Cash-strapped Europe
struggles to up
military might
Munich, Germany (AFP)
Feb 5, 2012 -
With little cash to
spare for their
armed forces,
Europeans must
deepen military
cooperation after
incessant US
pressure urging old
allies to start
pulling their own
weight. A parade of
world defence
leaders and experts
meeting at the
Munich Security
Conference issued
stark warnings about
Europe's place in
the global arena if
it fails to maintain
its military might.
With the debt crisis
...
more
N. Korea developing
unmanned attack
aircraft: report
Seoul (AFP) Feb 5,
2012 -
North Korea is
developing unmanned
attack aircraft
using US target
drones imported from
the Middle East, a
report said Sunday.
They are based on
MQM-107D Streaker
target drones, which
are used by the US
army, and imported
from a Middle East
nation believed to
be Syria, Yonhap
news agency
reported. It cited
an anonymous Seoul
military official,
adding the communist
state would likely
depl ...
more
Iranian warships
dock at Saudi port
Tehran (AFP) Feb 4,
2012 -
Iranian naval ships
docked on Saturday
in the Saudi port
city of Jeddah on a
mission to project
the Islamic
republic's "power on
the open seas," the
Fars news agency
reported. The supply
ship Kharg and Shaid
Qandi, a destroyer,
docked in the Red
Sea port in line
with orders from
Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, it quoted
navy commander
Admiral Habibollah
Sayari as saying. "T
...
more
Iraqi president's
tribe calls for VP
handover
Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP)
Feb 4, 2012 -
President Jalal
Talabani's tribe has
called for Iraq's
fugitive vice
president to be
handed over to the
Baghdad government
to face trial, a
member of the tribe
said on Saturday.
Vice President Tareq
al-Hashemi, a Sunni,
has been charged
with running a death
squad and has taken
shelter since
December in
Talabani's native
Kurdistan, an
autonomous region in
northern Iraq. The
region's gover ...
more
Iraq central bank
moves to identify
dollar buyers
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 4,
2012 -
The Iraqi central
bank has enacted
measures to identify
those who buy
dollars, as some are
believed to be front
men at a time when
Iran and Syria are
facing foreign
currency shortages
due to sanctions.
Both Iran and Syria
have been hit by
sanctions from the
United States and
Europe, the former
over its
controversial
nuclear programme
and the latter due
to its bloody
attempts to suppress
a re ...
more
US and Spain discuss
cleanup of nuclear
radiation
Washington (AFP) Feb
4, 2012 -
The United States is
offering technical
assistance to Spain
to clean up land
contaminated by
radiation from
undetonated nuclear
bombs that
accidentally fell on
the area in 1966,
the US State
Department announced
Saturday. The
Spanish and US
governments have not
yet reached an
agreement on the
cleanup. At the
request of the
Spanish government,
an American
technical team led
by the US Ener ...
more
Asia-focused US vows
Europe commitment
Munich, Germany (AFP)
Feb 4, 2012 -
The United States
sought Saturday to
reassure old
European allies of
its continued
support despite a
strategic shift to
Asia, amid warnings
the EU could be
sidelined by its
economic crisis. But
as leaders,
ministers and
experts discussed
the transatlantic
alliance and Asia's
rise at the annual
Munich Security
Conference, frantic
diplomacy on the
sidelines failed to
prevent a veto of a
UN res ...
more
US to keep forces
after Afghan
pullout: report
Washington (AFP) Feb
4, 2012 -
The United States
plans to maintain
special forces in
Afghanistan after it
winds down its
combat operations in
the country, using
them to hunt down
insurgent leaders
and train local
troops, The New York
Times reported.
Citing unnamed
senior Pentagon
officials, the
newspaper Saturday
said these forces
could remain in the
country well after
the NATO mission
ends in late 2014.
NATO defens ...
more
US vows commitment
to Europe despite
Asia focus
Munich, Germany (AFP)
Feb 4, 2012 -
The United States
said Saturday that
Europe remains
Washington's
security "partner of
first resort"
despite a US
strategic pivot to
Asia, but urged
Europe to pull its
weight. In a twin
effort to reassure
Europe about the
historic US
commitment to the
continent, US
Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and
Secretary of Defence
Leon Panetta
delivered carefully
calibrated messages
of support. ...
more
Iran mass producing
anti-ship cruise
missile: TV
Tehran (AFP) Feb 4,
2012 -
Iran has begun mass
production of an
anti-ship cruise
missile, state
television's website
said on Saturday.
The Zafar missile,
as it is dubbed in
the report, "is a
short-range,
anti-ship cruise
missile capable of
destroying small-
and medium-sized
targets with high
precision." It can
be mounted on speed
boats and other
light vessels, can
withstand electronic
warfare, and is able
to fly i ...
more
US urges
international
community to fund
Afghan troops
Munich, Germany (AFP)
Feb 4, 2012 -
US Defence Secretary
Leon Panetta urged
the international
community on
Saturday to help pay
for strong Afghan
security forces
despite worldwide
economic pressure.
The United States is
spending around $12
billion a year (2.3
billion euros) to
train the Afghan
security force (ANSF),
which is expected to
rise to 352,000 men
in order to take
over security when
NATO combat troops
withdraw at the ...
more
Russian veto fears
soften EU line on
Syria
Brussels (UPI) Feb
3, 2012 -
Fears of a Russian
veto of a U.N.
