Tuesday 21 April 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Boy in Spain attack 'burst into tears' after killing teacher

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BARCELONA (AFP) - A 13-year-old boy armed with a crossbow and knife who killed a teacher at his school in Spain burst into tears after he realised what he had done, the gym teacher who subdued him said Tuesday.David Jurado described in an interview with television station Telecinco how he managed to calm the boy, who also injured two other teachers and two students at a Barcelona secondary school on Monday.The teacher said he was in the school courtyard when he saw students running and crying. One of the youngest students told him there was a wacko who was threatening to kill everyone.Jurado said he then raced to the second floor where he saw the boy with a knife in his hand. The teacher said he went looking for a stick and when he returned he saw the boy inside a classroom preparing a molotov cocktail.My plan was to grab him from behind and hit his hands to disarm him, Jurado said.I started to talk to him, theres no need to get into details, but I tried to make him snap out of it because he wasnt himself, he was acting like a robot. At first hed repeat things mechanically but gradually he became himself.He dropped his weapons, I dropped the stick, he slowly returned to reason. We sat down to talk and he collapsed, he burst into tears. I think the world collapsed for him, Jurado added.He described the boy as a fantastic student before Mondays attack who behaved wonderfully in the classes he taught.Schools across Spains northeastern Catalonia region observed a minute of silence on Tuesday in memory of the 35-year-old teacher who was killed in the attack.It was the first time that a teacher has been killed at a school in Spain since 1975.The lives of four people injured in the attack are not in danger.The boy who carried out the attack was admitted to the psychiatric unit of a Barcelona hospital.Under Spanish law children below the age of 14 are not held legally responsible for crimes and cannot be jailed.dbh/ds/mck/ccrAFP 211832 GMT APR 15

PM Nawaz to leave for Saudi Arabia today

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will leave for Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit today (Wednesday). PM will meet Saudi King Shah Salman Bin Abdul Aziz during his visit.According to details, PM Nawaz and King Salman will discuss the Yemen conflict and their role in solving the issue. Nawaz Sharif will go to London for one day after completion of Saudi Arabia visit.

EU states told to tackle health challenges of migrant emergency

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RIGA (AFP) - The European Commission on Tuesday urged EU members to tackle the health challenges posed by the influx of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean, including sharing hospital resources.The emergency is there, now, its concrete, Commission official Ladislav Miko told reporters in Latvias capital Riga.There was suffering which needs to be addressed very fast, he added.Miko said EU states faced by the migrant crisis, such as Italy or Spain, were unable to handle hundreds of patients in a single day who were dehydrated and required hospital care.He suggested moving migrant patients to hospitals in countries less directly affected by the crisis along with the rapid deployment of emergency kits, logistical support and vaccines.Some 11,000 migrants have been rescued since the middle of last week alone and current trends suggest last years total of 170,000 landing in Italy is likely to be exceeded in 2015.More than 1,750 migrants have perished in the Mediterranean since the start of the year -- 30 times more than in the same period of 2014, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday.Miko said the commission had asked the most affected states including Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus, to outline their immediate needs and had called an urgent meeting of its health security committee for Tuesday.Cyprus notably mentioned that the government requires the assistance of other countries to transport these patients, said Latvian Health Minister Guntis Belevics, whose country currently holds the EUs rotating six-month presidency.Cyprus, Malta, Greece and other southern countries asked the EU to share the expenditure required.At talks in Luxembourg on Monday, EU ministers agreed on a 10-point plan to double the resources available to the blocs much-criticised maritime border patrol mission Triton, and further measures will be discussed at a summit of EU leaders on Thursday.

Four death row convicts hanged in various cities

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Four more death row convicts have been sent to the gallows in different jails of the country on early Wednesday morning, Dunya News reported.Death row prisoner Zahid Hussain was hanged in Central Jail Sahiwal. Zahid was guolty of killing a police official named Fida Hussain in 2001.Prisoner Nazir Ahmad was hanged in New Central Jail, Bahawalpur. Nazir has killed a man named Mushtaq in 2002.Two death row convicts, Rizwan and Muazzam Khan, were hanged in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. Prisoner Rizwan was guilty of killing five people, including Ayaz who was son of Seth Abid, in 2006. Death row prisoner Muazzam khan had killed a man in 1995.

