President Obama hosts Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) to discuss nuclear threats

The nuclear threat is a major worry for world leaders and US President Barack Obama is hosting Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) to discuss these threats. This has become more pronounced after the recent terror attacks in Brussels because, according to Belgian media, two of the suicide bombers in the attacks had in their possession video footage of a senior official at a Flanders nuclear waste facility.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 31 March 2016.

World leaders are meeting in Washington to discuss how to prevent terrorists getting hold of radioactive material and it is expected that the UK would play a leading role in protecting nuclear facilities from cyberattack. The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) that is being hosted by President Barack Obama, will see heads of government consider what their response to such a scenario would be.
It is understood that the UK and the United States will hold a joint exercise next year to prepare for any online attack against nuclear power plants and waste storage facilities.
Moreover, Prime Minister David Cameron is to offer British expertise to other countries to protect their own civil nuclear installations because there are apprehensions that Islamic State could attempt to create a dirty bomb. While a UK Government source has indicated that there was no "credible evidence" of terrorists targeting British facilities but, the joint exercise with the US would ensure that both governments and their civil nuclear industries were prepared for any eventuality and could rectify any potential weaknesses.
Incidentally, this summit will be the fourth and final NSS, following on from the last meeting at The Hague in the Netherlands in 2014. The gatherings are from a personal initiative of President Obama, with the International Atomic Energy Agency taking forward the work on nuclear security.


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Suicide attack targets Easter crowd in Lahore - at least 70 women and children killed

It was another suicide attack in Pakistan and this time it was in Lahore where at least 70 people were killed in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park of Allama Iqbal Town on Sunday evening. Another over 250 were injured and the responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar.
This has been reported in dawn.com dated 28 March 2016.

Iqbal Town Superintendent Police has confirmed this was a suicide attack and that it happened at a children's park where women and children were present in large numbers. The area is a well known residential area of Lahore and the blast was just outside the exit gate and a few feet away from the children's swings.
The head of the suicide bomber was recovered and ball bearings were also found at the site. The park is quite large and has several entrance gates and there were almost no security personnel present.


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ISIS driven out from Palmyra by Syrian forces backed by Russian airstrikes

Palmyra is finally freed from the clutches of ISIS by Syrian forces backed by Russian airstrikes - this has been announced by the state media and an opposition monitoring group. Government forces had been on the offensive for nearly three weeks trying to recapture the town that had been captured by ISIS in May and this recapturing brings to an end the reign of terror over a town whose famous 2,000-year-old ruins used to once attract tens of thousands of visitors.
Palmyra used to be affectionately known as the "Bride of the Desert" and was a UNESCO world heritage site.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 27 March 2016.

The retaking of Palmyra by Syrian forces marks the latest setback suffered by ISIS - it is coming under mounting pressure on several fronts in Iraq and Syria. Syrian troops are now dismantling explosive booby traps that had been planted by ISIS militants.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed that the Islamic State lost the town and have added that at least 400 extremists have been killed. Some fighters had withdrawn from Palmyra and moved out toward the town of Sukhna and other areas in the Homs province. SOHM has added that this was the heaviest losses sustained by ISIS in a single battle since its creation.
Russia's defense minister has indicated that Russian jets conducted 40 air sorties near Palmyra and hit 158 targets killing over 100 militants.


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ISIS suicide bomber blows himself up in football stadium near Baghdad - 30 killed

A suicide bomber has blown himself up on a football pitch even as trophies were being presented after a local tournament south of Baghdad killing at least 30 people. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, that took a toll of supporters, officials and security forces who had gathered after the game. IS claimed that the blast had killed more than 60 and wounded more than 100.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 26 March 2016.

The suicide bomber struck when the organizers were handing the trophy to the winners and the suicide attacker was present in the crowd - this is what a police captain from the village, Al-Asriya has indicated. The village is located near Iskandariyah, a town about 40-Km south of the capital.
The police captain said more than 65 people were also wounded in the blast. The mayor, Ahmed Shaker, was among the dead and a medic at Iskandariyah hospital has confirmed the toll and warned it could rise further.
In the opinion of observers, as their self-proclaimed "caliphate" shrinks towards extinction, IS fighters are most likely to go back to their old guerrilla tactics and carry out suicide attacks on civilian targets.


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Syrian forces have entered Palmyra held by ISIS for last one year

ISIS has held the city of Palmyra ever since May last year and the Syrian government forces have now entered the city. IS had demolished several historic landmarks and ancient structures and had also carried out a series of beheading in the iconic amphitheater.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 24 March 2016.

