U.S. scientists have discovered traces of enriched uranium on smelted aluminum tubing provided by North Korea, apparently contradicting Pyongyang’s denial that it had a clandestine nuclear program, according to U.S. and diplomatic sources.
The United States has long pointed to North Korea’s acquisition of thousands of aluminum tubes as evidence of such a program, saying the [...]

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An unprecedented battle is taking place inside the Kremlin in advance of Vladimir Putin’s departure from office, the Guardian has learned, with claims that the president presides over a secret multibillion-dollar fortune.
Rival clans inside the Kremlin are embroiled in a struggle for the control of assets as Putin prepares to transfer power to his hand-picked [...]

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A unilateral military strike against Iran is much more likely following the latest intel report about Tehran’s nuke program.
But Olmert is not Moses; he can’t hold back elemental forces all by himself. And a rising tide of opinion in Israel’s intelligence and national-security circles believes that the NIE does signal American retreat–and, more profoundly, renewed [...]

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Political uncertainty is unlikely to follow Russia’s March 2008 presidential elections, and Moscow is expected to continue its course of assertive international policies, with the Kremlin set to focus on forming and strengthening non-western political and economic groupings as a counterweight.
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The nation’s armed forces remain beset by manpower and morale problems, aging equipment, graft and unfulfilled promises to overhaul their Cold War-era structure, Western and Russian analysts say. While Putin, 55, has increased Russia’s defense budget to a level four times greater than when he became president in 2000, it is still less than 6 [...]

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Beijing’s decision to cancel a port visit to Hong Kong by the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk last month could go down in diplomatic history as a watershed in China’s foreign policy.
The high-decibel “no” to the carrier group – and also to the U.S. frigate Reuben James, which wanted to dock at Hong Kong on [...]

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MOSCOW, Dec. 11 (UPI) — Russia must increase investment in oil and gas exploration and production, and save its energy resources, say German scientists.
“At the current level of production, (Russia’s) reserves will have been used up in around 22 years,” says a report by the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) released Dec. 4.
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Robots have stepped out of the science fiction pages and onto the battlefield. Thousands are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. Some robots cost as little as several thousand dollars each. Controlled remotely by soldiers, sailors, and airmen, they perform tasks such as disarming roadside [...]

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The Russians, led by President Putin, have increasingly rattled the saber, opposing almost anything that America supports. Except for their nuclear arsenal, Russia is nearly toothless right now – but they are planning to change that by funneling their increasing oil wealth into their military. In 20 or 25 years, when Russia has burned through [...]

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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s residence is being outfitted with a bunker that can withstand a nuclear or chemical attack, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.
Workers at Olmert’s official Jerusalem residence are thickening walls, digging and installing air-purification equipment capable of countering chemical agents, said the report in Yediot Ahronot.
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Israel prepares for Iranian missiles Israel Today
Report: [...]

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