This image shows the homepage of a website resembling Facebook that is hosted in North Korea (DYN Systems)
IT'S the story that sounds like a Seth Rogen movie sequel — a British teenager has hacked into North Korea's version of Facebook using the password "Password".
Eighteen-year-old Scottish student Andrew McKean has admitted to hacking the recently launched "Best Korean Social Network" when he discovered the North Korean IT department had made the classic mistake of not changing the default security settings.
Just hours after the communist clone of the world's most famous social network went live, Motherboard reports McKean realized he was able to take control of the site by using the default combination of username "admin" and the default password.
Given the outrage the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview caused, McKean perhaps wisely chose not to delete or damage people's profiles or leave comments critical of King Jong-un.
Instead, he left a message: "Uh, I didn't create this site just found the login".
The Korean social network has been taken offline and, presumably, the network administrators are working on their excuses.
LA PLATA, Md. - Charles County Public Schools has reversed a high school principal's decision and will allow a student to wear moccasins at her graduation to honor her Native American heritage.
On Monday, FOX 5 reported that Dylan McCabe gained approval to wear a ceremonial Navajo dress during graduation, but her request to wear the moccasins was denied because it violated North Point High School's graduation dress code.
"He only approved the dress because it was not visible, but he didn't approve the leggings and moccasins because they showed," McCabe said.
The soon-to-be-graduate said the footwear and leggings have special significance to her as they were the same ones she wore during a four-day coming-of-age ritual when she was 11 years old.
McCabe and her mother won their appeal to wear the moccasins after meeting with the assistant superintendent of Charles County Public Schools on Tuesday.
"We have graduation dress requirements, but however, we make exceptions based on religious or other legitimate reasons," said Charles County Public Schools spokesperson Katie O'Malley-Simpson. "The assistant superintendent felt in her meeting with Dylan that she had strong religious and cultural beliefs. And based on that meeting, she decided that an exception was appropriate."
O'Malley-Simpson said because of what happened, the school will reevaluate its procedures on how students request exceptions from the graduation dress code, especially for religious or cultural reasons.
"I think that any time you go through something that causes attention or controversy, you take a look at how you do things," she said.
McCabe is set to graduate on Thursday.
"We were just like, 'Yay!'" McCabe said of getting the news that she could wear her whole outfit. "I'm just really excited that I get to wear it and represent my culture. And walk across that stage in my moccasins."
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Reports of a shooting happened shortly before 10 a.m. at Boelter Hall. The entire campus was placed on lockdown and students were told to shelter in place.
Los Angeles police officers in tactical gear and campus police entered the building and began searching for a shooter.
Two men were found dead inside an office in the building suffering from gunshot wounds. It was unclear if the two men were employees, students or visitors.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the shooting appeared to be a murder-suicide and a note was found, but would not elaborate if it was a suicide note.
"The campus is entirely contained," he said. "We believe there are no suspects outstanding and no continuing threat to UCLA's campus."
The FBI and ATF also responded to the scene. Several surrounding elementary and middle schools in the area were also placed on lockdown as a precaution.
The lockdown was lifted around 12:20 p.m. and classes were canceled for the day, but were expected to resume Thursday.
DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as soon as it becomes available.
PLANO -- National Honor Society (NHS) stoles are frequent sight at high school graduation ceremonies around the country, but one Plano Senior High School student is frustrated that he won't be allowed to wear one when he puts on his cap and gown next month.
According to school practices, students are not allowed to wear NHS regalia.
Garrett Frederick has been a National Honor Society member since his sophomore year, dedicating himself to maintaining a high GPA and performing community service hours.
"I'm not just an honor student -- I'm an NHS student. I worked hard. I put in the hours," Frederick said, explaining that he committed to 20 hours of community service every semester.
National Honor Society members frequently wear white satin stoles with an NHS seal during graduation ceremonies to mark their commitment.
Until recently, Frederick thought he'd be able to wear one.
"I was really looking forward to wearing it and being able to say I was a part of it, because I have friends that go to [Plano East High School] and [Plano West High School], and they're all wearing it," he said. "So it's like, I don't know why we're not allowed to wear it. I don't get it."
Frederick's mom is frustrated, too.
She wrote the principal of the school and said she got a message back, saying that graduates do not wear any club or organizational regalia.
KellyAnn Frederick says a National Honor Society sponsor claimed school administrators want everyone to feel included in graduation and not single students out.
"They deserve it," KellyAnn said. "They worked so hard for it. If you choose not to work that hard, then that's okay! I wasn't an NHS kid. I didn't wear the NHS stole when I graduated. But friends of mine did, and I was OK!"
