GLOBAL-Skala besar: #Vongfong Taufan MENYENTAKAN Walaupun dari ORBIT . . .

Screenshot from youtube.com

nusantaraIntlNews - Taufan Vongfong yang kuat telah cedera lebih 40 orang di pulau Okinawa Jepun, dan kini merendahkan dari super taufan semata-mata kepada ribut tropika. Tetapi di puncak kekuatannya ia adalah pemandangan yang mengejutkan untuk melihat dari orbit bumi.

Vortex gergasi angkasawan Jerman iaitu atmosfera taufan terpesona Alexander Gerst, yg kini di Stesen Angkasa Antarabangsa sebagai sebahagian dpd Ekspedisi 40/41 anak-anak kapal.

Global-scale ENORMOUS: #Vongfong Typhoon 

STARTLES Even from ORBIT  . . .

The powerful Typhoon Vongfong has injured over 40 people on the Japanese island of Okinawa, and is now downgrading from a super-typhoon to a mere tropical storm. But at the peak of its strength it was a startling sight to see from the Earth’s orbit.

The giant atmospheric vortex that is the typhoon fascinated German astronaut Alexander Gerst, who is currently on board the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 40/41 crew.

Alexander Gerst✔@Astro_Alex

#SuperTyphoon #Vongfong Adalah besar walaupun pada skala global  (#SuperTyphoon#Vongfong is enormous even on a global scale). #BlueDot https://flic.kr/p/pCx2xD 

6:57 PM - 12 Oct 2014

Pada hari Ahad, Gerst menulis sebarang tweet gambar dia telah mengambil dari-pada taufan yg menyebabkan syor kpd hampir 185,000 orang untuk berpindah.

On Sunday, Gerst tweeted the photos he took of the typhoon which prompted a recommendation to almost 185,000 people to evacuate.

Alexander Gerst✔@Astro_Alex

Mata #SuperTyphoon #Vongfong ialah 80 km di seluruh. Kelihatan sangat gelap di sana (The eye of #SuperTyphoon #Vongfong is 80 km across. Looks very dark in there).  4:57 PM - 12 Oct 2014

Terdahulu NASA menerbitkan video masa berlalu, yg menunjukkan ISS memaafkan ribut besar salahnya. Pada masa ini, Vongfong telah berlalu Okinawa dan bergerak ke bahagian tengah Jepun dengan Tokyo dijangka akan melanda malam Isnin.

Earlier NASA published a time-lapse video, demonstrating the ISS passing over the monstrous storm. By this time, Vongfong has passed Okinawa and is moving to central parts of Japan with Tokyo expected to be hit by Monday night.

350 penerbangan telah dibatalkan kerana taufan manakala lebih 40,000 isi rumah kekal tanpa elektrik. Menurut media tempatan, angin menghembus pada 140 km sejam (90 batu sejam) dengan hembusan 185 kilometer sejam (115 mph) - cukup kuat untuk mengubah sebuah lori yang bergerak.

Some 350 flights have been cancelled due to the typhoon while over 40,000 households remain without electricity. According to local media, winds are blowing at 140 km per hour (90 mph) with gusts of 185 kph (115 mph) - powerful enough to overturn a moving lorry.

NOAA Satellites✔ @NOAASatellites

Diambil pada 9 Oktober di 03:55 UTC, anggaran satelit menunjukkan bahawa mata # Vongfong adalah kira-kira 50 kilometer lebar  (Taken on October 9 at 03:55 UTC, satellite estimates indicate that #Vongfong's eye is approximately 50 miles wide).  10:50 PM - 9 Oct 2014

                            

Ini adalah ribut tropika yang ke-19 akan datang dari Lautan Pasifik tahun ini dan setakat ini mempunyai semua peluang untuk berubah yang paling berkuasa.

This is the 19th tropical storm to come from the Pacific Ocean this year and so far has all the chances to turn out the most powerful.

Reid Wiseman✔@astro_reid

#SuperTyphoon #Vongfang - Saya lihat banyak dari sini, tetapi tidak seperti ini (#SuperTyphoon #Vongfang – I’ve seen many from here, but none like this).  6:54 PM - 9 Oct 2014

Ini amaran cuaca yang teruk sebelum ini, yang dijana oleh Phanfone, menyebabkan lebih dpd 1.2 juta orang yg akan dipindahkan ke tempat perlindungan, terganggu udara dan perjalanan kereta api dan juga mencari dan menyelamat usaha untuk orang2 yang hilang.

