Russia Test Launches RS-24 Yars ICBM From Plesetsk: Ministry
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 29, 2014 -
Russian Strategic Arms Forces on Friday successfully test launched a Yars solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Space Complex in the country's northwest, an official spokesman for the country's Strategic Arms Forces said.
"On December 26, 2014, at 11:02 Moscow time [08:02 GMT]...a test launch of an RS-24 Yars solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile with a de ...
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Chechen president offers 'special regiment' to defend Russia
Moscow (AFP) Dec 28, 2014 -
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov on Sunday proposed the creation of a "special regiment" made up from Chechnya's armed forces to help defend Russia from Western aggression.
Kadyrov said his country stood firmly behind Russian President Vladimir Putin as Europe and the United States waged an "economic war" against Russia.
"For 15 years Vladimir Putin has helped our people! Now we're askin ...
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Russia's New Ballistic Missile Can Become Operational in 2016
Vlasikha, Russia (Sputnik) Dec 29, 2014 -
Russia's new-generation strategic ballistic missile RS-26 could be put on combat duty as early as in 2016, Commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, said Thursday.
"Tests of the RS-26 ballistic missile are still underway. We are planning to complete them next year and begin putting the missile on combat duty in 2016," Karakayev told RIA Novosti.
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Russia's New Military Doctrine Permits Retaliatory Nuclear Strike Only
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 29, 2014 -
Russia stopped short of including the "preemptive strike" notion into its new military doctrine released Friday, permitting the use of its nuclear arsenal only as a retaliatory measure.
Earlier media reports suggested that Russia's military doctrine could be updated to include the term "preemptive strike." However, provisions concerning the possibility of a nuclear strike remain largely si ...
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Second ballistic missile defense radar deployed in Japan
Washington (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
A second radar system for the detection of ballistic missiles is being deployed in Japan by the U.S. Department of Defense and Japan's Ministry of Defense.
The system is the Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance, or AN/TPY-2, system developed by Raytheon.
The system "continually searches the sky for ballistic missiles. Once it detects a missile, it acquires it, tracks it, an ...
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Afghan soldiers at small outpost vow to hold firm as US exits
Zhari, Afghanistan (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
One ergonomic office chair, heaters that don't work and some maps are the only signs that US troops once battled daily with the Taliban at Siah Choy, a small combat outpost in southern Afghanistan.
Now manned by just 30 Afghan soldiers, the base is in Kandahar province's Zhari district - the birthplace of the Taliban movement and scene of years of heavy fighting as NATO forces struggled to ...
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Suicide bomber hits Shiites in Iraq, killing 17
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
A suicide bomber attacked Shiite pilgrims north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 17 people, officials and a survivor of the blast said.
The attack in the Taji area, which targeted a tent serving refreshments to pilgrims, also wounded at least 35 people.
Pilgrims from Iraq and abroad are making their way to Samarra, north of Baghdad, to commemorate the death of Hassan al-Askari, one ...
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China blocks access to Google e-mail service
Beijing (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
China has blocked the last remaining way to access Google's popular e-mail service, experts said Monday, as authorities work to establish "Internet sovereignty" by controlling what enters the country via the web.
Gmail, the world's biggest e-mail service, has been largely inaccessible from within China since the run-up to the 25th anniversary in June of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro- ...
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China touts new weapon platforms, transparency
Manila (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
China's military is touting its introduction of new weapons platforms in 2014 and says that having done so publicly underlines its commitment to transparency.
The new platforms comprise air, sea and land assets, including a stealth jet fighter, destroyers and a main battle tank.
"A series of 'big moves' have stunned all people with the fact that China had made rapid progress in u ...
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No US embassy in Iran for now, says Obama
Washington (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
US President Barack Obama said Washington was not ready to open an embassy in Iran due to differences over nuclear policy, a position that contrasts with his new approach to Cuba.
"I never say never, but I think these things have to go in steps," Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio that aired Monday, regarding re-opening the long-shuttered US mission in Tehran.
"Cuba is ...
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IS claims killing of Iranian military adviser in Iraq
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
The Islamic State group has claimed the killing of a senior Iranian officer advising Iraqi forces in their fight against the jihadists, in posts on jihadist Internet forums on Monday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday announced the death of Brigadier General Hamid Taghavi, who had been training the army and Iraqi volunteers in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.
One jihadist forum ...
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Radar testing for JLENS aerostat
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
The first of two radar blimps to protect the nation's capital from cruise missiles is being readied for operational transfer to a U.S. Army air defense unit.
The helium-filled aerostat system, called JLENS, is undergoing additional testing of its radar systems by its maker, Raytheon, following its recent raising in Maryland.
"JLENS is strategically emplaced to help defend Washing ...
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Boeing, USAF fly KC-46 prototype
Everett, Wash. (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have for the first time flown a prototype aircraft in the KC-46 Pegasus development program.
