SpaceX lands Falcon 9 rocket after launch

Add caption

The California-based companys launch and landing was part of its ongoing effort to re-use costly rocket parts instead of jettisoning them into the ocean.

WASHINGTON- SpaceX successfully landed a reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a floating drone ship at sea early Sunday after the vehicle had sent a Japanese communications satellite into orbit.

The California-based company's launch and landing was part of its ongoing effort to re-use costly rocket parts instead of jettisoning them into the ocean.

The white rocket launched under a dark night sky from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 1:26 am (0526 GMT).

The landing on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship was especially challenging because the JCSAT-16 satellite had to be carried into geostationary transfer orbit, or GTO, a highly elliptical orbit.

'The first-stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing challenging,' Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, known as SpaceX, had said prior to the mission.

SpaceX mission control erupted in cheers as live video footage showed the successful landing of the first stage of the rocket.

The communications satellite will help provide more stable satellite services for video distribution and data transfer communications in Asia, Russia, Oceania, Middle East and North America.

Source: AFP, NBC, 14 Aug. 2016

Yemen government accepts UN peace deal: official

Add caption

UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Saturday managed to extend the talks for a week

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - The Yemeni government said Sunday it has accepted a UN-proposed peace agreement to end more than a year of armed conflict, but there has been no word from the rebels.

The announcement by the Saudi-backed government came after a high-level meeting in Kuwait's capital chaired by Yemen's President Aberabbo Mansour Hadi.

'The meeting approved the draft agreement presented by the United Nationscalling for an end to the armed conflict and the withdrawal (of rebels) from Sanaa... and the cities of Taez and Al-Hudaydah,' said a statement after the meeting, cited by the Saba news agency.

Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, who is leading the government negotiating team, said he has sent a letter to the UN special envoy informing him the government backed the 'Kuwait Agreement'.

One pre-condition, however, is that the Iran-backed Huthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh sign the deal by August 7.

There has been no official reaction to the deal by the rebels.

Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said on Twitter before the government announcement that the rebels insist on a comprehensive and complete solution, and rejected what he called 'half solutions'.

A political dialogue between various Yemeni factions will start 45 days after the rebels withdrawal, according to the government.

UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Saturday managed to extend the talks for a week after the government delegation said it was leaving, and submitted the peace deal draft to both sides.

The approval also came hours after seven Saudi troops were killed in border clashes with Yemeni rebels.

More than 6,400 people have been killed in the Arabian Peninsula state since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March last year in support of Hadi's government.

Another 2.8 million people have been displaced and more than 80 percent of the population urgently needs humanitarian aid, according to UN figures

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas meets US and French foreign ministers in Paris

Add caption

PA chairman meets Kerry and French counterpart in Paris, says any reboot of peace talks with Israel should happen within a clear timeframe

PARIS (AFP) - Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on Saturday said any reboot of peace talks with Israel should happen within a clear timeframe and under international supervision, after meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris.

Abbas also held talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on the prospects of achieving a two-state solution, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat said, describing both discussions as 'very constructive'.

'We need a timeline for the negotiations, we need a timeline for the implementation, and we need an international framework that will ensure the implementation of any agreement reached,' Erakat told reporters.

France has been leading a fresh initiative to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, after the last round of negotiations collapsed in 2014.

But while Palestinians have welcomed the French push, Israel has said it favours direct negotiations.

Abbas 'reiterated our full support to the French initiative that aims to convene an international conference before the end of the year,' Erakat said.

The Palestinian negotiator added that there was 'no contradiction' between the French, US and more recently Egyptian efforts to break the deadlock and move the peace talks forward.

'All these efforts aim to revive the peace process, to achieve the two-state solution (based) on the 1967 lines. They are complementary,' he said.

The diplomatic initiatives showed that the 'status quo can't be sustained', he added, reiterating the need for Israel to 'stop all settlement activities' in order to give 'credibility to any peace process'.

The Middle East diplomatic quartet -- the European Union , Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- urged Israel to stop building settlements and Palestinians to cease incitement to violence in a July report that drew a frosty response from both sides.

While in Paris, Kerry also held talks with his French counterpart on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

'They agreed that strong leadership was required by all parties to help reduce the violence and take practical steps that can lead to meaningful discussions,' the US State Department said in a statement.

Source: AFP, 31 July 2016