5 dead, 29 wounded in Philippine gunbattle with Abu Sayyaf extremists: military
Zamboanga, Philippines (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
Three Muslim rebels and two soldiers were killed Friday in a day-long gunbattle between troops and Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremists blamed for beheadings and kidnappings in the southern Philippines, the military said.
The fighting began as part of an operation to capture Abu Sayyaf commander Puruji Indama, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said in a brief statement, and ...
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Romania presses for NATO redeployment over Ukraine crisis
Bucharest (AFP) April 10, 2014 -
NATO should redeploy its forces in eastern Europe and take a firm stand to prevent a contagion of the Ukraine crisis, Romania's foreign minister urged in an interview Thursday with AFP.
"Romania has concrete expectations of a redeployment and an eastward repositioning of NATO's naval, air and ground forces," Titus Corlatean said.
"The Black Sea region must be a top priority for NATO and ...
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German government to cancel Saudi tank deal: report
Berlin (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
The German government will not approve a reported deal to sell up to 800 battle tanks to Saudi Arabia, a German Sunday newspaper said, citing government sources.
The sale of the Leopard-2 tanks had been billed as one of the biggest deals for the German armaments industry, Bild reported.
But Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat in the left-right "grand coalition", has "posit ...
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Iraqis in resort town face return to Anbar unrest
Shaqlawa, Iraq (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
When fighting erupted in Iraq's Anbar province in December, Abu Mohammed fled with his family to a virtually empty summer resort far to the north to take advantage of its off-season rates and wait out the conflict.
But high season is about to begin in Shaqlawa, nestled beneath the Safin Mountains nearly 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) up, a place where Iraqis seek to escape scorching summer temper ...
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Ma's pro-China drive hits trouble as Taiwan students come of age
Taipei (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
The last time Taiwanese students mobilised en masse, they brought about an end to decades of martial rule. Now, they are scenting victory in a new battle for the island's soul as they repel government plans to embrace China ever closer.
For both sides, the debate about strengthening trade ties with the giant mainland is an existential one. President Ma Ying-jeou says that without his mooted ...
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Croatia now operates former U.S. military vehicles
Zagreb, Croatia (UPI) Apr 11, 2013 -
More than two dozen U.S.-made armored vehicles are now operational with the Croatian military following their donation by the U.S. government.
The 30 vehicles are MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles by Navistar Defense.
The Croatian Ministry of Defense said the MRAPs are part of a larger donation of 212 armored vehicles and will be used for patrolling, convoy securit ...
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Israeli, Palestinian negotiators meet on crisis-hit peace talks
Jerusalem (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met on Sunday in a fresh bid to save their teetering US-brokered peace talks, a Palestinian official said.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat met in Jerusalem with his Israeli opposite number, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's special envoy Yitzhak Molcho, he told AFP.
There was no immediate word from the Israe ...
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Sri Lanka troops kill emerging Tiger leaders: official
Colombo (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
Sri Lanka's military on Friday shot dead three men they believed were trying to revive the separatist Tamil Tiger movement five years after its defeat, a spokesman said.
Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said troops killed the three, including a man they identified as a local leader of the Tigers, as they tried to escape a military cordon in a jungle area of the former war zon ...
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13 dead as Syria planes hit rebel bastions near Damascus: NGO
Beirut (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
Syrian warplanes on Sunday launched an offensive against a string of opposition bastions on the edges of the capital, including the besieged Eastern Ghouta area, a monitoring group said.
"Warplanes carried out two air strikes against areas of Douma," northeast of Damascus, killing 13 people, including three women and three children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
One of th ...
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Pakistan's talks with militants in comprehensive phase: minister
Islamabad (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
Pakistan on Sunday announced its talks with the Taliban militants to reach an accord will enter a "comprehensive" phase in days, with both sides set to put forward formal agendas, after weeks of negotiations.
The announcement came from the country's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan days after the infighting between the Taliban groups killed more than 60 people and a ceasefire deadli ...
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Russia's top diplomat to discuss Ukraine in China visit
Moscow (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week and will discuss with him the situation in Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said Sunday.
Lavrov will visit China on Tuesday, ahead of four-way talks between diplomats from the European Union, United States, Ukraine and Russia planned in Geneva on Thursday. Those talks are now in doubt ami ...
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Philippines aims for US defence deal before Obama visit
Manila (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
The Philippines said Friday it hopes to complete a new defence accord with the United States ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama this month, as a territorial dispute with China simmers.
The chief Philippine negotiator, defence undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, said in a statement the latest round of discussions about an increased US military presence in the country was "very producti ...
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China's booming military spending belies caution
Beijing (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
With the world's biggest military, China far outnumbers rival Japan in manpower, ships, aircraft and defence spending, but analysts say underlying weaknesses leave it still wary of a fight.
