Greek coast guard rescues migrants heading for Europe

Azerbaijan: Putin and Erdogan meet on sidelines of first European Games

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of first European Games in Baku, Saturday, to discuss bilateral relations between both nations.

Both leaders took part in the opening ceremony of the games on Friday, alongside Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and several other heads of state, and wished success to all the participants involved in the multi-sport competition.

The first European Games are running for 17 days, from June 12 to June 28, with over 6,000 athletes from 50 different countries participating in the competition.

Boeing 787 shows off near-vertical take-off - BBC News

Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 13 Ιουν 2015

Boeing has released footage of its new 787 Dreamliner plane rehearsing the flying display it will perform at the 2015 Paris Air Show which starts on Monday - including a near-vertical take-off.

Gun attack at Dallas police headquarters

• 1 hour ago
 
• From the sectionUS & Canada

Media captionFootage showed shots being fired in Dallas (Source: Twitter user @madwho12)

The police headquarters in the US city of Dallas, Texas, has come under attack by an unknown number of gunmen who opened fire on officers.

One suspect fled the scene in what was described as an armoured van and is involved in a standoff in a car park.

A number of bags were found outside the police HQ, at least one of which contained explosives including pipe bombs, police said on Twitter.

The motive for the attack is not clear. No officers have been hurt.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown quoted witnesses as saying that as many as four suspects were involved in the initial shooting at about 00:30 (05:30GMT) on Saturday. However, he said this had not been confirmed.

He said one suspect then fled the scene in the van, ramming a police car.

A police chase involving dozens of squad cars ended in a car park in Hutchins, about nine miles (14km) from central Dallas, and officers are negotiating with the occupant of the van, Mr Brown said.

The van, which has been disabled using a police rifle, appeared to have gun ports built into its sides.

Police released pictures showing gunshot damage to their headquarters

This squad car was hit by gunfire but no officers were injured

Debris marks the spot where one of the bags exploded

Police said the man had identified himself as James Boulware.

Mr Brown said police could not confirm his identity, but said that officers had attended three incidents of domestic violence involving a man with that name in which he had said he wanted to "blow up" the police because they had taken his child and accused him of being a terrorist.

Suspicious package

Meanwhile, residents near the police headquarters have been evacuated as a precaution as specialist teams dealt with the explosives.

One of the bags exploded as a robot tried to move it.

Dallas police also said they were investigating a suspicious package under a police truck outside the headquarters, as well as another in a rubbish container.

Joshua Guilbuad, whose apartment is opposite the police headquarters, told the BBC he was woken by the gunshots.

"It sounded like approximately 200 gunshots going off across the street. Then we could see cars pulling up."

He said police told him and his flatmates to evacuate the building and shortly afterwards there was "a huge explosion which shook the glass in the windows".

"We are now in the basement of the building with no access to food or water," he said.

Meet Afalina: Russian manufacturer reveals the world’s cheapest helicopter (VIDEO)

Published time: June 12, 2015 19:32

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Russia, SciTech

The Russian designers are about to fulfil the consumer’s dream of an affordable helicopter, with Afalina rotorcraft expected to cost about half than currently the cheapest offer on the market and run on car fuel as it goes into production in 2016.

HeliWhale, a company from the Siberian city of Kemerovo, revealed its unique helicopter at the HeliRussia 2015 exhibition, which took place in Moscow in late-May.

An ultra-light, coaxial two-seater is called Afalina, the Russian word for bottlenose dolphin, with the rotorcraft’s hull resembling the shape of the marine mammal’s body.

Afalina is designed as a multipurpose helicopter capable of performing a variety of tasks, including the training of pilots, maintenance of pipelines and power lines, aerial surveillance, police patrolling, transportation of personnel, farm work and recreational flights.

One of the machine’s key features is the customizable Enigma system, which allows the pilot to pick and choose his cockpit display layout from hundreds of devices and functions.

The coaxial positioning of rotors used in Afalina ensures that the aircraft is easier to pilot, more silent and more resistant to lateral wind gusts.

HeliWhale said that the patented new control system of coaxial rotors also provides the helicopter with high velocity of up to 250 kilometers per hour at max speed.

The aircraft, weighing 270 kilograms, is capable of carrying a payload of another 180 kilograms, the company said.

Afalina can also be refueled with conventional 95 octane car fuel, with the consumption between 12 and 16 liters (3 to 4 gallons) per hour

Read moreEurope’s largest helicopter exhibition lifts off in Moscow (VIDEO)

According to HeliWhale, the helicopter will cost $120,000, which includes heating and ventilation systems in the cockpit.

“Today nobody else produces aircrafts of this class, even the two-seater ‘Robinson’ is heavier than ‘Afalina’ and is, in fact, a completely different machine,” Jacov Kolesnikov, general director of HeliWhale told Russia and India Report website.

