Russia's Roscosmos to Hand Over Glonass Infrastructure to MoD in 2016
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 31, 2016 -
The Russian space agency Roscosmos will transfer control over the ground infrastructure of the Glonass global positioning system to the country's defense ministry later this year, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov, said Wednesday.
"Key problems have been solved... [The infrastructure will be handed over] this year," Komarov told reporters, answering a question on the subject.
Glonass is a ...
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China launches 22nd BeiDou navigation satellite
Xichang, Sichuan (XNA) Mar 31, 2016 -
China launched a satellite to support its global navigation and positioning network at 4:11 a.m. Wednesday.
The satellite, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was taken into orbit by a Long March-3A carrier rocket.
It is the 22nd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), which is being developed as an alternative ...
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North Korea in focus as Washington nuclear summit kicks off
Washington (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The United States moved Thursday to keep pressure on nuclear-armed North Korea and reassure China over the proposed deployment of a sophisticated anti-missile system to South Korea.
After meeting with South Korean and Japanese allies at the start of a nuclear summit in Washington, President Barack Obama said there is a need to "vigilantly enforce the strong UN security measures" against Pyo ...
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Obama promises 'candid' exchange with Xi amid maritime disputes
Washington (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
US President Barack Obama opened a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with a promise of "candid" discussion over Beijing's suspected military buildup in the South China Sea.
"We will have candid exchanges about areas where we have differences, issues like human rights, cyber and maritime issues," Obama said as he sat across the conference table from his Chinese counterpart.
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Iran 'certain' Security Council will not act on missile tests
Tehran (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
Iran's defence minister has said he is "certain" the UN Security Council will not take any action over its ballistic missile tests despite calls from Western powers.
Britain, France, Germany and the United States wrote a joint letter on Monday calling for action over tests they said violated last year's landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and the Security Council resolution ...
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China to US: 'Be careful' in South China Sea
Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
Beijing's defence ministry on Thursday warned the US navy to "be careful" in the South China Sea and slammed a newly signed agreement between Washington and the Philippines.
Earlier this month, Manila agreed to give US forces access to five military bases, including some close to the disputed South China Sea, where tensions have risen over Beijing's assertion of its territorial claims.
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NATO to switch 'assurance to deterrence' in E. Europe: US general
Riga (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
NATO and the United States are switching their defence doctrine from assurance to deterrence in Eastern Europe in response to a "resurgent and aggressive Russia", the top US general in Europe said Thursday.
The comments by General Philip Breedlove in the Latvian capital Riga come a day after the Pentagon said it would begin continuous rotations of an additional armoured brigade of about 4,20 ...
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Russia to unveil new rockets; First Vostochny launch set for April
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 31, 2016 -
Russia will show the design of a super-heavy space launch vehicle before the end of 2016, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said Wednesday.
By the end of the year Roscosmos will present our vision on creation of a carrier rocket of a super-heavy class, Igor Komarov told reporters.
In April 2015, the space agency abandoned plans to develop a super-heavy space launch vehicle afte ...
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White House says Trump nuclear policy 'catastrophic'
Washington (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The White House on Thursday lambasted Donald Trump's suggestion that Asian allies should develop nuclear weapons, saying it would shatter doctrine held for decades, with "catastrophic" consequences.
Following the Republican frontrunner's declaration that, as president, he would withdraw troops from South Korea and Japan and allow those two countries to develop nukes, Deputy National Securit ...
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No plans for killer US military robots... yet
Washington (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
Robotic systems and unmanned vehicles are playing an ever-growing role in the US military - but don't expect to see Terminator-style droids striding across the battlefield just yet.
A top Pentagon official on Wednesday gave a tantalizing peek into several projects that not long ago were the stuff of science fiction, including missile-dodging satellites, self-flying F-16 fighters and robot n ...
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McDonald's to add 1,500 outlets in China, Hong Kong, SKorea
New York (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
McDonald's said Thursday it plans to open more than 1,500 restaurants in China, Hong Kong and South Korea over the next five years and wants partners in the Asia expansion.
The US fast-food giant has more than 2,800 restaurants in the three markets, most of which are company-owned. Worldwide, more than 80 percent are owned and operated by independent local people, and the company's long-term ...
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Rivers turn to dust as drought bites Somalia
Mogadishu (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
Somalia's bread basket has become a dust bowl as the life-giving waters of the mighty Shabelle river run dry amid intense drought in the war-torn country.
River-fed farmlands have become parched playgrounds for children who kick footballs beneath a cloudless sky, as one sign among many of the failed rains that the United Nations warns has put more than a million people at risk.
Elders in ...
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US, China to be among climate deal signatories
Washington (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The United States and China will be among the nations signing the Paris climate agreement in New York next month, the White House announced Wednesday, ahead of a meeting between President Barack Obama and Xi Jinping.
Seeking to highlight areas of cooperation amid disputes over the South China Sea and how hard to push back on North Korea's nuclear program, the White House said both countries ...