Security Resolution
on Syria mellowed
European positions
on ways to defuse
the violent
government-opposition
showdown in the
Middle Eastern
country only days
after the European
Union issued tough
sanctions against
Iran. The contrast
between the EU's
resolute stand on
Iran and Brussels'
readiness to
compromise and
accommodate Russian
demands was seen by
...
more
US Army approves
WikiLeaks suspect's
court martial
Washington (AFP) Feb
3, 2012 -
The US Army said in
a statement Friday
that it had approved
a recommendation
that Bradley Manning
be court-martialed
for allegedly
funneling hundreds
of thousands of
classified documents
to WikiLeaks. The
decision clears the
way to set a date
for Manning, a
private with the
Army, to face a host
of charges,
including that he
aided the enemy and
wrongfully caused
intelligence to be
openly publ ...
more
Thales bids for $3B
Saudi missile deal
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
(UPI) Feb 3, 2012 -
French military
electronics giant
Thales is
negotiating with
Saudi Arabia for a
contract, worth up
to $3 billion, to
upgrade the
kingdom's air-defense
network,
particularly those
guarding key
military and
government sites.
The French company's
regional arm, Thales
International Middle
East, is
well-established in
the kingdom. Over
the last three
decades Thales has
maintained the ...
more
Russia to build
space defense
missiles
Moscow (UPI) Feb 3,
2012 -
Two plants to
manufacture space-defense
missiles will be
built in central
Russia, Deputy Prime
Minister Dmitry
Rogozin said. The
first facility, to
be built in Nizhny
Novgorod, will
employ 5,000 workers
and have a total
manufacturing volume
of about $200
million, while the
second, in the city
of Kirov, will
employ 3,000, RIA
Novosti reported. "I
hope we will develop
models that a ...
more
Dassault tops EADS
for Indian jet deal
Bangalore, India
(UPI) Feb 3, 2012 -
French aircraft
manufacturer
Dassault has landed
India's biggest
military contract
with a $10 billion
order for 126 Rafale
jet fighters. In a
brief announcement
on its Web site
Dassault said it is
"honored and
grateful to the
Indian government
and the people of
India to be given
the opportunity to
extend their
long-lasting
cooperation."
Dassault Aviation
and its partners "reitera
...
more
NATO agrees on
long-delayed drone
programme
Brussels (AFP) Feb
3, 2012 -
NATO agreed Friday
to buy five
reconnaissance
drones to boost the
alliance's
surveillance
capabilities after
the Libyan air war
exposed shortcomings
among European
forces in that
field. The Global
Hawk, a long-range,
high-altitude
aircraft made by US
defence industry
giant Northrop
Grumman, will be the
key component in
NATO's long-delayed
Alliance Ground
Surveillance (AGS)
system. "This ...
more
Europe has 'nothing
to fear' from US
focus on Asia:
Germany
Munich, Germany (AFP)
Feb 3, 2012 -
Europe should not
fear a renewed US
focus on Asia and
must increasingly
look after its own
backyard militarily
without its historic
ally, Germany's
defence minister
said on Friday.
"Europeans should
not look at the
strategic
re-orientation of
the Americans with
apprehension. There
is every reason to
be calm and
confident," Thomas
de Maiziere said,
opening the Munich
Security Conference.
...
more
EU's Ashton to visit
Brazil for Syria,
Iran talks
Brasilia (AFP) Feb
3, 2012 -
European Union
foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton
will begin an
official visit to
Brazil Sunday for
wide-ranging talks,
notably on the civil
strife in Syria and
the Iranian nuclear
crisis, the foreign
ministry said
Friday. A ministry
spokesman said
Ashton would meet
Brazilian Foreign
Minister Antonio
Patriota here Monday
for talks that will
also touch on the
Eurozone debt
crisis, the stal ...
more
NATO to tighten
measures against
Taliban infiltrators
Brussels (AFP) Feb
3, 2012 -
NATO military
commanders will beef
up security measures
to prevent
insurgents from
infiltrating the
Afghan army after
French troops were
killed by a renegade
soldier, the
alliance chief said
Friday. NATO defence
ministers endorsed a
French proposal to
task military
authorities with
devising new plans
before the end of
the month as they
wrapped up two days
of talks focused on
the decade-old w ...
more
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 5, 2012
With little cash to spare for their armed
forces, Europeans must deepen military
cooperation after incessant US pressure
urging old allies to start pulling their own
weight. A parade of world defence leaders
and experts meeting at the Munich Security
Conference issued stark warnings about
Europe's place in the global arena if it
fails to maintain its military might. With
the debt crisis
Seoul (AFP) Feb 5, 2012
North Korea is developing unmanned attack
aircraft using US target drones imported
from the Middle East, a report said Sunday.
They are based on MQM-107D Streaker target
drones, which are used by the US army, and
imported from a Middle East nation believed
to be Syria, Yonhap news agency reported. It
cited an anonymous Seoul military official,
adding the communist state would likely depl
Tehran (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in
the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission
to project the Islamic republic's "power on
the open seas," the Fars news agency
reported. The supply ship Kharg and Shaid
Qandi, a destroyer, docked in the Red Sea
port in line with orders from Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it quoted
navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as
saying. "T
Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
President Jalal Talabani's tribe has called
for Iraq's fugitive vice president to be
handed over to the Baghdad government to
face trial, a member of the tribe said on
Saturday. Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a
Sunni, has been charged with running a death
squad and has taken shelter since December
in Talabani's native Kurdistan, an
autonomous region in northern Iraq. The
region's gover
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
The Iraqi central bank has enacted measures
to identify those who buy dollars, as some
are believed to be front men at a time when
Iran and Syria are facing foreign currency
shortages due to sanctions. Both Iran and
Syria have been hit by sanctions from the
United States and Europe, the former over
its controversial nuclear programme and the
latter due to its bloody attempts to
suppress a re
Washington (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
The United States is offering technical
assistance to Spain to clean up land
contaminated by radiation from undetonated
nuclear bombs that accidentally fell on the
area in 1966, the US State Department
announced Saturday. The Spanish and US
governments have not yet reached an
agreement on the cleanup. At the request of
the Spanish government, an American
technical team led by the US Ener
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
The United States sought Saturday to
reassure old European allies of its
continued support despite a strategic shift
to Asia, amid warnings the EU could be
sidelined by its economic crisis. But as
leaders, ministers and experts discussed the
transatlantic alliance and Asia's rise at
the annual Munich Security Conference,
frantic diplomacy on the sidelines failed to
prevent a veto of a UN res
Washington (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
The United States plans to maintain special
forces in Afghanistan after it winds down
its combat operations in the country, using
them to hunt down insurgent leaders and
train local troops, The New York Times
reported. Citing unnamed senior Pentagon
officials, the newspaper Saturday said these
forces could remain in the country well
after the NATO mission ends in late 2014.
