Headlines – Page 4 – The Speaker News Journal

Kosovo, still fragile after seven years of independence

February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 by Miroslav Velimirovic

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BELGRADE, Serbia — Kosovo is well known for the war and consequent NATO campaign against Serbia. Armed conflict ended in 1999, and the forces of the Western alliance took control of the Serbian province, where they maintain a fragile peace over the area.

Tuesday, the young state celebrated seven years of independence, but a fancy and expensive ceremony is not going to be seen this year. Spend Ahmeti, mayor of Pristina, explained that due to a lack of money there has been a massive exodus of Kosovar citizens, an event that started in the beginning of 2015.

Albanians from Kosovars are often seen all over Western Europe. Most of them are hard working and stay away from crime, but some are notorious for organized control of drug trafficking, human trafficking,and other illicit activities.

For many years, poverty and instability drove them, just like members of many other nations, towards the West. And this flow was constant and balanced, legal or illegal. But from December last year, numbers have dramatically increased, topping up to 18,000 immigrants from Kosovo registered in Germany in January alone.

Every night, dozens of busses are packed with people carrying light luggage only. A 50-seat bus often takes 150 people on board. Whole families, with children and bare essentials, are starting the trip to the unknown. Dramatic pictures have waved through the world, photos and videos showing masses of Balkans on their way to Europe.

And, of course, many theories have been offered, many reasons given for the exodus. As someone who was in the country for 15 years, working with UN and EU missions, I see this as the only way toward a brighter future for those involved, fully aware that such a future is not waiting for them in Kosovo.

The United Nations maintained peace and showed presence, but failed to fight corruption and some UN officials were even found to be involved in it. The EU came in with great ideas and an even greater budget, but results were hardly visible. A system has been built, but corrupted. Many laws and regulations passed the Assembly; however, their implementation is yet to be seen. The highest local officials are involved in a series of illegal activities. Low-scale corruption is widely present and is an everyday experience.

There is now a proven record of a much higher rate of cancer in the region, often explained with regards to the bombing campaigns and the usage of depleted uranium for anti-armor ammunition.

On top of everything, a full day’s wage on a construction site (10 to 12 hours) is five to six Euros. And those that get such a job are happy; there is a long queue of people waiting for one.

Kosovo is now poorer for hundreds of thousands of Serbs; they all fled to Serbia proper, having safety as a priority in life. Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, had a pre-war population of 40,000 Serbs — counting few dozen these days.

This sudden and massive outbreak of immigrants is obviously organized, since there is no war conflict now. Poverty was there last summer as well. Most likely, organized crime has a huge interest in this. They are the ones trafficking people across borders and away from police patrols. Those that can’t pay will be in debt and pay later, but more. There are established prices for safe passage through certain critical areas. The rumour is borders are to be closed; a new war in Macedonia and a possible conflict with the Serbian minority, etc, initiated the exodus. Many of them reported intimidation, suffered from Wahabi activists recruiting fighters for Syria. And if people have nothing to lose, they will resort to desperate measures.

European countries are facing the problem with great concern; these numbers are too high, especially when combined with those coming from Syria, Africa and other places. Austria has organized direct flights for repatriation purposes only. Hungarian and Serbian police are working together, trying to prevent thousands of illegal crossing attempts every single night.

A stable economy and personal prosperity in a safe environment are the only conditions required for people of any nation to stay put and abandon any idea of risky change.

Analysis by Miroslav Velimirovic

Indonesia’s floods – The forgotten victims

February 16, 2015 by Paul Ballans

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia is currently experiencing many floods, as is common at this time of year. The country’s emergency services and relief groups are well known for helping many people, but many more go almost unnoticed, slipping through the net of helpers so often seen on TV screens here.

Mister Udi, who this reporter met on his travels through the flood-soaked area of Cileduk Indah Pedurenan, between the cities of Tangerang and Jakarta, explained how his family had lived in that area since the year 2000 and had experienced floods every year, but the land was unable to be sold and, even if they could sell it, they’d be unable to buy anything else, so they have to stay. Mister Udi now lives in Wellington, New Zealand, but his family remains, being forced to move out every time the house floods.

