North Korea’s fake missiles

Post 2.688

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/n-korea-rocket-set-for-launch-slideshow/

Analysts who have studied photos of a half-dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased recently at a lavish military parade say they were fakes, and not very convincing ones, casting further doubt on the country’s claims of military prowess, Apr. 26.

In this photo taken Sunday, April 15, 2012, what appears to be a new missile is carried during a mass military parade at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the country’s founding father Kim Il Sung. The photo shows the warhead’s surface is undulated, suggesting it’s a thin metal sheet unable to withstand flight pressure, analysts say. Adding more doubt to North Korea’s claims of military prowess after its flamboyant rocket launch failure, analysts say the half dozen missiles showcased at the military parade were low-quality fakes. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Members of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards of North Korea attend a military training in this picture released by the North’s KCNA news agency in Pyongyang April 24, 2012. KCNA said the picture was taken on April 23, 2012. A target (R) reads, “(South Korean President) Lee Myung-bak”.    REUTERS/KCNA  (NORTH KOREA – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) QUALITY FROM SOURCE. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS

Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea release balloons containing snacks called “Choco Pie” and anti-Pyongyang leaflets towards the North near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Ganghwa, northwest of Seoul April 24, 2012.    REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY)

North Korean soldiers stand guard in front of the truce village of Panmunjom at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas seen from the North side, Monday, April 23, 2012. North Korea promised Monday to reduce South Korea’s conservative government “to ashes” in less than four minutes, in an unusually specific escalation of recent threats aimed at its southern rival. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A North Korean military officer points in the direction of South Korea in front of the truce village of Panmunjom at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas, North Korea, Monday, April 23, 2012. North Korea promised Monday to reduce South Korea’s conservative government “to ashes” in less than four minutes, in an unusually specific escalation of recent threats aimed at its southern rival. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A North Korean military officer points at a diagram of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas at a building in Panmunjom, North Korea Monday, April 23, 2012. North Korea promised Monday to reduce South Korea’s conservative government “to ashes” in less than four minutes, in an unusually specific escalation of recent threats aimed at its southern rival. The statement by North Korea’s military, carried by state media, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Both Koreas recently unveiled new missiles, and the North unsuccessfully launched a long-range rocket earlier this month. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waves his hand to the people during a military parade held to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the North’s founder Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang April 15, 2012 in this picture released by the North Korea’s KCNA on April 16, 2012. Kim Jong-Un delivered his first major public speech on Sunday. REUTERS/KCNA

North Korean people and soldiers attend a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang April 20, 2012. North Korea held the rally on Friday to criticize Lee, who the North insisted, insulted North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and its rocket launch while the North was holding an anniversary held to celebrate the North’s founder Kim Il-sung’s 100th birthday.   REUTERS/KCNA  (NORTH KOREA – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. QUALITY FROM SOURCE

This satellite picture, taken in 2006 and made available by Korea Aerospece Research Institute, shows a three-dimensional image of North Korea’s suspected nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, Kilju county. N.Korea has apparently completed preparations for a third nuclear test, possibly within two weeks, after firing a long-range rocket this month, according to a newspaper report

FILE – In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean vehicle carrying what appears to be a new missile passes by during a mass military parade in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to celebrate the centenary of the birth of late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. Analysts sifting through information on North Korea’s failed rocket launch say it suggests Pyongyang has learned little about spaceflight since its last flubbed attempt three years ago, and that it’s a long way from being able to threaten the United States with a long-range missile. The experts also said an apparently new missile North Korea showed off at a military parade Sunday did not seem to present any major leap forward. Some were more interested in the truck it was carried on. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

South Korean people watch a TV screen at a train station in Seoul on April 13, 2012 showing a graphic of North Korea’s rocket launch. North Korea’s heralded long-range rocket test ended in failure on Friday, disintegrating in mid-air soon after blastoff and plunging into the sea in a major embarrassment for the reclusive state

