Anonymous leaks alleged data on BofA execs, surveillance

In its latest salvo against the financial industry, Anonymous claims to have leaked sensitive information related to Bank of America executives and the company's alleged effort to "spy and collect information on private citizens."Par:AnoIA, a group that identifies itself as the Anonymous Intelligence Agency, said in press release (PDF) yesterday that it had released 14 gigabytes data on hundreds of...

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Manning pleads guilty in WikiLeaks case

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - In a surprise Thursday, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to ten criminal counts in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history. Manning sent files to the website Wikileaks. He still faces trial on more serious charges. Along with the guilty pleas, Manning gave his first detailed explanation of why he did it. Reading from a 35-page statement, the Army...

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Obama Admin to Court: End Calif. Gay Marriage Ban

In a historic argument for gay rights, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to overturn California's same-sex marriage ban and turn a skeptical eye on similar prohibitions across the country.The Obama administration's friend-of-the-court brief marked the first time a U.S. president has urged the high court to expand the right of gays and lesbians to wed. The...

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Polls close in crucial British by-election

LONDON: Polls closed in the southern English town of Eastleigh on Thursday in a by-election for a new member of parliament in a tight contest that threatens serious repercussions for Britain's main parties.The election pits Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party against its junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, while the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) is hoping...

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Man-and-woman Mars trip by 2018? Can you say 'couples counseling'?

An artist's concept of a proposed Mars flyby spacecraft equipped with an inflatable habitat module.(Credit:Inspiration Mars)A wealthy space tourist announced plans today to launch a high-risk manned flight to Mars in 2018, sending a man and a woman on a bare-bones 501-day round-trip flyby, passing just 100 miles above the Red Planet before heading back to Earth.Dennis Tito, the first private citizen...

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Supreme Court divided on Voting Rights Act

(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- The Voting Rights Act has been the law of the land for nearly half a century, helping to ensure that minorities are not denied the right to vote. On Wednesday, Shelby County, Ala., challenged the law at the Supreme Court. The arguments sharply divided the justices: The court's conservative majority appeared poised to strike down at least part of the act and eliminate the...

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Holder Says Sequester Makes America Less Safe

The looming budget sequestration will make Americans less safe, Eric Holder says—and anyone who says otherwise isn't telling the truth."This is something that is going to have an impact on the safety of this country," the U.S. attorney general told ABC's Pierre Thomas on Wednesday in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview."And anybody that says otherwise is either lying or saying...

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Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions. Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had...

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Japan's factory output up 1.0% in January

TOKYO: Japan's factory output for January rose a smaller-than-expected 1.0 per cent from the previous month, official data showed on Thursday.The rise was weaker than a 1.5 per cent expansion expected by the market and a revised 2.4 per cent increase in December.But the ministry maintained a positive view, saying in a monthly report: "Industrial production has bottomed out and shows some...

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Yelp: We compete with print -- not Google or Facebook

Google, who? Facebook, huh? Yea, that's right. The Internet behemoths don't pose any threat to business reviews site Yelp and its still-blossoming local advertising business. Well, that's Yelp's attitude anyhow. "Today, we're really competing with print, radio, and television," Geoff Donaker, Yelp's chief operating officer, said Tuesday when speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom...

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