2 weeks later, possible new lead in Paris attacks

 
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Last Updated Nov 27, 2015 11:28 AM EST

In a sober reminder of the death and destruction brought by ISIS, French President Francois Hollande led a memorial service Friday in Paris, exactly two weeks after the terror attacks on the city, during which the names of all of the victims were read aloud.

The service was held at a former military hospital where Napoleon is buried -- where the nation usually honors its war heroes.

But two weeks later, it's not just France and Belgium that are dealing with the implications of the Paris terror attacks.

In Germany, a man was arrested on suspicion of supplying the Paris gunmen with weapons, reports CBS News correspondent Debora Patta. Two other Germans were also arrested, but in what has now become a familiar pattern, they were quickly released without charge.

In Belgium, prosecutors announced an unidentified man was charged with being involved in "terrorist attacks and taking part in the activities of a terrorist group." Authorities arrested the man in Brussels Thursday. No other details were provided.

It took more than 10 minutes for all 130 names of the Paris victims to be read out. They ranged in age from 17 to 63. They were daughters and sons, parents and friends. Each one loved, each one mourned -- all victims of the mass killings by ISIS in Paris.

Then silence to remember the moment when ISIS stormed the Bataclan concert hall killing nearly 90 people and blew themselves up outside restaurants and bars in Paris killing many more.

French President Francois Hollande then moved from a very emotional ceremony to a renewed declaration of war against ISIS.

"I promise you solemnly that France will do everything to destroy the army of fanatics who carried out these crimes," Hollande said.

• France: Assad's troops could help fight ISIS

It's not just talk, Hollande has been working hard to strengthen the coalition forces fighting ISIS. In a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin Thursday, the two leaders appeared at a joint media conference with Hollande saying they had agreed to increase the exchange of intelligence, intensify U.S.-led coalition attacks on ISIS and significantly only target ISIS.

But in a complete about turn Friday, Russia's presidential spokesman denied there was a deal saying the West was not ready to work in a single coalition. The implication of this is that Russia in all likelihood will continue its attacks on rebel groups, some backed by the West, fighting against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

In Belgium, police continue their manhunt for two Paris suspects. After five days of police raids, they are no closer to finding them; Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini are still on the run.

For the first time since the attacks, Brussels' metro system reopened fully on Friday as the city tries to return to normalcy.

© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Structure of the Lead：

 WHO-French President Francois Hollande

 WHEN-Nov 27,2015

 WHAT-possible new lead in Paris attacks

 WHY-the death and destruction brought by ISIS

 WHERE-French, Germany and Belgium

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.sober：素淨的；嚴肅的

2.implication：捲入；牽連

3.correspondent：通信記者

4.prosecutor：原告

5.fanatic：極端分子

6.coalition：聯合政府

Nasa's Curiosity rover finds water below surface of Mars

Monday 13 April 201516.42 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 14 April 201514.05 BST

New measurements from the Gale crater contradict theories that the planet is too cold for liquid water to exist, but Mars still considered hostile to life

Mars has liquid water just below its surface, according to new measurements by Nasa’s Curiosity rover.

Until now, scientists had thought that conditions on the red planet were too cold and arid for liquid water to exist, although there were known to be deposits of ice.

Prof Andrew Coates, head of planetary science at the Mullard Space Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, said: “The evidence so far is that any water would be in the form of permafrost. It’s the first time we’ve had evidence of liquid water there now.”

The latest findings suggest that Martian soil is damp with liquid brine, due to the presence of a salt that significantly lowers the freezing point of water. When mixed with calcium perchlorate liquid water can exist down to around -70C, and the salt also soaks up water vapour from the atmosphere.

New measurements from the Gale crater show that during winter nights until just after sunrise, temperatures and humidity levels are just right for liquid brine to form.

Morten Bo Madsen, a senior Mars scientist at the University of Copenhagen and a co-investigator on the Curiosity rover, said: “The soil is porous, so what we are seeing is that the water seeps down through the soil. Over time, other salts may also dissolve in the soil and now that they are liquid, they can move and precipitate elsewhere under the surface.”

Liquid water is traditionally considered an essential ingredient for life as we known it, but Mars remains hostile for other reasons, the scientists said. The latest findings are unlikely to change the view that if life ever blossomed on Mars, it probably died out more than a billion years ago.

“There are organisms on Earth, halophiles, that can survive in salty environments, but if it’s also very cold and very dry that’s a problem” said Madsen. “The radiation on Mars nails it – that environment is very hostile.”

Prof Coates agreed: “Liquid water is one of the conditions you need for life, it’s not all of them.”

