Hundreds rally against Taiwan nuclear referendum

Taipei (AFP)
May 26, 2013

Hundreds of Taiwanese protested in the capital Taipei on Sunday over government plans to hold what they call an unfair referendum on the fate of a nearly-completed nuclear power plant.

Chanting slogans like "Stop dangerous nuclear power", the protesters stood together in front of parliament to spell out the word "STOP" and held up black and yellow signs.

The demonstration came a few days before the ruling Kuomintang party plans to push through a bill to host a nationwide referendum that will decide whether the the island's fourth nuclear plant should be completed.

A "No" vote would only be accepted if turnout reaches 50 percent of the island's 18 million people, rather than a poll based on a simple majority.

"Such a design is unfair," Liu Hui-min, a spokeswoman for the protest, told AFP.

"Since so many people have voiced against the risky power plant, the government should scrap the project instead," referring to several public surveys which indicated around 70 percent of respondents opposed the plant.

Concerns about the island's nuclear power plants have been mounting since the March 2011 Fukushima crisis in Japan.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes. In September 1999 a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people the deadliest natural disaster in the island's recent history.

The controversial plant, in the coastal Kungliao district near Taipei, is about 90 percent completed and due to come online in 2015, according to its operator the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

Construction began in 1999 but the plant has been the subject of intense political wrangling ever since.

In February Premier Jiang Yi-huah said for the first time that the government may support holding a referendum on its future amid growing public concern.

Taipower says the island will face power shortages without a new nuclear plant.

The three existing nuclear plants supply about 20 percent of Taiwan's electricity. But the first and second atomic plants and several other power stations are due to be shut down in the near future.

Source: Nuclear Power Daily.
Link: http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Hundreds_rally_against_Taiwan_nuclear_referendum_999.html.

Patience running out among Japan's disaster refugees

Ishinomaki, Japan (AFP)
March 10, 2014

The Takeyamas have tried to move on and forget the enormous waves that swept away relatives, their home and the lives they once had.

But the couple, both in their seventies, still spend countless nights staring at the ceiling of their tiny makeshift house, built after Japan's quake-tsunami disaster three years ago, thinking about better times.

Before a towering wall of water turned the northeast coast into a wasteland of shattered communities, Iwako Takeyama and her husband Toichi lived in a sturdy home in Ogatsu town, with a daughter and other family nearby.

"People say it's good to live close to a daughter and her family so they can bring you a cup of soup without getting it cold," said 73-year-old Iwako.

"But the tsunami flushed away both of our houses, ours and hers."

Like thousands of other survivors, the elderly couple lost relatives -- one sister, two brothers and a nephew -- after a huge undersea earthquake shook Japan at 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11, 2011.

Its 9.0 magnitude force unleashed a towering tsunami that traveled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast.

Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families had drowned.

Officially, more than 15,800 people are known to have died in the disaster. Another 2,636 are listed as missing.

The body of Toichi's sister was recovered about 30 kilometers (19 miles) offshore.

"We spent days looking for the bodies after the tsunami," Iwako said as her eyes filled with tears.

"We are finally feeling OK now."

- Hard lives, fading hope -

But while the nightmare fades for many in other parts of Japan, tens of thousands of refugees are still struggling to cope as the country gets set to mark the third anniversary of the disaster on Tuesday.

The government has pledged billions of dollars in reconstruction funds but the Takeyamas and many others are still struggling to make do in cramped temporary housing.

The stress of living in a 30-square-meter (320-square-feet) space has taken a heavy toll on their mental and physical health, they said. Toichi has been hospitalized twice since the disaster.

"You can tell exactly what your neighbor is doing next door, taking a bath or using the toilet," Toichi said. "We cannot even have a quarrel in private."

They hope to move to newly built community housing, but that could still be several years away.

Japan has so far built only 3.5 percent of the new housing promised to refugees in heavily affected Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

The local government of Fukushima prefecture, where a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant is located, does not even have a number for how many new houses it needs to house evacuees forced to flee the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

As a result of the tsunami and Fukushima crisis, among almost 270,000 evacuees as of last month, 100,000 are in temporary housing. It remains unclear how many more years it will take to build all the needed post-disaster housing.

- Struggling to make ends meet -

In the town of Onagawa, many refugees have tried to keep busy by making Japanese-style sandals with donated T-shirts, selling them for 1,500 yen ($15) to make ends meet -- and trying to forget their grim reality.

"I wonder if I will be still alive when we move out of this temporary house," said Kazuko Kimura, 86. "I want to die in a new house with no worries about the future."

Sawako Kishi, 76, spends many sleepless nights haunted by the uncertainty.

The devout Buddhist has an altar in the small bedroom of her family's tiny makeshift home, with their belongings and futon taking up most of the living space. They hold out hope for a permanent home, but progress has been slow in the rugged mountain town.

"They first have to cut into the mountainside and build a new road tunnel. Building our house will come after that," she said.

Among the myriad challenges, many lots on higher ground are the property of hundreds of small landowners who are loathe to give up their real estate.

"This is the biggest challenge and we should look at changing the law" to make it easier to build public housing on those plots, said Kosuke Motani, chief economist at Japan Research Institute.

With the focus on rebuilding, the government has barely scratched the surface in dealing with refugees' mental health, said Tsuyoshi Akiyama, a neuropsychiatry doctor and clinical professor at Tokyo University.

"Whatever choices disaster victims make, they face some sort of mental stress in one way or another," he said.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Patience_running_out_among_Japans_disaster_refugees_999.html.

Fukushima: three years on and still a long road ahead

Fukushima Daiichi, Japan (AFP)
March 10, 2014

In complete darkness, a group of men tried everything they could to save the Fukushima nuclear plant from catastrophe. Their struggle was in vain.

Three years later, the control room at the site of the worst atomic crisis in a generation -- which forced a hard look at Japan's energy policy -- sits as a grim time capsule.

Helmets, masks, several pairs of gloves and overalls remain as reporters are taken on a tour of the inner sanctum, a first since the accident.

Notes are scribbled awkwardly on walls in rooms with levers, dials, and buttons, reminders of March 11, 2011, when a towering wall of water plunged the site into darkness and sent reactors into meltdown.

What was happening inside the reactor core was unknown to the workers who fought hour after hour before they were forced to abandon part of the doomed site.

Not far away in the destroyed reactors, radioactivity is so strong that it remains a no-go area.

