Iran detects, contains Israeli 'spy virus'

TEHRAN - Iranian cyber experts have detected and contained a complicated Israeli spy virus, the Kayhan daily reported on Thursday. A computer virus which is known as "Flame" has targeted Iran's oil industry, the report said, adding that, however, Iranian experts have been able to detect and contain it. The head of Information Technology Organization of Iran said Wednesday that the country's experts had managed to produce anti- virus software that could spot and remove the newly detected computer virus "Flame," the Press TV reported. Ali Hakim Javadi said that the indigenous anti-virus software had been capable of detecting the virus and cleaning up the infected computers, said the report. He said that the malware was different from other viruses and was more destructive than Stuxnet. Internet security service provider Kaspersky on Monday announced the discovery of a serious cyber threat. The malicious program "Flame," is being used as a cyber weapon attacking several countries, according to the company. Iran is among the countries that have been affected. Flame "is designed to carry out cyber espionage. It can steal valuable information, including but not limited to computer display contents, information about targeted systems, stored files, contact data and even audio conversations," according to a press release from Kaspersky. "The complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious program exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date." In the statement, Kaspersky said that "Flame" shared some features with Stuxnet, like same printer vulnerability and USB infection method. Commenting on a just-revealed virus that has targeted computers in Iran, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Tuesday that his country is capable of employing cyber warfare means against Iran. "Anyone who sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat -- it's reasonable (to assume) that he will take various steps, including these, to harm it," Ya'alon said, according to the Ha' aretz daily. "Israel was blessed as being a country rich with high-tech, these tools that we take pride in open up all kinds of opportunities for us," he said. On April 24, an Iranian oil official said the country's experts had contained cyber attacks against the country's Oil Ministry. Hamdollah Mohammadnejad, deputy minister in engineering affairs, said "Recently, few number of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) servers were attacked by a malware, but the cyber security experts of oil industry contained it immediately." To protect the penetration of this malware to other computers connected to these servers, they were temporarily disconnected, said Mohammadnejad. All the operational units of the oil industry were performing and the experts were busy detecting and identifying the cause of the problem, the official said. On April 23, the semi-official ISNA news agency said that the virus was identified as "Viper," which had also targeted some other Iranian industrial websites. In October 2010, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi announced that Iran had detected and thwarted a virus aimed at infecting the country's nuclear plant system. Iran said the computer worm, Stuxnet, had infected 30,000 IP addresses in Iran, including the personal computers of the staff at the country's first nuclear power plant, Bushehr. Tehran also claimed that Israel and conglomerate Siemens were behind the infection of its industrial sites. Source: ChinaDaily

China's all-woman air force squadron

These female fighter pilots are among some 328 female pilots recently recruited and trained by China's People's Liberation Army Air Force. They don't just fly normal air force missions, they also take part in disaster relief flights, research-oriented trial flights and afforestation. They have also flown in China's national day parade. Source: AsiaOne

North Korea's own "Girls' Generation" to boost army's morale

A North Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that the North Korean army has a "girl troupe" to boost morale with song and dance. Koreabang picked up the report and posted it together with pictures and readers' comments. Netizens claimed that the article was pro-North Korea and that the troupe was nowhere in comparison with Girls' Generation. Another report said that North Korean soldiers prefered meat and alcohol rations to the entertainment from the troupe. This is a completely different reaction to the joy and excitement their counterparts in the South felt when Girls' Generation dropped by for a surprise visit. Source: AsiaOne The North Korean troupe is divided into two groups: "regular" and "special". The plainly dressed "regular" troupe performs for the army, while the better-looking "special" troupe performs for international events and guests.

Artist flushes out future wife

A worker puts roses into toilet seats hanging on a wall in Foshan, South China's Guangdong province, March 24, 2012. The wall, named "toilet waterfall", was created by Wei Hua, a ceramist and professor with Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Wei said he made the wall as a gift for his future wife with 6,000 roses in the toilets. Source: ChinaDaily

Japan builds see-through public loo

A transparent restroom has been built in Ichihara, a city in Chiba Prefecture of Japan, local media reported. The outdoor restroom covers about 200 square meters and has a toilet standing inside a glass structure. Flowers and trees have been placed outside the room to offer a nice view for people using it. However, people do not have to feel embarrassed about using the toilet, as the surrounding glass will turn fuzzy after a person steps into the room, as the power is connected by sensors on the floor. According to the designer, the toilet is aimed at calling for the habit of hygienic use of public toilets, as the glass will become clear again after people leave the room, exposing the state of the inside to the public. The public toilet cost local government about $122,000. Source: ChinaDaily

