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During the past few years, CERN physicist Dragan Hajdukovic has been investigating what he thinks may be a widely overlooked part of the cosmos: the quantum vacuum. He suggests that the quantum vacuum has a gravitational charge stemming from the gravitational repulsion of virtual particles and antiparticles. Previously, he has theoretically shown that this repulsive gravity can explain several observations, including effects usually attributed to dark matter. Additionally, this additional gravity suggests that we live in a cyclic Universe (with no Big Bang) and may provide insight into the nature of black holes and an estimate of the neutrino mass. In his most recent paper, published in Astrophysics and Space Science, he shows that the quantum vacuum could explain one more observation: the Universe’s accelerating expansion, without the need for dark energy.

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Tous ensemble pour que cette #image fasse le tour du #monde en moin de 48 heures C'est en #Syrie #Syria

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Noting that India is increasingly getting concerned about China's posture on its border, a top US intelligence official on Wednesday said that the Indian Army is strengthening itself for a "limited conflict" with China.

"Despite public statements intended to downplay tensions


between India and China, we judge that India is increasingly concerned about China's posture along their disputed border and Beijing's perceived aggressive posture in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in his prepared testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

"The Indian Army believes a major Sino-Indian conflict is not imminent, but the Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean," he said.

India, Clapper said, has expressed support for a strong US military posture in East Asia and US engagement in Asia. He said China in 2011 appeared to temper the assertive behavior that characterised its foreign policy the year before, but the internal and external drivers of that behavior persist.

"Moreover, although Chinese leaders have affirmed their commitment to a peaceful and pragmatic foreign policy - and especially to stable relations with China's neighbours and the rest of the world - Beijing may take actions contrary to that goal if it perceives that China's sovereignty or national security is being seriously challenged," he said.

Many of Beijing's military capability goals have now been realised, resulting in impressive military might.

Other goals remain longer term, but the Chinese army is receiving the funding and political support to transform it into a fully modern force, capable of sustained operations in Asia and beyond, he said.

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U.S. military says Taliban set to retake power: report

U.S. military says Taliban set to retake power: report | Reuters
LONDON | Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:22pm EST

(Reuters) - The United States military has said in a secret report that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, Britain's Times of London newspaper said Wednesday.

"Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban," the newspaper said, quoting the report. "Once ISAF (NATO-led forces) is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable," it quoted the report.

The Times said the "highly classified" report was put together by the U.S. military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top NATO officers last month. The BBC also carried a report on the leaked document.

Large swathes of Afghanistan have already been handed back to Afghan security forces, with the last foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014.

The document cited by the Times and the BBC also stated that Pakistan's powerful security agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces -- a charge denied by Islamabad.

Washington and its allies have long complained that the Taliban and other Islamist and criminal groups operate out of safe havens in tribal areas in Pakistan's west and northwest.

The document's findings were based on interrogations of more than 4,000 Taliban and al Qaeda detainees, the Times said, adding however it identified only few individual insurgents.

A State Department spokesman and Britain's Foreign Office both declined comment on the report. NATO and Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Despite the presence of about 100,000 foreign troops, violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, according to the United Nations.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says levels of violence are falling.

Citing the same report, the BBC reported on its website (here)

that Pakistan and the ISI knew the locations of senior Taliban leaders and supported the expulsion of "foreign invaders from Afghanistan."

"Senior Taliban leaders meet regularly with ISI personnel, who advise on strategy and relay any pertinent concerns of the government of Pakistan," it said.

Pentagon officials said they had not seen the reports and could not comment on their specifics.

But Pentagon spokesman George Little said: "We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the ISI and some extremist networks."

Little said U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "has also been clear that he believes that the safe havens in Pakistan remain a serious problem and need to be addressed by Pakistani authorities."

The Times said in its report the document suggested the Taliban were gaining in popularity partly because the austere Islamist movement was becoming more tolerant.

It quoted the report: "It remains to be seen whether a revitalized, more progressive Taliban will endure if they continue to gain power and popularity. Regardless, at least within the Taliban, the refurbished image is already having a positive effect on morale."

(Reporting by Stephen Mangan; addtional reporting by Missy Ryan in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait and Sanjeev Miglani)

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By JASON CHOW

HONG KONG—A series of incidents in this city have highlighted escalating resentment among Hong Kongers toward the ever-growing presence of mainland Chinese in the city, a shift that has Beijing both incensed and worried.

