New oil shock ahead as $100 spike loomsThe growing international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme could trigger a catastrophic oil price spike, sending crude prices over $100 a barrel, senior Wall Street analysts are warning.
With prices already at around $72 a barrel, such an increase could mean drivers facing prices of 110p a litre on forecourts, according the the Petrol Retailers Association. Last week Lord Browne, chief executive of BP, warned that prices could rise to £1 as he unveiled bumper $5.27bn pro... (more)
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China Develops Export-oriented Fighter PlaneChina has developed an advanced, multipurpose light fighter plane to meet the needs of overseas customers, the official national Economic Daily reported on Wednesday.
The recent maiden flight of the plane, named Xiaolong/FC-1, or fierce dragon, proved successful in Wenjiang Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.
During the show, the plane demonstrated its outstanding mobility, good interception and ground attack capability, according to t... (more)
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Squaring up for a drugs war on streets of LaredoOn the far side of the Rio Grande, a Mexican drug runner raised his AK47 at US lawmen.
The man and five companions were goading the Americans, 100 yards across the border.
"Hey! We're ready to play now," screamed the gunman, who was probably trying to recover the marijuana abandoned on the American side after a chase earlier that day.
The threat didn't work. The Texan sheriff's deputy, Abel Hinojosa, stayed where he was, with the drug gang in his sigh... (more)
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Russian MP Predicts Start of War in Iran This YearThe eccentric Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, has said the war in Iran would start “this year”.
Zhirinovsky, who became well-known for outrageous statements on Russia’s foreign policy, said on Thursday that a military operation would start with air raids followed by “land operations”. He also suggested that international troops sent into mountainous Iran would suffer greater losses t... (more)
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Tehran insider tells of US black opsTEHRAN - A former Iranian ambassador and Islamic Republic insider has provided intriguing details to Asia Times Online about US covert operations inside Iran aimed at destabilizing the country and toppling the regime - or preparing for an American attack.
"The Iranian government knows and is aware of such infiltration. It means that the Iranian government has identified them [the covert operatives] but for some reason does not want to show [this]," said the former diplomat on cond... (more)
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Paper: Chavez moves toward nationalizing Venezuela oilVenezuelan President Hugo Chávez is planning a new assault on Big Oil, potentially taking a major step toward nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry that could hurt oil-company profits, reduce production and put further pressure on global oil prices, the Wall Street Journal reports on Monday front pages. Excerpts:
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Venezuela's Congress, made up entirely of Mr. Chávez's allies, is considering sharply raising taxes and royalties on foreign companies' opera... (more)
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Iran-Israel Linkage By Bush Seen As ThreatPresident Bush is risking a backlash that could injure the Jewish community — and his own cause — by repeatedly citing Israel as his top rationale for possible U.S. military conflict with Iran, Jewish leaders and Middle East analysts warned this week.
Bush’s repeated, sometimes exclusive, focus on Israel could spark public fury against the Jewish state and Jews if U.S. military action is accompanied by skyrocketing gas prices, terrorism at home or fallen G.I.&rsq... (more)
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Israeli satellite launched to spy on Iranian nuclear facilitiesThe international ImageSat company launched the Eros B high-resolution reconnaissance satellite from Siberia Tuesday night, a move that will help Israel spy on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The ground control station, located in the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) complex in Yehud, will be able to control the satellite's navigation and keep it stationed for an extended time over particularly sensitive targets such as the Iranian nuclear reactor, which is too far for Israeli drones ... (more)
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Iran 'greatest threat to Jews since Hitler'The Israeli defence minister today said Iran's nuclear programme was the biggest threat to Jews "since Hitler".
Speaking before comments from the Iranian president that Israel could not "logically continue to live", Shaul Mofaz urged vigorous diplomatic action over Iran's uranium enrichment activities, which Tehran maintains are purely peaceful.
"Of all the threats we face, Iran is the biggest. The world must not wait. It must do everything necessary on a diplomatic... (more)
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Russian Bombers Flew Undetected Across ArcticRussian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday. The commander of the country's long-range strategic bombers, Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov, said the U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers.
