Algeria activists stage rare anti-gov't protest

March 15, 2014

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — About 100 Algerian activists from a new anti-government movement staged a rare protest Saturday against the ailing president and his decision to run for a fourth term.

While there was a heavy police presence, officers didn't violently disperse the young protesters from the "Barakat!" (Enough) group like they did in similar demonstrations earlier this month. "The state backed off after the images of repression from last week," group co-founder Amina Bouraoua said, adding that future protests would take place outside the capital. "We will continue our fight against the election and the system."

The 77-year-old president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, will be running for a fourth term after 15 years in power, despite having a stroke last year that has made his speech and movement difficult. While six candidates have been approved for the April 17 elections, Bouteflika is expected to win with the backing of the powerful machinery of the state.

The oil and gas-rich North African nation has a tightly controlled political system dominated by the military and a ruling party. Most of Algeria's economy relies on its hydrocarbon wealth and so produces few jobs for its rapidly expanding population of 38 million.

Despite Barakat's small numbers and the heavy opposition it faces from a powerful state, local analysts are describing it as an important development. They say it brings to mind Egypt's Kifaya (which also means "enough") movement against President Hosni Mubarak that eventually led to the uprising that overthrew the government.

"It is an alternative to the classic political parties that have failed and it makes us think of the youth behind the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt," said Rachid Tlemcani, a political analyst at University of Algiers, who said the movement's rough treatment by authorities showed the system's insecurity. "It is afraid that this movement could be a catalyst for a wider conflagration because all the ingredients for an explosion are there."

Algeria was barely affected by a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the Arab world in 2011, in part many say because of a decade-long battle against an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s that left 200,000 dead.

In fact, many of those on the street watching Saturday's small protest questioned whether Algeria needed any instability, pointing out that Arab Spring countries like Egypt and Libya were in bad shape.

"I think it's worth keeping an eye on," said William Lawrence, a North Africa expert at George Washington University. "It's evidence that civil society is not dead in Algeria." He noted though that most protests in Algeria tend to focus on economic issues rather than political issues because people know the state will respond by throwing money at the problem.

As a measure of the challenge faced by any opposition, thousands of student leaders affiliated with the ruling party were bused to a stadium across the city for support rallies for the president at the same time as the small Barakat protest took place.

Student leaders promised "millions" of votes for Bouteflika and scoffed at the "dozens" of protesters with the Barakat movement. In his speech at the rally, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, also the president's campaign manager, dismissed the Arab Spring as a mosquito to be "eliminated with bug spray."

Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco.

Saudi Arabia replaces powerful intelligence chief

2014-04-15

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has replaced its veteran intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan "at his own request", an official television station in the kingdom announced Tuesday.

In a royal decree, the powerful official was replaced "at his own request" by his deputy, Yousef al-Idrissi, said Al-Ekhbariya, a government-run satellite channel.

Bandar was abroad for several months for health reasons, with diplomats saying he had been sidelined in Saudi efforts to support rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

During Prince Bandar's absence, Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef was put in charge of the Syrian file and of the intelligence agency.

The security officials said last week that the 65 year-old Prince was seeking medical attention in the US and resting in Morocco after surgery on his shoulder.

Bandar, who formerly served as Saudi ambassador to the US for 22 years, has had special responsibility for the Levant for years, leading Saudi intelligence and strategic affairs in the region.

Analysts and intelligence sources have repeatedly said that Bandar has been the key figure trying to boost Saudi weapons flow to Syrian rebel forces seeking to oust President Bashar Assad's government.

The security sources said that Bandar held a number of official meetings while in Morocco, including with Saudi deputy defense minister Salman bin Sultan.

The deputy defense minister briefed Bandar on his official visits to Washington and Paris last month, they added, also saying that Bandar met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan while in Marrakech.

Informed sources had revealed in December that Bandar would be sidelined because the King and a large number of other Saudi princes were unhappy with his handling of Syria's crisis.

A top Saudi diplomat had previously said that Bandar could not have taken any decisions without King Abdullah's approval, including his moves with regard to Syria.

