Vietnam freed blogger to win allies in China dispute: analysts
Hanoi (AFP) Oct 22, 2014 -
Vietnam's sudden release of a top dissident who was shuttled from jail to the United States is part of an attempt to secure powerful allies amid a simmering maritime dispute with China, analysts said Wednesday.
Prominent blogger Nguyen Van Hai, whose case had been raised by US President Barack Obama, was freed two years after being sentenced to 12 years in jail for "anti-state propaganda". ...
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Heading, attitude system ordered by Airbus Helicopters
Orlando, Fla. (UPI) Oct 22, 2014 -
A new attitude and heading reference system for aircraft from Northrop Grumman's German subsidiary has been ordered by Airbus Helicopters.
The LCR-350 system by Northrop Grumman LITEF, for use in military and civilian rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, provides flight control data on heading and attitude.
Northrop Grumman said production of the LCR-350 units for Airbus Helicopters w ...
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IS jihadists again besiege Iraq's Mount Sinjar
Arbil, Iraq (AFP) Oct 22, 2014 -
The Islamic State jihadist group has again surrounded Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, where it trapped thousands of civilians this summer, commanders in the area said Wednesday.
The civilians, mostly members of the Yazidi religious minority, eventually escaped via Syria with the help of Kurdish fighters from Iraq's neighbour to the west, but that route has now been cut.
"The mountain is b ...
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China Launches New Satellite Via Orbital Carrier Rocket
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 22, 2014 -
China has launched its new Yaogan-22 remote sensing optical satellite into scheduled orbit Monday, Chinese News Service reported.
The satellite was launched atop a Long March 4C rocket, which blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, a Chinese space and defense launch facility and a spaceport.
The satellite will be used for scientific exploration purposes, natural resourc ...
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Canada raises 'terrorism' alert after soldier killed
Ottawa (AFP) Oct 22, 2014 -
Canada raised its national "terrorism" alert on Tuesday, officials said, after a soldier run over by a suspected jihadist died in hospital.
The alert level was raised from low to medium after authorities said a man they believed to be "radicalized" struck two officers with his car Monday, but authorities said the heightened alert was not "the result of a specific threat."
"This level me ...
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Iraq asks for 46,000 M1A1 Abrams tank rounds
Washington (UPI) Oct 21, 2014 -
The sale of thousands of rounds of tank ammunition to Iraq under the Foreign Military Sales program has been presented to Congress
The proposed sale was detailed by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which said the U.S. State Department had already given its approval for the deal, which carries a value of an estimated $600 million.
"The proposed sale of the ammunition ...
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Propaganda, personal struggles turn some young Belgians to jihad
Vilvoorde, Belgium (AFP) Oct 22, 2014 -
As chairman of the Annasr mosque, Mimoun Aquichouh personally knows a number of young men who left the small Belgian city of Vilvoorde to wage jihad in Syria.
They worshipped at his mosque on a quiet street in the former industrial city just north of the capital Brussels as they fought their own personal struggles before finding the path of jihad, much to Aquichouh's dismay.
Their storie ...
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