Russian energy giant Rosatom to build Kazakhstan's first nuclear plant near Balkhash Lake
An aerial view shows the village of Ulken (foreground) and the proposed nuclear power plant site near in the village of Ulken, located on the shores of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometres north of Almaty, on September 22, 2024, the place where the first country's nuclear power plant is planned to be built. Photo / AFP
Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom will lead the construction of the first atomic power plant in Kazakhstan, the world's top uranium producer, the Central Asian country's authorities said on Saturday.
'Rosatom has been named as the leader of the international consortium for the construction of the first nuclear power plant
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China tightens internet controls with new centralised form of virtual ID
By John Liu , for CNN A man reads from his laptop as he eats, in April in Beijing, China. Photo: AFP/ Yin Gang China has mastered the craft of policing the internet, operating one of the world's most extensive online censorship and surveillance regimes. With mandatory identity checks on every online platform, it has become almost impossible for users to stay anonymous. But this rigidly moderated online environment is about to face even stricter controls with the introduction of a state-issued national internet ID. Instead of requiring individuals to submit their personal information for identity checks separately on each platform, the government now seeks to centralise the process by issuing a virtual ID that will allow users to sign in across different social media apps and websites. The rules for the new system, currently voluntary, were released in late May and will be implemented in mid-July. It aims to "protect citizens' identity information, and support the healthy and orderly development of the digital economy," according to the published rules. Experts, however, have raised concerns that the new policy will further erode already limited freedom of expression by forcing internet users to relinquish even more control to the state. Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, the country has further tightened its grip on the digital space through an army of censors. Deployed around the clock, they remove posts, suspend accounts and help authorities identify critics, quashing any sign of dissent before it can gain traction. The finalised rules were announced after a proposal that was opened for public comment last summer, a typical step in China's legislative process. During the course of the public consultation over the past year, the proposal faced backlash from law professors, human rights experts and some internet users. Yet, the finalised rules remained largely similar to the draft. "This is a state-led, unified identity system capable of real-time monitoring and blocking of users," said Xiao Qiang, a research scientist studying internet freedom at the University of California, Berkeley. "It can directly erase voices it doesn't like from the internet, so it's more than just a surveillance tool - it is an infrastructure of digital totalitarianism." Control of China's vast portion of the global internet has largely been delegated to a decentralised range of different groups, with authorities relying partially on the social media platforms themselves to identify comments deemed problematic. Xiao warned that a centralised system using the internet ID could make it much easier for the government to wipe out a user's presence across multiple platforms at once. Shane Yi, a researcher at China Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group, echoed Xiao's worries. The system gives the Chinese government expanded power to "do what they want when they see fit" on the internet, as authorities are able to track users' entire digital trail "from point zero," she said. Bus passengers use smartphones in Qingdao city, in the east of China's Shandong province, in 2019. Photo: AFP/ Zhan Hailin At home, Chinese state-run media has called the internet ID a "bullet-proof vest for personal information" and touted the system as being able to greatly reduce the risk of personal data leaks. Already, more than six million people have registered for the ID, according to Chinese state-run media Xinhua last month, out of a total estimated online population of more than one billion. A cybersecurity official from the Ministry of Public Security told Xinhua that the internet ID service was strictly "voluntary," but the government encourages various industries and sectors to integrate with it. "Its goal is to provide individuals with a secure, convenient, authoritative and efficient means of identity verification, in support of the development of the digital economy," the person was quoted as saying. But experts have also questioned how voluntary the system truly is and highlighted risks of potential data breaches, as personal information is now being collected in a centralised manner. Haochen Sun, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said that, although the law presents the system as voluntary, it could gradually evolve into a system which users may struggle not to opt in to. "If the government wants to promote this internet ID verification system, it can do so through various arrangements - essentially by encouraging people to adopt it, offering more conveniences in return," he said. Sun also raised concerns about the increased risks of data leaks. "A centralized, nationwide platform inherently creates a single point of vulnerability, making it an attractive target for hackers or hostile foreign actors," he said. Government data breaches have occurred around the world. One notable incident in China involved a police database containing the personal information of one billion citizens being leaked online in 2022. Although the new rules won't take effect until mid-July, hundreds of apps started trialling the internet ID since last year. The system was born out of a proposal by a police official early last year. Jia Xiaoliang, a cyber police deputy director in northeastern China who is also a delegate to China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, first proposed the system during the Congress' annual meeting in March 2024. As soon as the government began soliciting public comments on the proposal last July, experts and legal scholars voiced opposition. Lao Dongyan, a prominent law professor at Tsinghua University, compared the system to "installing a surveillance device on every individual's online activity" in a post on Weibo, an X-like Chinese social media platform. The post was removed soon after, and her account was subsequently suspended from posting for three months, for "violating relevant rules." In late May, when the finalised rules were unveiled after a year, almost no criticism could be found online. Xiao explained that it's not the first time authorities have spaced out the time between a proposal and its implementation, to allow critics to "blow off steam." "It's done deliberately … Many of their measures follow the same pattern, and they've proven effective," he said. - CNN
RNZ News
12 hours ago
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Israel says it has delayed Iran nuclear bomb by 'at least two or three years'
Gideon Saar. Photo: ANP via AFP Israel estimates its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran's potential to develop a nuclear weapon by "at least two or three years", Israel's foreign minister said in an interview published Saturday. Israel's offensive, which has hit hundreds of nuclear and military sites, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists, has produced "very significant" results, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild. "According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb," said Saar. "The fact that we took out those people who led and pushed the weaponisation of the nuclear program is extremely important," he told Bild. "We already achieved a lot, but we will do whatever we can do. We will not stop until we will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat." Iran, which has retaliated against the unprecedented offensive Israel launched on 13 June with drone and missile strikes, denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons. Saar said the Israeli government had not "defined regime change" in the Islamic republic as "an objective in this war". "At least until now, we didn't do that," he said. - AFP
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
'She's wrong': Trump contradicts spy boss on Iran nuclear programme
US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Trump contested intelligence assessments relayed earlier this year by his spy chief that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon when he spoke with reporters at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey. "She's wrong," Trump said. In March, Gabbard testified to Congress that the US intelligence community continued to believe that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon. "The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon," she said. On Friday, Gabbard said in a post on the social media platform X that: "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree." She said the media had taken her March testimony "out of context" and was trying to "manufacture division." The White House has said Trump will weigh involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict over the next two weeks. On Tuesday, Trump made similar comments to reporters about Gabbard's assessment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has justified a week of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets by saying Tehran was on the verge of having a warhead. Iran denies developing nuclear weapons, saying its uranium enrichment programme is only for peaceful purposes. In March, Gabbard described Iran's enriched uranium stockpile as unprecedented for a state without such weapons and said the government was watching the situation closely. She also said that Iran had started discussing nuclear weapons in public, "emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus." A source with access to US intelligence reports told Reuters that the assessment presented by Gabbard has not changed. They said US spy services also judged that it would take up to three years for Iran to build a warhead with which it could hit a target of its choice. Some experts, however, believe it could take Iran a much shorter time to build and deliver an untested crude nuclear device, although there would be no guarantee it would work. Trump has frequently disavowed the findings of US intelligence agencies, which he and his supporters have charged - without providing proof - are part of a "deep state" cabal of US officials opposed to his presidency. Gabbard, a fierce Trump loyalist, has been among the president's backers who have aired such allegations. The Republican president repeatedly clashed with US spy agencies during his first term, including over an assessment that Moscow worked to sway the 2016 presidential vote in his favour and his acceptance of Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials.