He said that the interior minister took over Bandar's responsibilities in his absence because he too had experience in dealing with security affairs.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=65424.

Taiwan hails first US cabinet-level visit for 14 years

Taipei (AFP)
April 14, 2014

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday met Gina McCarthy, the first US cabinet-level official to visit the island in 14 years, and hailed her trip as important for ties with Washington.

"This is the first time since 2000 for a cabinet-level official to visit Taiwan from the United States. It is of great significance for bilateral ties," Ma said while meeting McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.

It remains the leading arms supplier to the island, but has been cautious in holding official contacts with it.

China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory awaiting reunification -- by force if necessary -- following their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Taipei-Washington ties were at their worst when President Chen Shui-bian of the China-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party was in power for the eight years to 2008.

But relations have been on an upswing since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power that year.

Ma has referred to the former government as "troublemakers" and has repeatedly assured Washington of "no surprises" in his diplomacy, which is focused on securing a diplomatic truce with Beijing.

"I've striven to restore mutual trust since 2008, and this visit manifests our years-long efforts," Ma said, according to a statement by the presidential office.

But both Taipei and Washington have kept Mc Carthy's visit low-profile.

China had a muted reaction when Rajiv Shah, the head of the US Agency for International Development, visited Taiwan in 2011. However Shah technically does not have cabinet status.

McCarthy visited an elementary school outside Taipei featuring a low-carbon classroom and a garden with an ecological area, and gave a speech at National Taiwan University on environmental cooperation between Taiwan and the United States.

Source: Sino Daily.
Link: http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/Taiwan_hails_first_US_cabinet-level_visit_for_14_years_999.html.

Japan military in popularity push

Tokyo (AFP)
April 14, 2014

Pacifist Japan is gradually learning to love its military, with an apparent public relations campaign under way to soften its image, featuring online popularity contests, a much-touted soprano vocalist and dating events.

The armed forces are also visible in youth culture, with young teens tuning in to "Girl und Panzer" a cartoon about schoolgirls who do battle in tanks. Japan's most popular Twitter hashtag in 2013 was #KanColle, a reference to an online game in which anthropomorphized warships compete to out-pretty each other as young girls.

The image change comes as nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to give the Self Defense Forces (SDF) more money and scope to act as a normal military might, at a time of rising tensions with China.

The SDF has not fired a shot in battle since a battered and broken Japan surrendered in 1945, accepting a United States-led occupation that would last until 1952.

Its once-huge armed forces were emasculated, stripped by the foreign-imposed constitution of the right to wage war and restricted to a self-defense role.

What arose in their place was an organization that spent the intervening decades quietly becoming a highly-professional and well-disciplined force, one far removed from the army that wreaked havoc across Asia before and during World War II in the name of the emperor.

Relief efforts in the aftermath of Japan's 2011 tsunami awakened the public to its modern-day military, and the sight of soldiers combing wrecked coastlines became a comfort for those whose loved ones had disappeared beneath the waves.

"People have begun to feel the same way about the military as they do about police or firefighters," said Yoshinori Saeki, secretary-general of the Tokyo-based Research Institute for Peace and Stability.

- Charm offensive -

On the frontline of nurturing friendly ties with citizens is Yukari Miyake, a 27-year-old petty officer third class dubbed the "sole vocalist" of the 230,000-strong SDF.

On the sidelines of a concert in Tokyo last year, Miyake said the public seemed to warm to her.

"There is great significance in the fact that I sing in uniform. Whenever I sing on stage for the audience, I feel dearly that I'm giving them inspiration and that they're more open about their feelings with someone in uniform," she told AFP.

Those who came to the concert said musical and other cultural activities were contributing to softening the image of troops.

"As more and more people get to know these kind of activities, I think the image of SDF will change," said Nobuyuki Shikada, 43.

A campaign last year invited the public to vote for their favorite personnel in an online contest, complete with clips of a muscular serviceman stripped to the waist and doing pull-ups.

