Malaysia's navy seizes pirates..[ 2026 ]

Malaysia navy foils ship hijack attempt, seizes pirates

 

The seized pirates could be tried in Malaysia

 

BBC.,,22 January 2011 Last updated at 09:01 GMT

Malaysia says its navy commandos have foiled an attempted hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden, rescuing 23 crew and capturing seven Somali pirates.

It says the commandos injured three pirates during a gun battle on board the Malaysian-flagged MT Bung Laurel chemical tanker on Friday.

The navy was alerted by a distress signal from the vessel's crew.

Kuala Lumpur is now considering whether the pirates should face trial in Malaysia. 

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"We will determine what we should do, whether we are going to bring them here to be tried or take any other appropriate action," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

He also said he was "proud of our navy, which acted with full efficiency and demonstrated courage".

The Malaysian Royal Navy said an attack helicopter was also involved in the rescue operation about 555km (300 miles) east off the coast of Oman.

No-one among the commandos or the crew was injured.

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'Alarming' rise

Pirates took a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, despite increased patrolling of the seas, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its report released earlier this month.

It described as "alarming" the continued increase in hostage-taking incidents - the highest number since the IMB began monitoring in 1991.

It also said that 53 ships were hijacked worldwide - 49 of them off Somalia's coast - and eight sailors were killed.

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Overall, there were 445 pirate attacks last year - a 10% rise from 2009.

Although naval patrols - launched in 2009 in the Gulf of Aden - had foiled a number of attacks, Somali pirates wer now operating farther offshore, the IMB added.

Blaze sweeps through shopping centre..[ 2025 ]

Deadly blaze sweeps through Russian shopping centre

 

Witnesses say they heard a bang before the fire started

BBC.,,22 January 2011 Last updated at 15:59 GMT

 

At least person has died after a massive fire engulfed a three-storey shopping centre in central Russia, local news agencies report.

Five people were injured in the Europa centre in the city of Ufa, and dozens of fire-fighters are now trying to tackle the blaze.

The cause of the fire is not known, but unconfirmed reports say it started after an explosion.

The building has been evacuated amid fears the roof could collapse.

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The fire in the shopping centre started at about 1530 local time (1230 GMT), local officials say.

"Some witnesses heard a bang, and then the fire started," emergency ministry official Oleg Zugeyev was quoted as saying by Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.

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• At least six people were reportedly rescued from the building.
• The body of a man was later found in the gutted centre.
• It was not immediately known if anyone was still trapped inside.

Ufa is the capital of the oil-rich province of Bashkortostan.

Japanese rocket for ISS lifts off..[ 2024 ]

Japanese cargo rocket for ISS lifts off

 

The cargo rocket is expected to dock with the ISS on Thursday

BBC.,,22 January 2011 Last updated at 07:42 GMT

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A Japanese rocket with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) has lifted off from a remote island in southern Japan.

The unmanned rocket is carrying nearly six tonnes of food, water, clothing and experimental equipment to the station's six-strong crew.

Japan sent its first supply rocket to the space station in 2009. 

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Tokyo is aiming for a share of space transport after the retirement of the US space shuttle fleet.

The Kounotori 2 (Stork 2) rocket blasted off at 1457 local time (0537 GMT) from the Tanegashima island on Saturday.

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It is expected to dock with the ISS on Thursday.

It will drop off its cargo and then load up with waste material before burning itself up on re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

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Such projects have become more important because the US recently scaled back its ability to launch supplies to astronauts in orbit.

Japan's space agency Jaxa is also developing plans to use a modified Kounotori-type rocket for possible manned flights.

NASA Image of thr Day, Jan 21st., ..[ 2023 ]

      The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.         

A Supermassive Black Hole

In a single exposure, astronomers were able to confirm the existence of a supermassive black hole in the center of galaxy M84. 

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They did this by using the Hubble Space Telescope's more powerful spectrograph to map the rapid rotation of gas at the galaxy's center. The colorful zigzag provides the evidence. If no black hole were present, the line would be nearly vertical. The Space Telescope Imaging 

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Spectrograph measured a velocity of 880,000 mph within 26 light-years of the galaxy's center. This measurement allowed astronomers to calculate that the black hole contains at least 300 million solar masses. 

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M84 is located in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, 50 million light-years from Earth, and a nearby neighbor to the more massive M87 galaxy, which also contains an extremely massive black hole. 

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The image on the left shows the galaxy's center in visible light. This image was originally released May 12, 1997. 

Image Credit: NASA, Gary Bower, Richard Green (NOAO), the STIS Instrument Definition Team

Παρασκευή, 21 Ιανουάριος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

some smokers feel guilty about their habit....[ 2022 ]

            Fighting back                                         .

Friday, January 21, 2011

Please note that Keith & Pam Williamson are a couple of Britons living permanently in Spain

Keith says :

Lets get things straight. 

There are some smokers who feel guilty about their habit. They say that they would quit if it was easy and wish that they had never started. I do not fall into that category. 

Whilst I am not proud to be a smoker, I am not ashamed to smoke nor do I feel guilty about it. It was a choice I made many years ago – if I had my time again I might make a different one but who knows – maybe not. 

I started smoking cigarettes, then I moved to cigars and finally settled on a pipe. Whilst some may get through 25gms of tobacco a day, I rarely smoke more than 75gms a week. 

Pamela (my wife ) was recently asked whether I was allowed to smoke in my own house. What an absurd question that was, of course I can smoke in my own house. If Pamela  had wanted to marry a non smoker, she would have found someone else. She and I are both fully aware of the dangers that my smoking poses to both of us. 

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As I have said before, I would not offend anyone by smoking in their houses if they did not want me to. In fact I do not smoke in either of my daughter’s houses because I respect their wishes. Neither would I smoke in a restaurant whilst people were eating even if it were permitted. Nor would I smoke in close proximity to young children. I might be a smoker but I do think I have a sense of responsibility.

My back is broad enough to take any criticism laid at me re my habit, even still I wish some people would get off it!

Blogger : Esto es jauja!

Originally Posted by Keith & Pam Williamson at 10:15 AM

Copied by Nearchus  20:24