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A new
computer virus has attacked US military websites in
the past several days, prompting the sites to be blocked from public
access temporarily in what officials call "the largest security
incident ever" in terms of duration of attacks, number of
servers and number of websites involved, the US Space
Command, which handles the sites, said Monday.
The virus, called
the "Code Red Bug," is a "denial of service"
virus that reads log files exclusively on Microsoft-powered Internet
servers, then sends copies to other servers, crashing systems and
denying service to legitimate users.
At least one
version of the virus smears the website's index (main) page with the
words: "Hello! Welcome to www.worm.com!
Hacked by Chinese." Despite the Chinese signature,
investigators say they're not convinced Chinese hackers are
involved.
The virus has
shown up on Department of Defense websites, causing officials to
close down a number of military sites while work to rout the virus
continues.
The US incident
has prompted defense-related sites worldwide to check millions of
computers linked to thousands of networks to ensure that software
isn't vulnerable to similar attacks.
House minority
leader Dick Gebhardt is denying
he's been telling people he'll work to raise taxes should the House
win a Democratic majority in next year's elections.
He's not denying he'll do what he
can to raise taxes; he's denying he's been telling people that.
Teenage girls are
contracting HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS, at a fast-increasing rate, according to researchers
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The
rate of infection from heterosexual sex for 15-to-19-year-olds was
up an astonishing 117-percent from 1994 to 1998.
They also report a 90-percent
increase in HIV by teen girls from the use of needle-injected
drugs. The researchers are calling for increased education for
junior high (middle school) and high school girls.
HIV infection rates among older
women remain steady in some age groups and have declined 12-percent
among women of reproductive age overall.
Children brought
up in homes with both a mother and a father are much less likely to
have "underage sex" and
unwanted pregnancies, according to a new British study, indicating a
direct link between a teen's attitude toward sex and his or her home
environment.
Children of homes where unmarried
adults are cohabitating or are single heads of household were twice
as likely to have a casual attitude toward sex, the report says.
Britain has one of the highest
teenage pregnancy rates in the world.
Critics call the report
"simplistic." The reasons for unwanted pregnancies, those
critics say, are much more complex than the report suggests, and are
often related to "social deprivation," they say.
The Texas couple
accused of locking their seven-year-old daughter in a closet for
years have been indicted on
felony child endangerment charges.
The Air Force is
outfitting a 747 jet to carry a prototype laser
to be used in shooting down -- from 200 miles away -- missiles
similar to the Scuds that were prevalent during the Gulf War, to be
tested during the next two years.
The eleven-billion dollar project
is part of President Bush's plan to speed up development of missile
defenses.
More
details are available at the Washington Post website.
Three-percent of
drivers are using handheld cell phones
at any one time, according to new National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration figures, called the first research to quantify the
use of the phones on the road.
"Hands-free" phones
weren't covered by the survey; van and SUV lawyers are most likely
to use the phones, the survey said.
Women use the phones more than
men, whites more than blacks, suburban motorists more than rural
drivers, confirming the class distiction of using cell phones.
The late Katherine
Graham, longtime publisher of the
Washington Post, was eulogized Monday by employees, friends,
relatives and clergy at a Washington cathedral.
She was called a friend of freedom
and information who loved a scoop and enjoyed her work.
Graham died last week at the age
of 84.
Country music
songwriter Bob Ferguson died over
the weekend at the age of 73. He was best known as the writer of the
country classic, "On the Wings of a Snow White Dove."
Oh, and did you hear about
the real-life Indiana Jones adventure two
weeks ago? A Boy Scout was lost in Yellowstone park and crews were
sent out to find him.
Among those who volunteered to help in the
search -- actor Harrison Ford, who's an amateur flyer but just
happens to own a plane and a helicopter.
It was Ford who spotted the boy among the
trees, landing his helicopter and taking the boy to safety.
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