REFILE – CORRECTING TYPO Protesters from conservative, right-wing and anti-North Korean civic groups burn a defaced portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at a protest against North Korea’s rocket launch in Seoul April 13, 2012. North Korea said its much hyped long-range rocket launch failed on Friday, in a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state and a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the attempt.  REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA – Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX

REFILE – CORRECTING TYPO Protesters from conservative, right-wing and anti-North Korean civic groups burn an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un bound on a mock North Korean missile during a protest against North Korea’s rocket launch near the U.S. embassy in Seoul April 13, 2012. North Korea said its much hyped long-range rocket launch failed on Friday, in a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state and a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the attempt.  REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA – Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

South Korean soldier watches a TV news reporting about North Korea’s long-range rocket at Seoul train station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 13, 2012. North Korea fired a long-range rocket early Friday, South Korean and U.S. officials said, defying international warnings against moving forward with a launch widely seen as a provocation. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A South Korean woman watches a TV news report showing a computer generated image of North Korea’s long-range rocket at Seoul train station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 13, 2012. North Korea fired a long-range rocket early Friday, South Korean and U.S. officials said, defying international warnings against moving forward with a launch widely seen as a provocation. (AP Photo/Lee Jin

North Korean soldiers stands in front of the country’s Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on Sunday April 8, 2012. North Korean space officials have moved a long-range rocket into position for this week’s controversial satellite launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plans in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

The North Korean Unha-3 rocket is pictured at Tangachai-ri space center on April 8. North Korea has said the rocket would place a satellite in orbit for peaceful research purposes, but Western critics see the launch as a thinly veiled ballistic missile test, banned by United Nations resolutions

A North Korean soldier walks along a fence near Pyongyang. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday warned North Korea of UN action if it goes ahead with a rocket launch, but it remained uncertain what measures the Security Council would take. (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)

A North Korean scientist looks at a monitor showing the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, at the satellite control centre of the Korean Committee of Space Technology on the outskirts of Pyongyang in this April 11, 2012 file photo. North Korea’s long-range rocket launch failed as the rocket broke into pieces and crashed a few minutes after takeoff, South Korea said on April 13, 2012. North Korea launched the rocket, which it claimed was carrying a weather satellite, early Friday in a move that has drawn international criticism due to concerns it could further the reclusive state’s ability to deliver a nuclear warhead. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/Files (NORTH KOREA – Tags: MILITARY POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)

This March 31, 2012 satellite image released by GeoEye Monday April 9, 2012 shows continued activity at the launch pad of the Tongchang-ri Launch Facility on North Korea’s western coast. The image shows vehicles on the launch pad, nearby fuel and oxidizer containers and a crane above the launch tower that has been placed “directly over the mobile launch platform, the position necessary to erect the rocket”, according to an analysis by IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. North Korea says it plans to launch a satellite into space from the launch pad to mark the 100th anniversary of national founder Kim Il Sung’s birth. (AP Photo/GeoEye/IHS Global)

North Korean technicians man computer terminals at North Korea’s space agency’s General Launch Command Center on the outskirts of Pyongyang Wednesday, April 11, 2012. Engineers are pumping fuel into a rocket that is set to carry a satellite into space, officials at the North Korean space agency’s central command center said Wednesday, showing reporters a live feed of the west coast launch pad. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder

A North Korean scientist looks at a monitor displaying a map at the satellite control centre of the Korean Committee of Space Technology on the outskirts of Pyongyang April 11, 2012. North Korea said on Wednesday it was injecting fuel into a long-range rocket ahead of a launch condemned by its neighbours and the West. The launch is set to take place between Thursday and next Monday and has prompted neighbours such as the Philippines to re-route their air traffic.  REUTERS/Bobby Yip   (NORTH KOREA – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)

Ryu Kum Chol, deputy director of space exploration in the Department of Space Technology of North Korea speaks to the international media in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, April 10, 2012. North Korean space officials said Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for a planned satellite launch have been completed, while denying it is a cover for missile test. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

 

Brazil sex worker to sue U.S. embassy

Post 2.687

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/brazil-sex-worker-to-sue-u-s-embassy-slideshow/

A former Brazilian prostitute plans to sue the United States embassy and five of its personnel for injuries sustained outside a strip club late last year, complicating the second of two embarrassing incidents to emerge recently involving American officials and sex workers in South America, Apr. 26.