On Earth, the global magnetic field protects the atmosphere from being degraded by harmful cosmic radiation from the Sun. In the past, scientists believe that Mars had a similar magnetic field and thicker atmosphere, but that the field was lost around four billion years ago.

Today, cosmic radiation penetrates at least one metre into the Martian surface and would kill even the most robust microbes known on Earth.

Surface temperatures on Mars range from around 20C at noon, at the equator, down to lows of around −153C at the poles. The presence of perchlorate salts was discovered in 2008, but until now if was not known whether temperatures and humidity would be high enough to produce liquid brine.

The latest paper, published in Nature, analyses humidity and temperature data for a full Martian year, showing that liquid brine ought to form. Instruments on-board Curiosity also measured estimates of subsurface water concentration, which suggested that water was indeed being absorbed from the air and the surface frost by the salty soil.

The water would be present in tiny quantities between the grains of soil, rather than in droplet form. “If you dug a trench you might see that the soil at the base was a bit darker,” said Madsen.

Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 in the large crater, Gale, located just south of the equator. The giant crater is 154 kilometres in diameter and the rim of the crater is almost five kilometres high.

In the middle of the crater lies Mount Sharp, which Curiosity is currently ascending.

Observations by the Mars probe’s stereo camera have previously shown areas characteristic of old riverbed, with rounded pebbles that indicate there were flowing rivers up to one metre deep in the past.

The latest close-up images show slanting expanses of sedimentary deposits, lying one above the other. “These kind of deposits are formed when large amounts of water flow down the slopes of the crater and these streams of water meet the stagnant water in the form of a lake,” said Madsen.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/13/nasas-curiosity-rover-finds-water-below-surface-of-mars

Structure of the Lead：

 WHO-Curiosity

 WHEN-2015

 WHAT-Mars has liquid water just below its surface, according to new measurements by Nasa’s Curiosity rover.

 WHY-The soil is porous, so what we are seeing is that the water seeps down through the soil. Over time, other salts may also dissolve in the soil and now that they are liquid, they can move and precipitate elsewhere under the surface.

 WHERE-Mars

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.contradict：牴觸

2.permafrost：永久凍土層

3.brine：鹹水

4.porous：能滲透的；通風的

5.hostile：懷敵意的；不利的

6.degrade：降低；退化

7.stagnant：停滯的；不流動的

06/05/2015
CHINA
"Star of the East" wreck salvaged from Yangtze River 
Ministry of Transport spokesman justifies the decision to straighten the ship before the conclusion of recovery operations: "There were practically no chances of finding someone alive." With more than 440 victims, the sinking of the ferry becomes the worst maritime tragedy in the country since 1948.
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Hopes of finding any survivors of the shipwreck of the "Star of the East", which sank last June 1 during a cruise on the Yangtze River, "are very few. So we decided to salvage and righten the vessel before concluding the recovery operations", said Xu Chengguang, Chinese Ministry of Transport spokesman justifying the decision made by the rescuers.
This morning the "Star of the East" was rightened. Inside, rescuers should be the bodies of about 440 people who died after the sinking of the ship. The reasons for the disaster are not yet entirely clear, although the 14 survivors - who jumped off the boat and swam to the shore – all agree on a sudden and strong storm, which overturned the ship in less than two minutes.
Until now only 97 bodies have been recovered. Rescuers are at this time engaged in searching within the 150 cabins, but Xu has made clear several times that "there is no sign of life from inside the ship." The authorities, the spokesman added, "wiould absolutely not cover up anything. We will shed light on the incident. " Even President Xi Jinping promised a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster.
For official records there were 458 people on board the ferry at the time of the disaster, which later dropped to 456. Of these 406 Chinese tourists, five travel agents and 45 crew members. According to state television, the ship launched emergency calls: seven people swam to the shore to raise the alarm, the other seven were rescued during the initial relief operations.

If these numbers are confirmed, the disaster of June 1 would become the worst maritime accident in the history of Communist China. To date the worst such tragedy  had been the sinking of the SS Kiangya off Shanghai - for reasons never made clear - in 1948, killing between 2,750 and 4 thousand people who were fleeing the mainland after the seizure of power by Mao Zedong.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Star-of-the-East-wreck-salvaged-from-Yangtze-River-34429.html

WHO-rescuers and survivors
WHEN-June 1
WHAT-"Star of the East" wreck salvaged from Yangtze River 
WHY- shipwreck
WHERE-Yangtze River 

HOW-not given

Keywords:

1. salvage：搶救；打撈
2. justify：辯護；證明...是正當的
3. overturn：推翻；顛覆
4. maritime：航海的
5. seizure：奪取