German steps up deportation of failed asylum-seekers

December 21, 2015

BAMBERG, Germany (AP) — Faced with an unprecedented influx of refugees and growing anxiety among voters, German authorities have stepped up the deportation of failed asylum-seekers.

New figures show that the number of deportations almost doubled this year from 2014. By the end of November, authorities had deported 18,363 people whose asylum request had been rejected, compared to 10,884 in all of last year.

"(The increase) can be explained on the one hand simply by the increasing number of people who are getting negative (asylum) decisions," Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said Monday. But the trend is also affected "by the states' increasing willingness to carry out these procedures," he said.

The task of handling asylum requests falls to Germany's 16 states and some have been more rigorous in applying the law than others. Bavaria, the state that most asylum-seekers first set foot in, more than trebled its deportations to 3,643 in the first 11 months of 2015 from 1,007 last year. The conservative government there has been particularly forceful in pushing to limit the number of refugees coming to Germany — estimated at about one million this year — and speed up deportations of those already in the country.

Earlier this year, Bavaria opened a special center for people unlikely to get asylum. Situated on a former U.S. Army barracks in Bamberg, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Nuremberg, the Arrival and Return Facility II currently houses about 850 people.

Almost all are from western Balkan nations, chiefly Albania, followed by Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia. Germany considers them to be safe countries where individuals are unlikely to face the kind of persecution that would warrant asylum. Some were sent to the center straight from the border, others have been in Germany for more than a year. Most said economic hardship made them travel to Germany.

"In Serbia there's no work," said Elvis Asani, a Roma from Serbia who is being sent back with his wife and children. "So we thought we go to Germany and work a little bit." "I go back, but we have no home," Asani said when asked what he would do in Serbia. "Where shall we go with three kids?"

Since the center was opened in mid-September, the 15 staff processing asylum requests haven't issued a single permanent residency permit, officials said. Meanwhile, 463 people were deported voluntarily and 170 were forcibly deported. Decisions are made within five to ten days.

"We don't want to paint a discouraging picture, we want to paint a realistic picture," Stefan Krug, an official with the regional government of Upper Franconia, said Monday. "The mood ahead of Christmas is obviously a bit depressed," he added. "But all in all it's peaceful."

Interior Ministry spokesman Dimroth said, unlike in previous years, none of Germany's states have suspended deportations for the winter — and says federal authorities also see "no place for a halt to deportations."

Authorities are planning to increase the Bamberg center's capacity to 1,500 by the end of December, and to 4,500 by the end of March.

Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Haiti officials postpone vote set for this weekend

December 22, 2015

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Less than a week before balloting was scheduled, Haitian authorities postponed the country's presidential and legislative runoffs because they said they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the widely criticized electoral process.

In a brief statement issued Monday evening, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council said the vote scheduled for Dec. 27 was postponed until further notice. They did not provide a new date for the final round of national elections. Council spokesman Roudy Stanley Penn said a new date will be announced once a commission created by presidential decree has concluded its work.

Last week, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti's electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud. It was expected to take three days to conclude its review and make recommendations to the government and the electoral council.

But the review panel has not yet been installed and various opposition factions objected to the commission's members, saying that the government didn't seek consensus with the 10 sitting senators and opposition leaders before the five members were chosen. The "Group of Eight' alliance led by second-place presidential finisher Jude Celestin said it was meant merely as a "cosmetic solution."

In Monday comments to The Associated Press, Martelly said the evaluation commission is intended to provide clarity to what he asserts are baseless fraud allegations stoked by the opposition. Once the commission finishes its work, he said he's confident the country can move ahead with the final round of elections "because we want it to be credible."

He said his government has lately been in talks with electoral officials, senators and opposition figures, including Celestin's camp, to find a way out of the electoral impasse. For weeks, the opposition alliance demanded an independent review of late October elections that it insists were rigged in favor of the government-backed presidential candidate. But the Provisional Electoral Council rejected their demands, arguing that they lacked the power to authorize a review of the official results.

Sauveur Pierre Etienne, one of eight presidential candidates who formed an opposition alliance with Celestin after preliminary results were issued last month, said Monday that it was only a matter of time before the electoral council would be forced to postpone the December vote.

"The government and CEP kept talking about the Dec. 27 date like it would happen but everyone knew that the runoffs could not take place then with so many questions," he said. Political analysts questioned whether runoff elections could feasibly take place in late December, especially when one of two presidential candidates in the runoff is alleging rampant fraud and not campaigning.

In their final results, the Provisional Electoral Council said government-backed Jovenel Moise had nearly 33 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Celestin, a former state construction chief who was the government-backed candidate five years ago. Celestin has dismissed the final results as a "ridiculous farce" and alleged that the CEP was complicit in vote-rigging in favor of Moise.

