Taiwan launches probe into ex-China affairs official
Taipei (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
One of Taiwan's top negotiators on China policy has resigned and is under investigation over suspicions related to "national security", authorities said Tuesday.
The row at the Mainland Affairs Council which handles cross-strait relations could upset President Ma Ying-jeou's push for closer ties with China, analysts said.
The council initially announced that Chang Hsien-yao, the deputy m ...
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Northrop Grumman team developing space plane
Redondo Beach, Calif. (UPI) Aug 19, 2014 -
A preliminary design and flight demonstration plan for an experimental space plane with a reusable booster is being developed by Northrop Grumman.
The space plane, the XS-1, is envisaged for lifting 3,000-pound class spacecraft into low Earth orbit at a lower cost than current launch equipment. The plane would serve as a test-bed for a new generation of hypersonic aircraft.
The w ...
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Battle of the boycott plays out in Israel, W.Bank shops
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
In Gaza, Israelis and Palestinians are battling it out with rockets and air strikes. But in Israel and the West Bank, the two sides have found a new weapon: boycotting.
Local products are flying off the shelves in the occupied West Bank while Israeli goods are being left untouched.
And in Israel, Arab shops are deserted - even on shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, when Arab Israeli busin ...
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Drones fly alongside manned planes in Navy test mission
Norfolk, Va. (UPI) Aug 19, 2014 -
The U.S. Navy is testing whether or not drones can be safely and effectively incorporated into manned flight operations. To find out, Navy aviation recently paired its unmanned X-47B plane with its manned F/A-18 Hornet in a series of short combined maneuvers.
For Navy flight operators, the major question mark is whether a drone aircraft can react and perform quickly and safely in an eme ...
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Exoskeleton technology set for Navy testing and evaluation
Orlando, Fla. (UPI) Aug 19, 2014 -
Exoskeltons from Lockheed Martin that boost a person's strength and endurance are to be tested and evaluated for industrial use by the U.S. Navy.
The contract was issued for the Navy through the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, or NCMS, but its details were not disclosed.
Lockheed said its FORTIS exoskeleton is an ergonomically designed, wearable and unpowered device t ...
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New ship for Royal Australian Navy undergoes sea trials
Melbourne (UPI) Aug 19, 2014 -
The largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy is undergoing final builder sea trials, which includes testing of combat and communication systems.
BAE Systems, builder of the NUSHIP Canberra, a landing helicopter dock ship, said the trials were taking place until the end of the month off the coast of New South Wales.
"This is the last major element of a very complex an ...
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China troops enter disputed India territory: sources
Srinagar, India (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
Chinese troops have advanced in recent days into disputed territory claimed by India, echoing a similar incursion last year that raised tensions between the two rival giants, official sources said Tuesday.
Chinese troops twice crossed over the border into a remote area of the western Himalayas, with some unfurling a banner that read "this is Chinese territory, go back", an official said on c ...
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Iraq forces hit militants as UN readies major aid effort
Kirkuk, Iraq (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
Iraqi forces battled Sunni militants along a string of fronts Tuesday, including in Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit, as the United Nations readied a massive aid operation for displaced Iraqis.
Kurdish and federal forces, who wrested back control of Iraq's largest dam, fought jihadists in the country's north, buoyed by intensifying US air strikes and Western arms deliveries.
Other securi ...
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Jihadists claim beheading of US journalist
Washington (AFP) Aug 20, 2014 -
Jihadist group the Islamic State on Tuesday claimed to have executed American journalist James Foley in revenge for US air strikes against its fighters and threatened to kill a second reporter.
The Sunni Islamist group released a video showing a masked militant purportedly beheading Foley, who has been missing since he was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.
A second captive, ...
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Israel hits Gaza, quits Cairo talks after rocket fire
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
Israel ordered its negotiators back from talks in Cairo and warplanes hit Gaza on Tuesday after Palestinian rockets smashed into the south as the two sides were observing a 24-hour truce.
Nine days of relative quiet in the skies over Gaza came to an abrupt halt when three rockets struck southern Israel just hours before the truce was to expire at midnight local time.
