Chips in official IDs raise privacy fears

Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he'd bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car.

It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker's gold.

Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner downloaded to his laptop the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet.

Increasingly, government officials are promoting the …

Trade Talk Big Scoop for `Pip'

Scottie Pippen turned reporter Wednesday, grabbing a televisionmicrophone for a couple of interviews about Horace Grant's futurewith the Bulls. Unfortunately, Pippen had about as much success asthe rest of the media.

Both Grant and general manager Jerry Krause had a good laugh,but declined comment.

The incident began as reporters grilled Krause about a rumorout of Sacramento that the Kings had offered forward Lionel Simmonsand a draft pick for Grant. Krause refused comment, called thereport totally erroneous and finally pleaded with Pippen, whohappened to be walking past, to come to his aid.

"Pip, you helped the team last night; want to come over …

Citigroup earnings rise 74 percent, to $3.8 bln

NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup Inc.'s earnings rose 74 percent in the third quarter as more of its customers paid their bills on time, leading to lower losses from loans. An accounting gain also boosted income.

It was the seventh straight quarter of income growth for Citi, America's third-largest bank by assets. Citigroup was one of the biggest recipients of taxpayer support during the financial crisis. It received $45 billion in bailouts funds and was partly owned by the government until December 2010.

The New York bank's net income rose 74 percent, to $3.8 billion, due to lower losses from loans and an accounting gain related to the valuation of the bank's own debt. Citi's stock …

Euro slips lower against dollar to $1.2751

The euro continued its downward slide in European trading on Thursday, battered by fears that the financial crisis that has enveloped Greece may infect Portugal and Spain.

The euro has dropped to lows last seen in early 2009 as markets debate whether a planned euro110 billion ($142 billion) European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout will stem Greece's woes and whether other countries in the euro zone could be at risk.

The 16-nation currency went as low as $1.2738 in trading Thursday before recovering slightly to $1.2751. That's still below the $1.2827 it bought the day before in New York trading.

Moody's Investor Services said it may …

AT THE SHEDS

Alpine Valley, County Roads D&G, East Troy (312-559-1212): Thetriple bill of Pantera, Sepultura and Prong hits the Chicago area at7 p.m. Sunday; $22.25 and $27.25. Poplar Creek Music Theatre, Illinois 59 and 72, Hoffman Estates(312-559-1212): The Beach Boys star at 8 tonight; $22.25 to $42.25.At 8 p.m. Saturday, country star Vince Gill takes the stage. …

Jesse to Dems: 'Value Black S.C. voters'; If you want to win...

If you want to win...

If Democratic presidential candidates want to defeat President George Bush, they must learn to value and appeal to African American South Carolina voters, warned the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Tuesday.

Jackson, who was born in S.C. and who twice ran for the presidency garnering nearly 7 million votes, said while the ballots are still being counted from the New Hampshire primary, the candidates must focus on S.C.

That state, he said, is "the prize of the seven states that will vote on Feb. 3rd. South Carolina's primary may be the most critical of the early states, which is why the New York Times dubbed it the `belle of the (primary) …

2 Austrian hostages freed after 8 months in Africa

Two Austrians kidnapped in Tunisia by an al-Qaida affiliate have been released, ending an eight-month ordeal and anguished diplomatic attempts to win their freedom.

Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 43, were freed Thursday after 252 days in captivity and were under the protection of Mali's military, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said Friday.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa had claimed responsibility for abducting the pair Feb. 22 while they were on vacation in Tunisia.

The precise circumstances leading up to the pair's release remained unclear, but Plassnik said the kidnappers let them go and Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said no …