25 hurt as fire, blasts rock Philippine army munitions depot
Manila (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
A ball of fire and explosions ripped through a munitions depot at the Philippine army's headquarters near the financial district in Manila Wednesday, injuring 25 people, mostly soldiers and firemen, officials said.
The blaze is suspected of triggering the blasts that rained bullets, broken bricks, pieces of concrete, glass and tree branches at the sprawling Fort Bonifacio site, they added. ...
more
In hunt for hostages, countries offer intel to Nigeria
Washington (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
An urgent international effort to help Nigeria find more than 200 girls kidnapped by Islamist militants is focused on providing intelligence as experts try to locate the hostages.
Amid global outrage over the kidnapping, the United States, France and Britain are sending specialist teams to Nigeria, which said London had agreed to deploy "satellite imaging capabilities."
China promised t ...
more
China attacks escalate as militants raise stakes: analysts
Beijing (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
A series of shocking attacks in China signals a calculated bid by militants from mainly Muslim Xinjiang to raise the profile of their confrontation with Beijing - whatever the cost, analysts say.
Their violent campaign, which was long concentrated against security authorities within the resource-rich region, has since late last year spread to civilian targets both inside Xinjiang and far be ...
more
Vietnam marks 'historic, golden' Dien Bien Phu victory
Dien Bien Phu , Vietnam (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
War veterans, communist leaders and diplomats gathered in Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu town Wednesday for an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the country's seminal victory over French colonial forces.
The bloody, 56-day battle in this remote, northwestern valley ended on May 7, 1954, precipitating both the collapse of France's colonial empire and Vietnam's emergence as an independent nation. ...
more
Dalai Lama shrugs off Norway government snub
Oslo (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday he held no grudges against Norway's government after they decided not to meet him on his trip to Oslo in order to avoid further damaging already fragile relations with China.
"Of course, if leaders like President Obama want to meet, I am glad, but I do not want to create any inconvenience for anyone," the spiritual leader of the Tibetans told the press as he ...
more
America's Achilles Heart
Washington DC (UPI) May 06, 2014 -
According to mythology, the otherwise invincible Achilles had one fatal vulnerability: his heel. America has several vulnerabilities. Perhaps the most ironic is its heart.
Since 1789, ambivalence over America's international role and responsibilities has persisted. This tension can be captured in terms of George Washington's pragmatism not to seek permanent entanglements abroad and Wo ...
more
China's Xi meets veteran Taiwan politician: Xinhua
Beijing (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
China's President Xi Jinping met longtime Taiwanese politician James Soong in Beijing on Wednesday, state media said, the latest step in incrementally improving ties in recent years.
China's official news agency Xinhua described Xi as the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Soong as chairman of Taiwan's People First Party, suggesting that the two met in t ...
more
Syrian opposition calls for arms against Assad's air force
Washington (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
The leader of the Syrian opposition made a powerful plea to a reluctant US administration Wednesday for anti-aircraft weapons to end "the nightmare" of civilians under seige from daily barrel bombings.
At the start of his first official visit to Washington, Ahmad Jarba told a US think-tank that opposition forces need "efficient weapons to face these attacks including air raids, so we can cha ...
more
Fallujah-area Iraq unrest kills at least 295: doctor
Baghdad (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
Violence in and around the Iraqi city of Fallujah, held by anti-government fighters for months, has killed at least 295 people since late last year, a doctor said Wednesday.
At least 1,296 people have also been wounded in the area, a short drive west of Baghdad, between December 30 and May 7, Dr Ahmed Shami, chief medic at the city's main hospital, told AFP.
The actual toll may be higher ...
more
Navy tasks Oshkosh Defense with continued UGV work
Oshkosh, Wis. (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
Oshkosh Defense says it is to continue its work for the U.S. military's Cargo Unmanned Ground Vehicle project under an Office of Naval Research contract.
The Cargo UGV project, begun in 2010 by the U.S. Marine Corps, is to explore how UGV technology could be integrated into the Marine Corps' tactical wheeled vehicle fleet.
Oshkosh said two Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements wer ...
more
Enhanced infrared sensor system for Seasparrow missiles
Boulder, Colo. (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
An electro-optical, infrared laser sensor system that enhances the ability of ships to detect potential threats has been ordered by NATO.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. said the order for the Seasparrow long-range electro-optical infrared laser sensor system, or SLREOSS, was issued by the NATO Seasparrow Program Office and worth an initial $23.9 million, with options worth an addit ...
more
Hummingbird line of VTOL unmanned aerial systems to make debut
Lafayette, Colo. (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
Three Hummingbird vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial systems are being introduced by Reference Technologies, the company reports.
