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| Zap! Australian scientists look at lasers to cull space junk Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 07:49 PM PDT  By Pauline Askin SYDNEY (Reuters) - It may sound like science fiction but an Australian team is working on a project to zap orbital debris with lasers from Earth to reduce the growing amount of space junk that threatens to knock out satellites with a "cascade of collisions". The project is very realistic and likely to be working in the next 10 years, Matthew Colless, director of Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, told Reuters. "It's important that it's possible on that scale because there's so much space junk up there," he said. Australia now has a contract with NASA, the U.S. space agency, to track and map space junk with a telescope equipped with an infra-red laser at Mount Stromlo Observatory. Full Story | Top |
| Merkel and Xi agree Ukraine crisis needs to be solved via dialogue Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 07:46 PM PDT German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a telephone conversation on Sunday that the crisis in Ukraine needed to be solved via diplomacy. "The chancellor explained the situation in Ukraine and efforts to come to a political solution of the conflict," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a written statement. Xi said the Ukraine situation is "very complicated and highly sensitive" and needs to be weighed carefully, according to a statement from China's foreign ministry. China supports mediation efforts and constructive actions by the international community, he said, adding that the German side should continue communicating with all sides in a constructive manner. Full Story | Top |
| California Democrats, eye on election, adopt activist agenda Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 07:39 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Democrats wrapped up their annual convention on Sunday with an appeal to their progressive base even as leaders vowed to stay on a centrist path that has won wide popularity for Governor Jerry Brown and firm control over the state legislature. Facing the 2014 election season flush with a formidable political advantage in the most populous U.S. state, Democrats used the two-day gathering in Los Angeles to showcase their successes in California and to draw a contrast with partisan gridlock in Washington. They cited California's improving economy and a newly exerted fiscal discipline that has allowed Brown to pay down the state's debt as proof of Democrats' ability to govern effectively. "We took a state that seemed to be a punch line for a national joke, and we made it a how-to guide for national governments," incoming state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins told the crowd. Full Story | Top |
| The children of Japan's Fukushima battle an invisible enemy Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 05:46 PM PDT  By Toru Hanai and Elaine Lies KORIYAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside -- fear of radiation has kept them in doors for much of their short lives. Though the strict safety limits for outdoor activity set after multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in 2011 have now been eased, parental worries and ingrained habit mean many children still stay inside. And the impact is now starting to show, with children experiencing falling strength, lack of coordination, some cannot even ride a bicycle, and emotional issues like shorter tempers, officials and educators say. "There are children who are very fearful. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan rebels warn of 'war' if navy attacks oil tanker Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 01:22 PM PDT By Ulf Laessing and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Armed protesters in eastern Libya traded threats with the government on Sunday in a tense stand-off over the unauthorized sale of oil from a rebel-held port. A North Korean-flagged tanker, the Morning Glory, docked on Saturday at the port of Es Sider and local daily al-Wasat said it had loaded $36 million of crude oil. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has said the military will bomb the 37,000-tonne vessel if it tries to leave. The rebels said any attack on the tanker would be "a declaration of war." The escalating conflict over the country's oil wealth is a sign of mounting chaos in Libya, where the government has failed to rein in fighters who helped oust veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and who now defy state authority. Full Story | Top |
| Four new gases that harm ozone layer found, despite bans: study Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 11:29 AM PDT By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists have detected four new man-made gases that damage the Earth's protective ozone layer, despite bans on almost all production of similar gases under a 1987 treaty, a study showed on Sunday. The experts were trying to pinpoint industrial sources of tiny traces of the new gases, perhaps used in making pesticides or refrigerants, that were found in Greenland's ice and in air samples in Tasmania, Australia. The ozone layer shields the planet from damaging ultra-violet rays, which can cause skin cancer and eye cataracts, and has been recovering after a phase-out of damaging chemicals under the U.N.'s 1987 Montreal Protocol. "The concentrations are not yet a threat to the ozone layer," lead author Johannes Laube of the University of East Anglia in England told Reuters of the three types of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbon) and one HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon). Full Story | Top |
| First Japanese astronaut takes command of space station Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 09:43 AM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata assumed command of the International Space Station on Sunday, the first Japanese national to oversee a manned space mission. Wakata, 50, had been a space station flight engineer since he and two crewmates arrived on November 7. "I am humbled to assume the command of the space station," Wakata said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on NASA Television. Outgoing station commander Oleg Kotov, flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both from Russia, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins are due to depart the orbital outpost on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| Oman court jails businessman to 15 years over bribes Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 08:49 AM PDT A court in Oman on Sunday sentenced a former executive of an engineering firm to a total of 15 years in jail for five counts of bribery in exchange for contracts from a state-owned oil company. The trial, part of a crackdown by the government on corruption in the Western-allied country, was the second against former managing director of Galfar Engineering and Contracting, Mohammed Ali, who was sentenced to three years in jail in January over bribes made to Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). Ali and two other men convicted earlier this year on bribery charges -- a former executive of Galfar and a Finance Ministry official who had served as head of the tenders committee at PDO -- have appealed against the January sentence. The businessman, an Indian national, resigned his post of managing director of Galfar Engineering and Contracting after his January conviction and sentence. Full Story | Top |
