NASA names eight new astronaut trainees — half of them women
(Photos: NASA)
NASA has picked eight Americans, a mix of scientists and military pilots, to begin training for future space missions that may one day launch them all the way to Mars. The new class includes four men and four women who will join the 49 active astronauts at the agency’s astronaut corps at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Obama and Putin cite differences on Syria but say they want violence to end
(Photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)
President Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin, on opposite sides of a civil war, used delicate language about wanting to stop the bloodshed in Syria.
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Report: Women could begin training for combat roles in 2015
CNN reports women could start training for Army Ranger and Navy SEAL units in mid-2015 under plans expected to be announced by the Pentagon on Tuesday, according to a Defense Department official.
It is part of the next step in a longstanding effort to open as many combat jobs as possible to women.
The plan now is for jobs in special operations to be available to women possibly in mid-2015.
The official argued the latest development is not a delay, but is more of an acknowledgment by the military that it needs more time to study the issue.
Full implementation of women into combat positions, including infantry and armor units, is to be completed by January 2016.
The move could open approximately another 6,000 jobs to women in the Army.
Photo via CNN’s Security Clearance
Laser scans flesh out the saga of Cambodia’s 1,200-year-old lost city
(Photo: Evans et al. / PNAS)
Laser-scanning technology reveals that the Cambodian lost city of Mahendraparvata, dating back to a time before Angkor Wat, was much more extensive than previously thought. The latest word about the high-tech hunt for hidden ruins came over the weekend in an on-the-scene report from Australia’s Fairfax Media.
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Protests Continue to Grow Across Brazil
The marches began with a protest in Sao Paulo against a small increase in bus and subway fares about two weeks ago.
At first, the demonstrations drew the scorn of many middle-class Brazilians after protesters vandalized storefronts, subway stations and buses on one of the city’s main avenues, but the movement gained support and spread to other cities as police used heavy-handed tactics to try to quell the demonstrations.The biggest crackdown happened on Thursday in Sao Paulo, when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes that injured more than 100 people, including 15 journalists, some of whom said they were deliberately targeted.
The harsh police reaction to last week’s protests touched a nerve in Brazil.
Photo: A demonstrator with the Brazilian flag protests against the Confederation’s Cup and the government of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia June 17, 2013. Protesters are using the Confederation’s Cup as a counterpoint to their concerns. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelin
Tear gas fired inside hotel in Turkey protest crackdown
(Photo: Richard Engel / NBC News)
Police fired tear gas inside a hotel being used as a protest base late Saturday as authorities forcefully cleared Taksim Square ahead of a Sunday rally by the ruling AK Party.
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Millions of Iranians turned out on Friday to vote for one of six candidates to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the next president of Iran.
Live coverage of results of Iranian presidential election
Voting is ongoing at Iranian polling stations outside of Iran, state TV reported. Without credible opinion polls, it is difficult to predict the results, however popular candidates include Hassan Rohani, the only moderate candidate, Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran.
If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will take place on June 21.
Photos: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/Mushtaq Muhammed
Iran voted today. Watch this space for results.
TEHRAN, Iran — Polling places at schools and mosques in the Iranian capital were crammed today with voters in what has become a surprisingly competitive race to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the nation’s president.
The campaign pits three major conservatives against a candidate supported by reformers and moderates, with six total contenders handpicked by the country’s premier religious and political authority.
It uses enough electricity to power 33,000 homes, it cost $1.7 billion and it’s located in a tiny town in the desert.
It’s going to deal with data — huge amounts of data. Data measured in yottabytes, which could hold 500 quintillion pages of text. Read more …
Turkish riot police use tear gas, water cannons to clear Taksim Square
NBC News: Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday after Turkish police stormed Gezi Park spraying tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of protesters.
Using armored police cars, fire trucks and sanitation vehicles, authorities cleared the park after two weeks of protests against Prime Minister Erdogan. As protesters fled into a nearby hotel, clouds of tear gas followed.
Witnesses said an untold number of people were hurt in the raid.
The protests were initially in response to the government’s plan to redevelop Taksim Square and remove the park, however quickly turned to focus on broader discontent about Erdogan’s government.
Erdogan plans to respond to protesters in a pro-government rally in the square on Sunday.
Photo: Protesters clash with riot police at Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish riot police are firing water cannons and tear gas at protesters in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, witnesses said, hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to remove them from the disputed public space by force. (Tolga Bozoglu / EPA)
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