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| China launches lunar probe carrying 'Jade Rabbit' buggy Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 04:41 PM PST  China launched its first ever extraterrestrial landing craft into orbit en route for the moon in the small hours of Monday, in a major milestone for its space program. The Chang'e-3 lunar probe, which includes the Yutu or Jade Rabbit buggy, blasted off on board an enhanced Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China's southwestern Sichuan province at 1:30 a.m. (12.30 p.m. EDT). President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to establish itself as a space superpower, and the mission has inspired pride in China's growing technological prowess. If all goes smoothly, the rover will conduct geological surveys and search for natural resources after the probe touches down on the moon in mid-December as China's first spacecraft to make a soft landing beyond Earth. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: UK power price rises prompt questions of network owners, regulator Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 04:14 PM PST By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - In 2006, Britain's energy regulator reviewed how the gas and electricity market was functioning. Summarising its findings, it noted the possibility that its rules on pricing had been overly generous to the network owners. The report was one of many produced by regulator Ofgem, tasked by the government with overseeing an industry that was broken up and sold off by the state during the 1980s and 1990s. "The fact that network businesses .... have recently changed hands at a premium to the regulatory asset value (Ofgem's own valuation of the assets) suggests considerable appetite among the investment community and indicates, in hindsight, that past price control reviews could have been somewhat tighter than they were," Ofgem said in its 2006 report 'Financing Networks'. Full Story | Top |
| Cameron hits back at opposition with energy bill promise Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 02:40 PM PST  By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Sunday to cut rising energy costs, seeking to regain the initiative from the Labour Party that has pledged to freeze bills if it wins the next election in 2015. Cameron said his government would set out measures to cut bills by an average of 50 pounds ($81.90) a year in an economic update on Thursday which the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he would use to carry on reducing Britain's budget deficit, even as the economy recovers. The soaring cost of household energy has dominated political debate in Britain since Labour leader Ed Miliband said in September that his party would freeze bills for 20 months if it wins power. "Instead of a fake giveaway, we have found another way to support Britain's hard-pressed families," Cameron wrote in a joint article with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the Sun on Sunday newspaper. Full Story | Top |
| The votes are in - Washington's panda cub named Bao Bao Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 12:11 PM PST  In a ceremony fitting royalty, the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington said on Sunday it was naming a rare, female giant panda cub "Bao Bao," after a public online vote that drew more than 123,000 submissions. Bao Bao (rhyming with Pow Pow) translates as precious or treasure in English, the zoo said. It was one of five Mandarin Chinese names offered in the online vote that ran from November 5 to November 22. Music and dancing and Chinese treats were served in celebration, zoo officials said. Full Story | Top |
| China launches lunar probe carrying 'Jade Rabbit' moon buggy Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 11:39 AM PST  China launched its first ever extraterrestrial landing craft into orbit en route for the moon in the small hours of Monday, in a major milestone for its space program. The Chang'e-3 lunar probe, which includes the Yutu or Jade Rabbit buggy, blasted off on board an enhanced Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China's southwestern Sichuan province at 1:30 a.m. (1730 GMT). President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to establish itself as a space superpower, and the mission has inspired widespread pride in China's growing technological prowess. If all goes smoothly, the rover will conduct geological surveys and search for natural resources after the probe touches down on the moon in mid-December as China's first spacecraft to make a soft landing beyond Earth. Full Story | Top |
| India's Mars mission enters second stage; outpaces space rival China Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 11:25 AM PST  By Shyamantha Asokan NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's first mission to Mars left Earth's orbit early on Sunday, clearing a critical hurdle in its journey to the red planet and overtaking the efforts in space of rival Asian giant China. The success of the spacecraft, scheduled to orbit Mars by next September, would carry India into a small club, which includes the United States, Europe and Russia, whose probes have orbited or landed on Mars. India's venture, called Mangalyaan, faces more hurdles on its journey to Mars. "While Mangalyaan takes 1.2 billion dreams to Mars, we wish you sweet dreams!" India's space agency said in a tweet soon after the event, referring to the citizens of the world's second-most populous country. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian police arrest Toronto man on suspicion of spying for China Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 10:26 AM PST By Janet Guttsman TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police have arrested a Toronto man suspected of seeking to give China classified information about Canadian shipbuilding procurement policies, security officials said on Sunday. Jennifer Strachan, a chief superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told a news conference that Canadian citizen Qing Quentin Huang, 53, faced two charges of attempting to communicate with a foreign entity. "On Thursday the RCMP was informed that the accused was taking steps to pass on information of a classified nature to China," she told a rare weekend news conference. "In these types of cases, sharing of information may give a foreign entity a tactical, military or competitive advantage by knowing the specifications of vessels responsible for defending Canadian waters and Canadian sovereignty." Strachan said Huang, who was arrested on Saturday, had worked for a subcontractor involved in ship design. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says seeks better cooperation with Saudi Arabia Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 04:26 AM PST Iran said on Sunday it wanted stronger cooperation with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, as it seeks to ease concerns among Gulf Arab neighbors about a potential resurgence in its influence following a nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, on a tour of Gulf Arab states, said after talks in Kuwait that no date had been set for an expected visit to Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia, Shi'ite Iran's main regional rival. But he suggested the nuclear deal reached in Geneva on November 24 should not be seen as a threat. Full Story | Top |
| Libya's army tells militias, protesters to free up oil ports Sunday, Dec 01, 2013 01:38 AM PST  Libya's army told former militia fighters and protesters to end their occupations of oilfields and ports and allow crude exports to restart, saying the OPEC country risked sliding into lawlessness. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has so far failed to negotiate an end to a series of sit-ins and strikes by security guards, civil servants, militiamen and other groups calling for everything from security and autonomy to a greater share of oil wealth. Two years after the NATO-led uprising ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's new military has struggled to control militias who helped topple Gaddafi and also continue to fight over territory and political feuds. Full Story | Top |
| Shell says force majeure on Nigerian Bonny exports fully lifted Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 11:27 PM PST  Shell said on Saturday a force majeure declared on its Bonny Light grade of Nigerian oil had been fully lifted. The force majeure (FM) was declared on April 15 due to theft leaks on the Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL), and was partially lifted on August 30, when some 60 illegal connections were removed on the section between San Barth and Bonny, Shell said in a statement. "The FM has now been fully lifted following the removal of 25 additional crude theft points on the section between San Barth and Nembe. Full Story | Top |
| China probes official of state-owned insurance firm for graft Saturday, Nov 30, 2013 08:45 PM PST  China is investigating an executive at the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation for graft, the ruling Communist Party's corruption watchdog said on Sunday, making him the latest target of a widening corruption crackdown. Dai Chunning, a vice president at the company, which is also called Sinosure, is "suspected of serious discipline violations", the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website. It gave no further details in a brief statement but in China the term discipline violations generally denotes corruption. China's President Xi Jinping has said endemic corruption threatens the party's very survival and has vowed to go after high-flying "tigers" as well as lowly "flies". Full Story | Top |
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