Twinkle, twinkle, little black hole. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory has released its first map of the sky, including the first measurements of how often black holes flicker on and off. It has also caught pulsars, supernova remnants, and other bizarre cosmic beasts. “This is our deepest look at two-thirds of the sky, as well as the highest energy photons we’ve ever seen from any source,” says Brenda Dingus of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who presented the map at the American Physical Society meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah on 18 April. “We’re at the high energy frontier.” HAWC has been operating from the top of a mountain in central Mexico for about a year, and has caught some
Monday, April 25, 2016
Why this N. Korea test is not like the others
Prince Worked 154 Hours Straight With No Sleep Before Death
Prince reportedly worked for 154 hours without sleep in the days leading up to his death in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate. According to numerous reports, his brother-in-law Maurice Phillips has claimed the singer worked for six days non-stop before his death. Speaking after a private family service at the singer’s estate, Mr. Phillips reportedly said: “He worked 154 hours straight. I was with him just last weekend. He was a good brother-in-law.” The Daily Mail reported that Phillips, 52, talked as mourners arrived at Paisley Park for a memorial service on Saturday afternoon. Phillips, the Mail says, made a point of coming over and chatting to fans. The Mail said that Phillips, who is ...
SOUTH CHINA SEA WATCH: Tussle over plane; Russia backs China
Tensions in the South China Sea are rising, pitting China against smaller and weaker neighbors that all lay claim to islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves. China's recent construction of artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago, complete with airstrips and radar stations, and U.S. patrols challenging Beijing's vast territorial claims, have caused concern that the strategically important waters could become a flashpoint.
A look at some recent key developments:
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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CHINA DEFENDS MILITARY PLANE LANDING
China says the United States is overblowing a humanitarian emergency mission that involved one of its military planes landing on an artificial island — which also happens to be one of three recently built military outposts with long runways.
The Y-8 transport aircraft made a trip to Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys to evacuate three injured construction workers, according to the Ministry of Defense.
State Department spokesman John Kirby questioned the need for a military aircraft, citing concern that China keeps militarizing the disputed region. He said the injured workers were involved in infrastructure improvements of a military nature.
"One could argue that it's just another sign that the Chinese are willing to keep militarizing the effort in general," he told reporters.
China's Defense Ministry said it was completely within the mission of the People's Liberation Army to rescue people — and carry out construction activities and deployment of defense facilities on related islets and reefs in the Nansha Islands, the Chinese name for the Spratlys.
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FISHERMEN REPORT MORE CHINESE SHIPS; U.S. FLIES FIRST MISSION FROM PHILIPPINES
Filipino fishermen say they've seen more Chinese coast guard ships than usual around the contested Scarborough Shoal, which China effectively took over in 2013 after a tense standoff with Philippine vessels.
Although fishermen have been complaining they're being driven away by Chinese ships, the Philippine Department of Defense said it could not confirm an increase in Chinese presence at the shoal, 145 miles (230 kilometers) from Luzon island.
Meantime, the U.S. Air Force flew its first mission over the Scarborough area as part of a new Air Contingent force stationed in the Philippines. It involved four A-10C Thunderbolt jets and two Sikorsky HH-60 helicopters.
The mission: establishing air and maritime "domain awareness" and "assuring all nations have access to air and sea domains throughout the region in accordance with international law," according to a U.S. military statement.
Free navigation "is extremely important, international economics depends on it — free trade depends on our ability to move goods," said Col. Larry Card, commander of the Air Contingent, part of stepped-up U.S. assistance to its Philippine ally.
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RUSSIA, SOME ASEAN NATIONS BACK CHINA; BRITAIN STANDS BY U.S.
As China and other claimants await the ruling of a U.N. tribunal on a case filed by the Philippines that challenges Beijing's vast territorial claims, world and regional players are lining up behind one side or the other.
China has refused to take part in the proceedings at the U.N. Court of Arbitration, and it's not clear how the ruling can be enforced.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Moscow, said Russia is against any interference from third parties — a reference to the U.S. — " or any attempts to internationalize these disputes."
Russia repeated China's position that "only parties can resolve their dispute through direct talks."
Britain, on the other hand, says it will stand alongside the U.S. in supporting the ruling.
