Argentine court to try Justin Bieber for photographer assault

BUENOS AIRES | An Argentine court has ruled that pop star Justin Bieber must face trial for allegedly assaulting a photographer outside a nightclub in 2013, according to a decision published Thursday.

Judge Alberto Banos ordered Bieber to go on trial on charges of robbery, attempted robbery and assault with minor injuries, according to the decision.

The case dates to a stop in Buenos Aires on the Canadian heartthrob’s Believe tour.

According to the complaint, a bodyguard, following Bieber’s orders, forcefully seized photographer Diego Pesoa’s camera and cellphone outside a nightclub in the upscale Palermo neighborhood in November 2013.

Bieber has ignored court orders to appear before the judge, prompting Argentina to request an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Matias Morla, welcomed the ruling.

“The judge’s decision is excellent and represents a new slap in the face to Justin’s arrogance,” he said.

“Justin has hidden behind his fame and money to escape justice. Now he will have to observe the court ruling of a sovereign country like Argentina and show up to testify like any other citizen,” he told Argentine newspaper Diario Popular.

Bieber, 22, once enjoyed a squeaky clean image, but has recently had frequent run-ins with the law, including in the United States and Canada.

source: interaksyon.com

Security tight as Kim Kardashian leaves New York after robbery

NEW YORK | Flanked by multiple security guards, Kim Kardashian and her family on Thursday left the Manhattan apartment where they have been closeted since she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, amid reports that the reality star was planning to take some time off.

News video and photos showed Kardashian, her face partly hidden by a hoodie and baseball cap, getting into a car with her two young children and rapper husband Kanye West.

It was the first time she had been seen since returning to New York after masked robbers held a gun to her head and stole some $10 million worth of jewelry in Paris early on Monday morning.

Kardashian’s personal bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, who was protecting Kardashian’s sisters at a nightclub at the time of the robbery, was among a handful of security staff keeping media at bay and helping stash suitcases into waiting cars. The family were thought to be heading to their southern California home.

The celebrity family, whose lives are chronicled in the TV show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and on their busy social media accounts, has been uncharacteristically quiet since the robbery. No arrests have been made.

Celebrity website TMZ and magazine Us Weekly reported on Thursday that a badly shaken Kardashian was taking about a month’s break from work.

“She has canceled everything for the next several weeks and will not be working,” Us Weekly quoted a source close to the star as saying.

TMZ, quoting an unidentified source close to Kardashian, said that when she does return she will cut down on her use of social media and displays of her wealthy lifestyle.

Kardashian’s representatives declined comment on the reports.

Kardashian, 35, has come in for criticism that she made herself vulnerable by posting photos of her $4 million dollar engagement ring and other jewelry, in the days before the attack.

“If you are that famous and you put all your jewelry on the net, you go to hotels where nobody can come near to the room,” fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld told reporters in Paris this week. “You cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you.”

The Kardashian family was not filming for their reality show at the time of the robbery, a spokeswoman for the show said on Thursday.

“Our focus right now is entirely on Kim’s well-being,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

source: interaksyon.com

Cybercrime ring steals up to $1 billion from banks — Kaspersky

A multinational gang of cyber criminals has stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said on Saturday.

The company said it was working with Interpol, Europol and authorities from different countries to try to uncover more details on what it being called an unprecedented robbery.

The gang, which Kaspersky dubbed Carbanak, takes the unusual approach of stealing directly from banks, rather than posing as customers to withdraw money from companies’ or individuals’ accounts. It said the gang included cyber criminals from Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as China.

Carbanak used carefully crafted emails to trick pre-selected employees into opening malicious software files, a common technique known as spear phishing. They were then able to get into the internal network and track down administrators’ computers for video surveillance.

In this way, Kaspersky said, the criminals learned how the bank clerks worked and could mimic their activity when transferring the money.

In some cases, Carbanak inflated account balances before pocketing the extra funds through a fraudulent transaction. Because the legitimate funds were still there, the account holder would not suspect a problem.

Kaspersky said Carbanak also remotely seized control of ATMs and ordered them to dispense cash at a predetermined time, when a gang member would be waiting to collect the money.

“These attacks again underline the fact that criminals will exploit any vulnerability in any system,” Sanjay Virmani, director of Interpol Digital Crime Center, said in a statement prepared by Kaspersky. “It also highlights the fact that no sector can consider itself immune to attack and must constantly address their security procedures.”

source: interaksyon.com