Washington, DC, United States (4E) – The head of the tax-exempt organizations division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) appeared in Wednesday’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing first swearing innocence against allegations that her office targeted conservative groups and then declining to answer questions from congressmen.

Lois G. Lerner told the committee investigating the improper targeting of conservative groups by the IRS that she did not do anything wrong, broken any laws or violated IRS rules. Lerner then invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and told the panel she cannot answer questions.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the committee chairman, tried to convince Lerner to reverse her decision but to no avail. Issa then dismissed her and her attorney from the hearing. But Issa said she would be recalled to the hearing if the panel determines that she did not invoke her right properly as Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) claimed.

Gowdy said Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment right when she made an opening statement before the panel.

The hearing took six hours before Issa declared a recess for Lerner’s refusal to answer questions. Douglas Shulman, the IRS commissioner during President Obama’s first term; J. Russell George, the Department of Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration; and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin also appeared in the hearing.

The committee investigation was sparked by George’s report last week that the IRS inappropriately targeted “tea party” and “patriot” groups applying for tax-exempt status and failed to inform Congress of his findings.

New York, NY, United States (4E) – Former Democratic Brooklyn congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned in 2011 over a sexting scandal, announced in a YouTube video Tuesday that he is running for mayor of New York City.

In the video posted on his campaign website, Weiner appealed for a second chance to work with the middle class. He mentioned one of his plans to revitalize the Big Apple’s middle class and asked New Yorkers to give him feedback. His wife, Huma Abedin, appeared in the video supporting his candidacy by saying Weiner is the only one who will work harder to make the city better.

Weiner first indicated his interest in the mayorship in an April article on New York Times Magazine, where he admitted that his campaign committee conducted a polling research worth more than $100,000. He also revealed his “Keys to City” plan enumerating 64 ways to revitalize New York City’s middle class.

Weiner’s run will be his third attempt since 2005 and in 2009. He is expected to contest the Democratic nomination against frontrunning bet Christine Quinn, the city council president.

In a forum Wednesday, Quinn indicated her readiness and confidence in winning the nomination.

“Nobody has a better, stronger, clearer record of delivering for working class and middle class New Yorkers than I do, and nobody has the set of specific ideas, plans and visions like I do,” Quinn said, according to Political Ticker.

Weiner was found sending lewd photos and messages to several women in 2011. He denied it at first claiming that his Twitter account was hacked, but later admitted to the indiscretions and resigned from the House of Representatives.

Mexico City, Mexico (4E) – Mexico’s retail sales contracted for the second straight month in March, surprising analysts and increasing the likelihood that policy makers will make another rate cut this year.

The National Statistics Institute (Inegi) reported on Wednesday that retail sales declined 2.4 percent in March from a year ago, but seasonally adjusted sales figures rose 0.25 percent in February.

Increased sales at supermarkets and department stores were boosted by the Easter holiday, but a decline in sales was seen in areas like computers, household appliances, cars and auto parts. A poll of eight economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires called for a 1.1 percent increase in retail sales.

The central bank is widely expected by both economists and traders alike to slash the key interest rate this year after the country’s gross domestic product in the first quarter expanded at its slowest slowest pace since 2009 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc..

After a half-a-point rate in cut in March, policy makers kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 4 percent in April, saying inflation will ease from 4.65 percent in April to 2 percent to 4 per cent range in the second half of 2013.

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E) – “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts is all set to pen a memoir recounting her battle against a rare blood disorder to be released in April 2014.

The 52-year-old breast cancer survivor will write about her fight against myelodysplastic syndrome, which cost her to take a leave off GMA to undergo a bone marrow transplant in September. She has since recovered from the surgery and come back to the show’s set last February.

“I am humbled that many have an interest, and draw strength from my on-going journey,” Roberts said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the prayers and well wishes of so many people. I’m thrilled that Jamie Raab and Grand Central Publishing will help me tell my story.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Raab, president and publisher of Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, said, “I have long admired Robin Roberts’s career and courage and am so honored to be publishing her book. Her story is both dramatic and inspiring, and will capture the incredible spirit that has endeared her to all of us who have followed her remarkable career and life.”

Roberts, who received a Peabody Award on Monday for “Robin’s Journey,” a chronicle of her journey during her battle with MDS, already has a bestselling book under her belt, “From the Heart: 7 Rules to Live By,” published by Hyperion in 2007.

United States (ProPublica) – In the furious fallout from the revelation that the IRS flagged applications from conservative nonprofits for extra review because of their political activity, some points about the big picture — and big donors — have fallen through the cracks.

Consider this our Top 6 list of need-to-know facts on social welfare nonprofits, also known as dark money groups because they don’t have to disclose their donors. The groups poured more than $256 million into the 2012 federal elections.