"The guys that were working here are not at the plant anymore -- they got too much radiation," said Kenichiro Matsui, an official at Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).

Workers now at the site have yet to even start dismantling the crippled reactors, a process not expected to begin for another six years, part of a decommissioning process expected to stretch over decades.

Several thousand employees are locked in a daily -- and dangerous -- scramble under harsh conditions to keep the site as safe as possible, making a myriad of repairs and building tanks for the vast amounts of contaminated water.

The company poured thousands of tonnes of water onto runaway reactors to keep them cool, and continues to douse them, but has to store and clean that water in a growing number of temporary tanks at the site.

TEPCO has warned it is running out of storage space and many experts believe the water will eventually have to be dumped into the sea after being scoured of its most harmful contaminants.

Local fishermen, neighboring countries and environmental groups all oppose the idea.

Last year, the embattled firm said around 300 tonnes of radioactive liquid were believed to have escaped, a serious incident that underscored the litany of ongoing problems at Fukushima.

- 'Four steps forward, two steps back' -

"The management of this water problem is still not satisfactory," said Dale Klein, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Authority and a member of the committee overseeing the plant's decommissioning.

He added that the "four steps forward, two steps back" progress has hurt confidence in the utility's crisis management, already under fire since the accident that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, possibly forever.

The crisis forced the shutdown of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors, which remain offline as anti-atomic sentiment ripples through communities big and small in the country of 128 million.

Tens of thousands of citizens turned out for an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo on Sunday to voice their anger at the nuclear industry and the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has called for resumption of reactors to power the world's third-largest economy.

Abe repeated his view Monday that any reactors which can be deemed safe would be turned back on, burying a move by the previous government to make Japan a zero-nuclear country by 2040.

But critics say that TEPCO's clumsy management of the crisis and wider concerns about the accident -- including long-term health fears -- should keep nuclear offline for good.

"Prime Minister Abe and the nuclear industry are hoping the Japanese people and the world will forget the victims and the terrible lessons of Fukushima, hoping that they will allow the restart of old, risky reactors," said Junichi Sato, executive director of Greenpeace Japan.

"What we should instead forget is an energy system that is dependent on old, dirty, and dangerous technologies like nuclear and fossil fuels."

The government has backed a push into solar power and wind farms, among other renewable energy sources, but they still make up a tiny portion of Japan's energy needs.

The loss of nuclear power, which once supplied more than a quarter of Japan's power, has also created huge trade imbalances owing to surging imports of fossil-fuel alternatives to plug the energy gap, made all the more expensive as the yen weakened sharply since Abe swept to office in 2012.

Another issue is that the move to fossil fuels has stoked worries that Japan would not meet its commitment to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, while making it more dependent on other nations for its energy security.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Fukushima_three_years_on_and_still_a_long_road_ahead_999.html.

Japan marks 3rd anniversary of quake-tsunami disaster

Namie, Japan (AFP)
March 11, 2014

Japan on Tuesday marks the third anniversary of the quake-tsunami disaster which swept away 18,000 victims, destroyed coastal communities, and sparked a nuclear emergency that forced a re-think on atomic power.

Remembrance ceremonies will be held in towns and cities around the disaster zone and in the capital Tokyo, where Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are to lead tributes to those who lost their lives in Japan's worst peace-time disaster.

Many local governments will switch on a tsunami alarm siren at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT), marking the exact moment a 9.0-magnitude undersea quake hit.

Its raw force unleashed a towering tsunami that traveled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast. Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families drowned.

Waves also crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking reactor meltdowns and explosions, and setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

The crippled plant remains volatile and experts say the complicated decommissioning process will take decades, as fears persist over the long-term health effects of leaked radiation. The accident forced tens of thousands to flee from areas around the shattered site.

Although no one died as a direct result of Fukushima, about 1,650 area residents died from complications related to stress and other problems following the accident.

A total of 15,884 people are confirmed to have died in the tsunami with another 2,633 still listed as missing. Searchers still find human remains.

Despite the government pledging billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, progress in disaster-hit regions has been slow, and thousands of disaster refugees struggle to cope.

Among almost 270,000 evacuees from the tsunami and Fukushima, about 100,000 are in temporary housing while others found shelter in new cities or with relatives.

Japan has so far built only 3.5 percent of the new homes promised to disaster refugees in heavily affected Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

That has sowed doubt among many people, with some 77 percent of Japanese saying the pace of reconstruction has fallen short, according to a poll conducted by Kyodo News and other media organisations this month.

-- 'Halfway done' -

On Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who swept to power in late 2012, said Tokyo was only "halfway" done.

"I'm determined to accelerate the recovery and not let this disaster fade from memory," he told parliament.

"Japan's revival won't come without the restoration of devastated areas."

Fierce anti-nuclear sentiment may have subsided, but it still poses a challenge to Abe's bid to breathe life into Japan's long-tepid economy.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of citizens staged an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo ahead of the anniversary, voicing anger at the premier's plan to switch on shuttered nuclear reactors, which once supplied more than a quarter of the resource-poor nation's power.

Business wants to return to nuclear, but the public remains wary.

"Prime Minister Abe and the nuclear industry are hoping the Japanese people and the world will forget the victims and the terrible lessons of Fukushima, hoping that they will allow the restart of old, risky reactors," said Junichi Sato, executive director of Greenpeace Japan.

"What we should instead forget is an energy system that is dependent on old, dirty, and dangerous technologies like nuclear and fossil fuels."

Abe repeated his view Monday that reactors deemed safe would be turned back on. All of Japan's reactors were switched off after the accident, forcing the country to turn to pricey fossil-fuel alternatives to plug the energy gap.

The premier, who said he regularly eats rice grown in the Fukushima region, added in a press briefing Monday that "having experienced the accident, it's only natural for people to be concerned about the safety of nuclear plants".

Despite Tokyo's push to boost alternative energy, power sourced from wind farms and solar energy remains a fraction of Japan's needs.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Japan_marks_3rd_anniversary_of_quake-tsunami_disaster_999.html.

Japan marks 3rd anniversary of tsunami disasters

March 11, 2014

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is marking the third anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing, turned coastal communities into wasteland and triggered a nuclear crisis.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito will speak at a memorial service Tuesday to mourn for the victims, marking the moment the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck. Japan has struggled to rebuild tsunami-hit communities and to clean up radiation from the meltdowns of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Reconstruction plans are finally taking shape, but shortages of skilled workers and materials are delaying the work. Abe has vowed to boost the rebuilding.