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Eyes of the beholder: beauty varies for China models
Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
Tall and stereotypically thin, Chinese fashion model Xu Naiyu exudes a happy optimism but is matter-of-factly realistic about the fickleness of her chosen career, and how conventions of beauty change around the world.
The 21-year-old has been a frequent sight on the runways of China Fashion Week, which concludes Thursday, showing off everything from a simple green top to a pieced-together dr ...
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Maximum sentences for killers of Costa Rica environmentalist
San Jose (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
A Costa Rican court on Tuesday sentenced four men to decades in prison for the 2013 murder of an environmentalist, tying up four Western women who were with him, and separately raping a Costa Rican woman.
The judgment capped a nine-week retrial of seven men accused of the killing of Jairo Mora, a 26-year-old Costa Rican working to protect sea turtle nests on the country's Caribbean coast. ...
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Red Cross says more funds needed in wake of Fiji super cyclone
Suva, Fiji (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The Red Cross appealed for more funds to help disaster-stricken Fiji on Thursday, saying 60,000 people remain homeless six weeks after a super cyclone battered the Pacific nation and killed 44.
The charity said Fiji still faced a huge rebuilding task in the wake of severe tropical cyclone Winston - the most powerful storm in its history - which lashed the country on February 20.
The Re ...
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China rights lawyer condemns ban on her receiving US award
Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
China prevented a human rights lawyer from travelling to the United States to receive an award for her work, she told AFP Thursday as she condemned the restriction on her freedom.
Authorities refused to provide Ni Yulan with a passport to attend a ceremony on Tuesday in Washington DC honouring "International Women of Courage", a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the city for ...
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Ancient virus determines babies' gender
New Haven, Conn. (UPI) Mar 31, 2016 -
Over the course of human evolution, the human genome has picked up foreign fragments of DNA, mostly from ancient viruses.
The majority of those fragments are inactive, but a few serve novel purposes - like determining the sex of a developing embryo.
Yale researchers believe an ancient viral DNA strand - incorporated into the mammalian genome as recently as 1.5 million years ago ...
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China journalist speaks out after state secrets conviction
Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
A 72-year-old Chinese journalist jailed for "leaking state secrets" in a case that drew international condemnation spoke out for the first time on Thursday since her release on medical parole.
Veteran reporter Gao Yu was imprisoned last year for allegedly leaking a directive by the ruling Communist Party, warning against the "dangers" of multiparty democracy. She spent 18 months in custody b ...
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Hong Kong threatens 'action' against independence party
Hong Kong (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The Hong Kong government has threatened to "take action" against a new independence party and China slammed the group, which said Thursday it had been blocked from registering for political reasons.
The Hong Kong National Party, made up of 30-50 students and young professionals, launched Monday saying it is tapping in to the semi-autonomous city's increasing desire to break away from the ma ...
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Rwanda jails top military figures for 20 yrs for 'inciting revolt'
Kigali (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
A Rwandan military tribunal on Thursday condemned two senior army figures to 20 years in prison for inciting rebellion, an AFP correspondent at the Kigali court said.
"The court condemns Colonel Tom Byabagamba to 21 years in jail and a reduction in rank, and retired general Frank Rusagara to 20 years in prison," said Judge Narcisse Nsengiyumva.
Both men were once close to the inner cir ...
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Drought-hit Somalia at 'tipping point': UN
Nairobi (AFP) March 31, 2016 -
The United Nations' aid chief for Somalia begged for cash Thursday to stave off starvation amid intense drought affecting a million people and to pull the war-torn country "back from the tipping point."
"Urgent action is required right now. If not, we risk a rapid and deep deterioration of the situation, as drought conditions may worsen in the coming months," UN Humanitarian Coordinator for ...
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Cheap moth trap may make citizen science projects more affordable
East Lansing MI (SPX) Mar 31, 2016 -
Researchers from Michigan State University believe they have invented a better - or at least a cheaper - version of the proverbial mouse trap. Except instead of a mouse trap, it's a moth trap. The new device is described in the Journal of Insect Science.
Traditional light traps used by entomologists for sampling, known as mercury vapor black light traps (MVTs), can be expensive and difficu ...
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Freezing plants to predict the fate of the Arctic
Oslo, Norway (SPX) Apr 01, 2016 -
In January 2014, a group of researchers conducted an unusual, some might say paradoxical, experiment in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard: Their goal was to encase small plants growing out on the tundra in a thick layer of ice. While this might seem odd - nature does a pretty good job of encasing plants in Svalbard with ice and snow - the researchers were trying to use their experiment as a kin ...
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No snow, no hares: Climate change pushes emblematic species north
Madison WI (SPX) Mar 31, 2016 -
If there is an animal emblematic of the northern winter, it is the snowshoe hare. A forest dweller, the snowshoe hare is named for its big feet, which allow it to skitter over deep snow to escape lynx, coyotes and other predators. It changes color with the seasons, assuming a snow-white fur coat for winter camouflage.
But a changing climate and reduced snow cover across the north is squeez ...
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