Guilty plea in $45 million 'cyber heist'

A third defendant has pleaded guilty to taking part in a global $45 million ATM fraud scheme, prosecutors said.

Evan Jose Peña was part of a cybercrime ring that allegedly stole debit card data, then hacked bank systems and ultimately emptied the accounts.

Peña and two other men, who pleaded guilty last month, allegedly formed the worldwide group's New York cell, which by itself fraudulently withdrew nearly $3 million in just hours.

"These three defendants participated in a criminal flash mob, using data stolen through the most sophisticated hacking techniques to withdraw millions of dollars in mere hours in an unprecedented cyber heist," said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Related: 8 charged in $45 million cybertheft bank heist

Prosecutors said hackers targeted MasterCard-connected accounts at banks in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. They stole card data and changed withdrawal limits, then sent the card information to associates worldwide who withdrew nearly unlimited sums from ATMs.

The three defendants who pleaded guilty were allegedly involved in two such thefts, one in 2012 and another last spring. The first heist brought in $400,000 in under three hours, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Related: Cyberattacks are the bank robberies of the future

They said the ringleader, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, was murdered in the Dominican Republic in April. Four other defendants who initially pleaded not guilty are pending trial, said spokesman Robert Nardoza of the U.S. attorney's office.

The theft is one of the largest bank heists in history. The only larger theft in New York was the 1978 robbery of cash and jewelry at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which was depicted in the movie "Goodfellas."

Peña's attorney could not be reached for comment.

 

How hackers stole $45 million from banks

New iPad Mini on sale, but supplies limited

After a three-week wait, the new iPad Mini went on sale Tuesday -- but not in Apple retail stores.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Apple began selling its new iPad Mini on Tuesday, but not in its stores
• The small tablet can be picked up at stores after being ordered online
• Supplies may be limited; Apple's online store lists shipping delays

In something of a surprise move, Apple began selling its new iPad Mini on Tuesday.

The small tablet, with a speedier processor and the same high-definition "retina display" as its bigger cousins, is available from Apple's online store and from wireless partners AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. It's also being sold by selected third-party retailers such as Best Buy.

Shoppers cannot buy them yet from Apple retail stores, although they can be picked up at stores after being ordered online. An Apple spokeswoman declined to say when they might become available for in-store purchases.

The new Mini's release comes three weeks after Apple introduced the device and 12 days after the new full-size iPad Air went on sale. Many analysts had expected Apple to release the iPad Mini later this month, with speculation focusing on November 22. Apple tends to release new products on Fridays, giving them a full weekend to rack up sales while excitement is high.

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A product listing on Target's website recently listed the release date for the iPad Mini as November 21, although that date has since been removed.

Supplies of the device appear to be limited at first, which may explain why Apple is not selling the new Mini in its stores. As of late morning Tuesday, Apple's online store was listing shipping delays of one to three business days for 16GB and 32GB models and five to 10 business days for models with higher amounts of storage.

Early reports also have said Apple is facing a shortage of the Mini's new, high-definition display screens.

The new Pad Mini has a 7.9-inch display (compared to 9.7 inches for the full-size iPad) and comes in two colors: silver or space gray.Prices range from $399 for a Wi-Fi-only, 16GB model to $829 for a 128GB model with cellular connectivity.

Egypt court says state of emergency lifted, but security forces enforcing it

Ousted President Mohammed Morsy is on trial at a police academy in Cairo on November 3.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Court announces lifting of emergency rules two days earlier than expected
• Military, police say they still haven't received court's order
• Military says it's still enforcing curfews
• Emergency rules began three months ago after deadly clashes in Cairo

Egypt's administrative court said Tuesday that it has lifted a three-month state of emergency in the country, though the nation's military and police said they're still enforcing it because they'd yet to receive the court's ruling, state-run media reported.

Because of the security forces' stance, it wasn't immediately clear when the emergency rules -- which include curfews intended to limit public gatherings after deadly clashes in August -- would truly be canceled.

The emergency was ordered in August, during a period of intense unrest after the July coup that ousted President Mohamed Morsy. Clashes flared in August when security forces broke up huge Cairo sit-ins led by Morsy supporters; hundreds died, and thousands were injured.

Mohamed Morsy trial interrupted by defendants' chanting

The administrative court announced Tuesday that the state of emergency would be lifted in the afternoon, two days earlier than expected, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.

But Tuesday night, the military said on Facebook that the nighttime curfews would continue until the court officially notified it of its order.

The Interior Ministry also said it hadn't received the court order, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Muslim Brotherhood ban upheld

Egypt's Cabinet had said previously that the emergency would be lifted on Thursday.

