Posted: 19 Jul 2014 01:17 PM PDT

Russian cities that want to develop their public transit systems will soon have a stellar option to buy. A sleek new black streetcar looks like something Darth Vader would pilot in Star Wars and promises new levels of comfort and safety to commuters.
The R1, or Russia One, was developed by a subsidiary of Uralvagonzavod, a company best known for producing advanced Russian tanks. The prototype streetcar, or tram, is to be revealed to the public on Wednesday at the Innoprom-2014 tech expo, but the producer offered a sneak peak to Russian bloggers one day ahead.

Unlike many foreign tram producers, the Russians favored angles and facets over curves. The R1 looks somewhat block-like, closer to Battlestar Gallactica than the Starship Enterprise. But thanks to black composite glass panels, red elongated lights and silver lines, the tram resembles a huge modern smartphone. Some of the designers dubbed it “an iPhone on rails.”

The interior is meant to be both comfortable and durable. The designers sacrificed the number of seats, leaving only 28 per car, for making those seats cozy and giving more space to standing passengers.

Several features will help using R1 in some of the harsher climatic regions of Russia. Grooved aluminum stepping boards will have built-in electric heaters utilizing energy recuperated during breaking to prevent icing in wintertime. The outer glass panels have special fitting for swift replacement. Electric batteries allow a tram cut from power lines to travel a further 50km autonomously.


Blogger Ivan Solomin, who is a tram driver himself and was among those invited to test the prototype, has doubts about rear-view cameras that substitute side mirrors at R1. He believes they may not give an adequate rear view to the driver, lacking proper depth perception. But he also praised the driver cabin windows for giving a good direct view about 10 to 15 percent better than tram models currently used in Russia, he assessed.

The producer estimates that the series version of the tram will cost around 1 million euro and will have few changes compared to the prototype on display. A pilot project to introduce R1 to Russian streets will be launched in Ekaterinburg, Urals Region. The tram is promised to roll out en mass by 2017, when Russia is to host FIFA World Cup.

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Posted: 19 Jul 2014 12:37 PM PDT

The Vatican is deeply concerned over a 1500-year-old Bible which was found in Turkey and rejects the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Vatican authorities have called on the Turkish government to allow its experts to examine the content of the book, which was discovered and kept secret in Turkey in 2000.
Reports say the Turkish government has transferred the book to the Ethnography Museum of Ankara with a police escort.
Ankara said that the Bible had been snatched from a mob of smugglers in a Mediterranean region operation.
The book contains the Gospel of Barnabas, a disciple of Christ, and says that Jesus had not been crucified but ascended to heaven alive. St. Barnabas was an early Christian and is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Church.
It also says Jesus was not the son of God but a prophet who spoke the word of God, calling Apostle Paul “The Impostor”.
The text maintains a vision similar to Islam, contradicting the New Testament’s teachings of Christianity. The ancient book also foresees the coming of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
It is hand written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, which is said to be the native language of Jesus Christ. Some experts and religious figures believe that the book is original, according to reports.
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Posted: 19 Jul 2014 02:07 AM PDT

Speaking at a gathering in Sydney to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “The Australian”, a newspaper that Rupert Murdoch owns, he told Australians they must welcome immigrants.
“We must be open to immigrants, to their desire to improve themselves and to the resulting improvement in our country,” Murdoch told the crowd, of which Australia Prime Minister, Tony Abbott was a guest.
“It is in the collective self-interest to welcome immigrants, those who cherish the values of the country, and who are sometimes willing to risk all in the quest for a better life.”
“Australia has an unprecedented opportunity to prosper from its fortunate geography,”
Last month Murdoch, who has US citizenship, called on the US to “reform immigration”, by which he meant, open the borders and legalize illegal immigrants.
“Is the idea of immigration reform complicated by the fact that some immigrants went outside the legal system to be here? Yes. It is complicated even more by the fear some Americans have, quite naturally, of how changing populations might also change our culture, communities and economic circumstances.”
“Well, of course immigration means change. Immigrants enrich our culture and add to our economic prosperity.”
These business tycoons are pushing for “immigration reform” as they call it, because they want cheap slave-like labor.

Posted: 19 Jul 2014 02:02 AM PDT

A new report shows that child poverty in Japan is at its highest level in the last three decades as critics rap Tokyo for failing to address the crisis.
The child poverty rate increased to over 16 percent in 2012, Japan’s Welfare Ministry said in a report published on Tuesday.
The figure marks the worst rate since the country started taking records nearly three decades ago.
Japan’s child poverty rate is also one of the highest among the 34 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The report revealed that over half of single-parent families are living below the poverty line, while nearly two-thirds of families with children said their financial status was bad or very bad.
Decline in household incomes is the main reason for the country’s high poverty rate, the report added. Japan is also showing a growing wage gap.
An increase in the number of low-paid contract positions in Japan has been the result of a weak economy coupled with deflation over the past two decades.
The Japanese economic slowdown comes despite aggressive measures taken by the government to boost economic growth after years of stagnation.
Economists say the Japanese government should implement promised economic reforms. Tokyo’s bold pro-growth program, a mix of big government spending and central bank monetary easing, is not enough to boost the economy, experts argue.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came to power in December 2012, has vowed to revive the economy by unveiling a series of measures, known as Abenomics, to help ensure long-term economic growth for country.
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