"Welcome to program 161 of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of
America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
Here is the lineup for today's program, all in MFSK32 except
where noted:
1:33 Program preview (now)
2:43 Russia launches rocket from new cosmodrome*
6:44 Freedom House press freedom report*
14:01 Olivia 64-2000: Dwarf planet has a moon*
23:31 MFSK32: Old RFE/RL transmitting site in Spain*
26:07 Closing announcements*
* with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
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Russia Launches First Rocket From New Cosmodrome
VOA News
April 28, 2016
Russia has launched the first rocket from its new cosmodrome,
Vostochny, after a one-day delay for technical reasons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the far-east Russian
location for the launch, and congratulated cosmodrome workers
after the event - while also scolding them for the delay.
"Despite all its failings, Russia remains the world leader in the
number of space launches," he said at a televised meeting
following the launch.
The Soyuz rocket carried three microsatellites into orbit
Thursday. Putin said afterward that the next stage for Vostochny
was to launch a heavier rocket.
Russian media reported early Wednesday that the first attempt at
the launch was stopped just minutes before takeoff.
The Vostochny spaceport in Russia's far eastern Amur region has
been hailed by the Kremlin as a major step forward, despite
numerous construction delays and a budget of up to $6 billion.
It is seen as a means to reduce Russia's dependence on the
Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. Russia has been forced to pay
rent for the use of Baikonur at the rate of $115 million a year
since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But Russian officials say they will continue to use Baikonur for
manned missions until 2023. Thursday's launch was the only one
planned this year from Vostochny.
http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-launches-first-rocket-from-new-cosmodrome/3306207.html
See also:
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-launches-first-rocket-cosmodrome-vostochny-second-try-putin-present/27702828.html
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This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
Watchdog Report: World Press Freedom Hits 10-Year Low
Ken Bredemeier
April 27, 2016
WASHINGTON - Freedom of the press declined across the globe last
year to its lowest point in more than a decade, a Washington
watchdog group has concluded.
Freedom House, which advocates for the expansion of freedom and
democracy around the world, said in a new report Wednesday that
only one in seven people across the globe lives in countries
where coverage of political news is robust, journalists' safety
is guaranteed, there is minimal state intrusion in the media's
affairs and the media are "not subject to onerous legal or
economic pressures."
Jennifer Dunham, the report's research director, told VOA that
authoritarian rulers and terrorist groups throughout the world
are cracking down on journalists' independent reporting, while
jailing, abusing and killing reporters who dare to write and
televise reports at odds with official government edicts, or
expose corruption. Other countries, like China, she said, limit
access to certain internet sites that might reflect badly on the
government in power.
She blamed deteriorating global press freedom on the "heightened
level of violence against journalists" and the increased
partisanship and polarization of media outlets around the world,
with many journalists forced by governments and insurgent groups
to take sides in armed clashes or by powerful media groups
looking out for their business interests. ...
Ten worst
The report said there is no "free press" in 50 of the 199
countries it tracked throughout the world. It labeled the 10
worst as North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Crimea, Eritrea,
Cuba, Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, Iran and Syria.
Dunham described North Korea and Turkmenistan as "vastly worse
than someplace like a Iran or Cuba where there are kind of
stirrings of popular discussion. Someplace like North Korea or
Turkmenistan, the people have no access to the Internet, they are
completely dominated by state propaganda, by narratives ((of))
the personality of the leader. They really have no access to
news from the outside world and there's really no Independent
media at all in those countries."
Full text:
http://www.voanews.com/content/watchdog-report-world-press-freedom-hits-10-year-low/3304493.htmlSee also:
http://www.voanews.com/content/report-finds-press-freedom-declines-in-africa-world/3304494.htmlhttp://www.rferl.org/content/world-press-freedom-house-lowest-decade/27699975.htmlhttps://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016Image: Proportions of world population in countries whose press
freedom is rated not free (blue, 46%), partly free (yellow, 41%),
and free (green, 13%) ...
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VOA Radiogram now changes to Olivia 64-2000 ...
u uaozie
Before RSID: <<2016-05-01T02:44Z MFSK-32 @ 100000+1499>>
This is VOA Radiogram in Olivia 64-2000.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
Hubble Spots Moon Circling Distant Dwarf Planet
Rick Pantaleo
VOA Science World blog
April 27, 2017
Out in the far reaches of our solar system lies the Kuiper Belt.
This region of space is occupied by icy objects left over from
the creation of the solar system.
Several dwarf planets, such as Pluto, also occupy the Kuiper
Belt.
Astronomers studying images gathered by the Hubble Space
Telescope in 2015, say that they have found a dark and tiny moon
circling the dwarf planet Makemake, the smaller sister of Pluto.
Makemake, discovered in 2005, was named after a deity worshiped
by the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island.
This new found moon, the first companion to the dwarf planet
that's ever been seen, has been nicknamed MK 2.
Its diameter is estimated to be about 260 kilometers across and
was found orbiting Makemake at a distance of about 21,000
kilometers.
bit.ly/1ST7F1q
bit.ly/1TwSvfa
VOA Radiogram now returns
Before RSID: <<2016-05-01T02:50Z OL 64-2K @ 100000+1499>>
to MFSK32 ...
This is VOA Radiogram in MFSK32.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
Image: Artist concept of dwarf planet Makemake and its moon MK2
...
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Radio World has an interesting story about the old Radio Liberty
(later RFE/RL) transmitting site at Playa de Pals, Spain:
http://www.radioworld.com/article/radio-capital-de-lempord-honors-radio-liberty/278677http://www.capital-radio.net/Galeria/govorit-radio-svoboda/http://www.radioliberty.org/Image: Derelict Continental transmitter at the Playa de Pals site:
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Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
Thanks to colleagues at the Edward R. Murrow shortwave
transmitting station in North Carolina.
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next VOA Radiogram.
This is VOA, the Voice of America.
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Olivia 64-2k
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Topic: VOA Radiogram #161 5745 AM 0230 UTC 5/1/2016 (Read 830 times)