1. Social welfare nonprofits are supposed to have social welfare, and not politics, as their “exclusive” “primary” purpose.

A century ago, Congress created a tax exemption for social welfare nonprofits. The statute defining the groups says they are supposed to be “operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.” But in 1959, the regulators interpreted the “exclusively” part of the statute to mean groups had to be “primarily” engaged in enhancing social welfare. This later opened the door to political spending.

So what does “primarily” mean? It’s not clear. The IRS has said it uses a “facts and circumstances” test to say whether a group mostly works to benefit the community or not. In short: If a group walks and talks like a social welfare nonprofit, then it’s a social welfare nonprofit.

This deliberate vagueness has led some groups to say that “primarily” simply means they must spend 51 percent of their money on a social welfare idea — say, on something as vague as “education,” which could also include issue ads criticizing certain politicians. And then, the reasoning goes, a group can spend as much as 49 percent of its expenditures on ads directly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for office.

Nowhere in tax regulations or rulings does it mention 49 percent, though. Some nonprofit lawyers have argued that the IRS should set hard limits for social welfare nonprofits — setting out, for instance, that they cannot spend more than 20 percent of their money on election ads or even limiting spending to a fixed amount, like no more than $250,000.

So far, the IRS has avoided clarifying any limits.

2. Donors to social welfare nonprofits are anonymous for a reason.

Unlike donors who give directly to politicians or even to super PACs, donors who give to social welfare nonprofits can stay secret. In large part, this is because of an attempt by Alabama to force the NAACP, then a social welfare nonprofit, to disclose its donors in the’50s. In’58, the Supreme Court sided with the NAACP, saying that public identification of its members made them at risk of reprisal and threats.

The ACLU, which is itself a social welfare nonprofit, has long made similar arguments. So has Karl Rove, the GOP strategist and brains behind Crossroads GPS, which has spent more money on elections than any other social welfare nonprofit. In early April 2012, Rove invoked the NAACP in defending his organization against attempts to reveal donors.

The Federal Election Commission could in theory push for some disclosure from social welfare nonprofits — for their election ads, at least. But the FEC has been paralyzed by a 3-3 partisan split, and its interpretations of older court decisions have given nonprofits wiggle room to avoid saying who donated money, as long as a donation wasn’t specifically made for a political ad.

New rulings indicate that higher courts, including the Supreme Court, favor disclosure for political ads, and states are also stepping into the fray. During the 2012 elections, courts in two states — Montana and Idaho — ruled that two nonprofits engaged in state campaigns needed to disclose donors.

But sometimes, when nonprofits funnel donations, the answers raise more questions. It’s the Russian nesting doll phenomenon. Last election, for instance, California’s election agency pushed for an Arizona social welfare nonprofit to disclose donors for $11 million spent on two California ballot initiatives. The answer? Another social welfare nonprofit, which in turn got the money from a trade association, which also doesn’t have to reveal its donors.

3. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision meant that corporations could pay for political ads, anonymously, using social welfare nonprofits.

In January 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions could spend money directly on election ads. A later court decision made possible super PACs, the political committees that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from donors, as long as they don’t coordinate with candidates and as long as they report their donors and spending.

Initially, campaign finance watchdogs believed corporations would give directly to super PACs. And in some cases, that happened. But not as much as anyone thought, and maybe for a reason: Disclosure isn’t necessarily good for business. Target famously faced a consumer and shareholder backlash after it gave money in 2010 to a group backing a Minnesota candidate who opposed gay rights.

Many watchdogs now believe that large public corporations are giving money to support candidates through social welfare nonprofits and trade associations, partly to avoid disclosure. Although the tax-exempt groups were allowed to spend money on election ads before Citizens United, their spending skyrocketed in 2010 and again in 2012.

A New York Times article based on rare cases in which donors have been disclosed, sometimes accidentally, explored the issue of corporations giving to these groups last year. Insurance giant Aetna, for example, accidentally revealed it gave $3 million in 2011 to the American Action Network, a social welfare group founded by former Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, that runs election ads.

Groups that favor more disclosure have so far failed to force action by the FEC, the IRS, or Congress, although some corporations have voluntarily reported their political spending. Advocates have now turned to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is studying a proposal to require public companies to disclose political contributions.

The idea is already facing strong opposition from House Republicans.

4. Social welfare nonprofits do not actually have to apply to the IRS for recognition as tax-exempt organizations.

With all the furor over applications being flagged from conservative groups — particularly groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriot” or “9/12″ in their names — it’s worth remembering that a social welfare nonprofit doesn’t even have to apply to the IRS in the first place.

Unlike charities, which are supposed to apply for recognition, social welfare nonprofits can simply incorporate and start raising and spending money, without ever applying to the IRS.

