Ex-military chief becomes Israel's new defence minister

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Java fix part of Apple OS, Safari updates - Technology on NBCNews ...

Marshall Honorof , TechNewsDaily ? ? ? 12 hrs.

Apple doesn't release comprehensive software updates very often, but when it does, they contain pretty major fixes. Its latest package for Mac computers contains updates for the Safari browser as well as Mountain Lion, Apple's current operating system. Users on older machines can breathe a sigh of relief, however, as the update also provides fixes for Lion and Snow Leopard, Mac's surprisingly resilient previous two OSes.

Mac users who want to upgrade to OS X 10.8.3 need only open the Apple menu and select "Software Update," although more hands-on users can also make the upgrade manually. This will also bring Safari up to version 6.0.3, although regular Safari users will likely have already received this update.

The most important feature of the fix relates to a sizable Java vulnerability. Loading websites with malicious Java applications could cause Java to run automatically, even if users had previously disabled the program. This, of course, could lead to any number of hacks that would render even normally cautious users inert.

The rest of the issues addressed were not quite as dire, but still potentially harmful. Hackers could gain unauthorized access to Macs via compromised PDF files, bypass authentication for private directories due to weaknesses in Unicode characters and even upload destructive code via Apple's Software Update system.

One of the most interesting features of this software update is that Apple has provided it for three recent OSes instead of just two, as it usually does. While Apple has touted its Mountain Lion build of OS X, a surprising number of people are still using Lion and Snow Leopard: the builds from 2009 and 2011, respectively. [See also: Five Apple Security Myths ? and the Hard Truths]

Apple has traditionally been hesitant to support older systems, but given the number of Mac users who still have them, it may make more financial sense to invest in legacy OSes than insist that their users upgrade. The update brings Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and Lion to 10.7.8. Legacy users should note that while these packages include all security updates, they will have to upgrade Safari separately.

10.8.3 will likely bring its own share of minor security issues to the table, but that's just how computer protection works. Hackers and IT professionals exist in a perpetual evolutionary arms race where end users are both the prey and the benefactors. Just be careful and hope that your files survive until the next generation.

Copyright 2013 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/java-fix-part-apple-os-safari-updates-1C8882214

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U.N. body agrees on women's rights policy, skirting sexual politics

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. policy-making body agreed upon a declaration Friday urging an end to violence against women and girls despite concerns from conservative Muslim countries and the Vatican about references to women's sexual and reproductive rights.

Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan, along with Honduras and the Vatican, expressed reservations about the declaration of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, but did not block adoption of the 18-page text.

While the declaration of the commission, created in 1946 for the advancement of women, is non-binding, diplomats and rights activists say it carries enough global weight to pressure countries to improve the lives of women and girls.

"People worldwide expected action, and we didn't fail them. Yes, we did it," Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile and head of U.N. Women, which supports the commission, told delegates on Friday after two weeks on negotiations on the text.

Shannon Kowalski, director of advocacy and policy at the International Women's Health Coalition, said the declaration was a victory for women and girls, but could have gone further to recognize violence faced by lesbians and transgender people.

"Governments have agreed to take concrete steps to end violence," she said. "For the first time, they agreed to make sure that women who have been raped can get critical health care services, like emergency contraception and safe abortion."

Earlier in the talks Iran, Russia, the Vatican and others had threatened to derail the declaration with concerns about references such as access to emergency contraception, abortion and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, activists said.

A proposed amendment by Egypt, that would have allowed states to avoid implementing the declaration if they clashed with national laws, religious or cultural values, failed. Some diplomats said it would have undermined the whole document.

But on Friday, Egypt's delegation said it would not stand in the way of the declaration for the sake of women's empowerment. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Islamists had warned on Thursday that the declaration could destroy society.

'FREE OF FEAR'

The United States welcomed the declaration but lamented that references were not made to lesbian and transgender women and that the term "intimate partner violence" was not used to capture the range of relationships in which abuse can happen.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice last week boasted that all 50 U.S. states have laws treating date rape or spousal rape as equal to that of rape by a stranger. In contrast Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood decried the idea of allowing women to prosecute their husbands for rape or sexual harassment.

