US politicians ask Pompeo to clarify policy on Libya AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 11:30 pm)

Bipartisan legislators say Libyan armed groups are using confusion over US policy to justify fighting in Tripoli.
How npm Stopped a Malicious Upstream Code Update From Stealing Cryptocurrency Slashdotby EditorDavid on bitcoin at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at June 8, 2019, 11:07 pm)

"If you're a cryptocurrency startup, would you face a huge backlash by hacking your own customers to keep their funds safe if you know that a hacker is about to launch an attack and steal their funds?" asks ZDNet: This is exactly what happened yesterday when the Komodo Platform learned about a backdoor in one of its older wallet apps named Agama. Knowing they had little time to act, the Komodo team said it used the same backdoor to extract users' funds from all impacted wallets and move them to a safe location, out of the hacker's reach. The tactic paid off, and 8 million Komodo coins and 96 bitcoins, worth nearly $13 million, were taken from users' vulnerable accounts before the hacker could get a chance to abuse the backdoor and steal users' funds... While initially, it did not make any sense for a library with a very limited feature-set to contain such an advanced functionality, after investigating the issue, npm staffers realized they were dealing with a supply-chain attack aimed at another app downstream, which was using the now-backdoored library... The npm team said the malicious code would work as intended and collect Agama wallet app seeds and passphrases, and upload the data to a remote server. These malicious-payload updates are "becoming more and more popular," according to a post on the official npm blog (a point they later emphasized in a press release). "After being notified by our internal security tooling of this threat we responded by notifying and coordinating with Komodo to protect their users as well as remove the malware from npm."

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Venezuela: Thousands cross as Maduro reopens border with Colombia AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 10:30 pm)

Venezuelans enter Colombia to buy food and medicine after Nicolas Maduro orders opening of border after four months.
Cringely Predicts The End Of Broadcast TV Within A Decade Slashdotby EditorDavid on tv at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at June 8, 2019, 10:07 pm)

In a new essay Friday, technology pundit Robert Cringely remembers the day he got his first home fax machine in 1986, arguing that broadcast television is like a fax machine -- in that "they are both obsolete." Then he offers a quick history of television, cable TV, and the rise of Netflix, concluding "I'll be surprised if broadcast TV in the U.S. survives another decade" -- also predicting the end of cable TV packages: 5G wireless networking, as I've written here before, has pretty much nothing to do with mobile phones. It has to do with replacing every other kind of data network with 5G wireless. No more land lines, no more cable systems, no more wires. Going all-wireless almost completely eliminates customer-facing labor. No more guy with a tool belt to keep you waiting for service. No more truck rolls. There will be 5G and there will be content, that's all. Content can mean a phone call or a movie, a game, or anything else that involves electrons in motion. And given that we'll all have voracious and completely different demands for high-resolution content, 5G will suck-up all available bandwidth and then some. Legacy broadcast license holders like broadcast TV and radio stations will sell their airspace to 5G carriers and retire to Florida. They'll get offers they can't refuse.... Cable TV packages will fall apart with every network fighting for itself in an a la carte programming world. "There's nothing sacrosanct about a broadcast network paradigm that we've been riding for a century," he concludes. "This too shall pass."

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Can China and Russia be strategic partners? AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 10:00 pm)

China and Russia vow to further strengthen their ties, as both countries are engaged in standoffs with the US.
Russian journalist detained on drugs charges faces court AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 9:30 pm)

Ivan Golunov, reporter for independent news website Meduza, has complained of being beaten in police custody.
Large 'GoldBrute' RDP Botnet Hunts For Exposed Servers With Weak Passwords Slashdotby EditorDavid on botnet at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at June 8, 2019, 9:07 pm)

The Internet Storm Center reports: RDP, the remote desktop protocol, made the news recently after Microsoft patched a critical remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2019-0708). While the reporting around this "Bluekeep" vulnerability focused on patching vulnerable servers, exposing RDP to the Internet has never been a good idea. Botnets have been scanning for these servers and are using weak and reused passwords to gain access to them. The latest example of such a botnet is an ongoing malicious campaign we are refering to as "GoldBrute". This botnet is currently brute forcing a list of about 1.5 million RDP servers exposed to the Internet... Each bot will only try one particular username and password per target. This is possibly a strategy to fly under the radar of security tools as each authentication attempt comes from different addresses. Long-time Slashdot reader UnderAttack writes: Infected systems will retrieve target lists from the command and control server and attempt to brute force credentials against the list, while at the same time looking for more exposed servers. With all the attention spent on patching RDP servers for the recent "BlueKeep" vulnerability, users should also make sure to just not expose RDP in the first place. Even patched, it will still be susceptible to brute forcing.