The agency’s nonprofit wing is mainly concerned about ferreting out bad charities, which are the biggest chunk of nonprofits and the biggest source of potential revenue. After all, the IRS’s main job is to collect revenue. Charities allow donors to deduct donations, while social welfare nonprofits don’t.

Most major social welfare nonprofits do apply, because being recognized is seen as insurance against later determination by the IRS that the group should have registered as a political committee and may face back taxes and disclosure of donors. A recognition letter is also essential to raise money from certain donors — like, say, corporations.

But some of the new groups haven’t applied.

The first time the IRS hears about these social welfare nonprofits is often when they file their first annual tax return, not due until sometimes more than a year after they’ve formed.

In many cases, the first time the IRS hears about these groups is a full year after an election.

5. Most of the money spent on elections by social welfare nonprofits supports Republicans.

Of the more than $256 million spent by social welfare nonprofits on ads in the 2012 elections, at least 80 percent came from conservative groups, according to FEC figures tallied by the Center for Responsive Politics.

None came from the Tea Party groups with applications flagged by the IRS. Instead, a few big conservative groups were largely responsible.

Crossroads GPS, which this week said it believes it is among the conservative groups “targeted” by the IRS, spent more than $70 million in federal races in 2012. Americans for Prosperity, the social welfare nonprofit launched by the conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, spent more than $36 million. American Future Fund spent more than $25 million. Americans for Tax Reform spent almost $16 million. American Action Network spent almost $12 million.

Besides Crossroads GPS, each of those groups has applied to the IRS and been recognized as tax-exempt. (You can look at their applications here.)

All of those groups spent more than the largest liberal social welfare nonprofit, the League of Conservation Voters, which spent about $11 million on 2012 federal races. The next biggest group, Patriot Majority USA, spent more than $7 million. Planned Parenthood spent $6.5 million. VoteVets.org spent more than $3 million.

None of those figures include the tens of millions of dollars spent by groups on certain ads that run months before an election that are not reported to the FEC.

6. Some social welfare groups promised in their applications, under penalty of perjury, that they wouldn’t get involved in elections. Then they did just that.

Much of the attention when it comes to Tea Party nonprofits has focused on their applications and how the IRS determines whether a group qualifies for social welfare status.

As part of our reporting on dark money in 2012, ProPublica looked at more than 100 applications for IRS recognition. One thing we noted again and again: Groups sometimes tell the IRS that they are not going to spend money on elections, receive IRS recognition, and then turn around and spend money on elections

The application to be recognized as a social welfare nonprofit, known as a 1024 Form, explicitly asks a group whether it has spent or plans to spend “any money attempting to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any person to any Federal, state, or local public office or to an office in a political organization.”

The American Future Fund, a conservative nonprofit that would go on to spend millions of dollars on campaign ads, checked “No”in answer to that question in 2008. The very same day the group submitted its application, it uploaded this ad to its YouTube account:

Even before mailing its application to the IRS saying it would not spend money on elections in 2010, the Alliance for America’s Future was running TV ads supporting Republican candidates for governor in Nevada and Florida. It also had given $133,000 to two political committees directed by Mary Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president.

Another example of this is the Government Integrity Fund, a conservative nonprofit that ran ads in last year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio. Its application was approved after it told the IRS that it would not spend money on politics. The group went on to do just that.

by Kim Barker

and Justin Elliott

– Provided by ProPublica.org

Tokyo, Japan (4E) – Sony said it is considering a plan to spin off up to 20 percent of its entertainment unit proposed by one of its major shareholders.

Last week, Dan Loeb of New York-based hedge fund Third Point LLC raised the idea as he was announcing that his firm has gained control of 6 percent of the Japanese group. Third Point is now one of Sony’s biggest shareholders and the firm is likely to expand its holdings further.

Loeb said Sony should revive its struggling electronics business by spending its cash. Sony president Kazuo Hirai gave no timetable on when the board will tackle Loeb’s plan but said they will discuss it.

Loeb also proposed that Sony separate its movie studio and entertainment unit Sony Entertainment, which has supported its bottom line in the past few years, from its consumer electronics business. Sony had earlier indicated that it is not selling its entertainment division.

Sony shares have risen more than 100 per cent so far this year and the company has predicted net profits to rise 16 percent in the current fiscal year.

Despite recent gains, Sony’s core markets in smartphones and television continue to face intense competition from rivals like Apple, Samsung and LG.

Quebec, Canada (4E) – A group in Canada is urging the Prime Minister to change the name of Victoria Day.

Author Margaret Atwood, Green Party leader Elizabeth May and actor Gordon Pinsent are among those behind an online petition to rename the public holiday, which is celebrated on Monday, as “Victoria and First Peoples Day.”

Victoria Day marks the birthday of Queen Victoria and is celebrated every year on the last Monday before May 25.

Quebec celebrates National Patriots’ Day on the same day, to honour the rebellion against the British in 1837.