The office of Prime Minister Evans Paul said an evaluation commission was expected to be installed Tuesday. Martelly, who is blocked by the constitution from seeking a consecutive term, is due to leave office on Feb. 7.

German-made submarine heads to Israel for delivery

Washington (UPI)
Dec 18, 2015

The latest German-built Dolphin-class submarine INS Rahav is en route to Haifa to be delivered to the Israeli Navy.

INS Rahav, given the Hebrew name for Greek god of the seas Poseidon, is one of the Israeli Defense Force's most expensive weapons. The vessel's voyage to Haifa comes roughly a decade after the Israeli government placed the order to German defense contractor Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft.

The company unveiled the submarine in April 2013, however more work was needed to ensure the vessel was fully operational. Rahav is the fifth submarine of its class to be delivered to the Israeli Navy, The Times of Israel reports.

Rahav is the second new-generation, air-independent propulsion submarine built after Israel's INS Tanin, which entered service in 2014. The submarines are capable of staying submerged for longer periods of time, according to IHS Janes. Rahav cost an estimated $2 billion to build.

"Submarines are a strategic tool in the IDF's defense arsenal. Israel is prepared to act at any time in any place to ensure the safety of Israel's citizens," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when Rahav was unveiled in 2013.

Rahav is expected to reach its home port in Haifa in mid-January. After its arrival, the vessel will undergo a series of system installation programs before officially entering service later in 2016.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/German-made_submarine_heads_to_Israel_for_delivery_999.html.

FIFA ethics court bans Blatter, Platini for 8 years

December 22, 2015

ZURICH (AP) — Banished from soccer's ruling body for eight years for unethical conduct, Sepp Blatter won't give up the presidency of his beloved FIFA without a fight.

"I will fight. I will fight until the end," Blatter said Monday at a news conference that started 90 minutes after he and former protege Michel Platini were each banned by FIFA's ethics committee. It was a stunning removal of world soccer's most powerful leaders over a $2 million payment by FIFA to Platini, the president of European soccer's ruling body UEFA. The payment is also the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland.

"I'm sad. It can't go on this way. It's not possible," said the 79-year-old Blatter, who has spent more than half his life working for soccer's scandal-hit governing body. "After 40 years, it can't happen this way. I'm fighting to restore my rights."

Already serving a provisional ban, the elected FIFA president and his long-time likely successor were kicked out of the sport just two months before 209 member federations elect a new leader. Platini, a FIFA vice president whose bid to succeed Blatter on Feb. 26 now looks over, described the proceedings as a "true mockery."

Their offences were judged to be conflict of interest and disloyalty to FIFA. They avoided life bans because corruption was not proven. Platini's lawyer, Thibaud d'Ales, told The Associated Press it came as no surprise that the corruption charge had been dropped.

"They used it with the sole purpose of dirtying Michel Platini, although they knew from the start it was an untenable argument," D'Ales said. Guilty verdicts were expected. So were the subsequent denials of wrongdoing and promises of urgent appeals to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Blatter's defiant display was a bonus for international media summoned to FIFA's former headquarters, just hundreds of meters (yards) from the new building where he spent eight hours with four ethics judges last Thursday.

The choice of venue hinted at a vintage Blatter show. He did not disappoint. Blatter invoked Nelson Mandela within a minute, pointing to the spot where the iconic South African leader had lifted the World Cup trophy 11 years ago, when his country was chosen as the host nation for the 2010 tournament.

Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, the Nobel organization and the United Nations were also referenced in a spirited 52-minute performance as he held court with more than 100 journalists. His last words were "I'll be back, thank you."

Blatter's trademark fighting talk was delivered while still sporting a strip of surgical tape on his right cheek after a minor medical procedure five days earlier. Blatter made it clear he regretted his current position but declared he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

"I am not ashamed," he said. "I am sorry that I am a punching ball. I am sorry for football. ... I am now suspended eight years, suspended eight years. Suspended eight years for what?" Platini was also dismissive of the ethics commission's work.

He said its proceedings, which included a hearing earlier this month that he did not attend, had been "orchestrated... by governing bodies that I know well" to tarnish him. "I'm convinced that my fate was sealed before the Dec. 18 hearing and that this decision is just a pathetic maneuver to hide a true will of taking me out of the football world," the Frenchman said.

"My behavior has always been faultless and I'm at peace with my own conscience." Platini said he will also file a lawsuit in a civil court to seek damages for what he has endured during the ethics commission's proceedings. In a brief statement, UEFA said it was "extremely disappointed" with the ruling and supported its leader's right to clear his name.

FIFA's ethics judges decided that Blatter and Platini had broken ethics rules on conflicts of interest, breach of loyalty and offering or receiving gifts. Platini took $2 million of FIFA money in 2011 - a payment approved by Blatter as uncontracted salary for work as a presidential adviser from 1999-2002.

