Wednesday, February 12

Day: December 23, 2015

America, ENGLISH

1950s U.S. Nuclear Target List Offers Chilling Insight

    Target category No. 275 from the nuclear target list for 1959 may be the most chilling. It is called simply “Population.” For the first time, the National Archives and Records Administration has released a detailed list of the United States’ potential targets for atomic bombers in the event of war with the Soviet Union, showing the number and the variety of targets on its territory, as well as in Eastern Europe and China. It lists many targets for “systematic destruction” in major cities, including 179 in Moscow (like “Agricultural Equipment” and “Transformers, Heavy”), 145 in Leningrad and 91 in East Berlin. The targets are referred to as DGZs or “designated ground zeros.” While many are industrial facilities, government buildings and the like, one for each city is sim...
Bangladesh, ENGLISH

Pakistani diplomat return from Bangladesh who suspected due to Terror activities

    Pakistan has withdrawn a female diplomat from its high commission in Dhaka following allegations of financing terrorist activities in Bangladesh. The step came two days after the Bangladesh government asked Pakistan informally to withdraw the diplomat. Farina Arshad, second secretary (political) at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh, was withdrawn to-day, a highly-placed source at the foreign ministry, confirmed The Daily Star. The Bangladesh authorities made the move after an arrested militant confessed his link with the envoy before a Dhaka court two weeks ago. Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative Idris Sheikh was arrested on November 29 in the capital and he made the confessional statement on December 6. According to a top Detective Branch (DB) offici...
Bangladesh, ENGLISH

Legal notice served on Khaleda for war martyrs remark

    A Supreme Court lawyer today sent a legal notice to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia asking her to apologise before the nation for making a controversial statement about the number of martyrs during the Liberation War in 1971. Momtajuddin Ahmed Mehedi, former secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), in the notice requested the BNP chief Khaleda to withdraw her statement within seven days. Khaleda, in her first public address in more than a year on Monday, said, “There are controversies over exactly how many freedom fighters were killed in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies.” He said in the notice that a case will be filed against Khaleda under the criminal and civil law if she does not apologise and withdraw her statement....
ENGLISH, Europe

Russia to start building Iran nuclear reactors

    Russia will begin building two nuclear reactors in Iran next week, a top Iranian atomic energy official said Tuesday. The news comes a year after Tehran signed a contract with Moscow to construct a further two reactors at the existing Russian-built Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said work on the two reactors ‘will commence next week’, according to the state television website, reports Al Jazeera. A series of agreements signed between the two countries last year foresees eventually increasing the total number of Russian-built reactors in Iran to nine. Construction of the two reactors will be bankrolled by Iran, Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, said last year. T...
Asia, ENGLISH

China uses mist cannons to counter pollution

    If you have ever been to an amusement park on a hot summer day or (the more DIY approach) ran through a sprinkler in your front yard, you have been privy to the majesty of the mist… water mist that is. There’s something about walking through this cloud of mini water droplets that revitalizes you on those days where the blazing sun is wearing down. Well China may just have a completely different purpose for this machinery, and it’s pretty innovative, tackling a very concerning issue with China’s pollution problems. China has tried everything from outsourcing their air to artistic stunts to garner the attention of officials and hopefully take some drastic measures to improve on the air pollution problems. I guess officials are listening and taking some creative efforts, enli...