And a three-times-a-year, match-making event with ground, air and maritime officers drew a record 1,427 applications from single women last month, more than 10 for every available place.

The charm offensive comes as a confident Abe pushes to reconfigure Japan's role in the world, and specifically that of its armed forces.

He wants to re-interpret national law to allow Japanese troops to take up arms to defend an ally under attack, so called collective self-defense.

Beijing has sought to paint Abe's moves as a dangerous slide towards the militarism of last century.

Most commentators agree China is off the mark and Japan remains no threat to neighboring countries.

A bigger obstacle to the project is public opinion at home.

Kirk Spitzer, a journalist specializing in military matters, says "the majority of Japanese still have a lot of qualms about having a real military service."

But, he adds, "I do think that Japanese people are becoming a little bit more used to (the idea) than in previous years."

- A 'new stage' -

A tense stand-off over disputed islands in the East China Sea is greasing the wheels for Abe, who has decreed the military budget for this financial year, which started April 1, is going up.

Saeki, a former Lieutenant General in the ground force, says the military feels that it needs to be prepared for all scenarios.

Under the US-Japan security alliance "there has been an implicit assumption that the US is the pike and Japan the shield", he said.

"People's mindset is now changing... We are undoubtedly in a new stage."

Spitzer says that even with the shifting international sands, the armed forces themselves seem unsure of where they fit in.

He points out the differences between Japan and the US, for example, where it is not uncommon to see military men and women.

In Japan, generals commute to their headquarters in civilian clothes and change into uniforms when they get there, he says.

It is an organization that is "torn about what direction they want to go," he said.

"The Japanese military themselves are wondering if they should begin to become more of a military organization than they have been in recent years."

Japan hopes that its military becomes respectable as a career choice to help with the recruitment of educated and dedicated soldiers, sailors and airmen -- no mean feat in a rapidly-ageing society.

And it is perhaps this more than anything else, suggests Spitzer, which explains the PR campaign of musicians and popularity contests.

It helps to "create the idea that people in the military are normal people or everyday people -- they are not some group of killers".

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_military_in_popularity_push_999.html.

Xi urges China to build up joint space and air power

Beijing (AFP)
April 15, 2014

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged further integration of air and space defense capabilities, in what experts described Tuesday as a response to the militarization of space by rivals including the United States.

China says its ambitious space program is peaceful, but such claims were first questioned in 2007 when the military used a ground-based missile to destroy one of its own satellites in orbit.

According to several specialist websites, China last May also tested part of a new anti-satellite ballistic missile.

Xi told the country's air force to "speed up airspace integration and sharpen their offensive and defensive capabilities", the official Xinhua news agency said late Monday in a report which did not elaborate on how this should be done.

The state-run China Daily newspaper on Tuesday quoted Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine in Beijing, as saying the move was in response to the "need of the times".

"The United States has paid considerable attention and resources to the integration of capabilities in both air and space, and other powers have also moved progressively toward space militarization," Wang was quoted as saying.

"Though China has stated that it sticks to the peaceful use of space, we must make sure that we have the ability to cope with others' operations in space."

The China Daily article said "the idea of combining air and space capability is not new to the Chinese air force".

But China's space program has previously focused more on commerce and science rather than defense.

Beijing sees the program as a symbol of its rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as of the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Xi_urges_China_to_build_up_joint_space_and_air_power_999.html.

Belarus calls for restoration of ties with Iran

Wed Apr 16, 2014

Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko says his country is ready to restore trade and economic ties with Iran to the level that existed before Western sanctions were imposed against Tehran.

"Our trade has dropped recently due to external pressures…," Lukashenko said at a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Minsk on Wednesday.

"We must urgently reach the highest level of our cooperation as we had before," he said, adding, "I would like us to resume our cooperation to the best of our potentials"

Pointing to Larijani’s important visit to Belarus, Lukashenko said Belarus has always seen Iran as a partner for cooperation.

"You understand how important your visit is at this moment and how significant role it plays in restoring the intensity of our relations," he said.