The triple disasters of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear known as 3.11 killed 15,884 people and left 2,636 unaccounted for on its northern coast, as of the end of last month. The country has earmarked 25 trillion yen ($250 billion) for reconstruction through March 2016. Nearly 270,000 people are unable to go home, many of them from Fukushima, due to radioactive contamination.

In northern Japan, some tsunami survivors held their own memorial events for their loved ones earlier Tuesday. In the town of Minamisanriku, local residents gathered in front of what used to be the town's disaster prevention center, where dozens of town employees died in the tsunami. The residents prayed in front of a small table filled with flowers, a Buddha statue and incense.

A vast stretch of the town's coastal area remains deserted, except for a few structures that survived. A total of 619 people died and 217 went missing in the town of 17,666.

Japan halts imports of U.S. wheat after USDA's shock finding of genetic pollution from GMOs

Friday, May 31, 2013
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) It has already begun: Japan has just cancelled a large contract to purchase U.S. wheat. "We will refrain from buying western white and feed wheat effective today," Toru Hisadome, a Japanese farm ministry official in charge of wheat trading, told Reuters.

As many readers well know, I predicted precisely this scenario just yesterday in a Natural News article warning about the consequences of genetic pollution. There, I wrote, "All wheat produced in the United States will now be heavily scrutinized -- and possibly even rejected -- by other nations that traditionally import U.S. wheat. This obviously has enormous economic implications for U.S. farmers and agriculture."

Now we're already seeing the result: the ditching of U.S. wheat by world nations that want nothing to do with GMOs.

Monsanto is a ticking time bomb for U.S. agriculture

This proves, without any question, that Monsanto's genetic experiments which "escaped" into commercial wheat fields are now going to devastate U.S. wheat farmers. Expect the floor to drop out on wheat prices, and watch for a huge backlash against the USDA by U.S. farmers who stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on this.

As the USDA has now admitted, Monsanto's GMO experiments from 1998 - 2005 were held in open wheat fields. The genetically engineered wheat escaped and found its way into commercial wheat fields in Oregon (and possibly 15 other states), causing self-replicating genetic pollution that now taints the entire U.S. wheat industry.

"Asian consumers are keenly sensitive to gene-altered food, with few countries allowing imports of such cereals for human consumption," writes Reuters. It continues:

Asia imports more than 40 million tonnes of wheat annually, almost a third of the global trade of 140-150 million tonnes. The bulk of the region's supplies come from the United States, the world's biggest exporter, and Australia, the No. 2 supplier.

Another incredible Monsanto achievement: the genetic contamination of the U.S. wheat supply

Nice job, Monsanto. You've managed to spew your genetic pollution across the fields of innocent U.S. farmers who are now going to lose huge sums of money due to the reject of U.S. wheat by all the other world nations that refuse to feed their populations GMO.

And a big thumbs up to the USDA, too, for screwing U.S. farmers by green-lighting open-field GMO experiments that we all warned were going to result in runaway genetic pollution. The USDA, of course, is the official cheerleading squad for Monsanto's criminal "science" that we all know is a total fraud. How do these scientists now suggest this self-replicating genetic pollution be put back into the black box from which it emerged?

It can't be done, of course. So now the entire future of the U.S. wheat supply is at risk thanks to Monsanto and the USDA. Nice one, folks. Score another victory for the scumbag destroyers in Washington D.C. and the greed-driven executives at our favorite corporation, Monsanto.

And remember: Genetically modified wheat is only the beginning. Monsanto has no doubt unleashed genetic pollution across many other crops as well. We're now living in an age where Monsanto is essentially ejaculating its patented seed across all the farms of America, then claiming to "own" the contaminated crops. What a wonderful image of corporate responsibility and service to humankind. I can't wait to see what other U.S. crops will be rejected by world nations due to Monsanto's genetic pollution.

Source: NaturalNews.
Linik: http://www.naturalnews.com/040572_Japan_GE_wheat_genetic_pollution.html.

NATO, Japan sign partnership agreement

April 15, 2013

TOKYO, April 15 (UPI) -- There's a clear advantage to working with Asian leaders like the Japanese government, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen signed an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that outlines stronger bilateral ties.

"While NATO has no ambition to take on a permanent role in Asia, we see very clearly the advantage of working with like-minded partners like Japan," Rasmussen said in a statement Monday.

The declaration is the first agreement between NATO and Japan. Japan, however, has worked alongside NATO forces in operations in Afghanistan.

"We are natural partners and together we can make a difference," Ramussen said.

Rasmussen's visit comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea tested a nuclear device in February and has since escalated its war rhetoric.

The U.S. Defense Department is changing its focus to the Asia-Pacific as military engagement with Iraq has ended and the Afghan war draws to a close. The U.S. military has said about 60 percent of its naval assets would be assigned to the region by 2020.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/04/15/NATO-Japan-sign-partnership-agreement/UPI-40201366037608/.

NATO deploys surveillance planes to Ukraine border

March 12, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — NATO deployed two surveillance planes to fly over Poland and Romania on Wednesday to monitor the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

The military alliance said two AWACS, or Airborne Warning And Control System, reconnaissance planes took off from bases in Germany and Britain. The surveillance flights won't leave the airspace of its member nations — thus not crossing either into Ukrainian or Russian airspace, a spokesman for NATO's operational headquarters said in Belgium.

"The planes can observe over 300,000 square kilometers (115,000 square miles) and will primarily be looking on air activity and the sea," Lt. Col. Jay Janzen said, adding that one AWACS aircraft already went on a surveillance mission to Romania on Tuesday and that more missions were being planned.

"Our flights will not leave NATO airspace," Janzen said. "Regardless, we can observe, we can look a very long way." NATO's 28 member states decided Monday to intensify the assessment of the possible threat the Ukrainian crisis poses to the alliance by sending AWACS planes. The decision comes after deployments of U.S. fighter planes to eastern European nations bordering Russia, such as Poland and Lithuania.

Janzen said the flights had already been planned as training missions before NATO's decision, but more planes will be added to the exercises in the coming days. The plane flying out of the German base to Romania was an E-3A AWACS and the plane leaving Britain for Poland was an E-3B AWACS, Janzen said.

Israel passes law meant to draft ultra-Orthodox

March 12, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli lawmakers have passed a contentious law meant to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army.

The issue lies at the heart of a cultural war on the place of the ultra-Orthodox in Israeli society. The matter featured prominently in elections last year that led to the establishment of a center-right government, which has pushed for the draft reforms.