The government, explained mister Udi, had just built a new flood defence, but the water simply went around it, making it useless.

He went on to say, “My mother has to move into my cousin’s house for a few days every year, she returns home and tries to clean up, but it’s a big job, and the floods could return at any time.”

Mister Udi’s mother gets no help from local officials, but at least she has help from family who provide a safe place to stay. This isn’t the case for everyone.

Mister Tatang, a 51-year-old rubbish collector from central Java, lives in a small, illegally built shack at the side of the local river. This year saw his few simple possessions badly damaged by flood waters that came up to chest height.

As he is there illegally, with no chance of earning enough money to move away, he has to pray that the floods spare his life as he sleeps on his raised bed.

Mister Tatang explained that he lived there because no one else wanted the land, so he could stay there for nothing. He continued, saying, “I’m just trying to earn enough to feed my wife and family.”

Because Mister Tatang resides there illegally and can’t get an identity card, there’s no one to help him, so he just hopes the waters will go away quickly, allowing him to resume his tiny business.

The floods have gone from that area now, but the forecast of heavy rains could see a return at any time, condemning these people to another forced move — or far worse for the poorest members of the community.

The next floods could easily see Mister Tatang drown, leaving his already poor family with nothing.

By Paul Ballans

Photos by Paul Ballans

300 Jewish graves desecrated in France

February 16, 2015 by Esther Hervy

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SARRE-UNION, France – It’s Sunday shortly before 5 p.m. and the police have been advised of the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in eastern France. According to initial reports, 300 graves have been degraded. It’s just a huge fields of rubble that the perpetrators have left behind them. No statements, no claims –the steles were just broken.

A huge monument honoring the victims of the Holocaust was completely destroyed as well.

This is not the first time that the Jewish cemetery in Sarre-Union has been desecrated. Indeed, in 1988 and 2001 several graves had also been degraded there.

The news has come as a big shock to French political and religious figures.

“A feeling of disgust” was the reaction confessed by Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, who promised that “everything will be done to find those responsible.” The president of the republic, François Hollande, said that, “French Jews have their place in Europe and in France in particular,” despite the words of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who has called “all the Jews of Europe to join the Hebrew state. ”

The French Council of the Muslim Faith also “strongly condemns these inhumane desecrations,” and made statements about the sadness and grief of those affected by the heinous acts.

The news came one day after a deadly shooting at a Denmark synagogue and one month after the kosher supermarket incident in Paris.

“I am fed up of all these anti-Semitic acts, which we have seen in their different forms on January 9 in France, yesterday in Copenhagen, and today in Alsace,” said Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France.

The number of anti-Semitic acts in France doubled in 2014 compared to the previous year. According to the Protection of the Jewish Community Service (SPCJ), an organization working in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior, 851 anti-Semitic acts (actions and threats) were registered last year against 423 in 2013, an increase of 101 percent.

France is home to western Europe’s biggest Jewish community.

French President François Hollande called the national community “to wake up.”

By Esther Hervy

AENA’s privatisation complete – global potential and global problems

February 12, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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MADRID, Spain — AENA, the world’s largest airport operator, has been floated on the stock market in Madrid. Josè Manuel Vargas, the company’s CEO, indicated in an interview with the Financial Times that the company’s entry onto the stock market preceded a wider move towards a more global reach for the company. However, while the privatisation and expansion of the operator reflects the demands of a more globalised world, it also is testament to the global nature of protests against austerity politics and conservative governments.

These movements, despite being diverse, are interconnected through public pronouncements of support for one another in spite of the fact governments from Greece, Ireland, Spain, and elsewhere try to push the idea that economy is recovering. Ireland is no long under the yoke of the IMF and much has been made of that by the ruling Fine Gael party there. In Spain, Mr. Vargas, in the aforementioned Financial Times article, held AENA up as the symbol of new economic growth in the country. In other words, the end of a very long economic crisis.