Larijani, for his part, stated that the two countries "must utilize their experience and create a new atmosphere for cooperation."

"I can reassure you that the Iranian government and parliament are determined to develop relations with Belarus in all spheres. Iran considers your country its reliable friend and partner," he added.

Heading a parliamentary delegation, Larijani arrived in Minsk on Wednesday to pay an official visit to the European country at the invitation of his Belorussian counterpart, Vladimir Andreichenko.

Iran and Belarus have developed good relations in recent years, particularly in the economic and trade sectors, and have signed a number of agreements to shore up bilateral cooperation in many areas, including in technical and engineering projects.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/16/358821/belarus-stresses-relations-with-iran/.

Progress in Venezuela talks, but protests continue

April 17, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Negotiators for the government and the opposition have agreed to broaden membership in a truth commission that is to investigate who is to blame for 41 deaths tied to weeks of political unrest in Venezuela.

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, who is one of the outside facilitators in the talks, on Wednesday called the step a sign of "progress" in the effort to calm Venezuela's political unrest.

But opposition leaders criticized the government for not accepting a proposal for amnesty to be granted to people arrested during the protests. Hundreds of university students staged another anti-government demonstration late in the day, marching barefoot in what they said was penance for the country's economic and crime problems.

The agreement on the truth commission was announced following hours of negotiations that took place Tuesday night behind closed doors in what both sides described as a much-needed if torturous attempt at dialogue in a nation polarized by 15 years of socialist rule.

Heading into the meeting the government had insisted that any investigation of the protests be led by Congress, which it dominates. But it partially met the opposition's demands for an independent commission by agreeing to include national figures trusted by both sides.

The talk, which began last week, are being sponsored by the Vatican as well as Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador.

Navy gets new class of amphibious assault ship

Pascagoula, Miss. (UPI)
Apr 14, 2013

The first America-class amphibious assault ship has been delivered to the U.S. Navy by Ingalls Shipbuilding.

America-class ships are 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and displace 44,971 tons. They have a top speed of more than 20 knots. They will be capable of carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit, including Marine helicopters, MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

"The shipbuilders of Ingalls have worked tirelessly to deliver this awesome, powerful warship to our U.S. Navy customer," said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. "This took more than just doing a job. This took dedication and working to a greater purpose, knowing that our family, friends and fellow Americans could serve on this great ship -- the highest quality LHA ever produced by Ingalls."

The America recently completed sea trials and is scheduled to be commissioned into service later this year in San Francisco, Calif.

The new class of amphibious assault ship features an enlarged hangar deck, expanded aviation maintenance facilities and greater aviation fuel capacity than earlier ships.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Navy_gets_new_class_of_amphibious_assault_ship_999.html.

South Sudan rebel chief vows to seize oil fields

Tue Apr 15, 2014

The leader of South Sudanese rebels has vowed to attack the capital Juba to take control of oil fields.

Riek Machar said that war in South Sudan would not end unless President Salva Kiir was removed from power, AFP reported on Tuesday.

"If we are to remove the dictator, Juba is a target, oil fields are a target," Machar said, referring to Kiir.

"We are only resisting a regime that wants to destroy us," added the rebel leader, who was speaking at a secret location in Upper Nile state late on Monday.

The 62-year-old former vice president said he was ready to hold direct talks with Kiir but questioned the idea himself, saying, "What would we discuss? You are a discredited leader, you have committed massacres. I hope he accepts that."

He also accused the South Sudanese president of "corruption by exploiting our resources," claiming, "He is buying more arms, more ammunition."

The political crisis in South Sudan began after Kiir accused the rebel leader of attempting a coup in December 2013.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war between the army and defectors, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president’s tribe against Machar's.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.

The government in Juba is grappling with rampant corruption, unrest and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation left devastated by decades of war.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/15/358708/s-sudan-rebels-vow-to-take-oil-fields/.

Rebels recapture key oil town in South Sudan

Tue Apr 15, 2014

Rebels in South Sudan say they have recaptured the oil-rich Unity state capital Bentiu from government troops.

