20160909 BBC_North Korea conducts 'fifth and biggest nuclear test'

North Korea is believed to have carried out its fifth and largest ever test of a nuclear device, say South Korean military officials.

It comes after an "artificial" magnitude 5.3 earthquake was detected close to its nuclear test site on Friday morning,

Previous artificial earthquakes in the same area and of that magnitude have all been nuclear tests.

There has been no comment from the North as yet.

In a statement carried by the Yonhap news agency, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "We estimate the North has carried out the biggest-ever test."

It said the yield was estimated to have been 10 kilotonnes, almost twice the power of its last test in January. At that time the North said it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, but many analysts cast doubt on that claim.

Japan's meteorological agency said seismic activity was "different than in a normal quake"

The US Geological Survey, which monitors global seismic activity, said the tremor had been detected in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the north-east and was caused by "an explosion".

It said it could "cannot determine what type of explosion it may be, whether nuclear or any other possible type".

Recent satellite imagery has shown increased activity at the site, indicating a fifth test could be imminent.

Friday is also North Korea's National Day, which celebrates the founding of the current regime. The North often uses such events as an opportunity for a show of military strength.

20160425 China Daily_Chengdu's Silicon Valley dream powers rise of startups

A woman looks at a 3D bioprinter, developed by Revotek, at the launch of the product last October.[Provided to China Daily]

Holed up in a shiny glass building in the Chinese city of Chengdu, Y. James Kang spends his days researching ways to repair damaged hearts, livers and brains－with the help of stem cells and 3D printers.

The Chinese-born and US-trained biologist set up his healthcare startup, Revotek, in this southwestern city in 2014. At the time, he was attracted by the region's rich local supply of monkeys that were ideal for testing human treatments. In Chengdu, the company has drawn 215 million yuan ($33 million) in funding from a local real estate company seeking to diversify.

A few miles from Kang's lab, AllTech Medical Systems has developed and is selling MRI systems intended to compete with multinational giants such as General Electric Co, Royal Philips NV and Siemens AG, which have dominated the market. Its MIT-trained founder, Zou Xueming, chose Chengdu to start his second company after selling his Cleveland-based startup to GE in 2002. AllTech hopes to submit an application to go public by the end of next year, with Zou planning to raise $50 million to $100 million.

They are among a string of local businesses that stand to benefit from a push by the Chinese city to attract researchers and venture capital investors. Known for its spicy cuisine and leisurely lifestyle, Chengdu has in recent years attracted the likes of Intel Corp and IBM, which have set up research and manufacturing bases there. More recently, the flurry of investment activity is in response to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's call for innovation and entrepreneurship.

China's leaders are seeking new engines of growth as the country's economic expansion hits its slowest pace in 25 years. That's encouraged provinces across the country to create special zones where new ventures can tap funding opportunities and other incentives. While technology startups have been some of the biggest beneficiaries, medical research firms are also getting a boost－giving new life to a Chinese industry that lagged the West for years.

Since it was launched in 2014, China's campaign to encourage entrepreneurship has helped create tens of thousands of small companies. In Chengdu, the local government has set up seven start-up focused funds backed by private capital totaling 700 million yuan to promote industries like telecommunications, health and biotech.

The science and technology bureau has a dedicated team to help banks assess startups based on the value of their technology and patents. It also has incubators that provide office space and training to new businesses. "There are strong driving forces," in Chengdu, said AllTech founder Zou. "Policies to attract talent, land and tax policies are very favorable."

Like Kang's firm, most of Chengdu's startups are many years away from making big profits from their businesses. That means Chengdu's government also has a long wait before it sees major benefits to the local economy.

Dozens of Chinese cities are launching similar programs, and these new ventures also offer a window into the rising ambitions of Chinese researchers, many of whom have trained overseas. Kang was among the first batch of Chinese to go back to college in 1977 after the Cultural Revolution, eventually earning his PhD at Iowa State University. His primary research focus now is 3D bioprinting, a new frontier of medicine aimed at creating replicas of human organs.

His team has been developing techniques to repair damaged skin, hearts, livers and brains in animals including pigs and monkeys through regeneration－a process that involves creating 3D printed structures that can replicate, for example, a layer of skin or a blood vessel. For organs like a damaged heart, a specialized catheter is used to deliver "bio-ink" or stem cells mixed with nutrients and other growth factors.

