Mysterious Fault Downs Reaper Drones

The US Air Force’s flagship Reaper drone is plagued by a mysterious technical fault which causes the craft to fall out of the sky, a report says.

An investigation by the Washington Post found that the unmanned drone – which conducts surveillance and airstrikes against Islamic State – has been hit with a number of technical problems.

It said that electrical faults have caused 20 Reaper drones to be destroyed or to suffer at least $2m (£1.4m) in damage in the last year – the worst annual toll ever.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that investigations have traced the problem to a faulty starter-generator, but cannot work out why it keeps failing.

Since 2001, more than 400 large US military drones have crashed.

Video: How Do Drones Find Their Targets?

The Post said: “Military drones have slammed into homes, farms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one case, an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in midair.

“No one has died in a drone accident, but the documents show that many catastrophes have been narrowly averted, often by a few feet, or a few seconds, or pure luck.”

In one incident, documents obtained show that a $3.8m (£2.6m) Predator drone crashed near Kandahar because the pilot did not realise she had been flying the aircraft upside down.

Another crashed because the pilot pressed the wrong button on his joystick.

Video: 2015: RAF Reaper Hits IS Vehicle

No-one has died in a drone incident, but errors have resulted in a number of near-misses.

The drones are manufactured in the US but are also used by the Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force.

RAF Reaper drones are being used for surveillance and airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq.

Operators control the drones using computers on the ground.

Saudi grand mufti says playing chess is forbidden in Islam

 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti Sheikh Abdullah al-Sheikh during a television program said playing chess is forbidden in Islam, British newspaper The Guardian reported.

Responding to a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas (religious decrees) after listening to viewers’ questions, Sheikh said playing the board game is ‘haram’ (forbidden) as it encourages gambling and is a waste of time.

He claimed that the game was “included under gambling” and was “a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players”.

Al-Sheikh justified the ruling by referring to a verse in the Quran banning “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination”.

Iraq’s Supreme Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani too had issued a decree terming the game ‘haram mutlaqan’ (forbidden absolutely or under any circumstances), with or without betting.

Also Read: Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti calls suicide bombers ‘criminals’

The game of chess, a board game can be traced back to an ancient version called Chatrang, popular in Persia during the 600BCs.

The name ‘chess’ is a variant of the Persian ‘shah’ (king) that replaced the original ‘shatranj’ and ‘ajedrez’ and came to be modified through dialect across Europe as ‘check’ and later ‘chess’.

Gameplay in chess is of two kinds: tactical and strategic. Tactics is concerned with the immediate action taken by each player, as in the advancing and positioning of a piece, while strategy is focused on achieving long-term positioning advantages.

Largest known prime number discovered in Missouri

The largest known prime number has been discovered by a computer at a university in Missouri in the US.

Prime numbers – such as two, three, five and seven – are divisible only by themselves and one, and play an important role in computer encryption.

The new prime is more than 22 million digits long, five million longer than the previous largest known prime.

Primes this large could prove useful to computing in the future.

Endless quest

The new prime number was found as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (Gimps), a global quest to find a particular type of large prime numbers.

Mersenne primes are named after a French monk who studied them in the 17th Century.

 

 

They are hunted by multiplying two by itself a large number of times, then taking away one. It is a relatively manageable calculation for today’s computers, but not every result is a prime.

The discovered prime is written as 2^74,207,281-1, which denotes two, multiplied by itself 74,207,280 times, with one subtracted afterwards.

The Gimps project has calculated the 15 largest Mersenne primes in the 20 years it has been running and it is possible that there could be an infinite number of them to discover.

What use are large primes?

Large prime numbers are important in computer encryption and help make sure that online banking, shopping and private messaging are secure, but current encryption typically uses prime numbers that are hundreds of digits long, not millions.

“This prime is too large to currently be of practical value,” the Gimps project admitted in a statement.

However, searching for large primes is intensive work for computer processors and can have unexpected benefits.

“One prime project discovered that there was a problem in some computer processors that only showed up in certain circumstances,” said Dr Steven Murdoch, cybersecurity expert at University College London.

The new large prime, the 49th known Mersenne prime, was discovered by Dr Curtis Cooper at the University of Central Missouri.

Although computers do most of the hard work, primes are said to be discovered when a human takes note of the result

366 of China’s Cities Don’t Have Safe Air: Greenpeace

BEIJING — Air quality across China generally improved last year but remains a “major health hazard,” according to Greenpeace.

A new report ranking 366 of the country’s cities in terms of air pollution highlighted that there was still plenty of room for improvement.

“None of these 366 cities meet the World Health Organization’s air quality standard,” said Dong Liansai, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace. “That is to say 100 percent of Chinese cities studied fail to meet the WHO’s standard.”