The previous severe weather alert, generated by Phanfone, caused more than 1.2 million people to be evacuated to shelters, disrupted air and rail travel as well as the search and rescue efforts for missing people.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/4dj8ko

MENTERI Pertahanan UKRAINE Meletakkan JAWATAN, Poroshenko MENGUMUMKAN Calon LAIN . . .

Menteri Pertahanan Ukraine Valery Geletei  (Ukraine's Defense Minister Valery Geletei (RIA Novosti/Alexandr Maksimenko)

nusantaraIntlNews  - Menteri Pertahanan Ukraine Valery Geletey secara rasmi meletak jawatan dengan Presiden Petro Poroshenko beliau menerima perletakan jawatan. Pemimpin Ukraine dijangka mengumumkan calon untuk Menteri Pertahanan baru pada hari Isnin.

Poroshenko berharap Parlimen di negara ini, Rada Verkhovna, akan menyokong pencalonan beliau akan mencadangkan & Menteri Pertahanan baru akan dilantik sebaik sahaja pada hari Selasa, Oct.14, satu kenyataan di laman web rasmi Presiden berkata.

"Saya yakin bahawa tidak akan ada kelewatan dengan undian orang Menteri yang baru. Saya menjangkakan ini akan berlaku pada hari Selasa, "kata Poroshenko.

Presiden Ukraine menegaskan bahawa ia adalah masa "untuk menukar kepimpinan tentera."

Valery Geletey, yang telah berkhidmat ‘served’ sebagai Menteri Pertahanan negara itu sejak 3 Julai, 2014, membuat laporan peletakan jawatan kembali pada hari Jumaat.

Beliau baru-baru ini telah menghadapi kritikan keras ke atas kegagalan operasi anti-pengganas Kiev di tenggara Ukraine, terutamanya di Donetsk dan wilayah Lugansk.

Terdahulu pada bulan Ogos, beratus-ratus penunjuk perasaan di Kiev, kebanyakan mereka ibu dan isteri-isteri tentera yang terlibat dalam pertempuran di Donetsk dan Lugansk, menuntut peletakan jawatan Geletey ini.

Sebagai Menteri Pertahanan beliau juga telah menjadi sebahagian daripada beberapa skandal.

Geletey mengancam untuk memfailkan saman undang-undang terhadap Geografi Timoshenko, yang menuduhnya dalam menjual senjata kepada militan di Donetsk dan Lugansk.

Pada bulan September, dia juga menuduh Rusia menggunakan senjata nuklear taktikal terhadap tentera pejuang Kiev. Ini mencetuskan komen menyindir dari Moscow dan kritikan dari saingan Kementerian Interior Ukraine.

BACA lagi: 'Mereka akan mempersendakan kami': Rusia digunakan pembinaan senjata nuklear 'tuntutan' menteri pertahanan Ukraine (READ MORE: ‘They’ll ridicule us’: Ukraine defense minister ‘claims’ Russia used nukes)

Ukraine umum sendiri kemudian menafikan dakwaan nuklear, mengatakan bahawa wartawan itu telah disalah tafsir kata-kata beliau.

Pada awal Oktober, atas Siasatan Agensi Rusia melancarkan kes jenayah terhadap Geletey atas tuduhan pembunuhan, penggunaan cara dan kaedah peperangan dan pembunuhan beramai-ramai ‘genocide’ dilarang.

UKRAINIAN Defense Minister RESIGNS, Poroshenko 

to ANNOUNCE  Another CANDIDATE . . .

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery Geletey has officially stepped down with President Petro Poroshenko accepting his resignation. The Ukrainian leader is expected to announce a candidate for a new Defense Minister on Monday.

Poroshenko hopes the country’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will support the candidacy he will propose and a new Defense Minister will be appointed as soon as on Tuesday, Oct.14, a statement on the Presidential official website said.

“I am sure that there will be no delays with the voting for a new Minister. I expect this will happen on Tuesday,” Poroshenko said.

The Ukrainian president stressed that it was time “to change the military leadership.”

Valery Geletey, who has served as the country’s Defense Minister since July 3, 2014, filed a resignation report back on Friday.

He has recently faced harsh criticism over Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation failures in south-east Ukraine, particularly in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Earlier in August, hundreds of protesters in Kiev, many of whom were mothers and wives of the soldiers involved in the fighting in Donetsk and Lugansk, demanded Geletey’s resignation.

As a Defense Minister he has also been part of several scandals.

Geletey threatened to file a law suit against Yulia Timoshenko, who accused him in selling weapons to militants in Donetsk and Lugansk.

