Ancient town under water as downpours hit central China
Beijing (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
One of China's renowned ancient towns was under water Wednesday as heavy rain hit the centre of the country, with tens of thousands of people evacuated from the area.
The old town district of Fenghuang nestles on the banks of a winding river in a picturesque, mountainous part of Hunan province, and boasts stunning Qing and Ming dynasty architecture dating back hundreds of years.
It can a ...
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Nepal denies Chinese pressure over Tibetan monk's cremation
Kathmandu (AFP) July 15, 2014 -
Nepal denied Tuesday that it had caved in to diplomatic pressure from China by denying permission for a senior Tibetan Buddhist monk to be cremated in Kathmandu in accordance with his wishes.
The Nepalese Embassy in India initially granted approval for Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche's body to be transported to Nepal from neighbouring India for cremation after he died of a heart attack in Germany las ...
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China accuses Britain of interference over Hong Kong
Beijing (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
China on Wednesday accused London of interfering in its internal affairs after British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg met two leading Hong Kong pro-democracy activists urging greater freedoms from Beijing.
China "lodged solemn protests" with Britain over Tuesday's meetings with Martin Lee, founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party, and Anson Chan, the former number two in the city ...
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US health chief admits 'pattern' of safety failures
Washington (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
The chief of the US government's top public health agency acknowledged a pattern of safety errors Wednesday after dangerous mixups in the handling of influenza and anthrax.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged five incidents over the past decade - two of them in recent months - in which workers shipped anthrax, flu, botulism and a bacteria known as brucell ...
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We need an education: China's migrant children
Beijing (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Fidgeting with his placard, six-year-old Fang Mingxing made an unlikely protester. But he was on the front line of a demonstration in China's capital, shouting: "I want to go to school."
He should be starting classes in Beijing this autumn, but has been denied a place along with thousands of other migrants' children, with some parents daring to confront Communist authorities through repeated ...
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Non-aviary dinosaur flew with four wings
Los Angeles (UPI) Jul 16, 2013 -
It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's the bones of Changyuraptor yangi - the latest fossil to suggest dinosaurs took to the air before birds.
Changyuraptor yangi, which scientists say had feathers like a bird and was designed like a fighter jet, was the largest dinosaur to take to the skies, and also one of the earliest. The dino - whose 125-million-year-old remains were recently uneart ...
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Lightning, floods leave 20 dead in rain-hit China
Beijing (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
At least 20 people have died in the past week as torrential rain batters swathes of China, with at least six killed by lightning, thousands of homes destroyed and more than 300,000 evacuated, state media said.
There had been six deaths from lightning strikes in the central province of Jiangxi since last Friday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
There were other fatalities from li ...
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Setback for cure overshadows AIDS council of war
Paris (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
For more than three decades, AIDS and those fighting it have been locked in a tango whose steps have gone sideways, backwards or forwards with the lives of millions at stake.
The 20th International AIDS Conference, opening in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday will have plenty of opportunity to mull the strange dance with this complex, deadly disease.
For several years now, the news has bee ...
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Australia abolishes divisive carbon tax
Sydney (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Australia on Thursday axed a divisive carbon tax after years of vexed political debate, handing the business-friendly government a victory but prompting critics to label the move a "big step backwards".
The upper house Senate voted 39-32 to scrap the charge, which was imposed by the former Labor government on major polluters from 2012 in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It follo ...
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AIDS could be wiped out by 2030: UN
Geneva (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
Global AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections have fallen by over a third in a decade, raising hopes of beating the killer disease by 2030, the United Nations said Wednesday.
With more than half of the 35 million people living with HIV unaware they are infected, the battle is far from over however, said Michel Sidibe, head of UNAIDS.
"If we are smart and scale up fast by 2020, we'll ...
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China to roll out climate policy by early 2015
Berlin (UPI) Jul 16, 2013 -
A climate protection plan from Beijing should be finalized by early next year, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission said from Berlin.
China is the world leader in emissions. Beijing says it's readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an effort to combat climate change.
Zie Zhenhua, vice chairman of th ...
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Can Modi clean the Ganges, India's biggest sewage line?
Kanpur, India (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Standing on the banks of the river Ganges a day after his election triumph, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to succeed where numerous governments have failed: by cleaning up the filthy waterway beloved of India's Hindus.
From a prime minister already known for the scale of his ambitions, it was a bold but calculated promise to improve the health of what the deeply religious leader referre ...
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Typhoon power woes in Philippines as death toll hits 38
Manila (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Millions of people in the Philippines endured a second sweltering day without power on Thursday after a ferocious typhoon paralysed the capital and tore down flimsy rural homes, claiming at least 38 lives.
Authorities expressed frustration as reports from badly damaged areas filtered in and the death toll from Typhoon Rammasun, the first major storm of the Southeast Asian archipelago's rainy ...