Most Asian markets up, Tokyo at 15-year high

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HONG KONG (AFP) - Japanese shares hit a 15-year high Wednesday after the country recorded its first trade surplus in three years, while the euro weakened on growing concerns that Greece will not reach a bailout reform deal with its creditors.With few catalysts to spur business in Asia, other markets were mostly higher despite a broadly negative lead from Wall Street.Tokyo rallied 1.11 percent, Hong Kong gained 0.12 percent and Shanghai put on 0.26 percent while Seoul added 0.72 percent. Sydney slipped 0.58 percent.Tokyos Nikkei broke back through the 20,000 point barrier -- after briefly clearing the hurdle earlier this month -- as the yen slipped against the dollar.Before the market opened the finance ministry said March saw the country enjoy its first trade surplus since June 2012 thanks to tumbling oil prices and a boost in exports.However, economists warned the positive results might not last.We expect the yen to weaken further in coming months, which should lift the cost of imports by more than the yen-value of exports, Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics wrote in a commentary.The trade balance is unlikely to remain in surplus for long.The dollar was at 119.68 yen against 119.63 yen in New York and well up from 119.44 yen in Tokyo earlier Tuesday.The dollars strength comes despite the diminishing likelihood of a US rate hike by the US Federal Reserve soon.More and more the expectation is that the Fed wont do anything soon. The momentum in equities is still there, Evan Lucas, a markets strategist at IG in Melbourne, told Bloomberg News.The euro slipped as investors nervously follow events in Europe as Greece struggles to scrape cash together to pay its bills.Athens is facing a backlash from the countrys mayors after it issued a decree ordering them to hand over their reserves in order to service its debts and pay wages.The government is locked in negotiations with its international creditors on unlocking some billions of euros in much-needed bailout funds. Failure to secure the cash will likely see it default and possibly crash out of the eurozone, which analysts fear could have global repercussions.Greeces creditors sounded the alarm Saturday over the pace of debt negotiations, with European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi saying: More work, much more work is needed now, and its urgent.The euro slipped to $1.0721 and 128.33 yen from $1.0735 and 128.42 yen in US trade.On Wall Street the Dow fell 0.47 percent and the S&P 500 slipped 0.15 percent but the Nasdaq added 0.39 percent.The next focus for investors is the release Thursday of HSBCs preliminary report on activity in Chinas manufacturing sector, which will give the latest indication about the state of the worlds number two economy.Oil prices were lower. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell 31 cents to $56.30 while Brent crude for June dipped 14 cents to $61.94.Gold fetched $1,200.25 against $1,198.35 late Tuesday.

Like with Cuba, US seeks 'common ground' with Caracas

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington hopes its outreach to Cuba can be a model for Venezuela as it seeks to turn the page on old enmities in Latin America, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.Ties with Caracas have been severely strained in recent years under both the late leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez and his anointed successor as Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, Kerry acknowledged.But the top US diplomat insisted he had begun his tenure at the State Department in 2013 holding out a hand to Venezuela with a long conversation with the foreign minister at the time.The US remains open to further addressing our differences in attempting to find areas of common ground, Kerry told a conference of the Council of the Americas hosted at the State Department.The US administration was committed to moving forward on the path to normalized relations with Cuba after President Barack Obama in December swept aside 50 years of US policy to begin the process of restoring ties, Kerry said.This new course is based not on a leap of faith, but on a conviction that the best way to promote US interests and values while also helping to bring greater freedom and opportunity to the Cuban people is exactly what we are doing.And he argued that the same principle applies to Venezuela.Venezuela and the United States have been engaged for years in a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic spats, and they have not had ambassadors in each others country since 2010.In March, Obama slapped sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials linked to human rights abuses, including a crackdown on anti-government protests last year that left 43 people dead, hundreds wounded and thousands arrested.But at a historic summit in Panama earlier this month, Obama spoke briefly with Maduro for the first time, seeking to calm rising tensions.Maduro has accused Washington of backing an opposition plot to overthrow him in a coup that he says would have involved bombing the presidential palace. The US government has dismissed the charges as baseless.I am confident that the administrations commitment to a new kind of relationship with Latin America will contribute significantly to our common agenda for the hemisphere, which includes the strengthening of democracy and the respect for human rights, Kerry said.He spoke of a transformative moment for the Americas, adding that we are determined to deliver on the strategic and historic opportunities that together we can create.

