Plan B: Japanese government unveils proposal for backup city in case earthquake cripples Tokyo

By Wil Longbottom

Concerned about the impact a crippling earthquake could have on Tokyo, the Japanese government has unveiled plans to develop an entire backup city in case.

Snappily called the IRTBBC - or Integrated Resort Tourism, Business and Backup City - the spare city will be built on a 1,236-acre site 300 miles west of the capital Tokyo.

It could be home to 50,000 residents and 200,000 workers and will also feature offices, resorts, casinos and parks - as well as essential government facilities in case of disaster.

The potential site is on the site of Itami Airport - which is politically unpopular and has been superceded by other airports including Kansai and Kobe, according to wired.co.uk., and could also boast a 1,900ft-tall office tower.

Hajime Ishii, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, told the website: 'The idea is being able to have a back-up, a spare battery for the functions of the nation.'

Nearly 16,000 people were killed after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 - sparking a tsunami with up to 133ft waves which devastated the country.

Although Tokyo, home to 12.79million people, was not among the cities severely damaged by the quake, electricity supplies and fresh water were cut off for days in the capital.

The city has been badly damaged by earthquakes in the past, notably 1923, and video footage taken earlier this year showed skyscrapers in Tokyo wobbling as the massive quake struck.

A group of planners has requested £115,000 to study whether the project is feasible.

It comes after the operators of the nuclear power plant crippled by the tsunami were forced to deny further nuclear incidents today.

Tokyo Electric Power Co said radioactive gas leaking from one of the damaged reactors came from spontaneous fissions that occurs in any idle reactor.

Radioactive xenon was found at the Fukushima Daiichi site earlier this week, hinting that unexpected nuclear fission had taken place.

Boric acid was injected into the reactor as a precaution, but further examination determined the xenon was produced by curium - a nuclear fuel component that causes spontaneous fission.

Stuxnet-like virus hides in Microsoft Word files

AFP - Microsoft said Thursday it is working to fix a Windows software vulnerability that lets a Stuxnet-like Duqu virus sneak into computers by hiding in Word document files.

Duqu infections have been reported in a dozen countries including Iran, France, Britain and India, according to US computer security firm Symantec.

"Microsoft is collaborating with our partners to provide protections for a vulnerability used in targeted attempts to infect computers with the Duqu malware," said Microsoft trustworthy computer group manager Jerry Bryant.

"We are working diligently to address this issue and will release a security update for customers through our security bulletin process," he added in an email response to an AFP inquiry.

Symantec said the Duqu threat is growing and that slipping into machines through Word files is "one of many forms of attacks that cyber criminals can use to infect computers."

Similarities between Duqu and a malicious Stuxnet worm have prompted speculation that the same culprits might be involved, though no links have been proven.

The new virus, dubbed "Duqu" because it creates files with the file name prefix "DQ," is similar to Stuxnet but is designed to gather intelligence for future attacks on industrial control systems.

"The threat was written by the same authors (or those who have access to the Stuxnet source code) and appears to have been created since the last Stuxnet file was recovered," Symantec said on its website.

"Duqu's purpose is to gather intelligence data and assets from entities, such as industrial control system manufacturers, in order to more easily conduct a future attack against another third party.

"The attackers are looking for information such as design documents that could help them mount a future attack on an industrial control facility."

Stuxnet was designed to attack computer control systems made by German industrial giant Siemens and commonly used to manage water supplies, oil rigs, power plants and other critical infrastructure.

Most 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 designed to attack.

The New York Times reported in January that US and Israeli intelligence services collaborated to develop the computer worm to sabotage Iran's efforts to make a nuclear bomb.

Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, insisting its nuclear program has peaceful civilian purposes.

Ventura, miffed by court, says he's off to Mexico

By BRIAN BAKST - Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is so upset by the dismissal of his airport security lawsuit that he threatened Friday to apply for dual citizenship so he can spend more time in his beloved Mexico — or run for president of what he labeled "the Fascist States of America."

Ventura, also a former wrestling star, sued the U.S. government in January, alleging that airport scans and pat-downs amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. A district judge threw out his lawsuit Thursday, ruling it should have been filed in a Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ventura has said a titanium hip implanted in him in 2008 sets off metal detectors and that agents previously used hand-held wands to scan his body. He said he was subjected to a body pat-down after an airport metal detector went off last November. Ventura said he hasn't flown since and won't fly commercially again.

Outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul, with a crew from his "Conspiracy Theory" cable TV show filming, Ventura said he hadn't decided whether to continue pressing his lawsuit. He said he wanted to make his case before a jury, not a panel of judges.

Ventura, a political independent who served one term as governor, teased that he might have to run for president to change the policy and a court system he regards as broken.

Moments later, he vowed to apply for Mexican citizenship so he can live there more months of the year.

The former Navy SEAL said he had lost his patriotism.

"I will never stand for a national anthem again. I will turn my back and I will raise a fist," he said.

E-volvo sends world’s first man-powered personal ‘multicopter’ into flight

German whirlybird could be the family car of the future

ByRheana Murray

A German company is exploring the future of flight, hoping its prized gadget will one day function the same way as a family car – only in the air.

The tech-savvy team of E-volvo has completed what it calls the world’s first manned flight with an electric multicopter, a helicopter-like machine with 16 propellers.

Video shows Thomas Senkel powering up the device – which is operated with a joystick – and maneuvering it above a field, staying in flight for one minute and thirty seconds.

“The flight characteristics are good natured,” the company said on its website. “Without any steering input it would just hover there on the spot.”

The multicopter runs on lithium batteries and can sustain trips up to thirty minutes.

A hybrid version that would allow even longer flight times is even in the works.

“Simple flight for the average person would be a dream come to reality for us,” E-Volvo says on its website.

The group’s vision is for the machine to function as a personal flight device, ideal for aerial photography or inspecting wind turbines and pipelines -- times when actual helicopters would be too large, expensive or otherwise unrealistic.
A multi-seater version could be used as an air taxi, for sightseeing flights or even as an air ambulance.

“There most certainly will be entirely new use areas that no one has yet imagined,” the group states on its website.

“In some areas, the multicopter may replace the average helicopter. The simple and cost efficient maintenance make it a viable counterpart to current aviational transport.”

Giuliani: "Obama Owns Occupy Wall Street"

by Nick Kalman

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says responsibility for the Occupy Wall Street movement rests squarely on the shoulders of President Obama.

"This is a very dangerous movement, and it's ironic it's happening under a president who promised to unify us," Giuliani said. "Barack Obama owns the Occupy Wall Street movement, it would not have happened but for his class warfare."

The Occupy Wall Street protests broke out in cities all over the country shortly after president Obama called for tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans. Some of the protests have turned violent. In Oakland, California, more than 100 people were arrested and eight were seriously injured Thursday, with protesters leaving stores in flames, and streets littered with broken glass and debris. A week earlier a former Marine suffered a fractured skull in a confrontation with Oakland police.

Giuliani's words Friday charged up the crowd at the Defending the American Dream Summit, sponsored by the conservative Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate also predicted the movement will eventually lead to the end of Obama's presidency. "Barack Obama praised it, sympathizes with it," he said. "As it gets worse and worse, I believe this will be the millstone around Barack Obama's neck that will take his presidency down."