China e Rússia moderam exigências relacionadas à "Guerra nas Estrelas"

O Moscow Times informa que China e Rússia estão mais abertas para reiniciar as negociações para evitar uma nova corrida armamentista causada pelos planos americanos de criar um "escudo anti-misseís" no espaço.

Russia and China maintain that the risk of weapons in space has grown because of the U.S. withdrawal last year from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which they regard as a cornerstone of global efforts to prevent nuclear war.

Under the compromise proposal, conference committees would look into other issues that have been proposed by different delegations, including the U.S. favorite: a proposed ban on the production of "fissile materials" -- plutonium and enriched uranium -- needed to make nuclear weapons.

Other topics include nuclear disarmament and "negative security assurances" -- promises from countries with nuclear weapons that they will not use them on countries which lack them.

O Moscow Times informa tb que a agência aeroespacial russa, Rosaviakosmos, escolheu os departamentos de design da Yakovlev e Ilyushin para desenvolver um novo jato comercial de alcance médio. O objetivo é substituir o TU-154. O projeto está sendo criticado pelas companias de aviação que não acreditam na capacidade competitiva do modelo quando comparado aos produtos da Boeing e Airbus.

"In principle, this program looks like a copycat of Boeing's new generation of 737s and the Airbus 320," said Sergei Koltovich, head of Aeroflot's fleet planning department. "This aircraft has to be at least 15 percent to 20 percent more efficient to sell beyond Russia, and by the time it is developed, Boeing and Airbus are sure to have come up with new products," he said, adding that three times more investment -- $2 billion, not $600 million -- would be necessary if the government really wanted the project to succeed.