United States (ProPublica) – States that impose the death penalty have been facing a crisis in recent years: They are short on the drugs used in executions.

In California, which has the country’s largest death row population, the chief justice of the state supreme court has said there are unlikely to be any executions for three years, in part due to the shortage of appropriate lethal drugs. As a result, state prosecutors are calling for a return of the gas chamber.

Ohio, which is second only to Texas in the number of executions carried out since 2010, said it will run out of the drug it uses in executions, pentobarbital, on Sept. 30. The state has two men scheduled for execution in November, and eight more set to be killed after that. Every state’s supply of pentotbarbital, which has been the principal execution drug, expires at the end of November.

The shortage has forced death penalty states to scramble on two fronts: They are hunting for new suppliers or different drugs to use, and enacting changes to public records laws to keep the names of suppliers and manufacturers of those alternative drugs secret.

The lack of lethal drugs, and the fight over keeping new ones secret, are partly the result of a remarkably effective campaign by opponents of the death penalty, who have, in effect, taken their efforts from the court room to the boardroom.

Each time a state has found a new source for a drug to use in executions, Reprieve, an anti-death penalty organization based in London, in collaboration with death penalty lawyers in the United States, has used freedom of information laws, the local news media and the powers of persuasion to compel the drug’s manufacturer to cut off the supply.

“Who’s easier to persuade? The Supreme Court or a corporation that has financial interests?” said Clive Stafford Smith, a British-American, who was a death penalty lawyer in the South for many years before founding Reprieve. “You can make it not worth their while to allow their drugs in executions.”

The effectiveness of Reprieve’s campaign might well be behind the action taken last year by the state of Texas, which leads the nation in executions.

When a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Mike Ward, using the state’s Public Information Act, sought information about the drugs used in executions, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice fiercely resisted.

In one legal filing, Patricia Fleming, the agency’s assistant general counsel, said revealing the information about the drugs and who made them would invite “financial intimidation and negative publicity,” as well as “intensive lobbying” and “unrestrained harassment.” Referring to death penalty opponents, Fleming asserted that “essential to their strategy is knowledge of the private companies” that supply the drugs used in lethal injections.

The state attorney general ruled against her, and the department disclosed that it had enough pentobarbital at the time for 23 executions, Ward reported.

Death penalty states are now taking measures to keep anti-death penalty activists, and journalists, from learning the identity of suppliers. A Georgia law enacted in March provides that any information about a “person or entity that manufactures, supplies, compounds, or prescribes the drugs, medical supplies or medical equipment” used in an execution shall be considered a “confidential state secret.” Already this year, at least three other states — Arkansas, South Dakota and Tennessee — have amended their public records laws to exempt the names of suppliers from disclosure.

Lethal injection was first proposed as a method of execution in the’th century by a New York doctor who argued it would be cheaper than hanging. It took 100 years or so for it to be used, but every state that set out to execute people eventually adopted it as the chosen method.

Generally, states have used a three-drug protocol. The first was an anesthetic, sodium thiopental, intended to render the prisoner unconscious so that he or she does not experience the pain and suffering from the drugs to come. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the diaphragm and lungs, making it impossible for the condemned to breathe. Finally, potassium chloride is injected, causing death by cardiac arrest.

In 2008, the Supreme Court, in Baze v. Rees, held that lethal injection did not run afoul of the Eighth Amendment proscription on “cruel and unusual punishment.”

But the Court recognized care had to be taken in the killing, so that it wasn’t unconstitutionally “cruel.” The most critical drug, it emphasized, is the anesthetic.

“It is uncontested that, failing a proper dose of sodium thiopental that would render the prisoner unconscious, there is substantial, unconstitutionally unacceptable risk of suffocation from the administration of pancuronium bromide and pain from the injection of potassium chloride,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

The problems for death penalty states, and the opening for opponents of the death penalty arose when the only company that had governmental approval to make the anesthetic, Hospira, announced in 2011 that it was suspending production because of manufacturing problems at its plant in North Carolina.

Arizona, with two executions pending in late 2011, managed to find another source of sodium thiopental; but it didn’t want the public to know what it was or where it came from.

When lawyers for Jeffrey Landrigan, one of the men facing death, sought the name of the supplier, Arizona’s state attorney general refused to say. Ultimately, on the eve of Landrigan’s execution, the attorney general disclosed that the drug had come from Britain. He did so, he said, to allay fears that the drugs had been made in a Third World country and might be contaminated and unsafe.

Tennessee also acknowledged that one of its execution drugs had been made in Britain but refused to divulge the company’s name.

At Reprieve, Maya Foa, head of the lethal investigation project, searched through medical and pharmaceutical directories to identify British companies that made sodium thiopental.

The British company selling sodium thiopental to Arizona, Tennessee and other states turned out to be a tiny wholesaler that operated out of the back of a driving school in a working class neighborhood in West London.