The Model 1 Hummingbird is a battery powered aircraft with a medium flight duration and light payload capacity. Model II, a long flight duration and high payload aircraft, uses a gas-powered electrical system to power to six external rotors surround ...
more
Harpoon missile sale in works for Brazil
Washington (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
The Brazilian government has requested a $169 million Foreign Military Sales deal from the United States for AGM-84L Harpoon Block II Missiles Harpoon missiles.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its required notification to Congress, said the deal would be for 16 missiles, along with CATM-84L Harpoon Block II captive air training missiles, containers, spare and repair par ...
more
Boeing touts its Growler aircraft
St. Louis (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
Boeing reports it has delivered its 100th EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft to the U.S. Navy on cost and on schedule.
"Today (Monday) we celebrated 100 Growler deliveries - all on cost and on schedule - and highlighted the need for additional Growlers in the future so our men and women in uniform can prosecute their missions in the safest, most effective way possible," said M ...
more
US security adviser meets Israel leaders amid spy claims
Jerusalem (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice met Israeli leaders Wednesday after the collapse of US-brokered Middle East peace talks and amid allegations Israel was spying on its principal ally.
Rice started her visit by meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"They discussed a wide range of regional and bilateral issues, including the United States and Israel's close security cooperation ...
more
NATO sees no sign of Ukraine Russian troop pullback
Warsaw (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
NATO said Wednesday it had seen no sign of Russian troops withdrawing from the border with Ukraine, despite President Vladimir Putin's claim they have been pulled back.
"On the claims that Russia is pulling back troops, I am not able to confirm that information - we haven't seen any signs that Russia is withdrawing its troops," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Warsaw. ...
more
Vietnam says China fired water cannon, rammed ships near oil rig
Hanoi (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
Hanoi said Wednesday that Chinese ships protecting a deep-water drilling rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea had used water cannon to attack Vietnamese patrol vessels and repeatedly rammed them, injuring six people.
Tensions between the communist neighbours have risen sharply since Beijing unilaterally announced last week it would move the deep-water drilling rig into disputed wate ...
more
Prototype laser system used against small boats
Sunnyvale, Calif. (UPI) May 7, 2013 -
A prototype ground-based laser system by Lockheed Martin burned through two boats from a range of 1 mile during maritime testing off the California coast.
The prototype system is called ADAM, or the Area Defense Anti-Munitions system, and is to demonstrate defense against short-range threats, including Qassam-like rockets, unmanned aerial systems and small boats.
"Our laser weapo ...
more
Elon Musk halts deal between USAF and Russian rocket-makers
Moscow (Voice of Russia) May 02, 2014 -
A decision handed out late Wednesday by a United States Court of Federal Claims judge will for now keep the American aerospace industry from buying Russian-made rockets.
Judge Susan G. Branden issued an injunction this week just days after California's SpaceX company asked the US government to reconsider a deal between the Air Force and United Launch Services - a joint-venture between Lock ...
more
Seoul urges 'serious consequences' against North Korea
United Nations, United States (AFP) May 07, 2014 -
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to threaten North Korea with "the most serious consequences" if it refuses to stop conducting nuclear tests.
North Korea has recently been testing the engine for an inter-continental ballistic missile amid concerns it is preparing a fourth nuclear test, with recent satellite images showing increased activit ...
more
Alibaba opens fortunes from Wall St to Chinese backwaters
Baigou, China (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
Thousands of miles from Wall Street, where Alibaba Group has filed for a multi-billion-dollar IPO, Chinese farmers are swapping tractors for luxury cars after making fortunes through the Internet giant.
"All of our business is now on the Internet," said Huang Jianqiao, who grew up in rural poverty but now roars to work in a black Jaguar and flies with his wife on holidays to Paris, thanks to ...
more
China's largest bank ICBC bars services for Bitcoin
Shanghai (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
China's biggest bank ICBC has banned activities related to trading in Bitcoin, it said Thursday, joining at least 10 other Chinese banks participating in a government crackdown on virtual currencies.
Bitcoin, invented in the wake of the global financial crisis by a mysterious computer guru, is a form of cryptography-based e-money that can be stored either virtually or on a user's hard drive, ...
more
Pressure on US regulators to block Internet 'fast lanes'
San Francisco (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
Pressure is building on US regulators to stop powerful firms from hogging Internet "fast lanes" that could be allowed under proposed rules that will be discussed next week.
More than 100 technology firms including titans Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Twitter came out Wednesday against Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggested rules of the road that seemingly run counter to the che ...
more
China trade volumes creep up in April: Customs
Beijing (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
China's exports and imports rose marginally in April, official data showed Thursday, rebounding from sharp declines in March, but analysts saw a mixed outlook with the world's second-largest economy in the grip of a growth slowdown.
Exports crept up 0.9 percent year-on-year to $188.54 billion, the General Administration of Customs announced, while imports increased 0.8 percent to $170.09 bil ...
more
London police to wear body cameras in year-long trial
London (AFP) May 08, 2014 -
Police officers across London will wear video cameras when responding to emergency calls as part of a year-long pilot project launched on Thursday.
A total of 500 cameras will routinely collect evidence from public order and domestic abuse incidents in 10 of London's 32 boroughs, as well as potentially contentious "stop and searches", Scotland Yard said.
The force has been testing body-w ...
more