20160425 Standard_(Ecuador quake) Time runs out for survivors; deaths rise to 587

 
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The death count from Ecuador's worst earthquake in a decade increased to at least 587 on Thursday even as the country faced another grim toll: a long and costly reconstruction effort likely to cost billions of dollars.
On Thursday evening, the government raised the death toll to 587. 
Officials listed 155 people as missing and the number of those made homeless climbed to over 23,500. The final death toll could surpass casualties from earthquakes in Chile and Peru in the past decade.
President Rafael Correa announced Wednesday night that he would raise sales taxes and put a one-time levy on millionaires to help pay for reconstruction.
The damage from the 7.8-magnitude quake adds to already heavy economic hardships being felt in this OPEC nation because of the collapse in world oil prices. Even before the quake, Ecuador was bracing for a bout of austerity, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting the economy would shrink 4.5 percent this year.
In a televised address Wednesday night, Correa warned the nation of a long and costly post-quake recovery and said the economic pain shouldn't fall only on hard-hit communities along the coast.
“I know we're at the most-difficult stage right now but it's just the beginning,'' he said.
Rescuers continued to comb through the rubble in coastal towns hit hardest by the quake, but the clock was running down for finding survivors. Rescue workers have said a person without serious injuries can survive up to a week buried in debris in the Ecuadorian heat.
On Thursday, Jorge Zambrano, mayor of the community of Manta, announced that three people had been pulled from beneath a collapsed building the night before and vowed to continue searching.
“I still have hope we can find more people who are still alive beneath the rubble,'' he said. “If we have even a hope of life, we must work with extreme care.''
Rescuers also found a more unusual survivor: a flapping white-and-brown duck was pulled from under a pile of rubble, becoming a social media celebrity in a country eager for good news.
Using authority granted by the state of emergency he declared after Saturday night's quake, Correa said sales taxes would increase from 12 percent to 14 percent for the coming year.
People with more than US$1 million in assets will be charged a one-time tax of 0.9 percent on their wealth, while workers earning over US$1,000 a month will be forced to contribute a day's wages and those earning US$5,000 a month the equivalent of five days' pay.
Taxes on companies will also go up, and Correa said he will look to sell certain state assets that he didn't specify. He is also drawing on US$600 million in emergency credits from the World Bank and other multilateral lenders.
The tax increases come as the scale of devastation continues to sink in. A helicopter flyover of the damage zone Wednesday showed entire city blocks in ruins as if they had been bombed.—AP

20160425 Standard_171 countries sign landmark climate pact

The UN says a record 171 countries are expected to sign the landmark climate change agreement.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said at the start of a high-level UN ceremony that “history is in the making.''
He told global leaders and ministers the world is in “a race against time,'' citing record global temperatures, record ice loss and record carbon levels in the atmosphere.
“The era of consumption without consequences is over,'' Ban said. “We must intensify efforts to decarbonize our economies.''
Ban, who recalled that climate change has been his top priority since he became secretary-general over nine years ago, urged all countries to ratify the agreement so it can come into force as early as possible.
The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. 
US Secretary of State John Kerry is joining dozens of world leaders at the ceremony.
States that don't sign today have a year to do so.
Many expect the climate agreement to enter into force long before the original deadline of 2020. Some say it could happen this year.
After signing, countries must formally approve the agreement through their domestic procedures. The United Nations says at least 13 countries could take that step today by depositing their instruments of ratification.—AP

20160418 BBC_Japan earthquake: 'Nearly 250,000 told to leave amid fear of tremors'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36069405

Saturday's magnitude-7.3 quake struck at 01:25 (15:25 GMT on Friday) close to the city of Kumamoto, which had been hit by a magnitude-6.4 quake on Thursday night.

Both quakes were shallow, causing huge damage to roads, bridges and tunnels. Big landslides cut off remote mountain villages.

The US military said it was preparing to provide aerial support for Japan's relief efforts. America has several military bases and about 50,000 troops in the country.

The earthquakes are the biggest to have hit Japan since 2011 when a 9.0 magnitude quake caused a huge tsunami, leaving more then 19,000 dead and missing.

Japan is regularly hit by earthquakes but strict building codes mean they usually cause minimal damage.

20160418 BBC_Ecuador earthquake: Death toll 'likely to rise'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36070407

A state of emergency has been declared and some 10,000 troops and 3,500 police have been deployed in the affected areas, with an emphasis on finding survivors.

"I fear that figure will go up because we keep on removing rubble," a shaken Mr Correa said in a televised address.

"There are signs of life in the rubble, and that is being prioritised."

The magnitude-7.8 quake struck on Saturday evening. Coastal areas in the north-west were closest to the epicentre.

The quake is Ecuador's largest since 1979. More than 130 aftershocks have followed.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at a fairly shallow depth of 19.2km (11.9 miles), about 27km from Muisne in a sparsely populated area.

The quake was also felt in neighbouring Colombia.

20151223 BBC_What is El Nino and how is the strongest El Nino since 1950 on the way affecting countries around the world?

How is El Nino affecting countries around the world?

Powerful hurricanes in Mexico, drought in Ethiopia, flash-floods and mudslides in southern California - all have been attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Occurring every few years, the current El Nino is one of the strongest recorded and could contribute to making 2015 the hottest year on record.

But what is El Nino?

What is El Nino?

An El Nino climate event is under way that could potentially become one of the strongest events since 1950.

That's according to a new Met Office report which says that 2015 has already seen the warmest start to any year on record.

It also outlines that El Nino is one of three key climate patterns that could lead to changes in our global temperature.

The event occurs when the waters of the Pacific become exceptionally warm and distort weather patterns around the world.