The school district confirmed the practice on Tuesday, and that it differs from nearby Plano West and Plano East High Schools, where students do wear NHS stoles.
At Plano Senior High, students with a GPA of 3.6 or higher can wear a plain honor stole, but not the National Honor Society stole that signifies both grades and community service.
Garrett says he and his friends in National Honor Society have considered starting a petition or talking to the principal, even though he thinks it's too late for his own graduation ceremony.
Still, he hopes the policy can change so in the future other Plano Senior High students can share in a national tradition.
"It's kind of a national thing that's recognized, so I don't know why just Plano can't recognize it," he said.
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An apartment at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan is on the market for $125 million.Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times
One of the latest symbols of the overinflated luxury housing market is a pink mansion perched above the Mediterranean on the French Riviera.
The 13,000-square-foot property, built and owned by the fashion magnate Pierre Cardin, is composed of giant terra cotta orbs arranged in a sprawling hive. The home's name befits its price. "Le Palais Bulles," or "the Bubble Palace," is being offered for sale at approximately $450 million.
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A room on the 41st floor of an apartment for sale at the Pierre Hotel.Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times
The listing is part of a global pileup of homes listed for $100 million or more. A record 27 properties with nine-figure prices are officially for sale, according to Christie's International Real Estate. That is up from 19 last year and about a dozen in 2014.
If you add in high-priced "whisper listings" that are offered privately, brokers say the actual number of nine-figure listings worldwide could easily top 40 or 50.
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A hallway on the 41st floor of an apartment for sale at the Pierre Hotel.Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times
"It's a bumper crop," said Dan Conn, chief executive of Christie's International Real Estate. "It's just a new world in terms of what people are building and offering for sale."
The rise in nine-figure real estate listings comes just as sales of luxury real estate have cooled. Many say the sudden surge in hyperprice homes — often built and sold by speculative investors — is the ultimate bubble signal.
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A 38,000-square-foot mansion on Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles is listed for $150 million.
"When you have a record number of homes for sale at a price point of $100 million or more, that tells you these homes aren't selling," said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and research firm. "It's not as deep a market as some might hope."
Last year, only two homes in the world sold for over $100 million, according to Christie's. One was a 9,455-square-foot house in Hong Kong purchased for $193 million by Jack Ma, the chief of Alibaba. The other was a townhouse in London that sold for $132 million. This year, a ranch in Texas went on the market for $700 million and a home in Dallas listed for $100 million. Both sold, but the actual sale prices have not been disclosed.
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The Playboy mansion in Los Angeles.Credit Hilton & Hyland/Christie's International Real Estate, via Associated Press
The last time a sudden pop in $100 million-plus listings occurred was in 2007 and 2008, just before the housing crash. In 2008, at least four homes in the world listed for nine figures. Only one ended up selling for close to that. A mansion in Palm Beach owned by Donald Trump and listed for $100 million sold for $95 million. (Mr. Trump says it sold for $100 million.) A 103-room mansion in Surrey, England, called Updown Court, was listed for $138 million, but sold in 2011 for about $50 million. A log mansion planned for the Yellowstone Club in Montana, with a promised price of $155 million, was never built, and the land sold for $10 million.
Of course, anyone can slap a $100 million price tag on a home to get attention. Yet actual sales of nine-figure homes are rare, even in good times. Between 2011 and 2016, only 15 homes in the world have sold for $100 million or more, according to Christies, and five of those were in 2014.
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Sycamore Valley Ranch, once Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, near Santa Barbara, Calif., is going for $100 million.Credit Hilton & Hyland/Christie's International Real Estate
"The era of aspirational pricing is over, and I'm not sure it ever really worked," Mr. Miller said. "These prices get headlines, but the properties just don't sell."
Brokers promoting the listings say their properties are one-of-a-kind masterpieces — like Picassos or Modiglianis — that rarely come on the market. They add that the more than 1,800 billionaires in the world see property as a safer store of wealth than stocks or art. Mr. Conn estimates that of the 27 nine-figure listings, a third will sell for under $100 million, a third will sell for around $100 million and a third for far more.
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Rancho San Carlos in Montecito, Calif., was built in 1929.Credit Jim Bartsch
"I don't think it's a sign of a bubble," Mr. Conn said. "It's a sign of growing wealth in the world and the quality of some of the new construction."
Yet the market for megamansions and penthouses has cooled significantly in the last year. Prices for homes in the top 5 percent of the real estate market fell 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to Redfin. Prices for the rest of the housing market increased 4.7 percent.