In advance of the latest assault, IS has apparently used loudspeakers to announce to the 15,000 odd civilians still living in Palmyra to leave the city. The fighting is reportedly concentrated near the archaeological site on the southwestern edge of the town and, the Syrian forces are less than a mile from the heart of the city, and roads are being cleared of mines and explosives.
Simultaneously, in Iraq, armed forces are bearing down on the IS-held city of Mosul and it is the first stage of an operation aimed at liberating Mosul - it took off with an offensive against IS in the northerly Nineveh province launched from the Makhmour area where Iraqi troops have been deployed in recent weeks.
The troops are backed by air power from a US-led coalition and Kurdish peshmerga forces and several villages have already been recaptured. Mosul was home to two million people before it was taken over by IS. Mosul is, now, the largest city controlled by the group and is still heavily populated - this makes it more complicated to retake.


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Police intensify search for the Man in White possibly linked to Brussels attack

Belgian authorities have intensified search for at least one fugitive in Brussels airport attack - identified as the 'Man in White', he had been seen on airport security footage with the two suicide attackers. Incidentally, ISIS is believed to have trained more than 400 fighters to unleash more deadly terror attacks across Europe. These extremists have been ordered to wait for the 'right time and place' to cause maximum carnage.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 23 March 2016.

In the opinion of officials, hundreds of extremists have been trained specifically for external attacks on European cities, like the ones which have brought death and devastation to Brussels and Paris. The brains behind such attacks are depraved Islamic State chiefs who encourage fighters to choose the time, place and method of a terror attack wisely so that it causes maximum casualties and destruction.
As per rough estimates, 400 to 600 Islamic State fighters have been trained specifically for external attacks - these are out of nearly 5,000 Europeans who have gone to Syria. It seems there are camps in Syria and Iraq that have been designed specifically to train for attacks against the West.


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While claiming responsibility for the Brussels airport terminal and Metro station attacks in which 34 people died and many more were injured, ISIS has threatened to hit the UK 'harder and more bitter'. As a result, Britain has vamped up security with armed officers taking to the streets near major landmarks, train stations and airports.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 22 March 2016.

Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of the government's emergency COBRA committee, and Britain's official terrorist threat level stands at 'severe' - this is the second-highest level on a five-point scale and means an attack is highly likely.
At least two people in Brussels were arrested outside the city's North railway station, a mile from the Maelbeek subway, in connection to the attack. A third suspect was arrested on a train near Amsterdam and, a suspect package at Gard du Nord in Paris delayed Eurostar services in the afternoon. Another man was also taken into custody by armed police at Brussels South railway station near the suburb of Schaerbeek.


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Terror attack in Brussels airport - at least 28 killed, dozens injured

Brussels Airport was the scene of a terror attack n which at least 28 people were killed and dozens injured - the attacks happened at the city's airport and a metro station near the EU headquarters. Two blasts rocked the American Airlines check-in desk at the Airport at 8am. It was a suspected suicide bombing.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 22 March 2016.

Approximately 90 minutes after the bomb blast at the airport, there was another blast that destroyed a the Maelbeek Metro station located just 400 metres from the EU headquarters in the city center. The attacks have come just a day after the Belgium Interior Minister had warned of possible revenge attacks following the arrest of Paris massacre suspect Salah Abdeslam in the city last week.
Firefighters who searched for survivors are believed to have found a third unexploded device, even as armed police in protective clothing combed the area looking for more wounded travelers and suspicious bags.
Flights that are due to land at Brussels-Zaventem, which handles 21million passengers a year, were diverted to Antwerp, Liege, and Brussels Charleroi airports. As a result of this attack, Europe's biggest airports are all increasing their security today. Heathrow has increased its own 'visible' security in the wake of the attacks – with large units of armed police patrolling the airport from morning.


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Tragedy in chicken eating contest in Indonesia - a competitor chokes to death

It was the 'Eat or Treat' contest - a nationwide chicken eating contest at fast-food outlet KFC in Indonesia and it offered a prize of $1 billion rupiah (£5,263). But, it has now been cancelled after a contestant choked to death on a chicken wing. The incident happened in a restaurant in West Jakarta when a 45-year-old man choked to death when trying to eat three wings in under five minutes.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 21 March 2016.

The man in question was taken to hospital after he started to choke on his third wing. He drank water to try to stop choking, but later collapsed, and was pronounced dead by paramedics. The 'Eat or Treat' contest offered a prize of $1 billion rupiah (£5,263), and he had reached the elimination round.
AS a result, the entire competition which ran across 239 KFC outlets across Java and Bali, has now been cancelled by organizers who treat this as an accident. Before start of the contest, participants had signed a letter declaring they were healthy.
KFC provided the venue and the competition was run by the organizers. The grand final of the contest was scheduled to take place in July, and the eventual winner stood to win £267,700.