Brazilian exotic dancer Romilda Aparecida Ferreira poses as she arrives for an interview with Reuters in Brasilia April 25, 2012. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Brazilian exotic dancer Romilda Aparecida Ferreira poses after an interview with Reuters in Brasilia April 25, 2012. Ferreira identified herself as the victim of an incident involving

Brazilian exotic dancer Romilda Aparecida Ferreira poses as she arrives for an interview with Reuters in Brasilia April 25, 2012. Ferreira identified herself as the victim of an incident involving

Brazilian exotic dancer Romilda Aparecida Ferreira shows the cut she received in an incident with U.S. Marine security guards, during an interview with Reuters in Brasilia April 25, 2012. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

 

Is famous lake disappearing?

Post 2.686

The barren earth and dead trees reveal the blight of the Salton Sea, the largest lake in California, where water conservation efforts are attempting to restore the once natural playground and tourist site. The evaporating Salton Sea is the flashpoint for the latest dispute in California’s water wars, testing an uneasy alliance that has sought to wean the Golden State from overreliance on Colorado River water.

 Photo By Lenny Ignelzi

In this Dec. 27, 2010 photo, the barren earth and dead trees reveal the blight of the Salton Sea, where water conservation efforts are attempting to restore the once natural playground and tourist site. The evaporating Salton Sea is the flashpoint for the latest dispute in California’s water wars, testing an uneasy alliance that has sought to wean the Golden State from overreliance on Colorado River water.

SALTON CITY, CA – JULY 7:  Dead tilapia fish lie on dry ground near pilings that once supported a dock at a former yacht club on the shore of the Salton Sea, the biggest lake in California, which has dried up and refilled numerous times, on July 7, 2011 in Salton City, California. Scientists have discovered that human-created changes effecting the Salton Sea appear to be the reason why California’s massive “Big One” earthquake is more than 100 years overdue and building up for the greatest disaster ever to hit Los Angeles and Southern California. Researchers found that strands of the San Andreas Fault under the 45-mile long rift lake have have generated at least five 7.0 or larger quakes about every 180 years. This ended in the early 20th century when authorities stopped massive amounts of Colorado River water from periodically flooding the into this sub-sea level desert basin. Such floods used to regularly trigger major quakes and relieve building seismic pressure but the last big earthquake on the southern San Andreas was about 325 years ago. Dangerous new fault branches that could trigger a 7.8 quake have recently been discovered under the Salton Sea.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

SALTON CITY, CA – JULY 7:  Dead palm trees stand at a former yacht club on the shore of the Salton Sea, the biggest lake in California, which has dried up and refilled numerous times, on July 7, 2011 in Salton City, California.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

In this Dec. 27, 2010 photo, birds gather on a small spot of water surrounding trees supporting heron nests in the midst of the blight that has become Southern California’s Salton Sea. The evaporating Salton Sea is the flashpoint for the latest dispute in California’s water wars, testing an uneasy alliance that has sought to wean the Golden State from overreliance on Colorado River water.

