Uruguay receives mobile border surveillance system
Ankara, Turkey (UPI) Jan 7, 2015 -
Turkish defense company Aselsan A.S. reports it has completed a contract to equip the Uruguayan Army with a mobile surveillance radar system.
The system, mounted on vehicles provided by the Uruguayan Army includes a thermal imager, day TV camera and laser range finder), enabling surveillance operations under any weather condition.
Aselsan said its system was delivered under a con ...
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US spymaster dined with N.Korea general reponsible for Sony hack
New York (AFP) Jan 7, 2015 -
The US intelligence chief revealed Wednesday that he dined with the North Korean general believed responsible for hacking Hollywood studio Sony, during a secret mission to Pyongyang two months ago.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper gave a riveting account of the visit at a New York conference on cyber security days after the government imposed new sanctions on North Korea in re ...
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Merkel sets strict terms on easing Russia sanctions
Berlin (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
German Chancellor Angela Merkel set strict terms Thursday for easing EU sanctions on Russia as the 28-nation bloc unlocked new aid to help Ukraine overcome its devastating Kremlin-backed revolt.
The announcements came with Europe - teetering on the brink of a new recession - thinking of scaling back steps that both failed to soften Russia's hard line on Ukraine and considerably damaged its ...
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China sacks Nanjing city party chief amid probe
Shanghai (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
China has removed the Communist Party chief of Nanjing city from his post for violating the law, state media said Thursday, after Beijing's corruption watchdog said it was investigating him amid allegations of corruption.
The official Xinhua news agency said Yang Weize, 52, was suspected of "serious discipline and law violations", mirroring language the ruling party's Central Commission for ...
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China confirms murderous North Korean soldier killed
Beijing (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
A North Korean soldier was shot dead by Chinese police after crossing the border and reportedly killing four people, Beijing acknowledged amid harsh criticism over slowness in releasing information.
"After the incident occurred, the Chinese police immediately launched a manhunt operation," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in comments posted on the ministry's website after a regular p ...
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China condemns Paris attack, vows to fight terrorism
Beijing (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
China on Thursday joined in global condemnation of an Islamist attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, describing terrorism as "a common enemy of all mankind".
The magazine's editor and some of France's most treasured cartoonists were among those killed when masked men armed with Kalashnikov automatic rifles stormed the satirical weekly's Paris offices on Wednesday. ...
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Army orders mobile air traffic control towers
Sparks, Nev. (UPI) Jan 8, 2015 -
The U.S. Army has ordered additional AN/TSQ-135 mobile tower systems from Sierra Nevada Corporation.
The AN/TSQ-135 MOTS is a rapid set-up system for air traffic services during the initial phases of deployment and has been used by the 3rd Infantry Division in Afghanistan.
The system includes secure and non-secure communications radios and support equipment housed in an air traff ...
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Global Hawks achieve flight-hour record
San Diego (UPI) Jan 8, 2015 -
Northrop Grumman reports that its high altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles have achieved a flight-hour milestone.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk, flown by the U.S. Air Force, and other company HALE systems flew more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission hours in one week last September for the U.S. government than ever before - 781 hours.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk ...
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Long hair allowed for female sailors: US Navy
Washington (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
Female recruits to the US Navy will not have to endure short hair cuts when they start boot camp under an experiment launched by the military's top brass.
Officers said Thursday the rule requiring a female recruit's hair be trimmed above the collar is being suspended for a trial period of three months, partly to aid recruiting and partly in response to complaints that new sailors needed to l ...
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Virginia company to help NATO train Afghan troops
Washington (UPI) Jan 8, 2015 -
NATO is to receive advisory and assistance services from a U.S. counterterrorism company in the training of Afghanistan's national security forces.
Virginia-headquartered A-T Solutions said its services - on the strategic and tactical levels - would be conducted from the International Security Assistance Force and Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, the Afghan capital. ...
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Chinese city spends $24,000 on phone hacking software: report
Beijing (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
A Chinese city will spend $24,000 on Trojan horse computer software for monitoring mobile phones, state media reported Thursday, after a notice announcing the move inexplicably appeared on a local website.
According to the Global Times newspaper, police in the eastern city of Wenzhou plan to spend a total of 149,000 yuan ($24,000) on the software, which is "designed for unlocked iPhones and ...
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W3C and OGC to Collaborate to Integrate Spatial Data on the Web
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 07, 2015 -
The W3C and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) have announced a new collaboration to improve interoperability and integration of spatial data on the Web. Spatial data - describing geographic locations on the earth and natural and constructed features - enriches location-based consumer services, online maps, journalism, scientific research, government administration, the Internet of Things, and ...
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New technology enables ultra-fast steering and shaping of light beams
Bristol, UK (SPX) Jan 07, 2015 -
A team of engineers has developed a new acousto-optic device that can shape and steer beams of light at speeds never before achieved. The new technology will enable better optical devices to be made, such as holographs that can move rapidly in real time.