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Human traffickers now use aircraft to smuggle Iraqi migrants to Italy

Till now, human traffickers used to ferry migrants in boats or follow the land route but, now, they have gone in for aircraft. Police have arrested six members of a trafficking network that charged up to £6,000 to fly Iraqis to Italy - the arrests were made as they prepared a plane for seven migrants.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 18 March 2016.

A gang of four Greeks and two Iraqis were involved in this smuggling and the police nabbed them when four children were due to take off on the flight - it happened in western Greece. This smuggling network has already successfully taken 12 groups of migrants from Iraq to Italy. Each of the migrants had paid the smugglers between 4,500 and 7,500 euros (£3,515-£5,858).
The police officers seized the Piper small aircraft, 34,430 euros (£26,500) in cash, two cars, 700 grams of cannabis and shotgun cartridges during the raid in Messolonghi. The criminal network used for illegally transferring the migrants from Greece to countries in western Europe on small aircraft has since been dismantled.
It is not clear just how the migrants had arrived in Greece but the smugglers had driven them to the west of the country from Athens where the plane was due to depart from. The migrant children have been sent to a juvenile welfare centre but, the fate of the adults was not clear.
Italian officials have revealed that there had been a spike in migration due to the good weather and ships had picked up 3,100 migrants over the past three days most of them are Lybians. The breakdown is - 712 migrants were picked up yesterday and, another 2,400 had landed in the two previous days, all grouped in small, flimsy rubber dinghies.


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Clash between people of a Roma settlement of Tula and Russian riot police

Clashes broke out between people of a Roma settlement of Tula and Russian riot police on the supply of Gazprom gas - the problem has been brewing for a long time and has led to a revolt by a Roma settlement near the city of Tula. The revolt has pitted men, women and stick-carrying children against nearly 500 Russian riot-police.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 17 March 2016.

The center of the dispute is on access to a natural gas pipeline that runs through a village called Plekhanovo. It seems local Roma residents had connected dozens of their own do-it-yourself lines to the main supply for cooking, heat and fuel. However, while trying to hook up another line, the system shutdown and some 400 homes in the area got disconnected from the gas supply.
When engineers tried to rep[air the pipeline, clashes broke out. The local Roma residents wanted to block employees from Russian energy giant Gazprom by burning tyres and pelting with stones. Of course, local Roma claimed that the violence was a reflection of a long-standing frustrations in the area.
In the opinion of human rights organizations, Roma - and other groups who are perceived as gypsies - are subjected to widespread discrimination in Russia. Instead of helping people register their houses and legalize their gas supplies, the authorities have been demolishing their houses. Since 2005, demolition has been going on without compensation.
Reps of Gazprom have indicated that the whole village is supplied with gas with the exception of the Roma settlement. They have discovered two illegal pipes with a diameter of 10cm but they have not yet been disconnected.


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President Obama imposes tough sanctions on North Korea

In spite of repeated warnings from the global community, North Korea has continued to go ahead with its experimenting with nuclear arsenals - it claimed to have tested its first hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6 and followed it up by launching a satellite on a rocket on Feb. 7. Obviously, it has tested the patience of the world to the limit and has to face the consequences.
One of these is the imposing of sanctions by President Barack Obama who has levied sanctions against North Korea in response to the reclusive country's recent "illicit" nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 17 March 2016.

The result of sanctions is to block certain transactions on property belonging to the North Korean government and to the Workers' Party of Korea. These are in continuation to the U.N. Security Council's unanimous adoption this month of some of the toughest sanctions in decades against North Korea because it defied the world by pushing ahead with its nuclear program.
The US President had enacted separate U.S. sanctions against North Korea last month and an executive order signed by Obama and effective immediately merges both sets of sanctions, enabling the U.S. government to implement them.


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Bomb blast in Peshawar bus kills 15, leaves 30 injured

A powerful bomb blast in a bus carrying government employees in Pakistan's Peshawar city left at least 15 people dead and 30 others injured. The incident happened when a bomb placed inside the bus exploded and the bus was packed with government employees who had reached Peshawar from Mardan.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 16 March 2016.

The bomb had exploded when the private bus was on Sunehri Masjid Road and was taking civil secretariat employees for duty. The bus had 50 people on board at the time of the explosion and two women and a child were among the dead. At least 30 people were injured in the blast.
The blast had been triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted inside the bus and, it is estimated that about 8-Kg of explosives were used in blast. The roof of the bus had blown off and people are being pulled out after cutting the damaged portion.
The injured have been shifted to nearby Lady Reading hospital and the condition of a majority of those injured was stated to be critical. Eight of them have been admitted in ICU.
Peshawar is home to the XI Corps which is an administrative corp of the Pakistan Army. It manages all military activity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is, at present, engaged in a full-blown operation against militants in North Waziristan.


