Judge rejects Microsoft's defense of overseas data
New York (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
A judge on Thursday rejected a bid by Microsoft to derail a warrant demanding that email data from servers in Ireland be turned over to US prosecutors.
Microsoft vowed to battle on in the case, which is being closely watched by Internet firms eager to assure users around the world that their private information is not being freely shared with US authorities.
"The only issue that was cert ...
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Big win from Army for small Michigan business
Plymouth, Mich. (UPI) Jul 31, 2013 -
Bradley Fighting Vehicles of the U.S. Army are to receive mobility restoration upgrades from Loc Performance Products Inc.
The upgrades, to restore lost mobility, will include track kits, shock absorber kits, vehicle suspension support system kits and heavy weight torsion bar kits.
The contract for the work was issued by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and is a ...
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National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency taps BAE Systems for assist
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Jul 31, 2013 -
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's effort to transform its intelligence data and products is being assisted by BAE Systems.
The transformation effort is called the Map of the World project, intended to give the U.S. military clearer on-the-ground intelligence pictures to enhance situational awareness and mission planning.
Under its $335 million contract, BAE Systems wi ...
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NATO unprepared for Russian attack: UK lawmakers
London (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
NATO is not ready to deal with a military attack by Russia on a member state and must adjust to the unconventional tactics seen in Ukraine, British lawmakers warned Thursday.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine was a "wake-up call" for the 28-nation alliance, which had become complacent, Britain's parliamentary defence committee said in a report.
It said NATO had failed to adapt to Moscow's ...
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China Cultural Revolution 'hero' to make $30 mn from IPO
Shanghai (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
A former Cultural Revolution role model who shot to fame in 1970s China for submitting a nearly blank exam paper is poised to enjoy the fruits of capitalism as his company lists on the stock market.
Zhang Tiesheng's stake in Liaoning Wellhope Agri-Tech Joint Stock will be worth more than 189 million yuan ($30 million) after it lists on the Shanghai exchange, according to company filings.
...
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Leidos taps AIBioTech for bio-weapon threat research
Richmond, Va. (UPI) Jul 31, 2013 -
Research organization AIBioTech reports it will perform a variety of tasks for the U.S. military and government in the area emerging bio-weapons threats.
The work will be performed as a sub-contractor to Leidos, which has been contracted by the U.S. Air Force to provide research, development, test and evaluation and advisory and assistance services related to research and development ef ...
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Newest Tiger attack helo tested in Djibouti
Paris (UPI) Jul 31, 2013 -
The latest version of the Tiger combat helicopter of the French Army has undergone operational trials at a French military base in Djibouti.
The Tiger HAD, or fire-support and destruction, aircraft is made by Airbus Helicopter, formerly known as Eurocopter.
It is a four-bladed, twin-engine missile-firing attack helicopter.
The French Ministry of Defense said the testing in ...
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Hindenburg, 80 years on, still divides Germany
Berlin July 31, 2014 -
Field Marshal Hindenburg, a decorated hero of World War I but also the president who paved the way for Hitler's rise, still divides Germany 80 years after his death.
The legacy of the stocky and moustachioed Prussian war horse and statesman is as complicated as his full name - Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg.
Hindenburg became a national hero in 1914 as the w ...
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F-35B Successfully Completes Wet Runway And Crosswind Testing
Fort Worth TX (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
In an important program milestone enabling U.S. Marines Corps Initial Operational Capability (IOC) certification, the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B recently completed required wet runway and crosswind testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
"This testing is absolutely critical to 2B flight software fleet release and the Marine Corps' IOC," said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's v ...
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Huge waves measured for first time in Arctic Ocean
Seattle WA (SPX) Jul 31, 2014 -
As the climate warms and sea ice retreats, the North is changing. An ice-covered expanse now has a season of increasingly open water that is predicted to extend across the whole Arctic Ocean before the middle of this century. Storms thus have the potential to create Arctic swell - huge waves that could add a new and unpredictable element to the region.
A University of Washington researcher ...
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Beaches near San Francisco littered with velellas
San Francisco (UPI) Jul 31, 2013 -
Their scientific name is Velella velella, or V. velella. But they also go by sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply velella. And right now, they're strewn about the beaches of San Francisco, numbering in the thousands.
The odd-looking blue globs look like jellyfish, but they're not jellyfish. They're a member of a class of animals called hydrozoans, which incl ...
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Horseplay a rich man's game in China
Dalian, China (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Gripping his mallet, Peng Zhichun gallops towards goal on a Chinese polo field, one of a growing number of the country's wealthy elite discovering the joys of the saddle and the whip.
"New clubs are opening, people are more into equestrian sports, into polo, there are more international players coming, so it's growing really fast," the young man, dressed in an expensive leather helmet, boots ...