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Violence threatens Iraqi diversity: UN
Baghdad (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
The flare-up of sectarian violence that saw jihadist-led militants conquer large swathes of Iraq over the past month has displaced 600,000 people and threatens the country's diversity, the UN warned Wednesday.
The head of the UN's refugee agency, Antonio Guterres said that ongoing population movements were alarming.
"The most worrying situation for us is when we see movement of populati ...
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Egypt truce failure gives Israel leeway in Gaza: analysts
Jerusalem (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
Israel's acceptance of a short-lived Egyptian truce which was rejected by Hamas, has set the scene for a much broader operation in Gaza, including a limited ground incursion, analysts say.
Although the ceasefire plan unveiled by Cairo did not lead to an end to the latest round of violence, Israel's agreement to hold its fire for six hours - even as Hamas militants continued firing rockets o ...
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Second batch of four O3b satellites successfully launched
Cannes, France (SPX) Jul 16, 2014 -
The second four satellites in the O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellation, operated by O3b Networks, have been successfully launched by Arianespace from French Guiana using a Soyouz rocket.
The first four satellites have been orbiting for a year and they are offering hugely successful services - confirming the high-throughput and low latency of the O3b promise.
Positioned at an al ...
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Saab, Selex ES sign radar contract deal
Farnborough, England (UPI) Jul 16, 2013 -
Swedish defense company Saab is to equip its Gripen Next Generation fighters with Active Electronically Scanned Array radar from Finmeccanica-Selex ES.
The contract for Selex's Raven was signed at the Farnborough International Airshow in Britain. Its value, however, was not disclosed.
AESA radar provides an enhanced capability to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed ...
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Projecting a Three-Dimensional Future
Tel Aviv, Israel (SPX) Jul 10, 2014 -
Since the 1960s, theatergoers have shelled out for crude 3-D glasses, polarized glasses, and shutter glasses to enhance their viewing experience. These basic devices, used to trick the brain into perceiving an artificial three-dimensional reality, may soon be rendered obsolete with the introduction of new holography technology developed by Tel Aviv University researchers.
Tel Aviv Universi ...
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Japan, Britain to launch joint missile research: report
Tokyo (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Japan and Britain are to jointly develop missile technology for fighter jets, while Tokyo may also start exporting Japanese-made parts for US surface-to-air missiles, a report said Thursday.
The plan - which comes months after Japan lifted a self-imposed ban on weapons exports - was likely to be approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet at a meeting of the National Security Council o ...
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Mali govt, rebels begin tough peace talks in Algiers
Algiers (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
The Bamako government and armed groups from northern Mali launched tough talks in Algiers on Wednesday for an elusive peace deal, with parts of the country still mired in conflict.
The closed-door negotiations were to take place in the presence of six rebel groups, but they refused to meet simultaneously, according to an Algerian official.
Instead, the three groups that signed the "Algie ...
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Fear grips Israel-hit Gaza hospital
Shejaiya, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 16, 2014 -
At Al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital near Gaza City, a handful of doctors and nurses hover over paralysed patients, wondering how to protect them from more air strikes as threatened by Israel.
The patients lie mostly inert in beds lined up in the hospital's reception, where staff moved them after an Israeli rocket crashed into the fourth floor.
The staff have appealed to international agen ...
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Typhoon fighter program a boon for British companies
London (UPI) Jul 16, 2013 -
The Eurofighter Typhoon consortium is touting the benefits of the plane's production to supply chain companies in Britain.
According to data disclosed, the Typhoon program spent more than $1.1 billion with British supply chain companies last year.
Nearly $368 million made its way to the East Midlands region, where supplier Selex is located, while an equal amount was spent in the ...
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Patriot getting enhanced radar capabilities
London (UPI) Jul 16, 2013 -
Raytheon is enhancing the Patriot air defense system for the U.S. Army and two allied countries through the supply of radar digital processor kits.
The kits provide improved target detection and identification, a 40 percent improvement in overall radar reliability and decreased need for spare batteries for the system.
"These RDP upgrades are yet another example of how we continue ...
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Hyperspec Sensors Target Vegetation Fluorescence
Fitchburg MA (SPX) Jul 16, 2014 -
Headwall is announcing the availability of a new hyperspectral imager targeting very high resolution spectral measurements of 0.1 nm over specific spectral ranges which yield indicators of vegetative fluorescence to measure plant health.
The ability of the new High Resolution Hyperspec instrument to analyze chlorophyll fluorescence emissions at extremely high resolution and high throughput ...
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Drones take flight into a world of possibilities
Montreal (AFP) July 17, 2014 -
Like a well-trained dog, the HEXO+ follows you faithfully wherever you go. But it doesn't walk besides you - it's airborne.
Developed by a French start-up, Squadrone System, the six-rotor HEXO+ - which handily totes a GoPro video camera - is billed as the first autonomous small drone for the mass market.
It's also a prime example of the many ways in which automation will take to the ...
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