Last year, disagreements over sexual and reproductive rights issues prevented the commission from agreeing upon a declaration of a theme of empowering rural women. The commission was also unable to reach a deal a decade ago when it last focused on the theme of ending violence against women and girls.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said states now had a responsibility to turn the 2013 declaration into reality.

"Violence against women is a heinous human rights violation, global menace, a public health threat and a moral outrage," Ban said in a statement. "No matter where she lives, no matter what her culture, no matter what her society, every woman and girl is entitled to live free of fear."

Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig said the declaration was balanced and strong. "It sends a much-needed message to the women around the world: your rights are crucial," he posted on Twitter (@GermanyUN)

The full declaration of the Commission on the Status of Women can be seen at: www.unwomen.org

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-body-agrees-womens-rights-policy-skirting-022552457.html

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Exclusive: Iran steps up weapons lifeline to Assad

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran has significantly stepped up military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in recent months, solidifying its position alongside Russia as the government's lifeline in an increasingly sectarian civil war, Western diplomats said.

Iranian weapons continue to pour into Syria from Iraq but also increasingly along other routes, including via Turkey and Lebanon, in violation of a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, Western officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Iraqi and Turkish officials denied the allegations.

Iran's acceleration of support for Assad suggests the Syrian war is entering a new phase in which Iran may be trying to end the battlefield stalemate by redoubling its commitment to Assad and offering Syria's increasingly isolated government a crucial lifeline, the envoys said.

It also highlights the growing sectarian nature of the conflict, diplomats say, with Iranian arms flowing to the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah. That group is increasingly active on the ground in Syria in support of Assad's forces, envoys say.

The Syrian conflict started out two years ago as a pro-democracy movement. Some 70,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million refugees have fled the violence.

A Western intelligence report seen by Reuters in September said Iran was using civilian aircraft to fly military personnel and large quantities of weapons across Iraqi airspace to aid Assad. Iraq denied that report but later made a point of inspecting an Iran-bound flight that it said had no arms on board.

Much of the weaponry going to Syria now, diplomats say, continues to be shipped to Iran through Iraqi airspace and overland through Iraq, despite Baghdad's repeated promises to put a stop to Iranian arms supplies to Assad in violation of a U.N. arms embargo on Tehran over its nuclear program.

"The Iranians really are supporting massively the regime," a senior Western diplomat said this week. "They have been increasing their support for the last three, four months through Iraq's airspace and now trucks. And the Iraqis really are looking the other way."

"They (Iran) are playing now a crucial role," the senior diplomat said, adding that Hezbollah was "hardly hiding the support it's giving to the (Syrian) regime."

He added that the Syrian civil war was becoming "more and more sectarian," with Sunnis - an increasing number of whom come from Iraq - battling Shi'ites and members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Ali al-Moussawi, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's media adviser, strongly denied the allegations, saying on Wednesday: "No, such a thing never happened. Weapons did not and will not be transferred from Iran to Syria through Iraq, whether by land or by air."

Russia, diplomats said, also remained a key arms supplier for Assad. Unlike Iran, neither Syria nor Russia is subject to a U.N. ban on arms trade and are therefore not in violation of any U.N. rules when conducting weapons commerce. But accepting Iranian arms would be a violation of the U.N. Iran sanctions.

Assad's ally Russia criticizes U.S., European and Gulf Arab governments for their aid to Syrian rebels seeking to topple Assad.

Russia has said repeatedly that its military support for Syria includes anti-missile air defense systems but no attack weapons such as helicopters.

Moscow says it is not wedded to Assad but that the rebels and government should talk and Assad's departure should not be a condition for a deal as the opposition and its supporters insist. Along with China, it has used its Security Council veto to block punitive U.N. measures against Syria's government.

ARMS SUPPLIES VIA TURKEY AND LEBANON?

Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission, responded to a request for a comment by saying, "We believe Syria does not need any military help from Iran."

"Unfortunately the situation in Syria and the whole Middle East region is becoming more and more delicate and risky because of foreign interference and funneling of arms to the extremist groups," he said, repeating that Tehran wanted to end the conflict through dialogue between the government and opposition.

Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The diplomats cited by Reuters made clear that the principal delivery route for arms to Syria still went through Iraq, despite the existence of alternative supply channels such as Turkish airspace. They also said that Iran Air and Mahan Air were well-known violators of the Iranian arms embargo.

