SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The first flexible display devices from Samsung has been delayed. According to Korean newspaper ETnews Samsung is having issues with the display quality. Samsung expected to bring the first flexible display smartphones on the market from end 2013. Since OLEDs are vulnerable to moisture and oxygen, encapsulation processes are crucial to the commercialization of flexible displays.

Samsung Display is reportedly reviewing various encapsulation technologies that can replace the encapsulation technology developed by Vitex System.

This could be bad news for Samsung. Korian giant LG told the press to come faster with flexible smartphone devices than Samsung. LG earlier received from the government money to develop new screen technology to stimulate the technology.

Samsung said:

As we have accumulated expertise in this field, progress is being made in substrates as well as encapsulation technology. We have developed a new technology than can shorten the encapsulation process to less than 2 minutes by using the Vitex System-developed encapsulation technology.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Sammobile

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Those lucky few, which got to pre-order a Google Glass set at Goole I/O last year have already received the Google Glass Explorer Edition (XE) and decided to share some photos of an unboxing, and even some footage captured with the Glass itself.

Brandon Allgood has an unboxing image, which shows the Google Glass set along with sunglasses, pouch and charging piece.

Then comes Cecilia Abadie who shared a screenshot of a route which you can send directly to Glass (instead of Google Maps Navigation).

Josh Armour has uploaded a picture of wearing Google Glass underneath a helmet. And finally here’s a go kart video shot with Google Glass courtesy of Matt Abdou-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Gsmarena

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Earlier today we had reported that there were rumors going around pegging Provo, Utah as the next location for Google Fiber. Now the mayor of Provo has officially made an announcement that Google’s gigabit internet service is indeed coming to his city by the end of this year. Provo is now the third city to get Google Fiber, the first two being Kansas City and Austin. Apart from providing users with gigabit internet, the Google Fiber TV service will also be able to Provo. The entire package comes with 5 Mbps internet and TV service, there’s a $30 activation fee. Free gigabit internet will be provided to local public institutions whereas there will be no monthly charge for the first seven years.

Google also announced that it will be purchasing iProvo, which is a pre-existing fiber optic network in the city. The network was previously sold to a private company but Provo city had recently bought it back. Now Google has it and the network will be upgraded to support gigabit speeds. The agreement will be full and final after it is voted upon by the Provo City Council on the 23rd of April.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Ubergizmo

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Rising surface temperatures in the Arctic could affect a unique chemical reaction that helps rid the air of pollutants, experts report.

“We are racing to understand exactly what happens in the Arctic and how it affects the planet because it is a delicate balance when it comes to an atmosphere that is hospitable to human life,” says team leader Paul Shepson, a professor of chemistry at Purdue University.

“The composition of the atmosphere determines air temperatures, weather patterns and is responsible for chemical reactions that clean the air of pollutants.”

Surface temperatures in the Arctic are rising three times faster than the global average. Changes there are felt throughout the rest of the planet through weather shifts, like the longer and colder winter the Midwest experienced this past year due to Arctic weather systems, Shepson says.

“Although changes in the Arctic seem far removed from our daily lives, more than the polar bears will be affected by the rising temperatures and melting sea ice,” he adds. “We need to know what is happening there now in order to understand what we may face in the future.”

‘Unique Arctic chemistry’

Ozone in the lower atmosphere is different from the stratospheric ozone involved in the planet’s protective ozone layer. This lower atmosphere ozone is a greenhouse gas that is toxic to humans and plants, but it also is an essential cleaning agent of the atmosphere.

Interactions between sunlight, ozone, and water vapor create an “oxidizing agent” that scrubs the atmosphere of most pollutants human activity releases into it, Shepson says.

Temperatures at the poles are too cold for the existence of much water vapor, and in the Arctic this cleaning process appears instead to rely on reactions on frozen surfaces involving bromine, a halogen gas derived from sea salt.

This gaseous bromine reacts with and destroys atmospheric ozone. This aspect of the bromine chemistry works so efficiently in the Arctic that ozone is often entirely depleted from the atmosphere above sea ice in the spring, he said.

“This is just a part of atmospheric ozone chemistry that we don’t understand very well, and this unique Arctic chemistry teaches us about the potential role of bromine in other parts of the planet,” he says. “Bromine chemistry mediates the amount of ozone, but it is dependent on snow and sea ice, which means climate change may have important feedbacks with ozone chemistry.”

Salty icicles and snow

While it was known that there is more atmospheric bromine in polar regions, the specific source of the natural gaseous bromine has remained in question for several decades, says Kerri Pratt, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in polar regions research at Purdue who participated in the research.

“We thought that the fastest and best way to understand what is happening in the Arctic was to go there and do the experiments right where the chemistry is happening,” Pratt says.

She and Purdue graduate student Kyle Custard performed the experiments in minus 50 to minus 30 degree Fahrenheit wind chills near Barrow, Alaska. The team examined first-year sea ice, salty icicles, and snow and found that the source of the bromine gas was the top surface snow above both sea ice and tundra.