Oil falls as Saudi-led military strikes end in Yemen

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices fell Tuesday as the Saudi-led coalition announced an end to its military strikes in Yemen and the market expected another rise in US crude inventories.West Texas Intermediate for May delivery sank $1.12, or two percent, to close at $55.26 a barrel on its last day the contracts trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea crude for June delivery, the global benchmark, settled at $62.08 a barrel in London trade, down $1.37 (2.2 percent) from Mondays closing level.News of the Saudi-led coalition wrapping up air strikes against rebels in Yemen, coming in afternoon trade in New York, accelerated losses on the market, said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.Oil is selling because the Saudis are going to end their operation in Yemen, Flynn said. This is why weve seen the precipitous drop in prices in the last few minutes.The end of four weeks of air strikes against the Huthi rebel forces, with the coalition saying the rebels threat to Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries had been removed, eased concerns about the spreading unrest in Yemen.Although Yemen is not a particularly important oil producer, market watchers have been worried about the impact of the turmoil on the oil-rich region, notably in Iran, which is suspected of supporting the rebellion.Expectations for Wednesdays weekly inventories report from the US Department of Energy were bearish. The countrys historically high crude inventories were estimated to have increased by 2.5 million barrels in the week ended April 17, according to a Bloomberg News survey of experts.Oil prices have shed about half their value since last June amid a supply glut and weak demand growth.For many analysts, recent gains in oil prices were mainly the result of speculative buying by investors betting that the fundamentals of supply and demand would improve. News last week of a slight decline in US oil production had boosted prices.There is no fundamental explanation for the price spike, Commerzbank analysts said in a research note Tuesday. Due to sharply higher OPEC oil production, the market remains significantly oversupplied.

Teva Pharmaceutical offers to buy Mylan for $40.1 bn

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Israels Teva Pharmaceutical Tuesday launched an unsolicited bid to buy Mylan for $40.1 billion in a transaction that would create a behemoth in generic drugs.Tevas cash-and-stock bid would quash an unsolicited bid by Mylan earlier this month to acquire Perrigo for $28.9 billion.Teva said its bid amounted to superior value for Mylan shareholders compared with Mylans approach to Perrigo.Under the offer, Mylan shareholders would receive a premium of 37.7 percent compared with the Mylan stock price of $59.57 prior to its April 8 bid for Perrigo, Teva said.Our proposal is compelling for both Teva and Mylan stockholders and other stakeholders, said Erez Vigodman, chief executive of Teva.The deal would provide Mylan stockholders with the opportunity to participate in the significant upside potential of the combined company -- one that would transform the global generics space and leverage it to hold a unique leadership position in the pharmaceutical industry, Vigodman said.However, neither Perrigo nor Mylan have shown interest in the deals pitched by their would-be suitors.Perrigo announced after the markets closed Tuesday that its board unanimously rejected the Mylan bid.The board believes the proposal substantially undervalues Perrigo and its growth prospects, said Perrigo chief executive Joseph Papa in a statement. Perrigos board believes that the company has a strong independent future.Mylan last week signaled strong opposition to a buyout by Teva after reports surfaced that a bid was in the works.We have studied the potential combination of Mylan and Teva for some time and we believe it is clear that such a combination is without sound industrial logic or cultural fit, said Mylan executive chairman Robert Coury in an April 17 statement.Further, there would be significant overlap in the companies businesses and we believe that it is unlikely that any such combination could obtain anti-trust regulatory clearances.Coury said Mylan is fully committed to its stand-alone strategy, including its proposal to acquire Perrigo.Mylan shares closed 8.9 percent higher at $74.07 Tuesday. Teva shares gained 1.4 percent at $64.16 and Perrigo shares dropped 2.7 percent to $192.82.Pharma deal crazeThe Teva bid marks the latest potential big merger in the global pharmaceutical industry.The health care sector leads 20 industrial sectors in 2015 deals with nearly $160 billion worth of transactions, according to Dealogic data compiled on April 10.Health care also led in 2014 with $430 billion in deals.The scramble for assets has occasionally resulted in bidding wars, as when Actavis acquired Botox-maker Allergan for $66 billion, blocking the unsolicited campaign for Allergan by Canadas Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.About 50 percent of Tevas 2014 revenues of $20.3 billion came from generics, with specialty drugs comprising the bulk of the remaining revenue and about $1 billion coming from a joint venture with Procter & Gamble for over-the-counter products.Mylan garnered about 80 percent of its $7.7 billion in 2014 revenues from generics. It moved its headquarters to Amsterdam this year following the purchase of Abbotts non-US speciality and branded generic drug business for $5.3 billion.Teva said it would invest in the companys combined $10 billion specialty pharmaceutical business and reap some $2 billion in annual savings on costs and taxes from combining operations. Combined revenues would be more than $30 billion.In launching its own unsolicited campaign two weeks ago, Mylan argued that Perrigo, best known as the manufacturer of Sudafed, Claritin and other over-the-counter drugs, offered complementary assets.An April 10 note from RBC Capital Markets highlighted the possibility of a Teva bid for Mylan, but said such a move would raise debate on whether Mylan merits the hefty premium that would be needed.Its hard to imagine Teva going hostile given the size and complexities that this deal would bring but we think its feasible Teva could, similar to Mylan, go public with interest and let shareholders decide, which we think makes sense, RBC said.

