmed that a customer database had also been compromised.

The company said it has seen no increase in fraudulent activity since the hack. Paypal - which eBay owns - is unaffected, and it runs from a different database, according to the company.

"Working with law enforcement and leading security experts, the company is aggressively investigating the matter and applying the best forensics tools and practices to protect customers," eBay said in a statement.

Customers of eBay who use the same password for other websites should change their passwords on all sites.

The new cyberattack is only the latest in a recent string of high profile incidents. In February, the details of 2,200 Tesco clubcards were leaked online. Last year, US retailer Target lost the credit card details of 40 million customers.

A recent Verizon report found 1,367 serious data breaches in 2013, dubbed "the year of the retailer breach", saying it was a year of "large-scale attacks on payment card systems."

David Emm, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said:  "It's difficult to quantify the danger customers may be in following the eBay cyberattack, but of course any personal data in the wrong hands is bad news and it appears that the attackers have gained access to customers' names, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, as well as encrypted passwords.

"The fact that this attack took place two to three months ago means the attackers have had additional time with which to attempt to decrypt the stolen passwords as well as make use of the other personal data.

"On the face of it, it looks as though eBay has been slow to respond, but if the company has only just discovered the full extent of the attack it is now doing the right thing by notifying customers in a timely manner."

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Body Of US Marine Found After Aircraft Fall

Officials are trying to establish how a US Marine fell from an aircraft during a training exercise.

After a search of almost 24 hours, the body of the serviceman was found on Tuesday on state forestry land about 100 miles south of Raleigh, Bladen County Coroner Hubert Kinlaw said.

Marine Corps spokesman Michael Barton said the Marine, who was a member of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, appears to have died as a result of the fall.

It was not immediately clear how high the aircraft was or what may have caused him to fall.

More than 100 Marines helped local sheriff's deputies in the search after the Marine fell from an Osprey aircraft on Monday evening about 45 miles west of Marine Corps Air Station New River.

His name has not been released while family members are notified.

Ospreys have two large rotors that tilt forward and skyward, allowing the aircraft to fly at higher speeds than conventional helicopters, while maintaining the ability to conduct vertical take-offs and landings.

The multi-mission aircraft that has been used both in relief efforts, such as in the Philippines in the wake of a devastating typhoon, and in combat operations.

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Nigerian Twin Bombings Claim 118 Lives

The number of people killed in a twin bombing in the Nigerian city of Jos has risen to at least 118.

Police in the state of Plateau said dozens more were injured in the explosions at a bus terminal and market.

There are fears more bodies will be recovered from the wreckage of burning buildings.

One witness described hearing a "loud bang that shook my whole house" before seeing rising smoke. The blasts happened within 15 minutes of each other in the afternoon.

The explosions happened in Jos. Pic: Easymac22

They ignited fires which were still burning eight hours later, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, zonal coordinator for the agency, told the Associated Press news agency: "Firemen are still trying to put them out. We believe we will find more bodies."

The country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, said those behind the explosions were "cruel and evil".

He said: "The government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilisation."

The wreckage from a bombing in Kano on May 18

The Islamist sect Boko Haram is believed to be a prime suspect, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The group's insurgency has seen a series of bomb attacks in the north and centre of the country.

It has been widely condemned for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from a village in the northeast of the country, which has prompted countries including the UK and the US to offer assistance in rescuing them.

The group previously said it was behind a church bombing in Jos, and two other sites, on December 25, 2011.

Jos is in an area known as the "Middle Belt", where the largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet.

Five people were killed when a suicide bomber struck in the northern city of Kano on Sunday.

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Politkovskaya Murder: Five Men Convicted

Five men have been convicted over the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya - a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Rustam Makhmudov was the gunman who shot Ms Politkovskaya dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building.

His two brothers, their uncle and a former policeman were found to be accomplices.

Three of the men had been acquitted at a previous trial but the Supreme Court ordered a new hearing.

The five were expected to be sentenced on Wednesday and could face life in prison.

A portrait of the journalist, who was shot dead aged 48

Ms Politkovskaya won international acclaim for her reports in Putin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta, about Russian abuses in Chechnya.