“Sea ice had been thought to be the source of the gaseous bromine,” she says. “We had an ‘of course!’ moment when we realized it was the snow on top of the sea ice. The snow is what is in direct contact with the atmosphere. Sea ice is critical to the process, though.

“Without it, the snow would fall into the ocean, and this chemistry wouldn’t take place. This is among the reasons why the loss of sea ice in the Arctic will directly impact atmospheric chemistry.”

Tested in the chamber

The team also discovered that sunlight triggered the release of bromine gas from the snow and the presence of ozone increased the production of bromine gas.

“Salts from the ocean and acids from a layer of smog called Arctic haze meet on the frozen surface of the snow, and this unique chemistry occurs,” Pratt says. “It is the interface of the snow and atmosphere that is the key.”

A series of chemical reactions that quickly multiplies the amount of bromine gas present, called the “bromine explosion,” is known to occur in the atmosphere. The team suggests this also occurs in the spaces between the snow crystals and wind then releases the bromine gas up into the air above the snow.

The team performed 10 experiments with snow and ice samples contained in a “snow chamber,” a box constructed of aluminum with a special coating to prevent surface reactions and a clear acrylic top.

Clean air with and without ozone was allowed to flow through the chamber and experiments were performed in darkness and in natural sunlight.

The team also measured the levels of bromine monoxide, a compound formed from the reaction of bromine atoms with ozone, through flights of the Purdue Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. They found the compound was most prevalent over snow-covered first-year sea ice and tundra, consistent with their snow chamber experiments.

The research team included scientists from the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; the University of Heidelberg, Germany; the University of Alaska Fairbanks; and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

A paper detailing the results of the work, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, is published online in Nature Geoscience. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Futurity

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – North Korea has named its conditions for talks with the US – the removal of all U.N. sanctions following Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests, and a promise by Washington not to engage in ‘nuclear war practice’ with Seoul.

North Korea said the Thursday demands will have to be fulfilled if Washington truly seeks any meaningful dialogue with Pyongyang.

"If the United States and the puppet South have the slightest desire to avoid the sledge-hammer blow of our army and the people... and truly wish dialogue and negotiations, they must make the resolute decision," the North's National Defense Commission said in a statement.

"Firstly, the sanctions resolutions by the U.N. Security Council that were fabricated with unjust reasons must be withdrawn," the North's top military body said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

The latest standoff between North Korea and the US – backed by South Korea – has been going on since Pyongyang’s third missile test in February of this year. A third round of UN sanctions adopted in response was then followed by joint US-South Korean war games in the waters of the Korean Peninsula.

An exchange of threats has been taking place, including Pyongyang’s promise to wage nuclear war on the US and its bases in the Pacific and South Korea. The US for its part deployed its F-22 fighter jets and the ‘USS Fitzgerald’ destroyer into Korean waters, further escalating tensions. -www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Kuwait riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at thousands of opposition activists who were protesting against authorities for raiding the house of a key opposition leader.

Several protesters were wounded in the clashes on Wednesday, the first in about three months in the oil-rich Gulf state which underwent violent protests late last year against the amendment of an electoral law, witnesses said.

Violence broke out hours after Special Forces raided the house of Mussallam al-Barrak, the former opposition MP, with assault rifles in an attempt to arrest him to serve a five-year prison term for insulting the country's emir.

"In the protests, the Special Forces [were] brutally harsh on the protesters," Mohammad Almatar, head of international relations of the opposition coalition, told Al Jazeera.

Kuwait riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at thousands of opposition activists who were protesting against authorities for raiding the house of a key opposition leader.

Several protesters were wounded in the clashes on Wednesday, the first in about three months in the oil-rich Gulf state which underwent violent protests late last year against the amendment of an electoral law, witnesses said.

Violence broke out hours after Special Forces raided the house of Mussallam al-Barrak, the former opposition MP, with assault rifles in an attempt to arrest him to serve a five-year prison term for insulting the country's emir.

"In the protests, the Special Forces [were] brutally harsh on the protesters," Mohammad Almatar, head of international relations of the opposition coalition, told Al Jazeera. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Al Jazeera

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – US authorities have arrested a suspect from Mississippi in connection with a letter that tested positive for the poison ricin that was sent to President Barack Obama, a law enforcement source has said.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said on Wednesday that the letter was intercepted at a facility away from the White House, adding that the letter was received on Tuesday.

"This facility routinely identifies letters or parcels that require secondary screening or scientific testing before delivery," Donovan said.

"The Secret Service is working closely with the US Capitol Police and the FBI in this investigation."

The FBI said late on Wednesday it had arrested Paul Kevin Curtis, of Corinth, Mississippi, in connection with the letters.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said preliminary tests on a letter sent to President Barack Obama indicated the presence of ricin.

But the FBI statement added: "There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston," where three people were killed in bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The letter is undergoing further testing because preliminary field tests can be unreliable, creating false positives.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporing from Washington DC, said: "It will take up to 48 hours for them to find out if it is ricin."

Senator targeted

It came after legislators said a different letter was mailed to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker that tested positive for ricin.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letter to Obama was very similar to the one mailed to Wicker.

Michigan Senator Carl Levin has also said his regional office in his state received a suspicious letter and that authorities have been alerted.