The spokesperson for rebel leader Riek Machar, James Gatdet Dak, made announcement in the volatile region on Tuesday

“I could hear the ululations of people in the background celebrating its recapture and I couldn’t hear gun shots which suggested that the fighting was over inside the town,” the spokesman said, adding, “To me, the town has fallen to our forces.”

The rebels say they have given oil companies an ultimatum to shut down production and evacuate their staff within a week.

This is while the UN peacekeepers say they have rescued ten staff members from the Russian oil company Safinat.

Five oil workers were wounded during the rescue operation, with two said to be in critical condition.

A rebel commander says recapturing the oil-rich-state is the first phase of taking control of all oil fields.

The fighting between troops of South Sudan President Salva Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group, and his former deputy, Machar, a Nuer, erupted around the capital, Juba, on December 15, 2013.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war between the army and defectors, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president’s tribe against Machar’s.

The fighting comes despite a ceasefire signed on January 23 to end weeks of heavy fighting which led to the death of thousands of people in the world’s youngest nation.

The international community has repeatedly urged both sides to respect the ceasefire.

The ongoing violence in South Sudan has claimed thousands of lives and forced over a million to flee their homes.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/15/358691/rebels-seize-key-oil-town-in-south-sudan/.

Israeli killed in West Bank shooting

Jerusalem (AFP)
April 14, 2014

An Israeli was killed and two others wounded in a shooting near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, the army said.

The incident at the start of the Jewish Passover holiday was the first deadly attack on an Israeli in the occupied West Bank since the start of the year, and came as tensions were soaring over the near-breakdown of US-brokered peace talks.

"Fire was opened at Israeli civilian vehicles on Route 35, near Hebron, and we're conducting widespread searches for the perpetrators... An Israeli civilian was killed in the attack," a spokeswoman told AFP.

A separate army statement said two other Israelis were wounded.

The man who was killed was a police officer from the town of Modiin in central Israel, an Israeli security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The policeman's wife and nine-year-old child were wounded and transferred to hospital. Three other children were in the vehicle, according to Israeli military radio.

Israelis in another car said they saw a man wearing a helmet and firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the side of the road, it said.

Dozens of army vehicles fanned out into nearby Palestinian villages, and a security barrier was erected at the main entrance to Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, according to an AFP photographer.

The flashpoint city of Hebron is home to nearly 200,000 Palestinians. There are some 80 settler homes in the center of town housing about 700 Jews who live under Israeli army protection.

The Palestinian Hamas movement ruling Gaza, and fellow Islamist movement Islamic Jihad praised the attack, linking it to recent unrest in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's Old City.

"Hamas praises the heroic Hebron operation and considers it a result of the (Israeli) occupation's oppression and crimes against our people and holy places, including the Al-Aqsa mosque," a statement said.

Islamic Jihad released a similar statement, hailing the attack and linking it to "settlers appropriating the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque."

But neither group claimed responsibility for the attack.

-- Clashes in Jerusalem --

On Sunday, Israeli police arrested five people after Palestinians clashed with security forces at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Police said "stones and Molotov cocktails" were thrown at officers, who responded using stun grenades and entered the compound.

An AFP journalist said Hamas members were among the protesters.

The compound, in the walled Old City, houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques, and is the third most sacred site in Islam.

It is also the holiest place in Judaism, venerated as the site where King Herod's temple stood before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Clashes frequently break out there between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

Muslims are intensely sensitive to any perceived threat to the status of the compound and many believe Jews are determined to build a new temple on the wide esplanade.

Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, but often try to enter the compound.

Monday's shooting took place as the seven-day Jewish Passover holiday began.

In September, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a suspected Palestinian gunman in the center of Hebron during the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since January 1 in the West Bank, where around 350,000 Israelis live in settlements considered illegal by the international community.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have meanwhile been trying to save collapsing US-backed peace talks, and were scheduled to meet again Wednesday with US envoy Martin Indyk.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Israeli_killed_in_West_Bank_shooting_999.html.