The aircraft flown in the engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the program was a modified 767-2C freighter, upon which the aerial refueler will be based.
"Getting in the air is a critical step in the development of this important capability for ...
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French-Japanese couple missing since leaving for IS-controlled area
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
A French-Japanese couple who planned to visit areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group went missing after leaving Tokyo last month, reports and a source said Monday.
The Algerian-French husband and his Japanese wife, both Muslims in their 20s, had told Japanese officials they wanted to travel to the region to engage in "humanitarian assistance" but denied they would take par ...
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Taiwan kicks off plan to build its own submarines
Taipei (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
Taiwan said Monday it was launching a project to build a fleet of its own submarines, after years spent waiting in vain for US models.
Deputy Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told parliament the ministry has approved guidelines for the design contract for an Indigenous Defence Submarine.
"This means the military has officially kicked off the self-built submarine project," legislator Lin Y ...
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Taliban claim NATO 'defeat' in 13-year Afghan war
Kabul (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
The Taliban responded scornfully Monday to the formal end of NATO's war in Afghanistan, describing the US-led mission as a "fire of barbarism and cruelty" that had drowned the country "in a pool of blood".
The insurgent group issued the statement in English a day after NATO marked the closure of its combat mission with a low-key ceremony in Kabul, arranged in secret due to the threat of Tali ...
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Russia to Debate US Discrimination of Glonass System in UN: Reports
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 29, 2014 -
Moscow intends to bring the issue of alleged discrimination against Russia's navigation satellite system GLONASS by the United States to the United Nations, Russian newspaper Izvestiya reported Thursday, citing GLONASS Union President Alexander Gurko.
According to the newspaper, earlier in December US Federal Communications Commission stated it would introduce a compulsory licensing proced ...
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Belize blue hole helps explain collapse of ancient Mayan civilization
Houston (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
Recent mineral testing in the Great Blue Hole, a massive underwater cave in Belize, suggests a lengthy drought lead to the collapse of the Mayans.
From 300 to 700 CE, the Mayan civilization dominated the Yucatan peninsula. But after flourishing for four centuries - boasting a fully developed writing system, as well as innovations in art, architecture, mathematics and science - the Mes ...
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Birds slur their words when they're drunk
Portland, N.H. (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
New research suggest birds have trouble singing and calling after a few too many drinks. That's right, drunk birds slur their words.
As part of a massive effort to plot the most extensive avian family tree, researchers decided to test the effects of alcohol on communication skills. Because zebra finches are often used to better understand vocal learning in humans, scientists at Oregon H ...
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No season of goodwill for China's underground Christians
Beijing (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
A group of Christians gathered in an apartment above a Beijing dental surgery, the atmosphere jubilant as a choir belted out carols on Christmas Eve - but the curtains stayed tightly closed.
Unofficial Christian groups have long been subject to crackdowns, but the situation appears to be worsening as their numbers increase, and the ruling Communist party takes a more nationalist tone under ...
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Cameroon air strikes hit Boko Haram for first time
Yaounde (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
Cameroon has sent warplanes into action against Nigerian Boko Haram fighters for the first time, after the large force of jihadists crossed the border and seized a military camp, the government said.
President Paul Biya personally ordered Sunday's air strike, which forced the insurgents to flee the camp at Assighasia, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a statement late Sund ...
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Scientists study half-male, half-female cardinal in Illinois
Macomb, Ill. (UPI) Dec 29, 2014 -
Between 2008 and 2010, researchers tracked and studied a rare bird - a gynandromorphic Northern cardinal. Gynandromorphism is a condition whereby an animal presents both male and female characteristics. That was the case for this unique Midwest cardinal, who featured female plumage on its right side and male plumage on its left side.
Because the cardinal color split (half white, half r ...
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Rare Sumatran tiger eats her cubs in Jerusalem zoo
Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
A rare Sumatran tiger in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has killed and eaten her two five-week-old cubs in a blow to its captive breeding programme, its chief vet said Monday.
The mother tiger, named Hana, had given birth to three cubs after being mated with a tiger from Germany called Avigdor, Nili Avni-Magen told AFP.
"One cub died shortly after birth but the other two were in good health. ...
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Snow brings chaos to Europe, but skiers rejoice
Paris (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
Heavy snowfall brought both chaos and joy across Europe overnight Sunday, with some 15,000 people stranded overnight in the French Alps while skiers revelled in the fresh powder blanketing slopes.
A winter storm left thousands of Britons without power, sent trucks sliding across icy highways in Germany and caused airport delays and traffic disruptions across the region.
A Swiss national ...
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China bird flu death reported as 2014 toll rises
Beijing (AFP) Dec 29, 2014 -
A man has died from the H7N9 bird flu strain in eastern China, state media reported Monday, at the end of a year in which cases of the virus have accelerated.
The deceased man was one of two recent cases reported in the city of Yongkang in Zhejiang. They were the third and fourth in the province "since the start of winter", the China News Service reported.
The death emerged as hospitals ...
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