Giant sinkholes near West Texas oil patch towns are growing
Dallas TX (SPX) Jun 17, 2016 -
Residents of Wink and neighboring Kermit have grown accustomed to the two giant sinkholes that sit between their small West Texas towns. But now radar images taken of the sinkholes by an orbiting space satellite reveal big changes may be on the horizon. A new study by geophysicists at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, finds the massive sinkholes are unstable, with the ground around them sub ...
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Olli, a 3D printed, self-driving minibus, to hit the road in US
National Harbor, United States (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
A new maker of self-driving vehicles burst onto the scene Thursday in partnership with IBM's supercomputer platform Watson, and it's ready to roll right now.
The vehicle - a 3D-printed minibus called "Olli" capable of carrying 12 people - was unveiled by Arizona-based startup Local Motors outside the US capital city Washington.
Olli was designed as an on-demand transportation solution ...
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China's total debt is more than double GDP: govt economist
Beijing (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
China's total borrowings were more than double its gross domestic product (GDP) last year, a government economist said, warning that debt linkages between the state and industry could be "fatal" for the world's second largest economy.
The country's debt has ballooned as Beijing has made getting credit cheap and easy in an effort to stimulate slowing growth, unleashing a massive, debt-fuelled ...
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France halts reactor in Areva parts scandal
Paris (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
A French nuclear power reactor has been shut down for additional testing, the nation's regulator said Thursday, as Greenpeace called for full disclosure of facilities using possibly faulty parts from Areva.
The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said reactor 2 at the Fessenheim plant operated by French national power company EDF had been halted since Monday "to carry out additional investigation ...
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China's Midea begins takeover bid for German robotics firm
Beijing (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
Chinese appliance firm Midea on Thursday said it had begun a cash offer for at least a 30 percent stake of German industrial robotics supplier Kuka, a tender which has stoked controversy in Europe.
Midea - best known for selling washing machines and air conditioners - offered 115 euros ($130) per share for Kuka, one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots, in the voluntar ...
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Bulgaria ordered to pay Russia for dropped nuke plant
Sofia (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
Bulgaria has been ordered to pay Russia 550 million euros ($620 million) for cancelling a nuclear power plant project, significantly less than Moscow had demanded, officials in Sofia said Thursday.
A Paris arbitration court "estimated that (Bulgaria's) National Electricity Company (NEK) is obliged to pay for nuclear plant equipment worth about 550 million euros," Energy Minister Temenuzhka P ...
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US authorities extend deadline for VW in 'dieselgate' scandal
Frankfurt (AFP) June 16, 2016 -
US authorities have again extended a deadline for embattled German carmaker Volkswagen to present the details of its plan to compensate US car owners affected by the massive engine-rigging scandal, a court said Thursday.
"Given the highly technical nature of the proposed settlements in these complex proceedings," the district court in San Francisco handling the case said in a statement that ...
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