Hugo Swire, British minister of state for the Foreign Office, told a Washington think tank that growing tensions in the South China Sea are driven by China's assertive actions. He said any ruling by the court should be binding on both parties.
In Southeast Asia, which is broadly divided between pro- and anti-China blocs, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing had reached a consensus with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos — its traditional allies — on the South China Sea issue.
The four countries say territorial disputes are not an issue between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and should be resolved by parties directly.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said earlier that the case filed by the Philippines is an attempt to deny China's sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and "an abuse of international law."
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U.S. ADMIRAL DENIES RIFT WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
The Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Harry Harris has denied reports of differences with the White House in strategy over the South China Sea.
Navy Times reported on a gag order issued to military commanders for comments about the South China Sea in the run-up to the nuclear summit in Washington that included China.
Harris said in a statement that "any suggestion that the White House has sought to 'tamp down' on my talking about my concerns is patently wrong."
He said that during recent congressional testimony and press engagements in Washington, "I was very public and candid about my concerns regarding many issues in the Indo-Asia-Pacific to include the fact that China's militarization of the South China Sea is problematic."
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LAST WORD
"The United States and Vietnam share the interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region. So does China. But its massive land reclamation project in the South China Sea and increasing militarization of these outposts fuel regional tension and raise serious questions about China's intentions." — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on a visit to Hanoi.
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Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski in Bangkok, Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
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Follow Hranjski on Twitter at twitter.com/hatbangkok
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.Monday, April 18, 2016
SOUTH CHINA SEA WATCH: US, China build up presence, rhetoric
Tensions in the South China Sea are rising, pitting China against smaller and weaker neighbors who all lay claim to islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves. China's recent construction of artificial islands complete with airstrips and radar stations, and U.S. patrols challenging Beijing's vast territorial claims, have caused concern that the strategically important waters could become a flashpoint.
A look at some of the most recent key developments:
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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PHILIPPINES, U.S. KEEP NERVOUS EYE ON SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
A tiny, uninhabited shoal the shape of a horseshoe just west of the northern Philippines ignited the latest round of provocative maneuvers in the South China Sea. The fate of Scarborough Shoal could now threaten to push the belligerents even closer to the tip of conflict.
Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia Jr. told reporters in Manila that a senior U.S. Navy official reported spotting a suspected Chinese survey ship at Scarborough Shoal a few weeks ago. Philippine officials fear it could be a prelude to turning the disputed coral reef into another man-made island that could cement China's hold of the land and pose a threat to the Philippines, just 145 miles (230 kilometers) to the east.
The shoal, 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the Chinese coast, is at the center of a case that Manila has filed with a U.N. tribunal in 2013, after Chinese coast guard ships took effective control of the land following a tense standoff with Philippine ships.
Cuisia said the Philippine military checked but found nothing, possibly because the Chinese ship later left the shoal.
He then asked Washington to help convince China not to build in Scarborough Shoal, saying the Philippines is not capable of stopping it alone.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced during a visit to Manila that for the first time U.S. ships had started conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea with the Philippines — a somewhat rare move not done with many other partners in the region.
The Pentagon also said that nearly 300 American troops, including Air Force commandos armed with combat aircraft and helicopters, will remain in the Philippines through the end of the month following annual war games that ended Friday.
China reacted angrily and accused the two countries of militarizing the region.
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U.S. CARRIER BACK ON PATROL; CHINESE GENERAL VISITS ISLANDS
The United States and China are making some high-profile military moves in the South China Sea — each sending a message to the other that it won't back down.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, after announcing stepped-up cooperation with the Philippines, flew to the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier as it headed back on patrol in the sea.
Carter stood alongside his Philippine counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin, as they watched U.S. Navy fighter jets launch into vivid blue skies about 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) west of the island of Luzon.
At the same time, China's Defense Ministry said the country's second-ranking general, Fan Changlong, led military commanders to the Spratly Islands to visit troops and observe construction work.
The Pentagon also said it was aware of the reports that China has deployed Sheyang J-11 fighter jets to Woody Island in the Paracel Islands. Although such deployments are nothing new, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said they are "less the issue than the signal it sends of how far out of step China's actions are with the aspirations of the region."
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CHINA DISPATCHES MILITARY PLANE TO DISPUTED MAN-MADE ISLAND
China's navy has dispatched a military plane to one of the country's man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, the Defense Ministry said, in what is believed to be the first openly acknowledged mission of its kind.
A brief statement on the ministry's website said the plane was on patrol when it was diverted to Fiery Cross Reef on Sunday morning to pick up three injured construction workers.
The plane then flew to Sanya on China's southernmost island province of Hainan where it landed at Fenghuang International Airport, the ministry said.
Details about the plane and where it was based were not given, although a photo accompanying the report showed a four propeller Y-8 transport being met by an ambulance.
China completed the runway on Fiery Cross Reef last year and in January flew three commercial jets to the island as a test.
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CHINA UNHAPPY WITH G7 MINISTERS' MENTION OF ISLAND-BUILDING
China has summoned diplomats from the Group of Seven industrialized nations to protest their statement condemning Beijing's island-building in the South China Sea.
The G-7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan expressed strong opposition to any "intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions."
Chinese Ministry spokesman Lu Kang defended land reclamation work in the Spratly Islands as within its territorial rights, and accused the G-7 of diverging from its mission of safeguarding the global economy.
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McCAIN: AMERICA NEEDS MORE THAN SYMBOLIC GESTURES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA
U.S. Sen. John McCain, a proponent of a robust response to contain China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, says it's time for the U.S. to show some teeth because, he says, Beijing has crossed all three red lines placed by the Obama administration. According to McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, China has pressed ahead with land reclamation, militarization and use of coercion.
Writing in London's Financial Times, the Arizona Republican says China will soon be confronted by a possible unfavorable ruling in a case brought by the Philippines at a U.N. tribunal, and "may use the coming months to secure its existing gains or pursue new forms of coercion to expand them."
This could include further reclamation and militarization at strategic locations including Scarborough Shoal, or declaration of an air defense identification zone over disputed territory, he said.
According to McCain, the U.S. must be prepared to challenge immediately any such moves, "move beyond symbolic gestures" and launch a robust freedom-of-navigation campaign that would increase the scope and pace of U.S. ships sailing close to China-controlled features.
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LAST WORD
"At present, the situation in the South China Sea is stable overall due to the common efforts of China and relevant regional countries. China resolutely opposes any country harming China's sovereignty and security and sabotaging peace and stability in the South China Sea under any conditions." — Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
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Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski in Bangkok, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, and Lolita C. Baldor aboard the USS John C. Stennis contributed to this report.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
Jerusalem bus bomb wounds 16, Netanyahu hints at Palestinian link
April 18, 2016
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A bomb blew up a bus and set fire to another in Jerusalem on Monday, wounding 16 people in an attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked to a six-month-old wave of Palestinian street violence.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any Palestinian factions for the blast. Israeli officials declined to assign direct blame.
They said two of the casualties had not yet been identified and may have been bombers.
Suicide bombings on Israeli buses were a hallmark of the Palestinian revolt of 2000-2005 but have been rare since. With Palestinians carrying out less organized stabbing, car-ramming and gun attacks since October, Israel has been braced for an escalation.
"We will settle accounts with these terrorists," Netanyahu said in a speech, referring to whoever executed the bus attack.
"We are in a protracted struggle against terror - knife terror, shooting terror, bomb terror and also tunnel terror," he added, speaking hours after Israel announced its discovery of an underground passage dug by Hamas militants from Gaza.
Police initially said they were looking at the possibility that a technical malfunction caused the fire that consumed two buses on Derech Hebron road, in an area of southwest Jerusalem close to the boundary with the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
But based on the wounds and other findings, authorities concluded that a small and possibly rudimentary explosive device was set off at the back of one of the buses.
Those details recalled the bombing of a Tel Aviv bus by an Israeli Arab during the 2012 Gaza war which caused injuries but no deaths.
In the last half year, Palestinian attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 191 Palestinians, 130 of whom Israel says were assailants. Many others were shot dead in clashes and protests.
Drivers behind the bloodshed include Palestinian bitterness over stalled statehood negotiations and the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, stepped up Jewish access to a disputed Jerusalem shrine, and Islamist-led calls for Israel's destruction.
Bombings have not been carried out during this period - though Israeli prosecutors said a Palestinian woman who tried to blow up a gas balloon in her car after being pulled over by police in October was a would-be suicide bomber.
(Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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