US sends warplanes to Turkey's Incirlik military baseANKARA, Jan 11 (KUNA) -- U.S. F-16 jet-fighters arrived Thursday in Incirlik Air base in southern Turkish city of Adana after, the first time in three years.
According to Local Cihan News Agency, at least 16 F-16 jets joined by early warning system AWACS airplane, as well as tanker airplanes landed here at Incirlik coming from an American base in Germany.
An official at the U.S. embassy in Ankara announced that the planes arrived here for purpose of conducting exerc... (more)
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US forces storm Iranian consulate US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized five members of staff.
The troops raided the building at about 0300 (0001GMT), taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials.
The US military had no immediate comment on the raid, which comes amid high tension between Iran and the US.
The Bush administration accuses Iran of helping fuel violence in Iraq, as well as tryin... (more)
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Somalia terror 'funded in Britain' The Foreign Office is investigating reports of British casualties in US air strikes on al Qaida suspects in Somalia.
The attacks came amid claims that support for the Islamic militant movement had come from the UK.
Meanwhile, the United Nations' new secretary general Ban Ki-moon voiced fears on Wednesday that the air strikes could increase hostilities and harm civilians.
Following days of fierce fighting in the African country, the... (more)
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A Somali Jihadist: We're Not Al-QaedaSaid Ali, 21, is a volunteer fighter for the Shabab militia, the feared enforcers of the Islamic Courts Union. The U.S. brands the organization as an ally of al-Qaeda; in reality, it is also a nationalist anti-warlord movement that contains many Muslim moderates and has no international ambitions. He was 11 when he left his village in southern Somalia and traveled to Mogadishu to look for an education. But all public education had collapsed with the last functioning government in 1991, leaving p... (more)
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Somali raids miss terror suspectsThe US air strikes in Somalia failed to kill any of the three al-Qaeda suspects they targeted, a top US official says.
The three were wanted in connection with the 1998 bombing of US embassies in East Africa and a 2002 attack on Israeli targets in Kenya.
Somali officials had earlier reported that one of the men had been killed.
The US accused Somalia's routed Islamist group of harbouring the three - charges they denied. The air strikes have been stron... (more)
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British MP Asking More Questions About BilderbergA British MP, who previously asked Prime Minister Tony Blair to reveal details of any Bilderberg meetings he has attended, has now officially asked the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, and most likely next Prime Minister, to reveal details of his own attendances at Bilderberg. Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, has officially requested... (more)
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Terrified Soldiers Terrifying People FALLUJAH, Iraq, Jan 8 (IPS) - Ten-year-old Yassir aimed a plastic gun at a passing U.S. armoured patrol in Fallujah, and shouted "Bang! Bang!"
Yassir did not know what was coming. "I yelled for everyone to run, because the Americans were turning back," 12-year-old Ahmed who was with Yassir told IPS.
The soldiers followed Yassir to his house and smashed almost everything in it. "They did this after beating Yassir and his uncle hard, and they spoke the nastiest words,... (more)
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Bush 'surge' crafted by aide who wanted to nuke North Korea in 1995 President Bush's new strategy for Iraq was crafted by a little known aide who is a strong advocate of escalating the troops and who alarmed Democrats over a decade ago when he proposed attacking North Korea with nuclear weapons to stop its nuclear programme, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"When President Bush addresses the nation tomorrow night, the strategies he offers for Iraq will represent months of work by J.D. Crouch, an academic turned deputy nati... (more)
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Russians shut down the main oil pipeline to Europe Russia cut its main oil supply pipeline to Europe last night.
The shutdown was a result of a dispute with neighbouring Belarus over oil and gas prices.
Germany, Poland and Ukraine all faced severe energy hardships because of the move.
Angela Merkel - who currently holds the EU presidency - last night demanded guarantees to prevent Russia doing the same again. "We need legal protection," the German chancellor declared.