Iran Air and Mahan Air were both mentioned in the intelligence report on Iranian arms shipments to Syria seen by Reuters in September. The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted Iran Air, Mahan Air and Yas Air for supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

One Western diplomat cited intelligence reports from his country that a new avenue for sending arms to Syria went on occasion through Turkish airspace to Beirut and from there to Syria by truck. There was no suggestion, he said, that Turkish officials were aware of the illicit arms shipments.

Once in Syria, he said, the arms were distributed to government forces and allied militia, including Hezbollah.

"The equipment being transferred by both companies (Iran and Mahan Air) ... ranges from communications equipment to light arms and advanced strategic weapons, some of which are being used devastatingly by Hezbollah and the Syrian regime against the Syrian people," said the Western intelligence report.

"The more sophisticated gear includes parts for various hardware such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), shore-to-sea missiles and surface-to-surface ballistic missiles (SSMs)," the report said. "Other weapons are being used by Syrian security forces, pro-Assad shabbiha militiamen, and Lebanese Hezbollah."

There are about 5 tons of arms per flight, which are occurring on a near weekly basis, hidden in the bottom of the planes' fuselages, the report said, adding that arms cargo was removed separately after civilian cargo was unloaded.

Other Western officials confirmed the findings in the report.

A Turkish diplomatic source denied the allegation. "This is a very sensitive matter for Turkey, and we are very certain that this is baseless," the source told Reuters.

Turkey has intercepted Iranian arms shipments in the past and reported them to the U.N. Security Council's sanctions committee. Ankara's aggressive campaign to stamp out Iranian arms smuggling via its airspace, Western diplomats say, was what led Iran to begin using Iraqi airspace instead.

Lebanon's U.N. ambassador, Nawaf Salam, said he was not in a position to comment. An official at Beirut's airport who requested anonymity rejected the allegations of clandestine Iranian shipments going to Syria via Beirut airport.

Lebanon has had a complicated relationship with neighboring Syria. Its population is deeply divided over the conflict. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon last week urged Lebanon, which is hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, to remain neutral.

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Dominic Evans and others in Beirut, Mark Hosenball in Washington, Aseel Kami in Baghdad; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-iran-steps-weapons-lifeline-syrias-assad-envoys-041038925.html

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CBS Brings Ad-Sponsored Streaming TV To iPhone And iPad; Social Integration, Android & Windows 8 Support Still To Come

CBS is today introducing a new iOS application for iPad and iPhone?which brings its television programming to mobile devices, offering full episodes for streaming a week after they originally air. Shows that air daily, including daytime and late night programs, will be available 24 hours after airing, the network says.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/M80-uONpZpQ/

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Mars had the right stuff for life, scientists find

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:57am EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Seven months after NASA's rover Curiosity landed on Mars to assess if the planet most like Earth had the ingredients for life, scientists have their answer: Yes.

Analysis of powdered samples drilled out from inside an ancient and once water-soaked rock at the rover's Gale Crater landing site show clays, sulfates and other minerals that are all key to life, scientists told reporters at NASA headquarters in Washington and on a conference call on Tuesday.

The water that once flowed through the area, known as Yellowknife Bay, was likely drinkable, said Curiosity's lead scientist John Grotzinger, who is with the California Institute of Technology.

The analysis stopped short of a confirmation of organics, which are key to most Earth-like life. But with 17 months left in the rover's primary mission, scientists said they expect to delve further into that question. Science operations currently are suspended because of a computer glitch, which is expected to be resolved this week.

Whether or not Mars has or ever had life, it should have at one time at least had organic compounds delivered to its surface by organic-rich comets and asteroids. Finding places where the organics could have been preserved, however, is a much trickier prospect than finding the environmental niches and chemistry needed to support life, scientists said.

In May, following a one-month interruption of radio communications caused by the positions of Earth and Mars, scientists plan to drill a second hole into the Gale Crater rock to look for organic compounds.

"If there was organic material there, it could have been preserved," said David Blake, principal investigator for Curiosity's Chemistry and Mineralogy, or CheMin, experiment.

A lack of organics, however, would not rule out the Yellowknife Bay site as suitable for life, scientists added.