Wednesday's vote passed 67-1 in the Knesset. The opposition boycotted the vote to protest what it says are strong-arm tactics by the ruling coalition. For years exempt from military service, the ultra-Orthodox insist their young men serve the nation through prayer and study, thus preserving Jewish learning and heritage. They say conscription threatens their community.

The exemptions have enraged secular Israelis who say the ultra-Orthodox are not doing their fair share.

China will not stop increasing military spending: media

Beijing (AFP)
March 06, 2014

Chinese state-run media said Thursday the nation's defense budget would keep expanding but was not evidence of a mounting threat, after the government announced a 12.2 percent rise for 2014.

"China has no intention of overturning the current international security pattern," the Global Times, which is close to the ruling Communist Party, said in an editorial. "China will never seek to grab hegemony."

The China Daily said in its editorial that "World peace needs a militarily stronger China," adding that narratives that put China in a "bully's role" were "completely against the truth".

Beijing is embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with Japan and other Asian states, and has pursued its claims more assertively in recent years.

China announced Wednesday, on the opening day of the Communist-controlled National People's Congress (NPC) legislative meeting, that it plans to spend 808.23 billion yuan ($132 billion) on the People's Liberation Army for 2014, in the latest double-digit increase.

That figure is still far short of the $633 billion defense budget for 2014 approved by the United States, the global leader in military spending.

But analysts believe China's actual defense spending is significantly higher than publicized.

"China will not stop increasing its military spending," the Global Times said. "It is believed the best scale for it in the long run is keeping it at half or two-thirds of that of the US."

It added that China's military spending should exceed Japan's "to a large extent".

"We should have an absolute advantage over Japan in terms of naval and air forces and strategic striking capabilities, as Japan has shielding from its military alliance with the US," the paper said.

"China's annual military spending has exceeded Russia, but has China acquired greater military strength than Russia? Obviously no."

This year's official rise is the largest since 2011. The government-run China Daily newspaper said China was "only making up for what it has neglected to do in the past".

"The current increase is both imperative and legitimate, because China now has broader interests to defend," it wrote. "At the same time, more security threats are sprouting up in its immediate neighborhood."

Beijing's growing military expenditures and capabilities have raised worries in Asia and the US, and Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Wednesday that its lack of transparency on spending "has become a matter of concern for the international community, including Japan".

China's official Xinhua news agency dismissed those concerns in a bylined commentary Thursday, arguing that "it is Washington and Tokyo, instead of Beijing, that should explain to the world their military postures and intentions".

Overseas concerns and worries were "unfounded and misplaced", it said, adding that accusing China of complicating the security situation "amounts to a gross perversion of truth".

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_will_not_stop_increasing_military_spending_media_999.html.

China probes European wine industry

June 5, 2013

BEIJING, June 5 (UPI) -- The Chinese government is tasked with investigating wine imported from producers in the European Union, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

Chinese wine producers said their European rivals have an unfair advantage through government subsidies, damaging the Chinese wine industry. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce decided Wednesday to investigate the issue, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The investigation of wine imports follows a decision by the European Union to introduce import duties on Chinese solar panels. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said the government opposes the measure.

The European Commission has launched at least two investigations into alleged dumping of solar panel components like solar glass sold in the EU by Chinese manufacturers. The commission said in a statement Tuesday it would set the duty on imports to 47.6 percent starting in August, "which is the level required to remove the harm caused by the dumping to the European industry."

The commission said it was ready to discuss the issue with Chinese exporters.

The ministry spokesman said the Chinese government was anticipating some flexibility from the European government on the issue and looks forward to discussing the issue of prices, Xinhua reported.

Chinese-manufactured solar products account for more than half of the global market and are a main source of European imports of renewable energy goods.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2013/06/05/China-probes-European-wine-industry/UPI-41931370439063/.

China military planes flew close to disputed isles: report

Tokyo (AFP)
April 27, 2013

Chinese military planes, mostly fighter jets, made more than 40 flights close to Tokyo-controlled islands at the center of a territorial dispute on a single day this week, a press report said Saturday.

The flights took place on Tuesday, when eight Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

The conservative daily, citing senior government officials, said F-15 fighter planes from an airbase on the Japanese island of Okinawa scrambled to intercept the Chinese aircraft which flew in waves towards the skies over the islands.

"It was an unprecedented threat," one of the officials was quoted as saying.

Another said: "If such a show of force continues, it is feared it could lead to a situation where the (Japanese) air defense force may not be able to cope."

The report said the military planes included updated Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 fighter aircraft.

The report, which did not say whether the planes intruded into Japan's airspace, could not be immediately confirmed by Japan's Defense Ministry.

Chinese government ships have frequently sailed around the five Tokyo-controlled islands in recent months sparking diplomatic clashes.

But Tuesday's flotilla was the biggest to sail into the disputed waters in a single day since Tokyo nationalized part of the island chain in September.

On December 13, a Y-12 turbo-prop plane from China's State Oceanic Administration breached airspace over the disputed islands, prompting the launch of Japanese F-15s.

It was the first known incursion ever by a Chinese plane into Japanese airspace, the government said at the time.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_military_planes_flew_close_to_disputed_isles_report_999.html.

Fifteen years on, Ukraine neighbors glad to be in NATO

Warsaw (AFP)
March 11, 2014

Fifteen years have passed since the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the NATO military alliance, a decision the ex-Soviet satellites now see as fortuitous given today's Ukraine standoff between Russia and the West.

"NATO is the safest alliance Poland ever joined," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday, hours before NATO announced it was deploying reconnaissance aircraft in his country and Romania as part of efforts to monitor the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

NATO's 1990s overture to the East marked the beginning of the alliance's enlargement to former members of the now-defunct Soviet-led Warsaw Pact.

After a decade of tough negotiations, the Czech Republic and Ukraine's neighbors Hungary and Poland joined the alliance on March 12, 1999.

This paved the way for a host of other ex-communist Central European states -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -- to follow suit in 2004, thus erasing the divisions of the Cold War.

"If Poland weren't in NATO, then the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) certainly wouldn't be in it either," former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski said Sunday.

"There was a kind of security vacuum in this part of the world, which could have been filled by others," he said, adding that without NATO membership the Ukrainian conflict would pose "an extremely serious threat" for Poland and the Baltics.

"But today we're under the NATO umbrella and can sleep more soundly."