NATO defens
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
The United States said Saturday that Europe
remains Washington's security "partner of
first resort" despite a US strategic pivot
to Asia, but urged Europe to pull its
weight. In a twin effort to reassure Europe
about the historic US commitment to the
continent, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Secretary of Defence Leon
Panetta delivered carefully calibrated
messages of support.
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta urged the
international community on Saturday to help
pay for strong Afghan security forces
despite worldwide economic pressure. The
United States is spending around $12 billion
a year (2.3 billion euros) to train the
Afghan security force (ANSF), which is
expected to rise to 352,000 men in order to
take over security when NATO combat troops
withdraw at the
Brussels (UPI) Feb 3, 2012
Fears of a Russian veto of a U.N. Security
Resolution on Syria mellowed European
positions on ways to defuse the violent
government-opposition showdown in the Middle
Eastern country only days after the European
Union issued tough sanctions against Iran.
The contrast between the EU's resolute stand
on Iran and Brussels' readiness to
compromise and accommodate Russian demands
was seen by
Tehran (AFP) Feb 4, 2012
Iran has begun mass production of an
anti-ship cruise missile, state television's
website said on Saturday. The Zafar missile,
as it is dubbed in the report, "is a
short-range, anti-ship cruise missile
capable of destroying small- and
medium-sized targets with high precision."
It can be mounted on speed boats and other
light vessels, can withstand electronic
warfare, and is able to fly i
Moscow (UPI) Feb 3, 2012
Two plants to manufacture space-defense
missiles will be built in central Russia,
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
The first facility, to be built in Nizhny
Novgorod, will employ 5,000 workers and have
a total manufacturing volume of about $200
million, while the second, in the city of
Kirov, will employ 3,000, RIA Novosti
reported. "I hope we will develop models
that a
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (UPI) Feb 3, 2012
French military electronics giant Thales is
negotiating with Saudi Arabia for a
contract, worth up to $3 billion, to upgrade
the kingdom's air-defense network,
particularly those guarding key military and
government sites. The French company's
regional arm, Thales International Middle
East, is well-established in the kingdom.
Over the last three decades Thales has
maintained the
Washington (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
The US Army said in a statement Friday that
it had approved a recommendation that
Bradley Manning be court-martialed for
allegedly funneling hundreds of thousands of
classified documents to WikiLeaks. The
decision clears the way to set a date for
Manning, a private with the Army, to face a
host of charges, including that he aided the
enemy and wrongfully caused intelligence to
be openly publ
Tehran (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Iran on Friday rejected allegations by the
US director of national intelligence James
Clapper that the Islamic republic was more
willing now to carry out attacks on American
soil. "Iran categorically denies James
Clapper's unfounded allegations," foreign
ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"Those who are themselves accused of
supporting the assassination of Iranian
scientists in
Brussels (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
NATO agreed Friday to buy five
reconnaissance drones to boost the
alliance's surveillance capabilities after
the Libyan air war exposed shortcomings
among European forces in that field. The
Global Hawk, a long-range, high-altitude
aircraft made by US defence industry giant
Northrop Grumman, will be the key component
in NATO's long-delayed Alliance Ground
Surveillance (AGS) system. "This
Washington (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
The US Air Force plans to spend $2.8 billion
to keep old combat aircraft in the air
because of major delays with the new F-35
fighter jet program, top officials said
Friday. With the production schedule of the
F-35 jet repeatedly postponed due to
technical problems, the Pentagon will
upgrade 350 aging F-16 fighters to fill the
gap in the fleet, Air Force leaders told
reporters. "The issu
Bangalore, India (UPI) Feb 3, 2012
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault has
landed India's biggest military contract
with a $10 billion order for 126 Rafale jet
fighters. In a brief announcement on its Web
site Dassault said it is "honored and
grateful to the Indian government and the
people of India to be given the opportunity
to extend their long-lasting cooperation."
Dassault Aviation and its partners "reitera
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Europe should not fear a renewed US focus on
Asia and must increasingly look after its
own backyard militarily without its historic
ally, Germany's defence minister said on
Friday. "Europeans should not look at the
strategic re-orientation of the Americans
with apprehension. There is every reason to
be calm and confident," Thomas de Maiziere
said, opening the Munich Security
Conference.
Washington (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Hacker group Anonymous, in an embarrassment
for law enforcement, released a recording
Friday of a conference call between the FBI
and Scotland Yard discussing operations
against the hacking collective. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation confirmed the
authenticity of the nearly 17-minute
recording posted on YouTube and other sites
and said it was "intended for law
enforcement officers only a
Brussels (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
NATO military commanders will beef up
security measures to prevent insurgents from
infiltrating the Afghan army after French
troops were killed by a renegade soldier,
the alliance chief said Friday. NATO defence
ministers endorsed a French proposal to task
military authorities with devising new plans
before the end of the month as they wrapped
up two days of talks focused on the
decade-old w
Ankara (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Turkey's military jets on Friday hit Kurdish
rebel hideouts in northern Iraq where
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) are holed up, the army said.
