Over $1m was paid by FBI to hack San Bernardino iPhone

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Thursday the agency paid more to get into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters than he will make in the remaining seven years and four months he has in his job. According to figures from the FBI and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Comey's annual salary as of January 2015 was $183,300. Without a raise or bonus, Comey will make $1.34 million over the remainder of his job. That suggests the FBI paid the largest ever publicized fee for a hacking job, easily surpassing the $1 million paid by U.S. information security company Zerodium to break into phones.

Chemical warehouse explosion in Jingjiang city, China

A massive plume of smoke has erupted after an explosion occurred at a warehouse with chemical and fuel products in China, but the blaze was under control with no casualties. This is coming in the wake of huge explosions caused by improper storage of chemicals in the northern city of Tianjin last August, when at least 165 people were killed and fears were raised of toxic contamination. The latest accident was at the premises of a company called Jiangsu Deqiao Storage, which is authorised to keep hazardous chemicals, reports said. The Jingjiang government said on its verified microblog that the fire was “under control” with no deaths or injuries.
The Jingjiang government statement said activity near the site had returned to “normal”. Industrial accidents are common in China where safety standards are often lax. But the massive blast in Tianjin sparked widespread anger over a perceived lack of transparency by officials about its causes and environmental impact

France: Euro 2016 will be played under a state of emergency

France has announced that the forthcoming European Championship will be played under a state of emergency. This comes after the country’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced it would be extending the conditions that came into effect in November 2015 after the Paris attacks for another two months. The conditions will remain in place until the end of July and also cover the Tour de France, which will take place in the country during the course of the month. While in place the state of emergency gives French police the power to carry out searches and raids without warrant and also gives them the power to restrict public gatherings.

Another 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits Ecuador

                                                                              (C)Reuters

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Ecuador, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has reported. The new tremblor comes just days after a devastating 7.8 quake killed at least 587 people in the South American country and amid internationally-assisted recovery efforts. The earthquake was centered some 33.0 kilometers (20.5 miles) north-northwest of Bahia de Caraquez and some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the city of Portoviejo. It hit at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Prince (1957 – 2016)

Prince, the songwriter, singer, producer, one-man studio band and consummate showman, died on Thursday at his home, Paisley Park, in Chanhassen, Minn. He was 57. His publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, confirmed his death but did not report a cause. In a statement, the Carver County sheriff, Jim Olson, said that deputies responded to an emergency call at 9:43 a.m. “When deputies and medical personnel arrived,” he said, “they found an unresponsive adult male in the elevator. Emergency medical workers attempted to provide lifesaving CPR, but were unable to revive the victim. He was pronounced deceased at 10:07 a.m.”
The sheriff’s office said it would continue to investigate his death.
Last week, responding to news reports that Prince’s plane had made an emergency landing because of a health scare, Ms. Noel-Schure said Prince was “fighting the flu.”

WWE legend Chyna dies at 45

The death has occurred of professional wrestling star Chyna at the age of 45. The wrestler, real name Joan Laurer, was one of the most popular female superstars in the sport in the late 1990s. Laurer was found dead in an apartment in Redondo Beach, California, by a friend. She had died sometime before being found according to a police statement. The friend told police that Laurer had not responded to her phone in a few days and she had become concerned for her welfare.
“Officers arrived on scene and discovered a deceased female inside the location,” Redondo Beach police said in a statement.

EPL week 35 result

Spanish Airline Iberia suspends Nigerian operations

The carrier said it would stop operations in and out of Nigeria from May 12. In a letter to its trade partners, the Regional Commercial Manager of the airline, Mr. Kola Olayinka, Iberia said it was a tough decision that had been taken by its head office following the wide acceptance received from passengers, especially those heading towards Spain and Latin America over the years.
Olayinka disclosed that the carrier’s commitment to Nigeria since it started operations in 2014 has never been in doubt, but noted that over the last few months, the airline had witnessed dwindling passenger figures to Madrid, its main hub.

