A JAPANESE expedition has started to create two coral islands in a storm-racked corner of the Pacific Ocean that seems destined to become a testing ground for renewed rivalry between Japan and China.
Japan has brought its scientific superiority to bear on the dispute over a cluster of rocks and reefs that defines the limits [...]

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Whether you want a quick refresher before a trip or you are a complete beginner, the teach-yourself Mandarin Chinese conversation course teaches you how to talk with confidence and, most importantly, how to understand what is said to you. Revolving around 10 entertaining and realistic conversational scenarios for holiday or business - including shopping, [...]

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June 23 (Bloomberg) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed European press reports that he would sign an agreement with Iran to develop nuclear weapons when he visits the Central Asian country next week.
Chavez, who makes his fifth state visit to Iran next week after stops in Russia and Belarus, has consistently defended what he [...]

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PARIS – Russian aerospace is making a come-back on the international arms market, after a “decade of neglect” following the end of the Cold War, Russian arms-makers and Western aerospace officials told Newsmax at the Paris air show this week.
Top billing on the export market goes to the MiG-29 multi-role fighter, now in service with [...]

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MOSCOW, June 23 (UPI) — A large contingency of Chinese troops and equipment was slated to arrive in Russia this summer for a major joint military exercise.
The timetable for the Chinese deployment, reported Saturday by the Itar-Tass news service, is to have six trainloads of Chinese troops and their gear rolling into Chelyabinsk region [...]

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In the mainland: 1,321,851,888 (July 2006 est.)
In Hong Kong: 6,994,500 (2006 census)
In Macau: 503,000
Total: 1,329,349,388
1950: 562,000,000
1960: 648,000,000
1970: 820,000,000
1980: 984,000,000
1990: 1,147,000,000
2000: 1,264,587,054

Projections

2010: 1,347,000,000
2020: 1,430,000,000
2030: 1,461,000,000
2040: 1,463,144,780
2050: 1,465,224,000

Historical population of China in millions

2100 BC: 14
2 AD: 60
1000: 40
1502: 103
1650: 123 (22,5)
1750: 260 (35,8)
1850: 412 (35,1)
1950: 552 (21,6)
1975: 924
2000: 1263 (20,5)

Age structure

0-14 years: 20.8% (male 145,461,833; female 128,445,739)
15-64 [...]

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In 2005, the population of Europe was estimated to be 728 million according United Nations, which is slightly more than one-ninth of the world’s population. A century ago, Europe had nearly a quarter of the world’s population. The population of Europe has grown in the past century, but in other areas of the world [...]

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Graph depicting Russia’s projected population decline over the next forty years
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Commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe taken on June 3, 2007 indicates that Pakistan appears to be building a third plutonium production reactor at the Khushab nuclear site (see Figure 1). On July 24, 2006, ISIS published imagery revealing the construction of a second heavy water reactor at Khushab. The second heavy water reactor, which Pakistan [...]

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Plutonium is the preferred material for building light, sophisticated warheads, since highly enriched uranium (HEU) generally results in bulkier weapons. Prior to the start-up of Khushab, Pakistan was dependent on the production of highly enriched uranium at Kahuta. The Khushab reactor provides Pakistan the ability to produce enough plutonium each year to fabricate at least [...]

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Uranium is enriched using centrifuges. These have been installed in Iran’s nuclear plant at Natanz. A snap inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency last month found that 1,312 centrifuges were operating. But Mustapha Pourmohammedi, Iran’s interior minister, told the official news agency that 3,000 were in action. In theory, these centrifuges could produce enough [...]

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Satellite tracking software freely available on the Internet and some textbook physics could be used by any organization that can get hold of an intermediate range rocket to mount an unsophisticated attack on military or civilian satellites. Such an attack would require modest engineering capability and only a limited budget. That is according to researchers [...]

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If your perception is that violence in the eastern Mediterranean region of the Middle East is escalating, you are right, and you will want to see what FSM Contributing Editor Walid Phares explains about this new Tehran-Damascus offensive. Why are they racing against time?
The latest dramatic military and terror events in Gaza and [...]

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