Japan PM rushes home to lead hostage crisis response
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 21, 2015 -
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was rushing home from the Middle East Wednesday to take charge of Tokyo's response after Islamic militants threatened to kill two nationals unless he pays a $200 million ransom.
A defiant Abe vowed he would not bow to "terrorism" as Japan was thrust abruptly into the conflict gripping Syria and Iraq, where jihadists have seized control of large areas.
" ...
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Woman guarded rice supply with machine gun
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 19, 2015 -
A 40-year-old woman, who was a former professional athlete, shares her experiences as an agriculture employee in North Korea and why that was such an important job. She fled on her own in 2006.
Q: Can you share with us a bit about your life prior to leaving North Korea?
When I was young, I was a professional athlete in the traditional sport of jeon goo, which is similar to tenni ...
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China 'never paid businessman' who bought aircraft carrier: report
Beijing (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
The Chinese businessman who bought an unfinished Soviet-era vessel that became his country's first aircraft carrier was quoted Tuesday as saying that Beijing never repaid the $120 million it cost him.
Entrepreneur Xu Zengping paid Ukraine a $20 million fee for the Varyag, which was eventually commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy as the Liaoning. But the price ballooned o ...
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Swedes, Dutch partner for future submarine work
Linkoping, Sweden (UPI) Jan 20, 2015 -
Saab and Damen Shipyards Group have partnered in pursuit of a Walrus-class submarine replacement program contract from the Netherlands.
The Swedish and Dutch companies said they also intend to jointly explore other submarine program opportunities around the world.
"We are convinced that with Saab we have found the ideal partner to realize a successor to the present Walrus class, ...
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Client Pauses Launch of Proton Rocket Carrying British Satellite
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Jan 20, 2015 -
The Russian Federal Space Agency has postponed until February 1 the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a UK-built Inmarsat satellite upon request of the client, the agency's spokesperson told RIA Novosti Friday.
"At the request of the client, a decision postponing the launch until February 1 has been made," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti, without specifying details.
The ...
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Russia Could Export 30 More Rocket Engines to US
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Jan 20, 2015 -
Russian rocket manufacturer Energia is currently in talks with US space launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) over a contract to deliver 30 additional RD-180 rocket engines, Energia head Vladimir Solntsev said Friday.
"We are currently discussing [with ULA] a contract to increase the engine shipment - i.e. at least 30 more engines," Solntsev said on Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Acco ...
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Russia-UAE have bright future in space technology cooperation
Dubai, UAE (Sputnik) Jan 20, 2015 -
The energy sphere, including peaceful uses of nuclear energy and space technologies are among the most promising areas for cooperation between Russia and United Arab Emirates, Consul General of Russia in Dubai and Northern Emirates told RIA Novosti Friday.
"Light [textile] and heavy industry, telecommunications, oil and gas sector and petrochemicals, alternative energy, transport, construc ...
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Musk donates $10M to keep Artificial Intelligence friendly
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Jan 20, 2015 -
American entrepreneur Elon Musk has announced that he would contribute $10 million to the Future of Life Institute (FLI) for a global research program aimed at ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) remains safe for humanity.
"Here are all these leading AI researchers saying that AI safety is important. I agree with them, so I'm today committing $10M to support research aimed at keepin ...
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China planning naval base in Namibia: report
Windhoek (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
Namibia and China are discussing plans for a Chinese naval base in the southwest African country, the Namibian newspaper reported Tuesday, prompting an immediate denial from Beijing.
The Namibian quoted a confidential letter from Namibia's Beijing ambassador to his foreign ministry stating that a Chinese delegation would visit Windhoek for discussions "on the way forward regarding plans for ...
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Scottish MPs lay down gauntlet over UK nuclear fleet
London (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
The Scottish National Party, which could play a key role in British politics following elections in May, called on the main political parties to scrap Britain's nuclear deterrent on Tuesday.
The SNP's leader in parliament, Angus Robertson, told MPs that the Trident nuclear-armed submarines, which are currently at the Faslane base near Glasgow in Scotland, should not be replaced.
"The tim ...
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India's tiger population jumps 30%: census
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
India, home to most of the world's wild tigers, on Tuesday reported a 30 percent jump in the animal's numbers in a rare piece of good news for conservationists.
A census found 2,226 tigers in India last year compared with 1,706 in 2010, officials in New Delhi announced, with most of the beasts individually identified around the country.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the r ...
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China workers decline as demographic time bomb ticks
Beijing (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
China's working-age population continued to fall in 2014, the government said Tuesday, as Beijing struggles to address a spiralling demographic challenge made worse by its one-child policy.
Mainland China's total population stood at 1.37 billion at the end of 2014, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, an increase of 7.1 million over the end of 2013. It remains the world's largest, ...
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Success at work influenced by personality of your spouse
St. Louis (UPI) Jan 20, 2015 -
You can thank your wife for that new promotion. You can also blame your boyfriend for getting canned. That's according to a new research suggesting the personality and behavior of a person's significant other has a strong influence on their success on the job.