Sixty-two percent of Poles say they are happy with NATO membership, while only four percent disapprove, according to a February poll from the CBOS institute.

- A new Cold War? -

The Ukraine crisis has raised the specter of the Cold War, with the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia comparing Russia's actions in Ukraine to Soviet crackdowns at home during that era.

NATO also held rare emergency talks after Poland requested consultations under Article 4 of the alliance treaty, which any member can do when they believe their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

To reassure its eastern European NATO allies, the United States stepped up a joint training exercise with Poland and strengthened the alliance's air patrols over the Baltic states.

A dozen F-16 fighter jets and 300 US service personnel will descend on Poland by Thursday to take part in the exercise, originally planned to be smaller but increased and pushed forward because of the "tense political situation" in Ukraine, Polish defense ministry spokesman Jacek Sonta told AFP.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin says the breakaway Crimea peninsula has the right to join his country, Ukraine has sought US help to end Moscow's "aggression" in the strategic region, where it has effectively seized control.

Washington, along with London and Moscow, pledged to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity in a 1994 agreement under which the ex-Soviet republic agreed to give up its nuclear weapons.

"NATO today is no longer the same organization that fought the USSR," said security expert and former Czech military intelligence chief Andor Sandor.

"It's no longer the alliance that we joined 15 years ago, but I continue to think it's in our best interest security-wise.

"Membership allowed our army to learn many things. We've met the Western standard in a lot of ways, and today many soldiers have completed missions, trained, held positions," he told AFP.

Hungary is likewise satisfied with its decision to join, according to defense expert Istvan Balogh from the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, the foreign ministry's think-tank.

"NATO membership has definitely been a net benefit to Hungary. It has anchored us in the transatlantic community," he told AFP.

"The combat experience we got out of Afghanistan, seeing how a 21st-century military environment works, has also contributed to developing the Hungarian military."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Fifteen_years_on_Ukraine_neighbours_glad_to_be_in_NATO_999.html.

Crimean Tatars fear return of Russian rule

March 10, 2014

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — The arrival of Russian troops in Crimea has opened old wounds among the Crimean Tatars, who were deported during World War II. Fearing that once again they will be unwelcome in their homeland, some are organizing community-watch patrols to protect their families and homes in a place they strongly feel should remain part of Ukraine.

Tensions have grown with preparations to hold a referendum on Sunday on whether Crimea should stay in Ukraine or join Russia. "It turned out that there's a sudden sense of danger," said Dilyaver Reshetov, who heads the watch group in Simferopol's Akmechet neighborhood.

While Crimea's ethnic Russian majority may be in favor of joining Russia, Muslim Tatars have rallied to support the new Ukrainian leaders in Kiev. This, they fear, will make them a target of rising Russian nationalism on the Black Sea peninsula.

Shortly after pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine two weeks ago, about 20,000 Tatars turned out for a rally in Simferopol, the Crimean capital, in support of the new pro-Western government in Kiev. They were confronted by a smaller pro-Russia rally, and at least 20 people were injured in clashes.

"Since we have been taken over, armed men have started to turn up," Reshetov said. "For the sake of the safety of our neighborhood — because nobody is going to come to protect us — there have been initiatives to gather in order for us to ensure our own safety."

What started as just 40 volunteers has swelled to more than 200 in Akmechet, where residents have turned a mosque into a makeshift command center for organizing volunteers. The volunteers, armed with flashlights and maps, patrol the poorly lit streets and stop any suspicious vehicles trying to enter the neighborhood.

"Crimean Tatars don't sleep at night because they are on watch near their villages," said Seiran Ismagilov, 23. The leader of the Crimean Tatar community, Refat Chubarov, said he understands why the Russians in Crimea look to Moscow, since many of their families arrived only after World War II. But the solution, he suggested, is for them to return to Russia if they are unhappy.

"We want for them to understand our love for our land and consider the fact that we do not have another homeland," Chubarov said during an interview in his office. "We don't have another choice. They do."

The Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group, now make up 12 percent of the population, but they ruled Crimea from the 15th century until the Russians conquered the peninsula in the 18th century. In May 1944, shortly after Soviet troops drove out the Nazi German troops that had occupied Crimea for much of World War II, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the deportation of the entire population of Tatars, accusing them of having collaborated with the enemy. The Tatars, who numbered about 250,000, were shipped in freight trains to Central Asia, where more than 40 percent of them died of hunger and disease.

In the years before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Tatars began to return to Crimea, which then became part of an independent Ukraine. They have embraced their new country. "Ukraine is moving toward Europe," said Ernst Mustafayev, a 52-year-old teacher, who had joined the protesters on the Kiev square known as Maidan. "And in a democracy, national minorities have a good life. This is why I stood on Maidan and this is why I am ready to stand up for Crimea."

Mustafayev said Ukraine has "defended the rights of my children and my people," and he has no desire to re-live the horrors Tatars suffered under Russians in the 20th century. Chubarov, the Tatar community leader, has called for a boycott of Sunday's referendum. Holding such a vote with little preparation and troops on the streets violates the rights of all Crimean residents and will only further destabilize the situation, Chubarov said. He has urged the United Nations to send in peacekeepers.

The new prime minister of Crimea's government, who by all appearances was placed in power by Moscow, has promised that there will be no ethnic or religious discrimination in Crimea. "Everyone will have equal rights," Sergei Aksyonov said in an interview to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published Monday.

Urging Tatars to take part in the referendum, Aksyonov offered their representatives positions in the new regional government and promised to double the amount of money available to help those who have returned from exile.

This is unlikely to satisfy the Tatars, who resent that the Russians feel they have the right to decide Crimea's future. "The Russians live in my homeland, in my historical homeland, and they want to decide my fate with me and instead of me," said Zair Smedlyayev, a 51-year-old father of three who returned 25 years ago from Tajikistan. "How do I feel about this? I won't allow it."

Blocked by sunken Russian ships, Ukraine's navy stays defiant

Myrny, Ukraine
March 09, 2014

Russia has deliberately sunk three of its own ships to block Ukrainian navy vessels into a lake off the Black Sea, officers say, highlighting Moscow's determination to wear down the morale of Kiev's forces in Crimea. The Ochakov -- a Soviet-era warship decommissioned in 2011 and set to be sold for scrap -- was towed to the entrance to Lake Donuzlav on Crimea's western coast from the Russian base at Sevastopol on Thursday and blown up. It capsized and, along with two smaller Russian vessels, is now blocking the narrow gap between two spits of land, its hull beaten by rough Black Sea waves. Ukraine's navy has limited resources and suffered a major blow last week when its chief Denis Berezovsky switched allegiance to the pro-Russian Crimean authorities and a new chief was appointed. But officers at a base near where the Russians sank the ship have no doubt what the Russians were trying to do and insist they will not be shaken by the tactics.

