Espionage Cyberworm Deals Havoc On Middle East Nations

I feel like these deadbeats are being reminded just who invented computing.

The most sophisticated and powerful cyberweapon to date — a Swiss Army Knife spy tool that can evolve and change to deal with any situation — has been discovered on the loose in several Middle Eastern countries, security researchers said Tuesday.

The Worm.Win32.Flame threat, or “Flame” for short, was likely built by the same nation-state responsible for the Stuxnet virus that targeted Iran’s nuclear power plant in 2010. But this new weapon is twenty times the size of that cyberbomb and far more powerful, making it practically an army on its own, said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior security researcher with Kaspersky Labs.

“Flame is a cyberespionage operation,” he told FoxNews.com.

Its prime goal: capturing data from a machine. To accomplish that task, this unusually large and complex espionage tool is made up of several modules designed to accomplish specific tasks, explained Liam O Murchu, operations manager with Symantec Security Response.

“It can record your keystrokes, it can record from the microphone on your computer, it can take screen shots, and it sends this info to a remote computer for someone to siphon off,” he told FoxNews.com.

Flame can grow and change, too: What makes this cyberweapon so powerful is the ability to be reconfigured with new modules that turn an infected PC or industrial control system into whatever tool a spy dreams up.

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A top U.S. senator said Tuesday he would support a no-fly zone over Syria in the wake of Friday’s massacre, though the Obama administration pushed back on the question of military force — so far limiting the latest U.S. response to the expulsion’s of Syria’s top diplomat to Washington.

In a coordinated effort, the United States joined allies around the world Tuesday in kicking out Syria’s diplomats. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government gave Syria’s charge d’affaires 72 hours to leave the country.

Administration officials described the move as a statement by world powers about their collective “revulsion” toward the “vile” killings carried out by the regime and its “thugs.”

But it immediately raised further questions about whether any of those countries, including the U.S., are edging toward the possibility of military action in the country.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Tuesday that he would support a no-fly and no-drive zone in Syria, suggesting the U.S. faces a greater call to get involved militarily in Syria than it did in Libya last year.

“Compared to Libya, the strategic upside of taking out (Syrian President Bashar) Assad is far greater,” he said. “We’ve used force to stop slaughter less strategic and egregious than this.”

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Bank profits rose in the first quarter of 2012, reaching their highest quarterly levels since the second quarter of 2007, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s quarterly banking report, released Thursday. However, total loan and lease balances on the books of banks declined by $56 billion in the quarter, a situation that FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said was “disappointing” after the industry saw three quarters of growth last year. Bank net income for the first quarter of 2012 was $35.3 billion, up by $6.6 billion from the first quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, revenues — driven partly by gains on loan sales — increased for only the second time in the past five quarters. Net operating revenue increased by $5 billion from the year-earlier querter. The FDIC said that once again lower provisions for loan losses contributed to earnings improvement. The number of banks on the FDIC’s “problem list” fell to 772 from 813 during the first quarter of 2012, and the assets of problem institutions declined to $292 billion from $319 billion.

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ROME/HELSINKI (Reuters) – At least half of euro zone governments as well as banks and large companies are making contingency plans in case Greece decides to leave the single currency area, even though the preferred option is still for Athens to keep the euro.

Italy’s Deputy Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli said his country was ready for such a possibility, if Greek voters on June 17 give power to parties that reject reforms agreed with the EU and IMF in exchange for emergency loans.

Greece’s deficit means that without the EU/IMF money, which would stop flowing if Athens were to tear up the agreement on reforms, it would not be able to pay salaries and would have to leave the euro zone and start printing its own currency.

“We always have to be ready in any case,” Grilli said, when asked by reporters if Italy was preparing for a Greek exit. “All options are possible, though our objective is to avoid that happening.”

Senior European Union officials have told member states to prepare contingency plans in case Greece quits the euro zone, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

European Union leaders have urged Greece to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout program.

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BEIJING (MarketWatch) — China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that a months-long investigation had revealed that U.S. support for six clean energy projects violated World Trade Organization rules and acted as barriers to trade.

State-controlled Xinhua news agency said later that the ministry found that the U.S. government provided renewable energy companies unfair grants that are prohibited under WTO rules and distorted normal trade.