So what should an eligible bachelor or bachelorette look for in a life partner if career advancement is a priority? Someone who ...
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Disillusioned Hong Kongers press UK for escape route
Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 21, 2015 -
With Hong Kong increasingly polarised on political reforms and fears growing over the influence of Beijing, frustrated residents are pressing former colonial power Britain to offer them an escape route.
Their push for a new status that would allow them right of abode in Britain reflects their anger over what they see as a lack of support from the UK in their time of need.
It follows mor ...
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Russia sounds alarm as Lake Baikal's water levels drop
Moscow (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
Russia sounded the alarm Tuesday as water levels in Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, dropped to record lows, with environmentalists blaming dry weather and overuse by local industry.
The regional emergency ministry in Buryatia region on the lake's shores announced a state of high alert as villages surrounding the lake were reportedly hit by water shortages.
The water lev ...
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Toxic sea snail uses weaponized insulin to subdue prey
Salt Lake City (UPI) Jan 20, 2015 -
Cone snails are some of the world's most unassuming poison dealers, none quite as venomous or inventive as the geographic cone snail (Conus geographus). The geography cone, responsible for many human deaths, has a trick is pulled right of a med school handout on diabetes.
As scientists recently found out, the sometimes-deadly snail has an unusual trick for sedating its prey and then eat ...
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China anti-terror law may 'inflict grave harm': rights group
Beijing (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
A new anti-terrorism law under review in China could grant the government license to commit a raft of human rights abuses, a rights group said Tuesday, calling for it to be overhauled.
Human Rights Watch said the law, which was unveiled in November and is expected to be passed early this year, "would legitimate ongoing human rights violations and facilitate future abuses".
"While terrori ...
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Nigeria row over opposition candidate's school reports
Abuja (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
Nigeria's military on Tuesday stepped into a political row about the legitimacy of the main opposition candidate's run for the presidency, in a fresh twist to an issue gripping the campaign.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised doubts about whether President Goodluck Jonathan's main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, obtained his school-leaving qualification.
Under Nigerian la ...
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Tunisian blogger jailed for defaming army
Tunis (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
A Tunisian military court sentenced blogger Yassine Ayari to a year in prison Tuesday for defaming the military, in a case that has been criticised by human rights groups.
The 33-year-old was arrested on December 25 on his return from Paris, following an initial three-year sentence handed down the previous month in his absence.
Ayari told the court before the new ruling that the charges ...
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AIDS crisis brewing in Crimea and east Ukraine says UN
Paris (AFP) Jan 21, 2015 -
A lethal health crisis is brewing in Russian-annexed Crimea and war-torn eastern Ukraine, where injecting drug users have lost access to therapy to wean them off heroin, the UN's AIDS envoy said Wednesday.
Out of 805 people in Crimea who before annexation were receiving opioid substitution therapy (OST) - a tried and tested UN-backed treatment - "between 80 and 100" have now died, Michel K ...
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Two Nigerian cities hit by bird flu: authorities
Lagos (AFP) Jan 20, 2015 -
Thousands of chickens have been culled in southern Nigeria after the discovery of bird flu in some poultry farms, the local health authorities said on Tuesday.
State government officials in the financial capital, Lagos, and the oil city of Port Harcourt, said they had ordered the cull to prevent the spread of the disease.
Lagos State agriculture commissioner Gbolahan Lawal said birds wer ...
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Giant atmospheric rivers add mass to Antarctica's ice sheet
Leuven, Belgium (SPX) Jan 21, 2015 -
Extreme weather phenomena called atmospheric rivers were behind intense snowstorms recorded in 2009 and 2011 in East Antarctica. The resulting snow accumulation partly offset recent ice loss from the Antarctic ice sheet, report researchers from KU Leuven.
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow water vapour plumes stretching thousands of kilometres across the sky over vast ocean areas. They ar ...
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Atmospheric rivers, aerosol particles, and California reservoirs
San Diego CA (SPX) Jan 21, 2015 -
In the midst of the California rainy season, scientists are embarking on a field campaign designed to improve the understanding of the natural and human-caused phenomena that determine when and how the state gets its precipitation. They will do so by studying atmospheric rivers, meteorological events that include the famous rainmaker known as the Pineapple Express.
CalWater 2015 is an inte ...
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Transgenic crops: Multiple toxins not a panacea for pest control
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 21, 2015 -
Strategies for delaying insect resistance to transgenic crops rely on assumptions that often are overly optimistic, a new study led by UA scientists shows. Published as an advance online publication by the journal Nature Biotechnology, the findings could improve management practices for current biotech crops and promote development of new varieties that are more effective and more durable.
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Wearable sensor clears path to long-term EKG, EMG monitoring
Raleigh NC (SPX) Jan 21, 2015 -
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new, wearable sensor that uses silver nanowires to monitor electrophysiological signals, such as electrocardiography (EKG) or electromyography (EMG). The new sensor is as accurate as the "wet electrode" sensors used in hospitals, but can be used for long-term monitoring and is more accurate than existing sensors when a patient is ...
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