US drone strike kills at least 4 militants in NW Pakistan: officials
Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
A US drone strike Monday killed at least four militants in Pakistan's restive tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
The strike took place in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has been battling militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda since June.
"A US drone fired two missiles at a militant compound in Shawal area killing at least four m ...
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IS suicide attackers slow Iraq's Ramadi counterattack
Baghdad (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
A huge suicide bomb attack on an Iraqi police base killed at least 37 people Monday, further slowing an operation to retake the city of Ramadi from Islamic State jihadists.
The blast came as US-led coalition members carrying out air raids against IS and providing training and weapons to Iraqi forces prepared to meet in Paris for talks on a string of major battlefield gains by the jihadists i ...
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Iraq to stay out of Iran-Saudi conflicts: PM
Baghdad (AFP) May 31, 2015 -
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi sought to reassure Saudi Arabia Sunday that Iraq is not a "gateway for Iran" and will not take part in regional conflicts between the two countries.
"Iraq is not a gateway for Iran," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state TV.
"We do not want to enter in to regional conflicts, and if there are regional conflicts between Saudi Arabia and Iran," Baghdad ...
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UN envoy decries Syria regime raids as dozens killed
Beirut (AFP) May 31, 2015 -
The UN envoy to Syria condemned regime bombing of civilian areas as "totally unacceptable" after more than 140 people were killed in a day of heavy air raids.
Across the border in Iraq, pro-government forces pressed their operation aimed at sealing off jihadists who captured the city of Ramadi two weeks ago.
In Syria, barrel bombs dropped by President Bashar al-Assad's helicopters killed ...
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Robot masters new skills through trial and error
Berkeley CA (SPX) May 28, 2015 -
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed algorithms that enable robots to learn motor tasks through trial and error using a process that more closely approximates the way humans learn, marking a major milestone in the field of artificial intelligence.
They demonstrated their technique, a type of reinforcement learning, by having a robot complete various tasks - ...
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Tiny grains of lithium dramatically improve performance of fusion plasma
Princeton NJ (SPX) May 28, 2015 -
Scientists from General Atomics and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a phenomenon that helps them to improve fusion plasmas, a finding that may quicken the development of fusion energy.
Together with a team of researchers from across the United States, the scientists found that when they injected tiny grains of lithium into a ...
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Recent Proton loss to push up launch costs warns manufacturer
Moscow (Sputnik) May 27, 2015 -
The recent loss of the Proton-M rocket will push up launch costs and affect the overall number of contracts, the head of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center said Friday.
"No doubt, the latest failure will affect the number of orders that we expected to sign in the near future because insurance costs will grow. Naturally, this will affect the overall price of a launch, ...
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McCarthy-Smith SPACE Act passes with broad bipartisan support
Washington DC (SPX) May 28, 2015 -
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) has joined House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in praising passage of H.R. 2262, the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 or SPACE Act. Almost 50 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill with broad bipartisan support, 284-133.
House Majority Leader Kevin McC ...
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Obama warns China against 'throwing elbows' in sea dispute
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US President Barack Obama on Monday weighed in on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, urging regional powers, particularly China, to respect the law and stop "throwing elbows."
As several Asian regional powers face off over maritime borders, Obama warned about disregard for existing laws and a move away from established ways of resolving disputes.
"If you start losing that appro ...
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US plays down flyover by Russian bombers near warship
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
The US military released a video Monday of a Russian Su-24 bomber flying past an American warship in the Black Sea to dispel what it called inaccurate media reports about a routine encounter.
In the video, a Su-24 aircraft appears in the distance, then zooms by the USS Ross - a guided-missile destroyer.
Other Russian bombers also flew within sight of the ship, officials said.
Such ...
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Kerry won't be sidelined from Iran talks by broken leg
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
Top diplomat John Kerry is committed to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran and plans to join the final negotiations in late June despite breaking his leg in a serious cycling accident, US officials said Monday.
As Kerry headed back to Boston from Geneva in a military C-17 plane accompanied by his personal doctor, observers said the timing of his fall came at a bad time as America juggles mult ...
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NATO flexes muscles in Baltics, Poland
Vilnius (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US-led NATO drills began Monday in the Baltic states and Poland, a move intended to reassure Russia's nervous neighbours amid tensions over Ukraine.
Russia's increased military presence in the Baltic Sea and regional airspace since its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has jangled nerves in the area, which lay behind the Iron Curtain 25 years ago.
More than 6,000 troops from 13 ...
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US, Vietnam discuss halting South China Sea reclamations
Hanoi (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter discussed halting land reclamation in the South China Sea with his Vietnamese counterpart in Hanoi on Monday in talks focused on maritime security.
The meeting came after the United States on Saturday called for an immediate end to all such work in the disputed waters where both Vietnam and Beijing have reclaimed land.
"The US and Vietnam are working to ...
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S. Korea, US stage major joint anti-submarine exercise
Seoul (AFP) June 1, 2015 -
South Korea and the United States kicked off a major anti-submarine drill on Monday, weeks after North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The three-day exercise, aimed at tackling provocations by North Korean submarines, is being conducted off the southern island of Jeju, the South's defence ministry said.
"This is the largest joint anti-subm ...
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