O3b satellites integrated on Arianespace Soyuz for July 10 launch
Paris (SPX) Jul 09, 2014 -
Arianespace's next medium-lift Soyuz to be launched from French Guiana is now complete following the integration of its "upper composite," made up of four O3b Networks connectivity satellites, their protective payload fairing and the Fregat upper stage.
This activity was performed at the Spaceport's ZLS launch complex near the town of Sinnamary. It began with the upper composite's transfer ...
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World Cup fans killed as Israel raid hits Gaza cafe
Khan Yunis, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
It was supposed to be an evening of entertainment in Gaza, watching the World Cup semi-final at a cafe, a welcome break from 48 hours of Israeli air strikes.
But the evening was cut brutally short when an Israeli raid flattened the Fun Time Beach cafe in the southern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday, killing nine people and wounding 15.
All that is left of the popular seaside ...
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Britain quizzes Airbus staff in Saudi fraud probe
London (AFP) July 09, 2014 -
Britain's Serious Fraud Office has questioned staff at Airbus and the Ministry of Defence in an ongoing probe into alleged corruption in Saudi Arabia, the European defence giant said Wednesday.
"Airbus Group understands that four former and current employees were recently interviewed - along with MoD officials - as part of a wide ranging SFO investigation into subsidiary GPT," an Airbus sp ...
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Rosoboronexport discussing defense product deals with Belarus
Moscow (UPI) Jul 9, 2013 -
Russia's state-owned arms trade company, Rosoboronexport, is discussing possible projects with their Belarus counterparts on behalf of third-country clients.
The discussions are taking place at the International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment, or MILEX, in Minsk, Belarus, which began Wednesday.
"We maintain very close cooperation (with Belarus organization), which we i ...
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Britain asks U.S. for C-17 support
Washington (UPI) Jul 7, 2013 -
The U.S. Congress has been notified that Britain is seeking continued sustainment support for Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force.
The required notification was given by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which said the U.S. State Department had signed off on the Foreign Military Sales request.
"The government of the United Kingdom has req ...
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Mozambique Air Force jets get new lease on life
Bacau, Romania (UPI) Jul 9, 2013 -
Eight MiG-21 fighters of the Mozambique Air Force have been overhauled and upgraded in Romania.
Aerostar S.A, the leading Romanian aerospace company, said its overhaul and upgrade work took 120 days for each aircraft.
Upgrades included installation of a GPS system and a modern digital flight data recorder.
"The program commenced over a year ago and has involved six single- ...
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Gaza bloodshed spirals as world powers plead for truce
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
Israeli warplanes kept up deadly raids on Gaza Thursday but failed to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets across the border, while international appeals mounted for a truce.
As the violence escalated, with over 30 Palestinians killed on Thursday alone, UN chief Ban Ki-moon appealed for an immediate ceasefire at an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
"It is now more urgent th ...
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India increases defence spending, invites foreign investment
New Delhi (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
India announced Thursday it would lift the cap on foreign direct investment in the defence sector to 49 percent and announced a 12-percent rise in military spending as part of efforts to modernise its armed forces.
In his first budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised defence spending for the current financial year to 2.29 trillion rupees ($38.3 billion), up from 2.03 trillion rupees bud ...
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Kerry to give troubled Iran nuclear talks a kick along
Vienna (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna this weekend and seek to bridge "significant gaps" in ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, the State Department said Thursday.
Kerry "will gauge the extent of Iran's willingness to commit to credible and verifiable steps that would back up its public statements about the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme," spokeswo ...
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Afghanistan at 'critical moment' in its transition: Kerry
Beijing (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
Afghanistan is at a "critical moment" in its transition, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday, amid a deepening electoral crisis in the country, where a presidential candidate has rejected the preliminary results.
Fears have grown that Afghanistan could see a return to the ethnic bloodshed of its 1992-1996 civil war in the aftermath of the June 14 run-off vote.
Abdullah Abdulla ...
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South Korea to decide on building jet fighters
Seoul (UPI) Jul 10, 2013 -
The South Korean government is reportedly speeding up efforts to indigenously develop and produce a new fighter aircraft.
The Korea Times, citing government sources, said a notice requesting bids for its KFX project could be published as soon as next month.
"Seoul's efforts to accelerate the development of the new fighter underscores growing concern over the potential air securit ...
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Engility given Navy re-compete award for support services
Chantilly, Va. (UPI) Jul 10, 2013 -
Support services are to be provided to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force under separate contracts awarded to Engility Holdings and Array Information Technology.
Engility Holdings said the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division will receive landing craft, air cushion technical logistics and library support.
Support activities include sustainment of legacy logistics prod ...
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Navy closer to receipt of new JHSV
Mobile, Ala. (UPI) Jul 9, 2013 -
Builder trials of the U.S. Navy's fourth Joint High Speed Vessel, the future USNS Fall River, have been successfully completed, the Austal USA announced.