“The American Robinsons are also much more expensive. A two-seat helicopter costs $300,000,” he added.

Afalina has been built from scratch by the Russian designers, with HeliWhale producing all parts itself, except for the Austrian made engine, Rotax.

“We are looking for domestic engines, and if there is a quality Russian engine, maybe we'll switch to it,”Kolesnikov said.

Endurance test for the flying prototype of the rotorcraft are about to begin in short term.

The company says that its production plant in Kemerovo will be able to build from 10 to 15 machines every year.

They’ll be supplied to customers as kit-sets models for self-assembly in order to keep the price low, the developer said.

Besides Russia, HeliWhale is planning to engage with the US, Australian, and EU markets, saying that it already has orders for Afalina from abroad.

ΔΕΣΜΕΥΟΥΝ ΓΙΑ ΑΣΚΗΣΕΙΣ ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ ΣΤΟ ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΤΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΥΣ

Τουρκική πρόκληση στην «καρδιά» του Αιγαίου

Αντιμέτωπη με νέα προσπάθεια της Τουρκίας να κλιμακώσει την ένταση στο Αιγαίο βρίσκεται η Αθήνα, καθώς μετά από ένα μπαράζ προκλήσεων, αιφνιδιαστικά χθες η Τουρκία επανήλθε δεσμεύοντας για ασκήσεις μεγάλη περιοχή στην «καρδιά» του Αιγαίου για το διάστημα μέχρι τις 31 Δεκεμβρίου.

Η Τουρκία με τη NAVTEX 564/15 που εκδόθηκε χθες δέσμευσε την ίδια περιοχή που είχε δεσμεύσει με NAVTEX που ενεργοποίησε λίγο μετά τις εκλογές και οδήγησε σε κρίση τις σχέσεις με τη νέα ελληνική κυβέρνηση.

Κινητοποίηση
Ομως το «λάθος» των Τούρκων επιτελών να συμπεριλάβουν στις συντεταγμένες της περιοχής που δέσμευαν ακόμη και έδαφος της Λήμνου διευκόλυνε την προσπάθεια της Αθήνας και του υπουργού Εξωτερικών Ν. Κοτζιά, που με κινητοποίηση σε διεθνείς οργανισμούς, στο ΝΑΤΟ και στην Ε.Ε., πέτυχαν την απόσυρση της NAVTEX.

Η συγκεκριμένη περιοχή που δέσμευσε η Τουρκία περικλείει τον διεθνή εναέριο χώρο μεταξύ Λέσβου, Αϊ-Στράτη, της νησίδας Πιπέρι Αλοννήσου και ανατολικά της Σκύρου. Η δέσμευση γίνεται για ιδιαίτερα μεγάλο διάστημα (από 15 Ιουνίου μέχρι τις 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2015) για «επικίνδυνες δραστηριότητες» καθημερινά από τις 5πΜ. ? 4 μ.μ. με την εξαίρεση των Σαββατοκύριακων και των εθνικών εορτών.

Η NAVTEX αυτή διόρθωσε το λάθος που είχε γίνει με τη συντεταγμένη που επικάλυπτε έδαφος της Λήμνου (κάτι που προκάλεσε την αποδοκιμασία τόσο των Αμερικανών όσο και του ΝΑΤΟ) αλλά παρ' όλα αυτά απονεκρώνει ένα μεγάλο τμήμα στο κέντρο του Αιγαίου και μάλιστα στην κορύφωση της τουριστικής περιόδου και δημιουργεί προβλήματα στους αεροδιαδρόμους UG 33 και UG18.

Δεν είναι τυχαίο πάντως το γεγονός ότι η έκδοση της συγκεκριμένης NAVTEX γίνεται ενώ έχουν ξεκινήσει με πρωτοβουλία του υπουργού Εξωτερικών Ν. Κοτζιά συνομιλίες με την Τουρκία για την υιοθέτηση Μέτρων Οικοδόμησης Εμπιστοσύνης.

Επιδίωξη
Στη συζήτηση αυτή η Τουρκία έχει θέσει στην κορυφή της ατζέντας της το θέμα της «αμοιβαίας» κατάργησης πεδίων βολής που δεσμεύονται για μεγάλο διάστημα στον διεθνή εναέριο χώρο του Αιγαίου και για τον λόγο αυτόν δέσμευσε το πεδίο βολής ώστε για την κατάργησή του να ζητήσει την κατάργηση και ενός εκ των τριών ελληνικών πεδίων βολής στο Αιγαίο.