In September, he also accused Russia of using tactical nuclear weapons against Kiev army fighters. This sparked sarcastic comments from Moscow and criticism from the rival Ukrainian Interior Ministry.

READ MORE: ‘They’ll ridicule us’: Ukraine defense minister ‘claims’ Russia used nukes

The Ukrainian general himself later denied the nuclear allegations, saying that the journalist had misinterpreted his words.

In early October, Russia's top Investigative Agency launched a criminal case against Geletey over murder accusations, the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare and genocide.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/glcfiw

'MATA bionik' MEMBANTU Orang BUTA Melihat SEMULA selepas 33 TAHUN (VIDEO) . . .

Image from dukemedicine.org

nusantaraIntlNews - Seorang lelaki sebelum ini buta dari North Carolina telah diberikan keupayaan untuk melihat secara digital sekali lagi melalui "mata bionik" baru yang boleh mengubah cahaya ke dalam imej.

Larry Hester, 66, buta selama 33 tahun sebelum saintis di Universiti Duke, di North Carolina, menghidupkan peranti.

Sebagai "mata" telah dihidupkan, Hester melonjak daripada kejutan pada mula-nya, sebelum wajahnya memecah masuk ke senyuman berterusan dan isterinya, Jerry, bergegas kepada beliau untuk berkongsi kegembiraannya. "Bolehkah anda benar-benar lihat" katanya, sambil menambah: "Bolehlah saya memberinya ciu-man saya"

‘Bionic eye’ helps blind man see again after 

33 years (VIDEO) . . .

A previously blind man from North Carolina has been granted the ability to digitally see once again through a new “bionic eye” which can transform light into images.

Larry Hester, 66, was blind for 33 years before scientists at Duke University, in North Carolina, switched on the device.

As the “eye” was switched on, Hester jumped from the shock initially, before his face broke into a persistent smile and his wife, Jerry, rushed over to him to share his joy. “Can you really see?” she said, adding: “Can I give him a kiss?”

Hester menjadi satu-satunya orang yg ke7 di Amerika Syarikat mempunyai mata - dan beliau bernasib baik untuk doktor beliau. "Saya tertanya-tanya bagaimana saya telah bernasib baik," katanya. "Mengapa saya? Tetapi jika saya boleh meng-gunakan apa yang saya belajar daripada ini untuk membantu orang lain dengan RP, ia akan bukan sahaja untuk faedah saya."

Kedua-dua Larry dan Jerry Hester telah kehilangan harapan apa-apa peningkatan dalam penglihatan Larry sehingga Jerry mendapati satu artikel dalam majalah tahun lepas. "Kami tinggal selama ini tanpa apa-apa harapan untuk apa-apa peru-bahan supaya apabila saya melihat ia, saya sangat, sangat teruja," katanya.

Dia mempunyai "mata" yang diimplan beberapa minggu yang lalu. Walau bagai-manapun, yang pertama "pengajaran" bagaimana untuk menggunakan ia bermula pada pagi Isnin.

Hester became only the seventh person in the US to have the eye – and he expressed his good fortune to his doctors. “I just wonder how I have been so lucky,” he said. “Why me? But if I can use what I learn from this to help others with RP, it will not just be for my benefit.”

Both Larry and Jerry Hester had lost hope of any improvements in Larry’s eyesight until Jerry found an article in a magazine last year. “We've lived all these years without having any hope of any change so when I saw it, I was very, very excited,” she said.

He had the “eye” implanted several weeks ago. However, his first “lesson” on how to use it began on Monday morning.

Image from dukemedicine.org

Argus II Retina Prostesis System ('Argus II') mendapat kelulusan FDA pada Februari 2013. mata bionik menggunakan teknologi tanpa wayar, di mana sensor adalah diimplan di dalam mata untuk mengambil isyarat cahaya dihantar dari kamera dipasang pada cermin mata khas, Duke Universiti berkata dalam satu kenyataan.

Mini video kamera dalam cermin mata yg dipakai oleh pesakit menyambung kpd sensor yang benar-benar apa-apa memintas photoreceptors yang rosak di dalam otak pesakit. Kejayaan rawatan telah dijelaskan semasa pemberian kelulusan FDA di laman web jabatan.

"Keputusan kajian klinikal menunjukkan bahawa Sistem yang membantu mata pelajaran berikut: mengenal pasti lokasi atau pergerakan objek dan manusia; mengenali huruf besar, kata-kata, atau ayat; dan membantu dalam aktiviti-aktiviti lain dalam kehidupan harian, seperti mengesan sekatan jalan dan berjalan di kaki lima tanpa melangkah di luar, "kata FDA.

