Author: tngadmin

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck the Aegean Sea early Tuesday, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

The quake occurred in the western Izmir province at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) local time, AFAD said.

The epicenter of the quake was 56.18 kilometers (34.90 miles) from Urla district, with a depth of 3.97 kilometers (2.46 miles).

AFAD also reported that a magnitude 4.3 aftershock was recorded. The aftershock reportedly occurred at a depth of 7.16 kilometers (4.44 miles).

Source: Anadolu Agency

NASA delayed a planned spacewalk on Tuesday outside the International Space Station (ISS) because of threats from space debris.

Two NASA astronauts were scheduled to venture out of the station for a spacewalk to replace a faulty antenna system but the agency said it received a debris notification Monday evening.

“Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the spacewalk until more information is available,” said NASA.

The antenna recently lost its ability to send signals to Earth via NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

“Although its degradation has had limited impact on station operations, mission managers decided to install a new antenna to ensure communications redundancy,” the agency said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The World Health Organization chief expressed concern Tuesday that several nations are introducing “blunt, blanket measures” not based on evidence, penalizing southern African countries after announcing the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, at a briefing of the 194 member states in the organization, thanked Botswana and South Africa for detecting, sequencing, and reporting this variant so rapidly.

“It is deeply concerning to me that those countries are now being penalized by others for doing the right thing,” he said after European and North American nations imposed severe travel restrictions on Botswana, South Africa, and neighboring countries.

Tedros said he could understand the concern of all countries to protect their citizens against a variant “that we don’t yet fully understand.”

But he was equally concerned that several countries are introducing “blunt, blanket measures that are not evidence-based or effective on their own,” and which he said will only worsen inequities.

“We call on all member states to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures, in keeping with the International Health Regulations,” said the WHO chief.

Taken extremely seriously

He said the WHO takes the development of the emergence of a new variant, especially one as highly mutated as omicron, “extremely seriously,” and so should all nations.

“And as I have said many times, the longer we allow the pandemic to drag on – by failing to address vaccine inequity, or to implement public health and social measures in a tailored and consistent way – the more opportunity we give this virus to mutate in ways we cannot predict or prevent,” said Tedros.

He said there are more questions than answers about the effect of Omicron on transmission, the severity of disease, and the effectiveness of tests, therapeutics, and vaccines after the new variant was named last Friday.

WHO officials are working with partners worldwide to fill in knowledge gaps as quickly as possible.

“We need to use the tools we already have to prevent transmission and save lives from the delta,” the variant currently causing havoc worldwide, said Tedros.

“And if we do that, we will also prevent transmission and save lives from omicron – so enhancing surveillance, testing, sequencing, and reporting.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

A leaked video reported widely by local media in the UK appears to show a British F-35 fighter jet drop off the launch ramp of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the country’s flagship aircraft carrier, without ever managing to get airborne first.

The 16-second video was posted to Twitter by a defense commentator and picked up by local media. The crash was first reported on Nov 17.

Local media have speculated that something like a plastic rain cover might have been sucked into the jet’s engine, causing it to fail.

The video shows the £100 million ($133.4 million) fighter jet moving too slowly up the ramp to take-off, as it lacked thrust and lift, and then plunging into the sea as the pilot ejects. The pilot was subsequently safely rescued.

Efforts are underway to retrieve the jet, and it will be a top priority for the UK Defense Ministry as the F-35 has the latest technology such as advanced sensors, radars, and other equipment — technology they would not want to fall into the hands of hostile states.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russia and China eye to increase the bilateral trade turnover to $200 billion within three years, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Tuesday.

The current high level of Russian-Chinese “comprehensive partnership” allows for setting such ambitious goals, Mishustin said at a video meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

“In January–October of this year, the volume of our trade turnover increased by 31% and amounted to $110 billion, which is already a serious amount.

“At the end of 12 months, we expect to reach new record levels. The main thing is to bring bilateral trade to $200 billion in the next three years, as our heads of state instructed us to do,” Mishustin said.

He then praised the “special value” of Russian-Chinese relations that cover “all areas and directions of cooperation.”

Turning to challenges, Mishustin stressed that both Russia and China have to deal with “illegal unilateral sanctions, political and economic pressure,” adding that the best response to restrictive measures is to build up cooperation and develop economic ties.

“Our best response is to unite efforts for joint development based on the principles of equality, mutual trust, and respect,” Mishustin said.

For his part, Li Keqiang, noted “a huge potential and a broad perspective of cooperation” between Russia and China.

He also said China is ready to work together in the fight against COVID-19, to ensure the sustainability of the global supply chain, strengthen green development, contribute to the recovery of the global economy, and play a larger role in peace and stability in the region and across the world.

Source: Anadolu Agency

“El Alerce Abuelo,” one of the oldest trees in the world, has grown up to 57 meters (187 feet), with a 2.8 meter (9 feet) diameter.

The larch tree, which faces extinction, has been challenging the ages for more than 2,600 years.

It is conserved in Los Alerces National Park, some 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from the capital Buenos Aires. The park is located near the city of Esquel in the southern Chubut province.

Native to Argentina and Chile, this larch stands out as a tree that grows 0.6 to 1.6 millimeters annually and lives in areas with abundant rainfall and humidity.

Alicia Elicabe, a tourist guide in Los Alerces National Park, said that the park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017.

“This national park was established to protect larch trees. This tree here is 2,600 years old, it is still green, alive and growing. There are also different species of larch trees living for 4,000 years in this park,” she said.

“El Alerce Abuelo,” she said, is considered to be the second-oldest living larch tree species in the world.

Source: Anadolu Agency