Η ξαφνική κλιμάκωση της επιθετικής δραστηριότητας της Τουρκίας στο Αιγαίο και στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο προκαλεί προβληματισμό στην Αθήνα καθώς επιχειρεί να αξιολογήσει εάν πρόκειται για νέα προσέγγιση στα ελληνοτουρκικά ή για συνήθεις «αναταράξεις» που σημειώνονται τις περιόδους πολιτικής ρευστότητας σε Ελλάδα και Τουρκία.

ΝΙΚΟΣ ΜΕΛΕΤΗΣ

Expedition 43 Crew Returns Home

Three crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth Thursday after a 199-day mission that included several spacewalks, technology demonstrations, and hundreds of scientific experiments spanning multiple disciplines, including human and plant biology. Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts of NASA, Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) touched down at 9:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 p.m., Kazakh time), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. "The capsule landed in the planned landing area, approximately 145 kilometers southeast of the city of Jezkazgan," the Russian Mission Control Center said. A little later search and rescue groups reached the place of landing and started evacuating astronauts.

"The landing was rough and fast. We were spinning a bit for some reason, but the timing was perfect. Everything was done precisely to the required second,” Shkaplerov told Rossiya 24.

During their time aboard the orbiting laboratory, the crew members participated in a variety of research activities focusing on the effects of microgravity on cells, Earth observation, physical science, and biological and molecular science. Their research included the start of a one-year study into human health management over long-duration space travel with the March arrival of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko – the One-Year Crew.

Expedition 43 had to prolong their stay on the Space Station after the April 28 accident involving the Progress M-27M cargo spacecraft.

The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket took the spacecraft to a higher orbit than had originally planned, which made subsequent attempts to dock the Progress with the ISS impossible.

The accident occurred due to the "abnormal separation" of the Soyuz third stage and the Progress after an unaccounted design fault caused decompression of the rocket's fuel tanks, Roscosmos said.

The team members welcomed three cargo spacecraft during their stay on station. One Russian ISS Progress cargo vehicle docked to the station in February carrying tons of supplies, and Virts assisted with grapple and connection of two SpaceX Dragon deliveries in January and April -- the company's fifth and sixth NASA-contracted commercial resupply missions.

In preparation for the arrival of U.S. commercial crew vehicles, Virts ventured outside the station for three planned spacewalks to make adjustments for new International Docking Adapters (IDA) that can accommodate the spacecraft. The first IDA is scheduled to arrive on SpaceX’s seventh commercial resupply flight later this month.

Expedition 43 Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) rests in a chair outside the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft just minutes after she and NASA astronaut Terry Virts of NASA, and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Virts, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti are returning after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 42 and 43 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The crew also had the opportunity to participate in the demonstration of new, cutting-edge technologies such as the Synthetic Muscle experiment, a test of a new polymer that contracts and expands similar to real muscle. This technology has the potential for future use on robots, enabling them to perform tasks that require considerable dexterity but are too dangerous to be performed by humans in space.

The crew engaged in a number of biological studies, including one investigation to better understand the risks of in-flight infections and another studying the effects microgravity has on bone health during long-duration spaceflight. The Micro-5 study used a small roundworm and a microbe that causes food poisoning in humans to study the risk of infectious diseases in space, which is critical for ensuring crew health, safety and performance during long-duration missions. The Osteo-4 study investigated bone loss in space, which has applications not only for astronauts on long-duration missions, but also for people on Earth affected by osteoporosis and other bone disorders.

The returning crew members will celebrate individual milestones in their space exploration careers. With the completion of his second mission, Virts now has spent 212 days in space. Shkaplerov, having completed his second long-duration mission on the station, has spent 364 days in space. Cristoforetti set a new record for single mission duration by a female astronaut with 199 days in space on her first flight, surpassing NASA astronaut Suni Williams’ previous record of 195 days as a flight engineer on Expeditions 14 and 15 from December 2006 to June 2007.

The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Expedition 44 now is operating the station with Roscosmos’ Gennady Padalka in command. Flight Engineers Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos, are continuing station research and operations until three new crewmates arrive. Kelly and Kornienko are on the first joint U.S.-Russian one-year mission, an important stepping stone on NASA’s journey to Mars.

NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Roscosmos’ Oleg Kononenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan in late July.

The Pangolin: Ten Things You Should Know about the World’s Most Trafficked Animal

One of the things I love most about guiding is watching the joy my guests get from seeing an animal for the very first time; so imagine how much better it is when that person didn’t even know the animal existed before they arrived at Londolozi. It is priceless to see the look they get as they clap eyes on an animal whose appearance fits somewhere between a dinosaur, an artichoke and a small dog covered in giant toenails that they couldn’t possibly have thought up for themselves. Many South Africans will know this animal as their ever-elusive nemesis and for those who don’t know this creature; I’d like to introduce you to the pangolin.

