The European Union Times |
- FAA approves unmanned aircraft usage in movie and TV production
- US lawmakers urge top generals to rebel against Obama over his ISIL strategy
- Victims found in mass graves in Ukraine lack internal organs
- US Astronomer finds Exoplanet with Atmosphere that contains Water
- Chinese smuggler tries to cross US-Canada border with 51 turtles in his pants
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Posted: 26 Sep 2014 03:40 AM PDT
 Six movie making and television companies have finally been given a go-ahead to use drones for filming after the FAA endorsed their requests for exemptions from a ban on commercial drone operations in the US, paving way for further easing. With the government’s announcement, six companies, Aerial MOB LLC, Astraeus Aerial, HeliVideo Productions LLC, Pictorvision Inc., Vortex Aerial and Snaproll Media LLC now have the green light to incorporate the bird’s eye view in movie making and television programs, lifting a ban that was stifling creativity. “Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in broadening commercial UAS use while ensuring we maintain our world-class safety record in all forms of flight,” said Anthony Foxx, Transportation Secretary in a press release on Thursday. “These companies are blazing a trail that others are already following, offering the promise of new advances in agriculture and utility safety and maintenance.” There are limits to how the drones can be used – in a restricted area, no higher than 400 feet, for no longer than 30 minutes, and no nighttime work, reported the Associated Press. The movie companies are also not permitted to use drones for unscripted events or television reality shows. “We are ecstatic that finally we can legally fly UASs (drones) for filmmaking,” said Tom Hallman, president of Pictorvision told the Hollywood Reporter. “It puts us back on an even keel with other countries that have been doing this for a number of years now.” Hellman said the new rules would “open up a variety of shots that we weren’t able to achieve before. That’s a whole lot of space and opens up a lot of creative options—and more cost effectively.” Dozens of other industries are keen to take Hollywood’s lead, and the Federal Aviation Authority is considering exemption requests from 40 other commercial entities. Companies want to use drones to monitor pipelines, inspect oil platforms and bridges and spray crops. Technology companies like Amazon and Google want to use them to deliver package and journalists, real-estate agents and wedding videographers are keen to embrace the technology in their work. Source           |
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Posted: 26 Sep 2014 03:25 AM PDT
 Top uniformed leaders appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to answer lawmakers on the growing epidemic of sexual assault in the US military.The Colorado Republican, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, made the remarks during a liberty group forum on Wednesday night. “A lot of us are talking to the generals behind the scenes, saying, ‘Hey, if you disagree with the policy that the White House has given you, let’s have a resignation’,” Lamborn said. “You know, let’s have a public resignation, and state your protest, and go out in a blaze of glory,” Lamborn continued. “And I haven’t seen that very much, in fact I haven’t seen that at all in years.” The uneasy relationship between the White House and US military has been on full display in recent weeks as President Obama and his top generals continue to clash over the strategy to combat the ISIL terrorist organization. Obama has authorized airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria, but has repeatedly ruled out American boots on the ground in a combat role. US military officials have complained privately for weeks that an air campaign alone would not be sufficient to achieve the announced goal of defeating ISIL. During a Senate hearing last Tuesday, the Pentagon leadership raised the specter of American ground troops directly joining Iraqi forces in combat against ISIL militants. Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he might recommend deploying US military forces to Iraq. In Syria, the United States is seeking to arm and train “vetted” insurgents to capture Syrian territory from ISIL terrorists. Source      |
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Posted: 26 Sep 2014 03:17 AM PDT
 On the outskirts of Donetsk, militia fighters discovered new mass graves of civilians. Representatives of the People’s Republic of Donetsk believe that the civilians were killed by National Guard soldiers, as the Ukrainian troops had been staying in the settlement, where the graves were found, since April, whereas Donetsk militia occupied the village only on September 21, RIA Novosti reports. However, Kiev officials deny the information. Earlier, a representative of the Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine, Andrey Lysenko, said that “no soldier of the National Guard was ever staying in the location.” Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Donetsk Alexander Zakharchenko told the Russian News Service that there were three burials of civilians found – about 40 dead bodies of civilians, prisoners of war and Ukrainian militia soldiers. According to Zakharchenko, an examination of the bodies showed that the victims lacked internal organs. However, he noted, it remains unclear whether the organs had been harvested at the time when the victims were alive or dead. OSCE observers confirmed reports about the discovery of three mass graves in the Donetsk region, in the village of Nizhnyaya Krynka and its surroundings on September 23. Chairman of Just Russia Party, head of the party faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Sergei Mironov, commenting on the reports, said that the Duma suggested establishing an international commission to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes against civilians in Ukraine. “What happened near Donetsk is a familiar pattern of Nazis. We recall well-known facts from the history of World War II, when, after the liberation of territories seized by Nazi occupiers, numerous burial grounds were found, where people had been tortured and shot. It is obvious for us that those who call themselves the Ukrainian government must be held accountable for that. It is also obvious that the Kiev government will deny any involvement in the crimes, as they denied the tragedy of May 2 in Odessa. This is the reasons why one needs to establish an international commission, because every crime should be investigated, perpetrators should be found and punished accordingly. This investigation should go openly, including with the involvement of the international court. Our task is to insist on this. We can not ignore such facts,” Mironov said. Noteworthy, the Facebook account of Yulia Tymoshenko’s former lawyer, Sergei Vlasenko, was hacked in July. His correspondence with German doctor Olga Wieber and commander of “Donbass” battalion of the National Guard, Semyon Semyonchenko, was exposed to the general public. In the correspondence, the sides discussed organ trafficking. Thus, in one of the messages, Wieber wrote in detail, which organs were needed: “17 hearts, 50 kidneys, new livers – 35 pieces, 30 pancreases and 5 lungs.” Vlasenko responded with a promise to deliver all the organs. Vlasenko also wrote that Semenchenko should collect organs appropriately, not to deliver “bad quality” organs again. Source      |
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Posted: 26 Sep 2014 02:57 AM PDT
 Size comparison of HAT-P-11b (gray) with NeptuneThe planet is the size of Neptune and about four times the size of Earth. It orbits a star some 130 light years from Earth. HAT-P-11b’s atmosphere was also found to contain copious amounts of hydrogen. Atmospheres are telltales of a planet’s formation and a guide to what is happening on its surface. Dr Eliza Kempton from Grinnell College, Iowa, has said, “Astronomers have detected water vapour in the atmospheres of larger planets – planets that are closer in size to Jupiter. But you can imagine that eventually we want to be able to detect molecules in the atmospheres of even smaller planets. “We’d like to be able to look at an Earth-sized planet and measure its gaseous composition. So this is a step on the ladder; we’re stepping down the ladder towards smaller and smaller planets,” she has noted. Source      |
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Posted: 26 Sep 2014 02:53 AM PDT
 There are many things one might expect people to smuggle across the American border and into other countries inside of their pants, but dozens of aquatic reptiles? That’s exactly what one man was found hiding near Detroit. Canadian Chinese citizen Kai Xu was trying to return to Windsor when he was caught with 51 turtles inside his sweat pants last month, according to recently unsealed court documents, the Detroit Free Press reports. The reason for stuffing his pants with this many animals isn’t clear at this point, but officials investigating the incident believe that he was trying to sell the turtles to markets in Asia, where the reptiles are a popular treat. Xu is an engineering student at the University of Waterloo and a Canadian citizen, originally from China. He was charged with smuggling, illegal trading and exporting. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison. “There’s now a burgeoning Asian market,” said Gavin Shire of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who helped authorities investigate the incident. He also told the newspaper there is “a lot of both illegal and unregulated turtle consumption.” At the same time, the criminal complaint filed in court does not state whether or not Xu tried to clarify why he had more than 50 turtles in his pants. What authorities do know is that they spotted Xu picking up a package in Detroit that was from Alabama and marked “live fish keep cool.” The complaint says that after Xu opened the box, he was seen carrying a pair of scissors, tape, and bags to a spot in between two UPS semi-trailers, only to walk back to his car with no bags – instead, there were bulges under his pant legs that could be seen. As Xu made his way to the border and tried to enter Canada, he was stopped in a search that uncovered eastern box turtles, red-eared sliders and diamondback terrapins in his pants. Law enforcement officials have levied three charges against Xu: smuggling goods from the United States, trading in specimens illegally, and exporting fish or wildlife illegally. Notably, this isn’t the first time someone has been arrested trying to smuggle turtles illegally – though last time, the turtles were actually found to be going in the other direction: into the United States. Under the title of “Operation Flying Turtle,” two Japanese citizens were arrested for smuggling 55 turtles and tortoises into the United States. The turtles were reportedly brought to the US and sold to pet stores by Atsushi Yamagami of Osaka, who then used the money to buy various reptiles in North American that could be sold again in Japan. Yamagami is believed to have undertaken more than 40 trips between the US and Japan before he was arrested. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to cough up $18,000 in fines. Ultimately, he apologized for his behavior and vowed not to repeat it. “I am extremely ashamed and remorseful about my actions,” he wrote in a letter to a US judge. Source     |