Tokyo's Nikkei index bounces back over 20,000 at open

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TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday as a weaker yen boosted exporter shares with the benchmark index jumping back above the psychologically key 20,000 mark.The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.71 percent, or 140.94 points, to 20,050.03 in the first 30 minutes of trade.The benchmark last closed above 20,000 about 15 years ago.On forex markets, the dollar was at 119.71 yen early Wednesday against 119.63 yen in New York and 119.44 yen in Tokyo earlier Tuesday.The euro slipped to $1.0725 and 128.40 yen against $1.0735 and 128.42 yen in US trade.A weaker yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and inflates the value of their repatriated profits.Shortly before markets opened, fresh data showed Japan posted its first trade surplus in nearly three years in March as import bills fell owing to tumbling oil prices while the value of exports to North America soared.Investor sentiment was also buoyed by a wave of global monetary easing, most recently with China loosening its credit grip on Sunday.US stocks mostly fell Tuesday, but the Nasdaq stayed in positive territory.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.47 percent and the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.15 percent, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite adding 0.39 percent.

White House avoids calling Armenian deaths 'genocide'

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House avoided referring to the mass World War I killings of Armenians as genocide Tuesday, as a diplomatic row raged ahead of the tragedys 100th anniversary.White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and one of President Barack Obamas top foreign policy advisors hosted Armenian American leaders at the White House to discuss the centennial.McDonough and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes discussed the significance of this occasion for honoring the 1.5 million lives extinguished during that horrific period, the National Security Council said in a statement.Sticking to the White Houses avoidance of the term, the statement said the United States would use the occasion to urge a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts.Armenian leaders who met with the administration officials said they were told Obama would not use the term.His failure to use the term genocide represents a major blow for human rights advocates and sets the clock back on genocide prevention, said Armenian Assembly of America director Bryan Ardouny.Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart and have long sought to win international recognition of the massacres as genocide.Turkey has insisted it was not a genocide and has reacted angrily to the use of the word, most recently by Pope Francis.Turkey is a key US ally and a fellow member of NATO.National Security Advisor Susan Rice met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and encouraged him to improve relations with Armenia as well as have an open dialogue in Turkey about the atrocities of 1915, according to a statement.During his 2008 campaign for the White House, then senator Obama had pledged to recognize the Armenian genocide.The White House announced that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will lead a presidential delegation to Armenia on Friday, when the country will commemorate the anniversary of the killings.The US ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, and four lawmakers will also be included in the delegation.Congressman Chris Smith, a long-time supporter of the cause, appealed to Obama to recognize the genocide of the Armenians.I also appeal to the Turkish government to recognize the genocide and issue a genuine apology, the New Jersey Republican said.

