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Tuesday, December 10, 2013 – Daily News 5A WORLD BRIEFING NSA and GCHQ spy on virtual worlds, gather data on gamers LONDON (AP) — American and British intelligence operations have been spying on gamers across the world, media outlets reported, saying that the world's most powerful espionage agencies sent undercover agents into virtual universes to monitor activity in online fantasy games such as ''World of Warcraft.'' Stories carried Monday by The New York Times, the Guardian, and ProPublica said U.S. and U.K. spies have spent years trawling online games for terrorists or informants. The stories, based on documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, offer an unusual take on America's world-spanning surveillance campaign, suggesting that even the fantasy worlds popular with children, teens, and escapists of all ages aren't beyond the attention of the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ. Virtual universes like ''World of Warcraft'' can be massively popular, drawing in millions of players who log months' worth of real-world time competing with other players for online glory, virtual treasure, and magical loot. At its height, ''World of Warcraft'' boasted some 12 million paying subscribers, more than the population of Greece. Other virtual worlds, like Linden Labs' ''Second Life'' or the various games hosted by Microsoft's Xbox — home to the popular science fiction-themed shoot-em-up ''Halo'' — host millions more. Spy agencies have long worried that such games serve as a good cover for terrorists or other evildoers who could use ingame messaging systems to swap information. In one of the documents cited Monday by media outlets, the NSA warned that the games could give intelligence targets a place to ''hide in plain sight.'' Linden Labs and Microsoft Inc. did not immediately return messages seeking comment. In a statement, Blizzard Entertainment said that it is ''unaware of any surveillance taking place. If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission.'' Congress set to renew undetectable gun ban ing those restrictions — the latest defeat for guncontrol forces in the year since the grade school massacre in Newtown, Conn. The Senate planned to give final congressional approval Monday evening to a 10-year extension of the prohibition against guns that can slip past metal detectors and X-ray machines. The quartercentury-old ban has been renewed twice and would expire Tuesday without action. But first, senators were set to defeat an effort by Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to strengthen the ban by requiring that such weapons contain undetachable metal parts. Some plastic guns meet the letter of current law with a metal piece that can be removed, making them a threat to be slipped past security screeners at schools, airports and elsewhere. ''Who in God's name wants to let plastic guns pass through metal detectors at airports or stadiums?'' Schumer said in an interview Monday. The National Rifle Association, which has been instrumental in blocking gun restrictions, has expressed no opposition to renewing the law. But the gun lobby said it would fight any expanded requirements, including Schumer's, ''that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights'' to bear arms. America's new rich may foil income equality WASHINGTON (AP) — Fully 20 percent of U.S. adults become rich for parts of their lives, wielding extensive influence over America's economy and politics, according to new survey data. These ''new rich,'' made up largely of older professionals, working married couples and more educated singles, are becoming politically influential, and economists say their capacity to spend is key to the U.S. economic recovery. But their rise is also a sign of the nation's continuing economic polarization. They extend well beyond the wealthiest 1 percent, a traditional group of super-rich millionaires and billionaires with long-held family assets. The new rich have household income of $250,000 or more at some point during their working lives, putting them — if sometimes temporarily — in the top 2 percent of earners. The new survey data on the affluent are being published in an upcoming book, and an analysis by The APNORC Center for Public Affairs Research provided additional information on the views of the group. In a country where poverty is at a record high, today's new rich are notable for their sense of economic fragility. They rely on income from their work to maintain their social position and pay for things such as private tutoring for their children. That makes them much more fiscally conservative than other Americans, polling suggests, and less likely to support public programs, such as food stamps or early public education, to help the disadvantaged. Mourners flock to Mandela's mansion sions shaded by graceful jacaranda trees, mourners, black and white, by the thousands rubbed shoulders Monday outside the villa where Nelson Mandela died, placing flower bouquets and condolence notes on top of piles already knee-high. Others danced while singing praise for the antiapartheid leader — a vivid example of the ''Rainbow Nation'' unity of race-blind multiculturalism championed by Mandela for South Africa. As players for the nation's top Kaizer Chiefs soccer team were escorted inside the villa in one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods to grieve with Mandela's relatives, hospital receptionist Nelson Jabulani Dube said the crowd of black, white and mixed race mourners transforming a street corner into a makeshift shrine was evidence that Mandela succeeded in breaking down barriers in a country defined for generations by race-based hate. ''It's all because of him, because he forgave the enemies at that time, they no longer are the enemies,'' said Dube, 33. ''For me the outcome is really stunning and unites us, and what you see here is a reflection of that.'' Michele Marija, an elderly white Johannesburg resident, spontaneously hugged a black woman, calling her ''my sister,'' after the woman made space for her so she could get a better view of the shrine. Then Marija's daughters also hugged the woman. Marija insisted that her daughters and granddaughters visit Mandela's house, saying his decision to forgive his white oppressors after being released from 27 years in jail saved South Africa from brutal bloodshed. South Africa prepares for Mandela memorial JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An eclectic mix of world leaders including President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will eulogize Nelson JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Along a street lined with walled man- Mandela before a crowd of nearly 100,000 mourners at a massive memorial service Tuesday in the World Cup soccer stadium where the anti-apartheid champion made his last public appearance. ''What a fantastic gift God gave to us in this Mandela, who quickly became an icon, a global icon of forgiveness, of generosity of spirit,'' Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a gathering Monday at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory. ''He really was like a magician with a magic wand, turning us into this glorious, multi-colored, rainbow people.'' Nearly 100 world leaders and tens of thousands of South Africans of all races and backgrounds were expected to pay their respects to the man who bridged this nation's blackwhite divide at the FNB stadium in Soweto — a locale heavy in symbolism as the black township that was at the center of the violent struggle against apartheid. The 95,000-capacity soccer venue was also the spot where Mandela made his last public appearance at the closing ceremony of the 2010 World Cup. His body will then lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria — once the seat of white power — before burial Sunday in his rural childhood village of Qunu in Eastern Cape Province. Health care debate isn't just about health care WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, the talk was all about computer code. About response times. About glitches and bugs. People who didn't know a URL from an http were blithely expounding on software snags and web design, FLYING 716 6TH St, Corning 530-824-4546 Family business, owned & operated DOMESTIC & EUROPEAN AUTO REPAIR thanks to the clunky launch of healthcare.gov, the insurance marketplace for the government's big health care overhaul. With the website improving and tech chatter settling down, the conversation about the Affordable Care Act, or ''Obamacare,'' is turning in other directions. It's about trust. It's about big government. It's about politics. And, oh yeah, it's about your health care, too. LA sheriff's deputies face criminal charges LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal officials on Monday unsealed five criminal cases filed against 18 current and former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as part of an FBI investigation into allegations of civil rights abuses and corruption in the nation's largest jail system. The charges were announced at a press conference after 16 of 18 defendants were arrested earlier in the day. They were expected to be arraigned later in U.S. District Court. ''These incidents did not take place in a vacuum — in fact, they demonstrated behavior that had become institutionalized,'' said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. ''The pattern of activity alleged in the obstruction of justice case shows how some members of the Sheriff's Department considered themselves to be above the law.'' Four grand jury indictments and a criminal complaint allege unjustified beatings of jail inmates and visitors at downtown Los Angeles jail facilities, unjustified detentions and a conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation into misconduct at the Men's Central Jail. Abundant Life Fellowship 21080 Luther Rd. 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