NSA can tap into BlackBerry, iOs, and Android systems – report

The NSA has tapped into all the leading mobile operating systems to gain access to contact lists, SMS traffic, notes, and users’ current and past locations, Der Spiegel reported, citing internal NSA documents, the leaked documents also reveal that the NSA has organized a working group for each operating system. The groups are responsible for clandestine operations to gather data saved on the phones.

The NSA has reportedly been most successful in accessing iPhone user data, and at times has been able to hack into the computer used to sync with the mobile device. This allows the agency to run a mini-program dubbed “scripts,” which enables additional access to at least 38 more iPhone features.

The documents noted that similar successes took place using BlackBerry mobile devices. According to the report, 2009 was the only year that the NSA had a problem accessing BlackBerry data. The lack of access was due to changes in the way the company compressed data. But in March 2010, the NSA was able to hack back in, celebrating with the word “champagne!”

source rt.com

Hundreds evacuated after floods break dam in Russia's flood-hit Far East

Nearly 300 houses with over 900 inhabitants have been inundated in a suburb of the Far Eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur after a nearby dam was destroyed in rising floods, Up to 700 people have been evacuated so far, local Emergencies Ministry reported. The Mendeleyev settlement, where the dam is located, is home to 4,500 people; about a thousand of them are said to be in immediate danger.

Those living on ground and second floors of apartment buildings have been evacuated, while inhabitants of apartments on higher floors are currently refusing to leave, Emergency Situations First Deputy Minister, Sergey Shlyakov, told RIA news. “Water and food supplies have been organized for them,” Up to 16,000 people have already been evacuated and 98,800 people have been affected by the ongoing flooding of the Amur River. Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said on Wednesday that Russia’s federal government is providing $360 million in aid to parts of the Far East that have been devastated by the raging flash floods.

The most difficult situation is near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in the flood-hit Khabarovsk territory, where the level of the Amur River is growing by 13-15 centimeters a day, and has already reached 8.71 meters. According to Trutnev, a further 36,000 people might need to be evacuated from the area if floodwaters continue to rise.

source rt.com

EU to US: Assad guilty of Syria gas attack, but no military backing before UN report

The European Union nonetheless urged the United States to respect “the UN process.” A United Nations expert team toured the site of the alleged attack in its aftermath. French President Francois Hollande has said that the preliminary results of the report will be presented by the end of next week. The inquest is likely to identify the substance of the attack – suspected to be sarin nerve gas - and its scale, but may not say at whose behest it was executed.

Kerry, who traveled to Vilnius specifically to garner European support, said he was “grateful” for “a strong statement about the need for accountability” from the EU’s 28 members. He also stated that Barack Obama has not himself decided whether it is necessary to wait until the UN report before taking action, though in any case it is likely its contents will be revealed before Congress has a chance to vote on the Syria intervention.

source rt.com

Somalia's Al-Shabab says it bombed Mogadishu eatery

The Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab has said it bombed a popular restaurant in the capital Mogadishu, killing 15 people, the group said it had attacked the Village restaurant because it is frequented by Somali MPs.

Explosions ripped through the restaurant in the lunchtime attack, which apparently involved a car bomb and a suicide bomber, local reports suggest a car bomb was detonated outside the restaurant, and that a suicide bomber then blew himself up among the crowd that gathered at the scene, the force of the blasts appeared to tear much of the roof off the restaurant, while numerous burnt-out vehicles could be seen in the vicinity.

source  bbc 

Egypt army attacks Sinai militants

Armored vehicles and troops - backed by Apache helicopters - had attacked the militants in towns along the border with the Gaza Strip, the operation is said to be the biggest of its kind in recent years in Sinai.

A military official, who spoke anonymously, told the Associated Press that the army would "clean" the areas in Sinai where Islamic militants operated, this included the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid, as well as nearby villages, he said.

A witness told the news agency he had seen a column of tanks, trucks carrying infantry, rocket launchers and other military vehicles. Smoke was also seen rising from the area.

source bbc

Obama appeals to country to back U.S. military force in Syria

President Barack Obama appealed on Saturday to a dubious American public to back his bid to use military force in Syria while supporters scrambled to persuade lawmakers to authorize the move.

But the president, clearly still the reluctant warrior who rose to political prominence on his opposition to the Iraq war, said he did not want another costly and protracted conflict, "this would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan," Obama declared in his weekly radio address, previewing arguments he will make in a nationally televised address on Tuesday.

source reuters.com