It was called Dream Pharma, and it was basically a one-man operation. It also suddenly became more profitable, as states in America moved to improvise. Stafford Smith, Reprieve’s director, wrote a letter to Dream Pharma.

“You have played a significant role and hold responsibility for the potential deaths of many people in the United States,” he wrote.

Reprieve sent the letter, along with Dream Pharma’s address and phone number, to journalists, and articles appeared in British newspapers and on the BBC. Dream Pharma shut down. The company has declined to comment on its battles with Reprieve or the sale of drugs to the U.S. for executions.

Reprieve then successfully lobbied the British government to ban exports of any drugs to the U.S. for executions. Capital punishment for murder was abolished in Britain in the early’60s even though polls showed the public supported it.

With Hospira out of the business, states had become fairly desperate. That urgency was captured in government emails and documents obtained by death penalty defense lawyers.

“I have been given a task to obtain some Sodium Pentothal by any means available,” the director of the pharmacy in the Nebraska department of corrections wrote to her counterparts in several states. “Does anyone know where I might start looking?”

She eventually found a small wholesaler in Mumbai, India, which operated out of two rooms on the ground floor of an apartment building; it had no air conditioning, raising doubts about the safety and efficacy of any drugs stored there.

Reprieve again went to work, alerting local reporters and holding a news conference in Mumbai. Officials from India’s food and drug administration raided the offices. The company was quickly out of business.

In California, prison officials turned to hospitals throughout the state in search of sodium thiopental, without success. The warden at San Quentin explored buying some in Pakistan.

In the end, Arizona officials solved California’s problems, supplying 12 grams of sodium thiopental from its limited supply, a happy exchange according to government emails unearthed by death penalty opponents.

“You guys in AZ are life savers,” a California corrections officer wrote to his Arizona counterpart. “Buy you a beer next time I get that way.”

Some death penalty states, looking to solve their drug supply problems in a more reliable way, switched drugs — opting for pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used in putting animals to sleep. The first state to use it for an execution was Oklahoma, in December 2010, and it quickly became one of the execution drugs of choice.

This time, however, Reprieve was not up against a small entity. Only one company had government approval to sell pentobarbital in the U.S., and it was a major international pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck Inc. Headquartered in Denmark, it had some 6,000 employees worldwide; its American plant was in Kansas.

When Reprieve approached Lundbeck, in early 2011, the company said it was “adamantly opposed” to its drugs being used in executions — its primary use is in the treatment of epilepsy — but it said it had no control over what happened after its products were sold to wholesalers or distributors.

Reprieve ratcheted up the pressure. Every time Lundbeck’s pentobarbital was used in an execution, it issued a press release.

Anti-death penalty activists campaigned against Lundbeck on Twitter and Facebook, shareholders raised questions at the company’s annual meeting, a pension fund sold its shares, and the company’s place on an annual ranking of Denmark’s best companies fell from 17 to 40.

Lundbeck then did what it had said it couldn’t do: It devised a distribution system that would keep its pentobarbital from the states that conducted executions.

Last month, Hospira announced that it was putting controls in place so that three of its drugs — pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride and propofol — would not be used in executions.

Once again, that has left states trying to figure out what to do. In Colorado, a man who killed three teenagers and their boss in a pizza restaurant in’93 is set to be executed in August. But the state does not have the proper drugs, causing the director of prisons to send an urgent plea to the state’s compounding pharmacies. At “compounding pharmacies,” pharmacists mix, or compound, the ingredients for drugs on site.

Last October, South Dakota became the first state to use a compound drug in an execution, and it did so twice.

Lawyers for one of the men to be executed, Robert Moeller, who had kidnapped, raped and murdered a 9-year-old girl, filed a lawsuit to obtain information about the supplying pharmacy. The state resisted, and a federal judge sided with the state.

South Dakota was among the states to recently pass a law exempting the names of suppliers of lethal injection drugs from its public records law. The change was necessary, said South Dakota State Sen. Jean Hunhoff, “because there’s been harassment that has occurred against non-protected manufacturers and pharmacists, thereby causing difficulty for the state in obtaining the necessary chemicals for the lethal injection.”

South Dakota’s law passed in the state senate without opposition, and the house by a lopsided 60-8.

Raymond Bonner, a lawyer and former New York Times reporter, is the author of “Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong.”

by Raymond Bonner, Special to ProPublica

– Provided by ProPublica.org

Alexandria, VA, United States (4E) – The Chinese army’s team of hackers has resumed attacks on U.S. websites using different servers, according to two private cyber security firms and senior government officials.

Mandiant and Crowdstrike, which track the Chinese hacking group dubbed Unit 61398, said Friday that the previous victims of the hacking were again being targeted, but did not reveal the names of the companies and government agencies.