Underground drug tunnel discovered beneath bin linking US to Mexico

                                                                  (C)GregoryBull

US authorities say that they have discovered a cross-border tunnel that ran a half-mile from a Tijuana, Mexico, house equipped with a large elevator to a lot in San Diego that was advertised as a wooden pallet business, resulting in seizures of more than a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana. It was the 13th sophisticated secret passage found along California’s border with Mexico since 2006, including three on the same short street in San Diego that runs parallel to a border fence with a densely populated residential area on the Mexican side. The unusually narrow tunnel was only about three feet wide, equipped with a rail system, lighting and ventilation.

Adele named Britain’s richest ever female musician

ADELE has been named Britain’s richest ever female musician. The singer and songwriter rose to 30th place overall in the 2016 Sunday Times list of the wealthiest performers and composers in the UK and Ireland. The 27-year-old has almost doubled her fortune since last year, from €64 million to €109 million (about $124 million), after a successful tour and third album. The ranking is topped by Paul McCartney, who shares €974 million with his wife Nancy Shevell, up €38 million on last year.

A peep into the content of the world’s oldest ‘message bottle’

                                           (C)MarineBiologicalAssociation

An old postcard in a bottle found washed ashore by a German holidaymaker last April is now officially the world’s oldest message in a bottle, according to the Guinness World Records. The note, which offers a shilling in exchange for its return to an English marine research institute, was discovered by retired postal worker Marianne Winkler as she walked a beach on Germany’s Amrum Island. The bottle had been thrown into the sea by British marine biologist George Parker Bidder on 30 November, 1906. The Marine Biological Association (MBA), in which he had been a leading figure, said he released the message as part of research into ocean currents and commercial fish.

Harriet Tubman : The new face on the $20 bill

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on Wednesday announced the most sweeping and historically symbolic makeover of American currency in a century, proposing to replace the slaveholding Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman, the former slave and abolitionist, and to add women and civil rights leaders to the $5 and $10 notes. Mr. Lew may have reneged on a commitment he made last year to make a woman the face of the $10 bill, opting instead to keep Alexander Hamilton, to the delight of a fan base swollen with enthusiasm over a Broadway rap musical based on the life of the first Treasury secretary. But the broader remaking of the nation’s paper currency, which President Obama welcomed on Wednesday, may well have captured a historical moment for a multicultural, multiethnic and multiracial nation moving contentiously through the early years of a new century. The updated bills will also be the first in U.S. history to include a tactile feature to aid the blind

Luis Suarez breaks a Barcelona record as he scores four against Deportivo

Almost as quickly as Barcelona seemed to descend into total implosion recently, Luis Suarez pulled them out of it with a truly sensational performance in their 0-8 (EIGHT) win over Deportivo. The often-peckish forward bagged four classy goals - and set up another three, just for a laugh - as he ended his three-game goal "drought" and single-handedly tore their La Liga rivals a new one. In doing so, he broke the original Ronaldo's record of 47 goals in one season for Barcelona, which dated back to the 1996-97 season. Suarez now has a massive 49. It was also his SIXTH hat-trick of the season, tying him level for the season with  C. Ronaldo.

Malaysian Airlines CEO resigns amidst crisis

Malaysian Airlines chief executive Christoph Mueller has resigned after less than one year of leading the carrier's reorganising efforts. The airline had suffered years of financial losses even before it was hit by two major disasters in 2014. Flight MH370 disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is still missing, while MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Mr Mueller said he was leaving due to "changing personal circumstance."

He took up his role in May 2015 to oversee a $1.56bn (£1.1bn) turnaround plan which included massive job cuts and dropping unprofitable destinations.
"We are very disappointed to lose Christoph as CEO but we fully understand his reasons and respect his need to do this," Malaysian Airlines Chairman Md Nor Yusof said.
Mr Mueller will continue to serve until September 2016 and will stay on the board as a non-executive director. The carrier has already begun to look for a new chief executive and says it is considering both internal and external candidates. It said that Mueller had set up a strong management team which would be the foundation for a successful turnaround.