In Monday's verdict, Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($50,250) and Platini 80,000 Swiss francs ($80,400). "Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment," the judges said. "By failing to place FIFA's interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA's interests, Mr. Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA.

"His (Blatter's) assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber." Blatter hit back at that conclusion during his news conference, portraying the ethics committee as saying of Platini and himself: "He's a liar and I'm a liar."

"This is not correct," Blatter said. Blatter acknowledged an administrative "error" in failing to register FIFA's debt to Platini in its accounts for eight years, though he insisted: "This is nothing to do with the ethics regulations."

The Swiss had started tentatively and the grey bristles on his chin - that clearly showed he hadn't shaven that morning - added to his aged appearance. Yet his voice grew stronger, seeming to take heart from gentle prompts and notes given by his only child, daughter Corinne, sitting to his left.

He spoke in four languages and translated his own German, French and Spanish answers into English, clearly relishing the attention of a big audience again. By the end, with his top shirt button undone and tie loose, it was possible to forget that Blatter had faced a health scare on Nov. 1.

"I am back, I am back, I am doing better," he said. "I have the support of my daughter, I have the support of Linda (Barras), my love." While Blatter wants to leave FIFA with his head high, the 60-year-old Platini wants to clear his name, pass a FIFA integrity check and be declared an official candidate in the election he had been favored to win.

Platini's campaign has stalled since he was questioned on Sept. 25 in a Swiss federal investigation of suspected criminal mismanagement at FIFA. Switzerland's attorney general has opened criminal proceedings against Blatter for the suspected "disloyal payment" of FIFA money to Platini and selling undervalued World Cup TV rights for the Caribbean.

Platini was paid in February 2011, just before Blatter began campaigning for re-election against Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar. Platini's UEFA urged its members weeks before the June 2011 election to back Blatter, who was elected unopposed when Bin Hammam was implicated in bribery.

Few FIFA officials knew of the Platini payment which emerged during a wider Swiss probe of the governing body's business affairs, including suspected money laundering in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.

"I have never cheated with money," Blatter insisted, before claiming he still wielded authority in the sport. "I am still the president. Even if I am suspended, I am still the president."

AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed from Paris.

Russia, China Sign Range of Space Industry Agreements

Beijing (Sputnik)
Dec 21, 2015

Russia's space agency Roscosmos signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday with China National Space Administration. The document was signed at the 20th regular meeting of Russian and Chinese heads of government, during Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's three-day visit to Beijing.

The sides signed a cooperation agreement on navigation technologies and the use of the Russian satellite navigation system Glonass. Russian state-owned nanotechnology company RUSNANO and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation also signed a strategic partnership agreement.

Among other documents, Russia and China also signed a strategic cooperation agreement on the development of Russian company I-Teco's cloud computing and data processing center, the other parties to the deal were the China-Eurasia Economic Cooperation Fund and the Huawei company.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_China_Sign_Range_of_Space_Industry_Agreements_999.html.

Nearby star hosts closest alien planet in the 'habitable zone'

Sydney, Australia (SPX)
Dec 19, 2015

UNSW Australia astronomers have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system so far, orbiting a star just 14 light years away. The planet, more than four times the mass of the Earth, is one of three that the team detected around a red dwarf star called Wolf 1061.

"It is a particularly exciting find because all three planets are of low enough mass to be potentially rocky and have a solid surface, and the middle planet, Wolf 1061c, sits within the 'Goldilocks' zone where it might be possible for liquid water - and maybe even life - to exist," says lead study author UNSW's Dr Duncan Wright.

"It is fascinating to look out at the vastness of space and think a star so very close to us - a near neighbor - could host a habitable planet.

"While a few other planets have been found that orbit stars closer to us than Wolf 1061, those planets are not considered to be remotely habitable," Dr Wright says.

The three newly detected planets orbit the small, relatively cool and stable star about every 5, 18 and 67 days. Their masses are at least 1.4, 4.3 and 5.2 times that of Earth, respectively.

The larger outer planet falls just outside the outer boundary of the habitable zone and is also likely to be rocky, while the smaller inner planet is too close to the star to be habitable.

The discovery will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The UNSW team made the discovery using observations of Wolf 1061 collected by the HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6 meter telescope in La Silla in Chile.

"Our team has developed a new technique that improves the analysis of the data from this precise, purpose-built, planet-hunting instrument, and we have studied more than a decade's worth of observations of Wolf 1061," says Professor Chris Tinney, head of the Exoplanetary Science at UNSW group.

"These three planets right next door to us join the small but growing ranks of potentially habitable rocky worlds orbiting nearby stars cooler than our Sun."

