California 'mystery missile' ignites debate: Friend, foe, or faux? - Christian Science Monitor

A mysterious missile launch from California or an optical illusion?

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That's a question the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is trying to resolve – and the blogosphere is hotly debating – after CBS News in Los Angeles aired what appeared to be a rocket launch from the Pacific Ocean just north of Santa Catalina Island, taken at sunset Nov. 8.

The "mystery missile" video, shot from a helicopter operated by local CBS affiliate KCBS, shows what appears to be an arcing plume of engine exhaust rising into the sky west of Los Angeles. Speculation about its source ranges from an airliner, whose contrail is giving the illusion of rocketry, or a missile itself.

About the only thing unambiguous about the event is that the go-to agencies either with jurisdiction over launches or with fingers poised over launch buttons – the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Defense Department – said, in effect, "It wasn't us."

Despite the official uncertainty behind the vapor trail, NORAD and the US Northern Command, which oversees the defense of the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii, issued a statement aimed at reassuring the country that the event represents no threat.

"We can confirm that there is no threat to our nation, and from all indications this was not a launch by a foreign military," they said. "We will provide more information as it becomes available."

Coastal southern California is no stranger to rocket launches. The US Air Force launches military and commercial rockets from Vandenberg Air Force base north of Santa Barbara; NASA occasionally launches sounding rockets from San Nicholas Island, some 80 miles west of Los Angeles. Nor is it stranger to spectacular sunsets and odd aircraft contrails.

At contrailscience.com, a Santa Monica-based private pilot who operates the cite has posted several sunset contrails that look similar to the vapor trail the CBS news crew recorded.

David Wright, co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Mass., notes that his initial speculation about what happened leaned toward the rocket-launch explanation, given NASA's launches from San Nicholas Island.

The CBS report suggested the plume was rising from some 35 miles offshore, but Dr. Wright adds that evening lighting and atmospheric moisture could have conspired to make a launch contrail look larger and closer than it actually is.

But after reviewing photos on contrailscience.com, he adds, he's reconsidering a jet contrail as an explanation – one he tended to dismiss early on.

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Microsoft Security Patches Plug 11 Vulnerabilities - eWeek

A month after breaking its record for the largest Patch Tuesday update in history, Microsoft released a much smaller round of fixes Nov. 9 with just three security bulletins.

The bulletins cover a total of 11 vulnerabilities across Microsoft Office and Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG). Just one of the bulletins is rated "Critical" ? MS10-087, which addresses five vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. Among those five is a rich text format stack buffer overflow vulnerability Microsoft considers likely to be exploited.

?The bulletin is rated Critical for Office 2007 and Office 2010 due to a preview pane vector in Outlook that could trigger the vulnerability when a customer views a specially crafted malicious RTF (Rich Text Format) file,? explained Jerry Bryant, group manager of response communications for Microsoft Security Response Center, in a blog post. ?The update also addresses an Office vector for the vulnerability described in Security Advisory 2269637, which has been referred to as 'DLL Preloading' and 'Binary planting'.?

A second bulletin affecting Microsoft Office deals with two vulnerabilities in PowerPoint that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a malicious PowerPoint file, according to Microsoft. The bulletin is rated "Important" because user interaction is required to open the malicious file, Bryant blogged.

The final bulletin, also rated Important, plugs four vulnerabilities in UAG, which is part of Microsoft Forefront. The most significant of these bugs could allow elevation of privilege if a user clicks on a malicious link on a Website, Bryant noted, adding the update is only being offered through the Microsoft Download Center at the moment.

Josh Abraham, security researcher from Rapid7, said the critical bulletin should be at the top of enterprise patch lists this month.

"Based on the huge amount of patches from last month, some customers might be up to speed while others are still struggling to catch up ? this would depend on the unique customer and the strength of their vulnerability management program,? Abraham said. ?Another thing that is interesting is that Microsoft has been breaking their own records with the number of bulletins they are releasing in a given month. To help everyone overall, a better approach would be to keep a semi-constant rate of patches every month so that system administrators are not over burdened during specific months."

He added that administrators should also remain vigilant for attacks targeting the recently disclosed zero-day in Internet Explorer as well. That vulnerability has not been patched.

So far, Microsoft said, none of the vulnerabilities addressed in today?s update have been targeted by attackers.