Spain and Greece are both countries with a political mood torn between the entrenched divisions between Left and Right. The Pablo Iglesias-led Podemos — the Obamaesque ‘We Can’ is how it translates — and Greece’s Syriza are sister organizations that are radically Left and united in a shared political ethos. The Greek party won power on January 25th and a few days later in the centre of Madrid, during a Podemos rally, spectators could be seen holding Greek flags. Podemos, preparing for the Spanish elections this year, also have parallels with Latin American movements also. What is more, they seek to nationalize key institutions. There are fears that, should Podemos win, that AENA’s privatization could be rolled back; such a move would be difficult but not impossible.

Syriza have also been making noise recently. They have come out in support of the water protests in Ireland and the party, speaking in Dublin, have declared that opposition to the privatization of water was ‘inspirational’ before attacking the mainstream media for failing to cover the protests fairly and ended by saying that grassroots movements had to stick together as ‘Greek people and Irish people face the same challenges from capitalism’. Podemos also share the sentiment that the main stream media do not adequately cover alternative views and Mr. Iglesias has his own YouTube show to compensate for what he perceives as inadequate coverage.

While the executives in AENA toasted the privatisation process with a cocktail reception in the stock market and talks of economic recovery, there will be those around the world sounding the caution that not everybody is convinced the good times are back and that, if they are, they will benefit everyone.

Analysis by Enda Kenneally

Christian group strives to improve the lives of rural Cambodians

February 16, 2015February 9, 2015 by Brett Scott

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SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Last month, a group from Methodist churches in the United States traveled to Cambodia as part of an outreach program targeting females, mainly in the countryside. Their main goals were to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to provide additional education that is otherwise mostly out of the reach of rural Cambodians. The group was assisted in their project by a local translator.

One of the members of the delegation, Nancy Yarbourgh from Virginia, had previously been to Cambodia in 2013 along with three other members. “The group is the Virginia Conference United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. The goal of this team was to gather women together for fellowship and training,” explained Yarbourgh.

Upon arrival in Phnom Penh, Nancy and her group stayed for two days in the capital. After that, they went to the southern city and province of Sihanoukville. “We arrived [in Sihanoukville] on Monday and left on Saturday. Then we went to Siem Reap for two days and [then went] back to Phnom Penh.” During their trip, they stayed mainly in countryside villages outside of these cities.

Nancy went on to say that there are many more churches in this predominantly Buddhist country than may be expected. “The United Methodist church currently has 154 churches in Cambodia. I know there are Baptist and non-denominational churches as well. All of the Methodist churches are in rural villages. We are also building dormitories for the children to stay in so they can get an education. We have many Methodist schools in Cambodia, and we are also building a women’s center.”

Nancy stated that although Cambodia is 95 percent Buddhist, the people in the country have been very receptive to the message of the Gospel. “It has not been that difficult to bring Cambodians to Christ. They are very excited about this loving, living God we share with them. The people of Cambodia are very open and anxious to hear the gospel and share it with others.”

Although the primary focus of the group was to share their faith with the villagers, they also concentrated on educating people in many different areas that are especially relevant to this part of the world. “We trained in areas of leadership, human trafficking, roles of the women in church, community and society. … We also had classes on the environment and green initiatives.”

Nancy said that human empathy and mutual understanding helped the most while they were working in the countryside. “Our greatest success was teaching the women and letting them know that we are just like them. We [also] have problems, illness and heartache.”

She also said that although the time they had in Cambodia was short, they got a lot accomplished, and she was optimistic that in the future the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission would continue to make a positive impact on rural Cambodians. “We wanted to do so much more but most of our time was spent teaching the women, which was the focus of our group. I think [that with] time and the continued support of the many Conferences in the United States, [we] will make a difference in the lives of the people of Cambodia. That is my prayer; to end poverty and get the children educated.”

By Brett Scott

Sixth taste identified – fat

January 26, 2021February 9, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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The sixth taste has been identified — fat. Deakin University scientists put fat through a series of tests to see if it met the strict requirements of a taste, and found conclusive evidence that fat made the grade. The findings could hold new promise in the fight against obesity.

