US criticises Israel, Palestinians for jeopardising talks
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Israel and the Palestinians both drew criticism from the White House on Wednesday for tit-for-tat moves that have brought US-sponsored peace talks close to collapse.
More than 15 months of repeated rounds of shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State John Kerry were in jeopardy after Israel made a new bid to expand settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the Palestinians took fresh steps ...
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French-Russian tank project on hold due to Ukraine crisis
Paris (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Renault Trucks Defense said Wednesday its project to develop an armoured infantry fighting vehicle together with a Russian manufacturer is on hold due to the Ukraine crisis.
"The project is on hold because of the political situation, but that is not saying it has been halted," RTD marketing director Marc Chassilian told journalists in Paris.
The project to develop the wheeled combat vehi ...
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Fear for Philippine troops facing China 'enemy'
Puerto Princessa, Philippines (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Nine hungry marines guarding the Philippines' loneliest outpost aboard a rusted World War II vessel had just one option after Chinese vessels blocked fresh supplies from reaching them - go fishing.
The troops were 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the nearest major Philippine island, holding on to a tiny reef in the South China Sea as part of a decades-long territorial row that in recent mont ...
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Philippines orders Korean jet fighters
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
The Philippine Air Force bolstering its fleet of jet fighters amid continuing tensions with China over disputed territory has been confirmed.
According to Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., it has been granted a contract to export 12 FA-50 multi-purpose aircraft to the country under a government-to-government way agreement.
The deal, which includes a provision for training, is wort ...
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NATO has 'grave concern' over Russia troop buildup
Brussels (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
NATO warned on Wednesday that Russia's military presence on the flashpoint border with Ukraine was of "grave concern" and that Moscow's forces could reach military objectives in just days.
Russian troops are poised to attack within 12 hours and could invade vast portions of Ukrainian territory in three to five days, General Philip Breedlove, NATO's top commander, told two American newspapers ...
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UN receives Palestinians' requests to join treaties
United Nations, United States (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
The UN's special envoy on Mideast peace, Robert Serry, has received requests from Palestinian officials to join 13 international conventions and treaties, the UN confirmed Wednesday.
The treaties include the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, the convention on the rights of the child, the convention against torture, and the one against corruption.
Once these applications have bee ...
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20 dead as 'Qaeda' attacks Yemen army headquarters
Aden (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Al-Qaeda attacked a Yemeni army headquarters in a heavily patrolled district of Aden on Wednesday, sparking a gun battle that killed 20 people, most of them militants, officials said.
The building targeted is located in the supposedly tightly secured coastal district of Tawahi that hosts intelligence and political police headquarters, a naval base and a presidential residence.
"We have r ...
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DARPA Launches Biological Technologies Office
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
Technology, like biology, constantly evolves. It is DARPA's mission to stay ahead of the shifting technology curve by making critical, early investments in areas that cut across fields of research and enable revolutionary new capabilities for U.S. national security.
Now DARPA is poised to give unprecedented prominence to a field of research that can no longer be considered peripheral to te ...
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World's most powerful VHF radar to be overhauled in Russia
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Apr 03, 2014 -
The Daryal early warning radar, based near the town of Pechora in the Komi Republic, will undergo in-depth modernization without being taken off duty before 2016, Aerospace Defense Forces spokesman Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said.
"Given the Daryal early warning radar's large modernization potential, all of its key systems will be upgraded without taking the radr off duty, which will make it m ...
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China eyes 'global monitoring network' of surveillance satellites
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Apr 03, 2014 -
To compensate the frustration over the endless search for missing the Malaysian airliner, Chinese scientists have doubled efforts to promote their project of a huge satellites network, which will enable Beijing to monitor the whole world.
As the mission to find the passenger jet MH370 which disappeared off the radars on March 8 with 239 people on board, 153 of them Chinese, is yet to yield ...
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Biggest show by Ai Weiwei to open in Berlin without him
Berlin (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
The biggest-ever exhibition by China's best known and boldest contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, opens in Berlin Thursday with his signature brand of politically explosive works given pride of place.
The show at Berlin's Martin Gropius Bau museum comes one week after a landmark state visit to Germany by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Its 18 rooms of mainly new installations pack a stinging c ...
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ASEAN, US defense ministers look for lessons from MH370 search
Honolulu (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
The specter of missing Flight MH370 will loom over a meeting of US and ASEAN defense ministers Wednesday, as they discuss how to improve their response to natural disasters and emergencies.
The agenda for the ministers gathering in Hawaii - focused on bolstering cooperation for humanitarian assistance efforts - has taken on new significance in the wake of the aviation tragedy, officials s ...
