London's famous black cabs are going to the Japanese?

2015 London Taxi Nissan NV200 World Premiere

Published on 6 Jan 2014 : Nissan's newly-redesigned taxi has been developed for London, in London, by Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in Paddington, the same design centre responsible for the Qashqai and Juke. The new taxi will be launched in December 2014 with a modern, clean, 1.6-litre petrol engine equipped with an automatic gearbox. Furthermore, Nissan will launch a zero emission electric version of the NV200 taxi in 2015.

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London's famous black cabs are going green

Published on 6 Jan 2014 ; London's famous black cabs are going green. And Japanese technology aims to help Britain's capital city from being choked with exhaust fumes. Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood reports from London.

India Downgrades Diplomatic Ties with the US

Renewable Energy Now Cheaper Than Fossil Fuel

Renewable energy is becoming more and more competitive. Alternative and renewable energy sources are increasingly becoming more affordable. According to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, it is now less costly in America to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels, than it is to get it from coal-fired power plants. The study shows, when climate change costs and other health impacts were factored in, that it is even more cost effective to convert an existing coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine, than it is to keep the old fossil fuel-burning plant.

Unsubsidized renewable energy is now cheaper than electricity from coal and gas power stations in Australia as well. Wind farms in Australia can produce energy at AU$80/MWh. Meanwhile, coal plants are producing energy at AU$143/MWh and gas at AU$116/MWh. And the myth that alternative energy sources were enormously more costly than the typical fossil fuels, is proving to be untrue. And after initial investment costs are waged, making them now ameliorated, and the raw materials for solar and wind power are free, besides costs of upkeep, and the harvesting of those sources doesn’t cause mayhem to the environment. Making it an ever-more appealing alternative energy source.

“The perception that fossil fuels are cheap and renewables are expensive is now out of date… The fact that wind power is now cheaper than coal and gas in a country with some of the world’s best fossil fuel resources shows that clean energy is a game changer which promises to turn the economics of power systems on its head,” – Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“Burning coal is a very costly way to make electricity. There are more efficient and sustainable ways to get power,… We can reduce health and climate change costs while reducing the dangerous carbon pollution driving global warming.” – Dr. Laurie Johnson, chief economist in the Climate and Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Since 1990, wind-generated power has grown 26 percent per year, and solar has risen 48 percent. In the United States, renewable energy accounted for 13.2 percent of the domestically produced electricity in 2012. U.S. wind power installed capacity now exceeds 60,000 MW and supplies 3% of the nations electricity. Not very inspiring figures. But the interest in finding new, cheaper, preferably renewable sources are inspiring innovation. Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. Which can then essentially be slapped onto a wall, roof, or billboard, in order to create a power station for the homeowner. In an effort to create something more affordable, Twin Creeks Technologies, a US-based solar energy company, created an ultra-thin solar cell that will cost half as much to produce as comparable cells.

Perovskites (a calcium titanium oxide mineral species composed of calcium titanate) have been known for over a century, but no one thought to try them in solar cells until recently. “While conventional silicon solar panels use materials that are about 180 micrometers thick, the new solar cells (using perovskites) use less than one micrometer of material to capture the same amount of sunlight.” New research on the combination, aims to reduce the cost or solar panels to between 10 and 20 cents per watt, current panels typically cost around 75 cents per watt.

Renewable energy sources (such as Hydro and wind) are expected to be plentiful enough to supply the needs of humanity for almost a billion years. We do not have to worry about renewable energy sources being depleted. And they are cleaner sources of energy which have a lower environmental impact than conventional sources.

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Gold mine creates controversy in Romania

Published on 12 Nov 2013 | Romania's Parliament debates whether to explore a massive new gold mine, in the Carpathian Mountains, which could contribute billions of dollars to the economy over 16 years, but opponents say might destroy the natural environment. Protests against it have rattled the governing coalition. Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports from the Romanian village at the heart of the controversy

Sarah Harrison and Jeremy Hammond: People Have A Right to the Truth

Published on 10 Nov 2013 | Michael Ratner: Jeremy Hammond faces ten years in prison Nov. 15 for major act of civil disobedience hacking global intelligence.

100,000 overseas Filipino workers in Saudi face jail, deportation?

P2 billion reintegration fund ready for OFWs - Palace

MANILA -- The government is ready to assist Filipinos who have yet to come home from Saudi Arabia as a result of an immigration law.

An analyst, however, fears more than 100,000 overseas Filipino workers could be arrested if they are found to be working with employers other than their original visa sponsors.