Before the hackers went silent in February after they were exposed, they have infiltrated the servers of defense and aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin, beverage firm Coca-Cola and data security products maker RSA stealing intellectual property and government documents from the said companies.

Servers of other client companies of Mandiant, which number 100, were also hacked by the Chinese Army unit. Among those stolen were product blueprints, manufacturing plans, clinical trial results, pricing documents, negotiation strategies and other proprietary information, said Mandiant.

The attack on RSA in 2011 allowed Unit 61398 to break into the computer systems of Lockheed Martin.

During the lull in their activities beginning February, Mandiant learned that Unit 61398 removed its spying tools from the victim’s organization. After two months, however, the hackers have restored the tools that enable them to seek out data without detection.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had denied that the People’s Liberation Army was involved in the cyberattacks.

Bronx, NY, United States (4E) – Reseachers at New York’s Yeshiva University have accidentally discovered that Vitamin C can kill multi-drug resistant TB bacteria in a laboratory experiment.

The findings by the research team led by Dr. William Jacobs Jr., a professor of microbiology, immunology and of genetics at the university’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, present a solution to the world’s growing number of TB-infected people who are resistant to TB drugs. The World Health Organization estimates that 650,000 people worldwide now have multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and 9 percent of them have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).

Jacobs’ team was trying to determine how TB bacteria become resistant to anti-TB drug isoniazid in a laboratory experiment. When the researchers added isoniazid and the amino acid cysteine to isoniazid-sensitive M. tuberculosis in culture, they expected the bacteria to develop resistance to the drug. However, the isoniazid and cysteine killed the bacteria culture.

The researchers suspected that cysteine, as a reducing agent, triggered the production of reactive oxygen species or so- called free radicals, which can damage DNA. They tested the hypothesis by using another reducing agent, Vitamin C, which sterilized drug-resistant TB bacteria.

Jacobs said they still need to test the method on human to see if Vitamin C will really work in treating drug-resistant TB.

Chipotle has been growing as a very popular fast food restaurant in the past couple of years offering Mexican-style food. Since around this time last year, the stock has gained about $100 in value, and often experiences significant spikes while growth remains steady. The company has just made a semi-radical decision to list and detail all the ingredients they use on their menu, including which of their ingredients are GMOs (Genetically Modified Ingredients.) This list can be found on their website.

A Changing Food Supply

As time progresses, we are seeing a shift in the what we eat, and how we think about our food. There seems to be a growing community in the domestic population that is concerned with not only the food they eat, but where it came from and more importantly how it was grown or raised. The topic of GMOs is becoming a reoccurring one, where everyone is finally wrapping their head around the idea: the idea that most of the available food supply in the United States was grown with methods that include manipulating genes of food on a molecular level. As of now, science cannot show us the long-term effects of these types of manipulations; they have only been around for about two-and-a-half decades. The decision that Chipotle has made for choosing to expose which of their ingredients are genetically modified, is a bold decision, but it gives the lucidity that most of our food supply needs.

Chipotle Offers Local, Organic and Antibiotic-Free Meats

Most of the ingredients listed that are genetically-modified are typical GMO food sources, like rice, soybean oil and corn. They also have an extensive list of both local and organic ingredients as well as meats that are free of hormones and antibiotics. Their local ingredients support local farmers as well. All of these components make up their Foods with Integrity pledge.

Yet unfortunately, in most commercial environments, many other companies cannot get away from the fact that GMO crops are far cheaper than conventional or organically grown crops. For this reason, there is a growing trend in the US for “whole” and “natural” foods, as well as organic and non-GMO. Traditional super markets are phasing out as more health-conscious venues like Whole Foods Market (WFM) and The Fresh Market (TFM) are coming into communities. Not only do these establishments provide benefits for someone who is trying to maintain an awareness in regards to what they consume, these companies are really bringing in the profit of these natural and trend foods.

New Menu Item For Chipotle: Tofu

With these new changes, Chipotle too may turn into a more health-conscious venue, regardless of the fact that they serve purely Mexican cuisine. They have released statements that they are planning on offering Tofu as an item on their menu in locations in California. The tofu is a meat substitute and it’s both organic and non-GMO and local to California. The new item will come to a total of 234 locations, which is about 17% of their 1,400 system. The product will remain in test mode until decisions are made for national distribution.  To see Chipotle’s current stock quote, visit this link.

By: Eva Cantillo

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is a stable instant messaging service that is exclusive to BlackBerry smartphones. Usage of the platform is popular within BlackBerry users, and was at its height in the early 2000′s when BlackBerry had a significant reign over the smartphone market, catering to mostly business minded people. Now, the company is making the decision to offer the service to other platforms, like the iPhone (AAPL) and Android devices (GOOG.)