“Research from animal and human studies provide conclusive evidence that there is fat taste,” said lead author Dr. Russell Keast, head of the Centre of Advanced Sensory Science at Deakin University. “For fat to be considered a taste it must meet some strict criteria, and it does.”

The last new taste to be recognized was umami in 1985.

“Five are widely accepted: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami,” Keast told The Speaker. “I am saying fat has convincing evidence to be called a taste.”

Keast explained how a taste “makes it” onto the list, and how fat passed the tests conducted at his lab.

“There must be a class of stimuli — fats or the breakdown products, fatty acids — that activate receptors on taste cells. A signal must be sent from the taste cell to taste processing regions of the brain. The signal that is decoded as a perception must be independent of the other tastes — not a combination of sweet and salt or any other possible combinations.

“We have established a test to evaluate people’s threshold for fatty acid — we present 3 solutions, one of which contains a fatty acid. The task is to identify which solution contains the fatty acid. If the subject is incorrect the concentration of fatty acid is increased and the test rerun. This continues until the correct solution is identifid multiple times.”

But fat is a taste that is different from the five more familiar tastes. It is unconscious. “No actual concious taste, so no ‘sweet’ or ‘salty.’ We know fat is there, but we cannot describe what it actually is.”

That is, food with fat can be sensed, as was demonstrated in the tests, but the difference of fatty food from food without fat is difficult to describe.

This unconscious taste is not fully understood. “We know it is different from a solution without the fatty acid, but cannot describe why,” Keast said.

Keast expects more tastes will follow fat onto the list.

“There will be others, kokumi, carbohydrate, and potentially many others. As we learn more about the molecular basis of taste, perhaps we have to revise the scope and defintion for taste.”

Keast pointed to the fight against obsesity as one of the most important areas where the research could be applied.

“This has important potential in applied research — particulary the development of foods that could be lower in energy (fat) yet still deliver the important taste effects of fat. We think that the taste component of fat, which was missing in many low fat foods developed prior to the current day, did not take advantage of this knowledge.”

The report, “Is fat the sixth taste primary? Evidence and implications,” was completed by Russell SJ Keast and Andrew Costanzo, and was published in Flavour Journal.

HSBC affiliate in Swiss Leaks misappropriated €180 billion

February 9, 2015 by Esther Hervy

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PARIS — French newspaper “Le Monde” revealed last night after a large investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that between 2005 and 2007 more than €180 billion would have transited through a private bank in Switzerland, where world leaders, including kings and celebrities, hid their savings. According to the news organization, an HSBC subsidiary would have accepted and even encouraged customers of 200 foreign countries to place their savings there.

That’s a total of over 100,000 international clients who would have been tempted to evade the control of tax authorities by transiting funds through accounts in Geneva. “The World” has access to a list of the names of the bank’s prestigious clients, and shared it with more than 50 other international media bodies, thus mobilizing some 154 journalists.

The analysis of these accounts cover a period from November 2006 to March 2007. The billions were mostly hidden behind offshore structures in Panama and the British Virgin Islands.

Among the famous customers involved in this case of possible mass international fraud are personalities from various backgrounds such as Mohamed VI, the current king of Morocco, Elle McPherson, the famous Australian top model of the 90s, actress Joan Collins, and even Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher. No exception for France — the famous hairdresser Jacques Dessange had an account in HSBC’s Swiss industry, where there would have been up to €1, 6 million between 2006 and 2007, according to the famous “listings Falciani” — named after the employee of HSBC who had stolen his employer’s client lists and details.

Nina Ricci’s heiress also appears on the list: € 18.7 million would have transited through her Swiss account.

“We recognize and assume responsibility for past failures of compliance and control procedures,” the British bank responded in a press release.

According to HSBC, the Swiss subsidiary had not been fully integrated into the group after its acquisition in 1999, and therefore the compliance levels were subsequently “significantly lower” than the norm, and “this could have led to a number of customers who may not have fully complied with their tax obligations.” The bank adds that its Swiss subsidiary had in recent years undergone a “radical transformation” and that such tax evasion practices were outdated.