The research led by Bruce Drinkwater, Professor of Ultrasonics at the University of Bristol and Dr Mike MacDonald at the University of Du ...
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Turkey to order four more F-35 from US Lockheed Martin
Ankara (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
Turkey is planning to buy four more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the US, in addition to the two it had already ordered, the country's defence industry agency said.
"It has been agreed that four more F-35 planes will be procured in addition to the two previously ordered as part of a plan to buy a total of 100 new generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters," the defence industry executive commit ...
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US-Iran to hold bilateral nuclear talks next week
Washington (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
American and Iranian negotiators will resume bilateral talks on Iran's disputed nuclear program next week in Geneva as a third deadline for a deal looms, a US official said Thursday.
Acting Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, who has led the US delegation for more than two years, will head the team of senior officials and advisors to the next round of bilateral negotiations on January 15-17 in t ...
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US-led forces drop nearly 5,000 bombs on IS group
Washington (AFP) Jan 7, 2015 -
US-led aircraft have dropped nearly 5,000 bombs in the air war against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, damaging or destroying more than 3,000 targets including tanks, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The latest figures released by the US military signal a steady expansion in the scale of the air campaign launched in August and also reveal an adversary with hundreds of armored and othe ...
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N. Korea military condemns 'hostile' US, South
Seoul (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
North Korea's top military body issued fresh warnings Thursday to the United States and South Korea over their "hostile" policies towards Pyongyang, as Seoul conducted a series of naval live-fire drills.
The National Defence Commission (NDC) criticised US sanctions imposed after the North's alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures and said Pyongyang would respond forcefully to continued provoca ...
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China steps up political arrests, prosecutions: rights group
Beijing (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
China arrested or prosecuted more than 2,300 people for political offences in 2013, the vast majority in secret, an advocacy group reported Thursday as the ruling Communist party continues a crackdown on dissent.
A total of 2,318 people were arrested or indicted on charges of "endangering state security", the US-based Dui Hua Foundation said, citing statistics from China's central prosecutio ...
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US scaling back bases in Europe in cost-cutting move
Washington (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
The US military said Thursday it will close a major air base in Britain and withdraw from 14 other installations across Europe as part of a reorganization of forces to save money.
The "consolidation" will save the US government about $500 million a year and not diminish American military power, Pentagon officials said, but the move prompted disappointment in Britain and anger in Portugal ove ...
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Cool deep-water protects coral reefs against heat stress
Kiel, Germany (SPX) Jan 08, 2015 -
1991, 1995, 2003, 2010 - again and again, increased water temperatures lead to bleaching with fatal consequences for stony corals in the Andaman Sea. These animals are highly susceptible to changes in water temperatures.
Even a small temperature rise damages the symbiotic algae living in a cell layer of the corals causing their expulsion by the coral host. The corals, which depend on the p ...
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NOAA's DSCOVR to provide 'EPIC' views of earth
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 08, 2015 -
NASA has contributed two Earth science instruments for NOAA's space weather observing satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory or DSCOVR, set to launch in January 2015. One of the instruments called EPIC or Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera will image the Earth in one picture, something that hasn't been done before from a satellite. EPIC will also provide valuable atmospheric data. ...
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Study: Brain scans could predict future behavior
Cambridge, Mass. (UPI) Jan 7, 2015 -
Brain scans have been widely employed and remarkably useful in correlative and experimental research, helping scientists better understand the human brain structure and its relationship to biological systems and the diseases that disrupt them. But can brain imaging also be used to predict human behaviors?
A new survey of recent scientific literature on the subject - conducted by resear ...
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Rhesus monkeys can learn to see themselves in the mirror
Beijing (UPI) Jan 8, 2015 -
For humans and apes, vanity comes naturally - homo sapiens and their hairier ancestors both automatically recognize themselves in the mirror. The same can't be said for monkeys.
But new research suggests rhesus monkeys can be taught mirror recognition. Scientists say their discovery is likely to help them further understand the neural origins of self-awareness.
"Our findings sug ...
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Hong Kong student leader Wong slams authorities in court
Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 8, 2015 -
The teenage face of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, 18-year-old Joshua Wong, slammed the authorities Thursday in a court appearance linked to mass protests which brought parts of the city to a standstill for months.
Wong was one of 29 activists at the High Court for a preliminary hearing on possible criminal contempt charges for blocking the police clearance of one of the main protest ca ...
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It's a girl! Biologists confirm rare new orca calf is female
Seattle (UPI) Jan 8, 2015 -
With seas momentarily calm in the Strait of Georgia off British Columbia, scientists have finally been able to get close enough to determine the sex of the newly birthed orca calf, J-50. The new baby killer whale is female, biologists confirmed Wednesday.
"Good News! It is a Girl!" scientists at the Center for Whale Research announced in a blog post. J-50 is the 78th orca in the populat ...
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