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China promises to remove urban-rural registration divide
Beijing (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
China is to scrap the distinction between its urban and rural household registration systems, it said, promising migrant workers greater social benefits as it pushes an urbanisation drive that has seen hundreds of millions of people move to cities.
The country will implement a single household registration - or "hukou" - system, said the State Council, or cabinet.
The move would addres ...
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Asia agribusiness giants tie up to boost China-Australia trade
Sydney (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Three of Asia's leading agribusinesses have joined iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest in what he described Thursday as an "unprecedented" 100-year partnership to position Australia as China's food bowl.
Forrest said China's New Hope Group and COFCO Corp., and Singapore-listed Wilmar International, had joined the Australia-Sino 100-Year Agricultural and Food Safety Partnership, known as ASA 100. ...
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US says Ebola epidemic won't alter Africa summit plans
Washington (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
The Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 700 people in West Africa in seven months will not affect plans for next week's US-Africa summit, the White House said Thursday.
"At this point, there are no plans in place to alter the schedule in any way," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
US health authorities have concluded "there is no significant risk in the United States from the ...
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Rescuers battle rain in search for India landslide victims
Malin, India (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Rescuers were desperately searching into the night Thursday for victims of a landslide in western India that buried dozens of homes, with fears the death toll could reach 150.
Forty two people were confirmed dead and eight pulled alive from the mud and debris in Maharashtra state, but with rain and strong winds hampering rescue efforts, hopes of finding any more survivors were fading.
"M ...
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Australia says MH370 survey ships making progress
Sydney (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Two ships surveying the sea floor where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is thought to have crashed are making steady progress with a deep-water search to get underway in September, Australian authorities said Thursday.
Since May experts have been surveying an area of about 60,000 square kilometres along the seventh arc - a thin but long line that includes all possible points where the last k ...
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Tibetan monk cremated in Nepal despite China controversy
Kathmandu (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Thousands of mourners, many in tears, gathered in Kathmandu to pay tribute to a senior Tibetan Buddhist monk whose cremation was initially blocked by Nepal, sparking claims it had caved to pressure from China.
Monks chanted prayers and played traditional music as they lit the funeral pyre under the shade of a multicoloured canopy surrounded by Buddhist flags.
Nepal, which had initially g ...
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Pacific leaders say climate will claim entire nations
Koror, Palau (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Pacific leaders warned Thursday that entire island nations will disappear under the waves unless action is taken to address climate change.
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) wrapped up its annual meeting in Palau with a call to action on the issue of global warming, with the 15-nation regional grouping saying there was no excuse not to act to curb climate change.
"We all know the causes of ...
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Five dead in East Europe flooding
Bucharest (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Two men reported missing in southern Romania following floods in Eastern Europe were found dead Thursday, taking the regional toll to five, official sources said.
The two bodies were found miles downstream from the area where they were swept away by floodwaters as high as two metres (six and a half feet), in Valcea county, the emergency inspectorate told AFP.
A further two men are still ...
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Thai military arrest army general for extortion
Bangkok (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
A Thai army general has been arrested on suspicion of extortion in a notorious Bangkok red light district, officials said Thursday, in a rare case of authorities prosecuting a member of the military.
Major-General Jenronnarong Detwan, 56, was arrested by the military early Wednesday at a hotel near the seedy Patpong area charged with extorting money from street vendors, the Defence Ministry ...
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Antarctic ice sheet is result of CO2 decrease, not continental breakup
Durham NH (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
Climate modelers from the University of New Hampshire have shown that the most likely explanation for the initiation of Antarctic glaciation during a major climate shift 34 million years ago was decreased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.
The finding counters a 40-year-old theory suggesting massive rearrangements of Earth's continents caused global cooling and the abrupt formation of the Antarc ...
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Conservation scientists asking wrong questions on climate change impacts on wildlife
New York NY (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
Scientists studying the potential effects of climate change on the world's animal and plant species are focusing on the wrong factors, according to a new paper by a research team from the Wildlife Conservation Society, University of Queensland, and other organizations.
The authors claim that most of the conservation science is missing the point when it comes to climate change.
While ...
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Major turtle nesting beaches protected in one of the UK's far flung overseas territories
Exeter, UK (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
But on the remote UK overseas territory of Ascension Island, one of the world's largest green turtle populations is undergoing something of a renaissance.
Writing in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, scientists from the University of Exeter and Ascension Island Government Conservation Department report that the number of green turtles nesting at the remote South Atlantic outpost h ...
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Scientists caution against exploitation of deep ocean
Corvallis OR (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
The world's oceans are vast and deep, yet rapidly advancing technology and the quest for extracting resources from previously unreachable depths is beginning to put the deep seas on the cusp of peril, an international team of scientists warned this week.
In an analysis in Biogeosciences, which is published by the European Geosciences Union, the researchers outline "services" or benefits pr ...
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