The ministry’s charges are likely to heighten trade tensions between the two countries. The U.S. and China have recently sparred more frequently over clean energy issues, ranging from copyright violations of wind-power technology to subsidies for manufacturers of solar and wind-turbine components. The two countries are also at odds over China’s rare-earth quotas and imports of Iranian crude oil.

The U.S. Commerce Department last week announced a preliminary decision to impose 31% tariffs on several of China’s largest solar-panel companies that it had found guilty of dumping.

The Chinese government blasted the U.S. decision as “protectionist”

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China’s manufacturing sector continued to shrink in May, according to preliminary data released Thursday.

HSBC’s Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 48.7 in May from 49.3 the previous month. Any reading below 50 indicates the manufacturing sector has been shrinking.

While the news comes as yet another sign of weakness for China, the outlook for the world’s second largest economy is still far from clear.

Mark Williams, chief Asia economist for Capital Economics, said the latest PMI report seems to indicate a slowdown in China’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy. He said it also runs counter to other reports showing that income is growing for urban households and migrant workers.

“This weak PMI reading, and the general climate of economic uncertainty, suggests that a pickup in consumer spending growth is unlikely to lift the economy out of its current malaise,” said Williams, in a research note.

But he believes the economy could gain steam going forward, with a boost from the government.

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REUTERS – In the run-up to Facebook’s (FB.O) $16 billion IPO, Morgan Stanley (MS.N), the lead underwriter on the deal, unexpectedly delivered some negative news to major clients: The bank’s consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company.

The sudden caution very close to the huge initial public offering, and while an investor roadshow was underway, was a big shock to some, said two investors who were advised of the revised forecast.

They say it may have contributed to the weak performance of Facebook shares, which sank on Monday – their second day of trading – to end 10 percent below the IPO price. The $38 per share IPO price valued Facebook at $104 billion.

The change in Morgan Stanley’s estimates came on the heels of Facebook’s filing of an amended prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which the company expressed caution about revenue growth due to a rapid shift by users to mobile devices. Mobile advertising to date is less lucrative than advertising on a desktop.

“This was done during the roadshow – I’ve never seen that before in 10 years,” said a source at a mutual fund firm who was among those called by Morgan Stanley.

PARIS (AP) — The 17-country eurozone risks falling into a “severe recession,” the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Tuesday, as it called on governments and Europe’s central bank to act quickly to stop the slowdown spilling over into the global economy.

OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan said the eurozone is “close to” the possible scenario of a 2 percent economic contraction this year that the Paris-based think tank laid out as its worst-case scenario last November.

Padoan made his comments as the OECD, which comprises the world’s most developed economies, released its twice-yearly global economic outlook. The report forecasts a longer and deeper contraction in the eurozone than predicted in November, with the eurozone economy expected to shrink in 2012, and only manage a feeble recovery in 2013.

“Today we see the situation in the euro area close to the possible downside scenario” in the OECD’s November report, “which if materializing could lead to a severe recession in the euro area and with spillovers in the rest of the world,” Padan told reporters before the report’s release.

The OECD’s new forecast shows Europe falling behind the United States, where growth is seen accelerating both in 2012 and 2013.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Fitch cut Japan’s sovereign credit status on Tuesday to the lowest level among global ratings agencies as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

Fitch Ratings cut Japan’s long-term foreign currency rating by two levels to A plus from AA. It cut the more important local currency rating by one notch to A plus from AA minus. Both were given a negative outlook.

Fitch warned that further downgrades were possible unless the government takes new fiscal policy measures to stabilise public finances and its ratio of debt to gross domestic product.

“The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,” Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch said in a statement.

“The country’s fiscal consolidation plan looks leisurely, relative even to other fiscally challenged high-income countries, and implementation is subject to political risk.”

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s government spokesman says German Chancellor Angela Merkel has floated the idea that the country hold a referendum on the euro alongside national elections next month.

Dimitris Tsiodras said in a statement Friday that Merkel aired the proposal during a phone call with Greek President Karolos Papoulias earlier in the day.

The statement said that such a project was “obviously” outside the jurisdiction of the Greek caretaker government appointed this week.