| Libya authorises use of force against North Korean-flagged tanker Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 08:06 AM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Defence Ministry has authorised the military to use force to stop a North Korean-flagged tanker from loading crude oil at a rebel-held port, bypassing the Tripoli government, it said on Sunday. The tanker docked on Saturday at the eastern terminal of Es Sider, one of three ports seized by rebels since August to press demands for autonomy and a bigger share of oil revenue. The rebel oil sale illustrates the deepening turmoil in the OPEC producer, which has failed to rein in fighters who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but who now defy state authority. In Tripoli, workers at a state oil firm that runs Es Sider port went on strike, urging the government to intervene because their colleagues were under duress from armed protesters. Full Story | Top |
| At least 40 killed in Yemen as Houthi fighters near capital Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 06:22 AM PDT Fighters loyal to the Shi'ite Houthi tribe, who have repeatedly fought government forces since 2004, are trying to tighten their grip on the north as Yemen - home to one of al Qaeda's most active branches - moves towards a federal system that gives more power to regional authorities. Gulf Arab states and the United States are particularly concerned about violence in the Western-allied country as it shares a long border with top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and its coast runs alongside Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping lanes. Fighting on Friday and Saturday in al-Jawf province, about 140 kms (90 miles) north-east of Sanaa, claimed more than 30 lives before government mediators managed to broker a truce. And clashes on Sunday in Hamdan, an area some 30 km north-west of Sanaa has killed more than 10, officials on both sides said. Full Story | Top |
| Qatar may face higher costs of hiring foreign workers: IMF Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 05:45 AM PDT  By Martin Dokoupil DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar will likely face higher labor costs as a result of publicity about deaths of migrant construction workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, the International Monetary Fund said. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported in September that dozens of Nepali workers had died during the summer in Qatar and that laborers were not given enough food and water. Qatar, which has denied the Guardian's findings, has seen an increasing influx of foreigners, now estimated at 1.8 million, with its population rising 10 percent in 2013. "Working conditions of some construction workers and domestic help has made global headlines and could affect the availability and cost of hiring new workers in the future," the Fund said after completing annual consultations with Qatar. Full Story | Top |
| Centuries-old mass grave of Irish laborers probed in Pennsylvania Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 04:04 AM PDT By Daniel Kelley MALVERN, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - On a cold winter's day, historian Bill Watson found himself standing in the snow, picking through the roots of an upturned stump near railroad tracks in a place now known as Duffy's Cut. The stump, pulled up several years ago, stood over the final resting place of seven of 57 Irish laborers who perished at the railroad construction site in 1832, during an outbreak of cholera. "It's not just cholera," said Watson, who with his twin brother and fellow historian, Frank Watson, is leading the excavation project to piece together what may turn out to be a grisly tale of anti-immigration violence from the 1800s. For the last 10 years, the Watsons and their research team have struggled to find out what happened to the crew toiling under a boss named Philip Duffy, as they cut a swath through the heavily wooded terrain to lay train tracks about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast's Sifca to invest $74 mln in West Africa Saturday, Mar 08, 2014 11:47 PM PST Ivory Coast agro-industrial group Sifca, part-owned by Singapore's Olam International and Wilmar International, will invest 35 billion CFA francs this year to diversify in West Africa, executives said. The remaining funds will be used to build a biomass power station with a 23-megawatt capacity in Ivory Coast and to pay for a 49.5 percent stake in Wilmar Africa Ltd, the Singaporean company's African subsidiary. Bertrand Vigne, Sifca's managing director, said the group's 2013 turnover was stable at around 500 billion CFA francs. Full Story | Top |
| North Korean-flagged tanker loads oil at seized Libyan port-officials Saturday, Mar 08, 2014 11:43 PM PST  The Libyan government threatened earlier on Saturday to bomb the vessel if it tried to ship the cargo out of Es Sider port. The rebels want to sell the oil to bypass the government and get a greater share of the country's oil wealth. "The loading has started," a port worker told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| China to toughen environment law, hold polluters accountable Saturday, Mar 08, 2014 09:56 PM PST  China will toughen its environmental protection laws to target polluters, according to a high-level policy report released on Sunday, paving the way for possibly unlimited penalties for polluting and the suspension or shutdown of polluters. The revised law would hold "polluters accountable for the damage they cause and having them compensate for it", said the report, delivered by Zhang Dejiang, who sits on the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee as one of the country's most powerful politicians. Premier Li Keqiang declared a "war on pollution" in a report during the country's annual parliamentary session on Wednesday, but critics say the statement amounts to mere rhetoric without legal reforms to back it up. The environment has emerged as one of Beijing's key priorities amid growing public disquiet about urban smog, dwindling and polluted water supplies and the widespread industrial contamination of farmland. Full Story | Top |
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