Brokers say the very top of the market — consisting of eight- and nine-figure homes — is faring the worst as slowing economies overseas and volatile stock markets have spooked buyers. The supply of homes for the rich exploded as builders aimed at the high end after the financial crisis.
Of the 10 most expensive listings in the world, seven are in the United States and four of these are in Los Angeles. The most expensive listing in the world is the $500 million compound being built in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles by Nile Niami, a film producer and speculative builder. The property will have a 74,000-square-foot main house, a 30-car garage and a "Monaco-style casino."
In nearby Holmby Hills, a more modest 38,000-square-foot mansion, built by the investor and developer Gala Asher, came on the market in April for $150 million. The ultramodern house, on the prestigious Carolwood Drive, has a 5,300-square-foot master suite and a club level with bar, dance floor, wine room, lap pool, theater complex, beauty parlor and massage rooms. The property also includes several guesthouses and staff housing. The broker, Ginger Glass, said the price of the property was justified.
"Buyers today want new construction," she said. "And there isn't anything that's new like this in such a great location."
Still more nine-figure homes are on the way. Real estate agents and developers say a home under construction in Bel Air is likely to have more than 50,000 square feet of living space, with finishes rivaling a superyacht's. The price will be yacht-like, too, at around $300 million. Among the home's amenities: the world's largest safe.
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The prosecutor had helped put him behind bars for murder
A former Illinois police sergeant who is serving time for killing his third ex-wife was found guilty on Tuesday of trying to hire a hit man from prison to murder the prosecutor who put him behind bars.
Following a six-day trial, a jury convicted Drew Peterson, 62, of solicitation of murder for hire and solicitation of murder for a plot to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement. Peterson was serving a 38-year sentence for his wife's death after a 2012 conviction when he tried hiring someone to kill Glasgow between 2013 and 2014, CNN reports.
His sentencing is set for July 26. He faces 20 to 40 years in prison for solicitation of murder for hire and 15 to 30 years in prison for solicitation of murder.
"The evidence in this case was clear that the defendant plotted from jail to solicit the murder of State's Attorney Jim Glasgow," Madigan said. "I thank the members of the jury for their service, and I commend the prosecutors for their hard work and relentless commitment to bringing this case to a successful conclusion."
A Fort Collins ordinance that bars women from exposing their breasts in public is sexist, violates the Constitution and is rooted in outdated puritanical values and discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Free the Nipple, an association of Colorado residents who advocate for gender equality, the group's founder Brittiany Hoagland and Samantha Six, a group member, filed the 12-page lawsuit.
Hoagland and Six appeared at a news conference to announce the litigation dressed in T-shirts bearing an image of a pair of breasts stripped across their chests.
"We do have the complaint and we are in the process of reviewing it," said Carrie Daggett, Fort Collins' city attorney. She had no further comment.
Last year, Hoagland brought the ordinance to the attention of the Fort Collins City Council. She wanted a change made to the language so that both men and women would be free to show their breasts in the city.
Last October, the Council rejected the idea but approved tweaking the current law to allow breastfeeding and clarify how the ordinance applies to children younger than 10. That change defined the breast as beginning at the top of the nipple.
"I'm extremely excited that the legal ball is finally rolling," Hoagland said Tuesday.
Section 17-142 of the Fort Collins code of ordinances discriminates against women by "making it a crime to show their breasts and/or nipples in any place where they might be viewed by others while allowing boys and men to show their breasts and/or nipples at any time or place without fear of arrest or prosecution," the lawsuit said.
The group believes that any law containing language to the effect of "women are prohibited from" is sexist and, therefore, unconstitutional, according to a news release from Denver civil rights lawyer David Lane, whose law firm filed the case.
The modified version "continues to criminalize women who appear at public places with their breasts and nipples exposed," the lawsuit said.
Thirty states, as well as Denver, Boulder, and New York, have recognized a woman's right to appear topless in public, the suit said.
A federal judge in Chicago recently ruled against a woman's challenge to that city's prohibition against women showing their breasts.
In January, a federal judge in Springfield, Mo., filed a preliminary injunction stopping that city from enforcing a provision of the indecent exposure law that made it illegal for women to show any portion of the breasts beneath the areola.
Each violation of the Fort Collins ordinance can be punished by a fine of up to $2,650, imprisonment of up to 180 days or both, the suit said.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop enforcement of the law, and declare it unconstitutional.
Indecency codes are largely local, with very few states having laws on the books banning the exposure of female breasts.
Gender-specific indecency laws have received increased attention in recent years. A 2014 film "Free The Nipple" explored the topic, and celebrities including Rihanna and Miley Cyrus, have clashed with social media sites for censoring photos showing their nipples, while not removing photos of topless men.
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