Hester akan menerima pelajaran susulan bagaimana utk menggabungkan peranti ke dalam kehidupan sehari-hari untuk kesan yang paling besar, "belajar untuk membezakan bentuk dan objek dari berkelip yang dihasilkan oleh peranti," kata Duke dalam kenyataannya.

The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (‘Argus II’) received FDA approval in February 2013. The bionic eye uses wireless technology, through which a sensor is implanted in the eye to pick up light signals sent from a camera mounted on special eyeglasses, Duke University said in a statement.

The mini video-camera in the glasses worn by the patient connects to a sensor which completely bypasses any damaged photoreceptors in the patient’s brain. The treatment’s success was described upon the granting of FDA approval on the department’s website.

“Results of the clinical study showed that the System helped subjects: identify the location or movement of objects and people; recognize large letters, words, or sentences; and helped in other activities of daily life, such as detecting street curbs and walking on a sidewalk without stepping off,” the FDA noted.

Hester will be receiving follow-up lessons on how to incorporate the device into his day-to-day life to the greatest effect, “learning to discern shapes and objects from the flashes generated by the device,” Duke said in its statement.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/ozzf30

PENASIHAT tentera British dihantar ke Utara IRAQ untuk melatih anti-ISIS pejuang KURDISH . . .

Kurdish peshmerga fighters (Reuters/Stringer)

nusantaraIntlNews - "Pasukan pakar kecil" askar British di Iraq utara melatih pejuang Kurdish berjuang yg di panggil Negara Islam (IS) militan, Kementerian Pertahanan berkata.

Pasukan dozen orang dari Rejimen Yorkshire telah dihantar ke ibu negara Kurdish dari Erbil dan melatih pasukan Peshmerga dalam penggunaan mesingan berat yang dibekalkan kepada mereka oleh UK bulan lepas, UK laporan media.

"Pelatih tentera bukan pertempuran" akan kekal di kawasan itu, di mana pejuang Kurdish yang menentang Negara Islam (juga dikenali sebagai ISIS, atau Isil) selama kira-kira seminggu.

Penugasan itu diberikan lampu hijau oleh Setiausaha Pertahanan Michael Fallon, seorang jurucakap MoD disahkan. Misi itu dilihat sebagai sebahagian daripada pertempuran di UK yang lebih luas terhadap IS.

Pada bulan September, UK mengumumkan bahawa ia telah membekalkan 40 mesingan berat dan hampir setengah juta butir peluru untuk "memberikan kuasa-kuasa Peshmerga Kurdish kuasa tembakan tambahan untuk membantu mereka mempertahankan barisan hadapan, melindungi orang awam dan menolak kembali Isil pendahuluan."

British military advisers sent to N. Iraq to train 

anti-ISIS Kurdish fighters . . .

A "small specialist team" of British soldiers is in northern Iraq training Kurdish fighters battling so-called Islamic State (IS) militants, the Ministry of Defense has said.

The dozen-man team from the Yorkshire Regiment was dispatched to the Kurdish capital of Erbil and is training Peshmerga forces in the use of heavy machine guns supplied to them by the UK last month, UK media report. The “non-combat army trainers” will remain in the area, where Kurdish fighters are resisting Islamic State (also known as ISIS, or ISIL) for around a week.

The deployment was given the green light by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, an MoD spokeswoman confirmed. The mission is viewed as part and parcel of the UK’s broader battle against IS.

In September, the UK announced it was supplying 40 heavy machine guns and nearly half a million rounds of ammunition to “give the Kurdish Peshmerga forces additional firepower in order to help them defend the front line, protect civilians and push back ISIL advances.”

Sebuah pesawat pejuang Peshmerga Kurdish berkelulusan roket pelancar bom tangan kerana beliau mengambil kedudukan di kawasan yang menghadap kampung Baretle (latar belakang), yang dikawal oleh Negara Islam, Khazir, di pinggir Mosul September 8, 2014 (A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds a a rocket-propelled grenade launcher as he takes up position in an area overlooking Baretle village (background), which is controlled by the Islamic State, in Khazir, on the edge of Mosul September 8, 2014 (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Kemudian bulan lepas, parlimen UK mengundi hangat memberi kuasa serangan udara terhadap Iraq. Sejak 2 minggu lalu, Tentera Udara Diraja Tornado GR4s telah mengambil bahagian dalam kempen pengeboman Amerika Syarikat ke bela-kang untuk menewaskan kemaraan pejuang IS.