"It is blocked so we cannot get out," said Captain Viktor Shmyganovsky, second-in-command at the base in Novoozerne, one of the four biggest in Crimea. "If it wasn't blocked, we could have taken our ships to Odessa and it would stop them being seized by Russian forces. We would be more powerful in alliance with ships in Odessa." Ukraine's navy headquarters is in Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet was founded under Imperial Russia 230 years ago, but is currently barricaded by pro-Russian militants. Odessa, further round the coast into Ukraine and the country's largest port, offers a safer option amid the current military situation in Crimea, a semi-autonomous region of Ukraine where pro-Russian forces have seized control.

- 'Loyal to Ukraine' - The Novoozerne base -- built by the Soviets in 1976 and dotted with decorative Cold War missiles and communications equipment -- flies the Ukrainian flag prominently and is protected by a handful of troops armed with Kalashnikovs. While Ukrainian officers would not disclose exactly how many men are based there, it is thought to be in the dozens. After the ships were blown up, the commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet, Admiral Alexander Vitko, came to the base trying to get them to switch sides, said Shmyganovsky. "He wanted us to swear for the Russian people.

Members of the navy gave an honorable answer to the admiral -- Ukraine's soldiers will remain faithful to Ukraine's people," the small, neatly-dressed officer added. "A few military helicopters and planes were sent here (after the ships were sunk) and they were trying to break down our morale." Officers at the base declined to confirm how many Ukrainian ships were currently in Lake Donuzlav, while hinting at submarine capability. But Ukraine's navy is around a tenth of the size of Russia's and suffers from "inadequate finances", according to London-based military affairs think-tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Ukraine only has one, Soviet-built submarine which it is currently trying to restore to "service condition after over a decade of inactivity," it adds. Despite the odds stacking up against them, the Ukrainian navy is determined to stand its ground to the end in this storied naval territory, said Shmyganovsky.

"From history, we know that those who cannot use political means resort to weapons instead. An admiral once said Sevastopol never gives up and we can say the same about other Ukrainian navy units," he added. "As you know, no Ukrainian navy units have put down their weapons except Admiral Berezovksy. None of the others swore for the Crimean or Russian people. We're staying loyal to the Ukrainian people."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Blocked_by_sunken_Russian_ships_Ukraines_navy_stays_defiant_999.html.

Ukrainians urge US, EU to get on same wavelength

March 07, 2014

PARIS (AP) — Two potential Ukrainian presidential contenders are urging the U.S. and European Union to stick to a single, tough stance against Russia over its military incursion into Crimea.

While Washington is imposing sanctions and strongly criticizing Moscow, the EU has taken softer measures. Some European countries are wary of antagonizing Russia, a major energy supplier and trade partner, and anything that might lead to war on this continent.

Former boxer Vitali Klitschko and magnate Petro Poroshenko, both of whom are seen as likely candidates in Ukraine's May presidential election, sought European support Friday to bring Ukraine and its economy under control while Russia has moved forces into the Crimean Peninsula.

Poroshenko told reporters in Paris that Ukraine wants the EU and U.S. "to speak in one voice and be on the same wavelength." Klitschko, a leader of the protest movement that sent Ukraine's president fleeing last month, said "we need a joint position by all EU countries and the United States."

Klitschko told The Associated Press that "of course" he is afraid of Russian aggression, but said the standoff over Crimea shouldn't be solved "on a military level." "We must do everything so that not a single drop of blood is spilled," he said at Le Bourget Airport.

President Francois Hollande maintained a cautious tone in meetings with the two men Friday. While criticizing Crimean lawmakers' efforts to break away from Ukraine and join Russia, Hollande said he wants to "leave open the path of dialogue so that Russia can seize it whenever it decides to do so."

EU leaders imposed limited sanctions on Russia on Thursday, while President Barack Obama slapped visa restrictions on opponents of Ukraine's new government and authorized wider financial penalties. The cautious EU position reflects divisions within the continent, but also the nature of a union created to prevent war and ease trade after centuries of conflict. The bloc reaches all of its decisions by painstaking consensus.

"America is one country and it can take steps, it does things in a slightly different way from the European Union. The European Union is 28 sovereign countries who have to agree together," British Prime Minister David Cameron said after an EU summit Thursday night.

Canada, home to more than 1 million people of Ukrainian descent, imposed its own travel bans Friday on people threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the ban was to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin's "illegal military occupation" of Crimea.

Crimea to vote to split from Ukraine, join Russia

March 07, 2014

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine lurched toward breakup Thursday as lawmakers in Crimea unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and would put the decision to voters in 10 days. President Barack Obama condemned the move and the West answered with the first real sanctions against Russia.

Speaking from the White House, Obama said any decisions on the future of Crimea, a pro-Russian area of Ukraine, must include the country's new government. "The proposed referendum on the future of Crimea would violate the constitution and violate international law," Obama said. "We are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was almost certainly behind Thursday's dramatic developments, but it was not clear whether he is aiming for outright annexation, or simply strengthening his hand in talks with the West.

The U.S. moved to impose financial sanctions and travel restrictions on opponents of Ukraine's new government and the EU also announced limited punitive measures against Putin's government, including the suspension of trade and visa talks. Both Washington and the EU said they were discussing further sanctions.

"I am confident that we are moving forward together, united in our determination to oppose actions that violate international law and to support the government and people of Ukraine," Obama said. Crimea's parliament rammed through what amounted to a declaration of independence from Ukraine, announcing it would let the Crimean people, 60 percent of whom are ethnic Russian, decide in a March 16 referendum whether they want to become part of their gigantic neighbor to the east.

"This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev," said lawmaker Sergei Shuvainikov. "We will decide our future ourselves." Ukraine's prime minister swiftly denounced the action. "This so-called referendum has no legal grounds at all," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The country's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, later said Ukraine would move to dissolve Crimea's parliament, but such an action would have virtually no practical effect.

In Washington, Obama spoke with Putin by phone for nearly an hour — their first known contact since Saturday. The White House said Obama told Putin his country's actions violated Ukraine's sovereignty and that there was still a way to resolve the dispute diplomatically.

