China May (or May Not) Be Behind the Twitter Hack

You may not have heard, but roughly 250,000 Twitter accounts may have been compromised by hackers. There’s a theory that — if you read between the lines — Twitter is implying the Chinese are to blame for compromising their security. 

RELATED: The Chinese Want to Know Why Their News Is on Twitter and They Aren’t

Twitter revealed that roughly a quarter million accounts may have been compromised by hackers in a blog post Friday evening. (A classic Friday evening news dump if there ever was one; they got a $ 10 billion valuation the same day.) 

RELATED: A Punk Prince, Women in the Military, a New Tennis Controversy

Bandits might have made away with “usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords – for approximately 250,000 users.” They think. A Twitter representative stressed to the Verge that they’re still investigating; there’s a chance we’re all safe. 

RELATED: World Languages Mapped by Twitter

But was China behind it all?! That’s an emerging theory. We don’t know who was behind it. Twitter doesn’t say directly. None of the usual suspects have claimed ownership of the attack. (Yet.)

RELATED: The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy of Twitter’s New Censorship Rules

But Twitter mentions the New York Times and Wall Street Journal hacks in their opening paragraph, apropos of nothing, really. It could mean the company was just trying to show they’re not alone in being targeted — look at these bullies picking on these other kids, too. Or it could mean they’re subtly implying China is behind it all. 

RELATED: Did the Berlin Wall’s Fall Save China?

The last paragraph in Twitter’s statement is where the theory really gets its legs. Emphasis ours: 

This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident. The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked. For that reason we felt that it was important to publicize this attack while we still gather information, and we are helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the Internet safer for all users. 

So, did they do it? These sophisticated hackers who targeted other companies and organizations sure sounds like they’re implying it was China.

Was it China in the basement with the Cheetos and Red Bull and impressive coding skill? We don’t know for sure, but we’re definitely looking for any and every clue we can find. 

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Busy Philipps Feels No Pressure to Bounce Back After Baby

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Busy Philipps may be willing to dish out style advice to fellow expectant mamas — but she’s not about to start breaking out the postpartum weight loss lectures.

Currently pregnant with her second child, the Cougar Town star admits that while her celebrity status opens her up for public scrutiny, she’s not planning a big bounceback after baby.

“Like most things in this business, I think that you have to do what’s right for you and you can’t be too concerned about what some magazine is going to write about you,” Philipps, 33, tells HuffPost Celebrity.

“We’re in a business where a lot of people are blessed with pretty incredible bodies, that they work hard for or comes naturally, and not everybody has the same body.”

According to Philipps, staying healthy is priority during pregnancy and women “should be given a break” when it comes to packing on the extra pounds — especially by those dubious doctors!

“It’s interesting when people make comments about celebrities’ weight gain or lack of weight gain as if they’re a medical professional that’s treating that celebrity,” she notes. “Like, ‘This doctor does not treat Jessica Simpson, but thinks her weight is unhealthy.’ If you don’t treat her, then how do you know?”

After the arrival of daughter Birdie Leigh, now 4, the actress took her time regaining her post-baby bod — a journey, she says, lasted almost a year — preferring to instead instill a positive attitude (and approach) in her little girl.

“I wanted to be healthy for her and have a healthy body image so that she hopefully grows up to see that her self worth isn’t defined by how thin she is,” Philipps explains.

“Thrilled to be expecting another baby with husband Marc Silverstein, Philipps wasn’t sure if expanding their tight-knit trio was even in the cards for the couple. No one, however, was more ecstatic over the news than the big sister-to-be, whose wish is finally coming true.

“My daughter is very excited … it’s actually something that she has asked for for quite some time,” she says. “My husband and I were on the fence about whether or not we were going to add to our family, but now that we’re on our road, we’re really excited.”

– Anya Leon

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India Ink: Five Accused in Delhi Gang Rape Case Plead 'Not Guilty'

The five men accused in a brutal  gang rape that led to nationwide protests entered not guilty pleas Saturday to the 13 charges filed against them.

The charges  —  including gang rape, murder, kidnapping and conspiracy  —  stem from the Dec. 16 rape and murder of a physiotherapy student. Reports of the attack led to days of protests in India over the violent treatment of women.

A trial for the five suspects  —  Ram Singh, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur  — is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Saket District Court Complex in New Delhi.

V.K. Anand, defense counsel for the brothers Ram Singh and Mukesh Singh said in a telephone interview that “All the five accused have pleaded not guilty.”

“The charges being framed is one thing,” Mr. Anand said,  “but proving the charges is another.”