Hong Kong government set to reveal election roadmap

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HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kongs government was expected Wednesday to reveal its final framework for controversial leadership elections, predicted to stick to tight restrictions from Beijing which sparked mass protests last year.Chinas decision that candidates for the citys chief executive should be nominated by a loyalist committee, ahead of a public vote, triggered student-led street rallies for more than two months till December.Hong Kongs number-two official Carrie Lam will present the final proposed roadmap for how the 2017 leadership election is to be held to the legislature on Wednesday morning, lawmakers told AFP.Lam and city leader Leung Chun-ying scheduled a press briefing for 0200 GMT.Local media splashed the anticipated announcement across their front pages Wednesday, with the South China Morning Post calling it D-day for Hong Kong.The 2017 election is set to be the first-ever public vote for the citys leader -- currently the chief executive is selected by a 1,200-strong committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists.Activists have branded any election that adheres to Beijings framework -- universal suffrage based on pre-selected candidates -- fake democracy.However, Hong Kongs leadership has consistently said that it cannot deviate from the ruling last August by Chinas National Peoples Congress.Analysts say Wednesdays proposal will not challenge those restrictions.Its likely to be disappointing for those who would like a genuine democracy in Hong Kong because its very likely to follow strictly the NPC Standing Committee decision, said Surya Deva, an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kongs law department.The proposal will be voted on by legislators in the coming months, with pro-democracy lawmakers vowing to block it.The government will try their best to get the support of all lawmakers, especially the pro-democracy lawmakers, Carrie Lam said Tuesday.We will persevere until the final minute.Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997 under a joint declaration which guaranteed political, social and economic freedoms not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland.The semi-autonomous city is governed under that one country, two systems deal, but there are fears that freedoms are being eroded by increased influence from Beijing.

Japan logs first monthly trade surplus in almost three years

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TOKYO (AFP) - Japan on Wednesday posted its first trade surplus in nearly three years as exports to North America soared and energy bills fell, giving an important psychological boost to Tokyos bid to revive the flagging economy.Finance ministry data showed exports rose 8.5 percent while imports fell 14.5 percent, leaving a surplus of 229.3 billion yen ($1.9 billion), the first time Japans trade balance has been in the black since June 2012.The stronger-than-expected figures come after a string of weak data raised doubts about the health of the worlds number-three economy, and as Tokyo and Washington emerged on Tuesday from marathon talks on a Pacific-wide free trade area saying they were close to a deal.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hoping that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- which includes a dozen nations accounting for about 40 percent of the global economy -- will help him push through reforms to the protected agricultural sector, a key element in a wider bid to stimulate growth.Wednesdays trade data underscore how Japan has seen its whopping energy import bills decline in line with a dramatic slump in world oil prices.But liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports remained high, with utilities forced into thermal power generation due to the countrys entire fleet of nuclear reactors still being offline, more than four years after the disaster at Fukushima, the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.A weak yen has supported exports, with the value of shipments to North America jumping 22.1 percent last month, while goods bound for the European Union climbed 9.1 percent and exports to key trade partner China rose 3.9 percent -- reversing a drop a month earlier.But economists warned that Japans trade balance may not remain in the black.We expect the yen to weaken further in coming months, which should lift the cost of imports by more than the yen-value of exports, Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics wrote in a commentary.The trade balance is unlikely to remain in surplus for long.Japans premier launched a high-profile policy blitz in early 2013, dubbed Abenomics, in a bid to end years of deflation and tepid growth.The plan initially showed signs of working, with a falling yen sparking a stock market rally while growth in the wider economy picked up.But the campaign faltered after the government raised Japans sales tax last year to help pay down an enormous national debt.That hammered consumer spending and led to a brief recession, while falling oil prices hurt the Bank of Japans goal of reaching a 2.0 percent inflation rate, a cornerstone of Abes plan.Japan limped out of recession in the last quarter of 2014 with an unimpressive 0.4 percent growth rate.And business confidence has faltered as output at Japanese factories shrank in February, while inflation stalled as a key measure of prices was flat for the first time in nearly two years.

Wife, son meet Saulat Mirza in Machh Jail

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MACHH (Dunya News) – The wife and son of death row prisoner Saulat Mirza held a meeting with him in Machh Jail on Tuesday, Dunya News reported.It was the first meeting of Saulat Mirza with his family members after the formation of Joint Investigation Team (JIT). Saulat Mirza looked very satisfied during the meeting and told his family members that he has done his work and now it is up to law enforcement agencies to do investigation.