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Former Afghan football president gets life ban over sexual abuse AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 9:00 pm)

Keramuddin Keram accused by at least five Afghan female football players of repeated sexual abuse between 2013 and 2018.
[no title] Scripting News(cached at June 8, 2019, 8:34 pm)

In case you were wondering, the pragmatic cost of an unimpeached criminal in the White House is that there's no reason for him not to continue breaking the law, breaking more laws, ignoring Congress, and the courts, purging disloyal people in the DOJ, FBI, intelligence services, and even cancelling the election which the Dems are counting on winning. You have to put up the barrier as soon as you can, because all the time you wait they become less potent. By the time you realize you should have done it, that you had to do it, given how things have been going, it'll be too late. He'll just have you arrested for being disloyal. Maybe he's already threatening to do that behind the scenes.
Should the UK Re-Open An Old, Cracked Nuclear Reactor? Slashdotby EditorDavid on power at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at June 8, 2019, 8:07 pm)

"Nuclear experts have warned against re-opening a 43-year-old Scottish nuclear reactor riddled with cracks over fears of a meltdown," writes the Daily Mirror. An anonymous reader quotes their report: Hunterston B nuclear power plant was shut down last year after it was found that Reactor 3 had almost 400 cracks in it -- exceeding the operational limit. EDF, which own the plant in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, are pushing to return the reactor to service at the end of June and July and want to extend the operational limit of crack allowed from 350 to 700. However, the plans to reopen the plant have sparked fears it could lead to a nuclear meltdown similar to the 1986 Chernoybl disaster. Experts have warned that in the very worst case the hot graphite core could become exposed to air and ignite leading to radioactive contamination and evacuation of a large area of Scotland's central belt -- including Glasgow and Edinburgh. According to Dr Ian Fairlie, an independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment, and Dr David Toke, Reader in Energy Policy at the University of Aberdeen, the two reactors definitely should not be restarted... The plant, which is more than 40 years old, can generate enough electricity to power more than 1.7 million homes, and is one of Britain's eight nuclear plants which provide around 20 percent of the country's electricity. Nuclear expert Professor Neil Hyat reminds The Sun that the reactor will be shut down by 2030 -- and "possibly earlier."

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US threatens sanctions over Turkey missile purchase AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 8:00 pm)

The US is threatening to impose sanctions on Turkey if it does not cancel a deal to buy a Russian S400 missile defence system.
Palestinian journalist facing deportation AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 7:30 pm)

Six years ago, Mustafa al-Kharouf appeared in a documentary describing the difficulties of living stateless and under occupation in East Jerusalem.
'Reaching end game': New paper on climate change raises alarm AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 7:30 pm)

A recent paper outlines 'hell on Earth' scenario if urgent action isn't taken to replace fossil fuels with clean energy.
Maker Faire and Make Magazine Have Laid Off All Staff and Paused All Operations Slashdotby EditorDavid on hardhack at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at June 8, 2019, 7:07 pm)

McGruber quotes TechCrunch: Maker Media Inc ceased operations this week and let go of all of its employees — about 22 employees" founder and CEO Dale Dougherty told TechCrunch. "I started this 15 years ago and it's always been a struggle as a business to make this work. Print publishing is not a great business for anybody, but it works . . . barely. Events are hard . . . there was a drop off in corporate sponsorship." Microsoft and Autodesk failed to sponsor this year's flagship Bay Area Maker Faire. But Dougherty is still desperately trying to resuscitate the company in some capacity, if only to keep MAKE:'s online archive running and continue allowing third-party organizers to license the Maker Faire name to throw affiliated events. Rather than bankruptcy, Maker Media is working through an alternative Assignment for Benefit of Creditors process. "We're trying to keep the servers running" Dougherty tells me. "I hope to be able to get control of the assets of the company and restart it. We're not necessarily going to do everything we did in the past but I'm committed to keeping the print magazine going and the Maker Faire licensing program." The fate of those hopes will depend on negotiations with banks and financiers over the next few weeks. For now the sites remain online.

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Peterborough poll sends chilling message to UK Conservatives AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at June 8, 2019, 7:00 pm)

As Labour wins seat, Brexit Party sends Tories to third place in by-election.