The Makhmudovs and their uncle are of Chechen origin.

The investigative journalist, who was killed aged 48, also published her reporting experiences in the book Putin's Russia, which won global acclaim.

Mourners surround the coffin of Anna Politkovskaya

Ms Politkovskaya was shot twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, and once, at point blank range, in the head on October 7, 2006.

Authorities have yet to ascertain who ordered her murder - prompting anger from relatives.

"We agree with the verdict, but this is only a small part of those who are guilty in the crime," the journalist's son, Ilya Politkovsky, was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency.

A spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, Sergei Markin, said "exhaustive measures" were being taken to discover who else was involved, according to the RIA agency.

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Thai Army Summons Political Rivals For Talks

Timeline Of Thai Political Crisis

Updated: 11:15am UK, Tuesday 20 May 2014

Thailand has a long history of political unrest with the army staging at least 11 coups since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932.

The latest crisis has its roots in the 2006 military overthrow of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was embroiled in a telecoms corruption scandal.

September 2006: Thailand's armed forces oust Thaksin in a bloodless coup and impose martial law.

December 2007: The People Power Party made up of Thaksin's allies, wins elections and forms a coalition government.

May 2008: Royalist anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts relaunch street protests that led to the 2006 coup.

September 2008: State of emergency declared after clashes between pro and anti-government groups leave one person dead and dozens wounded.

Constitutional Court strips Thaksin-allied prime minister Samak Sundaravej of his powers, ruling he illegally accepted payments for hosting TV cooking shows. Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat takes his place.

October 2008: Clashes between police and demonstrators leave two people dead and nearly 500 wounded.

Court sentences Thaksin in his absence to two years in jail for corruption after he flees the country.

November-December, 2008: Thousands of Yellow Shirts blockade Bangkok's airports. State of emergency imposed for nearly two weeks.

December 2008: Constitutional Court dissolves Somchai's party, forcing him from office. British-born Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrats becomes premier in a parliamentary vote with army backing.

January-March 2009: Red Shirts loyal to Thaksin stage mass protests in the capital against Abhisit's government.

April 2009: Red Shirts storm an Asian summit in the beach resort of Pattaya, forcing the evacuation of regional leaders. Riots and a 12-day state of emergency in Bangkok ensue, leaving two people dead.

March 2010: Tens of thousands of Red Shirts begin rolling demonstrations calling for Abhisit's government to step down, saying it is elitist and undemocratic.

April-May 2010: Street clashes between Red Shirt protesters and armed troops leave more than 90 people dead, mostly civilians, in the country's worst civil unrest in decades.

July 3 2011: Thaksin's allies sweep to power in elections on a wave of support from their Red Shirt followers.

August 2011: Parliament elects Thaksin's youngest sister Yingluck Shinawatra as Thailand's first female prime minister.

November 2012: Police fire tear gas at demonstrators as clashes erupt at the first major street protests against Ms Yingluck's government.

October 2013: Protests break out against an amnesty bill which critics say is aimed at allowing Thaksin - who went into self-imposed exile to avoid jail for a corruption conviction - to return home and escape prison.

November 2013: Opposition protesters occupy the finance and foreign ministries demanding Ms Yingluck resign.

December 2013: Police use water cannon and tear gas on protesters who storm the government and police headquarters. Opposition politicians resign en masse from parliament.

Ms Yingluck calls early elections as demonstrators return to the streets. Opposition announces a poll boycott.

February 2, 2014: Opposition demonstrators prevent 10,000 polling stations from opening for the election.

March 21, 2014: Constitutional Court declares February elections invalid.

April 30, 2014: Government announces new elections for July 20.

May 7, 2014: Constitutional Court removes Ms Yingluck and several cabinet ministers from office. New caretaker premier Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan appointed by remainder of cabinet.

May 15, 2014: The Election Commission says a general election scheduled for July 20 is "no longer possible" as polls cannot be held without the support of the protesters.

May 20, 2014: Army declares martial law, stressing the move "is not a coup".

