Apple Denies Allowing NSA to Spy on iPhones

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Apple on Tuesday strongly denied knowledge of an alleged National Security Agency program that allows the government to penetrate and spy on iPhones.

“Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products,” the company said in a statement.

Apple’s denial follows a string of reports in Der Spiegel about the NSA’s highly classified hacking arm, called Tailored Access Operations. That unit has worked, according to the German magazine, to exploit weaknesses in Microsoft’s Windows, Cisco’s routers and Apple’s iPhones — the latter through a program codenamed DROPOUTJEEP, which may have allowed the NSA to tap into older versions of the device’s operating system. Separately, a security researcher this week raised questions that Apple may have assisted the NSA.

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Pediatrician: Jahi McMath is Not “Brain Dead,” Can Recover With Proper Care

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Photo Credit: LifeNews

Photo Credit: LifeNews

A leading pediatrician says that Jahi McMath, who is at the center of a national debate about whether she should remain on life support, is not “brain dead” and can recover with proper care and nutrition.

Late Monday afternoon, the judge in the case granted an extension for life support after a legal request from her family’s attorney.

Dr. Paul A. Byrne, a Neonatologist who is the Director of Neonatology and Director of Pediatrics at St. Charles Mercy Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, has given a new interview to a local NBC television station. Byrne is also a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics University of Toledo College of Medicine and the past president of the Catholic Medical Association.

Byrne told the station he does not believe that brain death is “true death” and said, with “proper nutrition and care,” McMath can have meaningful recovery to the degree that she would not meet the “brain death” criteria. He also said as much in court findings that Christopher Dolan, the attorney for McMath’s family.

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ObamaCare Birth Control Mandate Delayed

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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

Justice Sonia Sotomayor blocked a birth control mandate in ObamaCare that would have forced some religion-affiliated organizations to provide employee health insurance that includes contraceptive coverage.

Sotomayor acted on a request from an organization of Catholic nuns in Denver that requested an emergency stay, according to the Associated Press.

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And The Country Posing The Greatest Threat to Peace as 2013 Ends is …

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Shakil Adil

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Shakil Adil

The past year witnessed bloodshed in Syria and Iraq, turmoil in Egypt, anarchy in Central Africa, threats by a nuclear-armed North Korea and Chinese military posturing, but as 2013 ends a global poll finds that the country seen as representing the greatest threat to peace today is … the United States.

Not only did the U.S. top the list with an aggregate of 24 percent, but the runner-up threat country, Pakistan, was way behind at eight percent. China was third at six percent, followed by North Korea, Iran and Israel at five percent each.

The survey of opinions across 65 countries by pollster Win/Gallup International recorded some of the strongest anti-American sentiment, predictably, in countries widely regarded as rivals, led by Russia (where 54 percent of respondents said the U.S. was the greatest threat to peace) and China (49 percent).

But the view that the U.S. poses the greatest threat to peace was also strongly held in some purported U.S. allies – such as NATO partners Greece and Turkey (45 percent each), and Pakistan (44 percent), which is also a top recipient of U.S. aid.

Two other countries where strongly negative opinion of the U.S. was found were Bosnia, a candidate for European Union membership (49 percent), and, closer to home, Argentina (46 percent).

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Officials Admit New Problems With ObamaCare Launch

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Administration officials acknowledged Tuesday that some people will have problems when their new plans under ObamaCare begin Wednesday, but said they are working closely with insurers to minimize difficulties.

Wednesday is a major milestone for the law, as new plans bought through the exchanges before Dec. 24 will go into effect.

The White House on Tuesday said it had worked closely with the insurance industry to ready for the important date.

White House advisor Phil Schiliro on Tuesday said the admnistration knows insurers will be in the spotlight, and has set up a toll-free number to help consumers.

“We don’t want anybody to have problems but we know some people will,” he said on MSNBC.

Read more about problems with Obamacare launch HERE.

Kickin’ off the New Year: Forecast for Parts of U.S. – 40 Below Zero (+video)

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Photo Credit: thisreidwrites/flickr

Photo Credit: thisreidwrites/flickr

While Los Angeles will kick off 2014 with highs in the 70s, the National Weather Service forecasts many other areas of the United States will have a chilly start to the New Year with lows below zero — well below zero.

“The two really cold spots will be New England and Wisconsin,” said Bruce Terry, a forecaster with the weather service. Minnesota and North Dakota will also be frigid, he said.

Lows in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota could reach 40 degrees below zero on Tuesday night, he said. In New England, temperatures will be relatively warmer, with lows near or below zero.

Snow is expected to hit parts of Iowa and head eastward, into areas of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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