November 6, 2009
The UN’s nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The sophisticated technology, once mastered, allows for the production of smaller and simpler warheads than older models. It reduces the diameter of a warhead and makes it easier to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/iran-tested-nuclear-warhead-design
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Posted by Craig Shaw
October 26, 2009
Eight alleged hijackers of the Russian ship the Arctic Sea were in fact welcomed on board after being rescued in the Baltic Sea, a lawyer claims.
Konstantin Baranovsky, who represents one of the eight men, said the alleged pirates were testing a navigation system on a small boat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8271954.stm
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Posted by Craig Shaw
October 11, 2009
Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader is going on sale in more than 100 countries around the world, including the UK.
The reader has been confined to the US since its launch in November 2007; Amazon expects to have sold a million of the devices by the end of the year.
The global version will run on the 3G network, although Amazon has not specified the networks that will provide connectivity for the devices.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8294310.stm
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Posted by Craig Shaw
October 11, 2009
An exciting new find on the west bank of the River Avon, has been dubbed "Bluestonehenge" after the color of the 25 Welsh stones of which it was once made. Excavations by the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which is made up of a consortium of university teams and directed by Mike Parker Pearson from the University of Sheffield, revealed the new stone circle is 10m (33 ft) in diameter and surrounded by a henge — a ditch with an external bank.
Although the stones at the site of the new discovery were removed thousands of years ago, the sizes of the holes in which they stood indicate that this was a circle of bluestones, brought from the Preseli mountains of Wales, 150 miles away. These standing stones marked the end of the Avenue that leads from the River Avon to Stonehenge, a 1.75-mile long (2.8km) processional route constructed at the end of the Stone Age.
The outer henge around the stones was built around 2400 BC, but arrowheads found in the stone circle indicate that the stones were put up as much as 500 years earlier — they were dragged from Wales to Wiltshire 5,000 years ago.
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Posted by Craig Shaw
November 20, 2008
“Confidential UN watchdog report says ’significant’ amounts of uranium particles found by inspectors at Syrian complex bombed by Israel in September 2007, adding further investigation needed to prove reactor allegations “
A Syrian complex bombed by Israel bore features resembling those of an undeclared nuclear reactor and UN inspectors found "significant" traces of uranium at the site, a watchdog report said on Wednesday. But the International Atomic Energy Agency report said the findings gleaned from inspectors’ visit to the site in June were not enough to conclude a reactor was once there. It said further investigation and greater Syrian transparency were needed. The confidential nuclear safeguards report said Syria would be asked to show to inspectors debris and equipment whisked away from the site after the September 2007 Israeli air raid. The United States gave intelligence to the IAEA last April that Washington said indicated the site was a reactor that was close to being built with North Korean assistance and designed to produce plutonium for atomic bombs.
Syria, an ally of Iran whose disputed uranium enrichment program has been under IAEA investigation for years, says the site destroyed was a disused military building and the uranium traces almost certainly came with the munitions used to bomb it. Damascus has dismissed as fabricated the satellite imagery and other intelligence underpinning the investigation. "While it cannot be excluded that the building in question was intended for non-nuclear use, the features of the building, along with the connectivity of the site to adequate pumping capacity of cooling water, are similar to what may be found in connection with a reactor site," said the IAEA report, sent to its 35-nation board of governors ahead of a November 27-28 meeting. “
click for article – http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3625629,00.html
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Posted by Craig Shaw
November 11, 2008
As an enthusiastic Dog owner and also someone who has the greatest respect for the people of the Armed Services, I found the following article very informative and moving..
Some who have suffered traumatic injuries gain a sense of independence with service dogs, who help provide a bridge back to society.
click for article Veterans Helped by Healing Paws
By KAREN JONES
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:15:28 GMT
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Posted by Craig Shaw
November 6, 2008
“President Dmitry Medvedev moved yesterday to entrench the current Russian leadership’s grip on power by proposing a presidential term that would extend the stint in office from four to six years. Medvedev said the extension was necessary to guarantee stability and help Russia deal with huge global challenges. But critics said the proposal was further evidence of Russia’s alarming and rapid drift towards authoritarianism. This morning’s Vedomosti newspaper, citing Kremlin sources, said that Medvedev could resign from his post as early as 2009 – paving the way for Vladimir Putin, currently the prime minister, to come back to the Kremlin. Putin stepped down as president in May, when he handed over to Medvedev, his handpicked successor. Under this scenario Putin could get his presidential job back next year and then serve two six-year terms, Vedomosti suggested. In his first state of the nation address yesterday, Medvedev also said he was deploying nuclear missiles in western Russia to "neutralise" the Pentagon’s missile defence system – and lambasted the US for its "arrogant course" and "unilateralism". Speaking hours after Barack Obama was voted in as the next American president, Medvedev said Russia would site short-range Iskander nuclear-capable missiles next door to Poland, in Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad.
The Iskander missiles would be targeted at the US’s missile defence and radar bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, Medvedev said. Russia would also install radio-jamming equipment to sabotage the US weapons, he added. The US insists its system is aimed not at Russia but at Iran. Medvedev’s threat – with its echoes of cold war-style confrontation along the frontiers of eastern Europe – is likely to be an early foreign policy headache for Obama, as his fledgling administration seeks to improve ties with the EU. The Democrats are ambivalent about the Bush administration’s expensive defence plans in Europe. But if Obama dumps the project he risks accusations of weakness and caving in to Russian bullying. “
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/06/putin-kremlin-russia
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Posted by Craig Shaw