BBM Will Launch This Summer

BlackBerry has been on a long road to recharging their company and brand. They have recently released the BlackBerry Z10 which received a lot of press, but not as many sales. The company realizes that its successes may lie in its services, rather than its smartphones. The company hopes to offer commercially viable products and services that will reach users on many different platforms, not just BlackBerry. CEO Thorsten Heins is eager to push the service to new platforms. He announced that BBM will be available for iOS and Android devices by this summer. The service will also be available for free. BlackBerry expects a great response from these platforms.

Corporate and Government Services From BlackBerry

In the past BlackBerry has offered BlackBerry Enterprise Services for corporate and government networks. Is has been very successful because the service is backed by high-security and encryption. BlackBerry also looks forward to offering this kind of service to other operating systems. An incorporation of other offerings like IBM Connections (IBM) and Microsoft Office 365 (MSFT) could make BlackBerry’s services the ultimate go-to for all business related activities.

Upcoming Releases From BlackBerry

Sprint (S) will be releasing the BlackBerry Q10 model in late summer, similar to the Z10 but with a qwerty keyboard. Sprint stated they will also be releasing another BlackBerry device before the end of the year, but the company has not specified what device that will be. Perhaps it may release the new Q5 or the rumored BlackBerry phablets everyone is talking about. BlackBerry may have fallen short with the release of their new devices, but their new services may be the golden ticket for success in the next era of the company. Take a look at their current stock quote here.

Electronic Arts Will Design More Games For PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Since its release, Nintendo did not reach their shipment goals for the Wii U, 3.45 million were shipped worldwide as of March 31 and in April, about 55,000 units were sold in the US. Yet, as time progresses and more games become available, the company expects to sell more consoles. Target (TGT) is currently selling the Wii U Basic for one of the lowest prices, at $239.99 instead of $250. The company has also released statements addressing the fact that popular games like Madden NFL 2013, EA’s new Star Wars games and FIFA 2013 will not be designed for the Wii U console. Many more games will be coming to the new PS4 from Sony, and the latest release of the Xbox One model that will come out later this year.

Sources reveal that Direct TV is currently considering buying Hulu, the popular streaming video service that is competing with Netflix (NFLX.) If this acquisition were to take place, it would mean ownership from Comcast Corporation (CMCSA,) News Corporation (NWSA) and Walt Disney Company (DIS) would be executed. Apparently the desire to acquire Hulu is to expand Direct TV’s current TV Everywhere service, which allows people to watch content on mobile and web devices. Integration of Hulu into the TV Everywhere service, would offer more television shows and a larger movie selection making the package more attractive to consumers.

Hulu is the Runner-Up to Netflix

Hulu is currently a runner up to Netflix (NFLX,) Hulu streamed about 1 billion videos in the first quarter of 2013.The average amount of time a person spent on Hulu was about 45 minutes. IN comparison, Netflix just passed the goal of streaming 4 billion hours of content. Hulu Plus has also managed to increase their user base by twice the size in the past year, exceeding 4 million paying subscribers for the premium Hulu service. Hulu is a successful entertainment venture with many assets and capital. The company pulled in $695 million in revenue in 2012. They currently have 70,000 TV episodes, 2,500 TV series which equals out to 57,000 hours of content from 470 content providers. They are also endorsed by 1,000 brand advertisers.

Original Series Are The Norm For Streaming Services

In the near future, Hulu plans on releasing 11 new series and series premiers by this fall. This is something similar to what Netflix has done with their original series. The company has achieved much success from releasing episodes and series that are exclusively available through Netflix’s streaming service. Likewise, Amazon (AMZN) has also released a slew of original series. This caused a media swarm and many of the series became quite popular literally overnight. The arena for visual entertainment is most definitely taking a new turn, into the interactive and more choice catered situation. The days of traditional cable may soon fade out and people will be able to choose exactly what they want to watch, when they want to watch. Read more about the internet TV revolution here.

New research has proven Netflix’s incredible recent growth and popularity over the last few years. Netflix has become a massive entertainment streaming empire that takes up approximately one-third of all fixed web traffic. Netflix towers over the other authority in internet video; YouTube (GOOG.)

Netflix Beat Competitor’s Traffic By a Long-Shot

Competitors are comprised of Google, Amazon Prime (AMZN,) HBO Go, and Hulu, among various others. YouTube’s internet traffic numbers allot for about 17.11%. Interestingly, Hulu, which is most directly like Netflix in service, only receives 2.41% of internet traffic. Likewise for Amazon Prime, a video streaming service for paid Prime members, has 1.31% and HBO only amounts to 0.34% of traffic. All of these numbers are nowhere near Netflix’s dominance in the their amount of received traffic.