 

 

Annual average levels of PM2.5 — particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers in diameter that can penetrate deep into the lungs — dropped by 10.3 percent last year compared with 2014 in the surveyed cities, Greenpeace said in its report released on Wednesday.

However, air quality in the Beijing area, Yangtze River Delta area and Pearl River Delta area showed significant improvement.

Despite such good news, the Greenpeace report showed China’s national average for PM2.5 concentration was 50.2 parts per cubic meter — well in excess of WHO’s guideline of an annual average of less than 10 micrograms.

“Air quality across China is still a major health hazard,” Dong added.

PM2.5 particulate matter is released through the burning of coal and from motor vehicles. It is associated with lung and heart illnesses.

Air pollution was said to be responsible for 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide per year in 2012.

The WHO has argued that developing nations that can cut PM2.5 particulate to their recommended guideline levels could see a reduction in air-pollution-related deaths of around 15 percent.

 

Greenpeace also revealed that China’s financial hub, Shanghai, saw its air quality worsen last year, with its average PM2.5 concentration increasing by 3.14 percent over 2014.

Decades of growth-at-all-costs economic development in China has spawned massive problems of air, water and soil pollution.

With increased public concern about pollution nationally, China’s ruling Communist Party in recent years has taken steps to address the issue like toughening environmental protection laws and providing financial incentives to provinces to reach air pollution targets.

Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck institute have estimated that smog has led to 1.4 million premature deaths in China every year, while the non-profit group Berkeley Earth in California had a higher figure — 1.6 million.

 

A New Ninth Planet May Have Been Detected, Scientists Say

Sad that Pluto isn’t a planet anymore? Don’t worry, Caltech researchers may have discovered a new planet lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system.

They’re calling it “Planet Nine” for now. The planet, if it exists, has a mass 10 times that of Earth and takes between 10,000 and 20,000 years to orbit the sun.

An artist’s rendering of Planet Nine. Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Planet Nine has not actually been observed. Instead, evidence of the planet was discovered through mathematical modeling and computer simulations.

“Although we were initially quite skeptical that this planet could exist, as we continued to investigate its orbit and what it would mean for the outer solar system, we become increasingly convinced that it is out there,” Konstantin Batygin, an assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech, said in a statement.

The research from Batygin and Mike Brown, whose discoveries led to the downgrading of Pluto to a “dwarf planet,” was published Wednesday in The Astronomical Journal.

It all started in 2014 with the investigation of 13 objects in the Kuiper Belt — a region of the solar system beyond Neptune filled with comets and other icy bodies, as well as dwarf planets including Pluto.

Six of those objects had an orbit that suggested they were circling some distant object, which the researchers now believe is the ninth planet in our solar system. Although they believe they know the planet’s orbit, they hope to actually locate it using a large telescope.

“This would be a real ninth planet,” Brown said. “There have only been two true planets discovered since ancient times, and this would be a third. It’s a pretty substantial chunk of our solar system that’s still out there to be found, which is pretty exciting.”

McCullum expected to be back for Pakistan ODI

 

New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum is expected to return to action in the third ODI of the upcoming series against Pakistan.

The opener has not featured since his back injury intensified during the second ODI against Sri Lanka on December 28.

McCullum, who is known for his explosive batting style can potentially return to the field for the concluding match of Pakistan’s tour before he gets ready for his last outing as a New Zealand international.

The Kiwis host regional rivals Australia in a tour which kicks off on February 3 after which McCullum will retire.

“He’s progressing really well and doing plenty of work away from the game, from a fitness point of view and we’re really pleased with the way he’s tracking,” said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson while talking to ESPNCricinfo.

“Hopefully he’ll play a part in the Pakistan series and if he does that will be good prep for the Chappell-Hadlee and beyond,” he added.

New Zealand play the final T20I against Pakistan in Wellington on January 22. The series is level 1-1.

The ODI series starts on Monday January 25.

Match-fixing allegations: Djokovic wins, faces questions over 2007 loss

 

 

MELBOURNE: For the second time in three days, Novak Djokovic won a match at the Australian Open and was confronted by questions about match-fixing in the sport.

The five-time champion had just beaten 19-year-old French wild-card entry Quentin Halys 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the second round on Wednesday night – his 34th win in his last 35 matches at Melbourne Park – when his news conference veered to questions about the issue that has overshadowed the start of the season’s first major.

After his first-round win, on the day when the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports alleging match-fixing had gone unchecked in tennis, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic recalled when a member of his support team was approached with an offer to throw a match in Russia in 2007.