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Iranians Arrested Over Pharrell Happy Video

Six Iranians have been arrested by police and shown on state television after posting a version of Pharrell Williams' hit song Happy on YouTube.

The amateur video shows three young men and three unveiled women dancing to the tune on Tehran's streets and rooftops.

"We have made this video as Pharrell Williams' Fans in 8 hours, with iPhone 5S. "Happy" was an excuse to be happy. We enjoyed every second of making it. Hope it puts a smile on your face," reads a message at the end of the video, titled Happy We are from Tehran.

This man also dances in the video

But the group were detained when the video, which has been viewed thousands of times, came to the attention of Tehran's police force.

Police chief Hossein Sajedinia was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying: "After a vulgar clip which hurt public chastity was released in cyberspace, police decided to identify those involved in making that clip.

"Following a series of intelligence and police operations and after coordinating with the judiciary, all the suspects were identified and arrested."

ISNA said the detainees had "confessed to their criminal acts".

Pharrell Williams' song is from the film Despicable Me 2

State television aired blurred pictures of the video and then showed the six with their backs turned to camera.

Williams, whose song from the film Despicable Me 2 has been one of the biggest hits of the year, commented on the arrests on Twitter.

He wrote: "It's beyond sad these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness."

Conservatives say many young Iranians are abandoning Islamic values and turning to a more Western way of life.

Under Islamic law, in force in Iran since the 1979 revolution, women must cover themselves from head to toe.

More than a decade ago a "morality police" unit was formed to verify that women scrupulously respect the dress code in public.

The internet is also heavily filtered in Iran, with the authorities blocking access to popular social networking sites.

Civil liberties and women's rights have returned to the forefront since President Hassan Rohani's election last June.

Mr Rohani, a moderate, had campaigned for greater cultural and social freedoms in the Islamic republic, specifically urging police tolerance over the veil.

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Stormchaser Films Stunning Supercell Formation

A British-born stormchaser has filmed remarkable footage of the moment a swirling supercell formed in the skies above Wyoming.

Meteorologist Dave Holder was leading an extreme weather tour through an area known as Thunder Basin when he saw the dramatic cloud formation taking shape.

His storm-chasing team, Basehunters, shared the time lapse video on its Facebook page, describing the supercell as "epic".

The full two-minute film has been viewed more than nine million times on YouTube.

According to the National Weather Service, supercells are among the most violent of all thunderstorms and can produce "damaging winds, large hail and weak-to-violent tornadoes".

They form in humid conditions when warm and cool air tumble over each other, and can be up to 25 miles wide.

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China Signs Russian Gas Deal 'Worth $400bn'

Is Wiley Putin Really Like Hitler?

Updated: 12:46pm UK, Wednesday 21 May 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

It's an opportunity for a brief snigger, a moment of international schadenfreude, the moment of guilty pleasure at someone else's misfortune - and it came all in one sentence.

In reaction to Prince Charles' comparison of Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler the Russian president's spokesman said: "I don't know anything about it. I can't really trust the Daily Mail as a source."

This offhand dismissal signals both that the heir to the British throne is irrelevant to Russia - and that the Kremlin is not to be moved, as British politicians very often are, by headlines in the UK's most powerful tabloid.

Charles' comment was made in private. It was controversial only because he said it.

His father, Prince Philip, has form for making off-the-cuff comments about foreigners that have been intended as jokes but taken too seriously.

"And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler," the Prince of Wales is reported to have said.

Hillary Clinton said much the same not long ago.

The former US Secretary of State told an audience: "The claims by president Putin and other Russians that they had to go into Crimea and maybe further into Ukraine because they had to protect Russian minorities is reminiscent of claims made back in the 1930s when Germany under the Nazis kept talking about how they had to protect German minorities in Poland, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere throughout Europe."

Prince Charles and Clinton are simply showing that they know their history.

Hitler's unopposed annexation of the Sudetenland, a German speaking part of Czechoslovakia, happened on the pretext of protecting ethnic Germans there after deliberately fomenting unrest, riots, and violent secessionist movements.

Putin has done exactly the same thing in Ukraine.