<... (more)
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Focus: Mission IranIsrael will not tolerate Iran going nuclear and military sources say it will use tactical strikes unless Iran abandons its programme. Is Israel bluffing or might it really push the button?
In an Israeli air force bunker in Tel Aviv, near the concert hall for the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, Major General Eliezer Shkedi might one day conduct operations of a perilous kind. Should the order come from the Israeli prime minister, it will be Shkedi’s job as air force com... (more)
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Democrats: Nuclear Iran unacceptableIran with nuclear weapons is unacceptable, new House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told The Jerusalem Post hours after entering the party leadership position.
The Maryland Democrat said the view is shared by his party, rejecting assertions that the Democrats would be weaker than the Republicans on Iran.
He also said that the use of force against Teheran remained an option.
Hoyer, second only in the hierarchy of the House of Representatives to Speaker Na... (more)
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Drug mafia, CIA blamed for sacking of Afghan governorKABUL: In a country flooded with narcotics traffickers and corrupt government officials, one of Afghanistan's few remaining 'clean' governors, Mohammed Daud, has been removed from his position, and many are blaming the drug mafia and the CIA for his abrupt dismissal.
Daud was appointed at the request of the British government in order to oversee Helmand province, the country's largest opium producing region.
The former governor of Helmand, Sher Muhammad Akhunzada, w... (more)
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US twists civilian arms to fill Fortress BaghdadAt the heart of George W. Bush’s “new way forward” – which the president is expected to announce on Wednesday and involve substantial troop reinforcements – is the plan already under way to expand the US civilian presence across Iraq and complete the world’s largest embassy in Baghdad.
Construction of what critics call “Fortress Baghdad” has led to arguments inside the State Department amid fears that the overwhelming diplomatic pres... (more)
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Military `surge' not enough to save Iraq, U.S. commander says BAGHDAD, Iraq - In his first wide-ranging interview, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq conceded Sunday that a military "surge" escalation would not be enough to rescue Iraq, advocating economic and political changes as well, as top Democratic lawmakers in Washington stiffened their opposition to any escalation of U.S. troop strength.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he believed that a combination of jobs, provincial elections, anti-militia legislation and stronger Iraqi security forc... (more)
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CBS: U.S. Strikes Al Qaeda In Somalia(CBS/AP) A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.
The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.
The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousand... (more)
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Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on IranISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a for... (more)
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American Passports Found on Bodies of Al Qaeda Fighters in SomaliaA senior official in the Somali government's new Ministry of the Interior told ABC News government forces had recovered "dozens of foreign passports," including several American passports, on the bodies of al Qaeda fighters killed in combat between forces affiliated with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and Ethiopian forces in Somalia.
According to the same source, most of the foreign passports were Sudanese, Pakistani and Yemeni, but several American, British and Australian pass... (more)
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Sat Nav for Mexicans illegally entering US Illegal immigrants planning to cross the desert and enter the US on foot are to be given hand-held satellite devices by the Mexican authorities to ensure they arrive safely.
Those who get lost or fall sick during the dangerous four-day crossing will be able to activate the device, to alert frontier police on both sides of the border.
The satellite tracking service will require would-be illegals to register their intentions before setting off &... (more)
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Muslim and Jews join gay-laws protest Prominent Muslims and Jews united with Christians yesterday to voice concern at laws boosting gay rights.
Churches are organising demonstrations next week against the Sexual Orientation Regulations, which are due to come into force in April.
Campaigners claim the rules will force religious groups to promote homosexual rights in contradiction to their teachings and could persecute those who disapprove of homosexuality on moral grounds.... (more)
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Iraqis Say They Were Better Off Under HusseinMany adults in Iraq believe the coalition effort has been negative, according to a poll by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies and the Gulf Research Center. 90 per cent of respondents think the situation in their country was better before the U.S.-led invasion.
The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,000 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 22,500 troops have been wounded i... (more)
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