Levin said in a statement that an aide received the letter on Wednesday, but did not open it. Authorities are now investigating.

The Democratic legislator said he and his staff do not know if the mail presented a threat.

The episode also recalled the mysterious series of letters laced with anthrax that were sent to lawmakers and some journalists following the September 11 attacks in 2001 which killed five people and sickened 17 others.

Tensions have been high in Washington and across the country since the deadly bombings on Monday at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Al Jazeera

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has lamented restrictions and estrangement of Muslims, calling for reforming citizenship laws to help the sizable minority to feel more secure in the Buddhist country.

"I've met some Muslim leaders very recently. It is very sad, because none of them has been to any other country apart from Burma (Myanmar),” Suu Kyi told a press conference on Wednesday, April 17 during her visit to Japan, Reuters reported.

“They did not feel that they belonged anywhere and it was sad for them that they were made to feel that they didn't belong in our country either.

"This is a very sad state of affairs. We must learn to accommodate those with different views from ours."

Burmese Muslims have faced repeated bouts of sectarian violence in the Buddhist-majority country.

Earlier this month, more than 43 people were killed and several mosques burnt in sectarian attacks in central Burma after an argument between a Buddhist couple and gold shop owners in Meiktila.

The violence followed attacks on Bengali-ethnic Muslims, known as Rohingya, in a deadly bout of sectarian clashes in western Burma.

Buddhist monks were blamed for inciting hatred against Muslims by preaching a so-called “969 movement” which represents a radical form of anti-Islamic nationalism that urges Buddhists to boycott Muslim-run shops and services.

“There has never been a time when we’ve had complete peace within our land,” Suu Kyi said.

“I’m confident we can achieve economic success, but without peace and unity we cannot expect to get economic success that is sustained.”

Burma’s Muslims -- largely of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent -- account for an estimated four percent of the roughly 60 million population.

Muslims entered Burma en masse for the first time as indentured laborers from the Indian subcontinent during British colonial rule, which ended in 1948.

But despite their long history, they have never fully been integrated into the country.

Citizenship

The Nobel laureate called for reforming citizenship laws in Burma to help accommodate Muslims.

"Every country has the responsibility to consider the possibility that the (citizenship) laws are not in keeping with international standards,” Suu Kyi told reporters.

“And this is what the Burmese government should have the courage to do. To face the issue of citizenship fairly.”

Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.

The Burmese government as well as the Buddhist majority refuse to recognize the term "Rohingya", referring to them as "Bengalis".

Suu Kyi has earned the ire of Muslims for failing to speak against discrimination facing the Rohingya in Burma.

But the Burmese icon said she was "not a magician" and will not be able to solve long-running ethnic disputes.

"I've said that the most important thing is to establish the rule of law...(it) is not just about the judiciary, it's about the administration, it's about the government, it's about our police force, it's about the training that we give to security forces," she told students at Tokyo University.

She added that Burma’s courts do not meet democratic standards as they are "totally dominated by the executive."

"They wanted me to talk about how to make these communal differences disappear...I'm not a magician,” she said.

“If I were, I'd say 'disappear' and they would all disappear. Differences take a long time to sort out," she told Japanese students.

"We have to establish an atmosphere of security in which people with different opinions can sit down and exchange ideas and think of the things we have in common." -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: On Islam

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – At least five people have been killed in two strikes carried out by US assassination drones near the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

According to a Yemeni security official, the attack took place in a mountainous area south of the capital on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

Four of the victims were killed in the first strike as they were riding a vehicle in the desert area of Oussab al-Ali, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) south of Sana’a, said an official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.

The fifth victim, who was identified as Hamed Radman, was killed after a drone bombed his house.

A witness, living in a nearby village, said he saw smoke rising from the house after two explosions. He added that US terror drones had been flying above his village in the past three days and that they were still in the sky.

The United States has launched numerous drone attacks in Yemen that have killed many innocent civilians over the past few years.

Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes.

The US has come under fire for increasing its drone attacks in the Arab country.

Yemenis have held many demonstrations to condemn the United States’ violations of their national sovereignty. -www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Nearly 70 people have died and hundreds of others injured in a large explosion at a fertilizer plant in the US state of Texas, local emergency authorities say.

West Emergency Medical Services (EMS) director George Smith said that some 60 to 70 people died and hundreds of others were injured in the explosion on Wednesday at West Fertilizer plant in the city of West, located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Waco.

An official at a hospital in Waco said that they were told to anticipate 100 injured people coming from the explosion area.

According to Waco Assistant Fire Chief Don Yeager, the fertilizer facility had an anhydrous ammonia explosion. However, the cause still remains unknown.

There have also been reports of several buildings to be on fire, including a middle school.

The blast was felt as far as 24 kilometers (15 miles) away.

More than 2,000 customers were without power in the area, according to the local power utility, Oncor Electric.

On April 15, the United States experienced another explosion, which hit the Boston marathon, killing three and injuring more than 150 others.

One day later, authorities intercepted letters poisoned with the deadly substance, ricin, which were intended to reach US President Barack Obama and Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Press TV