Greece is set to hold elections on June 17, after a previous vote on May 6 produced a hung Parliament.

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The Obama White House is drawing ridicule for appending the official online biographies of nearly every president over the last century in order to link President Obama’s accomplishments to the former commanders in chief.

The Obama team went into the pages of U.S. presidents dating back to Calvin Coolidge to add friendly looking “Did you know?” fact boxes to the end of their bios. Those additions were used to plug a host of Obama administration initiatives, ranging from the health care overhaul to the so-called “Buffett Rule” to his green-energy policies.

For instance, the following line was added to the official bio of the late President Ronald Reagan: “In a June 28, 1985, speech, Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multimillionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.”

The White House is coming under heavy criticism from conservatives for the changes, and not just to Reagan’s page.

Late Tuesday, the White House defended itself, claiming the staff was merely adding links to other pages.

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This morning’s groundbreaking of the Whole Foods grocery in Detroit’s Midtown district represented more than turning a few shovels of dirt. It also marked an opportunity to forge closer ties between a major corporation and the community it hopes to serve, Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb told community and civic leaders this morning.

Meeting with a Whole Foods community advisory panel prior to the 9:45 a.m. groundbreaking, Robb said Whole Foods hopes to nurture local food suppliers whose products will appear on Whole Foods shelves, as well as take a role in educating the community on healthy eating.

“We’re really excited to be here,” Robb said. “I promise you we’re going to be here with humility. We’re going to need your help.”

The groundbreaking, featuring Mayor Dave Bing, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and other leaders, drew more than 200 well-wishers and capped a nearly two-and-a-half-year process in which Whole Foods examined whether it should open one of its upscale groceries in a distressed urban market like Detroit. The decision marks Whole Foods’ first venture into such a market after already operating more than 300 stores in three nations, including some in Detroit’s suburbs.

Several other cities, including Chicago, have now asked Whole Foods to open stores in their communities following the Detroit example, Robb said. But he said he was happy that Detroit was first.

“The richness that we discovered here was very encouraging,” Robb said. “That’s special for me.”

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ally Financial’s ResCap mortgage unit filed for a prepackaged bankruptcy protection Monday, a move that the taxpayer-owned bank says will allow it to take another step to repay Treasury.

The ResCap unit, which operates under the GMAC Mortgage brand, was once one of the nation’s leading subprime lenders. Problems with those home loans for riskier borrowers and the sharp drop in the company’s core auto finance business forced Treasury to give it a $15.8 billion bailout in 2009, as part of its efforts to rescue the troubled auto industry and housing market.

The company, which started as the finance unit of automaker General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) under the GMAC name, changed its name to Ally following the bailout. Besides continuing its auto finance business, it now operates an online commercial bank.

Ally also said it is looking at a possible sale or other strategic alternatives for its international business.

The company said that it expects GMAC to continue to make and service mortgage loans while the bankruptcy process is completed. The portfolio of home loans it holds, now valued at less than half its original value, will be auctioned off as part of the bankruptcy process.

GMAC said it will make a so-called “stalking horse” bid of $1.6 billion for those loans, but they are expected to draw a higher bid from investors.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is out after it was found he padded his resume with an embellished college degree, ending his term at the company after just four months.

Yahoo confirmed Thompson “has left the company” in a statement posted late Sunday, after two news reports. Tech blog AllThingsD was the first to report the news, and the New York Times followed up with its own article.

Yahoo media chief Ross Levinsohn will be named interim CEO, the company said. Levinsohn had earlier been rumored as a successor to Carol Bartz, who was fired from Yahoo by phone in September. Instead, Thompson took the CEO role in January.

Thompson’s resume scandal ignited just over a week ago, when activist shareholder group Third Point alleged that Thompson lied about details of his college degree.

The saga took an even more dramatic twist Monday morning, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Thompson has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His decision to step down from Yahoo was “in part influenced” by the recent diagnosis, the newspaper said.

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I understand this has nothing to do with finances. But God I love watching these idiots carve themselves up.

(CNN) – Some people wonder if the black church will punish President Barack Obama for announcing support for same-sex marriage.

Here’s another question:

Why would the black church cite scripture to exclude gays when a similar approach to the Bible was used to enslave their ancestors?

