US lawmakers worry Iran is stonewalling nuclear watchdog
Washington (AFP) Oct 02, 2014 -
A large majority of US House of Representatives members wrote Secretary of State John Kerry expressing their concern Thursday over Iran's "refusal" to work with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
With a November deadline fast approaching for Tehran and world powers to reach a deal on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, 354 of the House's 435 members warned that the International Atomic ...
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Why America needs boots on the ground in Iraq
Washington DC (UPI) Oct 01, 2014 -
If President Obama's no-boots-on-the-ground in Iraq is his final word, they'll have to wear moccasins or some other comfortable footwear.
Bombing sans boots did not work in World War I, World War II and every other war from the Korean war to Vietnam to Iraq (I, II & III).
Bombing of North Vietnam without boots on the ground did not prevent a humiliating U.S. defeat.
And he ...
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General Dynamics given Navy contract modifications
Fairfax, Va. (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
The AN/BYG-1 combat control systems used on U.S. and Australian submarines will continue to receive modernization support from General Dynamics.
The continued services come under two contract modifications to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems worth a combined total of $50 million.
"We are dedicated to helping the U.S. and Royal Australian Navies advance their mission ...
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Dutch combat vehicles being sold to NATO partner Estonia
The Hague, Netherlands (UPI) Oct 2, 2014 -
The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands will sell 44 of its new CV90 infantry fighting vehicles to Estonia, it was announced on Thursday.
The sale, announced in the Estonian capital of Tallinn during a visit by Dutch Minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, comes amid tension in Estonia over Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and machinations elsewhere in that ...
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Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 25, 2014 -
Researchers at MIT and Northeastern University have equipped a robot with a novel tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port.
The sensor is an adaptation of a technology called GelSight, which was developed by the lab of Edward Adelson, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Vision Science at MIT, and first described in 2009.
...
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Soft robotics 'toolkit' features everything a robot-maker needs
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 25, 2014 -
A new resource unveiled by researchers from several Harvard University labs in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin provides both experienced and aspiring researchers with the intellectual raw materials needed to design, build, and operate robots made from soft, flexible materials.
With the advent of low-cost 3D printing, laser cutters, and other advances in manufacturing technology, ...
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Israeli gunfire wounds Lebanon soldier: army
Rashaya, Lebanon (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
Israeli troops shot and wounded a Lebanese soldier across the ceasefire line between the two countries on Sunday, the Lebanese army said.
"A post belonging to the Israeli enemy on the other side (of the ceasefire line) opened fire on an army post... causing one soldier to be lightly injured," the army said in a statement.
It added its troops had returned fire and were following up on the ...
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Australian jets fly first mission against IS in Iraq
Sydney (AFP) Oct 06, 2014 -
Australian fighter jets have flown their first armed combat mission in Iraq against the Islamic State group but did not launch air strikes, the military said Monday.
Head of the defence force Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the two Royal Australian Air Force F/A18 combat aircraft had returned safely to base.
"The Super Hornet aircraft conducted an air interdiction and close air suppo ...
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Dalai Lama marks Nobel anniversary as Western support wanes
Dharamsala, India (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
As the Dalai Lama marked his 25th year as a Nobel laureate this week, a row over South Africa's failure to grant him a visa underscored the huge challenge facing the movement he launched more than half a century ago.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1989, amid international condemnation of Beijing following a deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters in Tiananm ...
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Kurds battle for key Syria town, woman suicide bomber hits IS
Mursitpinar, Turkey (AFP) Oct 06, 2014 -
Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes battled the Islamic State group for a key Syrian town Sunday, with one woman defender blowing herself up using the jihadists' own tactic.
IS fighters seized part of a strategic hill overlooking the town of Kobane late on Saturday, a monitor said, but their progress was slowed by new strikes from the coalition of Washington and Arab allies.
A ...
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Britons mourn Henning, 'national hero' killed by IS
London (AFP) Oct 04, 2014 -
Britain united in revulsion Saturday at the beheading of aid worker Alan Henning claimed by Islamic State jihadists, as the imam at his home city's main mosque hailed a "local and national hero".
Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to the 47-year-old taxi driver who had travelled to Syria to deliver aid and whose murder was claimed by the IS group in a graphic video released late Frida ...
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UAE suprised at Biden suggestion it backed jihadists
Abu Dhabi (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
The United Arab Emirates has expressed surprise after US Vice President Joe Biden suggested the Gulf state had armed and financed jihadists in Syria, along with other regional powers.
Biden's remarks were "amazing and ignore the role of the Emirates in the fight against extremism and terrorism," the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Mohammad Gargash, said in a statement carrie ...
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US drone kills five militants in northwest Pakistan: officials
Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
A US drone strike on Sunday killed at least five militants in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
The attack happened in the Kundghar area of Shawal district, in the South Waziristan tribal region which is considered a stronghold of Taliban militants.