The military ousted Morsy on July 3 and installed an interim government, saying Morsy was a tyrant trying to impose conservative values. Morsy supporters, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have said the coup was an illegal power grab by the military and elements of the regime of longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Morsy is awaiting trial on allegations that he ordered supporters to attack protesters in December, while he still was in power.

Morsy became the country's first democratically elected president in June 2012, more than a year after protests prompted Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades with the military's support, to step down.

Mubarak faces a retrial on charges involving the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him.

Opinion: Egypt and the death of liberalism

Lawsuit: Ohio nurse was 'worked to death'

Widower: Hospital worked wife to death

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Lawsuit claims wrongful death after nurse dies in wreck on way home from work
• Beth Jasper apparently fell asleep behind the wheel after a 12-hour shift
• Staff shortages and long shifts are nationwide problem, says national nurses' union

New York An Ohio man whose wife died in a car accident earlier this year is suing the hospital where she was a nurse, claiming she was "worked to death," and that the hospital knew about it.

Jim Jasper's wife, Beth, was killed on March 16 while driving home after a 12-hour shift.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed last week, alleges that from 2011 to the time of her death, Beth Jasper's unit at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati was "regularly understaffed," causing some nurses, including Jasper, to work through breaks and pick up additional shifts.

Additionally, Jasper was routinely called into work while off duty because she was one of the few nurses qualified to work the unit's dialysis machines, according to the suit.

"It needs to change. These nurses cannot be treated this way," Jim Jasper told CNN affiliate WCPO, referring to the conditions he says led to his wife's death. "They can't continue to work these nurses and expect them to pick up the slack because they don't want to staff the hospitals."

Staff shortages and overextended shifts for nurses are a nationwide issue, according to National Nurses United, the nation's largest union representing registered nurses, with nearly 185,000 members throughout the country. But wrongful death litigation stemming from staffing issues is unusual.

"Chronic understaffing is rampant throughout hospitals around the country," said Bonnie Castillo, the union's government relations director. "It is probably the single biggest issue facing nurses nowadays, and it's not only affecting nurses, but patient health as well."

Jim Jasper's attorney, Eric Deters, said Beth Jasper may have fallen asleep before her car veered off the road, jumped an embankment and struck a tree. During her final shift, according to the lawsuit, Beth Jasper told other nurses she was "really stressed" and "hadn't eaten."

The lawsuit alleges that fatigue from being overworked contributed to the death of the 38-year-old mother of two.

"This is just a tragic situation," Deters said Tuesday. "The hospital clearly did not take care of its own people, and it did so deliberately."

Jasper's lawsuit claims that hospital staffers, including his wife's supervisor, were aware of the staffing problems and alerted the hospital's parent company, Mercy Health Group. Her supervisor expressed concern to superiors that Beth Jasper was being "worked to death," yet the hospital did nothing to deal with the staffing issue, the suit said.

Nanette Bentley, a spokeswoman for Mercy Health Group, expressed sympathy for the family, but declined to comment on pending litigation.

Castillo, the union representative, said "safe staffing ratios" of nurses to patients remain largely unregulated in the United States.

California is the only state with safe staffing ratio laws, Castillo said. The law requires nurses on general medical or surgical floors to care for no more than five patients at a time, and nurses in intensive care units to care for no more than two. The law has been in effect since 2004.

The union has pushed for safe staffing legislation around the country.

Hawaii to become 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Hawaii's same-sex marriage law is set to take effect on June 1, 2014
• "Hawaii exemplifies the values we hold dear as a nation," President Obama says
• Illinois becomes the 15th state when its governor signs a same-sex marriage bill
• 16 other countries (and parts of Mexico) allow same-sex marriage

 Hawaii's legislature gave final passage to a measure Tuesday to make it the 16th American state to legalize same-sex marriage.

"With today's vote, Hawaii joins a growing number of states that recognize that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be treated fairly and equally under the law," President Obama, a native Hawaiian, said in a statement.

Illinois is poised to become the 15th state when its governor signs a same-sex marriage bill given final passage by its General Assembly last week. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has said he would "put our state on the right side of history" by signing it November 20.

Hawaii's Gov. Neil Abercrombie will sign the legislation Wednesday morning. The law is set to take effect on June 1, 2014.

"Whenever freedom and equality are affirmed, our country becomes stronger," Obama said. "By giving loving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry if they choose, Hawaii exemplifies the values we hold dear as a nation. I've always been proud to have been born in Hawaii, and today's vote makes me even prouder. And Michelle and I extend our best wishes to all those in Hawaii whose families will now be given the security and respect they deserve."

In addition to Hawaii and Illinois, same-sex marriage is legal in 14 states -- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- as well as the District of Columbia. Colorado and Hawaii allow civil unions.