Meet the strange and fabulous-looking pangolin. One of the rarer species we are fortunate enough to find on occasion here at Londolozi. Photo: Amy Attenborough

There are eight species of this scaly creature, four of which are found in Africa and four in Asia. Two of the Asian species are listed as endangered and the others are all rapidly declining in number. The astonishing and little-known reason for this is that the pangolin is the most trafficked animal on the planet.

This species is the Cape or Temminck’s Ground Pangolin and is the only species we find in Southern Africa. The other African species include the Giant ground pangolin, White-bellied or Tree pangolin and the Black-bellied or Long-tailed pangolin.  Photo: Amy Attenborough

Conservative estimates say that 10 000 pangolins are trafficked every year. Annamiticus, an advocacy group, says if you assume only 10% to 20% of the actual trade is reported by the news media, the true number trafficked between 2011 and 2013 was between 116,990 and 233,980. In August 2013, nearly 7 tons of pangolins from Indonesia were seized at a port in Haiphong, Vietnam. In 2008, almost 14 tons of pangolins were seized in Sumatra, likely bound for Vietnam or China.

The pangolin can walk on all fours or even on its two back legs, whilst using its tail for balance. Notice its very well developed claws and forearms which it uses to break into ants nests and termite mounds. Photo: Amy Attenborough

Because the demand for these animals is so high, the price for them has followed suit. Pangolin scales go for about $600-$1000 per kilo and in restaurants the meat costs about $350 per kilo. You apparently have to order the whole animal, which weighs at least 5kg and so the meal can end up costing a whopping $1750. Eating the meat is considered a status symbol and the scales are eaten as a treatment for lactation issues, blood circulation problems and cancer. And carrying a pangolin tongue in your pocket is supposedly considered good luck.

It is ironic to think that the scales of the pangolin, designed to protect this animal, is actually what is leading to its demise. The scales have become so sought after in Asia that they sell for around $600-$1000 per kg. Photo: Don Heyneke

Apart from these statistics here are some of my top ten facts to know about this interesting little critter:

1)Pangolins are ancient animals. The earliest pangolin fossils date back to the Eocene epoch, 35 million to 55 million years ago, shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct.

2) Despite their reptilian appearance, they are in facts mammals and are covered in hard scales that when they roll up make them virtually impenetrable and protect their soft face and undersides.

The pangolin’s hard keratinous scales cover most of its body apart from its soft under belly and face and make up about 20% of its overall body weight. Photo: Amy Attenborough

3)Despite popular belief they are actually more closely related to true carnivores than to anteaters, sloths or armadillos, although this relationship is still unclear.

4)The ground pangolin got its common name from the Malay word ‘pengguling’, meaning ‘rolling up’. Unfortunately, this practice makes it even easier for humans to capture and smuggle them, as hunters can simply pick them up.

Once balled up like this, the pangolin becomes like an impenetrable fortress that even lions, leopards and tigers cannot break into. They do also have the ability to thrash their scaled tail about while trying to get away, which is enough to cut a predator’s skin. If none of these tactics work, they may even emit a noxious-smelling acid from glands near the anus to try to chase away the predator. Photo: Don Heyneke

5) They have large claws and powerful forearms, which they use to dig into the ground as well as termite mounds for food. It is believed that pangolins eat more than 70 million insects per year, mostly made up of ants and termites.

6) They have a long, sticky tongue that they use to lap up their food. Amazingly the tongue is actually attached near its pelvis and last pair of ribs. At rest the tongue retracts into a sheath in its chest cavity and in some of the smaller pangolin species, their tongue is actually longer than their entire body length.

7) They do not have teeth and so their food is ground down in their muscular stomach, which also has keratinous spines projecting into its interior, and is ground against soil and small pebbles ingested during the feeding process, similar to a bird’s gizzard.

8) They have an incredibly good sense of smell and can actually close their ears and nostrils when feeding to keep insects out.

9) They live about twenty years, give birth to one baby at a time, which they wean at about three months and which catches rides on its’ mothers back or tail.

10) David Attenborough named the sunda pangolin as one of his ten species he would take on his ark to save from extinction.

This was one of my most special encounters with a pangolin who no mater where I went, kept walking towards me and bumping into me. Although their eye sight is poor, they have a fantastic sense of smell which they use to locate their food. Photo: Amy Attenborough

The Pangolin is an obscure looking creature and may not be the most beautiful or charismatic of the African species. However it is an incredibly special animal that needs our protection, particularly at a time like this when the market looks to our African population as a source to replace the dwindling Asian population. Although these extraordinary creatures are not in the limelight, they are a reminder of the diversity of species and design on planet earth. No one would miss a species they didn’t know existed and so it is wild places like Londolozi that are so important because they are a space where people have the opportunity to meet and fall in love with some of our weirder African animals.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for things that we could do to protect this vulnerable species?

Written and Photographed by Amy Attenborough, Londolozi Ranger