This illustration shows NASA’s Cassini spacecraft diving through the plume of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, in 2015. Two veteran NASA missions are providing new details about icy, ocean-bearing moons of Jupiter and Saturn, further heightening the scientific interest of these and other “ocean worlds” in our solar system and beyond. Source link
WASHINGTON The United States is aware of a higher-than-usual level of activity by Chinese bomber planes, signalling a possible heightened state of readiness, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, but downplayed concerns and left open a range of possible reasons. None of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested alarm or signalled that they knew the precise reason for such Chinese activity. Those possibilities include […]
Poynter on Thursday announced a final list of 21 local news organizations that will participate in the Poynter Local News Innovation Project, receiving guidance from the Institute to help them transform their newsrooms into digital-first enterprises. The program, a project of the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative, is designed to spur digital transformation in local news organizations and will include tiny, low-circulation newspapers as well as major metros. Here’s […]
Georgia officials have granted a couple’s request to issue a birth certificate giving their toddler daughter the surname “Allah” after earlier refusing to do so because neither parent has that name, civil liberties advocates said on Thursday. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit, called the decision a victory for free expression, but a top official with the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group criticized the […]
BEIRUT Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi were both approved to run in May’s presidential election by a government vetting body, while former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was disqualified, state media reported on Thursday. The approval of Rouhani, a moderate, and Raisi, a political hardliner thought to have the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sets up a showdown between rival political camps. Four […]
PARIS One policeman was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris on Thursday night, a police source said. A person who fired on police on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard just days ahead of France’s presidential election has been killed, the source said. A police source also said there had been two assailants, and a witness told Reuters that one man got out of […]
By Ulf Laessing | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq If you want to hear the resentment people of Mosul feel now that Iraqi forces have driven Islamic State out of most of the city, you should talk to Saddam Hussein. Not the dictator, but the Mosul schoolteacher, who proudly shows off an identity card bearing the name which his parents gave him in the ruler’s honour 45 years […]
By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World financial leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration. Worries over Trump’s approach to trade, taxes, financial regulation and climate change clouded the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, even amid […]
Some Samsung Galaxy S8 units apparently have a red tint on their display, but Samsung does not consider it a defect — more like an easily adjustable detail. For those unfamiliar with the matter, the Galaxy S8 is not set to go on sale in the United States until April 21, but it already launched in Samsung’s home country of South Korea on April 17. The smartphone had […]
The biggest risk, critics say, is that Mr. Trump will talk himself into a war. Only slightly less dangerously, he could weaken the nation’s standing by backing off from a threat to use force. Continue reading the main story “In Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, they are recalibrating their strategies — you can’t deny it — because they don’t have any idea of how Trump will respond,” said Senator […]
MONACO A Slovakia-based company unveiled the commercial design for a flying car priced at more than $1 million on Thursday, saying it was ready for pre-orders with first deliveries expected by 2020. AeroMobil said its teardrop-like shaped AeroMobil Flying Car, displayed at the Top Marques Monaco, could switch to flight mode in less than three minutes. The wings fold away for driving on roads and swing out […]
For a planetary surface to boast extensive areas of both land and water, a delicate balance must be struck between the volume of water it retains and the capacity of its oceanic basins. Each of these two quantities may vary substantially across the full spectrum of water-bearing worlds. Why the Earth’s values are so well balanced is an unresolved and long-standing conundrum. Source
BERLIN Ivanka Trump will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde in Berlin next Tuesday at a summit of women from leading world economies, the organisers said. Trump, who is an informal advisor to her father, United States President Donald Trump, will join Merkel and Lagarde for a podium discussion on global support for women entrepreneurs at a two-day G20 women’s summit. […]
By Sarah Marsh and Alexandre Meneghini | CIEGO DE AVILA CIEGO DE AVILA Cuban farmer Pascual Ferrel says his favorite fighting cock’s prowess was “off the charts,” so after it died of illness he had the black and red rooster preserved and displays it on his mantelpiece beside a television. “He fought six times and was invincible,” the 64-year old recalled fondly, talking over the crowing of […]
VATICAN CITY During his trip to Fatima, Portugal in May, Pope Francis will make two of the three shepherd children believed to have seen a vision of the Madonna 100 years ago there saints, the Vatican said on Thursday. Millions of faithful each year visit the Fatima shrine, one of the most famous in Christianity. The canonisation of Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto will take […]
By Madeline Chambers | BERLIN BERLIN Germany’s Central Council of Muslims said on Thursday that the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) was on a path to becoming a more radical, anti-Islamic party without co-chief Frauke Petry leading it into September’s national election. Petry had become the face of the anti-immigration party, which hurt Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives during the migrant crisis but has leaked support this year. […]
The exciting discovery of a giant nearby exoplanet has researchers wondering about the possibility of finding the first trace of extraterrestrial life. The massive super-Earth is located 40 light-years away from our home planet, in the Cetus (“Sea Monster”) constellation, and has been dubbed the “best place to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.” Telescopes around the world, including the HARPS instrument at La Silla […]
By Mubasher Bukhari | ISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD Three women dressed in burqas killed a man who had been accused of blasphemy in 2004 in a northeastern Pakistani town, police said on Thursday, the second brutal killing over alleged insults to Islam in a week. Blasphemy is a highly charged topic in Pakistan where there have been at least 66 murders over unproven allegations since 1990 according to figures […]
The chairman of Saudi-based construction giant Dar Al-Arkan on Wednesay rang the market opening bell to celebrate the listing of a $500 million sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, the region’s international exchange. Yousef Bin Abdullah Al-Shelash said the listing provides support for Dar Al-Arkan’s capital-raising strategy as it prepares for further property development activities across Saudi Arabia. The sukuk was two times oversubscribed and received significant interest from […]
Feb 16, 2017 10:46 am IST The decision of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do away with large-denomination notes in November led to a temporary cash shortage that slowed the economy and forced people to queue at banks to get money. New Delhi touted its move as an opportunity to make India’s economy less dependent on cash, saying it will help it shrink the black economy […]
MOSCOW Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that only the Russian people will choose who succeeds him as president, through the electoral process. Russia will hold a presidential election in March next year. Putin has not said whether he will run or not, but is widely expected to go for what would be his fourth term. “The president’s successor will be decided by the Russian people only during […]
It’s springtime. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and love is in the air. That can only mean one thing: It’s time to send pictures of your bits and pieces! If you’ve ever used your phone to send someone special a picture of your thing(s), you’re not alone. Data shows that sexting is a highly popular pastime enjoyed by men and women alike. As you […]
An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth may be the new holder of the title ‘best place to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.’ Using ESO’s HARPS instrument, and other telescopes, astronomers discovered a ‘super-Earth’ orbiting in the habitable zone around the star LHS 1140. This world is larger and more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most […]
By Roberta Rampton | JAKARTA JAKARTA U.S. Vice President Mike Pence toured Southeast Asia’s largest mosque on Thursday during a visit to Indonesia, calling the Muslim-majority nation’s tradition of following a moderate form of Islam “an inspiration to the world”. Pence, an evangelical Christian, has sought to use his trip to soften some of the harsher edges of rhetoric about the Muslim world used by U.S. President […]