"Three targets belonging to the separatist
terrorist organisation in the Zap region...
were effectively hit by Turkish air force
planes," the General Staff said in a
statement posted on its website. The army
did not provide
Tehran (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Iran on Friday launched an observation
satellite into orbit above Earth, its third
since 2009, the official IRNA news agency
reported. "The Navid satellite was launched
successfully.... It will be placed into an
orbit (at an altitude) between 250 and 370
kilometres," IRNA quoted the head of Iran's
Space Organisation, Hamid Fazeli, as saying.
The launch comes as Iran is marking the
annive
Kabul (AFP) Feb 3, 2012
Sitting cross-legged on a blood-red Afghan
carpet in a house perched on a Kabul
hillside, the bearded man gazes out across
the sprawling city where he was once one of
the most feared men in town. Now, Maulavi
Qalamuddin, former chief of the Taliban's
"vice and virtue" squad which whipped women
without burqas and jailed men without
beards, lives behind a battered green door
set in a mud wall
Brussels (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes
there is a "strong possibility" that Israel
will strike Iran's nuclear installations
this spring, the Washington Post said
Thursday in an editorial. When asked about
the opinion piece by reporters travelling
with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels,
Panetta brushed it aside. "I'm not going to
comment on that. David Ignatius can write
what he will
Seoul (UPI) Feb 3, 2012
The head North Korea's reunification
negotiating committee called on ex-patriot
Koreans to put aside their differences and
work for reunification of the Korean
Peninsula. But Kim Ryong Song, chairman of
the North Side Committee for Implementing
the June 15 Joint Declaration, also urged
Koreans to sweep aside the "Lee Myung-bak
group of traitors" who run the South Korean
government.
Vienna Feb 3, 2012
The UN nuclear agency's trip to Iran was not
as "good" as its chief inspector described
this week, with real pressure now on Tehran
for the next visit later this month,
diplomats and analysts said. International
Atomic Energy Agency chief inspector Herman
Nackaerts's comment at Vienna airport on
Wednesday that he had a "good trip" was "off
the cuff" and "not meant to be a substantive
comment
Washington (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
The White House and its Republican foes
clashed Thursday over a law requiring steep
cuts to military spending after a
congressional "SuperCommittee" failed to
agree on long-range deficit reduction.
Republicans have stepped up election-year
pressure on President Barack Obama to help
them roll back the measure, warning that the
planned automatic cuts of about $500 billion
over 10 years will hu
Washington (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
US Republican lawmakers are voicing growing
alarm over a possible deal with the Taliban
that would see five militants transferred
from Guantanamo as part of peace talks on
ending Afghanistan's insurgency. The
criticism comes after President Barack
Obama's administration acknowledged
negotiations for a potential transfer of
five inmates from the prison at the US naval
base at Guantanamo Bay,
Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Feb 2, 2012
The chief of Israel's Military Intelligence
warned Thursday that some 200,000 missiles
and rockets are aimed at the Jewish state at
any given moment. That's probably an
exaggeration. But it reflects the daily
barrage of warnings by Israeli leaders about
the grave perils they say the country faces
as tension mounts in the West's
confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf
over its conten
Brisbane, Australia (UPI) Feb 2, 2012
Boeing Defense Australia and Thales
Australia have opted for the Eurocopter
EC135 around which to build an aircrew
training system for a major Australian
military tender. The companies are working
together to bid for the military's Project
AIR 9000 Phase 7 - Helicopter Aircrew
Training System contract. "Boeing and
Thales's individual expertise and shared
strengths, as well as a
Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan (UPI) Feb 2, 2012
A state of emergency instituted in a
Kazakhstan oil town during a December wave
of labor unrest and was allowed to lapse
this week. The emergency decree was lifted
Tuesday, five days after President Nursultan
Nazarbayev said the crackdown wouldn't be
extended because the "situation had taken a
normal course." The violence - the worst in
the oil-rich Central Asian nation since it
Philadelphia (UPI) Feb 2, 2012
In terms of economics the notion of mutual
recognition refers to international
agreements in which two or more countries
agree to recognize one another and guarantee
free movement of goods and services without
the need to harmonize member states'
national legislation. A good illustration of
this would be the European Union. The Middle
East is no Europe and in the
Israeli-Palestinian dyn
Lima (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
A young Chilean has been detained for taking
photographs of a military barracks in
southern Peru, the second such arrest in as
many days near a military installation,
police said Thursday. The two countries
historically have had strained relations
over a border dispute dating from the late
19th century when Chile defeated Peru in the
War of the Pacific. The latest arrest
involved an unid
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
The ranks of Al-Qaeda have thinned
dramatically in recent years but the
organisation remains a serious threat in
Iraq, a Baghdad military spokesman said in
remarks published on Thursday. "According to
the numbers of our intelligence services,
which are the same as those of the
Americans, Al-Qaeda had 33,000 members in
2006. Today, they are no more than 3,000,"
Qassem Atta told the pan-Arab A
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP)
Feb 2, 2012
Protesters threw shoes at UN chief Ban Ki-moon
as he entered Gaza on Thursday, condemning
Israel's blockade and Ban's refusal to meet
the families of Palestinian prisoners. Ban's
convoy came under assault from about 50
protesters as it crossed into the
Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory only
hours after eight rockets were fired into
southern Israel from Gaza. The protesters
threw san
Washington (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
US lawmakers Thursday called for
congressional hearings into hazing in the
military while urging an end to
"institutional" abuse that has led to
suicides among soldiers. Representative Judy
Chu - whose Marine nephew, Lance Corporal
Harry Lew, committed suicide in Afghanistan
last year some 20 minutes after enduring
severe hazing by fellow Marines - said
"enough was enough" as she called fo
Ankara (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
A Turkish prosecutor has launched an
investigation into an ultimatum the armed
forces gave to the moderate Islamic
government almost five years ago, newspapers
reported Thursday. A specially authorised
prosecutor in Ankara acted on various
complaints about the statement penned by
then chief-of-staff retired General Yasar
Buyukanit, now 71, said the Hurriyet and
Radikal dailies. At midnig
Brussels (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
NATO allies voiced hope Thursday that Afghan
forces can take the lead across the country
next year, with foreign troops in a backup
role, as they seek to wind down a war that
has dragged on for a decade. At the same
time, the alliance insisted that it was not
changing plans to complete the security
transition by the end of 2014 and that NATO
troops would remain engaged in combat until
then.