Earlier in the day, Obama signed an executive order authorizing the Treasury Department to levy financial sanctions against "individuals and entities" deemed responsible for Russia's military takeover in Crimea. The U.S. also imposed a separate ban on U.S. visas for an unspecified and unidentified number of people the U.S. accuses of threatening Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial borders.

In a statement, the White House said the penalties would target "those who are most directly involved in destabilizing Ukraine, including the military intervention in Crimea, and does not preclude further steps should the situation deteriorate." The sanctions were unlikely to directly target Putin.

The U.S. actions came as EU leaders gathered at an emergency summit in Brussels to put in place their own measures, but appeared split over how forcefully to follow America's lead. EU President Herman Van Rompuy said the bloc would suspend talks with Russia on a wide-ranging economic pact and on a visa deal, and would consider further measures if Russia does not quickly open meaningful dialogue.

The Europeans were divided between nations close to Russia's borders, which want the bloc to stand up to Moscow, and some Western economic powerhouses — notably Germany — that were taking a more dovish line.

"Not everyone will be satisfied with the decision, but I should say that we did much more together than one could have expected several hours ago," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Meanwhile, in Moscow, a prominent member of Russia's parliament, Sergei Mironov, said he had introduced a bill to simplify the procedure for Crimea to join Russia and it could be passed as soon as next week. Another senior lawmaker, Leonid Slutsky, said the parliament could consider such a motion after the referendum.

Earlier this week, Putin said Russia had no intention of annexing Crimea, while insisting its population has the right to determine the region's status in a referendum. A popular vote would give Putin a democratic fig leaf for what would effectively be a formal takeover — although it was too early to tell whether such a move would actually go forward.

For Putin, Crimea would be a dazzling acquisition, and help cement his authority with a Russian citizenry that has in recent years shown signs of restiveness and still resents the loss of the sprawling empire Moscow ruled in Soviet times. The peninsula was once Russia's imperial crown jewel, a lush land seized by Catherine the Great in the 18th century that evokes Russia's claim to greatness as a world power.

A referendum had previously been scheduled in Crimea for March 30, but the question to be put to voters was whether their region should enjoy "state autonomy" within Ukraine. The city legislature in Sevastopol, the Crimean port that hosts Russia's naval base, voted late Thursday to declare itself part of Russia and join the referendum. The vote was necessary because the city has an autonomous status making it separate from the rest of Crimea.

Crimea's new leader has said pro-Russian forces numbering more than 11,000 now control all access to the peninsula in the Black Sea and have blockaded all military bases that have not yet surrendered.

EU economic sanctions against Russia could prove painful for Europe since Russia could hit back by turning off the taps to natural gas that is an urgent need for many European countries, including regional giant Germany.

The fallout for Europe from any action targeting influential Russian oligarchs or corporations would also be great. Russian investors hold assets worth billions in European banks, particularly in Britain — which is reluctant to undermine its massive financial services industry. Russia, the EU's third biggest trading partner, bought $170 billion in European machinery, cars and other exports in 2012.

The U.S. sanctions were announced as Secretary of State John Kerry headed into a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rome. Kerry stressed a need for a direct Russian-Ukrainian dialogue and the importance of allowing international monitors into Crimea and eastern Ukraine, but diplomatic progress appeared elusive.

In Simferopol, Crimea's capital, about 50 people rallied outside the local parliament Thursday waving Russian and Crimean flags. "Russia, defend us from genocide," one poster read. "Only Russia can give us a peaceful life," declared 35-year-old Igor Urbansky, one of the rally participants.

"We are tired of revolutions, maidans and conflicts and we want to live peacefully in Russia," he said, evoking the name of the downtown square in Kiev where tens of thousands of protesters contested the rule of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia.

Still not all in the city favored the lawmakers' vote to secede from Ukraine. "This is crazy. Crimea has become Putin's puppet," said Viktor Gordiyenko, 46. "A referendum at gunpoint of Russia weapons is just a decoration for Putin's show. A decision on occupation has already been made."

Svetlana Savchenko, a Crimean lawmaker, said the choice she and her fellow deputies took in favor of joining Russia will force Moscow to make a decision. "Now the Russian Federation must begin a procedure — will it take us in or not?" she said.

Rustam Temirgaliev, first vice premier of the Crimean government, said preparations were already underway already to bring Crimea into Russia's "ruble zone." "At the present moment, a large, important group of specialists from Russia is at work, preparing to assure the entry of Crimea into the Russian Federation," Temirgaliev said.

At the Ukrainian naval base in Novo-Ozerne, the inlet leading to the Black Sea was blocked Thursday by a partially submerged Russian naval vessel, preventing two Ukrainian ships from leaving port. Ukrainian sailors said the Russians had blown up the decommissioned vessel overnight.

Baetz reported from Brussels. Associated Press reporters Sergei Chuzavkov in Donetsk, Dalton Bennett in Novo Ozerne, Julie Pace in Washington, Lara Jakes in Rome, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, David Rising in Berlin, George Jahn in Vienna, and Angela Charlton in Brussels contributed to this report.

Every red dwarf star has at least one planet

Hatfield, UK (SPX)
Mar 10, 2014

Three new planets classified as habitable-zone super-Earths are among eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars by an international team of astronomers from the UK and Chile. The study identifies that virtually all red dwarfs, which make up at least three quarters of the stars in the Universe, have planets orbiting them.

The research also suggests that habitable-zone super-Earth planets (where liquid water could exist and making them possible candidates to support life) orbit around at least a quarter of the red dwarfs in the Sun's own neighborhood.

These new results have been obtained from analyzing data from two high-precision planet surveys - the HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) and UVES (Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph) - both operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. By combining the data, the team was able to detect signals that were not strong enough to be seen clearly in the data from either instrument alone.

Dr Mikko Tuomi, from the University of Hertfordshire's Center for Astrophysics Research and lead author of the study, said: "We were looking at the data from UVES alone, and noticed some variability that could not be explained by random noise. By combining those with data from HARPS, we managed to spot this spectacular haul of planet candidates."

"We are clearly probing a highly abundant population of low-mass planets, and can readily expect to find many more in the near future - even around the very closest stars to the Sun."