Another revenue fall for Yahoo as firm reviews bid options

Yahoo has reported a $99m (£69m) quarterly loss, compared to a $21.2m profit for the period last year, as it reviews offers from potential bidders. The internet firm also saw revenues fall 11.6% to $1.08bn in the January-March period from the quarter in 2015. But the revenue fall was better than analysts' forecast, and Yahoo's shares rose in after-hours trading on Wall Street. In February, Yahoo said it was looking for buyers for its core internet arm. The deadline for potential bids was Monday. In a statement Yahoo's chief executive Marissa Mayer said: "Our 2016 plan is off to a solid start as we continue to focus on driving efficiency, lowering costs, and improving long-term growth.

Utah officially declares porn a public health hazard

The US state of Utah has become the first to declare pornography a public health risk in a move its governor says is to "protect our families and our young people". The bill does not ban pornography in the mainly Mormon state. However, it calls for greater "efforts to prevent pornography exposure and addiction".
One group representing the adult entertainment industry attacked what it called "an old-fashioned morals bill". Pornography, the bill says, "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment" and "is contributing to the hypersexualisation of teens, and even prepubescent children, in our society".
Further steps must be taken to change "education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level" against what it calls an epidemic, but it does not suggest how changes should be implemented. The bill was signed by Republican Governor Gary Herbert, who said the volume

Fan pays a whooping £63,400 to have a passionate kiss with Ricky Martin who is gay

 A female Ricky Martin fan has paid £63,400 to have a passionate kiss with her idol. And although the Latin pop star turned up with his new boyfriend, he apparently did not hold back at all in the kiss with dog breeder Ana Paola Diniz, the businesswoman and pet resort owner who put in the highest bid at the event. The kiss was first prize in an auction to raise money for AIDS charities taking place in the city of Sao Paulo, in the south-eastern Brazilian state of the same name. Also present were models Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and fashion designer Marc Jacobs, although it was not reported if they had also bid in the auction for the kiss.

Amazing recovery of a man who had full-face transplant

A man who underwent a full face transplant after suffering horrific injuries in a car crash has praised its results, and says that he now feels like ‘another face in the crowd.’ Mitchell Hunter sustained life-changing injuries in a 2001 car crash that resulted in the loss of his face and one of his legs. But in 2011, Mitchell’s life was changed yet again when he became only the second person in America to undergo a full face transplant. The 14-hour operation gave him a nose, eyelids – and even restored sensation in his skin. Five years on, Mitchell, a former soldier, has now praised the results of the operation, saying it transformed his life.
The 35-year-old said: ‘I feel just as healthy as I did when I was 21, and I feel great.
‘It’s a lot easier going out in public. I don’t get the stares. I’m just another face in the crowd, and that’s all I ever wanted.’

Intel to cut 12,000 jobs from global operations in the next 12 months

US tech giant Intel is shedding 12,000 jobs as it seeks to cut reliance on the declining personal computer market. The maker of computer chips will take a $1.2bn charge to cover restructuring costs.  The job cuts, about 11% of Intel's workforce, will be made over the next 12 months, Intel said in a statement. Intel said it wants to "accelerate evolution from a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices". The company also said on Tuesday chief financial officer Stacy Smith would move to a new role leading sales, manufacturing and operations.
Shares in the company were down 2.5% in after-hours trading on Wall Street. Intel's stock price had already fallen 8.4% this year. The world's largest computer chipmaker also lowered its revenue forecast for the year. The California-based company has been focusing on its higher-margin data centre business as it looks to reduce its dependence on the slowing PC market.
Intel did not identify where the job cuts would fall. Most of the company's factories are in the US.

Source: BBC

Groom crashes £240,000 Ferrari he rented for his wedding into wall

                                                                    (C)LancsRoadPolice

Usman Ali tied the knot with wife Sakina Parveen 24 hours before he drove the £240,000 supercar into the front wall of a house in Burnley, Lancashire. The 25-year-old, a tyre fitter for his father’s garage, is believed to have paid a £5,000 deposit to hire out the car for his wedding weekend. The Ferrari 458 Spider reportedly belongs to a Birmingham-based luxury car hire company, Platinum Executive Travel. But on Sunday, the day after the wedding, his foot apparently tripped on the car mat and he pressed the accelerator rather than the brake as he arrived at his friend's house ahead of further celebrations of his nuptials with wife Sakina Parveen.