Norway has seen increased Russian naval activity off its coast, paralleling higher activity by its air force and another sign of the Kremlin’s greater military assertiveness, a senior Norwegian defence official said.
NATO member Norway, which borders on Russia in the Arctic, has repeatedly scrambled fighters in past months to observe Russian bombers on exercises along [...]

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Quito, Ecuador (AHN) - Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa will not renew its contract with the United States when the agreement for American use of the Manta airport base expires on 2009. But Correa offered the air base’s concession to China during his state visit to the Asian country.
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For Europe, the “China honeymoon” is over. As the 10th European Union-China summit meeting convenes in Beijing this week, and after 15 years of rapidly and dramatically developing ties, there are numerous indications of new strains emerging in the relationship.
Tensions have grown over the past year, for a number of reasons. In particular, there has [...]

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China’s retrenchment on economic reform is one of the key findings of the U.S. Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which released its weighty, 333-page annual report, November 15, on Capitol Hill.
According to the Commission, China is “developing its military in ways that enhance its capacity to confront the United States,” especially with its [...]

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A commission concludes that China’s growing arsenal is being developed in ways designed to confront the United States. Clearly the People’s Republic is doing more these days than preparing for the 2008 Olympics.
The full report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released last week details the scope of China’s military buildup and the [...]

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North Korean experts discussed how to load chemical weapons onto missiles when they met with officials in Syria during a secret visit to the country earlier this month, a Japanese newspaper said Monday.
Damascus invited the experts for their advice as part of Syria’s drive to develop its short-range “Scud C” missiles, the conservative Sankei newspaper [...]

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November 21, 2007
Anthony Cordesman, a strategist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, has estimated the consequences if Tehran gets the bomb and a nuclear exchange with Israel ensues. He expects, writes Martin Walker of United Press International,
some 16 million to 28 million Iranians dead within 21 days, and between 200,000 and 800,000 [...]

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Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz held talks here Friday with President Vladimir Putin expected to pave the way for the first purchase of Russian weapons by the kingdom, a close US ally.
Greeting the crown prince at the Kremlin, Putin said discussions would address a range of an international issues, while the prince described [...]

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Japan is to deploy Patriot missile batteries on the streets of Tokyo in a security drill designed to prove that it is capable of defending itself from any threat posed by North Korea or China.
Convoys carrying troops and Patriot advanced capacity-3 missiles and launcher units will leave the Air Self-Defence Force’s base at Iruma, north [...]

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More than 18,000 feet above the mountains on Hawaii’s biggest island, two B-2 stealth bombers drop six 2,000-pound inert bombs on a training range below.
It’s a scene being repeated monthly as the Air Force’s sleek, boomerang-shaped planes use Hawaii for target practice. The aim is to make sure pilots are trained and ready to act [...]

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An overpriced piece of pie in the sky
Times Online, UK - 6 hours ago
It arose out of a loose conviction among some EU countries that they would prefer not to rely on the GPS – devised for the US military, still its primary …
Galileo tugs on public purse strings Register
Galileo funding a step closer Computing
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Germany’s Finance Ministry is estimating that the current business boycott against Iran has already led to a triple-digit million shortfall in the federal budget. If additional sanctions are imposed, the figure could soon swell to a few billion euros. more…

Germany Inc. in Tehran: Berlin Faces Hurdles in Push to Get Business Out of Iran
SPIEGEL 360: [...]

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