An intelligence report given to the AP by “a nation closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear program” suggests that the Stuxnet worm which penetrated computer systems at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant could cause a massive meltdown once the plant becomes full operational:
Report: Stuxnet could cause Iranian ‘Chernobyl’ | FP Passport
Kiriyenko told the Iranian president that the Russian engineers employed at the reactor notified Moscow that Stuxnet was again attacking the Bushehr systems after apparently taking a rest from its first onslaught last June. There was no telling which systems had been infected, because a key feature of the virus is that the systems’ screens show they are working normally when in fact they have been fatally disarmed. Activating the reactor in these circumstances could cause an explosion far more powerful than the disaster at the Russian reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine in April 1986, which released 400 times more radioactive material than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security
Since Hosni Mubarak is 82 years old and not in great health, it would appear that a great transition is going to take place soon anyway. The army knows this and is probably thinking that it might make sense to stay out of the fray as much as possible. Why not wait until things get clearer one way or another?
One has to think that the army’s decision to rule out the use of force is bad news for Mubarak. It’s also bad news for the West. Democracy tends not to work well in the Middle East because of Islam. Allah knows best, so why leave it up to the people? Islam also leads to Socialism/Marxism because of its call for equality of property (according to Walid Shoebat).
Egypt’s army has vowed it will not use force against the tens of thousands of people protesting for the removal of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.It said it respected the “legitimate rights of the people”.
The statement comes ahead of a massive march planned for Cairo on Tuesday and amid a call for a general strike.
Meanwhile, new Vice President Omar Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had asked him to open dialogue with all political parties on constitutional reform.
Earlier, Mr Mubarak announced a cabinet reshuffle to try to head off the protests, replacing the widely despised Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.
If you missed all or some of our online video, America’s Day of Reckoning, today is your last day to view it; and the content couldn’t be more in sync with the dramatic events now unfolding.
Indeed, just when Wall Street and Washington seemed to have most investors convinced that “the debt crisis is history,” a whole new series of shocks have rocked the world:
Egypt and Tunisia — supposedly models of economic stability and growth — are now prime candidates for financial defaults.
Egypt has substantial reserves to avoid an external payments crisis but these could be seriously depleted within weeks if political protests continue, while its banks may struggle to cope with a rush of withdrawals.
Analysis: Egypt has limited war chest to avert financial crisis | Reuters
As politicians, executives and financiers networked at parties and panels last week in Davos, Switzerland, Barrie Wilkinson was in a nearby hotel, warning that a 2015 financial catastrophe may be looming.
“The fundamentals haven’t been addressed at all,” Wilkinson, a London-based partner at consulting firm Oliver Wyman, said in an interview at the Hotel Morosani Schweizerhof. “The things that caused the previous crisis — loose monetary policy and trade imbalances — they’re actually bigger now than they were then.”
Lonely Analyst Warns of 2015 Bank Crisis Amid `Upbeat’ Davos – Bloomberg
Last week, Standard & Poor’s lowered Japan’s bond rating to AA-, the fourth-highest level. By that standard, the U.S. got away with a slap on the wrist from Moody’s Investors Service, which warned merely that “the probability of assigning a negative outlook in the coming two years is rising.”
If you look at the U.S. budget trajectory with an eye on the lessons from Japan’s recent history, there’s a strong case that the U.S. rating should be cut immediately.
AAA Rating Is Tough to Defend as U.S. Debt Soars: Kevin Hassett – Businessweek
Red Capitalism
By Carl Walter and Fraser Howie
John Wiley & Sons, 19.99 ($29.95)The financial crisis has delivered a heavy blow to the American model of capitalism. Chinese officials do not hesitate to trumpet the point as they rejoice in the shift in the balance of economic power to Asia. Yet there are questions about how well their own model stands up to scrutiny. In Red Capitalism Carl Walter and Fraser Howie, both long-standing experts in Chinese banking and securities markets, ask quite a few; and their conclusions are unflattering.
FT.com / Books / Non-Fiction – The weakness beneath China’s rise
