Posted: 24th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Iran, middle east 0
MOSCOW — Russia believes Israel and the United States were responsible for unleashing the malicious Stuxnet computer worm on Iran's nuclear programme last year, a top official said on Friday.
"We are seeing attempts of cyberspace being used by some states to act against others — of it being used for political-military purposes," said the foreign ministry's emerging challenges and threats department chief Ilya Rogachyov.
"The only case in which experts believe the actions of states have been proven in this area … is the Stuxnet system that was launched in 2010 against the centrifuge control system used to enrich uranium in Iran," he said.
"Experts believe that traces of this lead back to the actions of Israel and the United States," Rogachyov told reporters. "This is the only proven case of actual cyber-warfare."
Most of the Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there. The worm was crafted to recognize the system it was to attack.
Posted: 19th September 2011 by slaterbakh in middle east 0
Violence has returned to Yemen with security forces firing on demonstrators in the capital Sanaa.
At least 25 people were killed and hundreds wounded in a dramatic escalation of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Protester Salim Allaw said it was the twenty-sixth massacre of the regime since the beginning of the revolution until now.
“The security forces objected to our peaceful march which we had announced would be peaceful, we were not carrying weapons, but still they fired on us with heavy machine guns, and they used internationally banned gas.”
It had been the largest anti-Saleh rally in months. The president, who is refusing to handover power, is currently in neighbouring Saudi Arabia recovering from a June assassination attempt.
Posted: 17th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Syria, Turkey 0
Via Rantburg
[An Nahar] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Syrian
President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad.
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor…on Friday, telling him the era of oppressive dictators is past.
Erdogan, who is in Tripoli on the final leg of his "Arab Spring" tour, hailed the advent of democracy in Libya and the "memory of deaders who sacrificed themselves for their country and their religion."
"You have proved in the eyes of the world that there is no regime that can go against the will of the people. This is what those who oppress the people of Syria should realize.
"This kind of leader should understand that his time is past because the era of repressive regimes has ended," Erdogan said.
Earlier Friday, the Turkish daily Hurriyet said Erdogan had warned Iran "not to spoil" the Syrian leadership, whose security forces have been cracking down on protesters since mid-March.
Erdogan said: "I cannot say there has been tension with Iran but we warned them (the Iranians) that 'the Assad administration is getting spoiled with your encouragement.'"
Turkey has expressed frustration with Assad and his iron-fisted regime for failing to listen to the people, whose almost daily demonstrations for democracy have been met with violent repression, at a cost of more than 2,600 lives according to the U.N.
"Unfortunately he did not do it," Erdogan said earlier this week, warning of the consequences of failing to meet popular aspirations for reform.
He said a solution would be for Assad to get rid of "those surrounding him who insist on the repression and the breaking of the Syrian people's will".
"If President Bashar does not take this step, he personally will pay the price," Erdogan said.
Posted: 17th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Syria 0
Washington (CNN) – While the United Nations says more than 2,500 people have died in Syria at the hands of the regime, President Bashar al-Assad's point man in the United States says the figure is false and the result of a conspiracy aimed at Damascus.
"These are blatant lies," Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, told CNN's Hala Gorani in an exclusive interview Friday. "This is the problem we are facing today in Syria — a massive campaign of disinformation and lies."
Since the uprising against the Assad regime began in March, few Western media outlets have been granted permission to report from inside Syria. Those who receive visas find independent reporting difficult, as they operate under tight restrictions and are allowed little freedom of movement.
CNN was granted permission to travel to Syria in June, but with minimal travel outside the watch of government minders.
Posted: 17th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Egypt, Iran 0
Now, taking their cue from social-media fueled uprisings in places like Egypt and Iran, a band of online activists are hoping it will work on Wall Street. (15)
Kalle Lasn, co-founder of the venerable counterculture magazine AdBusters, has taken to Twitter and other websites to help organize a campaign encouraging tens of thousands of Americans to hold a nonviolent sit-in on Saturday in lower Manhattan, the heart of the U. S. financial district — a protest monikered, hashtag and all, as #occupywallstreet. of 2011. (13)
In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Syria, protestors took the streets and occupied public spaces in protest of stagnant economies, lack of freedom of expression, and regimes which seemed more concerned with consolidating power than addressing the needs of their people. (13)
Each of these revolutions began in a different way, but they all shared a single common denominator: They were organized and fueled by tech-savvy users of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Is the U. S. ripe for protests akin to those of the Arab Spring? Lasn said. (12)
Many people feel that these people who are financial fraudsters, who basically got away with it, have yet to be brought to justice … . now have to congregate on Wall Street and other financial districts around the world, and force the global economic system to move in a better, more just direction." s Tahrir Square. which released a short video urging its supporters to participate in the sit-in. (25)
Since then, the movement has seen the addition of planned protests in other countries, including Japan, Israel, Canada and a half-dozen European nations. s financial district, although Lasn hopes that number could climb as high as 90,000. Lasn said. (15)
Of course, the situation here in America and many European countries is quite different. re not living under a torturous dictatorship, for one." s a feeling that the global financial system, the heart of which is in the U. S. he continued. s a feeling that we need a revolution in the way that our economy is run, the way that Washington is run." t, Lasn stresses, an excuse for rioting and looting like the world witnessed recently in the U. K. (Another situation touched off on social-media sites). s a call for radical change, but in the tradition of nonviolent protestors like Mahatma Ghandi, he says. (16)
If protests turn violent, he fears the message will be lost amid grisly news stories about columns of riot police and bloodied protesters. Lasn said. (12)
If we have peaceful assemblies and debates about what our demands to President Obama should be, then bit by bit we can create a situation that will rival what happened in Egypt." he said.