"A US drone fired two missiles targeting a centre run by Uzbek rebels, killing five militants," a se ...
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Philippines, US marines conduct exercises near China-held reef
San Antonio, Philippines (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
Over 6,000 Philippine and US marines carried out a military exercise on a Philippine beach Sunday near a disputed reef occupied by Chinese ships which has become a potential regional flashpoint.
The American and Filipino troops, aboard five US amphibious, armoured assault vehicles landed on the deserted beach facing the South China Sea in the latest in a series of combat exercises that began ...
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Kurds scrutinise refugees at camps to keep IS out
Khanaqin, Iraq (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
At a Kurdish-run refugee camp in Iraq, strict checks are being imposed to weed out "good" Sunni Arab families from "bad" ones suspected of links to the Islamic State group.
Families arriving at the northern camp of Aliama without men are forced to explain their absence and prove they are not jihadist fighters, even by providing certificates if they are no longer alive.
Kurdish officials ...
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HK protesters refuse to budge as deadline to clear streets arrives
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters remained stubbornly encamped on the streets as dawn broke on Monday, just hours before a government deadline to clear key thoroughfares they have blockaded for more than a week.
The city's embattled leader Leung Chun-ying has warned he will "take all necessary actions to restore social order" after a mass campaign for free elections that has seen tens of ...
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US Navy to deploy armed, robotic patrol boats
Washington (AFP) Oct 05, 2014 -
The US Navy says it will soon use armed, robotic patrol boats with no sailors on board to escort and defend warships moving through sensitive sea lanes.
The technology, adapted from NASA's rovers on Mars, will transform how the American navy operates and is sure to raise fresh questions and concerns about the widening role of robots in warfare.
The Office of Naval Research on Sunday rele ...
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Satellite pix suggest N. Korea reactor shut down: US think-tank
Seoul (AFP) Oct 04, 2014 -
Recent satellite images suggest North Korea may have shut down the nuclear reactor seen as its main source of weapons-grade plutonium, a US think-tank said Saturday.
The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said any shutdown could be for either partial refuelling or renovation.
North Korea mothballed the five-megawatt reactor at its main Yongbyon nucle ...
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UN nuclear team to visit Iran next week
Tehran (AFP) Oct 03, 2014 -
A UN atomic watchdog team is to visit Tehran next week, state media reported Friday, amid US warnings that completion of a probe into Iran's past research is crucial for a nuclear deal.
The delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold talks on the "outstanding issues" in its investigation, Iran's ambassador to the Vienna-based watchdog told the official IRNA news a ...
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Russia to reopen missile warning station on Crimea
Moscow (AFP) Oct 04, 2014 -
Russia will modernise and relaunch a Soviet-era radar station on the Crimean peninsula annexed from Ukraine to provide early warning of missile strikes, a senior defence official said Saturday.
The radar station in the port city of Sevastopol will become fully operational in 2016, the commander of the air and space defence forces, Alexander Golovko, was quoted as saying by the TASS news agen ...
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Fed Up With Federal Inaction, States Act Alone on Cap-and-Trade
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 01, 2014 -
Unsatisfied with the pace at which the federal government is acting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, several U.S. states and a few Canadian provinces are forging ahead with their own initiatives.
In 2013, California kicked off a cap-and-trade program in an effort to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The first year of the program was a resounding success, with the state's econ ...
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Taking thin films to the extreme
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 01, 2014 -
Applying a well-known optical phenomenon called thin-film interference, a group of researchers at Harvard University has demonstrated the ability to "paint" ultra-thin coatings onto a rough surface - work that holds promise for making future, flexible electronic devices, creating advanced solar cells and detailing the sides of next-gen rocket ships and spacecraft with extremely lightweight deco ...
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System designed to improve hand function lost to nerve damage
Corvallis OR (SPX) Oct 01, 2014 -
Engineers at Oregon State University have developed and successfully demonstrated the value of a simple pulley mechanism to improve hand function after surgery.
The device, tested in cadaver hands, is one of the first instruments ever created that could improve the transmission of mechanical forces and movement while implanted inside the body.
After continued research, technology suc ...
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How to make a 'perfect' solar absorber
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 01, 2014 -
The key to creating a material that would be ideal for converting solar energy to heat is tuning the material's spectrum of absorption just right: It should absorb virtually all wavelengths of light that reach Earth's surface from the sun - but not much of the rest of the spectrum, since that would increase the energy that is reradiated by the material, and thus lost to the conversion process. ...
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OPDE gain approval for new 10.8 MWp Solar Farm in UK
Somerset, UK (SPX) Oct 01, 2014 -
OPDE has obtained planning consent for a new 10.8 MWp solar farm located near the town of Crewkerne in Somerset (United Kingdom).
The planning approval consolidates OPDE's position in the UK PV market, adding to an active and successful development pipeline.
In March 2014, OPDE successfully connected a 12 MWp solar farm located in Alresford, Hampshire, and construction works are due ...
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