Yazidis urge ICC to open probe into IS atrocities
The Hague (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Iraq's Yazidi minority - the target of brutal attacks by the Islamic State group - on Thursday urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the militants for genocide and sexual slavery.
Two Yazidi groups handed the court a new report and documents which show "that ISIS has systematically committed atrocities amounting to genocide and that these crimes fall within the jurisdiction ...
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New J-11D a Thorn in Pentagon's Side
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 22, 2015 -
"Are short-range American tactical fighters relevant in the Pacific theatre?" US defense expert Dave Majumdar asks, adding that F-22 Raptors and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters could be outperformed by the sheer numbers of Chinese jets.
China's J-11 fighter jets were designed as a copy of the Soviet-made Su-27/Su-33 Flanker, however, its new J-11D is considered the most advanced land-based sing ...
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US poised to unveil next super bomber
Washington (AFP) Sept 18, 2015 -
The US Air Force is getting ready to announce the winner of a multibillion-dollar contract to build a new generation of long-distance bombers that will replace aging, Cold War machines.
Dubbed the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) program, the Air Force will in the coming weeks award the mega-contract to either Northrop Grumman or a team made up of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The program e ...
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S. Korea, US defense officials warn N. Korea against missile test
Seoul (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
South Korea and the United States on Thursday warned Pyongyang against a potential missile test that they said would be a violation of UN resolutions as the two countries wrapped up annual high-level defence talks.
There has been widespread speculation that North Korea is planning a satellite rocket launch to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party on October 10.
Senior de ...
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China's Xi heads to Washington for likely tough talks with Obama
Seattle (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to Washington Thursday for summit talks with Barack Obama having made clear that few compromises are in store on hot-button issues like cyber theft and the South China Sea.
Xi spent two days in Seattle driving home the message that good economic and commercial relations are at the core of the bilateral relationship, and that the Obama administration should ...
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Russia announces naval drills in 'east Mediterranean'
Moscow (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Russia's defence ministry on Thursday said it will hold naval drills in the "east Mediterranean" in September and October, as the West frets over a military buildup by Moscow in Syria.
The exercises include three warships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, including the Saratov landing ship, the Moskva guided missile cruiser and the Smetlivy destroyer, the ministry said in a statement.
The d ...
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Ukraine's pro-Russia rebels stage rare tank exercises
Ternove, Ukraine (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Ukraine's pro-Moscow insurgents showed off their military prowess on Thursday by launching exercises involving heavy tanks that Kiev claims they had covertly received from Russia.
The self-proclaimed "tank biathlon" mirrored manoeuvres that Russia has been staging with its former Soviet allies since 2013.
"We want to show that we can do this as well as the Russians," tank commander Rusl ...
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Japan to launch defense procurement agency
Washington (UPI) Sep 24, 2015 -
Japan's Ministry of Defense will use its new constitutional powers to set up an agency to manage international trade of weapons and military equipment.
The ministry confirmed with IHS Jane's that the new agency will be named the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, and will begin operations on October 1.
The agency's key objectives will include promoting international co ...
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Government Needs for Convergence, Disaggregation Will Require Commercial Support
McLean VA (SPX) Sep 25, 2015 -
Convergence on the ground. Disaggregation in space. They are more than just buzzwords in Air Force Space Command, and both concepts - considered key in the future satellite communications networks of the United States military - are going to be dependent on the commercial community to make them work as efficiently and effectively as needed.
We at Intelsat General Corp. are in a position to ...
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The Urgency of Modernizing Satellite Control Infrastructure
McLean VA (SPX) Sep 25, 2015 -
The satellite infrastructure that the DoD relies on for operational awareness is inefficient and is badly in need of modernization. The status quo isn't acceptable, and changes must begin now.
Those aren't my words, although I agree with them strongly. It's the message contained in a memorandum dated July 29th sent by General John Hyten, Commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, to se ...
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Endangered salamander celebrated in China - on plates
Beijing (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
A critically endangered amphibian found itself at the centre of a new Chinese festival on Thursday, officials said - promoted as a "350 million year old" health treatment and served up on plates.
The Chinese giant salamander numbers are estimated to have declined by 80 percent in the wild in recent decades by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Wildlife campai ...
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Villagers in Zimbabwe skip meals to save scant food
Bindura, Zimbabwe (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Villagers in Zimbabwe are skipping meals and foraging for wild fruit as food stocks run out after a poor harvest blamed on drought and controversial land reforms.
"Even if the children complain of hunger there is nothing we can do about it," says Rabian Chidamba, 40, a mother of four who lives in Musana district northwest of the capital Harare.
She has cut the family's meals to two a day ...
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Can vinegar save the Great Barrier Reef?
Cairns, Australia (UPI) Sep 23, 2015 -
Researchers at Australia's James Cook University have found a cheap and readily available antidote for the plague of reef-eating starfish invading the Great Barrier Reef.