Israel immediately ...
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Turkey seeks talks with Iraq-based Kurdish rebels: deputy PM
Ankara (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
Turkey wants to hold direct talks with Kurdish rebels based in Iraq to help revive stalled peace talks, a senior Turkish official said Tuesday.
The military headquarters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - which has waged a 30-year insurgency against the Turkish authorities for self-rule - is in the Kandil mountains of northern Iraq.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay sai ...
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Pope's message lost on China?
Seoul (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
When Pope Francis sent an unprecedented message to Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, it went missing - an apparent technical glitch laden with symbolism.
Communications between the Vatican and Beijing have never been easy or particularly fruitful, and the problem China poses for the Holy See's plans to expand Church membership in Asia loomed large over the pope's first visit to the re ...
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Russia vows to strengthen navy to ward off NATO
Moscow (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
Russia announced plans Tuesday to bolster its navy with more advanced weapons in response to NATO's vow to halt the Kremlin's push into Ukraine and feared expansion into eastern Europe.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a general security meeting that he expected to hear a detailed report from Russia's navy commander about how this could be achieved efficiently over the coming six years. ...
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SM-6 missile undergoes follow-on testing
White Sands Missile Range, N.M. (UPI) Aug 18, 2014 -
The U.S. Navy's new Standard Missile-6 has demonstrated its capability to intercept low-altitude, slow-moving targets in a cluttered environment.
Testing of the Raytheon-made surface-to-air missile was part of a series of follow on test and evaluation events for the weapon, which obtained operational status last year following seven years of development.
"This event demonstrated ...
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Octopus inspires new camouflage material
Washington (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
The octopus's ability to camouflage itself has inspired a new kind of thin, flexible fabric that can automatically match patterns, US researchers said Tuesday.
Creatures of the ocean known as cephalopods - including cuttlefish, squid and octopuses - are naturally equipped with sensors in their skin that help in some way to mimic the look of their surroundings.
By closely studying how t ...
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World must act to halt Iraq 'genocide': Yazidi leader's son
Geneva (AFP) Aug 19, 2014 -
The world is not doing enough to halt a "genocide" of Iraq's Yazidi, the son of the religious minority's leader said Tuesday, blaming international inaction for a recent massacre.
"We call upon the free world to immediately act," said Breen Tahseen, an Iraqi diplomat based in Britain and the son of Prince Tahseen Saeed Bek, the leader of the Yazidi people.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva ...
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Russia's First Exoskeleton to Help Physically Impaired
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Aug 19, 2014 -
A team of Russian exoskeleton designers said Monday they were looking for disabled patients who would agree to volunteer for human tests in the country's unique ExoAtlet Project, according to Izvestia newspaper.
"Preclinical trials are scheduled for autumn: we will look at how comfortable it is for different people to move around in an exoskeleton, and use the feedback to tune the control ...
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Aerojet Rocketdyne To Develop Large Scale Additive Manufacturing
Sacramento CA (SPX) Aug 19, 2014 -
Aerojet Rocketdyne was recently awarded a contract by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base through the Defense Production Act Title III Office for large-scale additive manufacturing development and demonstration.
The contract will secure multiple large selective laser melting machines to develop liquid rocket engine applications for national security space launch services. Aerojet Rocketdyne an ...
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General Hyten takes control of AFSPC
Peterson AFB CO (SPX) Aug 18, 2014 -
General John E. Hyten became the 16th commander of Air Force Space Command, in a change-of-command ceremony, replacing General William L. Shelton. General Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force Chief of Staff, presided over the ceremony.
General Hyten attended Harvard University on an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship, graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in engineering and ...
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Ground X-Vehicle Program Aims to Break The "More Armor" Paradigm
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 19, 2014 -
For the past 100 years of mechanized warfare, protection for ground-based armored fighting vehicles and their occupants has boiled down almost exclusively to a simple equation: More armor equals more protection. Weapons' ability to penetrate armor, however, has advanced faster than armor's ability to withstand penetration.
As a result, achieving even incremental improvements in crew surviv ...
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