Jerusalem (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
Iran has enough radioactive material to
produce four nuclear bombs, Israel's chief
of military intelligence, General Aviv
Kochavi, asserted at a security conference
on Thursday. "Today international
intelligence agencies are in agreement with
Israel that Iran has close to 100 kilograms
(220 pounds) of uranium enriched to 20
percent, which is enough to produce four
bombs," he told the annual
Brussels (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
NATO will locate the command centre for its
US-led missile shield at the alliance air
base in Ramstein, Germany, a diplomat told
AFP on Thursday. "The command for the NATO
missile shield will be based at the NATO
base in Ramstein," the diplomat said on
condition of anonymity as alliance defence
ministers began two days of talks in
Brussels. The centre will be operational
following a Chic
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
India's planned purchase of 126 fighters
from France's Dassault marks the latest
stage in a huge military procurement cycle
that has turned the world's largest
democracy into its biggest arms importer.
The final Dassault contract is expected to
be worth $12 billion and India is preparing
further big ticket purchases over the coming
years, including of helicopters and
artillery. In a repo
Sanaa, Yemen (UPI) Feb 1, 2012
U.S. airstrikes in Yemen that reportedly
killed four al-Qaida commanders Tuesday came
hard on the heels of a U.S. Navy SEAL team's
Jan. 25 rescue of two Western hostages in
Somalia, across the Gulf of Aden. These U.S.
strikes underline how the Americans are
escalating covert operations against two
Islamist groups in the region - al-Qaida in
the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia's al-Shabaa
Falls Church, Va. (UPI) Feb 1, 2012
U.S. defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman
Corp. reported sales of $26.4 billion in
2011, a $1.7 billion - 6 percent - drop from
2010 and a sign of the times reflecting
cutbacks and lower demand on both sides of
the Atlantic. European defense manufacturers
also face challenging pressures on profits
and sales as EU governments fighting a cash
crunch are told by Brussels to consolidate
Brussels (AFP) Feb 1, 2012
NATO allies will Thursday discuss US plans
to end combat operations in Afghanistan in
2013 and switch to a training mission before
handing security control to Afghan forces by
the end of 2014. US Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta set out the goal as he flew to
Brussels for two days of talks with NATO
counterparts that will also focus on how to
maintain the strength of the allies' armed
forces d
Washington (AFP) Feb 1, 2012
The United States should deploy more
warships to the Gulf, arm Israel and issue
tough warnings to convince Iran it is
serious about possible military action to
stop Tehran's nuclear program, former US
lawmakers and experts said Wednesday. The
bipartisan group criticized President Barack
Obama's administration for downplaying the
likelihood of US military action in public
statements, saying i
Jerusalem (AFP) Feb 2, 2012
UN leader Ban Ki-moon said he expects Israel
to attend an international conference on
creating a Middle East nuclear-free zone he
is aiming to hold this year in Helsinki.
"Israel will be invited and they should be
there but nothing has been decided yet," Ban
said late Wednesday, adding he had not
raised the sensitive conference during talks
with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in
Jerusale
London (UPI) Feb 1, 2012
MBDA UK has been picked by Britain's
Ministry of Defense Ministry to develop a
new naval missile defense system. Called the
Sea Ceptor, the system would intercept and
destroy incoming missiles honing in on ships
at supersonic speeds. "The development of
this missile system is a huge boost to the
U.K.'s world-leading missile industry and
once again proves our commitment to providi
Paris (AFP) Feb 1, 2012
France is confident that it can sign and
seal a firm $12 billion deal to supply India
with 126 Rafale fighter jets "within six to
nine months," government spokeswoman Valerie
Pecresse said Wednesday. The Rafale, a
modern multi-role jet built by Dassault
Aviation, has been selected by India as its
preferred next generation interceptor, but
details of the immense contract remain to be
ironed o
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Iranium
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The movie
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't want you to see
Riots in the Middle East, bloodshed and the
overthrow of a Dictator. Does this sound
like the Middle East in 2011? Try
1979, the year the Shah was overthrown in
Iran. Is it possible history is about
to repeat itself as Islamic Fundamentalists
replace the Arab dictatorships of the Arab
world? What lessons can we learn from
the Iranian revolution and the threat this
nation currently poses to Israel and the
Western world.
In this Documentary you will be taken back
to the events of 1979 and the history of
terrorism and conflict that has developed
since then to bring Iran on it's current
nuclear path. You will learn about the
EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) threat to
America, Iran's current treatment of it's
own citizens and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
obsession with the 12th Imam of Islam.