Gérard Davet, a French instigator and journalist for Le Monde, spoke to BMFTV this morning. “It’s been six years that we are working on this investigation with Fabrice Lhomme, a year that we are in possession of the data, and from the beginning we said that we are facing an absolutely amazing case because of its size, over 180 billion and more than 100,000 clients, in 10’s of thousands of offshore accounts. … We have revealed a big system and we are dealing with an absolutely awesome scanda. … In 2005 there has been a European tax that was put in place and the bank itself has offered its customers to set up offshore structures to hide their money in Panama or Virgin Islands UK. … There was a whole system of HSBC account managers who went canvassing customers in France in prestigious hotels and restaurants, trying to make them believe in very interesting but totally fraudulent investments. People need to understand that 98 percent of persons who used this system are fraudsters.

“All this is only a part of what we have discovered. We have identified the bank’s employees who had opened accounts with millions of dollars in them. Even assuming that these people are paid very well, it is inconceivable that it is not money that they keep their customers. … Dozens of investigations are still in progress.”

Yann Galut, French lawyer and politician, meanwhile said, “Seek reparation from Switzerland, who can’t get away with this.”

By Esther Hervy

A chip could replace animal testing

February 7, 2015 by Esther Hervy

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Animal rights activists will welcome this news with enthusiasm: the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has developed a chip that could save the lives of millions of laboratory animals. The chip would imitate the operation of complete organs and thus predict more effectively the effects of treatment on humans.

Animal experimentation is subject to much debate on the bases of both ethics and quality. Indeed, the results are rarely transferable to humans and therefore become merely the objects of a further set of tests. These experiments often create much unnecessary suffering by animals bred or kept in laboratories.

“For every dollar spent, we are getting less and less medication on the market,” Geraldine Hamilton, scientist at the Wyss Institute, commented on the current state of animal research affairs.

With the new smart chip, it could be that this waste (financial and in terms of animal lives) becomes a memory.

About the size of a coin, the new chip is composed of the cells of different organs (kidney, stomach, liver) related by small channels acting as blood vessels. In these channels, a nutritional liquid replacing blood is propelled by small pumps, reproducing the actual flow of the heart. It is an electro-organism copying reality very closely, and can therefore be used to test various substances for how they would effect the human body.

The system is not fixed, so scientists can integrate different types of cells according to the research.

The molecule to be tested is introduced into the system as if it were introduced into a body. For now, cell samples used for the first tests belong to men and women of different ethnic groups.

This new system has not yet been used in the development of any new drugs and is still in the control stage.

The research team has been distinguished by the awarding of an Animal Safety Research Prize, which recognizes innovations offering alternatives to animal testing.

In this “win-win” approach to fighting against animal and human suffering, the two are no longer opposed –they are parallel.

By Esther Hervy

Greece: Do elections change anything?

March 13, 2015February 7, 2015 by Konstantinos Koulocheris

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BERLIN, Germany — Two weeks since the coalition of the radical-left Syriza party won the elections in Greece, freshly assigned Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis completed his tour of the European capitals in Berlin last Thursday, Feb 5. In the German capital, Varoufakis’ meeting with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, in a call for a new deal in Greece’s debt provided no surprises; they both agreed that they disagree.

The mood seemed awkward between the two diplomats from the beginning. The German federal finance minister spoke of European integration and its rules. He also argued that there was no place for renegotiations in the financial plan of Greece. However, he offered to send German tax officials to the debt-wrecked nation, following up on the Greek government’s fight against tax avoidance.

Schäuble however, avoided expressing his view following up on a question about the Siemens’ case involving German coups in corruption scandals that were revealed by Greek officials in 2007 and are on hold. This instance cost the Greek economy an estimated 2 billion euros.

Varoufakis, on the other hand, asked for time. He claimed that his side has proposals for a new reformed plan of repaying Greece’s foreign debt without intense austerity. He also made assurances that Europe should expect nothing but a “frenzy of reasonableness.”