The two Asian powers are embroiled in simmering territorial and historical rows, with the tensions highlighted this week in consecutive visits to each by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Beijing's la ...
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German space research centre under espionage attack: report
Berlin (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
Germany's aeronautics and space research centre has for months been the target of a suspected cyber attack by a foreign intelligence service, a German news weekly reported Sunday.
Der Spiegel said that several computers used by scientists and systems administrators at the Cologne-based DLR centre had been infiltrated by spy programmes.
"The government classes the attack as extremely seri ...
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Navy contracts General Dynamics to develop weapons-related software
Fairfax, Va. (UPI) Apr 11, 2013 -
The U.S. Navy has issued a contract for software for modeling the effects of the release of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials.
The software is to be developed and integrated by General Dynamics Information Technology and will serve as the foundation for the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command's Joint Effects Model Increment 2 System.
"General Dyn ...
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NSA denies exploiting 'Heartbleed' vulnerability
Washington (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
The US National Security Agency on Friday denied a report claiming it was aware of and even exploited the "Heartbleed" online security flaw to gather critical intelligence.
The stern denial came amid growing panic among Internet users the world over about the newly exposed flaw, after a report by Bloomberg News said the spy agency decided to keep quiet about the matter and even used it to sc ...
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Swiss voters set to sink Swedish jet fighter deal: poll
Geneva (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
Swiss voters are set to sink a massive defence deal with Swedish firm Saab to buy 22 fighter planes, an opinion poll showed Friday ahead of a referendum next month.
The survey by the gfs.bern polling institute showed that 52 percent of voters opposed the plan, while 42 percent were in favour.
With just six percent of voters still to make up their minds, a turnaround by supporters of the ...
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Row over Iran UN pick not impacting nuclear talks: US
Washington (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
The United States' refusal to issue a visa to Iran's pick for UN ambassador is not impacting talks over the country's disputed nuclear program, Washington's envoy to the United Nations said Sunday.
Washington has said it won't issue a visa to newly appointed Hamid Aboutalebi, who has been linked to the 1979 US hostage crisis.
Iran, in response, has insisted the objection is unacceptab ...
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S. Korea says drones were from N. Korea
Seoul (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
South Korea's defence ministry said Friday it was convinced that three crashed drones recovered in recent weeks were of North Korean origin.
Wreckage of the rudimentary drones was found in three different places, including Baengnyeong island near the rivals' disputed sea border.
"By inspecting the three aircraft and their loaded devices, we've secured various pieces of circumstantial evi ...
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North Korea denounces US 'double-standards'
Seoul (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
North Korea on Friday accused the United States of hypocrisy for remaining silent over a South Korean missile test while condemning Pyongyang's recent launches.
"The US double-dealing attitude and despicable mode of action has been brought to light," a spokesman for the North's powerful National Defence Commission (NDC) said in a statement.
The statement, carried by the North's official ...
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New towns going up in developing nations pose major risk to the poor
Denver CO (SPX) Apr 11, 2014 -
Satellite city projects across the developing world are putting an increasing number of poor people at risk to natural hazards and climate change, according to a new study from the University of Colorado Denver.
Throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America `new towns' are rapidly being built on the outskirts of major cities with the goal of relieving population pressures, according to study a ...
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Italian navy says nearly 900 migrants rescued
Rome (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
Italy has rescued 896 migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat in the past 24 hours, the navy said on Friday, after the government warned of an "emergency" caused by a surge in new arrivals.
Three navy warships and two coast guard patrol boats took on the migrants who are now being transferred to other vessels and taken to ports in Sicily for identification, the navy said in a statement. ...
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Jailed China activist defiant as court rejects appeal
Beijing (AFP) April 11, 2014 -
A prominent Chinese legal activist defiantly denounced a court as "absurd" on Friday as it upheld his jail sentence for supporting anti-corruption protests, his lawyer said.
Xu Zhiyong, 40, was sentenced to four years in prison in January for backing demonstrations in which a handful of activists held up banners calling for government officials to disclose their assets, as Beijing cracks dow ...
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Army plays kingmaker in Algeria democracy
Algiers (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
With an elected president, two-chamber parliament and a constitutional council, Algeria certainly looks like a democracy, even if the army has played a key political role since the war of independence.
Former premier Sid Ahmed Ghozali, questioned by Algerian news website TSA, did not mince his words.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is running for a fourth term in an April 17 election ...
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UN climate chief urges 'bold' carbon-curbing steps
Berlin (AFP) April 13, 2014 -
The UN climate chief on Sunday called on governments to take bold steps to tame carbon emissions after a landmark report said the worldwide aim to limit global warming was still attainable.
"The world can still combat climate change but only if nations raise their collective ambition to achieve a carbon-neutral world in the second half of the century," said Christiana Figueres, executive sec ...
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