Although the Stuxnet virus may have slowed
down it's nuclear program, it is only a
matter of time before Iran crosses the
nuclear threshold. How will a nuclear
Iran change the Middle East? Saudi
Arabia has already threatened to develop its
own program (or buy one from Pakistan) in
response. Iran's nuclear program could be
one of the greatest challenges of the 21st
century as the potential for nuclear devices
to fall into the hands of terrorists
increase. This video will help you to
see the emerging challenge we all face in a
new urgency.
Iran had attempted to shut down screenings
of this movie in Canada but the Canadian
government took a stand and showed this DVD
despite the threats. Find out why Iran
is attempting to stop this movie from being
seen around the world.
For a more detailed look at this DVD in
relationship to current events we encourage
you to watch Sean Hannity's interview with
the producer here:
Modern Technology has
made it possible for countries all
over the world to possess the means
for controlling their own
populations and to threaten other
nations with mass destruction. It no
longer matters whether a nation is
rich or poor, large or small, first
world or third world. Almost anyone
can make or purchase weapons that 50
years ago could not even be
imagined.
With little cash to spare for their armed
forces, Europeans must deepen military
cooperation after incessant US pressure
urging old allies to start pulling their own
weight. A parade of world defence leaders
and experts meeting at the Munich Security
Conference issued stark warnings about
Europe's place in the global arena if it
fails to maintain its military might. With
the debt crisis 
North Korea is developing unmanned attack
aircraft using US target drones imported
from the Middle East, a report said Sunday.
They are based on MQM-107D Streaker target
drones, which are used by the US army, and
imported from a Middle East nation believed
to be Syria, Yonhap news agency reported. It
cited an anonymous Seoul military official,
adding the communist state would likely depl
Iranian naval ships docked on Saturday in
the Saudi port city of Jeddah on a mission
to project the Islamic republic's "power on
the open seas," the Fars news agency
reported. The supply ship Kharg and Shaid
Qandi, a destroyer, docked in the Red Sea
port in line with orders from Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it quoted
navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as
saying. "T
President Jalal Talabani's tribe has called
for Iraq's fugitive vice president to be
handed over to the Baghdad government to
face trial, a member of the tribe said on
Saturday. Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a
Sunni, has been charged with running a death
squad and has taken shelter since December
in Talabani's native Kurdistan, an
autonomous region in northern Iraq. The
region's gover
The Iraqi central bank has enacted measures
to identify those who buy dollars, as some
are believed to be front men at a time when
Iran and Syria are facing foreign currency
shortages due to sanctions. Both Iran and
Syria have been hit by sanctions from the
United States and Europe, the former over
its controversial nuclear programme and the
latter due to its bloody attempts to
suppress a re
The United States is offering technical
assistance to Spain to clean up land
contaminated by radiation from undetonated
nuclear bombs that accidentally fell on the
area in 1966, the US State Department
announced Saturday. The Spanish and US
governments have not yet reached an
agreement on the cleanup. At the request of
the Spanish government, an American
technical team led by the US Ener
The United States sought Saturday to
reassure old European allies of its
continued support despite a strategic shift
to Asia, amid warnings the EU could be
sidelined by its economic crisis. But as
leaders, ministers and experts discussed the
transatlantic alliance and Asia's rise at
the annual Munich Security Conference,
frantic diplomacy on the sidelines failed to
prevent a veto of a UN res
The United States plans to maintain special
forces in Afghanistan after it winds down
its combat operations in the country, using
them to hunt down insurgent leaders and
train local troops, The New York Times
reported. Citing unnamed senior Pentagon
officials, the newspaper Saturday said these
forces could remain in the country well
after the NATO mission ends in late 2014.
NATO defens
The United States said Saturday that Europe
remains Washington's security "partner of
first resort" despite a US strategic pivot
to Asia, but urged Europe to pull its
weight. In a twin effort to reassure Europe
about the historic US commitment to the
continent, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Secretary of Defence Leon
Panetta delivered carefully calibrated
messages of support. 
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta urged the
international community on Saturday to help
pay for strong Afghan security forces
despite worldwide economic pressure. The
United States is spending around $12 billion
a year (2.3 billion euros) to train the
Afghan security force (ANSF), which is
expected to rise to 352,000 men in order to
take over security when NATO combat troops
withdraw at the 
Fears of a Russian veto of a U.N. Security
Resolution on Syria mellowed European
positions on ways to defuse the violent
government-opposition showdown in the Middle
Eastern country only days after the European
Union issued tough sanctions against Iran.
The contrast between the EU's resolute stand
on Iran and Brussels' readiness to
compromise and accommodate Russian demands
was seen by 
Iran has begun mass production of an
anti-ship cruise missile, state television's
website said on Saturday. The Zafar missile,
as it is dubbed in the report, "is a
short-range, anti-ship cruise missile
capable of destroying small- and
medium-sized targets with high precision."
It can be mounted on speed boats and other
light vessels, can withstand electronic
warfare, and is able to fly i
Two plants to manufacture space-defense
missiles will be built in central Russia,
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
The first facility, to be built in Nizhny
Novgorod, will employ 5,000 workers and have
a total manufacturing volume of about $200
million, while the second, in the city of
Kirov, will employ 3,000, RIA Novosti
reported. "I hope we will develop models
that a
French military electronics giant Thales is
negotiating with Saudi Arabia for a
contract, worth up to $3 billion, to upgrade
the kingdom's air-defense network,
particularly those guarding key military and
government sites. The French company's
regional arm, Thales International Middle
East, is well-established in the kingdom.