The issue is whether Russia wants to annex the vast central European country.

He needs to work out whether he has gone far enough or wants to go for broke - and he risks just that, going broke.

So his main focus this week has been on a state visit to China where he had hoped to sign a 30-year, $456bn, deal to export gas and other petrochemicals to China.

He needed this deal to offset the inevitable strategic shift by European national consumers of Russian gas to alternative supplies because Russia is no longer trusted following the annexation of the Crimea.

And Putin got it.

He landed the deal, according to the Chinese state news agency, on Wednesday.

Some 88% of Russia's total oil exports, 70% of its gas exports and 50% of its coal exports go to Europe.

They all face sanctions if Russia keeps the pressure on Ukraine with more of the destabilising tactics used by Hitler.

The Chinese deal is roughly the equivalent of Russia's current oil exports to Germany.

But he'll still be feeling smug.

Russia's play for Ukrainian territory has been as much about a land grab as it has been about weakening the European Union and the bloc's flirtation with Kiev.

He has designs on greater influence over 'Eurasia' and will be watching the EU-wide elections with great interest.

He'll be rooting for the anti-European right - for UKIP, the National Front in France, Austria's Freedom Party - all determined to leave the European Union.

A weakened EU is what Putin wants, so if anti-Europeans do well then Russia's president will enjoy yet another moment of shadenfreude - taking pleasure at the EU's misfortune.

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Tony Abbott Denies Sex Worker 'Cheeky Wink'

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been criticised for giving a "cheeky wink" when a pensioner revealed she was working in the sex industry to make ends meet.

Mr Abbott was taking part in a radio phone-in show in Melbourne to discuss his first budget since he was elected in September, when the 67-year-old caller who gave her name as Gloria told him she was struggling to pay her bills.

"Mr Abbott, I would like to ask you if you would like your mother or your grandmother to be in my situation?" she asked him.

"I'm a 67-year-old pensioner with three chronic, incurable medical conditions, two life-threatening.

Mr Abbott was taking part in a radio phone in show in Melbourne

"I just survive on around Aus $400 (£220) a fortnight after I pay my rent and I work on an adult sex line to make ends meet. That's the only way I can do it."

Mr Abbott then appeared to smile and wink at the show host before the woman continued: "I've worked out that it will cost me an extra $158 a year with the increase in medical visits and medication which will increase as my condition deteriorates.

"What do you suggest I cut out, Mr Abbott? Food, electricity, firewood, Christmas and birthday presents to my grandchildren?" the woman added.

"Or should we all just die and get out of your way?"

Video of Mr Abbott's wink was circulated on social media sites, prompting a backlash from critics who called his action "creepy" and "a grubby response".

A spokesperson for Mr Abbott later insisted the wink was merely to signal to the presenter that he was happy to proceed with the call.

Mr Abbott's apparent gaffe was not the first time he has courted controversy. While leader of the opposition he was ridiculed for declaring no one is the "suppository of all wisdom" during a speech to members of his Liberal Party.

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Millions Of Bees Swarm Road After Truck Crash

A Delaware highway has been left abuzz with bees after a truck carrying 20 million of the insects flipped over.

The bees, which were being taken from Florida to Maine, swarmed a section of the I-95 near Newark, closing part of the road for more than 12 hours.

The driver, a 55-year-old from Miami, and two passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries and up to 100 bee stings.

Several passers-by are also believed to have been stung.

Emergency services had to contend with swarms of bees at the scene

The crash, which happened when the lorry's 460 wooden bee hives moved, shifting the lorry off balance, provided the first test of a "honeybee swarm removal plan" drawn up by Delaware State Police.

Beekeepers worked with firefighters who sprayed water to disperse the insects, which clung to crash barriers and road signs.

Paul Dill, a beekeeper who was involved in the clean-up, told CBS: "They've been traumatised and they can get a little irritable."

His colleague, Dave Feinberg, added: "Having travelled up from Florida to here, they're probably thirsty, disoriented and angry, I'm sure."

The lorry driver has been cited for unsafe shifting of load or cargo in connection with the crash.

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