Same-sex marriage is banned in every state not mentioned above, except for New Mexico, which has no laws banning or allowing it.

Proponents of same-sex marriage say they have momentum on their side.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected parts of the Defense of Marriage Act in a 5-4 decision, dismissing an appeal over same-sex marriage on jurisdictional grounds and ruling same-sex spouses legally married in a state may receive federal benefits.

It also ruled that private parties did not have standing to defend California's voter-approved ballot measure barring gay and lesbian couples from state-sanctioned wedlock, clearing the way for same-sex marriages in California to resume.

But opponents say the fight is far from over.

Shortly before the Illinois votes, the president of the National Organization for Marriage urged people to contact their state representatives to tell them they support marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"We've seen how marriage redefinition leads to those who believe in traditional marriage being punished, labeled 'bigots' and 'haters' in the public square, and forced to be silent about their deeply held beliefs or face repercussions. And their children? They're taught in schools that the values planted in them at home are bigoted and outdated, the equivalent of racism!" Brian Brown wrote in a blog post.

Worldwide, 16 other countries (and parts of Mexico) also have laws allowing same-sex marriage and domestic partnerships. Most of these are in Europe and South America.

U.S. mariners freed after kidnapping off Nigeria's coast

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 Two U.S. citizens who were kidnapped from an oilfield supply ship off Nigeria's coast last month have been released, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki confirmed Tuesday.

News of the release comes nearly three weeks after armed men stormed the 221-foot U.S.-flagged C-Retriever and kidnapped the two Americans, identified at the time by U.S. and Nigerian officials as the captain and a chief engineer.

A high-tech hunt for pirates

The ship, owned by Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore, was attacked October 23 in the piracy-plagued Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria.

Psaki said Tuesday she would not comment further about the Americans due to privacy concerns.

The oil-rich area off the coast of West Africa has increasingly drawn international attention as a piracy hotspot, with 40 pirate attacks reported in the first nine months of 2013, the International Maritime Bureau reported.

Partial amnesty for 'boy pirates'?

First on CNN: U.S. to designate Boko Haram a terror group

The State Department will designate Boko Haram, a Nigeria-based extremist group with ties to al Qaeda, and Ansaru, an offshoot, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, U.S. officials told CNN.

The move enables the United States to freeze assets, impose travel bans on known members and affiliates, and prohibit Americans from offering material support.

The United States says Boko Haram has killed thousands since 2009. Human rights groups put the figure at more than 3,000.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa-Fulani language, has launched a self-described "war on Christians" and seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law across northeastern Nigeria, if not the entire country.

It has attacked various targets in the West African nation since its formation in the late 1990s, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. This includes killing and kidnapping Westerners, and bombing schools, churches and mosques, the center said.

In August, militants allegedly went into a mosque in Borno state and killed 44 worshipers.

The group released a video boasting that it was growing stronger and had launched attacks in Benisheikh in September that the State Department said left 160 civilians dead, many of them Muslim women and children.

Opinion: Should U.S. fear Boko Haram?

In recent months, it has stepped up attacks against students at English-language schools. In September, the State Department said Boko Haram attacked an agricultural school, killing 50 students in their dorm as they slept.

Earlier this month, the United Nations warned the extremist group could be found guilty of crimes against humanity after it launched a brutal attack on a wedding party that killed more than 30 people.

The U.N. refugee agencies estimates more than 8,000 people in Northern Nigeria have fled into neighboring Cameroon to escape the escalating violence and another 5,000 have become internally displaced.

While the group's principle focus is Nigeria, the United States cites links to the al Qaeda affiliate in West Africa, and extremist groups in Mali.

Gen. Carter Ham, then the commander of U.S. Africa Command, warned Congress that Boko Haram elements "aspire to a broader regional level of attacks," including against United States and European interests.

A Boko Haram suicide attack on the United Nations building two years ago in the Nigerian capital of Abuja killed at least 25 people.

In June 2012, the State Department added several of the group's members to a terrorist blacklist, including its new leader Abubakar Shekau, who has a $7 million bounty on his head.

The decision to designate Boko Haram and Ansaru followed a robust debate.

The administration faced intense pressure from Congress and some officials to list the group, but other officials and experts warned it did not pose a threat to the United States, but that Washington could become a target as a result of the designation.

Other officials argued the Nigerian government could interpret the decision as an American green light to continue its heavy handed crackdown on the organization.

President Goodluck Jonathan stepped up a military campaign against the group six months ago, declaring a six-month state of emergency in May in the three northeastern states worst hit by the violence.

Recent Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports accused the Nigerian military of human rights abuses and violations when conducting operations against the group. The UN said it is investigating the claims.

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