Astronomers have discovered that the closest Sun-like star, Tau Ceti, is orbited by five planets, one of which is in the “habitable range”. If its existence is confirmed, the planet could be the closest potentially life-harboring world to our own. Tau Ceti, twelve light years away, belongs to the same G-type yellow main-sequence class as [...]
A New Earth? Potentially Habitable Planet Discovered
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Fortum To Invest In New Biofuelled Combined Heat And Power Plant In Stockholm
Fortum Värme, Fortum’s subsidiary co-owned together with the City of Stockholm, has decided to invest in a new biofuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Värtan, Stockholm. The value of the investment is approximately EUR 500 million and it is included in Fortum’s current capital expenditure guidance. The new plant will replace some of [...]
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Thaci Rejects Serbian Plans For North Kosovo
By Edona Peci Kosovo Prime Minister dismisses Serbia’s “platform” for Kosovo, ruling out calls for special autonomy for the Serb-run north as well as territorial partition. Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, on Wednesday said that Serbia’s recently unveiled plans for Kosovo should be “filed away”, along with other failed projects. “That project will remain in [...]
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Igor Sechin And Bob Dudley Discuss Rosneft And TNK-BP Integration
On December 19 Igor Sechin, Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board held a working meeting with BP CEO Bob Dudley to discuss the integration of Rosneft and TNK-BP. Bob Dudley will become a member of the steering committee co-ordinating the integration that will be chaired by Igor Sechin. The parties confirmed their commitment [...]
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Mali: Rising Ethnic Tensions Threaten New Violence, Says HRW
Mali’s newly appointed prime minister, Diango Sissoko, should take urgent measures to end rights abuses by the security forces and address rising ethnic tensions linked to the occupied northern provinces, Human Rights Watch said today. Sissoko was appointed prime minister of the country’s transitional government on December 11, 2012, a day after the military forced [...]
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Sri Lanka: Calls To Free Or Charge Detained Students
The Sri Lankan authorities should immediately release or credibly charge four ethnic Tamil students from Jaffna University who have been detained since early December 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. The Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) arrested the students amid unrest in the northern city of Jaffna following a security crackdown in late November against attempts [...]
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Pakistan’s New Approach Towards Endgame In Afghanistan – Analysis
Recent developments in Pakistan-Afghan relations indicate a major shift in Pakistan’s Afghan policy. Islamabad has presented itself as a facilitator instead of a blocker to a solution to the Afghan insurgency. This will help Pakistan secure its role in the Afghanistan endgame. By Arshad Ali As the United States plan to exit from Afghanistan in [...]
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Rumors Of Third Intifada Exaggerated – OpEd
By Georgina Reeves Over the past few days, the talk of a third Intifada breaking out in the occupied Palestinian territories has increased. But it isn’t Palestinians living under the occupation who are talking up the chances of a third uprising against Israel’s continued oppression in the territories. An internet search of news for “third [...]
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Christmas Message From The Holy Land: ‘Act And Intervene’ – OpEd
By Stuart Littlewood My first Christmas greeting this year came all the way from Bethlehem itself, just yards from where the Big Story is supposed to have begun 2012 years ago. My friend Jiries is a survivor of the murderous 40-day siege of the Church of the Nativity by Israeli troops in 2002. These days, [...]
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Cliff Hanger: President Obama’s Unnecessary And Unwise Concessions – OpEd
Why is the President back to making premature and unnecessary concessions to Republicans? Two central issues in the 2012 presidential election were whether the Bush tax cuts should be ended for people earning over $250,000, and whether Social Security and Medicare should be protected from future budget cuts. The President said yes to both. Republicans [...]
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ASEAN Region: India Needs To Stand Strategically Tall – Analysis
By Dr. Subhash Kapila “In the present day, the issues are no longer of parochial interest. Freedom of navigation and lawful commerce are universal interests. The statement of the Admiral (Indian Naval Chief) is a confirmation that it is a problem (South China Sea disputes escalation by China) that India cannot turn its back on”. [...]
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Shri Nehchal Sandhu IPS To Join NSCS – OpEd
The Government of India needs to be complimented for its reported decision to appoint Shri Nehchal Sandhu, who will be retiring as the Director of the Intelligence Bureau on December 31, 2012, as Officer on Special Duty in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) to be in charge of internal security. It has been reported [...]
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Perpetrator Of Bulgaria Terror Attack Still Unidentified
By Svetla Dimitrova The results of the investigation into the suicide bombing at Bulgaria’s Burgas Airport last summer are expected to become public soon, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said this week. The July 18th attack targeted a bus carrying Israeli tourists. Five of them and the bus driver, a Bulgarian national, were killed in [...]
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Obama And Feinstein Gun Control Effort Blasted As Hypocritical – OpEd
With his reelection fears now gone, President Barack Obama is talking about his commitment to imposing restrictions on gun ownership on Wednesday without one reporter bringing up the hypocrisy of the Democrats, according to several police veterans and gun experts who spoke to the Law Enforcement Examiner. Heeding the advice of his longtime friend and [...]
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Putin Offers French Star Depardieu Russian Citizenship
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, December 20 that legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu, who recently renounced his French citizenship, can count on getting a Russian passport if he wants one, RIA Novosti reported. Le Monde quoted the actor, who has recently settled in the Belgian border town of Nechin, as saying on Wednesday [...]
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Egypt’s Draft Constitution Leader Quits Following Corruption Allegations
A top official in charge of overseeing Egypt’s hotly-contested draft constitution has resigned citing health concerns, following allegations of rule-breaking. Secretary General of the Election Committee Zaghloul el-Balshi’s “sudden health crisis” was dismissed by critics on Thursday as a cover-up, although his relatives said he had recently undergone eye surgery. In a letter of resignation [...]
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WikiLeaks To Release Over A Million New Documents In 2013, Says Assange
Despite all the difficulties the WikiLeaks faced in 2012, Julian Assange vowed to publish some 1,000,000 new documents in the coming year. In his Christmas speech he called for people to continue fighting for democracy “from Tahrir to London.” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared on the balcony of London’s Ecuadorian embassy at 19:00 GMT welcoming [...]
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For Further Understanding Between Morocco And Spain – OpEd
Today we understand more than ever that to build bridges of reconciliation and understanding between people requires an urgent need to build the foundation for cooperation and to establish the spirit of brotherhood and peace among nations. We know also that the dialogue between cultures and cross-linking is a fundamental requirement for progress towards achieving [...]
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South Korea: Park’s Victory Offers Relief – Analysis
By Parameswaran Ponnudurai Countries worried about North Korea’s illicit nuclear weapons and missile development programs may be heaving a sigh of relief that Park Geun-hye has been elected South Korea’s new president. Not that Park, the 60-year-old daughter of a former dictator, is going to emulate her conservative party’s outgoing President Lee Myung-bak’s hard-line policy [...]
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Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call System: Faster Help At The Crash Scene
In June 2012, three years ahead of the planned obligatory date set by the European Commission, Mercedes-Benz eCall, the vehicle emergency call system, was launched. In the event of a serious accident, the emergency services can be notified automatically and be informed of the precise location of the accident and the car model within just [...]
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