From Red Mars To Green Earth

Paris (ESA)
Apr 15, 2014

How can a sensor for analyzing the atmosphere of Mars help us to cut greenhouse emissions on Earth? By going where no human or machine has been before. Parts of our planet are so hostile they are unreachable. But if we are to understand Earth's atmosphere it is vital we monitor factors such as gases around industrial chimneys and erupting volcanoes.

A new portable device created by the young space scientist Hugh Mortimer promises a greener future by readily analyzing the composition of gases, solids and liquids using the light they emit.

Hugh and his partner Jolyon Tidmarsh are now hosted at ESA's Business Incubation Center in Harwell, UK, while they turn the invention into a commercial business.

Originally designed to fly on future Mars probes, this little device is so sturdy it can withstand some of the harshest conditions on Earth, making it ideal for measuring air quality and roadside vehicle emissions, detecting gas leaks and monitoring industrial chemical processes. Its size makes it especially suited to fly on aerial drones for mapping the ground below or monitoring color variations in crops for more efficient use of pesticides and fertilizers.

Over the rainbow

Such 'spectroscopes' split up incoming light into its individual colors, with the unique pattern revealing the composition of the source. On Earth, they are already commonplace in food production and industry to determine the composition and purity of substances, as well as in the medical world to 'sniff' a patient and help diagnose illness.

The problem is that they are bulky. In space, where weight equals money, this makes them expensive. Add their complex system of mirrors and moving parts and they are vulnerable to damage during launch, with plenty to go wrong in the hostile environment of space.

It was this need for a smaller, lighter device with fewer moving parts that drove a team at the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to find a new design for analyzing planetary atmospheres. In a lightbulb moment, PhD graduate Hugh came up with a ground-breaking approach.

"I had been working with a spectrometer design that used a very complex optical arrangement and I really wanted to create something simpler," he recalled. "I was sitting at the back of a meeting doodling when the idea came to me. I quickly sketched the new device and took it to colleagues in the Innovation Team of the Science and Technology Facilities Council."

They could immediately see the potential of the design with only three static parts: two mirrors and an optical element that splits the light beam in two.

It was this lightweight and simple approach that made Hugh's device unique, says Kate Ronayne, head of the Innovation Team. "Most Earth-based instruments are fixed in place because they're large and fragile - you have to take your sample to the lab for analysis. This one, on the other hand, comes to you.

"You can take it anywhere and as long as it can 'see' its target, it can analyse it even from a distance." It can measure all kinds of light from ultraviolet to infrared. It is particularly sensitive because it was built to detect tiny traces of many different gases in the martian atmosphere in one sweep.

The team then began researching which businesses might benefit, with the support of STFC Innovation, the commercial arm of STFC and the UK broker for ESA's Technology Transfer Program. In 2013 the KEIT company was created to investigate the commercial potential further.

KEIT is now hosted in ESA's Harwell incubator, part of its Technology Transfer Program. This support was instrumental in inspiring others to invest and the company has now received early funding from Longwall Ventures and the UK Rainbow Seed Fund to support the transition towards full commercialization. Working in the incubator also meant the start-up company has access to STFC and ESA technical expertise.

The first unit is likely to be commercially available by July, promising a growing list of applications.

Apart from their environmental role in monitoring gas emissions from chimneys and helping industries adhere to environmental regulations, the devices could be instrumental in analyzing water quality, or assisting industrial or laboratory-based research and development.

Food companies already use spectrometers but the versatility, stability and simplicity of the new design mean they could sit on any food or pharmaceutical production line to check, for example, the fat content of milk, or the origin and quality of whisky.

With its long list of applications here on Earth, there's no question that the future of the sturdy little interferometer looks rosy.

For a young scientist with a sketchpad, this is journey is just beginning. Although the focus right now is on the terrestrial applications, Hugh still reflects, "It's my ambition to see this instrument used in space. Maybe on a future ESA or NASA mission to Mars. That would be great".