Dead talpia fish cover land that once was part of the Salton Sea near Calipatria, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006. The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake was created in 1905 when floodwaters from the Colorado River burst past a series of dams and settled in the Salton Sink, more than 228 feet below sea level. Ever since, the lake has supported a complex ecosystem. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

CALIPATRIA, CA – JULY 3:  Foundations of buildings of an early 20th century resort that was used before the rising waters of the Salton Sea turned this hill into Mullet Island, one of the four Salton Buttes, small volcanoes on the southern San Andreas Fault, are seen on July 3 near Calipatria, California. Mullet Island, the only place for many thousands of island nesting birds to breed at the Salton Sea, will become vulnerable to attacks by predators such as raccoons and coyotes if the water level drops just a couple more feet. Scientists have discovered that human-created changes effecting the Salton Sea appear to be the reason why California’s massive “Big One” earthquake is more than 100 years overdue and building up for the greatest disaster ever to hit Los Angeles and Southern California. Researchers found that strands of the San Andreas Fault under the 45-mile long rift lake have have generated at least five 7.0 or larger quakes about every 180 years. This ended in the early 20th century when authorities stopped massive amounts of Colorado River water from periodically flooding the into this sub-sea level desert basin. Such floods used to regularly trigger major quakes and relieve building seismic pressure but the last big earthquake on the southern San Andreas was about 325 years ago. Dangerous new fault branches that could trigger a 7.8 quake have recently been discovered under the Salton Sea.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

CALIPATRIA, CA – JULY 3:  Pelicans fly around Mullet Island, one of the four Salton Buttes, small volcanoes on the southern San Andreas Fault, to roost for the night on July 3 near Calipatria, California. Mullet Island, the only place for many thousands of island nesting birds to breed at the Salton Sea, will become vulnerable to attacks by predators such as raccoons and coyotes if the water level drops just a couple more feet. Scientists have discovered that human-created changes effecting the Salton Sea appear to be the reason why California’s massive “Big One” earthquake is more than 100 years overdue and building up for the greatest disaster ever to hit Los Angeles and Southern California. Researchers found that strands of the San Andreas Fault under the 45-mile long rift lake have have generated at least five 7.0 or larger quakes about every 180 years. This ended in the early 20th century when authorities stopped massive amounts of Colorado River water from periodically flooding the into this sub-sea level desert basin. Such floods used to regularly trigger major quakes and relieve building seismic pressure but the last big earthquake on the southern San Andreas was about 325 years ago. Dangerous new fault branches that could trigger a 7.8 quake have recently been discovered under the Salton Sea.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

SALTON CITY, CA – JULY 7:  Dead palm trees stand at a former yacht club on the shore of the Salton Sea, the biggest lake in California, which has dried up and refilled numerous times, on July 7, 2011 in Salton City, California.

In this Dec. 27, 2010 photo, a public building stands on the rugged terrain in Salton City, Calif., a town on the Salton Sea. Water conservation efforts are being made in hopes of restoring the evaporating inland sea that was once considered a developing center for tourism.

CALIPATRIA, CA – JULY 2:  Pelicans fly to Mullet Island, one of the four Salton Buttes, small volcanoes on the southern San Andreas Fault, after sunset on July 2, 2011 near Calipatria, California. Mullet Island, the only place for many thousands of island nesting birds to breed at the Salton Sea, will become vulnerable to attacks by predators such as raccoons and coyotes if the water level drops just a couple more feet.

A fishermen works off a jetty in the Salton Sea Recreation Area on the Salton Sea’s eastern shore in California, 2002. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

CALIPATRIA, CA – JULY 6:  A geothermal energy plant taps deep underground heat from the southern San Andreas Fault rift zone near the Salton Sea on July 6 near Calipatria, California. Scientists have discovered that human-created changes effecting the Salton Sea appear to be the reason why California’s massive “Big One” earthquake is more than 100 years overdue and building up for the greatest disaster ever to hit Los Angeles and Southern California. Researchers found that strands of the San Andreas Fault under the 45-mile long rift lake have have generated at least five 7.0 or larger quakes about every 180 years. This ended in the early 20th century when authorities stopped massive amounts of Colorado River water from periodically flooding the into this sub-sea level desert basin. Such floods used to regularly trigger major quakes and relieve building seismic pressure but the last big earthquake on the southern San Andreas was about 325 years ago. Dangerous new fault branches that could trigger a 7.8 quake have recently been discovered under the Salton Sea.  (Photo b David McNew/Getty Images)