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'Stuxnet' Worm Could Cause 'Chernobyl-Like Disaster' in Iran, Intel Assessment Warns

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:37 UTC
Ahmadinejad @ Bushehr
© AFP
A recent Russian intelligence assessment warned that the "Stuxnet" computer worm that's embedded itself into Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant could cause a "Chernobyl-like disaster" should the site be switched on.

The document was obtained exclusively by the Associated Press, which cited Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's envoy to NATO, as worrying that the Bushehr facility could end up like the Ukrainian nuclear site that experienced a nuclear disaster in 1986, rendering the city virtually uninhabitable.

The "Stuxnet" worm is malicious software code that makes nuclear centrifuges spin out of control. It targets computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens, commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other facilities.

Stuxnet is able to recognize a specific facility's control network and then destroy it, according to German computer security researcher Ralph Langner, who has been analyzing Stuxnet since it was discovered in June.
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Endless Storms Causing Snow Rage

Giovanna Drpic
MyFoxNY.com
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:28 UTC
Image
© my9news

Snow plows have been out in full force in Wayne, N.J. since the storm hit. But some people who are digging out claim, some operators are plowing them right back in.

It's causing snow plow rage.

Nancy Snyder's husband is a public works employee. She says an angry resident attacked him with a bucket of salt.

"He sees the red face. He sees the anger in the resident. He sees the swinging bucket. And he even says, 'Roll down that window or I'm going to bust you in the head with it.' And boom," Snyder says.
      Read More...
People

As chaos reigns, foreigners advised to leave Egypt

Tarek El
My Way News
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:14 UTC
Cairo - Foreign governments stepped up their warnings about travel to Egypt, with several urging their nationals to evacuate as soon as possible, further fueling uncertainty over where the Arab nation is headed after nearly a week of mass protests.

The fears of foreign tourists mirrored those of many Egyptians. Dozens with the means to do so rented jets or hopped aboard their own planes in a mad dash that did little to boost confidence in the future of a country that, until a week ago, had been viewed as a pillar of stability in a restive region. Those leaving included businessmen and celebrities.

The American, Swiss, Turkish and Dutch governments issued advisories encouraging nationals already in the country to leave and telling those who planned trips to Egypt to reconsider. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo said it was making arrangements to transport Americans who want to leave to "safehaven locations in Europe." Flights would begin on Monday.
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Padlock

Dozens dead as thousands escape Egypt prisons


hindustantimes
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:38 UTC
Image
© Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Bodies littered the road outside a Cairo prison and troops with bayonets fixed moved into another facility after thousands of convicts broke out of jails or were abandoned by guards in protest-hit Egypt. Soldiers set up checkpoints along the Nile in the upmarket Maadi district, near the notorious Tora prison, searching cars for escapees, as protests against President Hosni Mubarak raged into a sixth straight day.

Troops took a man from a car, threw him on the ground and tied his hands with a scarf as they did not have handcuffs. Asked why the man was detained, a soldier told an AFP correspondent: "He's just escaped from prison."

At Tora prison, where many Islamist militants have in the past been detained and tortured according to rights groups, an AFP correspondent said that shots could be heard coming from inside while soldiers with bayonets fixed moved in.

The army blocked access to the prison and an armoured personnel carrier fired its heavy machine gun in the air to clear civilians from the area.
      Read More...
Stormtrooper

Cairo: Anger starting to focus on Israel, US

Melanie Lidman
The Jerusalem Post
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:17 UTC
protests,egypt
© Reuters

Cairo - Saturday's optimism on the streets of Cairo for imminent political change gave way to anger on Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators became increasingly frustrated with the lack of response from major world leaders, especially the US.

During the main protest on Sunday in downtown Cairo, one man painted a 20- meter-long message in flowing Arabic cursive that echoed across the square: "Go Away, Mubarak, you are from the Americans, and you're working for them!"

Egyptians understand that the world is waiting to see if President Hosni Mubarak falls to popular pressure before major leaders decide which side to support. But this is infuriating the demonstrators, who realize that six days of unrest have not accomplished their goal and that they need united international pressure in order to topple the almost-30-year incumbent.
      Read More...
Eye 1

'I had an overwhelming desire to kill a child': Top German executive murders boy and blames it on stress at the office


Daily Mail
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:03 UTC
Image

Murdered: The body of a ten-year-old boy, named only as Mirco, was found last week four months after he went missing
German police have arrested a top phone company executive who kidnapped and murdered a 10 year-old boy - because he had a bad day at the office.

'It was all the stress at work. The boss gave me a hard time and I had this overwhelming desire to kill a child,' the murderer told police after a five-month manhunt which led to the arrest.

The man, who has only been identified as 45-year-old Olaf H because of German privacy laws, phoned his wife as he drove home from work near Bonn to tell her about his miserable day and to say he might be late.

'I drove around aimlessly looking for a random victim, a child because I wanted to have power over somebody,' he said in a reported statement.

'A girl or a boy it didn't matter. I needed somebody so I could relieve my frustration.'

His victim was a boy named by police only as Mirco who was cycling home at 10pm after spending the evening at a skating rink.

He made the boy climb into his car before raping and then strangling him.

He dumped the body in a wood at Grefrath, near the Belgian border.

Olaf's career took a turn for the better after the murder. His boss promoted him, gave him a pay rise and put him in charge of a department with 150 workers.
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Stormtrooper

ElBaradei joins protesters in central Cairo

Marwa Awad and Dina Zayed
Reuters
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:02 UTC
egypt,protesteres
© AFP

Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei told thousands of protesters in central Cairo on Sunday that an uprising against Hosni Mubarak's rule "cannot go back."

ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and retired international diplomat, said earlier he had been given a mandate to make contact with the army and build a new government in Egypt.

"I bow to the people of Egypt in respect. I ask of you patience, change is coming in the next few days," he said.
      Read More...
Eye 1

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood eyes unity government without Mubarak


Haaretz
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:56 UTC
egypt,protest
© AP
An army officer, borne on the shoulders of anti-government protesters, tearing up a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in downtown Cairo, January 29, 2010.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group,is in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak, a group official told DPA on Sunday.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned from running for elections for parliament, some movement members have presented candidacy for parliament as independents.

Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak.
      Read More...
Dollar

Queenland floods make heavy weather of insurance costs

Paolo Hooke and Aaron Cook
The Sidney Morning Herald
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:25 UTC
Image
© saidaonline.com

Household insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket this year because of natural disasters as tropical cyclone Yasi threatens even more damage in flood-ravaged Queensland.

Yasi is predicted to hit the coast between Townsville and Cairns tomorrow night or early Thursday with gusts of 250km/h and heavy rain. It could cause flash and riverine flooding, said Ann Farrell, a meteorologist at the weather bureau.

Destructive winds are expected between Cooktown and Yeppoon by tomorrow morning as Yasi approaches. A storm surge combined with high tides could flood low-lying coastal areas.
      Read More...
Family

Pakistani children haunted by images of flood waters

Michael Gregory
Reuters
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:15 UTC
Raja Hussain, 10, still sees flood waters roaring towards his farming village most nights. They sound like a high-speed train.


Monsoon floods hit Pakistan six months ago. Yet, those vivid images still haunt the Pakistani child's nightmares.

"In the dreams I see myself praying to Allah for help," said Hussain.

One of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan's history left about 11 million people homeless, killed nearly 2,000, destroyed millions of acres of crops and hammered the economy.

They also inflicted a heavy psychological toll, and children are most vulnerable.
      Read More...
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