Pretrial arguments for the five suspects were completed on Wednesday. On Monday, the sixth accused was declared officially a juvenile by the Indian Juvenile Justice Board, meaning the maximum sentence he could receive is three years in a detention facility. If they are convicted, the five on trial could face the death penalty. The Supreme Court dismissed a plea to transfer the New Delhi gang rape trial outside the city on Tuesday. The trial, which is being carefully watched by the country, has brought about renewed debate on the challenges facing the Indian legal system.

According to the local news channel IBN Live, 86 witnesses will be examined during the course of the trial.

Pamposh Raina contributed to this post.

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GS: Ignore the chatter, BlackBerry rebound is coming

BlackBerry’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform has received mixed reviews out of the gate, but most seem to agree that the new OS and first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones will do little to attract interest from users of rival platforms. But as analysts continue to back off BlackBerry and investors lose confidence, Goldman Sachs sees a big opportunity for clients.

[More from BGR: Here comes the PlayStation 4: Sony announces February 20th PlayStation event [video]]

In a recent research note to clients picked up by Barron’s, Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski urged investors to take advantage of BlackBerry’s recent slide and buy shares at a discount.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]

“We continue to see significant upside to estimates over the next three quarters, as BB10 devices drive upside to the Street’s ASP and margin forecasts,” Jankowski wrote. ”With 110 carriers completing lab testing by February, 50 carriers offering integrated billing, and Verizon getting an exclusive for the white Z10, we continue to see strong carrier support for BB10. Consumer adoption will decide the ultimate outcome, but estimate revisions should be a positive catalyst in the meantime.”

Jankowski also noted that BlackBerry Z10 sales could reach roughly 1 million units in the UK and Canada alone. The analyst believes BlackBerry World is off to a solid start with more than 70,000 available BlackBerry 10 apps, and the new platform includes a number of novel features that will attract attention.

“Consistent with BB10s browser superior performance on industry benchmarks – the Ringmark and HTML 5 tests – our preliminary tests show it to be much faster than leading competitive offerings. Additionally, while the company provided a full demo of the BB10 OS, we believe the details around Hub, Flow, Peek, and Balance were largely known. BlackBerry believes its Keyboard functionality will be a key differentiator, with the capability to ‘flick’ entire words to the screen with a single thumb. It can also recognize multiple languages within a single text or email.”

She continued, adding that the new BBM, BlackBerry Remember, Story Maker and enhanced camera functionality are all compelling features that will draw attention to the new platform.

Jankowski reiterated a Buy rating on BlackBerry shares with a $ 19 price target.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Jenna Miscavige Hill Pens Revealing Scientology Book

02/01/2013 at 08:00 PM EST

Jenna Miscavige and her uncle David inset

Michael Murphree; Inset: Polaris

What was it like to grow up inside Sea Org, the Church of Scientology's most elite body?

In her memoir Beyond Belief, excerpted exclusively below, Jenna Miscavige Hill describes her experiences at the Ranch, a San Jacinto, Calif., boarding school for children of Scientology execs. The niece of church head David Miscavige, she was raised away from her parents, then worked within Sea Org until leaving Scientology in 2005.

Now living near San Diego, married to Dallas Hill and mom to their children Archie, 3, and Winnie, 10 months, she's telling her story, she says, to increase awareness about Scientology: "I realize every day how lucky I am to have gotten out." (When asked to comment on the book's portrayal of its members, the church stated they had not read the book but that "any allegations of neglect are blatantly false.")

Jenna's parents, Ron and Blythe Miscavige, high-ranking members of Sea Org, sent both Jenna and her older brother Justin to the Ranch. There, at age 7, in accordance with Scientologists' belief that they are "Thetans," or immortal spirits, Jenna signed a billion-year contract.

I tried to write my name in my best cursive, the way I'd been learning. I had goose bumps. Just like that, I committed my soul to a billion years of servitude to the Church of Scientology.

Sea Org was run like the Navy: Members wore uniforms and managed all aspects of the church. Married members couldn't have kids; those who already did sent them to be raised communally.

A Sea Org member was required to be on duty for at least 14 hours a day, seven days a week, with a break for an hour of 'family time.' I was too young to understand that seeing your parents only one hour a day was highly unusual.

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.

For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.

Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.

"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.

The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.

The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has been working for two decades to take junk foods out of schools. He calls the availability of unhealthful foods around campus a "loophole" that undermines the taxpayer money that helps pay for the healthier subsidized lunches.

"USDA's proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and in ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of American children but their bodies as well," Harkin said.

Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department exempted in-school fundraisers from federal regulation and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12-ounce portion.

The department also has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.

Schools, the food industry, interest groups and other critics or supporters of the new proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes. A final rule could be in place as soon as the 2014 school year.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said surveys by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.

"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.

The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.

A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have greatly reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.

