Russia's New ICBM Sarmat can penetrate defense shield, wipe out Texas
Moscow (Sputnik) May 10, 2016 -
The best current missile defenses system may prove powerless against Sarmat, Russia's new intercontinental ballistic missile, which will be ready for field trials this summer, according to the Russian news network Zvezda. Russia's latest intercontinental ballistic missile, Sarmat, may render all current missile defense systems obsolescent, the Russian news network Zvezda reported.
The RS-2 ...
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US Navy overhypes its concern with Russia's newest sub
Moscow (Sputnik) May 10, 2016 -
US Navy officials have expressed concern with Russia's newest submarines, including the Yasen class, but these comments serve to boost defense spending, analyst Mikhail Lukanin told Radio Sputnik, emphasizing that Russian weapons are meant for defensive purposes only.
True, the Project 885 Yasen class is impressive. Armed with cruise, antiship and anti-submarine missiles, the highly autono ...
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Moscow seeks guarantees US missiles in Asia not to target Russia
Bocharov Ruchei (Sputnik) May 10, 2016 -
Moscow seeks legally binding guarantees that the United States' plans to deploy missile defense technologies in Eastern Asia are not directed against Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. The United States has been in dialogue with South Korea over the proposed deployment of the THAAD system over the past year. THAAD is capable of shooting down short-, medium- and intermediate-rang ...
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International agreement safeguarding nuclear facilities enters into force
Moscow (Sputnik) May 10, 2016 -
The 2005 amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) makes it legally binding for the states to establish, implement and maintain an appropriate physical protection of nuclear material and facilities under their jurisdiction.
New rules strengthening the security of nuclear materials around the globe entered into force on Sunday after 11 years of negot ...
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Nicaragua's list of ambitious projects
Managua (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
Over the last decade, Nicaragua has announced four major projects worth a total $57 billion - nearly five times its gross domestic product.
However, the massive investments from companies in Brazil, China and Venezuela have not come to fruition because of financial problems.
- A canal to rival Panama's -
The headline project is a plan to slice a waterway across the narrow country, b ...
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Israeli nuclear whistle-blower charged over release terms
Jerusalem (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
Israeli prosecutors charged nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu Sunday with violating the terms of his release, more than a decade after he completed an 18-year jail term, the justice ministry said.
Upon his release in 2004, Vanunu was slapped with a series of restraining orders, some of which he has violated in recent years, the indictment read.
According to the charge sheet, Vanunu ...
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N. Korea crowns Kim party chief as rare congress closes
Pyongyang (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
North Korea on Monday wrapped up its first ruling party congress for 36 years - an event seen as a formal coronation for leader Kim Jong-Un, who was appointed to the post of party chairman.
Thousands of delegates clapped and cheered enthusiastically as the country's official head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, announced the new title which cements Kim's status as the isolated state's supreme ruler ...
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With Perlan 2 glider, Airbus claim mantle of space pioneer
Minden, United States (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
The space glider Perlan 2 is helping Airbus take on Silicon Valley's brightest innovators, even while pursuing technologies that might eventually lead to passenger flights in space.
The project's goal is to set an altitude record for the unpowered craft of 90,000 feet (27,400 meters) in the frigid temperatures at the edge of space (-70 Fahrenheit, -57 celsius), similar to the conditions on M ...
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N. Korea's nuclear attitude 'has not changed': China media
Beijing (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Chinese state-run media on Monday played down North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's pledge not to use nuclear weapons unless his country's sovereignty is threatened, saying that his pursuit of atomic arms remained dangerous.
Beijing is Pyongyang's main diplomatic protector and source of trade and aid, but relations between them have become increasingly strained by the North's nuclear ambitions, ...
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Iran touts newly tested long-range missile
Tehran (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Iran launched a new long-range missile late last month, a general announced on Monday, trumpeting the accuracy of the latest such weapon to be test-fired in defiance of the West.
"A missile with a 2,000-kilometre range was tested two weeks ago," said General Ali Abdolahi, adding that it has a negligible margin of error of just eight metres (yards).
"We can guide this ballistic missile. I ...
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Scientists identify oldest herbivorous filter-feeding marine reptile
Beijing (UPI) May 9, 2016 -
When scientists first unearthed the fossil remains of Atopodentatus unicus in 2014, they described the ancient creature as possessing a flamingo-like beak.
But in a new study, published this week in Science Advances, researchers argue that the ancient reptile's beak was actually a hammerhead-like jaw - the first used by an herbivorous marine reptile to filter-feed.
A. unicus was ...
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Weather aids firefighters battling blaze in Canada oil region
Fort Mcmurray, Canada (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Authorities battling a forest fire in Canada looked to Mother Nature for more help Monday, as cooling temperatures and rain slowed the spread of the blaze that had forced the evacuation of an entire city.
There was more good news too, with the amount of land charred less than originally feared and the last of 25,000 people trapped north of Fort McMurray in Alberta province safely evacuated i ...
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China landslide death toll rises to 31
Beijing (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
The number of bodies recovered from a landslide that engulfed workers at a Chinese construction site rose to 31 on Monday with seven people still missing, authorities said.
