CBS News 60 Minutes
Massive power cuts in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 that impacted millions of people were caused by hackers attacking control systems, according to the US television network CBS says.
The CBS news program 60 Minutes to be aired on Sunday said it had learned that the 2007 blackout in Espirito Santo State, which affected over three million people, and a smaller incident in Rio de Janeiro in 2005, were perpetrated by hackers.
The program included the revelations as part of an investigation into the threat of cyber attacks on the United States.
Former Chief of US National Intelligence Mike McConnell told the 60 Minutes that he thought a similar attack is poised to take place on US soil.
If hackers were able to infiltrate the US power grid, he said, “the United States is not prepared for such an attack.”
Biodiesel producers in Brazil cheered the government’s proposal to increase the amount of biodiesel in diesel fuel to 20 percent.
Sergio Beltrao, head of the Brazilian Biodiesel Union, told a press conference that their producers’ plants would be able to provide the new biofuel as of 2010, which would mean an increase of 2,500 million liters.
The union is an association of producers and researchers of biofuels.
The increase in the 20-percent mixture in cities that suffer from pollution would help the government to reduce diesel sulfur levels, Beltrao said.
He remarked that the biofuel sector was able to produce 5,000 million liters per year, but half of the installed capacity was idle for lack of demand.
The union expected that, besides big cities, 10 percent of biodiesel would be added to diesel across Brazil from 2015. To implement these proposals would require changes in the sector’s regulatory framework, he added. (more…)
Divers recovering a huge part of the rudder of the Air France A330 aircraft lost in midflight over the Atlantic ocean
Scores of relatives of the 228 people killed in the Air France A330 aircraft crash on June 1, dedicated a memorial in an upscale beach neighborhood Saturday amid strong criticism that the airline has failed to provide them with the answers or compensation they were promised.
Nelson Marinho, who lost a son on the flight and is president of an association of Brazilian victims’ family members, called the dedication “a smoke screen to take the focus off the responsibility that (Air France officials) have.”
“We don’t want ceremonies,” he said.
Marinho said many Brazilian relatives have yet to receive compensation. He also said any memorial should be located closer to where the jet went down - off Brazil’s northeastern coast, about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) north of Rio.
Air France said in a statement Thursday that the Rio memorial was created “at the request of 75 percent of the families contacted.” The statement didn’t indicate how many of the families had been reached, however.
More than 150 relatives arrived on buses to attend Saturday’s dedication. The French Foreign Ministry had said it expected 500 participants.
French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet, who was in Rio for the ceremony, told reporters that his government will investigate whether some families have not received compensation and relatives of non-French victims have been treated differently.
He also promised a vigorous effort to get to the bottom of what caused the crash.
“The French government wants to know the whole truth. It’s a difficult investigation - we don’t have the plane, only some debris,” Joyandet said. “But the government will make a new attempt to find the black boxes.”
The Airbus A330 crashed en route from Rio to Paris and all aboard were killed.
The cause remains unclear, but attention has focused on whether a type of speed sensor known as a Pitot tube malfunctioned and sent false speed information to the jet’s computers as the plane ran into a thunderstorm at about 35,000 feet (10,670 meters).
Experts have said running into a violent storm at either too slow or too fast a speed would be dangerous.
Automatic messages transmitted by the plane just before it crashed show its computer systems no longer knew its speed, and the automatic pilot and thrust functions were turned off.
As a result of the tubes’ suspected role, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered a continentwide ban on the sensors made by French manufacturer Thales SA that were fitted onto Flight 447 on all long-range planes. The agency advised airlines to use Pitot tubes made by U.S.-based Goodrich Corp. instead. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a similar directive for U.S. airlines.
The jet’s flight recorders, which could provide clues to what caused the aircraft to go down, have not been found.
French authorities said earlier this week that a third search for the flight recorders - expected to start by the end of this year - will not begin until at least the end of February.
In June, Air France chief executive Phillipe Gourgeon told RTL radio that the airline planned to make an advance payment of about $24,400 for each of the victims, with no strings attached.
But Marinho said there are families who have not received anything.
“I am not saying that you could put a price tag on any life, but it would help alleviate our suffering,” he said.
Asked about Marinho’s comments, an Air France official in Paris replied, “Today is a moment of reverence, so there will be no reaction.”
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with company policy.
By BRADLEY BROOKS Associated Press Writer
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met the Queen on the last day of his visit to Britain, where he sought to drum up investment and signed an Olympic cooperation deal.
The meeting at Buckingham Palace followed talks Wednesday with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who penned a government-to-government agreement with Lula to share business expertise between the two Olympic host nations.
It will allow organisers of the 2016 Games in Rio to learn from London’s experience of hosting the 2012 Olympics, including on how to deliver a legacy that benefits the whole country.