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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

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India Ink: Highlights of the India Art Fair

NEW DELHI —All roads in Delhi lead to the Okhla Industrial Estate this weekend, where the India Art Fair opened to the public on Friday.

At a preview on Thursday, a well-heeled crowd took in over 3,000 works of art by 105 exhibitors from 24 countries. Eleven interactive art projects, works on loan from the artists, are also on display, as well as Jitish Kallat’s installation of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s letter to Adolf Hitler advising him against war.

Although there’s plenty of art to take in amid all the air-kissing society folks, be sure to wander past the following booths:

GALLERYSKE: The gallery’s director, Sunitha Kumar Emmart, shows a stellar lineup of contemporary artists, including Sudarshan Shetty, Srinivasa Prasad and Prabhavathi Meppayil. Where: booth C-2.

Gallery Espace: Works by Zarina Hashmi, who is currently showing at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Nilima Sheikh, Rajinder Tikoo and Rina Banerjee. Where: booth B-2.

Samdani Art Foundation: The nonprofit based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has on display “My Daughter’s Cot,” a baby crib made of stainless steel razor blades, by the artist Tayeba Begum Lipi. Where: booth D-6.

Tasveer: Powerful photography and photo-based art by Maimouna Guerresi, Steve McCurry and Raghu Rai. Where: booth D-9.

Photoink: Great photography, with Vivan Sundaram riffing on the work of his late aunt, Amrita Sher-Gil, and compelling contemporary photos by Dhruv Malhotra. Where: booth F-7.

Seven Art: A must-see is Martand Khosla’s “Site Reconsidered 2,” made of brick dust. Where: Booth C-15.

Scream of London: Pakpoom Silaphan’s “Triple Gandhi on Pepsi” attracted a lot of eyeballs. The gallery’s works have already sold out, according to the fair’s founder, Neha Kirpal. Where: booth A-5.

Imaginart Gallery/Tasneem Gallery: Big-name Spanish artists you don’t typically get to see in India, including works by Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso. Where: booth B-9.

TAG Fine Arts: A wall of black butterflies created by Jane Dyer. Where: booth D-5.

Dhoomimal Art Center: A collection of the Indian master Jamini Roy’s works, from the early 1900s to the 1950s. Where: booth J-2.

The Swiss curator Mirjam Varadinis is offering curated walks through the fair.

There are also several don’t-miss Speakers Forum talks:

“Art in the Age of Uprising” includes panelists Ravi Sundaram, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies; Chus Martínez, chief curator of the El Museo del Barrio in New York, and Juan Gaitán, the curator of the 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. Monica Juneja, chairwoman of global art history at Heidelberg University in Germany, moderates. When: Saturday, Feb. 2, noon to 1:30 p.m.

“The Museum of the 21st Century: A Working Model?” includes panelists Barbara London, a curator from New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Liu Yingjiu, from the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, Sandhini Poddar, from the Guggenheim in New York, and Professor Tapati Guha-Thakurta of Kolkata. Professor Kavita Singh of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University moderates. When: Sunday, Feb. 3, noon to 1:30 p.m.

There are also various events and in and around Delhi timed to the fair:

This year’s four finalists for the Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art offer something for everyone at the National Gallery of Modern Art. Curated by Girish Shahane, the exhibit includes art by a younger set of contemporary artists, including Shilpa Gupta, L.N. Tallur, Srinivasa Prasad and CAMP. Kids especially will love Mr. Prasad’s “Igloo” and “Rebirth,” both of which involve climbing in and out of structures.

At the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, “Homelands,” a British Council-sponsored exhibit curated by Latika Gupta, explores the idea of nationality, home and identity in 80 works of photography, painting, sculpture and video, many shown for the first time in India.

If you’re an audio buff, don’t miss an “Evening of Sound” on Feb. 2, organized by the artists’ residency Khoj. Arrive at their newly renovated studio, across the street from Select City Walk Mall in Saket at 6 p.m. to hear live performances by Chi-Wei Lin, Rudi Punzo and Robert Millis, then wander to nearby DT Cinemas to hear a sound exhibition curated by Alexis Bhagat and Lauren Rosati. Khoj’s studio is at S-17, Khirkee Extension.

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Channing Tatum All Set to Learn About Diapering

By Paul Chi

02/01/2013 at 08:00 AM EST

Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Channing Tatum

FameFlynet

First time dad-to-be Channing Tatum already in baby mode – studying baby books and watching documentaries.

But there's one thing he's still lacking: mastering the art of diapering.

"I have never changed a diaper before, so I may need some help learning," Tatum, 32, told PEOPLE at Thursday's New York premiere of his new movie Side Effects, presented by the Cinema Society and Michael Kors.

