Obama warns China against 'throwing elbows' in sea dispute
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US President Barack Obama on Monday weighed in on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, urging regional powers, particularly China, to respect the law and stop "throwing elbows."
As several Asian regional powers face off over maritime borders, Obama warned about disregard for existing laws and a move away from established ways of resolving disputes.
"If you start losing that appro ...
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US plays down flyover by Russian bombers near warship
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
The US military released a video Monday of a Russian Su-24 bomber flying past an American warship in the Black Sea to dispel what it called inaccurate media reports about a routine encounter.
In the video, a Su-24 aircraft appears in the distance, then zooms by the USS Ross - a guided-missile destroyer.
Other Russian bombers also flew within sight of the ship, officials said.
Such ...
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Kerry won't be sidelined from Iran talks by broken leg
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
Top diplomat John Kerry is committed to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran and plans to join the final negotiations in late June despite breaking his leg in a serious cycling accident, US officials said Monday.
As Kerry headed back to Boston from Geneva in a military C-17 plane accompanied by his personal doctor, observers said the timing of his fall came at a bad time as America juggles mult ...
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NATO flexes muscles in Baltics, Poland
Vilnius (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US-led NATO drills began Monday in the Baltic states and Poland, a move intended to reassure Russia's nervous neighbours amid tensions over Ukraine.
Russia's increased military presence in the Baltic Sea and regional airspace since its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has jangled nerves in the area, which lay behind the Iron Curtain 25 years ago.
More than 6,000 troops from 13 ...
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US, Vietnam discuss halting South China Sea reclamations
Hanoi (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter discussed halting land reclamation in the South China Sea with his Vietnamese counterpart in Hanoi on Monday in talks focused on maritime security.
The meeting came after the United States on Saturday called for an immediate end to all such work in the disputed waters where both Vietnam and Beijing have reclaimed land.
"The US and Vietnam are working to ...
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S. Korea, US stage major joint anti-submarine exercise
Seoul (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
South Korea and the United States kicked off a major anti-submarine drill on Monday, weeks after North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The three-day exercise, aimed at tackling provocations by North Korean submarines, is being conducted off the southern island of Jeju, the South's defence ministry said.
"This is the largest joint anti-subm ...
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A model for bioenergy feedstock/vegetable double-cropping systems
Urbana IL (SPX) May 12, 2015 -
Much attention has been given to dedicated, perennial bioenergy crops to meet the revised Renewable Fuel Standard mandating production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by the year 2022. Even so, concern remains over the impending need to convert as much as 30 million acres of U.S. crop land, which would include food crops, to land for perennial energy crops in order to meet that demand.
Re ...
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