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Cuomo and Paterson's United Front - New York Times

They have been friends, members of New York’s political aristocracy and rivals — sometimes bitter rivals — for the state’s highest office. But on Tuesday, the departing governor, David A. Paterson, and his successor, Andrew M. Cuomo, presented themselves as partners.

Meeting at Mr. Paterson’s office in Manhattan, the two emerged for a mild-mannered news conference, during which they cracked jokes, told tales and discussed the challenges ahead.

Mr. Paterson led off with a story about the time the two men and their families went rafting together in the Adirondacks; he wondered aloud whether Mr. Cuomo had ever imagined that they would both ultimately serve as governor. He also praised Mr. Cuomo for his campaign warnings to New Yorkers that the state would continue to face tough economic challenges in the years ahead.

“Rarely has a statewide candidate for governor or senator or anything such as that been so honest and so pragmatic about the future,” Mr. Paterson said.

Mr. Cuomo repeatedly called Mr. Paterson a friend and thanked him for his service amid one of the worst economic crises to face the state.

“I thanked him on a personal level, for his hospitality and his courtesy and his professionalism all through this transition,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters.

He also joked that Mr. Paterson had agreed to find $8 billion or so in extra savings to help balance next year’s budget, one of the hardest tasks Mr. Cuomo faces in the months ahead.

“That really exceeded the friendship to the tune of $9 billion,” Mr. Cuomo said, drawing laughs.

It was a far cry from the tension and jockeying between the two men and their allies this year, when Mr. Paterson planned to run for election in his own right and Mr. Cuomo was widely expected to challenge him in a primary. Mr. Paterson ultimately abandoned his bid, leaving a clear path for Mr. Cuomo to win the Democratic nomination and, ultimately, the election.

Mr. Paterson professed no hard feelings.

“I feel very assured being replaced by someone I think is going to do an excellent job,” Mr. Paterson said. “If he had walked in with a baseball bat, I might’ve thought a little differently. I’m really good with all of it. Really, what I’m thinking about is the privilege it was to serve this state.”

Mr. Cuomo chimed in: “I don’t see myself as replacing Governor Paterson. In public service, you serve at a moment in time.”

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NY holocaust fund bilked of $42.5 million, prosecutor says - CNN International

Seventeen people are accused of taking part in the alleged fraudFalse claims were filed to get money from two funds, the U.S. attorney saysThe scheme went on for nearly 16 years, he says

New York (CNN) -- Charges were filed Tuesday against 17 people accused of taking more than $42 million from programs established to help Holocaust survivors, authorities said.

"The alleged fraud is as substantial as it is galling" said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for New York's Southern District, calling it a "perverse and pervasive fraud committed against a not-for-profit organization of historic significance."

Over a period of almost 16 years, millions of dollars intended for Holocaust survivors "instead found its way into the pockets of corrupt employees of the Claims Conference and an elaborate network of fraudsters," Bharara told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

The money came from two funds managed by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also known as the Claims Conference, a nonprofit that was established almost 60 years ago to assist those harmed by Nazis. The Claims Conference distributes more than $400 million a year from funds provided by the German government to victims of the Holocaust.

Bharara said conference officials first noticed the fraud and went to the FBI in December 2009.

"The Claims Conference is to be commended for notifying us as soon as they found out there were issues," he said.

Six of the 17 people charged Tuesday with fraud and conspiracy are former and currant employees of the Claims Conference, according to Bharara. He called Semen Domnitser the "ringleader" of the fraud, saying that for more than 10 years he served as the director and oversaw both the Hardship Fund and the Article Two Fund.

The Hardship Fund makes one-time payments of about $3,600 to victims who were forced to leave their homes while fleeing advancing Nazis troops. Bharara said some 5,000 fraudulent applications worth $18 million were processed through the fund.

The Article Two Fund gives pension payments of roughly $411 a month to those who earn less than $16,000 after taxes and spent a minimum of six months in a concentration camp or at least 18 months in a Jewish ghetto in hiding or living under a false identity to avoid the Nazis. Bharara said that this fund had processed over 650 fraudulent applications worth more than $25.5 million.

The Claims Conference issued a statement saying that since discovering the fraud, it had implemented numerous steps to strengthen its safeguards.