Now, taking their cue from social-media fueled uprisings in places like Egypt and Iran, a band of online activists are hoping it will work on Wall Street. (15)
Kalle Lasn, co-founder of the venerable counterculture magazine AdBusters, has taken to Twitter and other websites to help organize a campaign encouraging tens of thousands of Americans to hold a nonviolent sit-in on Saturday in lower Manhattan, the heart of the U. S. financial district — a protest monikered, hashtag and all, as #occupywallstreet. of 2011. (13)
In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Syria, protestors took the streets and occupied public spaces in protest of stagnant economies, lack of freedom of expression, and regimes which seemed more concerned with consolidating power than addressing the needs of their people. (13)
Each of these revolutions began in a different way, but they all shared a single common denominator: They were organized and fueled by tech-savvy users of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Is the U. S. ripe for protests akin to those of the Arab Spring? Lasn said. (12)
Many people feel that these people who are financial fraudsters, who basically got away with it, have yet to be brought to justice … . now have to congregate on Wall Street and other financial districts around the world, and force the global economic system to move in a better, more just direction." s Tahrir Square. which released a short video urging its supporters to participate in the sit-in. (25)
Since then, the movement has seen the addition of planned protests in other countries, including Japan, Israel, Canada and a half-dozen European nations. s financial district, although Lasn hopes that number could climb as high as 90,000. Lasn said. (15)
Of course, the situation here in America and many European countries is quite different. re not living under a torturous dictatorship, for one." s a feeling that the global financial system, the heart of which is in the U. S. he continued. s a feeling that we need a revolution in the way that our economy is run, the way that Washington is run." t, Lasn stresses, an excuse for rioting and looting like the world witnessed recently in the U. K. (Another situation touched off on social-media sites). s a call for radical change, but in the tradition of nonviolent protestors like Mahatma Ghandi, he says. (16)
If protests turn violent, he fears the message will be lost amid grisly news stories about columns of riot police and bloodied protesters. Lasn said. (12)
If we have peaceful assemblies and debates about what our demands to President Obama should be, then bit by bit we can create a situation that will rival what happened in Egypt." he said.
Posted: 17th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Libya 0
The attacks came as powerful revolutionary backers from the West and Muslim world urged on the anti-Qaddafi forces. (9)
September 16: Former rebel fighters celebrate prior to heading to the frontline in Bani Walid, at a checkpoint in Wadi Dinar, Libya. (6)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined Friday prayers in the heart of the capital Tripoli a day after the French and British leaders traveled to Libya. s interim government have stepped up calls to establish legitimacy and start rebuilding the country even as Qaddafi remains on the run and his followers try to hold their ground. s central coast — revolutionary units pressed their attack on two fronts with convoys that include vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns. (6)
Loyalist responded with sniper attacks and rocket barrages. s regime flew from mosques and buildings. (7)
The Misrata Military Council, which is coordinating the revolutionary offensive, said anti-Qaddafi forces had control of the old airport on the western edge of Sirte. (8)
Posted: 16th September 2011 by libya - Google News in Libya 0
Libyan employees 'saved oil, gas sector,' oil minister says MiamiHerald.com BREGA, Libya — When Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists fled this sprawling refinery and petrochemical complex in late August, shortly after Tripoli fell, they left behind lethal "forget-me-nots" for the revolutionaries who unseated him. …
Posted: 16th September 2011 by SlaterB in Uncategorized 0
Hamas, allied with Iran and openly committed to Israel’s destruction, does not support the U.N. move, but has largely kept a low profile, not openly condemning it. Instead, Hamas officials have chided Abbas – also known by his nickname Abu …
Posted: 16th September 2011 by slaterbakh in Iran 0
BWNS: As a number of Baha’is in Iran await trial for providing higher education to youth barred from university, the Baha’i International Community has been distressed to learn of the arrest of a lawyer who was preparing to defend them. Abdolfattah Soltani …
Posted: 16th September 2011 by iran - Google News in Iran 0
Fox News Reporting: Iran's Nuclear Secrets Fox News (blog) This Fox News investigative special looks at the hard facts, going beyond the speculation into the evidence of Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. We take you inside a shadowy world of murder, cyber-warfare, nuclear physics and old fashioned …
Posted: 16th September 2011 by iran - Bing News in Syria 0
should understand that his time is is past because the era of repressive regimes has ended.” A Turkish daily quoted him as saying Ankara has warned Iran “not to spoil” the Syrian leadership by encouraging Damascus in its crackdown on dissent. Erdogan said …