The deterioration in attitude has expressed itself in protests small and large, with "locusts" the latest insult hurled by Hong Kongers at the millions of mainlanders who come to the city to shop, see the sights and in some cases give birth. The incidents have led to harsh denunciations from Beijing.

In recent weeks the tension has risen following a poll showing that the number of Hong Kong residents identifying themselves as Chinese citizens—as opposed to Hong Kong citizens or a mix of both—fell to 16.6%, a 12-year low. Three years ago, 38.6% of Hong Kong residents considered themselves Chinese citizens.
[hkfeud] Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

People marched during an October rally calling on the government to take action against mainland Chinese pregnant mothers using hospital services in Hong Kong. Last year, 40,000 pregnant women from mainland China gave birth to babies in the city

"I'm angry because they're invading us," said Sun Wong, an 18-year-old student leading a small but vocal group of high-school students chanting "antilocust" slogans on a shopping street favored by Chinese tourists last month as mainlanders descended on the city for the Lunar New Year holiday. "They're having their kids here, taking welfare and benefits while not paying taxes or contributing anything."

When Hong Kong passed from British colonial rule to Chinese control 15 years ago, there was a surge in patriotic feeling. The growing kinship deepened after the 2003 SARS epidemic when China rescued Hong Kong's sagging economy by opening its borders and flooding Hong Kong with big-spending mainland tourists.

Hong Kong continues to benefit from the rise of the Chinese economy, but the venom of the insults now being hurled between Hong Kong and Beijing underlines Hong Kong's wobbly sense of identity as its own profile as an Asian powerhouse fades.

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European Pressphoto Agency

Chinese tourists have their photograph taken in Hong Kong.

"Just a few years ago, those from China were country bumpkins and now, the mainlanders are the economic overlords and that is deeply grating to those in Hong Kong," said Gordon Matthews, an anthropology professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong.

He said mixed in with the economic resentment are political anxieties: Hong Kong residents remain fearful of China's lack of democracy and its human-rights record.

New episodes in the spat have become a near-daily occurrence. Last week, a mainland Chinese professor called Hong Kongers "dogs" and "bastards" for their haughty attitude toward the rest of China.

Tensions have been fueled by a series of pressure points. Last year, 40,000 pregnant women from mainland China gave birth to babies in the city, seeking to get Hong Kong passports as access to its education and health-care systems for their children. That stressed the city's maternity wards and in response, the Hong Kong government said it would cap the number of nonresidents giving birth at 34,000.

The dispute feeds the anxieties of China's leaders who are worried that the first democratic elections in Hong Kong, scheduled for five years from now, could empower forces hostile to Beijing. That helps to explain recent attacks by Chinese officials and Beijing-backed Hong Kong media against U.S. Consul General Stephen Young for comments he made endorsing Hong Kong's transition to democracy. Beijing deemed his remarks to be interference in local politics.

A Chinese government official in Hong Kong criticized the recent poll as "unscientific" and "illogical." The poll, which has been carried out by a University of Hong Kong professor since 1997, is widely watched and considered statistically valid. Chinese state-run media denounced it, with one columnist writing that the academic had "corrupt intent" and that he was seeking to undermine the current political system.

China has a long history of restive provinces, but Hong Kong has deeper significance. Beijing celebrated the return of Hong Kong to China as a historic triumph of the Communist Party that expunged more than a century of humiliation under European and Japanese imperialism.

Indeed, the successful integration of Hong Kong is intended to pave the way for the eventual reunification of Taiwan, a far bigger and more complex project.

Earlier in January, a Hong Kong man got in a yelling match with a mainland woman whose daughter was eating dried noodles on the subway, where eating and drinking are prohibited. The incident was caught on videotape and widely watched.

Days later, professor Kong Qingdong of Peking University to called Hong Kongers "bastards" and "dogs of British imperialists" in an online interview. Hong Kongers were irate. Some protested on the streets along with their dogs, while others spray-painted "mainland dogs" on walls.

Earlier in the month, Italian luxury goods maker Dolce & Gabbana got caught in the middle when security guards banned locals from taking pictures at the brand's flagship store while allowing mainlanders to keep snapping. The policy was exposed by local media and within days, an estimated 3,000 people rallied in front of the store, which quickly dropped it.

The latest effort is an online campaign for Hong Kongers to donate money to launch "antilocust" ads to run in a local newspaper. Within days, more than 800 people donated money to the effort.
—Joanne Chiu contribute

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