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Dec62019 by adminNo Comments

Cyber criminal ‘stole £76m while working for Russian intelligence’

A cyber criminal indicted in the US has been accused of working with Russian intelligence to steal classified government documents, according to a senior official at the US Treasury.The man was one of two suspects in Russia indicted by the US on Thursday for their part in developing the Dridex banking malware which has stolen millions from victims in the West. Victim organisations in more than 40 countries were hit by the Dridex malware, which allowed the alleged criminals to steal more than $ 100m (£76m) in one hacking campaign dating back to 2011.Maksim Yakubets is accused of being the leader of the hacking group calling itself "Evil Corp" while Igor Turashev has been accused of being one of the group's key administrators. Image: Russian cyber

Dec62019 by adminNo Comments

US meteorite adds to origins mystery

Science

In January 2018, a falling meteorite created a bright fireball that arced over the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, followed by loud sonic booms. The visitor not only dropped a slew of meteorites over the snow-covered ground, it also provided information about its extra-terrestrial source. Although tens of thousands of meteorites have been recovered by humans, scientists have only been able to trace the orbits of a small number. Most of these have been calculated in the last decade. Scientists can use information about how the meteorite burned through Earth's atmosphere to calculate how the rocky object moved through space before it transformed into a fireball. Researchers cannot trace the specific path of an object back through...

Dec62019 by adminNo Comments

True crime fan Octavia Spencer plays detective in ‘Truth Be Told’

Entertainment

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Truth Be Told stars Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer as Poppy Parnell, a true crime podcaster with a history of solving major crimes. The AppleTV+ show is based on the Kathleen Barber novel Are You Sleeping. An enthusiastic reader of true crime literature -- as well as a fan of several true crime podcasts -- Spencer had been announced previously to star in an NBC reboot of Murder, She Wrote as far back as 2013, but the network ultimately abandoned the project. "This show finally gives me a chance to do the detective thing, which is what I love about playing Poppy -- because it works for who I am as a person," Spencer said at a recent AppleTV+ launch event. "I am an armchair detective. I always know who the killer is by the end of it. So to do anything inv...

Dec62019 by adminNo Comments

Michael Pineda agrees to two-year, $20M deal with Minnesota Twins

Sports

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda will return to the Minnesota Twins after agreeing to a two-year contract with the club. League sources told ESPN and FOX 9 of Minneapolis that Pineda reached an agreement with the Twins on a two-year, $ 20 million deal. Pineda had 11 wins and a 4.01 ERA over 26 starts with the Twins last season before missing the remainder of the 2019 campaign due to suspension. MLB initially handed the pitcher an 80-game ban after he tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which can mask other banned substances. After an appeal, Pineda had the penalty reduced to 60 games. He will begin the 2020 season serving the remainder of the suspension that started in early September. He has about five weeks of the ban left to serve. In 14 sta...

Dec62019 by adminNo Comments

Rape and murder suspects shot dead ‘after trying to steal police guns’

World

Four men suspected of raping and killing a female vet have been shot dead by police after they allegedly tried to snatch officers' guns.They were in custody and had been taken to the scene of the murder early on Friday for a crime reconstruction. Police said the suspects died in "cross-fire" after they attempted to snatch the weapons.Senior officer Prakash Reddy told reporters: "While the reconstruction and investigations were on, one of the accused signalled to the others and tried to escape."They then tried to snatch weapons from the guard and fired on the police. They were killed in the cross-fire." Advertisement Two policemen were injured in the shooting. The 27-year-old rape victim's burned body was di...