Heavy rain at the weekend buried a temporary shed used by workers at a hydropower station construction site in Fujian province, in the southeast, under 100,000 cubic metres of mud and rock, the official Xinhua news agenc ...
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Chile fishing crisis traps tourists, empties markets
Ancud, Chile (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
A fishing ban sparked by mass deaths of sea creatures in Chile has left tourists stranded and markets empty on an island cut off by protest blockades.
In the south of the world's second-biggest salmon-producing country, fishermen have blocked roads with burning tires. They have cut off access to the island of Chiloe in the picturesque Los Lagos region.
They are furious at what they say i ...
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UN warns of 'bleak' outlook for drought-hit Zimbabwe
Harare (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Zimbabwe faces a growing food supply crisis, with a $290 million shortfall in funding desperately required to feed up to 4.5 million people in need by next year, the United Nations warned Monday.
A regional drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon has hit Zimbabwe hard, with Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi also affected as thousands of cattle die, reservoirs are depleted and crops de ...
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Study reveals genetic origins of carrots' orange color
Madison, Wis. (UPI) May 9, 2016 -
In sequencing the genome of the lowly carrot, researchers have revealed several of the vegetable's secrets - including the genetic origins of its orange color.
Researchers credit a gene called DCAR_032551 with enabling the carrot's accumulation of carotenoids, which is responsible for the carrots rich vitamin content as well as its bright yellow and orange colors.
"The accumulat ...
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Haiti preparing for major earthquake, tsunami
Cap-Haitien, Haiti (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
A school gymnasium fills with hundreds of students seeking shelter from an earthquake and tsunami, with whistles at the ready in case they are trapped by rubble and need to be rescued.
It was only a drill but the exercise Friday is part of the Haitian government's efforts to improve its capacity to respond to natural disasters, six years after an earthquake in the capital Port-au-Prince kill ...
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Religion goes green in Taiwan pollution battle
Taipei (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Smoke billows daily from temples across Taiwan as visitors burn incense and paper money to bring luck and prosperity - but that familiar fragrant haze could be a thing of the past as concerns grow over ritual pollutants.
The potential damage to the environment and to the health of devotees from staggering levels of dangerous particles in the air is leading some temples and festivals to seek ...
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Mexican military vet defends torture he oversaw
Mexico City (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
The Mexican military veteran recalls overseeing interrogations during which his men beat suspects, wrapped their faces in plastic bags to cut off their oxygen and jolted them with electric shocks.
Although the screams still haunt the retired service member long after he left the military, he remains unapologetic about using torture to find drug lords and rescue kidnapping victims.
It was ...
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Effect of ocean acidification on shellfish depends on other stressors
Santa Cruz, Calif. (UPI) May 9, 2016 -
On the dinner table, acid and shellfish pair nicely - in the ocean, not so much.
Determining the exact effects of ocean acidification on shellfish has proven difficult, however. Though plummeting pH levels have been blamed for shellfish die-offs, the correlations have appeared inconsistent.
New research suggests the response of shellfish to ocean acidification is dependent on a ...
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S.Africa may re-consider regulated rhino horn trade in future
Pretoria (AFP) May 8, 2016 -
South Africa does not rule out a future call for regulated international trade in rhino horn trade, despite its decision not to push for legalisation at an upcoming CITES conference, a cabinet minister said Sunday.
South Africa has "no immediate intention to trade in rhino horn," but is "maintaining the option to reconsider regulated legal international trade in rhino horn" when key requirem ...
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Indonesia frees vessel captured by suspected pirates: navy
Jakarta (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
Indonesia on Monday freed a Singapore-flagged vessel captured by pirates off the coast of Borneo island, and detained nine suspects involved in the hijacking, a navy spokesman said.
The 20 crew and one passenger who were aboard the captured boat were unharmed during the operation, navy spokesman Edi Sucipto said in a statement.
The vessel had disappeared from radar inside Indonesian wate ...
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Landslides kill nearly 50 in Rwanda
Kigali (AFP) May 9, 2016 -
At least 49 people were killed this weekend in landslides caused by torrential rains in rural Rwanda, the government said on Monday.
Authorities had previously given a death toll of 20, many of them children, as downpours drenched the densely populated country of steep hills and deep valleys.
"During the night of 7-8 May 2016, heavy rains caused landslides in several parts of Rwanda, res ...
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A filter that shaped evolution of primates in Asia
Beiging, China (SPX) May 09, 2016 -
By studying fossils from southern China, scientists have gained insights into how primates in Asia evolved to resemble the array seen today. The results suggest that a distinct period marked by cooler weather served as a filter of sorts in Asia, altering the makeup of primates there to reflect fewer anthropoids (monkeys and apes) and more strepsirrhines, a suborder of primates that includes lemu ...
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Drawing the genetic history of Ice Age Eurasian populations
Beijing, China (SPX) May 09, 2016 -
Not much is known about the genetics of Eurasian history before the introduction of farming. One of the major questions is how climatic fluctuations influenced the population history of Eurasia and to what extent changes in material cultures correspond to movements of people.
A research team led by Prof. FU Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) ...
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