Over the last three decades Thales has
maintained the 
The US Army said in a statement Friday that
it had approved a recommendation that
Bradley Manning be court-martialed for
allegedly funneling hundreds of thousands of
classified documents to WikiLeaks. The
decision clears the way to set a date for
Manning, a private with the Army, to face a
host of charges, including that he aided the
enemy and wrongfully caused intelligence to
be openly publ
Iran on Friday rejected allegations by the
US director of national intelligence James
Clapper that the Islamic republic was more
willing now to carry out attacks on American
soil. "Iran categorically denies James
Clapper's unfounded allegations," foreign
ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"Those who are themselves accused of
supporting the assassination of Iranian
scientists in 
NATO agreed Friday to buy five
reconnaissance drones to boost the
alliance's surveillance capabilities after
the Libyan air war exposed shortcomings
among European forces in that field. The
Global Hawk, a long-range, high-altitude
aircraft made by US defence industry giant
Northrop Grumman, will be the key component
in NATO's long-delayed Alliance Ground
Surveillance (AGS) system. "This 
The US Air Force plans to spend $2.8 billion
to keep old combat aircraft in the air
because of major delays with the new F-35
fighter jet program, top officials said
Friday. With the production schedule of the
F-35 jet repeatedly postponed due to
technical problems, the Pentagon will
upgrade 350 aging F-16 fighters to fill the
gap in the fleet, Air Force leaders told
reporters. "The issu
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault has
landed India's biggest military contract
with a $10 billion order for 126 Rafale jet
fighters. In a brief announcement on its Web
site Dassault said it is "honored and
grateful to the Indian government and the
people of India to be given the opportunity
to extend their long-lasting cooperation."
Dassault Aviation and its partners "reitera
Europe should not fear a renewed US focus on
Asia and must increasingly look after its
own backyard militarily without its historic
ally, Germany's defence minister said on
Friday. "Europeans should not look at the
strategic re-orientation of the Americans
with apprehension. There is every reason to
be calm and confident," Thomas de Maiziere
said, opening the Munich Security
Conference. 
Hacker group Anonymous, in an embarrassment
for law enforcement, released a recording
Friday of a conference call between the FBI
and Scotland Yard discussing operations
against the hacking collective. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation confirmed the
authenticity of the nearly 17-minute
recording posted on YouTube and other sites
and said it was "intended for law
enforcement officers only a
NATO military commanders will beef up
security measures to prevent insurgents from
infiltrating the Afghan army after French
troops were killed by a renegade soldier,
the alliance chief said Friday. NATO defence
ministers endorsed a French proposal to task
military authorities with devising new plans
before the end of the month as they wrapped
up two days of talks focused on the
decade-old w
Turkey's military jets on Friday hit Kurdish
rebel hideouts in northern Iraq where
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) are holed up, the army said.
"Three targets belonging to the separatist
terrorist organisation in the Zap region...
were effectively hit by Turkish air force
planes," the General Staff said in a
statement posted on its website. The army
did not provide
Iran on Friday launched an observation
satellite into orbit above Earth, its third
since 2009, the official IRNA news agency
reported. "The Navid satellite was launched
successfully.... It will be placed into an
orbit (at an altitude) between 250 and 370
kilometres," IRNA quoted the head of Iran's
Space Organisation, Hamid Fazeli, as saying.
The launch comes as Iran is marking the
annive
Sitting cross-legged on a blood-red Afghan
carpet in a house perched on a Kabul
hillside, the bearded man gazes out across
the sprawling city where he was once one of
the most feared men in town. Now, Maulavi
Qalamuddin, former chief of the Taliban's
"vice and virtue" squad which whipped women
without burqas and jailed men without
beards, lives behind a battered green door
set in a mud wall 
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes
there is a "strong possibility" that Israel
will strike Iran's nuclear installations
this spring, the Washington Post said
Thursday in an editorial. When asked about
the opinion piece by reporters travelling
with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels,
Panetta brushed it aside. "I'm not going to
comment on that. David Ignatius can write
what he will 
The head North Korea's reunification
negotiating committee called on ex-patriot
Koreans to put aside their differences and
work for reunification of the Korean
Peninsula. But Kim Ryong Song, chairman of
the North Side Committee for Implementing
the June 15 Joint Declaration, also urged
Koreans to sweep aside the "Lee Myung-bak
group of traitors" who run the South Korean
government. 
The UN nuclear agency's trip to Iran was not
as "good" as its chief inspector described
this week, with real pressure now on Tehran
for the next visit later this month,
diplomats and analysts said. International
Atomic Energy Agency chief inspector Herman
Nackaerts's comment at Vienna airport on
Wednesday that he had a "good trip" was "off
the cuff" and "not meant to be a substantive
comment
The White House and its Republican foes
clashed Thursday over a law requiring steep
cuts to military spending after a
congressional "SuperCommittee" failed to
agree on long-range deficit reduction.
