Conficker virus begins to attack PCs: experts
Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:32pm EDT

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.

The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into "slaves" that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet.

"Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing," he said of the worm. "It's not going to be fast, aggressive."

"This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing," said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest security software maker.

Netanyahu says all Jerusalem to remain Israeli
Makes comments after his forces destroy West Bank settlement outpost

Image: Israeli Jewish settler
An Israeli Jewish settler prays among structures demolished earlier by Israeli troops in the West Bank outpost of Maoz Esther, a hilltop site northeast of Ramallah, on Thursday.

Sebastian Scheiner / AP
updated 2:50 p.m. CT, Thurs., May 21, 2009

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Thursday that all of Jerusalem will always remain under Israeli sovereignty, taking a hard line on a key Israeli-Palestinian peace issue just hours after his forces removed an unauthorized settlement outpost in the West Bank.

Something tells me this won't go over well....

Phoenix crop circle may predict end of the world
Crop circle experts believe the latest pattern to be discovered, a phoenix rising from the flames in Wiltshire, may give a warning about the end of the world.
Published: 12:21PM BST 15 Jun 2009 - Telegragh.co.uk


Phoenix crop circle: Phoenix crop circle may predict end of the world
The 400-foot design was discovered in a barley field in Yatesbury near Devizes Photo: M & Y PORTSMOUTH

The 400-foot design was discovered in a barley field in Yatesbury near Devizes and depicts the mythical phoenix reborn as it rises from the ashes.

Investigators claim more formations are referencing the possibility of a cataclysmic event occurring on December 21, 2012, which coincides with the end of the ancient Mayan calendar.

The Mayan's believed civilisation exists within a series earth cycles of 144,000 days each with the 13th expiring in December 2012, resulting in Armageddon.

Crop circle enthusiast Karen Alexander, from Gosport, Hants, said: "The phoenix is a mythical creature which symbolises rebirth and a new era in many cultures across the world.

"Within the crop circle community many believe the designs are constantly referring to December 21 and its aftermath.

"This could be interpreted as the human race or earth rising again after a monumental event.

"The patterns are becoming more intricate with every find and it is exciting to think how they are going to evolve by the time we get to 2012."

Recent crop circles have included giant jelly-fish and one image discovered in Wiltshire in June which experts dubbed the most 'mind boggling' they had ever come across.

The formation, measuring 150ft in diameter, is apparently a coded image representing the first 10 digits, 3.141592654, of pi.

A storm brews over food, water & power
Monday, 24 August 2009

As the world's population grows, competition for food, water and energy will increase. Food prices will rise, more people will go hungry, and migrants will flee the worst-affected regions.

That's the simple idea at the heart of the warning from John Beddington, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, of a possible crisis in 2030.

Specifically, he points to research indicating that by 2030 "a whole series of events come together":

The world's population will rise from 6bn to 8bn (33%)
Demand for food will increase by 50%
Demand for water will increase by 30%
Demand for energy will increase by 50%

He foresees each problem combining to create a "perfect storm" in which the whole is bigger, and more serious, than the sum of its parts.

PERFECT STORM 2030

On Monday BBC correspondents report on the problems identified by UK chief scientist John Beddington, in his forecast of a "perfect storm" of food, water and energy shortages in 2030. On Tuesday they address the implications, and possible solutions.