"You don't have to have carbon present in a geological environment that's habitable in order to have microbial metabolism occur," Grotzinger said.

Some micro-organisms on Earth, for example, can feed on inorganic compounds, such as what are found inside rocks.

"There does need to be a source of carbon somewhere, but if it's just CO2 (carbon dioxide), you can have chemoautotrophic organisms that literally feed on rocks and they will metabolize and generate organic compounds based on that carbon," Grotzinger said.

'BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LIFE'

Analysis shows the Gale Crater rock contains carbon dioxide, in addition to hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen.

Carbon dioxide provides a key ingredient in the building blocks for life, all of which have now been found in the Mars rock sample, Grotzinger said.

The $2.5 billion, nuclear-powered Curiosity rover landed inside the giant Gale Crater impact basin, located near the Martian equator, on August 6 for a two-year mission.

Scientists were drawn to the area because of a three-mile (5-km) mountain of sediment, called Mount Sharp, rising from the crater floor. But shortly after the rover's landing, the team decided to first explore the Yellowknife Bay area, located in the opposite direction from Mount Sharp.

Observations from Mars orbiters showed three different types of terrain coming together in Yellowknife Bay, plus a low elevation, all hints that water could have once flowed and pooled on the surface.

That hunch was verified with the first chemical analysis of material drilled out from inside what appears to be a slab of bedrock, named John Klein, after a mission manager who died in 2011. Scientists don't know the rock's age, nor how it formed. They suspect, however, that the John Klein rock is at least 3 billion years old and that it spent enough time in non-acidic and not-too-salty water for various telltale clays and minerals to form.

"This rock, quite frankly, looks like a typical thing that we would get on Earth," Grotzinger said. "The key thing here is this is an environment that microbes could have lived in and maybe even prospered in."

The habitable conditions in Yellowknife Bay appear to roughly coincide within a couple of hundred million years of the first evidence for life on Earth.

"On Earth, finding organics in very, very ancient rocks is a difficult proposition," said Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator for Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument.

Finding organics on Mars may be even more challenging. Without much protection from an atmosphere, ultraviolet and cosmic radiation can destroy organics. Mars also apparently is covered with chemicals, known as perchlorates, that consume organics.

"The search for organic carbon is an issue for this mission and you want to do this as deliberately as possible. You don't just want to wander around and try stuff out," Grotzinger said.

Knowing that Mars at least had the ingredients for life, however, makes the search for organics more viable.

"This is not a simple problem, but I think the mission is up to it and we're really excited to get started on that now," Grotzinger said.

(Editing by Tom Brown, Christopher Wilson and Eric Beech)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/6fXpqOhoOKk/us-space-mars-idUSBRE92B0YA20130313

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WHO confirms 15th case of deadly new virus in Saudi Arabia

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - A Saudi man infected with a deadly new virus from the same family as SARS has died, becoming the ninth patient in the world to be killed the disease which has so far infected 15, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old developed symptoms of the novel coronavirus (NCoV) on February 24 and died on March 2, several days after being hospitalized, the WHO said in a disease outbreak update.

NCoV is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that first emerged in Asia in 2003. The new virus is not the same as SARS, but similar to it and also to other coronaviruses found in bats.

The WHO first issued an international alert in September after the virus infected a Qatari man in Britain who had recently been in Saudi Arabia.

Symptoms of NCoV include severe respiratory illness, fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

"Preliminary investigation indicated that the (latest Saudi)patient had no contact with previously reported cases of NCoV infection," the WHO said. "Other potential exposures are under investigation."

Nine of the 15 people confirmed to have been infected with NCoV have died. Most cases have been in the Middle East or in patients who had recently traveled there.

Research by scientists in Europe has found that NCoV is well adapted to infecting humans and may be treatable with medicines similar to the ones used for SARS, which killed a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected.

The Geneva-based WHO said it was monitoring the situation closely and urged its member states to continue surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections and to carefully review any unusual patterns.

"WHO is currently working with international experts and countries where cases have been reported to assess the situation and review recommendations for surveillance and monitoring," it said, adding that national authorities should "promptly assess and notify" it of any new NCoV cases.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/confirms-15th-case-deadly-virus-saudi-arabia-221928986.html

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