Shahrukh Khan in no mood to apologise to the Mumbai Cricket Association

The Don 2 actor hasn’t softened his stand on the MCA issue and refuses to issue an apology Shahrukh Khan’s recent brawl at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium earned him a five-year ban, barring him from stepping into the stadium premises. The infamous incident made front page headlines, and a lot of noise was made by the Mumbai Cricket Association officials and the media. The victory of SRK’s team Kolkata Knight Riders gave him a chance to make up for the damage he had caused to his reputation. He took the chance to apologise to his fans and the people who looked up to him as a role model, but didn’t say sorry to the MCA. Shahrukh is a self-proclaimed “demented Pathan” and what he did at the stadium, though extreme for a public figure, was only in defence of his daughter and her friends. We understand that he is upset with the MCA authorities and is probably expecting an apology from them! At a press conference held yesterday, he said, “I don’t want to get into this whole thing, whether I am going to apologise to the (Mumbai Cricket) Association or not.” He further added, “If I am walking from here and if you say something which I don’t like… I think fortunately or unfortunately, I am in a position where I should just be more thick-skinned and quiet, and say, you know what, if I get into this position right now, it will be bad for my family, children, my audience.” Wethinks he is no mood to forgive and forget, but we hope that this incident has brought a sense of responsibility to the King Khan. Source: BollywoodLife

Syrian refugees draining water-poor Jordan dry

AMMAN - Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled from carnage and violence at home to neighbouring Jordan are draining the desert kingdom's meager water resources, officials and experts say. It is a new challenge for Jordan, one of the world's 10 driest countries, where desert covers 92 per cent of its territory and the population of 6.7 million is growing by 3.5 per cent a year. The tiny Arab country has given refuge to waves of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees because of regional conflicts over the past decades, and now the kingdom is hosting up to 120,000 Syrians. "The majority of Syrian refugees are concentrated in the northern cities of Mafraq, Irbid, Ramtha, Jerash and Ajlun. All of these areas already suffer from water shortage," Fayez Bataineh, secretary general of the Water Authority, told AFP. "They add pressure to our limited water resources, and we need to be extra careful and wisely manage these resources." Years of below-average rainfall have created a shortfall of 500 million cubic metres (17.5 billion cubic feet) a year, and the country forecasts it will need 1.6 billion cubic metres of water a year by 2015. "Each Syrian refugee needs at least 80 litres of fresh water a day, so 9,600 cubic metres per day for 120,000 people. The cost of this subsidised water supply is 13,000 dinar ($18,000) a day, not to mention other related expenses," said Adnan Zubi, assistant secretary general of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. "It is not the first time that Jordan hosted forced migrants, but our water resources and infrastructure are already overburdened." Struggling to battle a chronic water shortage, Jordan is mulling controversial plans to extract water. It is tapping into a 300,000-year-old aquifer, despite concerns about high levels of radiation, while studying ways to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. "When my family and I fled to Ramtha from Homs several months ago, we could not find enough drinking water," said Abu Eid, who has two sons and four daughters. "Sometimes, I avoided eating in order not to go to the toilet later because there was no water to wash. But we have adapted to the situation." Maher, another Syrian refugee living in the border town of Ramtha, said he needs to buy water every day. "We have water shortages all the time. I shower once every 10 days," he added. But Basma, a 25-year-old Syrian refugee woman in Irbid, disagreed. "I did not face any water problems in Jordan. I think the Jordanians are doing what they can to help us and things are fine thank God," she told AFP. According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), more than 20,000 Syrian refugees are registered in Jordan. Aoife McDonnell of UNHCR Jordan told AFP that the UN organisation is aware that "hosting such large numbers of 'guests' ... severely strains already scarce resources, particularly in relation to water availability and consumption, waste management, sewage systems, energy, health and education." Jordan provides free medical services to UN-registered refugees, while more than 5,500 Syrian students have enrolled in public schools. "This reliance on local services and infrastructure also brings increasing pressure on the already vulnerable host populations of Jordan, as it is coupled with major water scarcity in the region, rising temperatures and a resulting negative impact on food production," McDonnell said, urging international support for the kingdom. Jordan's average annual water consumption stands at around 900 million cubic metres, but more than 60 per cent of this water goes to agriculture, which contributes 3.6 per cent to gross domestic product, according to official figures. "The Syrians came from water-rich areas to almost parched parts in Jordan," said Abdelrahman Sultan of the Jordanian-Israeli-Palestinian non-governmental group Friends of the Earth Middle East. "They consume water here the same way they used to consume water in their country." The Ministry of Environment said demand for water is expected to increase. "This requires better infrastructure in order to ensure a healthier environment for the refugees, a project that would cost a lot," Ahmad Qatarneh, the ministry's secretary general, told AFP. The government says it is still difficult to determine the cost of hosting Syrians in Jordan. "It goes without saying that it is high, but we cannot say for sure at the moment because Syrians are still fleeing to Jordan," said government spokesman Samih Maayatah. More than 13,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians, since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted in March last year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "We did not wonder whether we would get enough water or not in Jordan. We just ran for our lives," said Abu Eid. Source: AsiaOne