They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces. Scientists are confirming that 15 pounds of rock collected recently in Morocco fell to Earth from Mars during a meteorite shower last July. This is only the fifth time in history that scientists have chemically confirmed Martian meteorites that people witnessed falling. The fireball was spotted in the sky six months ago, but the rocks were not discovered on the ground in North Africa until the end of December. This is an important and unique opportunity for scientists trying to learn about Mars’ potential for life. So far, no NASA or Russian spacecraft has returned bits of Mars, so the only samples scientists can examine are those that come here in meteorite showers. Scientists and collectors are ecstatic, and already the rocks are fetching big bucks because they are among the rarest things on Earth, rarer even than gold. The biggest rock... 

Former Dallas Cowboys scout Larry Dixon believes that as the world is getting smaller through globalization, there will one day be a Japanese player in the National Football League — though he can’t guarantee when. “It’s just a matter of time until there is a Japanese athlete who is good enough to play (in the NFL),” Dixon said after the NFL Japan Combine held at the practice field of X League club Tokyo Gas Creators in Tokyo on Sunday. Dixon and former New Orleans Saints and Kansas Chiefs scout Cornell Gowdy were invited to the combine to assess the participating locals, who mainly consisted of X League and college players. The players went through drills such as the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and bench press skill tests, just as prospective NFL players do back in the United States. “I think I showed everything I had,” Waseda University running back... 

The U.S. ambassador to China says that the country’s human rights record is deteriorating as its communist rulers feel threatened in the wake of pro-democracy uprisings across the Middle East. “The human rights climate has always ebbed and flowed in China, up and down, but we seem to be in a down period and it’s getting worse,” Ambassador Gary Locke told “The Charlie Rose Show” on U.S. public television. Locke pointed to China’s detentions of dissidents, lawyers and other perceived critics since the onset of the “Arab Spring” which toppled authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia last year. “The Chinese leaders are very fearful of something similar happening within China,” Locke said. “So there’s been a significant crackdown on dissension, political discussion, even the rights and the activities of lawyers who advocate on behalf of people who have been poisoned... 

Annotated extracts of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf will be republished in Germany next week for the first time since 1945, a British publisher says. Peter McGee says a brochure ”of 12 to 15 pages” will be published on January 26, in which extracts from Mein Kampf will be printed on one side, and commentary from a well-known historian on the other. Mein Kampf (My Struggle) has been banned in Germany since the end of World War II, and the southern state of Bavaria holds the rights until 70 years after the Nazi dictator’s death in 1945. The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, said publication was acceptable only if accompanied by notes putting it in the correct historical context. Source  Read More →

Two basic principles guide the United States National Defense Strategy unveiled Jan. 5. The first is the rising significance of the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. national interests. The second is a new fiscal environment: Washington just does not have the resources to fund a defense wish list as it did in the past. The challenge for U.S. defense planners, and their allies and partners, is ensuring that the two principles do not conflict and that U.S. national interests — and those of allies and partners — can be secured even in a time of growing budget constraints. The key challenge is making sure that potential adversaries do not misread U.S. intentions and capabilities and mistake reconfiguration for weakness. U.S. President Barack Obama is laying out the parameters of U.S. international engagement at a time of transition. The new U.S. defense strategy, like the foreign policy revealed...