That approach didn’t reach him directly, he said, and was rejected immediately.

After his second-round win, he was asked about an Italian newspaper report casting doubt over his performance in a match against Fabrice Santoro in Paris in 2007.

Djokovic said the speculation was getting out of control.

“What (is there) to say? I’ve lost that match. I don’t know if you’re trying to create a story about that match or for that matter any of the matches of the top players losing in the early rounds. I think it’s just absurd,” Djokovic said.

“It’s not true.

“My response is that there’s always going to be, especially these days when there is a lot of speculation – this is now the main story in tennis, in sports world – there’s going to be a lot of allegations,” Djokovic said.

“I said everything I needed to say two days ago. Until somebody comes out with the real proof and evidence, it’s only a speculation for me.”

Djokovic lost to Santoro 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the Paris Masters indoor tournament in October 2007. Djokovic, who had two wisdom teeth removed after the Madrid Masters earlier that month, said after the loss to Santoro that he was not fully fit because he was still taking medication.

The BBC and BuzzFeed reports said 16 players had been repeatedly flagged to tennis authorities for suspicious performances, including a Grand Slam winner, and half of them were at this year’s Australian Open.

Djokovic has said he didn’t believe any elite players were involved. Roger Federer agreed, and said people making the accusations should name names.

Top seeds progress

On Wednesday, Federer extended his streak of reaching the third round at the Australian Open to 17 consecutive years. The four-time Australian Open champion, playing his 65th consecutive major, advanced 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 over Alexandr Dolgopolov. It was Federer’s 299th match win at a major.

He lost in the third round in his first two trips to Melbourne Park in 2000 and ’01 and again last year – in between he won the title four times and lost one final during a run of reaching the semifinals or better in 11 straight years.

“It’s the least I expect to be in the third round of a Slam, obviously, so I’m pumped up, playing well, feeling good,” Federer said.

“But there’s always a danger, you know. Like last year the third round was the end for me, so I hope to go further this time.”

Federer will next play Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went to the aid of a ball girl in his match, gently helping her off the court in the third set when she became ill before finishing off a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over Omar Jasika.

Other seeded players advancing included No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Kei Nishikori and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.

Serena Williams set a record when she played her 79th main draw match at the Australian Open, and beat No. 90-ranked Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2.

“It all started here. This is where I played my first Grand Slam right on this court and I’m still going, it’s such an honor,” said Williams, a six-time champion who has a 70-9 record at Melbourne Park. “I love it every time I come here.”

In the biggest upset of the day, two-time Wimbledon champion and sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova.

Williams’ next opponent will be 18-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who beat Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-4, 6-3, and she faces a potential quarterfinal match against 2015 finalist Maria Sharapova, who reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

No. 13 Roberta Vinci beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to advance, and is a potential fourth-round rival for No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2 in a match featuring two former Wimbledon finalists.

Breakthroughs made in identifying Bacha Khan University attackers: DG ISPR

 

PESHAWAR: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Asim Bajwa on Wednesday said major breakthroughs had been made in identifying the terrorists who attack the bacha khan university in Charsadda earlier in the day.

The ISPR chief said the terrorists’ phone calls had been traced and analysed, and that two cell phones had also been recovered from them.

“Their call logs were analysed and an intelligence picture was established, with most data having been collected,” said Lt Gen Bajwa.

4 killed in suicide blast near Russian embassy in Kabul

 

KABUL (Web Desk) – An explosion took place outside the Russian Embassy in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul on Wednesday.

According to TOLOnews a motor cycle bomber detonated his explosives targeting a civilian bus Dar-ul-Aman road in Kabul where at least four dead and 24 injured in the explosion.

 

 

According to reports the Russian embassy staff not injured.

Schools shut down in six states of USA over threats

 

LOS ANGELES (Web Desk) — Dozens of schools were evacuated in six states of the USA on Tuesday after callers or emails threatened to shoot or bomb students and staff.

Threats came to individual schools in Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and were the latest in weeks of threats affecting schools in the United States, UPI reported.

No credible threats have been found, but the steady flow of disruption and alarm has cost school districts time and money, and stirred anxiety about possible terrorist attacks.

The problem might has started in December when Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the country, was forced to close all of its more than 900 schools after a threatening email.

Threats have often come in the form of a computer-generated robocall, officials told NBC. Some of which were routed through Bakersfield, California.

The technology mostly used by telemarketers and political campaigns is easily accessible through websites that offer the services for less than a penny a minute.

Police in New Jersey said they were taking “all precautions” to “ensure safety” and closed various schools before taking bomb-sniffing dogs through campuses, even though they did not believe the threat was real.

Police and school staff in Massachusetts faced the same challenges.