“It’s so unfortunate,” says James Cone, one the nation’s most influential black theologians and author of “The Cross and the Lynching Tree.”

“The literal approach to scripture was used to enslave black people,” he says. “I’ve said many times in black churches that the black church is on the wrong side of history on this. It’s so sad because they were on the right side of history in their own struggle.”

Call it historical irony: Black church leaders arguing against same-sex marriage are making some of the same arguments that supporters of slavery made in the 18th and 19th centuries, some historians say. Both groups adopted a literal reading of the Bible to justify withholding basic rights from a particular group.

Opposition to gay rights is not the standard position of all black churches. Still, while several predominately white mainline denominations have officially accepted gays and lesbians in various forms, the vast majority of black churches still consider homosexuality a sin.

Black church leaders recently helped lead a successful drive to amend North Carolina’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The Rev. Fred Robinson, a black pastor in Charlotte, says most black churchgoers aren’t hypocrites. They take scripture, and sin, seriously.

“Black people are not confused,” Robinson says. “If you look at the scriptures that oppose homosexuality, Old and New Testament, they are clearer cut than the ones people used to justify slavery.”

Read the backstabbing, here:

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s socialist leader and former finance minister says efforts to form a coalition government have failed.

Evangelos Venizelos, who was the last of three party leaders to try to reach an agreement, said Friday he would hand the mandate back to the country’s president Saturday.

The U.S. government posted a budget surplus in April, the first in more than three years, as tax revenue climbed and spending dropped.

Receipts topped outlays by $59.1 billion compared with a deficit of $40.4 billion in April 2011, the Treasury Department said today. Economists projected a $35 billion surplus, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. It was the first surplus since September 2008 and the biggest since April 2008.

“The total federal budget deficit is slowly shrinking,” said Steven Wood, president of Insight Economics LLC in Danville, California. “However, this improvement has been halting, due largely to erratic economic and employment growth.”

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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it was suspending its work in Pakistan pending a review of its presence in the South Asian country.

The decision comes after the killing of Khalil Rasjed Dale, a 60-year old health program manager who was abducted four months ago in Balochistan. His body was found last month.

The 900 national staff members of the Red Cross have been placed on paid leave, and 80 foreign staffers have been flown to Islamabad, said spokesman Christian Cardon.

“Over the last few years unfortunately, it has become very dangerous not only in Pakistan but all over the world with the ICRC staff being targeted and coming under attack,” Cardon said.

Jacques de Maio, the head of Red Cross operations for South Asia, said the aid agency was compelled to “completely reassess the balance between the humanitarian impact of our activities and the risks faced by our staff.”

The organization has halted all all its activities and said it was painfully aware of the consequences on the wounded, sick and other vulnerable people.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Mortgage interest rates hit new lows this week as both the 30-year and the 15-year fixed-rates fell, according to a weekly survey by Freddie Mac. It was the second consecutive week that rates broke records.

The 30-year, the most popular mortgage product, fell by 0.01 percentage points to 3.83%. Last year at this time, it stood at 4.63%. The new lows can save borrowers $46 a month for every $100,000 borrowed. Over a 30-year term that comes to more than $16,000.

The 15-year fixed dropped by 0.02 percentage points to 3.03%, lowering borrowing costs to $692 a month for every $100,000 borrowed, a $38 savings compared with a year earlier. Borrowers would pay out only $24,565 in interest over the life of the loan.

Rates are tracking the downward trend in Treasury yields, according to Frank Nothaft, Freddie’s chief economist, which have fallen in response to election results in Europe and a weaker than expected U.S. employment report.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — It may be dangerous, difficult work, but oil drillers are well compensated for the job: In 2011 the average salary for rig workers and other industry personnel was $99,175.

That number includes fat paychecks for the highly skilled, like $235,586 for a “drilling consultant” and $139,868 for a “reservoir engineer”, according to Rigzone, an industry information provider that compiled the figures.

But even for someone with less than a year’s experience the average wage was $66,923.

A roustabout, one of the lowest workers on a rig who performs general maintenance and physical labor and requires little prior training, made $34,680 — the median wage for all American workers.

Read up on Po Pimp’s lucrative lifestyle, here: