Archive
Iran launches home-made satellite into orbit
Iran has launched a satellite into earth orbit in a feat that is likely to raise concerns among those who fear Iran’s intentions and nuclear development program.
“Our glorious scientists successfully put Iran’s first image-collecting satellite into orbit,” the TV report said.
Iran has made a series of claims about advances in its ambitious space program in recent years, which has Western powers worried about the possibility of its military applications.
Last year, Iran announced it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a mouse, turtle and worms into space.
Iran’s space program has expressed a goal of putting a man in orbit within 10 years, despite the Read more…
Europe’s Rejection of Nuclear Power a Gift for Russia
Germany will phase out nuclear power by 2022, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced June 3. A week before, Switzerland made a similar decision. Italy followed suit on June 13, voting overwhelmingly to reject nuclear power in a national referendum.
These countries will almost certainly have to replace their nuclear power with natural gas, at least in the short term. It is readily available and less polluting than coal or oil. The International Energy Agency recently predicted a “golden age of gas.”
The only problem is where Europe gets most of its gas from Read more…
Look Out Above! Russia May Target U.S. Sats With Laser Jet
Back in the early 80s, Soviet engineers began outfitting an Ilyushin-76 jet with a laser cannon. Two models of the “Falcon-Echelon” planes were flown — presumably as counterweights to U.S. efforts to construct a fleet of missile-zapping jets. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, the Falcon-Echelon program perished, as well.
Or so it seemed at the time. Now, there’s mounting evidence that Read more…
China, Russia ties on sound base
Sino-Russian relations are usually wrapped in high-sounding rhetoric, but they are essentially very pragmatic. For China, Russia is a geopolitical “safe rear” and, in economic terms, a major resource base. For Russia, China is a huge market just across the border and a valuable geopolitical partner. The fundamentals of the relationship are solid and not likely to change in the short or medium term.
When President Hu Jintao visits Russia on Wednesday, he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will duly celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the two countries. But the main expectation this time will be the finalization of the 30-year agreement, under which Russia will supply China with 68 billion cubic meters of gas annually over the next 30 years from 2015.
When finalized, the agreement will strengthen China’s energy security and diversify Russia’s gas exports. Until now, the principal issue between the two countries has been the price of Russian gas for China. Gazprom wanted it to be as close to the lucrative European Read more…
Locusts Invade Russia and China, Threatening Food Supply
Millions of Locusts Invade Russia
June 9, 2011
MSNBC – Giant swarms of locusts are said to be threatening the food supply for nearly 20 million people in the region.
Locust Plague Ravages NW China
May 5, 2011
Xinhua – Large swarms of locusts have laid waste to vast tracts of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with authorities expecting the plague to worsen as the weather heats up.
The locust plague began in the pastureland of the Ili River Valley and Read more…
Russia may develop nuclear offensive, arms race – Serdyukov
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on Wednesday said that Russia would develop its own offensive nuclear force if NATO fails to come to agreement over the European defense shield.
“We have no other way, otherwise we’ll just have to develop an arms race,” Serdyukov said after a Russia-NATO meeting in Brussels.
The talks in Brussels, he said, did not result in the solution of conceptual approaches and the Russia-NATO working group on the missile shield issue only managed to agree on the plan of work for 2011.
“We failed to agree on conceptual approaches… Our dialogue must Read more…
Russia to accelerate GLONASS navigation satellite launches
Russia will accelerate the pace of communications satellite launches to give its GLONASS navigation system full global coverage capacity by the end of the year, a senior government official said Wednesday.
Russia’s national space agency is planning to place into orbit six new GLONASS navigation satellites by the end of 2011, said Anatoly Shilov, a spokesman for Russia’s National Space Agency.
GLONASS is a Russia-developed satellite-navigation system similar to the U.S.-developed GPS.
The Russian network currently operates 23 satellites, giving coverage of Russia and the former Soviet Union. It needs between 25 and 30 aloft to provide global coverage, according to news reports.
A top government priority for GLONASS is tracking Read more…
Medvedev Commits Russia’s Support to Africa
In a congratulatory message to the continent on Africa Day, the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, said that his country is ready to continue supporting Rwanda and other African countries in their quest for development.
In his message sent to The New Times, Medvedev said that Africa Day is important for the continent to reflect on its aspirations for freedom, unity, peace, stability and sustainable development.
“In the recent years African countries have been steadily moving on the way of fundamental transformations and modernisation. A lot has been done for acceleration of growth rate, Read more…
China aims to surpass US in physical gold reserves
The solid demand for gold is not supported just by private individuals and panicky investors, but countries like China, India and Russia are ramping up investment in the yellow metal.
“… that the world’s biggest and fastest growing national economies are in the midst of an historic push to build up their stores of the precious metal,” according to Wealth Daily’s Luke Burgess.
“Today, the biggest buyers of gold aren’t private citizens or hedge-funds. Instead, nations like China, India, and Russia have moved forward to grab up every loose ounce of the metal…,” Burgess says.
There have been reports that the Chinese are buying gold assets to cover against rising inflation risk and global macroeconomic uncertainties. Beijing has long complained that the U.S. Federal Read more…
Alarming Number of Disasters Striking World “Food Baskets”
Millennium-Ark
May 16, 2011
Holly Deyo
Dear Friends and Readers of Millennium-Ark,
For the last 5 years, we have posted countless articles covering both natural disasters and their impact on our food supplies as well as on many other timely topics. After several decades of monitoring these events, it’s hard to convey how shocked we are by the sheer number of disasters that have occurred just in the first 4 months of 2011.
Yesterday, all day, I spent analyzing natural disasters and plotted them against our food belts. Never, ever, have I seen so many federally declared disasters this early in the year.
The DHS/FEMA maps were defined by 2 colors: blue signified no disasters (to distinguish the disaster-free areas from water, they are shown in white below) and yellow indicated declared disasters. Map after map, state after state were mostly yellow. Surely this must be an error? Thinking through the numerous news items on Earth Changes, with sinking feeling, I knew they were correct. It was only when the state information was transferred to a single national map, the implications become uncomfortably clear.
Notice how many disasters have occurred in food-producing areas. They are striking the heart of our food growing regions. Many food crops have been wiped out by drought, flood, hail and freezes. These food destroyers are occurring in greater frequency and having larger impact. America’s food belts are taking mighty hits. Some growing areas will not recover this entire year.
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