Vinegar, scientists say, works just as well as conservationists' current weapon of choice, a drug that's expensive and hard to procure.
In recent years, populations of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), Acanthaste ...
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Singapore schools in emergency shutdown as air quality worsens
Singapore (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Singapore late Thursday ordered emergency school closures as air pollution reached "hazardous" levels due to suffocating smoke from agricultural fires raging on a nearby Indonesian island.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said face masks will be distributed at community centres across the island on Friday for needy and elderly citizens.
"There is no national shutdown of work, but empl ...
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India to 'hike green energy targets' to combat climate change
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
India promises to hike renewable energy targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, in long-awaited pledges to be announced next week for upcoming UN climate change talks, a newspaper report said Thursday.
India, a major CO2 polluter, will increase solar and wind energy capacity but it's unclear whether it will commit to a timeline for reducing its overall carbon emissions blamed for cli ...
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New Zealand deports would-be 'climate change refugee'
Wellington (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
New Zealand has deported a Pacific islander who launched a failed bid to become the world's first climate change refugee, the man's supporters said Thursday.
Ioane Teitiota was sent to Kiribati on Wednesday after exhausting all avenues of appeal in his four-year battle to stay in New Zealand.
Teitiota, 39, had argued that he should not be sent back to Kiribati as rising seas threaten to ...
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Pope urges US Congress to action on refugees, climate
Washington (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
Pope Francis on Thursday urged the US Congress to help those fleeing war and poverty, and work to combat climate change, in a historic address to lawmakers that touched on many hot-button issues in US and global politics.
The historic speech to lawmakers at the Capitol was keenly anticipated and warmly received - but will have been uncomfortable listening for some there who are skeptical ab ...
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6.6-magnitude quake sparks panic in Indonesia's Papua
Sorong, Indonesia (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
A powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the eastern Indonesian region of Papua on Friday, US seismologists said, causing panicked people to run screaming out of their homes.
No tsunami warning was issued and there were no reports of casualties or damage after the undersea quake hit at about 1:00 am (1600 GMT), some 30 kilometres from the coastal city of Sorong, in West Papua province. ...
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Bordeaux winegrowers hail 'magnificent' harvest
Bordeaux (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
For lovers of a good red Bordeaux, 2015 is shaping up as a "magnificent" vintage, growers from the largest wine-producing area in France said Thursday.
The harvest kicked off with Merlot grapes, which are eventually blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc to make the blended wine, and vintners are delighted.
"It is magnificent, much like the wonderful years of 2005 or 2010," gushed Mic ...
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Digestible batteries needed to power electronic pills
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Imagine a "smart pill" that can sense problems in your intestines and actively release the appropriate drugs. We have the biological understanding to create such a device, but we're still searching for electronic materials (like batteries and circuits) that pose no risk if they get stuck in our bodies.
In Trends in Biotechnology, Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University presents ...
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A whale of a tale
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
To some, it may not come as a surprise to learn that the great whales are carnivores, feeding on tiny shrimp-like animals such as krill. Moreover, it might not be surprising to find that the microbes that live in whale guts -the so-called microbiome- resemble those of other meat eaters.
But scientists now have evidence that the whales' microbiome shares traits with creatures not known to e ...
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Study: It's not cheating unless a species gets hurt
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
A review of dozens of key ecological studies has found very little evidence to support one of the field's commonly held beliefs: Cheating is widespread among 'mutualists,' species that cooperate with one another for mutual benefit.
"We find that although there are numerous observations of low-quality partners, there is currently very little support ... that any of these meet our criteria t ...
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The world's nitrogen fixation, explained
New Haven CT (SPX) Sep 25, 2015 -
Yale University scientists may have cracked a part of the chemical code for one of the most basic, yet mysterious, processes in the natural world - nature's ability to transform nitrogen from the air into usable nitrogen compounds.
The process is called nitrogen fixation, and it occurs in microorganisms on the roots of plants. This is how nature makes its own fertilizers to feed plants, wh ...
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Green barriers of cypresses could reduce fire initiation risk
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Every year fires burn thousands of hectares, destroy entire ecosystems and put the lives of people and animals at risk. Understanding the dynamics of fire would allow a solution to be found for the high number of incidents. Spanish and Italian researchers have studied the flammability of vegetation and shown that cypresses, capable of tolerating severe droughts and high temperatures, could be an ...
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New clues on the history of the smallpox vaccine virus
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Smallpox - simply hearing the word evokes images of countless people suffering gruesome deaths throughout recorded history. Known scientifically as variola, the virus had 30 percent mortality rate and survivors were branded with pox scars for life. For millennia, physicians often did more harm than good. Smallpox victims were bled, poked with golden needles, kept in overheated rooms while febril ...
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