Republicans have stepped up election-year
pressure on President Barack Obama to help
them roll back the measure, warning that the
planned automatic cuts of about $500 billion
over 10 years will hu
US Republican lawmakers are voicing growing
alarm over a possible deal with the Taliban
that would see five militants transferred
from Guantanamo as part of peace talks on
ending Afghanistan's insurgency. The
criticism comes after President Barack
Obama's administration acknowledged
negotiations for a potential transfer of
five inmates from the prison at the US naval
base at Guantanamo Bay, 
The chief of Israel's Military Intelligence
warned Thursday that some 200,000 missiles
and rockets are aimed at the Jewish state at
any given moment. That's probably an
exaggeration. But it reflects the daily
barrage of warnings by Israeli leaders about
the grave perils they say the country faces
as tension mounts in the West's
confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf
over its conten
Boeing Defense Australia and Thales
Australia have opted for the Eurocopter
EC135 around which to build an aircrew
training system for a major Australian
military tender. The companies are working
together to bid for the military's Project
AIR 9000 Phase 7 - Helicopter Aircrew
Training System contract. "Boeing and
Thales's individual expertise and shared
strengths, as well as a 
A state of emergency instituted in a
Kazakhstan oil town during a December wave
of labor unrest and was allowed to lapse
this week. The emergency decree was lifted
Tuesday, five days after President Nursultan
Nazarbayev said the crackdown wouldn't be
extended because the "situation had taken a
normal course." The violence - the worst in
the oil-rich Central Asian nation since it
In terms of economics the notion of mutual
recognition refers to international
agreements in which two or more countries
agree to recognize one another and guarantee
free movement of goods and services without
the need to harmonize member states'
national legislation. A good illustration of
this would be the European Union. The Middle
East is no Europe and in the
Israeli-Palestinian dyn
A young Chilean has been detained for taking
photographs of a military barracks in
southern Peru, the second such arrest in as
many days near a military installation,
police said Thursday. The two countries
historically have had strained relations
over a border dispute dating from the late
19th century when Chile defeated Peru in the
War of the Pacific. The latest arrest
involved an unid
The ranks of Al-Qaeda have thinned
dramatically in recent years but the
organisation remains a serious threat in
Iraq, a Baghdad military spokesman said in
remarks published on Thursday. "According to
the numbers of our intelligence services,
which are the same as those of the
Americans, Al-Qaeda had 33,000 members in
2006. Today, they are no more than 3,000,"
Qassem Atta told the pan-Arab A
Protesters threw shoes at UN chief Ban Ki-moon
as he entered Gaza on Thursday, condemning
Israel's blockade and Ban's refusal to meet
the families of Palestinian prisoners. Ban's
convoy came under assault from about 50
protesters as it crossed into the
Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory only
hours after eight rockets were fired into
southern Israel from Gaza. The protesters
threw san
US lawmakers Thursday called for
congressional hearings into hazing in the
military while urging an end to
"institutional" abuse that has led to
suicides among soldiers. Representative Judy
Chu - whose Marine nephew, Lance Corporal
Harry Lew, committed suicide in Afghanistan
last year some 20 minutes after enduring
severe hazing by fellow Marines - said
"enough was enough" as she called fo
A Turkish prosecutor has launched an
investigation into an ultimatum the armed
forces gave to the moderate Islamic
government almost five years ago, newspapers
reported Thursday. A specially authorised
prosecutor in Ankara acted on various
complaints about the statement penned by
then chief-of-staff retired General Yasar
Buyukanit, now 71, said the Hurriyet and
Radikal dailies. At midnig
NATO allies voiced hope Thursday that Afghan
forces can take the lead across the country
next year, with foreign troops in a backup
role, as they seek to wind down a war that
has dragged on for a decade. At the same
time, the alliance insisted that it was not
changing plans to complete the security
transition by the end of 2014 and that NATO
troops would remain engaged in combat until
then. 
Iran has enough radioactive material to
produce four nuclear bombs, Israel's chief
of military intelligence, General Aviv
Kochavi, asserted at a security conference
on Thursday. "Today international
intelligence agencies are in agreement with
Israel that Iran has close to 100 kilograms
(220 pounds) of uranium enriched to 20
percent, which is enough to produce four
bombs," he told the annual 
NATO will locate the command centre for its
US-led missile shield at the alliance air
base in Ramstein, Germany, a diplomat told
AFP on Thursday. "The command for the NATO
missile shield will be based at the NATO
base in Ramstein," the diplomat said on
condition of anonymity as alliance defence
ministers began two days of talks in
Brussels. The centre will be operational
following a Chic
India's planned purchase of 126 fighters
from France's Dassault marks the latest
stage in a huge military procurement cycle
that has turned the world's largest
democracy into its biggest arms importer.
The final Dassault contract is expected to
be worth $12 billion and India is preparing
further big ticket purchases over the coming
years, including of helicopters and
artillery. In a repo
U.S. airstrikes in Yemen that reportedly
killed four al-Qaida commanders Tuesday came
hard on the heels of a U.S. Navy SEAL team's
Jan. 25 rescue of two Western hostages in
Somalia, across the Gulf of Aden. These U.S.
strikes underline how the Americans are
escalating covert operations against two
Islamist groups in the region - al-Qaida in
the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia's al-Shabaa
U.S. defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman
Corp. reported sales of $26.4 billion in
2011, a $1.7 billion - 6 percent - drop from
2010 and a sign of the times reflecting
cutbacks and lower demand on both sides of
the Atlantic. European defense manufacturers
also face challenging pressures on profits
and sales as EU governments fighting a cash
crunch are told by Brussels to consolidate
NATO allies will Thursday discuss US plans
to end combat operations in Afghanistan in
2013 and switch to a training mission before
handing security control to Afghan forces by
the end of 2014. US Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta set out the goal as he flew to
Brussels for two days of talks with NATO
counterparts that will also focus on how to
maintain the strength of the allies' armed
forces d
The United States should deploy more
warships to the Gulf, arm Israel and issue
tough warnings to convince Iran it is
serious about possible military action to
stop Tehran's nuclear program, former US
lawmakers and experts said Wednesday. The
bipartisan group criticized President Barack
Obama's administration for downplaying the
likelihood of US military action in public
statements, saying i
MBDA UK has been picked by Britain's
Ministry of Defense Ministry to develop a
new naval missile defense system. Called the
Sea Ceptor, the system would intercept and
destroy incoming missiles honing in on ships
at supersonic speeds. "The development of
this missile system is a huge boost to the
U.K.'s world-leading missile industry and
once again proves our commitment to providi
Introduction:
