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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 29 Nov 15:19 EST (20:19 GMT)

Defense News

SINGAPORE - First, there was F1. Now come the F-16s.

After a Formula One (F1) Grand Prix auto race in September, Singapore streets on Nov. 30 will see something even faster - F-16 fighter bombers.

The jets and other military aircraft are to take off and land on a stretch of road that has been converted into an alternative runway, the Ministry of Defence said.

The exercise, which helps prepare the air force in case normal runways become unusable, hones its readiness “to deliver uninterrupted air power at all times,” a statement said.

“The aircraft will be executing a series of take-offs and landings along a stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road, 2,500 meters long (1.6 miles) and 24 meters wide,” the ministry said.

Singapore is an island nation of just 3.6 million citizens and permanent residents that was ejected from the Malaysian Federation in 1965 over ethnic issues.

The security-conscious city-state, one of Asia’s wealthiest, also has one of the region’s most modern armed forces.

All able-bodied 18-year-old male citizens are eligible to be conscripted for two years of full-time active service in the military or emergency services.

Military planes and helicopters often roar over parts of the city on their way into and out of air bases.

“In war, runways are one of the key targets for the enemy,” Colonel Tan Kah Han, who is overseeing the exercise, was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.

The exercise will involve more than 10 aircraft including F-5 jets and E-2C early warning planes as well as F-16s, the inistry said.

Troops will set up a mobile control tower, lights, and cables to help stop the planes when they land, it said.

The Straits Times reported that about 400 air force personnel have been removing lamp posts, road signs and bus shelters in preparation.

The six-lane road on the far west of the island has been closed since Thursday and will reopen on Dec. 1, the paper said.

This is the sixth exercise of its kind in the past 22 years, the ministry said.

Singapore staged Formula One’s first night race in September on a circuit that snaked through the city’s streets.

ALEXANDER OSIPOVICH | MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Nov 30 2008 10:27

Nov 30 2008 20:32 | LAST UPDATED Nov 30 2008 20:32
Mail & Guardian Online

The surge in piracy near the coast of Somalia has created unease in far-off Russia, where sailors say they feel helpless as a growing number of seamen are taken hostage in brazen attacks.

“Sailors are completely defenceless against them,” said Alexei Ponomaroyov, a retired ship mechanic from the northern Russian port of Arkhangelsk with over 30 years of sailing experience, including in the Indian Ocean.

“All we can do is send out an SOS,” he said.

Pointing out that international law requires cargo crews to be unarmed, he said: “How are we merchant sailors supposed to protect ourselves? They come with machine guns in their speedboats.”

Five sailors from Arkhangelsk were among the hostages taken this month along with the CEC Future, a Danish-operated cargo ship, according to the Russian Sailors’ Union.

Arkhangelsk is an often ice-bound port in the far north of Russia where many sailors have gone to work for Western shipping companies since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Hundreds of sailors are currently being held hostage on the Somali coast, with the largest number coming from Asian countries like the Philippines.

But there are also dozens from Russia, Ukraine and other post-Soviet states, including 21 from the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with combat tanks that pirates seized in September in one of their highest-profile captures to date.

That has ex-Soviet sailors worried, said Igor Kovalchuk, vice-president of the Russian Sailors’ Union.

“Sailors are a fairly courageous lot,” he said. “But on the other hand, this region is distinctly dangerous today, in the most direct sense of the word. It is dangerous for their life and health.”

Kovalchuk said that he had received phone calls from sailors worried about piracy. “Unfortunately there is nothing to tell them, and people have to work under the existing conditions,” he said.

Sailors’ advocates praised recent international efforts to fight the problem but insisted that more needed to be done.

“There is no unified command centre. There is no united plan for dealing with the problem,” said Mikhail Voitenko, editor of Sovfracht Maritime Bulletin, a Russian website that monitors the shipping industry.

“Basically, there is nothing,” he said.

At least one Russian sailor is taking matters into his own hands, according to the Sunday Times of London.

The newspaper reported last month that billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of London’s Chelsea football club, is having his next yacht outfitted with anti-pirate measures including a missile detection system, bulletproof windows and even an escape submarine.

Less affluent sailors will have to rely on a contingent of United States, Russian and European warships that have been dispatched to the region near Somalia in recent months.

Voitenko wryly noted that world leaders vowed to boost efforts against piracy only after increasing attacks — including the capture of a Saudi oil tanker two weeks ago — began to take a noticeable economic toll.

“The international community is finally beginning to do something now that it has affected the world economy,” he said.

Developed nations are also insulated from the problem because most merchant sailors no longer come from the affluent West. Most, especially rank-and-file crew members, are from poorer countries.

“The higher the standard of living somewhere, the less people are drawn to this fairly dangerous profession, the separation from one’s family and various dangers, including pirates,” Kovalchuk said.

“It is a truly dangerous career.” - AFP

India will increase security in the country and on its borders to a “war level” in the wake of the deadly attacks in Mumbai that have been blamed on militants linked to Pakistan, a government minister said.

Last Updated: 12:00PM GMT 30 Nov 2008
Telegraph

The only one of the gunmen captured alive is believed to be from Pakistan and India claims to have proof of a Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks.

In response to a string of public accusations from Delhi, officials in Islamabad said troops could be moved to the Indian border if relations continue to deteriorate.

“Our intelligence will be increased to a war level, we are asking the state governments to increase security to a war level,” Sriprakash Jaiswal, India’s minister for state for home affairs, told Reuters.

“They can say what they want, but we have no doubt that the terrorists had come from Pakistan,” Mr Jaiswal said.

Amid accusations that a series of failings allowed the attackersFederal Home Minister Shivraj Patil submitted his resignation, India’s ruling Congress party coalition said on Sunday. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram was appointed to take over Patil’s job and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take over the finance portfolio for now, the government said.

Indian TV reported that National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan had also resigned.

India has already boosted coastal security with the Indian Navy and the coast guard carrying out coordination patrols.

The Mumbai attackers are said to have come to the city by sea from the Pakistani port of Karachi, according to security officials.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba a Pakistan-based group that has been blamed for previous attacks in India has been identified by the Indian authorities as responsible for the massacres which left at least 174 people dead.

Indian commandos said the attackers had demonstrated professional techniques, firing in short bursts, setting traps and even stocking up with almonds and dried fruit to keep their energy up during the fighting.

Commandos brought 300 survivors out of the five-star Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where the siege ended early yesterday. Some 250 others were rescued from the Oberoi-Trident hotel and 60 people were brought out of the Jewish centre.

Those rescued included a British couple who were among a group of six people who hid for six hours in a toilet cubicle at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. At one stage, the terrorists searched the darkened area with a torch but did not see or hear them huddled together.

The Pakistani Government yesterday denied involvement in the terror plot and has promised to help in the investigation. Asif Ali Zardari, the President, pledged to act swiftly if given any evidence of involvement by Pakistani nationals. “As president of Pakistan, if any evidence comes of any individual or group in any part of my country, I shall take the swiftest of action in the light of evidence and in front of the world,” he said.

A team of British police and security officers is also in Mumbai to help with the inquiry, along with American FBI agents.

Gordon Brown said yesterday that the attack had raised “huge questions” about how the world should address violent extremism.

Speaking in London, the Prime Minister said: “A great multi-faithed democracy has been laid low by terrorists. It raises huge questions about how the world addresses violent extremism.”

Fires, explosions and gun battles during the siege devastated the 105-year-old Taj Mahal Palace hotel. At the height of fighting, hundreds of people, many of them Westerners, were trapped or taken hostage.

Television pictures of a satellite telephone captured from a terrorist appeared to show a constant stream of calls to Pakistan during the operation. Officials also said they had traced the group’s route from recorded GPS co-ordinates on the devices.

The group sent eight operatives on a reconnaissance mission to Mumbai earlier this year, Indian officials have claimed.

Security officials, Scotland Yard and diplomats in Britain played down reports yesterday of a British link to the terror plot. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We have been speaking to the Indian authorities at a high level and they say there is no evidence that any of the attackers are British.”

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article-1:
Report: India may end Pakistan cease-fire

Published: Nov. 30, 2008 at 12:49 PM

MUMBAI, Nov. 30 (UPI) — The Indian government may suspend its five-year, cease-fire with Pakistan in the wake of last week’s Mumbai terror attacks, sources say.

Citing unnamed sources, CNN-IBN reported Sunday Indian officials may also end their dialogue with Islamabad after at least 183 people died in a wave of attacks by armed gunmen who some say were trained by Pakistan-backed Muslim militant groups based in the disputed state of Kashmir.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday, saying he took “moral responsibility” for the terrorist assaults, CNN reported.

Patil had been under criticism even before the attacks, and his resignation came as questions quickly mounted about the country’s readiness to prevent terrorism. Critics cited a report to Parliament last year that blasted inadequate protection of India’s shores — which is how the attackers sneaked into Mumbai, The New York Times said.

“This man has been widely criticized for not being up to it and it was simply impossible that he could stay on after this,” N. Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu newspaper, told CNN, quoting Patil’s critics saying “(he hadn’t) delivered in the promise to improve intelligence.”

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article-2:
Executive says Taj hotel warned of attack

Published: Nov. 29, 2008 at 8:14 PM

MUMBAI, Nov. 29 (UPI) — The head of the firm that owns the Taj Mahal hotel told CNN the luxury hotel in Mumbai, India, was warned of a possible attack before terrorists struck.

In an interview to be aired Sunday, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told the U.S. news network the hotel had taken additional security measures because of the warning, though security was relaxed shortly ahead of the attacks. Tata said the gunmen would have gotten inside no matter the precautions taken. He didn’t detail when the warning came or when security was beefed up.

The Taj and eight other sites were attacked Wednesday. By the time the violence ended Saturday, scores were dead and hundreds more were wounded.

“If I look at what we had, which all of us complained about, it could not have stopped what took place,” he told CNN. “It’s ironic that we did have such a warning, and we did have some measures.”

He said people were told to park away from the entrance and had to go through a metal detector. But he said the attackers came through a back entrance.

“They knew what they were doing, and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements are in the front,” he said.

Tata said he “wouldn’t know” if the attackers had an inside connection, saying that “would be something that the investigation will show up.”

But he called his staff heroes.

“The general manager lost his whole family in one of the fires in the building,” Tata said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ravi Sharma
The Hindu
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008

The vexing issue of sourcing material for landing gear resolved; Indian companies come to the rescue
——————————————————————————–

The landing gear is being manufactured at HAL, Nasik

The Navy wants an engine of much higher thrust
——————————————————————————–

BANGALORE: Having overcome the vexing issue of sourcing material for the landing gear of the indigenous naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has slated the inaugural flight for late 2009.

The procurement of the material for the landing gear of the naval variant, which is being designed to withstand G-forces of up to 4.5G, had hit a hurdle when the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the aircraft maker was unable to secure it from the global market. However with two Indian companies — Mishra Dhatu Nigam and Bharat Forge — delivering the required material, the landing gear is being designed and manufactured at the HAL, Nasik.

Similar to PV-5
Officials at the ADA told The Hindu that the naval fighter aircraft — a twin-seater variant with the nomenclature NP1 (naval prototype one) — would look similar to PV-5 (prototype vehicle five) of the LCA being developed for the Indian Air Force (IAF). But the similarities are only external: the naval aircraft will structurally be equipped to cater for higher landing loads and the tail arrestor hook landing system. The naval aircraft will also be powered by a more powerful engine compared to the LCA currently flying or being built for the IAF.

The LCA naval variant, which is to be used by the Navy in an air defence role from its carriers, will jockey for space on the deck with the MiG-29Ks that India is buying from Russia. It will be a replacement for the British-made Sea Harrier jump jets currently used by the Navy. The Navy has already placed intent to procure 40 aircraft.

Challenging environment
Explaining the need for a more powerful engine, officials said the environment in which the naval variant would operate was much more challenging. With only 200 metres of deck length available for a take-off, and even more crucially during landing, when the aircraft has to decelerate from speeds of 250 km per hour to zero in just 90 metres, the Navy wants an engine of much higher thrust than the LCA’s present power plant — the General Electric’s GE F404. Two engines — the GE F414 and the European consortium Eurojet’s EJ 200 — are being evaluated by the ADA, the IAF and the Navy, as a more powerful option for both, future versions of the land-based LCA and the naval variant.

Another key challenge for the naval variant’s design is the fact that while the land-based LCAs are designed for a vertical rate of descent of 3 metres per second, the naval variant will be designed for a descent of 7.5 metres a second.

By ILYA KRAMNIK, UPI Outside View Commentator
Published: Nov. 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM

MOSCOW, Nov. 28 (UPI) — The nuclear-powered battle cruiser Pyotr Veliky — Peter the Great — the anti-submarine warfare — ASW — ship Admiral Chabanenko and their supply ships arrived in La Guaira, Venezuela, after leaving Severomorsk, the main base of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet in northern Russia, a month ago.

The Russian naval squadron conducted exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean en route to Venezuela.

Russian warships, which have never been to Venezuela before, are now sailing the Caribbean Sea for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The current Russian show of flag is a simple and effective method for using naval units in peacetime.

By dispatching their warships to any specific region, naval powers show that they have strategic interests in that part of the world, display a readiness to defend those interests and force their rivals to monitor a new potential threat.

This is also the best way to remind the world about the existence of naval powers and to raise their popularity in countries being visited by warship units.

The best and most powerful warships always take part in such visits. Suffice it to recall the number of voyages involving British battleships over the ages.

The arrival of the Russian squadron in La Guaira also illustrates this concept. Moscow’s friendly relations with Caracas are a highly important element of Russian foreign policy striving to enhance the Kremlin’s influence in Latin America.

A recent Russian-Venezuelan exercise involving two Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers and the latest visit will serve to improve Moscow’s reputation.

Russia and Venezuela plan to conduct a joint naval exercise involving joint maneuvers, high-seas rescue operations, ship inspections and in-motion refueling and materiel transfers. Naturally, the visit does not threaten U.S. domination in the Caribbean region in any way.

The Russian warships will remain in Venezuela until Dec. 1 and will then sail into the Indian Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope.

After reaching its new destination, the squadron will exercise with Pacific Fleet warships, namely, the guided-missile cruiser Varyag and the ASW ships Admiral Tributs and Marshal Shaposhnikov.

Instead of merely showing its flag, Russia wants to resume regular naval presence in the region, probably the most difficult high-seas theater of war in the world.

It would be pointless to try to use the Pyotr Veliky and the Varyag for fighting Somalian pirates in the Indian Ocean because this would be a classic case of cracking a nut with a sledgehammer.

The Pyotr Veliky displaces more than 25,000 metric tons, carries 20 Granit anti-ship missiles, including nuclear-tipped missiles, 96 S-300F long-range surface-to-air missiles — SAMs — 96 Kinzhal — Dagger — short-range SAMs, a 130mm twin mounting, other short-range anti-aircraft weapons and various ASW weaponry, including three helicopters.

The Varyag displaces 12,000 metric tons, carries 16 Vulkan anti-ship missiles, 64 S-300F long-range SAMs, short-range SAMs, artillery systems and ASW weapons.

The guided-missile frigate Neustrashimy — Intrepid — now fighting local pirates will, most likely, be replaced by the Admiral Tributs or the Marshal Shaposhnikov.

Apart from showing the Russian flag and maintaining regular naval presence in key areas of the world’s oceans, this and other voyages make it possible to train ship crews and to enhance combat readiness.

–

(Ilya Kramnik is a military commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

–

(United Press International’s “Outside View” commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

By MARTIN SIEFF
Published: Nov. 28, 2008 at 1:07 PM

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (UPI) — The wave of Islamist terrorist attacks in Mumbai has claimed at least 143 dead so far, and it augurs a grim new chapter in international terrorism.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee warned Friday, “Preliminary evidence indicates elements with links to Pakistan are involved.”

The attacks occurred as Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was visiting India, seeking to improve bilateral relations between the two nuclear-armed historic enemies that between them account for one-fifth of the human race.

Qureshi was outspoken in condemning the attacks. “Whoever has done this is neither your friend nor our friend. We are not responsible for this, nor is it in our interest to get involved in something like this,” he said. “We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy.”

The casualty figures are still only a fraction of the nearly 3,000 Americans who were killed when hijacked airliners were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, or compared with the hundreds of innocent schoolchildren slaughtered in Beslan by Chechen terrorists in September 2004. But in many respects, the Mumbai attacks are unprecedented.

First, they involved a far more ambitious and wide-ranging series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in the same city than even al-Qaida has attempted or achieved in the past. Second, coming so soon after Sen. Barack Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, they indicate that the election result has certainly not produced any “era of good feelings” that will lead Islamist terror groups around the world to stay their hand. On the contrary, the groups appear to have been emboldened to strike more outrageously than ever. The killers who struck at two five-star hotels in Mumbai were trying to identify American and British nationals to kill.

The immediate motivation and timing of the attacks, however, appears to be linked to the efforts of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and new, pro-American Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to try and improve relations between their countries.

Indian leaders have suggested “elements in Pakistan may be connected to these events.” A group calling itself Deccan Mujahedin has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The name appears to have been assumed to draw attention to, and even to radicalize, elements of India’s hitherto peaceful Muslim communities in the southern part of the subcontinent.

Some Indian security officials believe, however, that some of the gunmen who carried out the atrocities may have been smuggled in by freighter from the port of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. They also suspect that Islamist extremist elements in the Pakistan military, especially the secretive and powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, long protected by former President Pervez Musharraf and fiercely opposed to the moderate policies of President Zardari, may have been deeply involved.

Certainly the scale, origination and success of the attacks far exceed anything Islamist terror groups have previously been capable of carrying out in India.

Mumbai has been the subject of repeated terror bombings for the past 15 years. However, the scale and number of this week’s attacks confirm that the Indian security services have been swamped by the problem. Indian domestic security seems to have been completely taken by surprise by this week’s attacks, even though the upcoming Indian-Pakistan talks provided an obvious motive for hard-line Islamists to try and carry out attacks.

The response of the Mumbai police and the Indian Union armed forces — especially their special units — was slow, indecisive and even chaotic.

Aspects of the attacks appear to have been exceptionally and deliberately barbaric. The wife and two children of the general manager of the Taj Mahal Hotel were murdered in their suite. A similar fate appears to have befallen the Jewish Lubavitch rabbi in Mumbai and his wife and children. There are less than 15,000 Jews in all of India, out of a population of more than 1 billion, and yet the Chabad Jewish center in Mumbai was singled out by the attackers.

The scale of the attacks and the multiple failures of the Indian security forces in dealing with them will also deal a serious blow to the safety, attractiveness and credibility of Mumbai as a rapidly rising global financial center. The immediate beneficiaries of this development are likely to be the far more secure financial centers of Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore.

It was probably also deliberate that the attacks occurred on the eve of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. The terrorists were clearly frustrated in their failure to find more than a handful of American victims to kill.

It would be foolish in the extreme to assume that the Mumbai attacks will remain unique, or that other and similar ones could not occur within Western Europe and the United States over the next few months. As reports of the horrors in Mumbai circulated around the world, U.S. officials warned of the dangers of an attack on the New York subway system.

The Mumbai attacks serve notice that a different era is beginning — not of a Brave New World, but of a fearful one.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article:
Officials suggest Mumbai attack time line

Published: Nov. 28, 2008 at 12:44 PM

MUMBAI, Nov. 28 (UPI) — Investigators in Mumbai have suggested the deadly attacks in the Indian city began with gunmen arriving by sea before splitting into groups.

An Indian commando said it appeared the gunmen behind this week’s attacks were heavily armed and well-trained when they likely arrived in Mumbai on a large ship, the BBC said Friday.

“Not everybody can fire the AK series of weapons, not everybody can throw grenades like that,” the unidentified soldier said. “By using such weapons and explosives, it is obvious that they would have been trained somewhere.”

The commando also suggested the gunmen had likely conducted surveillance on the hotels and other tourist sites prior to Wednesday’s incidents.

Authorities say the gunmen likely moved from the larger ship to several smaller ships that brought them to shore.

From there, the terrorists split into teams of at least two men each and all teams moved to a predetermined attack location, investigators hypothesize.

Investigators told the BBC then the attacks began, first at locations like the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station and later at the Cama and Albless hospital.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

20:49 | 28/ 11/ 2008

MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Dmitry Donskoi Typhoon-class strategic nuclear-powered submarine has carried out another test launch of a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, a Defense Ministry source said on Friday.

“The Bulava was launched from a submerged position in the White Sea toward a target located at the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula,” the source said.

He later said it had successfully engaged its designated target on the Kamchatka Peninsula about 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) east of Moscow.

The previous test of the Bulava missile was carried out on September 18.

Russia is planning to adopt new Bulava missiles for service with the Navy and commission the first Borey-class strategic nuclear submarine in 2009.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30), developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, is designed for deployment on Borey-class Project 955 nuclear-powered submarines.

The first submarine in the series, the Yury Dolgoruky, was built at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Arkhangelsk Region and is currently undergoing sea trials.

The submarine has a length of 170 meters (580 feet), a body diameter of around 13 meters (42 feet), and a submerged speed of about 29 knots.

It will be equipped with 16 Bulava ballistic missiles, each carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads and having a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

20 Nov 2008 | Ref. 288/2008
BAE Systems
News Release

ARLINGTON, Virginia – BAE Systems has completed production of more than 5,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles under existing contracts with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. Ceremonies to commemorate this milestone were held this week at BAE Systems MRAP-related sites in Charlotte, Michigan and Sealy, Texas.

The events celebrate the completion of a 22-month production run for two BAE Systems variants of the MRAP – the Caiman and the RG33; the U.S. Government has purchased 2,868, and 2,182 of those vehicles, respectively. The final Caiman rolled off the assembly line this week, and the RG33L was delivered to the government on Wednesday. Additional RG33 and Caiman variants will be delivered to the government in coming months.

“The BAE Systems’ Team has excelled in its support of our Armed Services in its time of urgent need. Caiman has been On Time-On Target.” said Chris Chambers, Vice President, Medium/Heavy Vehicles at BAE Systems. “By any measure Caiman is a success: contract award to production deliveries in 43 days; an unmatched, exemplary delivery to contract and a vehicle protection and reliability record that has enabled our troops to complete their vital mission.”

“The RG33 represents an unprecedented story of success that reflects industries unsurpassed rapid response to the Department of Defense’s immediate requirement to defeat an ever evolving threat,” said Matt Riddle, Vice President, Wheeled Combat Vehicles at BAE Systems. “From design to fielding in less than six months, the RG33 has proven itself worthy in combat and has well earned the respect and accolades of its U.S. military crewmen.”

The Caiman and RG33 were developed in 2006 to provide U.S. warfighters in Iraq a vehicle that would protect them against rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs and explosively formed projectiles. Prototypes of both vehicles were delivered in January 2007; the first production contracts were awarded to the RG33 in February 2007 and to the Caiman in July 2007.

The Caiman, RG33 and other MRAP models have since replaced many of the unarmored or lightly armored vehicles used for combat-related missions in Iraq.

The Caiman
As a member of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), the Caiman shares many features and components, vastly reducing current and future logistic and training loads and allowing sharing of technology advancements such as stability control, on/off-board power or diagnostic/prognostic systems. Additionally, it offers an adaptable, applique-based protective system allowing rapid future transformation to match changing threats or removal to vastly reduce the vehicle weight and a high volume under armor with leading payload capacity. The Caiman continues to achieve a sustained operational readiness rate average of 95 percent and has been utilized throughout the spectrum of operations. Manufacturing of the Caiman is coordinated between six of BAE Systems’ facilities in Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; Monroe, North Carolina; Sealy, Texas; and Orangeburg, South Carolina.

RG33
The RG33 sets the standard for mine-protected vehicles in the 20 to 40-ton weight class, providing superior performance through enhanced survivability, advanced mobility, mission flexibility, rapid availability and vehicle commonality. It features a state-of-the art v-shaped hull that provides superior blast protection against symmetrical, asymmetrical and unconventional explosive hazards. With its large modular interior, high-mobility chassis and extensive equipment options, the RG33 is an integrated, proven, survivable, blast-protected vehicle. The versatility of the RG33 is represented in the many variants of the vehicle – 4×4 and 6×6 configurations, an armed utility variant, a variant designed for Special Operations Command, an ambulatory variant and a command and control variant.

About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 100,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems’ sales exceeded £15.7 billion (US $31.4 billion) in 2007.

For further information, please contact:
Jessica Pantages, BAE Systems
Tel: +1 703 312 6157 Mobile: +1 703 439 0345
jessica.pantages@baesystems.com

Shannon Smith, BAE Systems
Tel: +1 703 907 8257 Mobile: +1 703 967 3854
shannon.n.smith@baesystems.com

www.baesystems.com

Boeing
News Release

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 25, 2008 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that the Royal Netherlands Navy has successfully test-launched two Boeing Harpoon missiles from air defense and command frigate (LCF) HMS De Zeven Provinciën. The exercise, which was the first LCF launch of a Harpoon, was held off the coast of Virginia on Nov. 8.

In the exercise scenario, a hostile ship attacked the Dutch frigate, which responded with a salvo of two Harpoon Block IC missiles, marking the first time the Dutch Navy has launched multiple Harpoons on a single target. Both Harpoons hit and destroyed the target. The Netherlands has been a Harpoon customer since 1975.

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of the Harpoon Weapon System during this test, and we congratulate the Royal Netherlands Navy on achieving this new milestone,” said Jan Browne, Boeing director of Stand-Off Strike Weapons. “Harpoon is an extremely reliable weapon system in use by the United States and 27 allied countries. We are proud of Boeing Weapons Programs’ 33-year relationship with the Netherlands.”

Boeing has delivered more than 7,000 missiles to U.S. and allied navies. The Harpoon Block I missile is capable of flying in excess of 67 nautical miles and carries a 500-pound warhead. In 2001, Boeing delivered the first Harpoon Block II missile, which incorporates a Global Positioning System navigation system to provide autonomous, over-the-horizon capabilities, even in adverse weather. The Harpoon Block III missile, which includes a data link system for in-flight target updates, is currently in development.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.

After days of tinkering, space station skipper reports success: ‘Yippee!’

By Marcia Dunn
Associated Press
MSNBC

updated 3:36 p.m. PT, Tues., Nov. 25, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex got a double dose of good news Tuesday: A rotary joint that they spent days cleaning and lubricating appeared to be working normally again for the first time in more than a year, and a urine-recycling machine finally was behaving.

NASA officials cautioned more tests are needed, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm 225 miles (360 kilometers) up.

“I guess ‘victory’ clearly is the word,” said the space shuttle Endeavour’s commander, Christopher Ferguson.

The urine processor — a key part of a new $154 million water recycling system delivered by Endeavour — was the first to fall into line. It had been shutting down prematurely ever since it was installed at the international space station last week, and the astronauts had spent days trying to coax it into operation.

By early Tuesday, the machine had run continuously for five hours, well past the intended mark. Additional testing was ongoing, and hopes were high that more than enough samples of processed urine would be returned to Earth aboard Endeavour for safety tests.

Space station skipper Mike Fincke, who had nursed the urine processor along, yelled “Yippee” when he learned it was finally doing its job.

“You have to remember that this is serial number zero-zero-one for a brand new technology which we’re testing out here on space station, so you can expect to have a few hiccups,” said astronaut Donald Pettit, who also worked on the contraption.

NASA needs to be able to convert astronauts’ urine and sweat into drinking water in order to double the size of the space station crew to six next year. No one will drink any of the recycled water until the equipment runs for at least 90 days in orbit and tests on the ground demonstrate it’s safe.

Six bags full
Flight director Holly Ridings said Endeavour should return this weekend with six one-liter containers of recycled urine and condensation. That’s more than originally expected thanks to the extra day the crew was given. Additional samples will be returned on the next shuttle flight in February.

The astronauts taped a “Yesterday’s coffee” label to the bag containing the first batch of processed urine, and held it up for the TV cameras.

“We’re well on our way” to achieving a full six-person space station crew by June, said space station program manager Mike Suffredini.

Extra astronauts will mean additional science work being conducted, and that will require extra power. NASA is hoping the joint repairs will help.

For more than a year, the jammed joint had prevented the solar wings on the right side of the space station from automatically pointing toward the sun. Endeavour’s astronauts went out four times to clean and lubricate the joint, and replace its bearings.

Their efforts evidently paid off. The joint rotated twice in the automatic mode over a three-hour period Tuesday, and everything seemed to go well in the test.

Suffredini stressed at a news conference that months of testing remain. It’s possible that nothing more will need to be replaced in the joint and that a lube job every year or so by space walking astronauts will keep it functioning until at least 2015.

Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the space station on Friday and return to Earth on Sunday.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Web posted at: 11/28/2008 6:43:0
Source ::: DPA
The Peninsula Qatar

KABUL: A suicide attack close to the US embassy in Kabul yesterday killed four Afghan civilians and wounded 16 others, officials said.

The bomber, who was driving a vehicle packed with explosives, detonated himself as a convoy of foreign forces was passing by, said Zemarai Bashary, Interior Ministry spokesman.

“The bomber and four civilians were killed in today’s attack,” Alishah Paktiawal, director of the Criminal Investigation section of Kabul police, said.

Both Paktiawal and Bashary said that the number of casualties was likely to increase because the attack took place in a residential area and many wounded people were taken to hospitals by their relatives.

Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi, a spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, said 16 wounded people were evacuated to the city’s three hospitals.

Bashary said that there were no casualties among the foreign troops as the explosion took place far from their convoy.

A spokesman for US embassy in Kabul said that no embassy personnel were killed or wounded in the attack.

The attack occurred minutes before a scheduled Thanksgiving Day gathering, hosted by the US embassy. Several Americans and other Western aid workers were entering the embassy compound when the blast took place, but no one was hurt, Afghan and US officials said.

The attack happened as 14 representatives of the United Nations Security Council were on a fact-finding mission in Afghanistan. A UN source, who did not want to be named, confirmed that the team members were in Kabul on Thursday but said “they were far from the blast site.”

Charayee Massoud Square of the city was littered with glass and mangled pieces of several destroyed vehicles. Afghan police and army soldiers had cordoned off the area.

Ahmad Samai, 22, a Kabul university student, who was present in the area at the time of attack, said that most of the victims were municipality workers who were cleaning the road when the explosion took place.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack, but Taliban militants have carried out hundreds of similar attacks in Afghanistan since their ouster in late 2001.

Taliban militants have intensified their attacks on Afghan and international military targets in recent months. The militants mostly rely on the use of suicide and roadside attacks, both tactics widely believed to have been copied from insurgents in Iraq.

The Taliban also stepped up their attacks in and around Kabul city, the steering seat for the Western-backed Afghan government that houses the NATO headquarters, embassies and bases for thousands of international troops. The insurgents also are said to control areas bordering the capital city.

Five government employees, including a woman, were killed and more than 20 others were wounded in a suicide attack against the Afghan and Information and Culture Ministry late last month.

At least 40, including two diplomats, were killed and more than 100 more were wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul on July 7

Web posted at: 11/27/2008 9:35:31
Source ::: DPA
The Peninsula Qatar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally decided to buy three Type 214 German submarines under a deal worth more than $1bn that the two countries are expected to sign in coming months, a media report said yesterday.

German shipbuilding company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW) will construct the diesel-electric submarines in a shipyard in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan’s English-language daily The News reported.

“The commercial contract has been finalised up to 95 percent,” Walter Freitag, the chief executive officer of the HDW, the largest conventional submarine maker in the world told the newspaper, hoping that the final agreement will be signed soon.

Freitag, who was interviewed during a Pakistani defence products exhibition named IDEAS 2008 in Karachi, said that the first submarine would be delivered to Pakistan Navy in 64 months once the contract is signed.

“The rest would be completed in the next 12 months,” he added.

Pakistan has traditionally relied on French submarines for its Naval defence and it is first time that the South Asian country has opted for German boats.

Earlier, French firm Armaris, a subsidiary of France’s Thales group, had lobbied for the sale of three Marlin type submarines, the latest version of the three Agosta 90-B boats, the last of which the company handed over to Pakistan in 2006.

“The Pakistan navy understands submarines and ours are best,” Freitag said.

“We use higher grade steel material, which allows greater diving depth. Also, we have fuel cell AIPs and can integrate Harpoons with the Type 214,” he added.

Pakistan’s quest for new submarines was prompted after its traditional nuclear-armed rival India reached a 1.5bn euro deal in 2005 with a French company for seven Scorpion submarines.

The Type 214 is a 65-metre-long boat that can dive more than 300 metres. But even with Type 214, Pakistan will be lagging behind India as Scorpion submarines are believed to be technologically superior to the German boats.

Page last updated at 13:47 GMT, Friday, 28 November 2008
BBC News

China has executed a scientist accused of spying for Taiwan.

Wo Weihan’s family had appealed for clemency, saying that the scientist was tortured into admitting that he was a spy. He was sentenced last year.

The 59-year-old man, who ran his own medical research company in Beijing, was arrested in early 2005.

Among other things, he was convicted of passing Chinese military secrets to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

Court documents said he spied for an organisation called The Grand Alliance for the Reunification of China under the Three Principles of the People between 1989 and 2003.

This group is under the auspices of Taiwan’s new ruling party, the Kuomintang, according to China.

His daughter, Ran Chen, who holds an Austrian passport, said her father’s death had been confirmed by the Austrian embassy in Beijing.

Mr Wo’s family alleged that he had been denied access to a lawyer for a year.

A spokeswoman for the United States’ embassy in Beijing condemned the execution.

Susan Stevenson told the AFP news agency that the US was “deeply disturbed and dismayed”.

Page last updated at 19:59 GMT, Friday, 28 November 2008
BBC News

Indian commandos are surrounding the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, after more than 48 hours of deadly attacks that have seen at least 130 people die.

While almost 100 people were rescued from another hotel, several hostages were confirmed killed at a Jewish community centre after a troop assault.

A 29-year-old rabbi and his wife were confirmed as among those killed.

India’s foreign minister said “elements with links to Pakistan” were involved in the attacks on Mumbai.

However, his Pakistani counterpart has urged India not to bring politics into the issue, saying “we should join hands to defeat the enemy”.

The BBC’s Pakistan correspondent, Barbara Plett says there is a feeling among senior officials in Islamabad that India has acted too hastily in linking the Mumbai attackers to Pakistan.

In the UK, officials denied reports that some of the attackers may have been British citizens of Pakistani origin.

The UK officials said had Indian authorities told them there was no indication so far that anyone shot or in custody was British.

The stand-offs began late on Wednesday when gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades opened fire indiscriminately on crowds at a major railway station, the two hotels, the Jewish centre, a hospital and a cafe frequented by foreigners.

Earlier, nearly 100 guests and staff - many of them westerners - were rescued from the Oberoi-Trident hotel, and the battle with gunmen there appeared to be at an end.

Indian media have reported that at least 154 people have been killed since the attacks began.

An Indian official said the toll could rise much higher.

“Once the bodies are collected, the number of deaths might go up to 200,” said Minister of State for Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal.

Around 370 people have been injured since Wednesday.

Confirmation also came on Friday that two French and two US citizens had died in the violence. The US state department said Americans were still at risk in Mumbai.

One Indian security official said eight foreigners were known to have died, among them three Germans, a Japanese, Canadian and Australian. One Briton has also been killed.

‘Ultimate sacrifice’

As night fell at the end of a day of fighting around Nariman House, the New York-based Chabad-Lubavitch organisation confirmed that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, had been killed alongside his wife, Rivka.

The Holtzbergs had moved to India in 2003 from New York to run the Mumbai branch of the outreach organisation, which offers services and hospitality to passing Jewish travellers.

The couple’s young son was evacuated from the building earlier in the day. There was no word on the identities of the others found dead on the premises.

The couple “made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, of Chabad-Lubavitch.

Orthodox Jewish rescuers sent to Mumbai to assist also confirmed that five bodies had been found. Two kidnappers were also reported killed.

Having swooped at first light, commandos blew up a part of the wall of the fourth floor of the building, lowered down onto the roof by ropes from helicopters and dropping smoke bombs to create confusion.

The only people confirmed as leaving the building were a woman and the two-year-old child, although it was unclear whether they had managed to escape or were released.

Bodies

Indian security forces have said they believe at least one gunman with “two or more hostages” remains in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

Large explosions and gunfire have been ringing out from the building for most of the day after truckloads of commandos entered the hotel. A journalist and bystander outside the hotel were taken to hospital after being hit by shrapnel.

Indian commandos who managed to enter other parts of the Taj Mahal say they found at least 30 bodies in one hall.

The commandos also said the militants were well aware of the layout of the hotel, and that they had recovered a Mauritius identity card as well as guns and money.

At the Oberoi-Trident hotel, military officials said the authorities had regained control and killed at least two militants.

The relief of the guests was evident as 93 of them were escorted from the hotel on Friday morning following the lengthy siege. They included 20 Air France crew members.

One of those freed, Briton Mark Abell, spoke of his delight at seeing several heavily armed soldiers at his hotel door after spending more than 36 hours in his room.

But he was shocked by the state of the hotel. “The lobby was carnage, blood and guts everywhere. It was very upsetting,” he told the BBC.

Pakistani ‘link’

State home minister RR Patil, speaking outside the Oberoi-Trident hotel, said a total of nine militants had been killed, along with 15 police officers and two commandos.

He said one of those arrested was a Pakistani citizen.

Earlier, the Indian navy took control of two Pakistani merchant navy ships and began questioning their crews after witnesses said some of the militants came ashore on small speedboats.

India’s Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said preliminary evidence “leads us to believe that some elements in Pakistan may be connected to these events”.

But he added that it was too soon to give details.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi responded by saying: “This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy.”

The head of Pakistan’s powerful military intelligence agency, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is due to travel to India to discuss the situation with his Indian counterparts.

India has complained in the past that attacks on its soil have been carried out by groups based in Pakistan, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years and Pakistani leaders were swift to condemn the latest attacks.

A claim of responsibility for this week’s attacks - the worst in India’s commercial capital since nearly 200 people were killed in a series of bombings in 2006 - has been made by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen.

However, most intelligence officials are keeping an open mind as the attacks have thrown up conflicting clues, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article:
N.Y. rabbi, wife killed at Mumbai Jewish center

American dad, daughter killed at hotel; battle persists at Taj Mahal hotel

Associated Press
MSNBC

MUMBAI, India - Commandos who stormed the Mumbai headquarters of an ultra-orthodox Jewish group found the bodies of five hostages inside, among them a New York rabbi and his wife, as a fresh battle raged at the luxury Taj Mahal hotel and other Indian forces ended a siege at another five-star hotel.

More than 150 people have been killed since gunmen attacked 10 sites across India’s financial capital starting Wednesday night, including at least 14 foreigners. Local officials earlier provided a higher number but that could not be confirmed.

Early Friday night, Indian commandos emerged from a besieged Jewish center with rifles raised in an apparent sign of victory after a daylong siege that saw a team rappel from helicopters and a series of explosions and fire rock the building and blow gaping holes in the wall.

Inside the Chabad-Lubavitch office, though, were five dead hostages.

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement confirmed the deaths of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, and his wife, Rivka. The couple ran the movement’s local headquarters. It was not clear if Israel-born Rivka Holtzberg had U.S. citizenship.

Earlier, Sandra Samuel, a cook at the center, fled with the couple’s toddler, having heard his cries outside the room in which she had barricaded herself. She opened the door, grabbed the toddler and ran outside with another center worker. The little boy’s pants were soaked with blood, and Samuel said she saw four people lying on the floor as she fled.

A delegation from Israel’s ZAKA emergency medical services unit entered the building after the raid and reported through an Indian aide that five hostages and two gunmen were dead, a ZAKA spokesman in Israel said. The spokesman had no information on the hostages’ identities or whether there were wounded inside.

Jewish law requires the burial of a dead person’s entire body, and the mission of the ultra-Orthodox ZAKA volunteers is to rescue the living — and in the case of the dead, carry out the task of gathering up all collectable pieces of flesh and blood.

Battle for Taj Mahal hotel
By Friday evening, at least nine gunmen had been killed, one had been arrested and as many as six were still in the Taj Mahal hotel, said R. Patil, a top official in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital. He said more than 150 people had been killed and 370 injured.

The gunmen apparently came to Mumbai by boat, and Indian forces expanded their investigation to the sea. Authorities stopped a cargo ship off the western coast of Gujarat that had sailed from Saudi Arabia and handed it over to police for investigation, said Navy Capt. Manohar Nambiar.

They also stopped a cargo ship that had come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan, but released it when nothing suspicious was found on board.

After hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions at the elegant Taj Mahal hotel Friday, the battle heated up at dusk when Indian forces began launching grenades at the hotel, where at least one militant was believed to be holed up inside a ballroom, officials said.

CNN reported the government had cut off their live transmissions from the scene in Mumbai. Authorities have asked not to show live footage of their battle with the militants because they believe the gunmen were monitoring the news. Most channels have largely obliged.

Commandos had killed the two last gunmen inside the nearby Oberoi earlier in the day.

“The hotel is under our control,” J.K. Dutt, director general of India’s elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters, adding that 24 bodies had been found. Dozens of people — including a man clutching a baby — had been evacuated from Oberoi earlier Friday.

The dead at the Oberoi included a Virginia man, Alan Scherr, and his daughter Naomi, 13.

The airborne assault on the Jewish center was punctuated by gunshots and explosions and exchanges of fire as forces cleared it floor by floor, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

Nearly 12 hours after the battle began, Indian troops left the building to cheers from the crowd. Mumbai Police Chief Hassan Ghaffoor said “the operation was ongoing” but in its “final stage.”

Group freed from Oberoi hotel
The group rescued from the Oberoi, many holding passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians. Some carried luggage with Canadian flags. One man in a chef’s uniform was holding a small baby. About 20 airline crew members were freed, including staff from Lufthansa and Air France.

“I’m going home, I’m going to see my wife,” said Mark Abell, with a huge smile on his face after emerging from the hotel. Abell, from Britain, had locked himself in his room during the siege.

The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked.

Late Thursday, after about 400 people had been brought out of the Taj hotel, officials said it had been cleared of gunmen. But Friday morning, army commanders said that while three gunmen had been killed, two to three more were still inside with about 15 civilians.

A few hours after that, Thamburaj, the security official, said at least one gunman was still alive inside the hotel and had cut off electricity on the floor where he was hiding. Shortly after that announcement, another round of explosions and gunfire were heard coming from the hotel.

On Friday, India’s foreign minister pointed an accusing finger across the border at rival Pakistan. “According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible for Mumbai terror attacks,” Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

“Proof cannot be disclosed at this time,” he said, adding that Pakistan had assured New Delhi it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against India. India has long accused Islamabad of allowing militant Muslim groups, particularly those fighting in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, to train and take shelter in Pakistan. Mukherjee’s carefully phrased comments appeared to indicate he was accusing Pakistan-based groups of staging the attack, and not the Pakistan government itself.

Islamabad has long denied those accusations.

Earlier Friday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar denied involvement by his country, saying that “I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents.”

Indian home minister Jaiprakash Jaiswal said a captured gunmen had been identified as a Pakistani and Patil, the Maharashtra state official, said: “It is very clear that the terrorists are from Pakistan. We have enough evidence that they are from Pakistan.”

Neither provided further details.

British citizens involved in attacks?
The British government, meanwhile, was investigating whether some of the attackers could be British citizens with links to Pakistan or the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, a British security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The gunmen were well-prepared, apparently scouting some targets ahead of time and carrying large bags of almonds to keep up their energy.

“It’s obvious they were trained somewhere … Not everyone can handle the AK series of weapons or throw grenades like that,” an unidentified member of India’s Marine Commando unit told reporters, his face wrapped in a black mask. He said the men were “very determined and remorseless” and ready for a long siege. One backpack they found had 400 rounds of ammunition inside.

He said the Taj was filled with terrified civilians, making it very difficult for the commandos to fire on the gunmen.

“To try and avoid civilian casualties we had to be so much more careful,” he said, adding that the hotel was a grim sight. “Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere.”

U.S. team heads to Mumbai
A U.S. investigative team was heading to Mumbai, a State Department official said Thursday.

Pakistan’s government said Friday that it will send its spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, to India to help probe the attacks.

India has been shaken repeatedly by terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants in recent years, but most were bombings striking crowded places: markets, street corners, parks. Mumbai — one of the most populated cities in the world with some 18 million people — was hit by a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

These attacks were more sophisticated — and more brazen.

They began at about 9:20 p.m. with shooters spraying gunfire across the Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad station, one of the world’s busiest terminals. For the next two hours, there was an attack roughly every 15 minutes — the Jewish center, a tourist restaurant, one hotel, then another, and two attacks on hospitals. There were 10 targets in all.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Associated Press
updated 6:49 a.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 24, 2008
MSNBC

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka’s military said Monday that 120 Tamil Tiger rebels and 27 soldiers were killed in the latest battle for control of the insurgents’ de facto capital in the north of the country.

The military said in a statement that its troops destroyed rebel defenses and breached huge earth barriers Sunday and were moving toward the rebel headquarters in Kilinochchi.

Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment, but a pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet, reported that 43 Sri Lankan soldiers had been killed. The site did not report any rebel deaths.

Both sides routinely inflate their tallies of casualties on the opposing side, and it is not possible to verify the battle reports because journalists are barred from the war zone.

TamilNet quoted unnamed rebel officials as saying the soldiers were killed Sunday in a clash in Nalloor village of the rebel-held Kilinochchi district. The rebels took away the bodies of eight soldiers, the report said.

The report said the aim of the soldiers in the Sunday clash had been to march from Pooneryn, a recently seized former rebel stronghold, toward a key junction nearby, to pave the way for a fresh front to capture the rebel headquarters of Kilinochchi. Other groups of soldiers are trying to reach Kilinochchi from the south of that town.

Rebel territory shrinks
The government has vowed to crush the rebels and end their decades-old separatist campaign. Government soldiers have in recent months captured a number of key rebel bases and large swaths of land previously controlled by the guerillas, seizing the country’s entire west and forcing the insurgents into a shrinking territory in the northeast.

However the rebels have offered stiff resistance as the soldiers approach Kilinochchi.

Tamil Tigers have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils who have suffered marginalization by successive governments controlled by majority ethnic Sinhalese.

More than 700,000 people have been killed in the violence.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Page last updated at 23:40 GMT, Thursday, 27 November 2008

BBC News

Two people have been killed and five others are missing after an Airbus A320 jet crashed during a test flight after maintenance work, officials have said.

The plane went into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France near Perpignan with two Germans and five New Zealanders on board.

Two bodies have been recovered and search crews are looking for the jet’s data recorders and the missing people.

The plane was leased by Germany’s XL Airways from Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said the cause of the crash was not yet known.

France’s civil aviation authority said the plane went down as it approached Perpignan airport after an hour-long test flight.

The wreckage of the plane was reported to be in several pieces, but a rescue official said the fuselage had been found.

Several ships as well as helicopters and a plane were searching for survivors while navy divers were looking for the plane’s “black-box” data recorders.

Airbus said the plane had been built in 2005 and had accumulated about 7,000 hours of flying time since then.

Air New Zealand leased the plane to XL Airways in 2006 and it was undergoing checks after a refit before being handed back to Air New Zealand, Mr Fyfe said.

On board were two German pilots, four Air New Zealand engineers and an inspector from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, said a spokesman for XL Airways.

The A320 is a single-aisle jet that can seat about 150 passengers and is one of the most popular Airbus jets in use.

Command cited for ‘shortcomings’ in safety, training

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 26, 2008 18:45:40 EST
Navy Times

SAN DIEGO — A Navy investigation into the Sept. 20 death of a submariner found that the sailor got himself into a deadly situation while trying to clean up some oil aboard the ballistic missile submarine Nebraska during its weekly “Field Day.”

Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class (SS) Michael A. Gentile became crushed and pinned in the rudder ram in the submarine’s “shaft alley” at its far aft section when Nebraska, operating near the Hawaiian islands that morning, changed course, according to an investigation the Navy released Wednesday. Despite efforts by crew members to stem blood loss, Gentile died aboard a Coast Guard helicopter en route to the military hospital on Oahu.

Investigators found that Gentile, 21, had ignored warning signs posted in the aft auxiliary area, and he stepped into an area to place absorbent cloths in the space, likely expecting the rudder mechanisms wouldn’t move while he got the cleaning done.

Gentile “went beyond a posted warning sign and safety chain and placed himself in dangerous proximity to specifically marked moving components of the rudder ram,” Rear Adm. Tim Giardina, who commands Submarine Group-Trident in Silverdale, Wash., wrote in an endorsement of the report completed by Submarine Squadron 17 under the Judge Advocate General’s Manual. Gentile “disregarded these visual safety warnings.”

But Giardina and investigators also found some “shortcomings” in Nebraska’s chain of command, specifically lack of enforcing safety rules and the cleaning habits and practices in shaft alley, where some sailors had taken to using sticks or bilge grabbers to reach and clean its tight confines.

“There were noted shortcomings with the chain of command in ensuring that expected standards of safety were complied with and understood,” Giardina wrote. “There were also shortcomings with the leadership’s lack of cognizance and oversight of the crew’s cleaning practices. These shortcomings will be addressed.”

The chief of the boat told investigators that “there was no written policy for cleaning in shaft alley, but there was a CPO oral policy to ‘stay away from pinch points,’” the investigator found. “Some mechanics related that they clean under the rudder ram by carefully reaching, without further precaution.”

“Auxiliaryman aft watchstanders did not have a clear understanding of the requirements and controls required for entering into the area around the rudder ram,” the investigator added.

Nebraska’s crew completed a safety standdown, one of the recommendations in the investigation report. Giardina directed Submarine Squadron 17, which is commanded by Capt. David Ratte, to consider administrative actions against Nebraska’s skipper, executive officer, chief of the boat, engineering officer and others.

It’s not clear yet what actions, if any, have been taken already.

“No one has been relieved of their duty,” Lt. Kyle Raines, spokesman for Submarine Group-Trident, said Wednesday.

“These shortcomings will certainly be addressed through appropriate administrative actions,” Raines said. “The specific administrative actions are still being determined.” The Navy won’t release details of any administrative or nonjudicial punishment of any crewmembers, he added, citing that doing so “could constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

Gentile, a member of Nebraska’s blue crew, had enlisted in 2005 and was considered well-liked among the boat’s crew. “Gentile was a hard-working and respected member of his crew and served proudly with honor, courage and commitment,” Trident group officials said in the statement. “His loss is tragic and is felt throughout the submarine community,” they added.

Here’s what investigators say happened that morning:

Gentile that morning stood the auxiliaryman aft watch, which began at 6 a.m. and would end at noon, when Nebraska, at sea with its Blue crew, would conduct its weekly Field Day, a thorough cleaning evolution of the boat.

With absorbent materials known as Pigs in hand, he began to clean around the rudder ram for a few minutes, the lead investigator wrote in the report. It was about 8:35 a.m. local Hawaii time, and the rudder was set at “Right 15 degrees for a baffle clear,” the investigator wrote. At about 8:38 a.m., “the rudder was shifted to Left 15 degrees to stop the swing of the ship to steady on course.”

That action pinned Gentile against a stanchion in the forward portion of the rudder ram. Someone aboard heard screaming and reported via the 4MC emergency circuit: “Injured personnel in shaft alley. Person caught in the shaft.” The officer-of-the-deck ordered the shaft stopped.

Several sailors rushed to the scene and found Gentile pinned “between the forward collar of the rudder ram and the local operator stanchion,” the investigator wrote. Another message went out: “Man stuck in the rudder.” They freed Gentile when the rudder position was adjusted to Right 10 degrees and took him to sick bay.

But his injuries were traumatic. The crush ruptured his pelvis and cut a femoral artery, and he bled heavily. The crew struggled to stabilize him as the submarine went to periscope depth and closed in on Hawaii and the medevac helicopter.

At 1 p.m., three hours and 40 minutes after the accident, Gentile, who fell unconscious several times, was placed on the helicopter. A half-hour later, however, he was pronounced dead, still en route to the hospital.

25/11/2008 21h10

BOR, Sudan (AFP) - Alual Koch was 13 when she learnt to kill with a gun, fighting government soldiers as a jungle guerrilla in Sudan’s devastating north-south civil war.

Now 36, she shows no emotion when recalling how she carried ammunition and treated wounded on the frontlines of the 21-year-conflict. But the young widow wipes away tears when recounting her present battle to support her family.

Three years after the US-brokered 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended Africa’s longest running civil war, Koch is trying to make ends meet as a prison officer in the southern state of Jonglei.

“We are suffering very much,” says Koch, whose 500 Sudanese pound (225 dollar) monthly salary has to support the 29 relatives and children of her dead fighter husband.

“It is too hard and I must take the children out to the countryside, so they can try to cultivate the fields for food.”

Southern women played a significant role in the war, fighting and supporting the multiple armed groups, experts say, adding that they also suffered routine sexual violence.

But their heavy contribution is often overlooked and many women complain angrily that they are marginalised in the “new Sudan”.

The Small Arms Survey warns that peace is “failing” female former fighters, forcing those no longer supported by the army to adopt “high-risk survival techniques” such as prostitution.

– I fought for freedom but have no chance of going to school –

Without other income many are dependent on male soldiers, with health workers reporting “serious challenges” in responding to high rates of sexual violence, said the independent research group.

Measures taken to protect women, such as the southern army’s ban on rape and government directives on gender equality, appear “largely ineffective” in practice, said a report in September.

“Their post-conflict status is among the lowest of all groups in south Sudan, regardless of ethnic or tribal background,” it added.

Bor, state capital of remote and swampy Jonglei where southern rebels first took up arms in 1983 against the Arab-led regime in the north, was one of the hardest hit regions in the war.

Life is grim for all here, a grossly underdeveloped region with some of the worst indicators of development and health in the world.

One in 50 women die in childbirth — one of the highest rates in the world. Healthcare remains basic even in the capital Juba, a largely tin and thatch-hut city without effective water, sewerage or electricity.

Life is especially hard for women, struggling from the effects of war in a region where traditionally they can be treated as property to be exchanged for cattle in a wedding dowry.

Literacy rates for women remain grossly low at an estimated 12 percent — one third of that of men — while some 17 percent of girls will be married off before they reach 15, according to a 2006 government-backed survey.

The Small Arms Survey reported “violent skirmishes” over dowry disputes and the “ownership” of female ex-combatants.

More than 100 demonstrators recently marched through the muddy streets of Bor calling for an end to violence against women, following a conference bringing women’s unions and government representatives from across Jonglei.

“I fought for freedom but still we have no chance of going to school to get education and that cannot be fair,” said police Corporal Martha Ayen Deng, 49, a former frontline nurse and fighter.

While the government is keen to back girls’ education, many complain that opportunities for female adult education are limited compared to men.

“I am lucky to have a job, but there are many more who have nothing, no support,” added Deng, who was widowed in the war.

A 430-million-dollar UN campaign to demobilise around 180,000 ex-rebels into civilian life will include women ex-fighters, but critics say it excludes the majority of those who played supporting roles within the combat zone.

These include people not listed as actual Sudan People’s Liberation Army fighters, such as informal nurses, cooks, porters, wives of fighters, all still integral to the war effort, or women in other militias.

– Why can we not today treat women as equals –

southern leadership says it is committed to supporting women, setting up a fund for war widows and guaranteeing at least a quarter of posts for women in the fledgling government.

Around 17 percent of government positions are held by women at national and state level, although that should increase following national elections, which are scheduled for 2009 despite widespread fears of delays.

“Women lost their lives in the war as equals of men, so why can we not today treat women as equals to men,” asked Rachael Nyadak Paul, Jonglei state minister for social development.

Southern President Salva Kiir repeatedly speaks out to promote women, including promising support for women candidates in next year’s elections, and styling himself as “watchdog” of women’s rights.

Sudan’s new electoral law grants women 25 percent of the seats in parliament and introduces proportional representation by enshrining quotas for political parties in what has been billed as a road towards democratic transformation.

“We must promote able, educated and mature women to positions of responsibility and influence if we are to ensure that we will meet the needs of the mothers and sisters and daughters in our community,” Kiir said in a recent speech.

But there are vast gaps between government rhetoric and concrete progress.

Critics are increasingly outspoken about sizeable oil revenue being diverted to military spending, rather than education or health, and condemn massive alleged corruption within the southern government.

“We women fought as hard for a ‘New Sudan’ as men did,” said Athok Alaak, a widowed teacher in Bor.

“Now we are asking for support and a chance to make sure those sacrifices are not wasted or lost.”

Page last updated at 23:02 GMT, Tuesday, 25 November 2008

BBC News

The owner of a Thai fishing trawler has said the Indian navy sank it off Somalia’s coast last week after wrongly assuming it was a pirate “mother ship”.

Wicharn Sirichaiekawat said the Indian frigate had attacked the Ekawat Nava 5 while it was being hijacked by pirates.

He said one of the crew had been found alive after six days in the Gulf of Aden, but that another 14 were missing.

The Indian navy has insisted the vessel fired in self-defence at a pirate ship which had been stacked with explosives.

Almost 40 ships have been seized by Somali pirates so far this year.

Earlier, the authorities in Yemen confirmed pirates had captured a cargo ship carrying building material off the country’s coast. They said the pirates were demanding a ransom of $2m (£1.3m).

The latest incident came days after the Saudi oil tanker, Sirius Star, was hijacked. It was earlier moved further north up the Somali coast.

‘Self-defence’
Mr Wicharn told reporters in Bangkok that the Ekawat Nava 5 had been headed from Oman to Yemen last Tuesday to deliver fishing equipment when it was approached by Somali pirates in two speed boats in the Gulf of Aden.

The pirates were in the process of boarding the vessel and seizing control when the Indian navy frigate, the INS Tabar, sailed into view and demanded it stop for investigation, he added.

“The sunken ship which the Indian navy claimed was a ‘mother ship’ of pirates was not the ‘mother ship’ at all,” he said.

“The pirates wanted to take our ship to Somalia.”

Mr Wicharn said he had learnt the fate of his trawler from a Cambodian crew member who had survived the INS Tabar’s bombardment and had been rescued by a passing ship after six days adrift in the Indian Ocean.

The sailor was now recovering in a hospital in Yemen, he said.

Later, an Indian navy spokesman insisted that the Tabar had fired only upon a pirate “mother ship” which had threatened it.

“We fired in self-defence and in response to firing upon our vessel. It was a pirate vessel in the international waters and its stance was aggressive,” Commodore Nirad Sinha told CNN.

Following last week’s incident, the Indian navy said in a statement that the Tabar had spotted a pirate vessel while patrolling 285 nautical miles (530km) south-west of Salalah, Oman. It said those on board had been armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

When it demanded the vessel stop for investigation, the pirate ship had responded by threatening to “blow up the naval warship if it closed on her”, the statement said.

The pirates then fired on the Tabar, after which the Indians retaliated and there was an explosion on the pirate vessel, which then sank, it added.

India is one of several countries currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. France, India, South Korea, Russia, Spain, the US and Nato also have a presence in the region.

<---End of Quote--->

Related Article:
Indian Navy questioned on Somali pirate ship sinking

IANS

Published on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 23:10
IBN Live

New Delhi: The sinking by the Indian Navy of a Somali pirate “mother ship” in the international waters off the Gulf of Aden took a curious turn on Tuesday with a Thai company claiming the vessel that went down was a trawler it owned.

The Indian Navy, however, stuck to its guns, saying that its stealth frigate INS Tabar patrolling the region sunk the vessel in retaliatory fire after it was first fired upon November 18.

The huge fireball that erupted from the vessel after INS Tabar hit it action clearly proved that a large amount of ammunition was on board, Indian Navy spokesman Commander Nirad Sinha maintained.

Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, the owner of the Ekawat Nava 5, however, had a different story to tell.

He told an Indian TV news channel that the vessel was bound from Oman to Yemen to deliver fishing equipment when it was boarded by pirates near the Somali coast.

According to Wicharn, the pirates were taking control of the ship when the INS Tabar arrived on the scene and engaged in combat after being fired upon.

He claimed that 14 sailors were still missing and one crew member was killed in the INS Tabar assault.

Wicharn said he heard about the incident from a Cambodian crew member who survived and drifted in the ocean for six days before being rescued by a passing vessel and was now recuperating in a hospital in Yemen.

Commander Sinha would have none of this.

“The Indian Navy’s stand is very clear. We were first fired upon and then we fired back in self-defence. The vessel was laden with a large quantity of ammunition as shown by the pictures (of the incident),” Sinha told IANS.

“Gun-totting pirates threatened to blow us up in international waters. So, this is an involvement in an act of piracy and we acted in self-defence,” he added.

The Indian Navy earned tremendous accolades after the incident. It also said it had received informal clearance from the government to conduct “hot pursuit” raids against Somali pirates if the situation warranted.

The navy said it would beef up its presence in the region by despatching a guided missile destroyer and was even contemplating aerial reconnaissance flights in the area.

25 November, 2008 10:05:00

Ben Farmer
Military World

The 40-year-old from Devon, who asked not to be named, wrestled the bomber to the ground after spotting him reach for a detonator switch on the motorcycle’s petrol tank.

The 20-year-old insurgent had managed to wheel his explosive-laden vehicle close to 130 British and Afghan Army troops when he attempted to blow himself up.

His motorcycle’s panniers were packed with enough explosive to have caused devastation over an estimated 200-yard area.

The bomber’s first device misfired, but the popping sound of the detonator alerted the marine in time to spot him reaching for another switch connected by a bundle of wires to the saddlebags.

The marine from L Company 42 Commando grappled the bomber to the ground away from the device while comrades rushed to help. The motorcycle’s panniers were later found to contain 150lb of explosive and the bomb defused by bomb disposal experts.

The incident happened a week ago near the Arghandab River, west of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

The 40-year-old had searched the same motorbike a day earlier when its panniers had been packed with potatoes.

He said: “I just didn’t want him to push the button again to detonate the other charge.

“I heard a popping sound like the electric sound when you connect a car battery it was him trying to set off the first of two charges.

“I ran forward and grabbed him, pushing him over the motorbike bringing him to the ground.

“I was angry that he tried to kill us and I was angry with myself for bringing young marines into the situation.”

Major Rich Cantrill, commander of L company, said the marine had saved many lives and with out his actions there would have been a “massive” explosion.

Major Cantrill said: “He acted with conspicuous gallantry in the situation and put himself at great peril to get the suicide bomber away from the motorbike.

“He ran over and more or less rugby-tackled him to the ground.

“He had grabbed him away from the bike after seeing wires and switches. He quickly realised the full implications of it all.

“He showed great restraint in dealing with him especially as he had tried to kill him and the other lads around him.

“It was conspicuous gallantry. He saved multiple lives. Everyone thinks he’s a hero.”

The marine is now been predicted to be put forward for a gallantry award.

Commander Paula Rowe, spokeswoman for Taskforce Helmand, said the marine’s actions had been “tremendous”.

She said: “We commend this act of bravery and it was another example of the forces in Taskforce Helmand acting to protect the lives of Afghans.”