Lito Soriano, a migration and recruitment consultant, said the Saudi government is bent on weeding out undocumented OFWs and other expatriates because of the so-called “Saudization.”

Citing a Commission on Overseas Filipinos data, Soriano said there are around 108,000 irregular or undocumented Filipinos in Saudi Arabia as of December 2012.

The Saudi king has yet to respond to a letter of Vice President Jejomar Binay seeking another extension of the four-month grace period given in July. The amnesty period, which allows foreign nationals to correct their statuses or return to their home countries, lapses on November 3.

Soriano said the Ministry of Labor there has already ruled out an extension. Countrywide raids are expected on November 4, he said.

“The inspection of commercial premises will begin on Monday as planned. Various arms of the ministry are ready for the inspections. The government agencies, however, will not arrest those holding relevant documents and waiting to legalize their status or be repatriated,” he said.

In an interview on radio dzRB, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. assured the OFWs and their families that the government is already doing what it can to help in repatriation proceedings.

He said a total of 9,000 have been given travel documents, while some 1,500 are still waiting for their clearances from the immigration office.

According to Coloma, around 4,371 OFWs have already returned home ever since the new immigration law has been implemented.

“We will be giving them all the legal, financial and other necessary assistance,” Coloma said, adding that a P2-billion reintegration fund under the Department of Labor and Employment is readily available for the Filipinos.

Otherwise, the effect of the Saudization will be minimal since some of the Filipinos have already found other jobs, he said.

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Uruguay preparing for pot legalization

Published on 28 Oct 2013 | Pot smokers in Uruguay are happy. Lighting up a joint is expected to be made legal any day now. And so is the production and distribution of marijuana, as the government tries to undermine the drugs cartels. Monica Villamizar reports from Monevideo.

First-Ever Case of Canadian Mining Company Going To Trial In Canada For Alleged Abuses Abroad

Published on 27 Oct 2013 | The trial of HudBay Minerals marks a first-time legal precedent of a Canadian company being held to account in Canadian courts for alleged shootings and gang rapes in Guatemala.

How the Internet Has Changed the News (VOA Oct. 25)

Published on 25 Oct 2013 | VOA multimedia reporter Kate Woodsome joins On Assignment's Imran Siddiqui to talk about the effects of the Internet age on reporting. Kate says covering breaking news on the Web is like being an air traffic controller -- sifting through multiple sources of information to get to the heart of what's happening.

Singapore to buy French Aster-30 surface-to-air missile system

Published on 18 Oct 2013 | Originally published on September 17, 2013 

Singapore will acquire a new European-made missile system named the Aster-30, the country's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said this week.

The city-state will buy the new surface-to-air missiles to replace the aging I-HAWK, already in service for 30 years, the minister announced on Monday.

"The Aster will allow us to engage multiple threats simultaneously and from a longer distance," Dr Ng told parliament. 

The Aster, developed by French firm MBDE Systems, like the I-HAWK from U.S. contractor Raytheon, is just over five meters in length, though it is 140 kilograms lighter and has a greater range than the I-HAWK.

Both systems rely on networked sensors for targeting information, though the Aster's are more advanced. The I-HAWK has a maximum range of 45 km. 

The Aster-30 has a range of 70 km and is more effective at engaging multiple air threats simultaneously.

Singapore has the largest defense budget in Southeast Asia, due to a cashed-up government benefiting from the country's robust economic growth.

It has set aside SG$12.34 billion ($9.8 billion) for defense in 2013, up from Sg$11.83 billion the previous year, the website Defence News reported.

Protesters in Cambodian capital call elections fraudulent

Published on 23 Oct 2013 | In Cambodia, there has been a large demonstration in the capital Phnom Penh. Opposition parties say national elections earlier this year were fraudulent. They want foreign intervention to force an investigation.

Following Nationwide Strikes, Bangladesh Garment Workers Win Minimum Wage Increase

Published on 21 Oct 2013 | Striking Bangladesh garment workers closed 20% of the country's garment production to achieve victory.

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Radioactive Rainwater Overwhelms Fukishima Nuclear Plant

Published on 22 Oct 2013 | Heavy rains have overwhelmed containment tankers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant

what is the ruling nation of the world does?

Published on 21 Oct 2013 | France and other countries have demanded prompt explanations from Washington following fresh spying allegations leaked by former US security contractor Edward Snowden.Reports in Le Monde and German weekly Der Spiegel have revealed that the National Security Agency secretly recorded tens of millions of phone calls in France and hacked into former Mexican President Felipe Calderon's email account.