Most powerful space telescope ever to launch in 2018

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GREENBELT (AFP) - As the Hubble Space Telescope celebrates 25 years in space this week, NASA and its international partners are building an even more powerful tool to look deeper into the universe than ever before.The James Webb Space Telescope will be 100 times more potent than Hubble, and will launch in 2018 on a mission to give astronomers an unprecedented glimpse at the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.JWST will be able to see back to about 200 million years after the Big Bang, NASA said on its website.It described the telescope as a powerful time machine with infrared vision that will peer back over 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies forming out of the darkness of the early universe.The project has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers for its ballooning costs -- now at about $8.8 billion, far higher than the initial estimate of $3.5 billion.But NASA has promised to keep the next-generation telescope on track for its October 2018 launch.What the Webb will really be doing is looking at the first galaxies of the universe, Webb telescope observatory project scientist Mark Clampin told AFP at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.We will also be able, with these capabilities, to look in very dark parts of the universe where stars are being born.Inside a massive room that is partially closed off from view, in clean room where no dust can harm the telescope, a team of engineers dressed in white, resembling surgeons, work on building the JWST.The space telescope will weigh 6.4 tons. JWSTs main mirror will be 6.5 meters (yards) in diameter, three times as large as Hubbles.A joint project of NASA, the European and canadian space agencies, JWST will carry four instruments, including cameras and spectrometers that can capture extremely faint signals.Infra-red capability will help it observe distant celestial bodies, and its camera shutter will be able to remain open for long periods, explained Matt Greenhouse, JWST project scientist for the science instrument payload.The Webb will have 70 times the light-gathering capacity of Hubble. So the combination of the large size and the infra-red capabilities will allow us to observe this epic of the universe past, he said in an interview.Hunt for lifeEven more, the telescope should further the search for life elsewhere in the universe by opening a new window on planets outside the solar system -- known as exoplanets -- that might have water and orbit their stars at a suitable distance to prevent freezing or boiling.Already, NASAs Kepler Space telescope, launched in 2009, has helped astronomers identify thousands of exoplanets. JWST is expected to propel that research even further.Webb is quite big enough to have a high probability of finding bio signatures in the atmosphere of exoplanets, evidence of life, Greenhouse said.We have sensors on board, equipment on board that will enable us to study the atmosphere of exoplanets spectroscopically. So we will be able to understand the composition of those atmospheres, he added.We can make big progress in the search for life.Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which circles the Earth, the JWST will go even further, to a place called L2, for LaGrange Point, 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) away in space.That distance will keep the telescope cold, prevent it from being blinded by its own infra-red light and shelter it from radiation.It will follow the Earth around the Sun over the course of the year. So its in a Sun center orbit instead of an Earth center orbit, said Greenhouse.The heavy telescope is scheduled to launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket, made by the European Space Agency, from French Guiana in October 2018.Just as Hubble rewrote all the textbooks, Webb will rewrite it again, said Greenhouse.

Colombia orders Chinese ship with weapons to sail for Cuba

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BOGOTA (AFP) - A court ordered a Cuba-bound Chinese ship loaded with undeclared weapons to sail for Havana on Tuesday, saying the arms could not be unloaded and might pose a safety threat.Da Dan Xia, which has been held since last month, was loaded with undeclared military equipment including about 100 tonnes of gunpowder, 99 projectile bases and 3,000 artillery cartridge cases, according to Colombian authorities.The freighter had been due to stop in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla before ending its journey in Havana.But when authorities found the ships documentation conflicted with what was actually found aboard the vessel, it was held in port.But Beijings foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying maintained that the Da Dan Xia was operating within Chinese and international law.The court ultimately ruled that because there was no way to unload the weapons and materiel, it ought to be shipped out.It therefore ordered to safeguard Cartagena residents and Colombians in general, the Chinese-flagged Da Dan Xian, to sail for Cuba, the court statement said in part.The ships captain Wu Hong will remain in Cartagena, on investigation for weapons trafficking, officials said.A North Korean cargo ship, Chong Chon Gang, was found to be carrying Cuban weapons including surface-to-air missile systems and launchers when it was stopped in the Panama Canal in July 2013.The cargo was hidden under 200,000 bags of sugar.
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