Iran to launch Bushehr nuclear power plant at year end

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi said Monday his country is planning for the official inauguration of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran in mid-November or in December.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant is currently nearing its pre- operation phase which means that initial tests for its reactor and turbine are in the final stages, Abbasi was quoted as saying.

He said that the steam which had already been produced in the plant is currently injected to the turbine and electricity is generated which is tentatively and in intervals connected to the electricity grid for the tests required.

Abbasi said that the first phase of Bushehr nuclear power plant will be commissioned by the end of August if the tests underway are completed.

If the tests are completed, the first stage of the Bushehr nuclear power plant will surely become operational by the end of Ramadan (August), said Abbasi.

He added that the nuclear power plant will join the national grid at the first phase and can consequently generate 40 percent of its total power generation.

Construction of the Bushehr plant began in 1975 by several German companies. However, work was halted when the United States imposed an embargo of hi-tech supplies on Iran after the 1979 revolution. Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998.

Completion of the plant's construction has been postponed several times due to technical and financial challenges and pressure from the United States.

U.S. Urges Citizens to Leave Syria 'Immediately'

The United States urged U.S. citizens Friday to depart Syria "immediately," and noted that the Damascus government has placed "severe" constraints on the travel of U.S. diplomats in the country.

The latest travel warning said, "The U.S. Department of State urges U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available."

He warning, an update to an April 25 order for US embassy staff's family members and some non-emergency personnel to leave Syria, expressed growing concern over the violent crackdown by President Bashar al Assad's security forces against pro-democracy protesters.

Last month, pro-government demonstrators attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting walls after the two Western envoys visited the flashpoint protest city of Hama.

Washington sent its ambassador back to Damascus on Thursday as it gradually cranked up the heat on Assad. Robert Ford had infuriated the Assad regime with his visit to Hama last month, but he has vowed to continue traveling around the country. French Ambassador Eric Chevallier also visited the city on July 7.

Syria responded by imposing a ban on the two envoys prohibiting them from traveling outside Damascus.

Noting that Syrian demonstrations have been "violently suppressed" since March, the State Department warned U.S. citizens that "demonstrations can occur with little or no warning anytime and anywhere, not just on Friday afternoons, as with many past demonstrations."

"U.S. citizens are urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of a demonstration."

"Syrian efforts to attribute the current civil unrest to external influences may lead to an increase in anti-foreigner sentiment," the State Department warned.. "Detained U.S. citizens may find themselves subject to allegations of incitement or espionage."

It said Syrian authorities often do not notify the U.S. embassy of a U.S. citizen's arrest until days or weeks later, and decline requests for consular access.

China says cyber hacking claims ‘irresponsible’

Chinese state media on Friday condemned as “irresponsible” suggestions the country was behind a massive global cyber spying campaign uncovered this week by a US computer security firm.

California-based McAfee described the sophisticated hacking effort as a “five-year targeted operation by one specific actor”, without naming a country, but analysts and reports said China was the likely culprit.

The People’s Daily – the mouthpiece of the Communist Party said the claim that China hacked victims including the United States, United Nations, defence contractors and the International Olympic Committee.

China’s first response to the claims that It is irresponsible to link China to Internet hackers.

McAfee said it had discovered the hacking campaign dubbed “Operation Shady RAT” by gaining access to a command and control server in a Western country used by the intruders and examining its logs.

This was “particularly intriguing and potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions, because there is likely no commercial benefit to be earned from such hacks.

He sais, The victims also included the governments of Canada, India, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States and Vietnam.

The attacks involved sending infected emails to employees of the targeted companies. When opened, the emails implanted malware and established a backdoor communication channel to the command and control server.

China has been accused by the United States, Canada and other nations of spearheading online attacks on government agencies as well as companies, although the Beijing government has always denied this.

In June, Internet giant Google said a cyber-spying campaign originating in China had targeted Gmail accounts of senior US officials, military personnel, journalists and Chinese political activists.

Security experts cited said, they believed the hackers may have been looking for clues on government attitudes to major resource projects.

Chinese hackers have also been accused of attacking sites critical of Beijing.

In April a US lawmaker urged Washington to protect a popular activist site after it was hit by hackers apparently upset at a petition to free artist Ai Weiwei, then in detention