Declaration on U.S.-Pacific Partnership White House Press Release: We—the governments of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and the United States of America—meet on the occasion of the first-ever U.S.- Pacific Islands Summit, held at the White House in Washington, D.C. from 28-29 September 2022. Forged by shared history, sacrifice, and values, our partnership has contributed to prosperity, peace, and security in the Pacific Islands, the United States, and the world for generations. Today, in the face of a worsening climate crisis and an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, we recommit ourselves to working together in genuine partnership to address the mounting challenges of our time. First, we resolve to strengthening our partnership. We share a vision f...
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Illustration of DART before impact. NASA / Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben On September 26 at 11.15pm UTC, NASA’s DART mission ( Double Asteroid Redirection Test ) will be the first to deliberately and measurably change the motion of a significant body in our Solar System. In other words, it will smash into an asteroid. The mission will provide the first test of a technique that could be used in the future – to redirect any asteroids we detect on a collision course with Earth. A binary pair of space rocks DART was launched on November 24, 2021, its destination a pair of asteroids in orbit around each other, 11 million kilometres from Earth. The larger asteroid in the pair is called Didymos and is 780 metres in diameter. The smaller asteroid, just 160 metres wide, is called Dimorphos . The two orbit each other at a distance of 1.18 kilometres, and one orbit takes close to 12 hours. ...
Steven Miles at new grid-connected battery at Tanby Photo Queensland Government Central Queensland is stepping up in Queensland’s renewable energy revolution with cheap, clean energy now being exported via a new grid-connected battery at Tanby, south of Yeppoon. Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles said the $8 million battery was an important and innovative addition to the electricity grid in Central Queensland, providing a better service for residents. “We know there’s been a huge uptake in rooftop solar energy in Yeppoon and Rockhampton and this investment will drive even more,” Mr Miles said. “It means renewable energy made during Central Queensland’s many sunny days can be stored to use during peak demand periods in the evening. “It will help deliver cheaper, cleaner energy for homes and businesses, and capacity for even more renewables in Central Queensland.” Assistant Minister to the Premier for Veterans' Affairs, Trade and COVID Economic Recover...
Vladimir Putin and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Samarkand. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade Xi Jinping, my dear friend, Chinese colleagues, It is a pleasure to welcome you at the meeting. I would like to note that the President and I met in Beijing during the Olympic Games six months ago, and many events have happened since then. The world is rapidly changing but there is one thing that remains unchanged. I am referring to the friendship between China and Russia, and, in the full sense of the term, to our good relations of strategic, comprehensive partnership. And we continue strengthening these relations. Ahead of the 20 th Congress of the Communist Party of China, scheduled for...
London Bridge is down Operation London Bridge (also known by its code phrase " London Bridge is down ") is the funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II . The plan includes the announcement of her death, the period of official mourning , and the details of her state funeral . The plan was created as early as the 1960s and revised many times in the years before her death in 2022 . The phrase " London Bridge is down" would be used to communicate the death of the Queen to the prime minister of the United Kingdom and key personnel, setting the plan into motion. Bodies involved in preparing the plan included various government departments, the Church of England , Metropolitan Police Service , the British Armed Forces , the media, the Royal Parks , London boroughs , the Greater London Authority and Transport for London . Some critical decisions relating to the plan were made by the Que...