Varoufakis also stressed the humanitarian effects of hardcore austerity forced by Greece’s creditors with reference to the existence of a Nazi movement in the country. This is mirrored in the presence of the far-right Golden Dawn, which is the third largest party in the Greek parliament. The Greek finance minister did not mention anything about a new fiscal “haircut,” whilst he pledged that there is a reachable solution that will give an end to the “Greek saga.”

The outcomes of this meeting brought no surprises as Greek debt has been top priority in the European agenda since the Syriza party won the recent electoral rally in Greece.

The night before Varoufaki’s visit, the European Central Bank announced that it will no longer accept Greek government bonds as collateral for lending money to commercial banks. This means that the liquidity for Greek banks will be limited to the Emergency Liquidity Assistance with a higher interest rate of 1.55 percent, compared to 0.05 percent on regular ECB financing.

It is true that the situation in Greece has been intense the last four years since the financial recession stormed, with hardcore austerity and rising levels of both poverty and unemployment. The impact was translated clearly into ballot results of the recent Greek Elections. Greek voters seemed to be largely affected by the impact of the memorandums signed by the pro-european former government, which brought further economical and social depression.

Syriza used to be a eurosceptic party, and it seems ready to play the wild card of the deactivation of Eurozone membership for Greece if things don’t work out. They claimed so in both campaign trails they took part in during the past ten months in the European Parliament and National Elections.

The question that arose in this instance is not what Syriza’s intentions are if things don’t go right, but what the creditors of Greece would decide when faced with a more aggressive negotiator, comparing to their successors. The topic is expected to be discussed in the Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels next Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Analysis by Konstantinos Koulocheris

Charles Manson and Star: the wedding of the year did not take place

February 6, 2015 by Esther Hervy

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The wedding that was to join one of the most famous American serial killers, Charles Manson, now 80 years old, and 27-years-old Afton Elaine Burton (renamed “Star” by Manson) finally will not take place.

Indeed, after filing a marriage license application last November, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton confirmed this week that the marriage license had expired on Feb. 5 and no wedding vows would be traded within the state prison in Corcoran, where the guru is serving a life sentence.

Charles Manson was sentenced to death (which was later changed to a life sentence) with four of his disciples in August 1969 for the death of seven people, including the wife of director Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, who was stabbed when she was eight months pregnant. In the 1960s, Manson had formed a community known as the Manson Familly, and it is alleged that he thought he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and wanted to provoke the emergence of a struggle between whites and blacks. He thought that the first would emerge victorious.

Despite this psychopathic portrait, Burton said that her love for Manson had nothing to do with the horrible acts, which she denies.

“Sharon Tate was not a movie star,” stated Burton. “Even now, no one has ever really heard of her, even if she is supposed to have been killed by Charlie, the most famous guy in the world. And that’s the only reason people know who she is.”

Burton said that she fell in love with theories of environmental protection advocated by the killer. Manson named this theory ATWA (air, trees, water and animals), the main idea of which was, according to Manson “the air is God, because without air we do not exist.” According to him, killing “to get more air” is required. “Without murder, we just have no chance.”

All parole applications requested by Manson (a dozen) have been denied.

His next hearing will take place in 2027. Charles Manson will be 92 years old and will have spent 56 years behind the bars.

By Esther Hervy

TransAsia Airways: crashed plane in Taiwan results in 31 victims [video]

February 5, 2015 by Esther Hervy

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According to the latest information from authorities, 31 of the 58 people who were on board (53 passengers and five crew members) died in the crash of TransAsia Airways Flight GE 235 Wednesday morning, 11 a.m local time.

The plane left the capital towards the small island of Kinmen, next to the Chinese mainland but controlled by Taiwan. The plane carried Chinese and Taiwanese tourists.

After the takeoff, the aircraft soon stalled and hit a raised highway before crashing into a river.

On an impressive video made by a non professional cameraman, we can see a taxi hit by the wing of the plane.

The pilot is considered to have done everything possible to avoid populated areas and avoid casualties on the ground. He has been hailed as a hero by aviation experts. Both the pilot and co-pilot perished in the accident.