"They were unable to detect the planes either with radars or visually," he said.
Khorov said that duri... (more)
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'US intelligence on Iran is inadequate'At a time when the Bush administration is pressurising Iran for its nuclear programme, a top member of the Congressional Intelligence Panel have said that the US does not have good intelligence on how close Tehran is to developing nuclear weapons.
"I'd say we really don't know. We're getting lots of mixed messages. Obviously, we're getting lots of different messages from their leadership, the stuff that they are saying in public", remarked Republican Chair of the House Permanent S... (more)
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U.S. plans economic sanctions on IranThe United States believes that the ultimatum which was given to Iran demanding to freeze its nuclear enrichment program by April 28 and the report of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have no affect on the Iranian nuclear program.
A clear indication to the situation was given Sunday when the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that progress of the Iranian nuclear program is "irreversible."
The U.S has begun planning its own moves t... (more)
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Military in Iraq PermanentlyMaj. Micah Morgan fondly pats the nose of his Predator drone, much as a cavalry officer of old might have stroked the muzzle of his prized horse. "This is the future of the Air Force," says Morgan, a former B-1 bomber pilot. It is a glorious day in the Sunni Triangle. Outside the "wire" of Balad Air Base the insurgency still rages and sectarian war looms, but the sky above is a deep azure and, no small thing, wholly American-owned. A relaxed Morgan watches from the shade of Saddam Hussein's old ... (more)
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Stuck in the Hot Zone: Don't dream about full exits. The military is in Iraq for the long haul.May 1, 2006 issue - Maj. Micah Morgan fondly pats the nose of his Predator drone, much as a cavalry officer of old might have stroked the muzzle of his prized horse. "This is the future of the Air Force," says Morgan, a former B-1 bomber pilot. It is a glorious day in the Sunni Triangle. Outside the "wire" of Balad Air Base the insurgency still rages and sectarian war looms, but the sky above is a deep azure and, no small thing, wholly American-owned. A relaxed Morgan watches from the shade of S... (more)
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The Missing Girls of Iraq: Sex trafficking, virtually nonexistent under Saddam Hussein, has resurfaced in Iraq. TIME reports on a seldom-discussed epidemic: girls being kidnapped and sold to brothels The man on the phone with the 14-year-old Iraqi girl called himself Sa'ad. He was calling long distance from Dubai and telling her wonderful things about the place. He was also about to buy her. Safah, the teenager, was well aware of the impending transaction. In the weeks after she was kidnapped and imprisoned in a dark house in Baghdad's middle-class Karada district, Safah heard her captors haggling with Sa'ad over her price. It was finally settled at $10,000. Staring at a floor strewn with e... (more)
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New Plans Foresee Fighting Terrorism Beyond War ZonesDefense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved the military's most ambitious plan yet to fight terrorism around the world and retaliate more rapidly and decisively in the case of another major terrorist attack on the United States, according to defense officials.
The long-awaited campaign plan for the global war on terrorism, as well as two subordinate plans also approved within the past month by Rumsfeld, are considered the Pentagon's highest priority, according to officials f... (more)
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Iran nuclear work 'irreversible'Iran has called its uranium enrichment work "irreversible", days before a UN deadline for the programme to stop.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also said demands for Iran to suspend its nuclear research work were "not on the agenda".
The UN Security Council called on Iran to suspend enrichment by 28 April, amid fears it wants to make nuclear weapons.
Iran - which insists its programme is peaceful - announced this month it had enriched ura... (more)
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US intel report Major increase in terrorist incidentsIn a report to be released next week, US government figures will show that the number of terrorist attacks in the world jumped sharply in 2005, totalling more than 10,000 for the first time. That is almost triple the number of terrorist attacks in 2004 -- 3,194. Knight Ridder's Washington bureau reports that counterterrorism experts say that there are two reasons for the dramatic increase: a broader definition of what consitutes a terrorist attack, and the war in Iraq.
More than h... (more)
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