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/From_Red_Mars_To_Green_Earth_999.html.

Dragon Cargo Craft Launch Scrubbed; Station Crew Preps for Spacewalk

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX)
Apr 15, 2014

Monday's launch attempt of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station's Expedition 39 crew, was scrubbed due to a helium leak on the Falcon 9 first stage. The next launch opportunity would be Friday, April 18 at 3:25 p.m. EDT if the issue can be resolved.

The launch of the third SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply services mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida will send the vehicle on course to rendezvous with the station several days later. Commander Koichi Wakata and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio will capture the space freighter using the Canadarm2 robotic arm to set it up for its berthing to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.

Mission managers and SpaceX had agreed Sunday to proceed with Monday's launch attempt despite the loss Friday of a multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) backup computer relay system in the S0 truss that assists in providing insight into truss systems, the operation of the external cooling loops, the operations of the Solar Alpha Rotary joints and the Mobile Transporter rail car.

The International Space Station Mission Management Team met throughout the weekend to assess the work of the teams of engineers analyzing the problem and determined that the station has enough redundancy to permit the SpaceX Dragon launch to proceed. A contingency spacewalk is now scheduled for no earlier than April 22 to replace the failed backup computer relay unit in the S0 truss.

On Sunday, the Mobile Transporter was moved to a worksite to provide spacewalking astronauts the access they will need to replace the MDM during the contingency spacewalk. The Solar Alpha Rotary joints will be placed at the correct angle following the launch of the Dragon cargo vehicle in advance of its arrival.

Aboard the station Monday, Mastracchio and Flight Engineer Steve Swanson spent most of the day inside the Quest airlock working on the replacement of a fan pump separator in one of the two spacesuits they will wear during the planned 2 0.5 hour contingency spacewalk. This will be the 179th spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance.

Mastracchio and Swanson also reviewed training materials for the Dragon spacecraft and studied the plan for unloading the cargo. Wakata conducted another session of the Hybrid Training experiment. This Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency study takes a look the health benefits of applying electric stimulation to a muscle opposing the voluntary contraction of an active muscle.

In addition to providing a backup to the traditional exercise devices aboard the station, Hybrid Training may be useful in keeping astronauts fit as they travel beyond low Earth orbit aboard smaller spacecraft

The Japanese commander also began the first RaDI-N radiation detection session for Expedition 39. After Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin initialized the detectors, Wakata deployed the neutron monitors in the Columbus module.

Results from RaDI-N will help researchers accurately measure the risk assessment of neutron radiation in space and reduce the astronauts' exposure to radiation on future missions.

Wakata rounded out his day flushing the cooling loops of the U.S. spacesuits. On the Russian side of the complex, Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev conducted the Relaxation experiment, which studies chemical luminescent reactions in the Earth's atmosphere.

Flight Engineer Alexander Skvortsov continued unloading cargo from the ISS Progress 55 cargo ship, which delivered nearly three tons of cargo to the orbital laboratory when it launched and docked with the station on April 9. Tyurin participated in a routine hearing assessment and performed routine maintenance on the life-support system in the Zvezda service module.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Dragon_Cargo_Craft_Launch_Scrubbed_Station_Crew_Preps_for_Spacewalk_999.html.

Meteorite studies suggest hidden water on Mars

Tokyo, Japan (SPX)
Apr 15, 2014

Geochemical calculations by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology to determine how the water content of Mars has changed over the past 4.5 billion years suggest as yet unidentified reservoirs of water on the planet.

A warmer more watery primordial Martian landscape more closely resembling Earth has long been suggested from geochemical and geological observations. However, as Hiroyuki Kurakawa and colleagues in Japan point out in their recent report "the timing, processes, and the amount of the water loss have been poorly constrained."

Their latest studies using geochemical meteorite data to understand how the volume of water has changed on Mars over its history suggest there is more water present there now than has so far been observed.

Today Martian water is considered to exist chiefly as ice at the poles of the planet. However geological observations of rocks containing water laid sediments suggest that lakes and oceans once existed. Previous studies have focused on the volumes of lake-like geological structures to extrapolate how much water was previously present on Mars.