Dalam menjelang undi, Fallon berkata angkatan tentera Britain akan terlibat di Iraq untuk "jarak jauh" sekurang-kurangnya tiga atau 4 tahun untuk kekalahan IS.

Bercakap kepada majalah parlimen UK The House, Fallon berkata Britain mem-punyai "kepentingan sangat secara terus" berjuang IS untuk menghentikan seran-gan pengganas ke atas tanah British.

Later last month, the UK parliament voted overwhelming to authorize airstrikes against in Iraq. Over the past two weeks, Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s have taken part in US-led bombing campaigns to beat back the advance of IS fighters.

In the run-up to the vote, Fallon said Britain’s armed forces would be involved in Iraq for the “long haul” of at least three or four years to defeat IS.

Speaking to UK parliament magazine The House, Fallon said Britain has a “very direct interest” in battling IS to stop terrorist attacks on British soil.

Ministry of Defence✔@DefenceHQ

Menggunakan peluru GR4s Tornado belerang dan Paveway IV bom berpandu dalam serangan ke atas ketepatan #ISIL kubu berhampiran Ramadi  (Tornado GR4s use Brimstone missiles and Paveway IV guided bombs in precision attack on #ISIL stronghold near Ramadi)  7:47 PM - 8 Oct 2014

Lord Richards, bekas ketua angkatan tentera di UK, baru-baru ini memberi amaran bahawa pengeboman IS sasaran tidak akan cukup untuk mengalahkan mereka. Beliau berhujah ‘He argued’ bahawa tentera darat Barat perlu dikerahkan ke Iraq untuk berperang melawan tentera IS.

Bercakap kepada Huffington Post, Richards berkata: "Jika but barat berada di atas tanah, jika tentera-tentera barat adalah utk digunakan untuk masalah ini, ia boleh menjadi lebih daripada enam bulan."

Parlimen telah kekal secara mendalam dibahagikan atas apa-apa rancangan yang akan melihat buku-buku Inggeris di dalam tanah di Syria atau Iraq.

Pada hari Khamis, Fallon mengulangi panggilan dari sekutu NATO bagi kerajaan Turki untuk menghantar tentera ke rantau ini. Fallon bagaimanapun berkata Par-limen Britain tidak akan menyokong lanjutan serangan udara British di Syria walaupun langkah itu penting untuk menjamin kekalahan IS.

IS kini menguasai swathes besar wilayah di Syria dan Iraq. Pada bulan Jun, kum-pulan yg diisytiharkan itu telah mewujudkan khilafah, atau negara Islam, men-capai dari Aleppo di Syria untuk Diyala Governorate di Iraq timur.

Perhatian antarabangsa sejak kebelakangan ini telah bertukar ke bandar Kobani di Aleppo Governorate di utara Syria, di mana kuasa-kuasa Kurdish telah kehilangan tanah terhadap militan IS berikutan peningkatan 16 September untuk mengambil bandar. Lebih daripada 550 orang telah terbunuh sejak pengepungan bermula, dengan militan IS mengawal hanya lebih satu 1/3 daripada bandar.

Walaupun beberapa serangan udara 50 ke atas kedudukan IS oleh Amerika Sya-rikat di seluruh Kobani, pegawai Amerika Syarikat berkata militan boleh menda-patkan kawalan ke bandar dalam masa beberapa hari.

Lord Richards, a former head of the armed forces in the UK, has recently warned that bombing IS targets would not be enough to defeat them. He argued that Western ground troops should be deployed to Iraq to battle against IS forces.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Richards said: “If western boots were on the ground, if western armies were to be applied to the problem, it could be over in six months.”

Parliament has remained deeply divided over any plans that would see UK books in the ground in Syria or Iraq.

On Thursday, Fallon reiterated calls from NATO allies for the Turkish government to send troops into the region. Fallon, however, said Britain’s parliament would not support an extension of British airstrikes in Syria despite the move being vital to secure the defeat of IS.

IS currently controls large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. In June, the group declared it had established a caliphate, or Islamic state, reaching from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala Governorate in eastern Iraq.

International attention in recent times has turned to the town of Kobani in the Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, where Kurdish forces have been losing ground against IS militants following a September 16 surge to take the city. More than 550 people have been killed since the siege began, with IS militants controlling just over a third of the town.

Despite some 50 aerial strikes on IS positions by the United States around Kobani, US officials say the militants could gain control of the city within a matter of days.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/bo92sh