The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) needs 50 ratifications to become legally binding international law, and it already has 40 ratifications, with the eight ratifications added June 3. Ten were expected to ratify. A total of 118 states have signed the treaty. Four of the world’s major arms producers–USA, France, Germany and USA–signed in September. Appeals have been … Read more
A team of scientists at Essex University with a goal of providing an artificial blood substitute to hospitals and disaster areas around the world–and overcome the barriers that have stumped 25 years and $3 billion of global scientific and business investment–have made progress with a recent $2.5 million funding boon. Overcoming several of blood storage’s perpetual problems, the … Read more
In response to the exchange of five high-level Taliban operatives for one US soldier–Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl–the US Senate Intelligence Committee held a closed-door briefing Tuesday, wanting answers as to why they were not included in the process, which from the beginning has raised concern for various reasons. Among the criticisms are that the exchange … Read more
Russia is being sued by Ukraine for 1 trillion Ukrainian Hryvnias (UAH) for the illegal annexation of Crimea. The announcement was made by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Tuesday in the Verkhovna Rada. The PM told the Parliament, “Ukraine has begun the process. The General Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation. And in a criminal case, the Ukrainian government … Read more
Bill HR4490, which has already passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, and is expected to be taken up by the full House as early as this summer, would create a new “federal news network,” called Freedom News Network, which would subsume other US international news agencies. Under a section of the bill headed “Creation of … Read more
Joseph Grima, editor-in-chief of Domus magazine, recently commented on the state of design in Italy–a country with a long design tradition and which has undergone a prolonged crisis, saying that “an era is drawing to an end for Italian design,” and “a new idea will be born.” Grima’s words on the current state and future … Read more
By smashing massless photons together, light can be converted into matter, according to physicists at London’s Imperial College, and the race to conduct the experiment is on–and should be carried out within the year. Until now, the idea of converting E into mc2 had been considered practically impossible. “The race to carry out and complete … Read more
Tuesday, the US government released satellite images which show Russian forces still near Ukraine’s eastern border, contradicting assertions by the Russian government of late that the forces had been withdrawn. The photos were published by the US State Department and on the US Mission to NATO’s Twitter account. The troops pictured are assembled at Belgorod, … Read more
The peace deal signed by South Sudanese leaders President Salva Kiir and Dr Riek Machar in Addis Abada, Ethiopia, Friday has been broken. Both sides are blaming the other. The agreement came at the urging of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited South Sudan Friday and spoke to the two warring leaders. Pressure has … Read more
NASA, planning a mission to the moon Europa–one of the best candidates for life-sustaining habitation–within the next 10 years, has opened the door for crowdsourced talent. The goal is to create a mission for under $1 billion. NASA has published a Request for Information (RFI) seeking creative help. Although much smaller than the Earth, Europa is … Read more
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the UN, announced Tuesday that rebel SPLM/A leader Dr. Riek Machar has agreed to face-to-face talks with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. Ki-moon spoke with Machar via satellite telephone shortly after his arrival in South Sudan. Last Friday, Kiir also agreed to attend the face-to-face meeting. “He [Machar] said that … Read more
Another major newspaper believes that the Russian government is paying internet users to spam the comments section under their articles with aggressive, provocative pro-Russian propaganda. UK’s The Guardian newspaper moderators believe this is an orchestrated campaign. The Guardian moderators, who deal with 40,000 comments per day, and The Guardian users believe the Russian government is … Read more