The government is hoping that a 60-mile race among up to 20 driverless, self-guided vehicles will yield technological advances that can save lives on the battlefield.The U.S. government’s military research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), this week is gearing up for the Urban Challenge, to be held Saturday, Nov. 3 at the [...]

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Sixty-five years after World war II’s Battle of Midway, the United States remains the world’s only naval superpower. U.S. planners now face the challenge of preserving that dominance while adjusting to a new world of threats. A maritime strategy unveiled October 17—a partnership involving the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard—advocates a shift from sea [...]

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Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is Washington’s closest ally in Latin America, while Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is an anti-American firebrand. Yet a recent warming between the two leaders, prompted by Venezuela’s offer to help Colombia negotiate with one of its guerilla groups, is raising eyebrows and provoking questions about the direction of U.S.-Colombia relations. “How long [...]

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Experts say the nuclear ambitions of majority Sunni Muslim states such as Libya, Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia are reactions to Shiite Iran’s high-profile nuclear bid, seen as linked with Tehran’s campaign for greater influence and prestige throughout the Middle East.
“To have 13 states in the region say they’re interested in nuclear power over the [...]

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China’s space effort undergoing a sea change
MSNBC - 7 hours ago
More powerful units are created by strapping add-on segments to the sides of core vehicles. It is the same basic shape as is used by Chinese military …
New Chinese rocket raises concerns of arms race in space Guardian Unlimited
China to Build New Space Rockets The Associated [...]

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The conclusion of this six-part series extrapolated from the Military Guide to Terrorism emphasizes our military experts’ professional assessment of what we should expect from terrorists as we go forward into a dangerous future. Which are our best options?
Terrorism of the Foreseeable Future
“Today’s extreme Islamist groups such as al-Qaida do not merely seek political revolution [...]

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Unconfirmed report raises questions, sets bloggers blogging
DEBKAfile, an Israeli news organization, yesterday published a report stating that counter-terrorism sources have intercepted and translated an Arabic “Internet announcement” that proposes an attack on Western electronic targets to begin on November 11. The attack will begin with 15 targets and will expand to “untold numbers,” according to [...]

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The former head of the Soviet KGB warned on Wednesday that a conflict between rival Russian security services could lead to “big trouble” and urged feuding clans to unite around President Vladimir Putin.
Details have emerged of a feud between rival groups of secret service officers who form the bedrock of Putin’s team. [...]

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Until a few years ago, the suggestion that India could grow as fast as China belonged to the same category as other incredible pronouncements by ‘fact-proof’ politicians.
There was little by way of hard data to back up such a claim. But now no longer.
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The new Long March 5 rockets, which can be used to carry communication satellites and lunar probes, will be able to hold greater weight than the current batch.
They signal China’s ambitions to have a greater presence in space in the next 30 to 50 years and desire to compete in the global market to launch [...]

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“We Know Why You’re in South Africa,” reads a billboard in a South African town near the Zimbabwe border posted by an underground pro-democracy movement, “Life in Zimbabwe is Murder These Days” (Newsweek Int’l). With government data reporting inflation at 7,600 percent and international economists estimating it is much higher than that, those Zimbabweans who [...]

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Attiya says that rising prices are the end result of crises in places like Iraq, Iran, Venezuela and Nigeria, which “create more fears, and speculators are very smart. They jump into the market and take this factor and create it as fear. They try to frighten the world. ‘Oh, maybe the oil will be disappear. [...]

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Analysis: Israel stays mum as Sunni states clamor for nuclear power
Jerusalem Post, Israel - 4 hours ago
By HERB KEINON Israel was noticeably quiet Tuesday, a day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced a plan to build several nuclear power plants - a …
Egypt Going Nuclear Forbes
‘Egypt’s nuclear plans are purely peaceful’ Radio Netherlands
Egypt launches nuclear power programme [...]

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Rather than Owning Up to History, Russia Continues to Live with It
Russia is often said to walk toward the future with its head turned backwards. Russia’s past is called “unpredictable,” in the sense that it’s almost always politicized and interpreted differently every time to please the current rulers. And in this context, it seems even [...]

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French warship builder DCNS has made a deal with the Russian Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, to provide advanced submarine design technology. DCNS builds France’s nuclear and diesel-electric submarines.
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Russia tests missile interceptor
ABC Online, Australia - 4 hours ago
Russia says it has successfully test-fired a number of short-range missile interceptors from a site in Kazakhstan. The test comes amid tensions with the …
Maneuvering Against Missile Defense The Conservative Voice
Russia test launches inter-continental missile Mathaba.Net
all 67 news articles »

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In public, Vladimir Putin is backing up Tehran. Is something else going on behind the scenes?
He is a hard man to figure out, to be sure. Over the past few weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired off a memorable series of comments that, put together, seem all but a declaration of independence from the [...]

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American Defense Policy at a Crossroads
America’s military policy is in disarray, but not for the reason most people think. For the first time since around 1950, there is no coherent theoretical framework for thinking about how to shape our armed forces for current and future threats. This fact presents both a danger and an opportunity. [...]

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There is mistrust of the cold-war powers as well as Islamist-inspired Iranian autocracy. More people want to see a decline rather than an increase in the power of Russia (29 percent decline, 23 percent increase), of China (32 percent decline, 24 percent increase), of the United States (37 percent decline, 26 percent increase), and of [...]

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This short answer is that it’s not going to happen. America is not going to war with Iran.
By George Friedman
A possible U.S. attack against Iran has been a hot topic in the news for many months now. In some quarters it has become an article of faith that the Bush administration intends to order such [...]

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New Photo Shows Suspected Syrian Nuclear Facility 4 Years Before …
FOX News - 5 hours ago
A 2003 photo released to FOX News shows a possible nuclear facility in Syria four years before Israel launched an air strike reportedly aimed at destroying …
World owes Israel Edmonton Sun
What’s In Those Syria Satellite Shots? Washington Post
Risk of nuclear attack [...]

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