In a recording broadcast on local television we can hear a member of the crew screaming, “Mayday, Mayday, engine flameout!”

An engine flameout is an engine failure that results from an interruption of the fuel supply or from faulty combustion. Twin-engine aricraft like GE 235 usually can continue to fly even if one engine fails, however.

“The pilots were highly trained and could face a possible failure of the motors,” said Daniel Tsang, an expert in aviation. This indicates that the causes of the accident are probably more complex than simple engine failure.

For the time being, no comments have been made about the causes of the accident, but the black boxes were recovered and should be analyzed quickly. Two French experts belonging to the civil aviation investigation office are also scheduled to arrived soon in Taiwan to meet Canadian counterparts there.

The aircraft that was less than one year old was in working order ten days ago, said the director of the Taiwanese civil aviation.

The crash is part of a black series for Asian airways. Not to mention Malaysia Airlines, TransAsia Airways already had a plane crash last July. A domestic flight crashed with 54 passengers on board. The aircraft was caught in a typhoon.

By Esther Hervy

Taiwanese citizen’s video, obtained by Reuters

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Dark matter may interact with light, creating glow around galaxies and offering opportunity to “see” the elusive matter

January 26, 2021February 4, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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The prevailing assumption about dark matter is that has no interaction with light, but European physicists who investigated a possible signature of dark matter at the edges of theM101 Pinwheel galaxy now believe that light may be interacting with dark matter to produce “light halos” — detectable glows around the edges spiral galaxies.

“Dark Matter can be a lot more interactive than previously thought,” Dr. Jonathan Davis of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, an author of the report, told The Speaker. “So people usually think of Dark Matter particles as neutral and so devoid of any interactions with light, but we show that this need not be the case. Also, that it is important to be creative with ways of looking for Dark Matter as no one really knows how it should behave, or where a signal will show up first.”

“I think the idea of Dark Matter interacting with light is quite an exciting new field,” Davis told us. “Some people have looked on the effect of these interactions on the early universe. I think it would be interesting if there were future studies looking at other wavelengths of light with sensitive instruments, particularly the longer wavelengths where background light from stars should be less bright.”

The team observed the diffuse halos of light that are apparent at the outer edges of spiral galaxies — particularly the M101 Pinwheel galaxy, which they used as an example in the report.

The team theorized that light radiating from stars in that galaxy, if it was bouncing off dark matter on the outer periphery, would scatter around the galaxy in a particular way. An example used to convey the idea is that of a lamp glowing in fog.

“[The light] should be visible everywhere,” Davis stated. “The reason we focus on the edges of the galaxy is that this is where the light from stars should be dimmest. So although the DM glow is everywhere, it’s easiest to see at the edges as there is less competition with star light.

Scientists do not possess information by which the theory could be proven as of yet, and the observable patterns could also be explained as coming from other sources, Davis noted.

“At the moment there is no way of knowing if any glow is due to DM or stars. So we’re not claiming to have discovered anything yet. The galaxy we look at in our paper has a halo of older stars which make looking for a DM glow halo difficult. Indeed the glow in this case is probably due to those stars, but then you can’t rule out a DM contribution, which is what we show. However I think the emphasis should be on future dedicated searches for this light from DM scattering. If a dedicated search can separate the DM glow from other sources then they can really look for this signal, if indeed it’s there.”

There are several possible ways that the theory could be proven in the future, Davis explained.

“There are a few ways one could actually discovery DM-photon interactions for sure. Just through observations of galaxies if we saw a signal which had a very different dependence on the wavelength of light, compared to from stars or gas, then that would be interesting. Additionally if we discovered a signal of Dark Matter at the Large Hadron Collider or in Direct Detection experiments, that would be a big step forward.”

The report, “Glow in the Dark Matter: Observing Galactic Halos with Scattered Light,” was completed by Drs Jonathan Davis and Joseph Silk, and was published in APS Physics.

Images: from Davis’ report and from “First results from the dragonfly telephoto array: the apparent lack of a stellar halo in the massive spiral galaxy m101“