Detecting the new planets

To find evidence for the existence of these planets, the astronomers measured how much a star "wobbles" in space as it is affected by a planet's gravity. As an unseen planet orbits a distant star, the gravitational pull causes the star to move back and forth in space. This periodic wobble is detected in the star's light

The team used novel analysis techniques in squeezing the planetary signals out of the data. In particular, they applied the Bayes' rule of conditional probabilities that enables answering the question "What is the probability that a given star has planets orbiting it based on the available data?" This approach, together with a technique enabling the researchers to filter out excess noise in the measurements, made the detections possible.

Professor Hugh Jones, also from the University of Hertfordshire, commented: "This result is somewhat expected in the sense that studies of distant red dwarfs with the Kepler mission indicate a significant population of small radius planets. So it is pleasing to be able to confirm this result with a sample of stars that are among the brightest in their class."

The new planets have been discovered around stars between 15 and 80 light years away and they have orbital periods between two weeks and nine years. This means they orbit their stars at distances ranging from about 0.05 to 4 times the Earth-Sun distance - 149 million kilometers (93 million miles).

These discoveries add eight new exoplanets signals to the previous total of 17 already known around such low-mass dwarfs. The paper also presents ten weaker signals for which further follow-up is necessary.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Every_red_dwarf_star_has_at_least_one_planet_999.html.

India's Mars mission to reach Red Planet in 200 days

New Delhi (XNA)
Mar 10, 2014

India's maiden Mars mission, launched in November last year, is likely to reach the Red Planet in 200 days, the state-owned space agency has said.

"If everything goes as planned, MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) will get inserted into its Martian orbit around, exactly after 200 days from today," the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said in a posting on its social networking site Facebook page Friday night.

So far, the Mars mission has traveled some 21 million km, after performing six orbit raising maneuvers around the Earth. It is scheduled to reach Red Planet's orbit on Sept. 24 this year.

If the Mars mission reaches its destination, then India would become the world's sixth country after the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and China to achieve such a feat.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Indias_Mars_mission_to_reach_Red_Planet_in_200_days_999.html.

A Telescope Bigger than a Galaxy

by Dr. Tony Phillips for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX)
Mar 11, 2014

More than 400 years ago, Galileo turned a primitive spyglass toward the sky, and in just a few nights learned more about the unseen heavens than all of the scientists and philosophers before him, combined.

Since then astronomers have been guided by a simple imperative: Make Bigger Telescopes. As the 21st century unfolds, the power of optics has grown a million-fold. Telescopes cap the highest mountains, sprawl across deserts, fill valleys and even fly through space. These modern giants provide crystal-clear views of stars and galaxies billions of light years farther away than anything Galileo ever saw, each breakthrough in size bringing a new and deeper understanding of the cosmos.

It makes you wonder, how big can a telescope get?

Would you believe, bigger than an entire galaxy? At the January 2014 meeting of the American Astronomical Society, researchers revealed a patch of sky seen through a lens more than 500,000 light years wide.

The "lens" is actually a massive cluster of galaxies known as Abell 2744. As predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the mass of the cluster warps the fabric of space around it. Starlight passing by is bent and magnified, much like an ordinary lens except on a vastly larger scale.

Lately, the Hubble Space Telescope, along with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has been looking through this gravitational lens as part of a program called "Frontier Fields."

"Frontier Fields is an experiment to explore the first billion years of the Universe's history," says Matt Mountain from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The question is, "Can we use Hubble's exquisite image quality and Einstein's theory of general relativity to search for the first galaxies?"

The answer seems to be "yes." At the AAS meeting, an international team led by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and La Laguna University discussed Hubble and Spitzer observations of the Abell 2744 cluster.

Among the results was the discovery of one of the most distant galaxies ever seen-a star system 30 times smaller yet 10 times more active than our own Milky Way. Bursting with newborn stars, the firebrand is giving astronomers a rare glimpse of a galaxy born not long after the Big Bang itself.

Overall, the Hubble exposure of Abell2744 revealed almost 3,000 distant galaxies magnified as much as 10 to 20 times larger than they would normally appear. Without the boost of gravitational lensing, almost all of those background galaxies would be invisible.

Abell 2744 is just the beginning. Frontier Fields is targeting six galaxy clusters as gravitational lenses. Together, they form an array of mighty telescopes capable of probing the heavens as never before.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/A_Telescope_Bigger_than_a_Galaxy_999.html.

Australia endures 'angry summer'

Sydney (AFP)
March 10, 2014

Australia has endured another "angry summer" with more than 150 temperature records smashed, a new report said Monday, with a warning that heatwaves and sweltering conditions will only get worse.

Among the records broken, Perth had its hottest night ever at 29.7 Celsius (85.4 Fahrenheit), Adelaide recorded its warmest February day (44.7 Celsius) while Sydney went through its driest summer in 27 years, the independent Climate Council watchdog said.

It follows Australia experiencing its hottest year on record in 2013, according to official figures.

"Australia experienced another angry summer," said council scientist Tim Flannery, whose organization analyses climate data from across the country.

"We had substantial heat records, heatwaves and other extreme weather events."

Australia's southeast bore the brunt with prolonged heatwaves in Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra while parts of the states of South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria were ravaged by bushfires.

Elsewhere, drought conditions blighted inland parts of the country's east with Queensland in the grip of its most widespread drought ever, while areas in the north and west experienced above average rainfall.

The latest report follows a joint study last week by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the Bureau of Meteorology that said temperatures across Australia were, on average, almost 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than a century ago.

It said seven of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998 while over the past 15 years the frequency of very hot months has increased five-fold.

"The latest summer was another example of climate change tearing through the record books," Flannery said.

"It's not just about one summer but an overall trend to more extreme weather.

"Things are getting bad and if we want to stop them getting worse this is the critical decade for action. We need to cut the emission of greenhouse gasses and we need to do it urgently."

Australia is among the world's worst per capita polluters due to reliance on coal-fired power and mining exports.

Since assuming office last September, the conservative government of Tony Abbott has moved to abolish an Australian carbon tax designed to combat climate change, which charges the biggest polluters for their emissions at a fixed price.

Abbott, a long-time climate change skeptic, instead favors a "direct action" plan that includes an incentive fund to pay companies to increase energy efficiency, a controversial sequestration of carbon in soil scheme, and the planting of 20 million trees.

The government last year abolished what was then the Climate Change Commission, saying an independent body was not needed.

But it soon rebranded as the Climate Commission -- a non-profit body funded by public donations to continue providing information campaigns about the science of climate change, emissions targets and international action.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Australia_endures_angry_summer_999.html.