Fire breaks out during Russian nuclear sub repairs...[ 2590 ]

Fire breaks out during Russian nuclear sub repairs, no radiation threat

Fire breaks out during Russian nuclear sub repairs, no radiation threat/© Photo TV 21

MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti)

Α fire broke out at the "Yekaterinburg"  nuclear submarine on Thursday during repairs at a shipyard in northern Russia, the local emergencies ministry department said. 

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Fire safety violations during routine maintenance works are seen as the most likely cause of the blaze at a floating repair dock.

"No deaths or injuries have been reported. 

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There is no threat of nuclear pollution," the department said in a statement.

Wooden scaffolding around the submarine caught fire, which spread to the submarine's light outer hull, Northern Fleet spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga said.

"There is no possibility of fire burning through the hull and no threat to on-board equipment," Serga said.

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The K-84 "Yekaterinburg" nuclear submarine is one of seven Delta-IV class submarines in service, all deployed in the Northern Fleet. It carries 16 Sineva (NATO classification "Skiff") submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

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The Delta-IV class submarines are the core of the naval component of the Russian nuclear triad at present and may remain in service for another 10 years.

Fastest Rotating Star...[ 2589 ]

Image of the Fastest Rotating Star Found in Neighboring Galaxy

This artist's concept pictures the fastest rotating star found to date. The massive, bright young star, called VFTS 102, rotates at a million miles per hour, or 100 times faster than our sun does. Centrifugal forces from this dizzying spin rate have flattened the star into an oblate shape and spun off a disk of hot plasma, seen edge on in this view from a hypothetical planet. 

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The star may have "spun up" by accreting material from a binary companion star. The rapidly evolving companion later exploded as a supernova. The whirling star lies 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Iran ...warns U.S.A....[ 2588 ]

Iran warns U.S. over Strait of Hormuz

 

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TEHRAN | Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:41am EST
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(Reuters) - A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Thursday that the United States was not in a position to tell Tehran "what to do in the Strait of Hormuz," state television reported.

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Tehran's threat to block crude shipments through the crucial passage for Middle Eastern suppliers followed the European Union's decision to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as well as accompanying moves by the United States to tighten unilateral sanctions.

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Iran's English-language Press TV quoted Hossein Salami as saying: "Any threat will be responded by threat ... We will not relinquish our strategic moves if Iran's vital interests are undermined by any means."

Separately, Salami was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency: "Americans are not in a position whether to allow Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz."

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The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran.

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At loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, Iran said earlier it would stop the flow of oil through the strait in the Gulf if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

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Analysts say that Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is 21 miles across.

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But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore.

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(Writing by Parisa Hafezi Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Russia: Robbing a shop in 47 seconds ...[ 2587 ]

Three Father Frosts rob pawn shop in 47 seconds

NOVOSIBIRSK, December 29 (RIA Novosti)

Three armed robbers in Father Frost costumes took all gold jewelry from a pawn shop in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in 47 seconds, a local police chief said on Thursday.
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The three hoax New Year gift-givers stood outside the shop for a while, congratulating passers-by, probably carefully timing the robbery. Their behavior did not seem suspicious to the pawn shop's staff and visitors, who thought the three men were involved in an advertising campaign.
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At 17:15 local time on Wednesday, the three Father Frosts burst into the shop, waving shotguns.
"The three men acted defiantly, without a moment of hesitation. They shot four times so everyone took them seriously. I need hardly say that robbing such a shop in 47 seconds requires certain skills," district police Chief Yuri Titovich said.
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The owner has yet to assess the damage; however, it is known that the robbers took all gold jewelry from the shop, including at least 160 gold chains.
Police are currently checking footage from surveillance cameras in the shop. All robbers wore masks and false beards.
A similar crime took place last year in the same city. A robber dressed as Father Frost took about 5.5 million ru

Turkey air strikes Kurdish village...[ 2586 ]

Turkey air strike kills 23 near Kurdish village

 

The mayor said all those killed had died of burns
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BBC., 29 December 2011 Last updated at 09:32 GMT 

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An air strike near a Kurdish village by Turkish warplanes close to the border with Iraq has left at least 23 people dead, officials say.

One report said that smugglers had been spotted by unmanned drones and mistaken for Kurdish rebels.

The attack, on Wednesday night, took place near the village of Uludere in Sirnak province in south-eastern Turkey, according to Dogan news agency.

Local officials said drums of diesel carried by the group had exploded.

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The victims had been using mules to cross the border when the incident happened, they said.

The mayor of Uludere was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying there were 30 bodies and all had been burned. But provincial governor Vahdettin Ozkan said the information he had was that more than 20 had lost their lives.

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"A crisis centre is being formed at the scene and prosecutors and security officers were sent there," he told Anatolia news agency.

Smuggling of fuel and cigarettes is said to be commonplace between villages along the Iraqi border. But rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have crossed the border into Turkey to stage attacks on Turkish forces.

After 24 Turkish soldiers were killed in PKK raids in October, Turkish forces responded with a series of air and ground attacks.