“As this is the first time a South American country will host the summer Olympics, this agreement will establish a structured cooperation programme which will allow the UK and Brazil to share knowledge and experience,” a spokesman for Brown’s Downing Street office said.
The two leaders also discussed climate change ahead of a major UN-sponsored meeting in Copenhagen in December where nations will try to hammer out a new accord to succeed the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)
Injured: Aaron Lennon unlikely to be fully fit to play for England
Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon looks set to miss England’s friendly against Brazil on Nov 14 in Qatar.
Even if Lennon’s ankle recovers in time for the England international, the 22-year-old will be woefully short of match fitness.
Fabio Capello will be using the fixture to try out different combinations as he decides who will be in his final 2010 World Cup squad that will fly to South Africa.
A fully fit Lennon would be first-choice on the right wing, following his superb early-season form for both club and country.
However, Lennon’s injury will give the likes of James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips the chance to press their own claims.
Tottenham, meanwhile, will be able to welcome back another England international in Jermain Defoe for the visit of Sunderland.
Defoe is back after serving a three-match suspension, while Luka Modric, a long-term absentee after suffering a fractured fibula at the end of August, is back in light training.
Redknapp said: “They (Lennon, Defoe and Modric) are three of my best players. Modric is a world-class player. Lennon is a threat when he has the ball and goes at people. Defoe has been in incredible form. It cost us dearly when he got sent off at Portsmouth.”
According to reports, Hong Kong striker Chan Sui-ki will undergo a 10-day trial at Spurs.
On Monday the 9th November Brazil will publish a preliminary list of U.S. goods it intends to hit with trade sanctions in retaliation for Washington’s cotton subsidies, a senior government official told Reuters.
The move is the strongest indication yet that Brazil intends to levy trade sanctions on Washington in the long-standing cotton dispute, which diplomats say could sour bilateral relations.
“If the United States does not change its position, we will retaliate,” Lytha Spindola, executive secretary of the government’s foreign trade chamber Camex, said in an interview on Friday.
In August the World Trade Organization set out terms for Brazil to retaliate against U.S. cotton subsidies, including marketing loans and counter-cyclical payments. (more…)
Israeli President Shimon will visit Brazil next week, just days before Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to also arrive, according to officials.
Peres is scheduled to visit Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro between November 10 and 15, the Israeli embassy and Brazilian officials said.
Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, is due to be in Brazil on November 23 after pushing back a visit originally meant to have taken place in May.
Brazil is seeking a bigger role on the world stage commensurate with its burgeoning economic clout. Part of its strategy is to act as a mediator in the Middle East.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was the first leader to congratulate Ahmadinejad on keeping power in June elections that were challenged by accusations of fraud and subsequent street protests.
He has also supported Iran’s nuclear program in the teeth of international skepticism, saying Tehran had the right to peaceful atomic energy.
According to officials, Lula will meet Peres next Wednesday, the day after the Israeli president lands in Brasilia.
On Thursday next week, Peres will go to Sao Paulo where an Israeli-Brazilian business conference will take place, then from Friday to Sunday, he will visit Rio to inspect sporting venues to be used for the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
Peres will continue on to Argentina after Brazil.
His trip to Brazil — the first by an Israeli president since 1966 — was prepared months ago with a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who urged Lula to use his influence on Iran to stop Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The Brazilian Central Bank president admitted that foreign investors could create an asset bubble in Brazil. “In terms of asset bubbles, stock market etcetera, I think that might happen, but evidently it’s up to investors not to get too exuberant,” Meirelles said.
Anyhow Meirelles said it’s unlikely the country will experience “the most dangerous” form of bubble - a credit-driven one. “We have very strong prudential regulations in Brazil and I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega last month imposed a 2% tax on foreign purchases of equities and fixed income securities in a bid to fend off speculators. Brazil’s currency and Brazilian stocks have had world-beating rallies this year.
The Bovespa Stock Index has gained almost 130% in dollar terms this year, including a 2% climb Wednesday to 63,910.51. The Real has gained 35% this year and strengthened 1.4% Wednesday trading at 1.7207 per dollar, its highest in 14 months.
Meanwhile Brazil’s top economic policy adviser, Nelson Barbosa told reporters in New York the Real needs to weaken as much as 19% against the dollar for sustainable economic growth.
A “neutral currency” exchange rate of 2.10 to 2.13 per US dollar would be best for growth, Secretary of Economic Policy Barbosa told reporters at an event in New York organized by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Statements from Meirelles and Barbosa, accompany investor concerns Brazil may adopt extra measures to curb the real appreciation.
However he stressed that the real level varies according to commodity prices and is not a target for the government, which remains committed to a floating exchange-rate regime.
Mercopress