Success of Netflix’s Stock

Netflix has continued to flourish in the past year. The company recently surpassed the milestone of 4 billion hours of streamed content earlier this year, an achievement that resulted in a rise in stock price. There is a slim possibility that a competitor can come into the game and be as successful or better than Netflix’s current standing, if that happens it won’t be for a while. Netflix has also been working on creating several original series, much of which have been very successful. They have garnered a following just like any cable station would. Netflix is also developing partnerships with cable companies to offer their services in bundles; which will benefit both parties involved. Because of all of Netflix’s success and future developments, we have named it as a Stock To Buy Right Now.

Bronx, NY, United States (4E) – Reseachers at New York’s Yeshiva University have accidentally discovered that Vitamin C can kill multi-drug resistant TB bacteria in a laboratory experiment.

The findings by the research team led by Dr. William Jacobs Jr., a professor of microbiology, immunology and of genetics at the university’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, present a solution to the world’s growing number of TB-infected people who are resistant to TB drugs. The World Health Organization estimates that 650,000 people worldwide now have multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and 9 percent of them have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).

Jacobs’ team was trying to determine how TB bacteria become resistant to anti-TB drug isoniazid in a laboratory experiment. When the researchers added isoniazid and the amino acid cysteine to isoniazid-sensitive M. tuberculosis in culture, they expected the bacteria to develop resistance to the drug. However, the isoniazid and cysteine killed the bacteria culture.

The researchers suspected that cysteine, as a reducing agent, triggered the production of reactive oxygen species or so- called free radicals, which can damage DNA. They tested the hypothesis by using another reducing agent, Vitamin C, which sterilized drug-resistant TB bacteria.

Jacobs said they still need to test the method on human to see if Vitamin C will really work in treating drug-resistant TB.

Beijing, China (4E) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has dispatched a special envoy to Beijing, state media has announced,

The state run news agency said that Choe Ryong-hae, a top military official, flew to the Chinese capital on Wednesday,.

The visit also follows weeks of high tensions on the Korean peninsula.

China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and closest ally.but China has opposed Pyonyang’s nuclear tests.

Beijing supported expanded UN sanctions against Pyongyang after its nuclear test and some of its banks have recently suspended trading with North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank.

Manila, Philippines (4E) – President Benigno Aquino III is firm on his stand against proposals to change the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Aquino told reporters he does not support the lifting of the foreign ownership restrictions of the Constitution.

He cited the case of China, whose economy prospered despite a prohibition on foreign ownership of land.

Reports said there are fresh plans by the House of Representatives to push for Charter Change in order to bring more foreign investments into the country.

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E) – Music stars Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio have been officially announced as the new judges of The X Factor U.S.A., sitting beside Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato.

Show creator and producer Cowell said in a statement on Sunday, “It’s taken more than a decade but I’m delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!). Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and together with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different.”

Rowland has been in the music industry since she was 16, rising to fame with the popular all-girl group Destiny’s Child, alongside Beyonce and Michelle Williams. Since becoming a solo artist in 2002, the 32-year-old singer has won a Grammy award and sold albums that reached gold and platinum. Her newest album “Talk a Good Game” will be released in June.

Rubio, on the other hand, is an international Latina pop star who has sold over 20 million records worldwide from her 10 albums. She started her career in the 80′s with Latina girl-group Timbriche, but went solo in 1992, releasing English and Spanish hits and gathering two Grammy nominations.

The newly named judges expressed their sentiments over their newest roles as well. Rowland said, “I am very excited to be reuniting with Simon Cowell and ‘The X Factor’ family. It feels great to be able to take this journey here at home in the states!”

Rubio had this to say, “I love ‘The X Factor’! I can’t wait to find the next big music star here in America. I’m so thrilled to be part of the show as a judge. Simon, be careful what you wish for, let’s see if you are ready to handle me, empieza la fiesta, amigo!”

Auditions for The X Factor’s next season will open on June 15.

Los Angeles, CA, United States (4E) – Comedian Carol Burnett is this year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor given out by the Kennedy Center.

In a press release published Tuesday, Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said, “From her television program and appearances, as well as her performances on Broadway and in film, Carol Burnett has entertained generations of fans with her vibrant wit and hilarious characters. We are delighted to pay tribute to this unique and beloved entertainer.”

The 80-year-old winner, on the other hand, said about her new feat, “I can’t believe I’m getting a humor prize from the Kennedy Center. It’s almost impossible to be funnier than the people in Washington.”

Carol Burnett, a screen and stage actress, is widely known for “The Carol Burnett Show,” which ran for 11 years on television and won 25 Emmy Awards. Her show was named one of the “100 Best Television Shows of All Time” by TIME magazine in 2007. Aside from acting, Burnett has also authored several best-selling books including “One More Time,” “This Time Together” and “Carrie and Me.”

Burnett will receive her award on October 20. She joins the ranks of previous mark Twain Prize Winners including Steve Martin, Billy Cristal, George Carlin, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Ellen DeGeneres.