"We are outraged that individuals would steal money intended for survivors of history's worst crime to enrich themselves," said Julius Berman, chairman of the Claims Conference.

Bharara said that applicants were recruited from the Russian-Jewish community and that fake birth dates, birthplaces and "fabricated stories of persecution, completely made up stories about what happened to these individuals during World War II," were written in their applications.

Bharara said the investigation continues and that some of the thousands of applicants also might be charged. It was unclear in some cases if the applicants knew that fraud was being committed, he said.

Sixteen of the 17 people charged Tuesday have been arrested and four of them have admitted their guilt, Bharara said.

"We will bring to justice all those who would callously line their own pockets by looting an important lifeline for Holocaust survivors," he said.

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Netanyahu defiantly answers Obama's warning over construction in East Jerusalem - Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia, and Washington — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed publicly with President Obama on Tuesday over Israeli construction in disputed East Jerusalem, throwing a teetering Mideast peace effort deeper in doubt.

Responding to criticism from Obama, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone in commenting on plans to build 1,300 more Jewish housing units in East Jerusalem, saying his government had never agreed to limit construction in the city.

"Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is the capital of the state of Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement. "Israel sees no connection between the diplomatic process and the planning and building policy in Jerusalem."

Netanyahu's statement came hours after Obama warned that the new construction, announced by Israel on Monday, could harm a renewed Mideast peace effort began in early September. Obama made the remarks a few hours after arriving in Indonesia, his boyhood home for four years, where he was set to deliver the second major speech Wednesday in his outreach to the Muslim world.

"This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations, and I'm concerned that we're not seeing each side make that extra effort involved to get a breakthrough," Obama said. "Each of these incremental steps end up breaking trust."

Israel also is moving ahead with 800 units in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, Israeli news reports said Tuesday.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Israel's latest expansions are part of "a premeditated process to kill the possibility of an independent Palestinian state." He said that if the Obama administration is unable to get peace talks back on track in the coming weeks, it should recognize an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem, but the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which was captured in the 1967 Middle East War, as the capital of their future state. The international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of the city's eastern sector, and a succession of American administrations have urged Israel not to build there.

Netanyahu's pronouncement was consistent with Israeli policy, yet his sharp tone may embarrass Obama at a moment of vulnerability. Obama is visiting the world's largest Muslim country, and the rebuke may again raise questions in the Muslim world about how much influence the American leader really has on a priority issue.

The disagreement also comes a week after Obama suffered a setback in the midterm elections, which gave Republicans, who are likely to be sympathetic to Netanyahu's point of view, majority control of the House of Representatives. Some Israeli officials and U.S. analysts had predicted before the election that Netanyahu might feel emboldened to push back on Obama if the Democrats fared poorly.

Obama launched a new peace effort Sept. 1, but it has been nearly stalled as the Palestinians refuse to negotiate unless Israel halts construction in the disputed areas. Palestinian leaders contend that the Jewish settlers are taking land whose ownership should be decided in negotiations.

Robert Danin, a former U.S. official and specialist on Arab-Israeli issues, said it may have been politically risky for Netanyahu to oppose the new construction project, since Israelis view such building as fully within their rights.

With Netanyahu planning to meet Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington on Thursday, the strong words will not help the U.S. efforts to bring the two sides back to the peace table, said Danin, who is with the Council on Foreign Relations.

"For there to be a deal, the temperature has to come down," he said.

Israel's go-ahead to build 1,300 homes in East Jerusalem met with a storm of disapproval from around the world, including all four members of the diplomatic "quartet" that seeks to promote the Mideast peace talks: the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russia views the announcement "with most serious concern.… We find it essential that the Israeli party refrain from the declared construction."

Obama's relationship with Netanyahu has gone through alternating periods of warm and cool. Obama was furious with Netanyahu in March, when new construction was announced in East Jerusalem just as Vice President Joe Biden was visiting. In July, Obama warmly welcomed Netanyahu to the White House.

Yet Obama has maintained pressure on the Israeli prime minister like few recent presidents. In September, he called on Netanyahu from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly to halt settlement construction in the name of peace, a plea Netanyahu has so far resisted.

cparsons@latimes.com

paul.richter@latimes.com

Parsons reported from Jakarta and Richter from Washington. Times staff writer Edmund Sanders in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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