"I don't have friends who have kids, so it's going to be an interesting experience to learn how to change a diaper. I hope I don't have any problems where the diaper falls off and the baby [poops] on the ground," said PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive, whose baby with wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum, 32, is due this summer.

"But once the baby is born, I'll definitely do the diaper changing. If it means touching the [poop] and getting peed on, I'll still do it. I'm up for the challenge."

One thing the Magic Mike star has mastered is keeping his pregnant wife relaxed and happy.

"Oh man, I'm not even getting into what I do to pamper Jenna. I'm doing anything that she asks for," he said.

"She jokes to me all the time by saying, 'If I feel
good, then the baby feels good or if I'm happy, then the baby is happy.' And I'm like, that is such an urban myth. You're just saying that to get me to do everything for you," he said.

"I know it's probably true, but I like to joke about it and
she hates it. I'll go to the store to pick up shakes or give her a thousand foot rubs. A foot rub now until the nine months if I have to just to keep her happy and comfortable."

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Cardinal Mahony relieved of duties over handling of abuse

In a move unprecedented in the American Catholic Church, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced Thursday that he had relieved his predecessor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, of all public duties over his mishandling of clergy sex abuse of children decades ago.

Gomez also said that Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry, who worked with Mahony to conceal abusers from police in the 1980s, had resigned his post as a regional bishop in Santa Barbara.

The announcement came as the church posted on its website tens of thousands of pages of previously secret personnel files for 122 priests accused of molesting children.

"I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil," Gomez wrote in a letter addressed to "My brothers and sisters in Christ."

The release of the records and the rebuke of the two central figures in L.A.'s molestation scandal signaled a clear desire by Gomez to define the sexual abuse crisis as a problem of a different era — and a different archbishop.

"I cannot undo the failings of the past that we find in these pages. Reading these files, reflecting on the wounds that were caused has been the saddest experience I've had since becoming your Archbishop in 2011," Gomez wrote.

The public censure of Mahony, whose quarter-century at the helm of America's largest archdiocese made him one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church, was unparalleled, experts said.

"This is very unusual and shows really how seriously they're taking this. To tell a cardinal he can't do confirmations, can't do things in public, that's extraordinary," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and Georgetown University fellow.

An archdiocese spokesman, Tod Tamberg, said that beyond canceling his confirmation schedule, Mahony's day-to-day life as a retired priest would be largely unchanged. He resides at a North Hollywood parish, and Tamberg said he would remain a "priest in good standing." He can continue to celebrate Mass and will be eligible to vote for pope until he turns 80 two years from now, Tamberg said.

The move further stained the legacy of Mahony, a tireless advocate for Latinos and undocumented immigrants whose reputation has been marred over the last decade by revelations about his treatment of sex abuse allegations.

Before Gomez's announcement, Mahony had weathered three grand jury investigations and numerous calls for his resignation. He stayed in office until the Vatican's mandatory retirement age of 75. No criminal charges have been filed against Mahony or anyone in the church hierarchy.

Terrence McKiernan, president of bishopaccountability.org, said that in a religious institution that values saving face and protecting its own, Gomez's decision to publicly criticize an elder statesman of the church and his top aide was striking.

"Even when Cardinal [Bernard] Law was removed in Boston, which was arguably for the same offenses, this kind of gesture was not made," he said.

Law left office in 2002 amid mounting outrage over his transfer of pedophile priests from parish to parish, but the church presented his departure as of his own accord and he was later given a highly coveted Vatican job in Rome.

Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien of Phoenix relinquished some of his authority in a deal with prosecutors to avoid criminal charges for his handling of abuse cases, but he kept his title and many of his duties. A Kansas City bishop convicted last year of failing to report child abuse retained his position.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer and Dominican priest who has testified across the nation as an expert witness in clergy sex abuse cases, said the Vatican would have "absolutely" been consulted on a decision of this magnitude.

"This is momentous, there is no question," he said. "For something like this to happen to a cardinal.... The way they treat cardinals is as if they're one step below God."

Gomez's decision capped a two-week period in which the publication of 25-year-old files fueled a new round of condemnation of the L.A. archdiocese. The files of 14 clerics accused of abuse became public in a court case last Monday. They laid out in Mahony and Curry's own words how the church hierarchy had plotted to keep law enforcement from learning that children had been molested at the hands of priests.

To stave off investigations, Mahony and Curry gave priests they knew had abused children out-of-state assignments and kept them from seeing therapists who might alert authorities.

Mahony and Curry both issued apologies, with the cardinal saying he had not realized the extent of harm done to children until he met with victims during civil litigation. "I am sorry," he said.

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.

The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.

Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.

Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.

Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.

Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.

The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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