Small rocky planets like our own are now known to be abundant in our galaxy, and multi-planet systems also appear to be common. However most of the rocky exoplanets discovered so far are hundreds or thousands of light years away.

An exception is Gliese 667Cc which lies 22 light years from Earth. It orbits a red dwarf star every 28 days and is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth.

"The close proximity of the planets around Wolf 1061 means there is a good chance these planets may pass across the face of the star. If they do, then it may be possible to study the atmospheres of these planets in future to see whether they would be conducive to life," says team member UNSW's Dr Rob Wittenmyer.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Nearby_star_hosts_closest_alien_planet_in_the_habitable_zone_999.html.

Soaring aspirations of Myanmar's drone enthusiasts

By Kelly Macnamara, Phyo Hein Kyaw
Yangon (AFP)
Dec 18, 2015

In a ramshackle workshop behind a bustling Yangon market, Kyi Tha fixes the plastic propeller of a home-made drone, one of a growing number of enthusiasts refusing to let poverty clip the wings of their hi-tech dreams.

A new generation of creative young inventors have turned to the Internet to catch up with the rest of the world, after years of isolation under junta rule left the country with little access to engineering expertise or cutting-edge technology.

"Studying drone technology is not easy in Myanmar. So we watched videos about it on YouTube," said Kyi Tha, admitting he watch clips for months, patiently enduring notoriously slow web connections in his search for knowledge.

"First we did not have any success, but after experimenting for one year we could do many things," he told AFP.

Kyi Tha, 26, and his cousin Thet San, 30, have transformed a modest wooden home into the nerve-center of their engineering and technology business, Myanmar Future Science.

A workbench in the backyard is cluttered with the signs of feverish invention -- boxes of screws, aluminium rods, and the body of a model airplane.

Their firm makes its money providing engineering services to the government and private firms, using drones and model aircraft to conduct aerial surveys for maps and assessments of agricultural areas.

But their passion is opening up the world of technology to fellow budding inventors. They have a little shop in their garden packed with tiny motors, propellers and plastic body-parts for drones, planes and radio-controlled cars.

Myanmar's youth are eager to keep up with the latest technological developments, but are often held back by poverty -- a legacy of decades under junta rule.

A new ready-made drone could set you back up to 300,000 kyats (around $230), far beyond the financial reach most young people in Myanmar, where the World Bank puts average annual income per capita at $1,270.

But enterprising gadget builders rely on creativity to keep their costs down to just $10 -- using materials like polystyrene foam packaging to build their models and seeking out cheap engine parts.

"This is our hobby. We are crazy about making things with these accessories, just as many young students in Myanmar would like to do," said Kyi Tha, who imports most of the parts from China.

- Flying free -

Drones are the tool of choice for legions of photographers and video-makers eager to capture a bird's eye view of everything from tourist attractions to protests.

Australia has begun using them to track sharks with the hope of protecting swimmers from attack, while Amazon wants to use them for shopping delivery. But their burgeoning popularity has also caused security jitters.

In September a drone crashed at the US Open, causing the match to be interrupted, the latest incident in America, which is considering mandatory registration.

In Southeast Asia some countries, like Cambodia, have imposed strict controls on drone use. But the nascent field remains largely unregulated -- for now.

Model aircraft are not currently subject to specific legal restrictions in Myanmar, although authorities are believed to be mulling regulation.

On weekends and holidays, teams of enthusiasts take their flying machines out for a spin in Yangon and the less populous industrial outskirts of the city.

As his new drone swooped through the air in a park near Yangon's revered Shwedagon Pagoda one local IT worker said most objections he normally receives are vague concerns over "security".

"I just want to show Myanmar's beautiful scenery in my drone footage," he told AFP, asking just to be referred to by his nickname, Ethan.

"People love drone shots, they're awesome. When my drone is flying I feel amazing, very happy," he said.

- Sky's the limit -

At the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University in the central town of Meiktila -- whose main building is shaped like an airplane -- researchers are utilizing drone technology for a more scientific purpose.

The university has operated recent drone surveys to assess the impact of devastating monsoon floods that inundated huge areas of the country from July to September, affecting some 1.6 million people at their peak.

"Drone pictures can be very useful for prevention and measuring damage," said Thae Maung Maung, head of the department for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

He said the purpose of the surveys was to find out the scale of losses from the disaster, map the points where rivers had burst their banks and plot the best place for relief camps.

The new department is striving to keep up with technological advancements overseas -- no mean feat in an education system that was mired in underfunding and neglect for years.

Thae Maung Maung suggests enthusiasts such as Kyi Tha and his industrious customers will be crucial in helping Myanmar catch up with the rest of the world.

He explains: "We need to encourage young people's interest in technology so that we can keep developing."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Soaring_aspirations_of_Myanmars_drone_enthusiasts_999.html.