In contrast the researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology and colleagues at Nagoya University and Kyushu University in Japan determined the water quantities over the course of the planet's history from ratios of the isotopes deuterium and hydrogen (D/H) in ancient meteorites.

Deuterium and hydrogen exist in water at a standard ratio at equilibrium. However hydrogen is lighter and escapes more readily so that the changes in the D/H ratio over the course of time can be used to determine how much water has been lost.

They compared their results with previous geological estimates of the primordial water volume and found discrepancies in the figures that suggest the existence of as yet unidentified reservoirs of water on Mars at present. They hypothesize that these may be in the form of mid-latitude ice mantles or underground reservoirs.

As hydrogen from water molecules escape oxygen is left behind. These latest results also suggest greater quantities of this oxygen than current models account for.

Water has been hypothesized to exist on Mars since ancient times when the white caps at the poles were correctly thought to be ice. Today the observed water content of Mars is low and in the form of ice. However the existence of geological structures resembling lakes and oceans and water lain residues and sediments suggest that Mars was once warm enough to host liquid water.

Current ratios of hydrogen and its heavier isotope deuterium (D/H) on Mars are six times those on Earth. The D/H ratio during different eras was determined from analyzing meteorite samples. Recent technical developments have allowed more accurate determination of D/H ratios with this approach.

In addition while most meteorites have been aged as comparatively young - less than 1.3 billion years old, the recently analysed meteorite ALH84001 is aged 4.1 billion years old. For even older D/H ratios, the meteorite Yamato 980459 contains mineral inclusions from crystallized mantle that represents the Martian mantle around 4.5 billion years ago.

The water loss between two periods was calculated using the D/H ratios for different periods, the current estimated water on Mars and the so-called fractionation factor, which gives the equilibrium value for deuterium versus hydrogen content in the Martian water.

The researchers calculated the water loss for two periods: 4.5-4.1 billion years ago and 4.1 billion years ago to the current day. The model gives greatly increased values for water loss between 4.5 and 4.1 billion years ago relative to the water lost since regardless of the value used to estimate the amount of water on Mars at present.

As hydrogen escapes the oxygen from the water molecules is left behind. Existing mechanisms for oxygen loss include interaction with solar winds, which is also linked to the magnetic fields present, and oxidation of surface minerals. However according to observations of mineral abundance and residual magnetism these mechanisms cannot account for the total oxygen lost over the course of Martian history.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Meteorite_studies_suggest_hidden_water_on_Mars_999.html.

India's opposition rules out major change to nuke policy

New Delhi (AFP)
April 14, 2014

The head of India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), tipped to win ongoing national elections, has ruled out any change in the country's "no-first-use" nuclear weapons policy.

The BJP sparked speculation about an end to the doctrine last week when its manifesto said that the party would "revise and update" India's policy.

"The no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons was a well thought out stand... We don't intend to reverse it," BJP President Rajnath Singh told the Hindustan Times newspaper in an interview published Monday.

The policy was adopted after a series of nuclear tests in 1998 during the last BJP-led coalition government which led to international condemnation and an embargo being placed on the country by Western powers.

The policy was intended to gain India greater acceptability as a nuclear power, despite it not being a signatory of the 1970 UN Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The BJP is predicted to clinch power under elections which began on April 7 and end with results on May 16.

Any BJP government under hardline prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, a proud nationalist promising strong leadership, is expected to have a more muscular foreign policy.

Any change in nuclear policy would be of most significance to India's rivals Pakistan and China.

Neither reacted to news of the possible review and analysts have pointed out that the "no-first-use" policy is a mere promise that could be ignored by New Delhi in a conflict situation.

China was the first country to adopt the "no-first-use" nuclear policy in 1964, but nuclear-rival Pakistan, with whom India has fought three wars, does not have a similar position.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Indias_opposition_rules_out_major_change_to_nuke_policy_999.html.