The trials, conducted while the vessel was at sea, tested the performance of major systems, including propulsion, communications, navigation and ride-control systems.
"Fall River follows in the footsteps of the first three vesse ...
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Iraq's Kurds demand PM Maliki's resignation
Baghdad (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
Iraq's Kurds said Thursday Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was "hysterical" and not fit to run the country, further dimming the prospect of a new leadership uniting to face jihadist fighters.
The worsening political discord comes three days ahead of a planned parliamentary session meant to revive the process of replacing what has effectively been a caretaker government since April elections. ...
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Germany kicks out top US intelligence officer in spy row
Berlin (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
Germany on Thursday expelled the CIA station chief in Berlin in an escalating row over alleged spying by the US that has opened the worst diplomatic rift in years between the Western allies.
The expulsion comes after two suspected US spy cases were uncovered in less than a week in Germany, where anger still simmers over the NSA surveillance scandal sparked by revelations from fugitive intell ...
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Testing success for Oshkosh's L-ATV
Oshkosh, Wis. (UPI) Jul 10, 2013 -
Oshkosh Defense's offering for the U.S. military's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program has successfully demonstrated its communications networking capability.
Oshkosh called completion of the Net-Ready testing a "milestone" for its Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle, or L-ATV, which it hopes will be chosen as the replacement for the Army and Marines' Humvee.
"We are pleas ...
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US blacklists Hezbollah agents buying drone components
Washington (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
The United States moved Thursday to blacklist a group of companies it said covertly helped Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia acquire components for surveillance drones.
The US Treasury placed sanctions on Beirut-based Stars Group Holding, which it said purchased electronics and other technology via offices in China and Dubai to support Hezbollah's military operations.
That included th ...
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F-35 jet fire may be isolated problem
Washington (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
An engine fire last month on a US F-35 fighter jet was likely an isolated incident and not part of a wider problem for the new aircraft, a top Pentagon official said Thursday.
The comments came as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel offered a ringing endorsement of the costly Joint Strike Fighter despite the latest technical setback that forced a halt of all F-35 flights.
The F-35 has been bil ...
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Kerry warns of 'chilling' hacking in China talks
Beijing (AFP) July 10, 2014 -
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday denounced the "chilling effect" of Internet hacking on US businesses as he wrapped up two days of high-level talks with Chinese officials.
"Instances of cyber theft have harmed our business and threatened our nation's competitiveness," Kerry warned sternly in a joint closing session with his Chinese counterparts.
"The loss of intellectual prop ...
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Third MUOS satellite heads for final checkout
Sunnyvale, Calif. (UPI) Jul 10, 2013 -
A third Mobile User Objective System satellite for the U.S. Navy has completed environmental testing and is now entering the final checkout stage before launch.
Lockheed Martin said that in the environmental tests, the satellite was placed in the company's Dual Entry Large Thermal Altitude chamber, a vacuum chamber that simulates space.
The MUOS was then subjected to intense extr ...
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Scripps scientists discover evidence of super-fast deep earthquake
San Diego CA (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
As scientists learn more about earthquakes that rupture at fault zones near the planet's surface-and the mechanisms that trigger them-an even more intriguing earthquake mystery lies deeper in the planet.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have discovered the first evidence that deep earthquakes, those breaking at more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) below Ear ...
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Study provides new approach to forecast hurricane intensity
Miami FL (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
New research from University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggests that physical conditions at the air-sea interface, where the ocean and atmosphere meet, is a key component to improve forecast models. The study offers a new method to aid in storm intensity prediction of hurricanes.
"The general assumption has been that the large density difference betw ...
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Rising concern about 'microplastics' in the ocean
Plymouth, UK (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
Microplastics - microscopic particles of plastic debris - are of increasing concern because of their widespread presence in the oceans and the potential physical and toxicological risks they pose to organisms.
This is the view of two of the world's most eminent authorities on the subject, Professor Kara Lavender Law, of Sea Education Association (Woods Hole, MA), and Professor Richard Thom ...
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Low back pain? Don't blame the weather
Atlanta GA (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
Australian researchers reveal that sudden, acute episodes of low back pain are not linked to weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction and precipitation. Findings published in Arthritis Care and Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), indicate that the risk of low back pain slightly increases with higher wind speed or wind gusts, bu ...
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English Channel fisherman scraping the bottom of the barrel
Plymouth, UK (SPX) Jul 11, 2014 -
Decades of overfishing in the English Channel has resulted in the removal of many top predators from the sea and left fishermen 'scraping the barrel' for increasing amounts of shellfish to make up their catch. Sharks, rays, cod, haddock and many other species at the head of the food chain are at historic lows with many removed from the area completely.
These are some of the findings of a s ...
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