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China's COFCO to acquire 51% of agri-firm Noble
Beijing (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
China's state-owned grain giant COFCO is to take a majority stake in the agricultural commodities subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Noble Group, the firms said Wednesday, in its latest global acquisition.
Noble Agri will become a joint venture between the two, with a consortium of international investors taking part in the all-cash deal alongside COFCO.
The exact purchase price was not divul ...
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Sub joins MH370 hunt as Malaysia police probe draws blank
Perth, Australia (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
A British nuclear sub with underwater search capabilities reinforced the Indian Ocean hunt for flight MH370 on Wednesday, but Malaysian police warned the cause of the jet's mysterious disappearance may never be known.
Despite extensive scouring of the remote waters southwest of Perth where Malaysia believes the jet went down, ships and planes have found no debris that would indicate a crash ...
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BMW to recall more than 232,000 cars in China: govt
Shanghai (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
German automaker BMW will recall more than 232,000 vehicles in China due to an engine part defect that could pose a safety hazard, China's quality watchdog said Wednesday.
A total of 232,098 cars, including both imported ones and those manufactured by its joint venture in China, will be recalled from June 18, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine (AQSIQ) ...
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Hong Kong democracy activists urge West to speak out
Washington (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Two prominent Hong Kong democracy campaigners on Wednesday urged Western powers to speak out against what they described as Beijing's growing interference in the semi-autonomous financial hub.
On a visit to Washington, Martin Lee, a founder of the opposition Democratic Party, recalled that the United States and other nations had tried to reassure Hong Kong residents by throwing their support ...
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China, Asia-Pacific, will power world tourism: survey
Madrid (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
The Asia-Pacific region, led by China, will be the main force driving world tourism in the next 10 years, a consultancy survey forecast on Wednesday.
The tourism industry as a whole will grow faster than overall economic activity, the survey estimated.
"The major trend is the continued growth in Asia, that is really driving the global travel industry forward," economist Andrew Tessler a ...
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Japanese mobsters launch own website
Tokyo (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Japan's biggest organised crime syndicate has launched its own website, complete with a corporate song and a strong anti-drugs message, as the yakuza looks to turn around its outdated image and falling membership.
The clunky-sounding "Banish Drugs and Purify the Nation League" website is an offering from the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza grouping.
It includes shakily-shot footag ...
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U.S. House puts energy at top of budget plan
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
A budget proposal puts U.S. energy production at the top of the list of ways to generate new revenue, the House Natural Resources Committee chairman said.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash, said a budget offered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan recognizes U.S. energy reserves as a source of economic stimulus.
"It prioritizes expanded Amer ...
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Logging may have contributed to deadly Washington landslide
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
Geologists are trying to figure out exactly what triggered the deadly landslide in Oso, Washington, last month.
So far there are two primary suspects: rising groundwater that loosened already slippery layers of soil, or the Stillaguamish River, whose current has slowly eroded the base of the hillside. If it's the former, scientists say logging might have played a role.
"We have a ...
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Gazprom chief Miller meets EU leaders
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 01, 2014 -
Russian energy company Gazprom said Wednesday its chief executive, Alexei Miller, went to Brussels to discuss his commitments to the European energy sector.
Miller met in Brussels with European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Gazprom in a statement said both sides discussed a "wide range" of bilateral issues.
" ...
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Malaysia police say MH370 mystery may never be solved
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Malaysia's top police official warned Wednesday that authorities may never learn what caused the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370, as he indicated a three-week-old criminal investigation has so far been inconclusive.
"Give us more time," Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
"We may not even know the real ca ...
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Quarter of Europe's bumblebee species risk extinction: study
Geneva (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Almost a quarter of European bumblebee species are threatened with extinction, largely because of climate change and intensive farming, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned on Wednesday.
In a European Union-funded study of all 68 bumblebee species found in Europe, the environmental group found that 24 percent were on the verge of disappearing.
The research also found ...
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Quarter of Europe's bumblebee species risk extinction: study
Geneva (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
Almost a quarter of European bumblebee species are threatened with extinction, largely because of climate change and intensive farming, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned on Wednesday.
In a European Union-funded study of all 68 bumblebee species found in Europe, the environmental group found that 24 percent were on the verge of disappearing.
The research also found ...
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New yeast species travelled the globe with a little help from the beetles
London, UK (SPX) Apr 03, 2014 -
Researchers from the National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC) at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) have identified a new globe-trotting yeast species that lives on tree-associated beetles. This new species demonstrates the importance of preserving biodiversity, as yeasts like this may help efforts to develop renewable fuel sources in the future.
Preserving biodiversity must go beyon ...
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