Changes ahead for Royal Canadian Navy fleet
Ottawa (UPI) Sep 23, 2014 -
Four ships of the Royal Canadian Navy, including two guided missile destroyers, are being retired as the service modernizes its fleet.
The Department of National Defense identified the vessels as the navy's Protecteur and Preserver, auxiliary oil replenishment ships, and the destroyers Iroquois and Algonquin.
"The retirement of these vessels has been anticipated for some time, an ...
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Baghdad car bomb kills at least 14
Baghdad (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
A car bomb exploded near a market in the Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people, Iraqi police and medical sources said.
"The car was parked near a market, there are at least 14 killed," a police colonel told AFP. A medical source in the capital confirmed the death toll said at least 37 were also wounded.
Iraqi forces backed by US and French wa ...
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Australian military gets green light for counter-IED program
Canberra, Australia (UPI) Sep 23, 2014 -
Australia's military has received initial budgetary approval for a program to develop its own capabilities to counter improvised explosive devices.
Minister for Defense David Johnston said First Pass approval of the LAND 154 Phase 2 Joint Counter Improvised Explosive Device program includes about $17 million for capability development, trials, risk reduction activities and industry soli ...
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China jails Uighur scholar for life for 'separatism'
Beijing (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
A prominent academic from China's mostly-Muslim Uighur minority was jailed for life Tuesday for "separatism", with the European Union expressing outrage at the "completely unjustified" response to criticism of Beijing's policies in the restive Xinjiang region.
The EU, United States and human rights groups had all been calling for the release of Ilham Tohti, a persistent but moderate governme ...
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'3,000 European jihadis' now in Syria, Iraq
Brussels (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
The number of Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has jumped by a third to around 3,000 in a few months, the EU counter terrorism chief said Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Gilles de Kerchove said the flow of Europeans may have been boosted by the Islamic State militant group's declaration in June of a caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq.
"My own assessme ...
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US, Arab allies strike IS jihadists in Syria
Damascus (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
The United States and its Arab allies unleashed deadly bomb and missile strikes on jihadists in Syria on Tuesday, opening a new front in the battle against the Islamic State group.
Dozens of IS and Al-Qaeda militants were reported killed in the raids, which Washington said had partly targeted extremists plotting an "imminent attack" against the West.
Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia ...
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World facing most crises since WWII: EU aid chief
United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 23, 2014 -
The world is facing more crises than at any point since World War II and the humanitarian community cannot cope unless the globe acts quicker to stop conflict, a top EU official warned Tuesday.
Kristalina Georgieva made the remarks at UN headquarters a day after the United States expanded an air campaign against jihadists from Iraq to Syria.
"Today we have a footprint of crises in the wo ...
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