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Terror attack in Ankara kills at least 37 - one suicide bomber was a 22-year-old woman

In a suicide attack in the city of Ankara, at least 37 persons have been killed and more than 125 people are injured. The attack took place in Kizilay, a major shopping and transport hub, located in the center of the Turkish capital.
One of two suicide bombers was a 22-year-old female PKK member from the eastern city of Kars and had joined the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) in 2013 as informed by Turkish security officials.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 14 March 2016.

This was the third terror attack in Ankara in just six months and the bombers had arrived in a BMW which was packed with items like nails and pellets, to cause maximum carnage. Identification of one of the suspects was by tracing the BMW using the chassis number.
Fighter jets had struck arms depots and shelters of the PKK in the Iraqi mountainous areas of Qandil and Gara on Monday and the attack could have been because of that. Nine F-16s and two F-4s had conducted the strikes on eighteen recently identified targets as revealed by the military. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but other bombings elsewhere in the country have been blamed on Islamic State, which is also active in Turkey.


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Iran gets ready to launch its Somorgh missile into outer space

Iran is apparently getting ready to launch a new long-range rocket into outer space as soon as this weekend. This missile is known as a Simorgh and officials have indicated that they have not seen this specific type of rocket launched in the past. Incidentally, any test of a new ballistic missile would be in violation of a UN resolution that forbids Iran from working on its rocket program.
The Somorgh rocket was first unveiled in 2010.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 11 March 2016.

A Simorgh rocket is designed to carry a satellite into space and officials are concerned because any space launch uses the same technology that is needed to launch a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM. Iran has launched multiple ballistic missiles on one day for the first time since 2012 as revealed by defense officials.
UN Security Council Resolution 2231 states that Iran is “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”
However, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander has indicated that Iran's ballistic missile program will continue to move forward, in spite of threats of international sanctions.
The U.S. State Department, of course, has said that the recent launches were not in violation of the nuclear deal, but it was “inconsistent” with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 since that was linked to the nuclear deal when it went into effect.


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Britain to deploy extra troops to Iraq to fight ISIS

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has indicated that the UK would deploy more troops to Iraq to help train the country's armed forces in preparation of a fresh offensive against Islamic State. Michael Fallon has offered to send 30 extra troops and they would provide training in logistics and bridge-building apart from act as specialist medical staff. They would most likely be stationed in training camps at Besmayah and Taji in the Baghdad area. This deployment would bring the number of UK military personnel involved in training in Iraq to 300.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 12 March 2016.

Michael Fallon has remarked that the deployment is against the background of "solid progress" made against IS in recent months. He has also said that the time has come to to step up the training of Iraqi Forces, as they prepare for operations in key cities such as Fallujah and Mosul.
The UK government has continuously insisted that training missions does not constitute 'boots-on-the-ground' even though the British Special Forces are operating in the region. Rather, the UK contribution fits into a wider mission involving a number of nations.


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Russia to train five dolphins for its underwater combat fleet

Russia is on the lookout for five combat dolphins and use them to perform military duties underwater in an echo of its Soviet-era use of the animals for military tasks. It seems the search is on for two female and three male dolphins between the ages of three and five - they should have perfect teeth and no physical problems.
The animals are to be delivered before August to the military in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. This location has been a training center for the animals since 1965. The center was badly dilapidated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dolphins were reportedly sold to Iran.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 9 March 2016.

Ukraine's navy had revived the center in 2012 but, once the Russians annexed Ukraine two years later, the center has gone back under Russia's control. Therefore, Russia is working out new programs to train the dolphins to serve the Russian military.
During the Cold War, dolphins were used to locate submarines, underwater mines and suspicious objects near harbors and ships. The dolphins were an integral part of the arms race between the USSR and the US. The dolphins were trained to not only plant explosives on enemy ships but could also locate abandoned torpedoes in the Black Sea.
Incidentally, the US even now uses sea mammals for military purposes - sea lions have been deployed to Bahrain in 2003.


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Iraq's Mosul dam could collapse and unleash a disaster with 45-feet high waves

Fearing a possible collapse of the Mosul Dam in Iraq, the United States has urged governments to quickly mobilize its resources to prevent a disaster and a "humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions" in case the dam does collapse. In recent months there has been signs of a possible breach in Iraq`s largest dam and this could unleash a wave as high as 45 feet that would devastate Mosul and flood much of the capital Baghdad. As a result, nearly 1.5 million people would be at grave risk.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 10 March 2016.

US Ambassador Samantha Power has informed all UN member states to take immediate steps after he was briefed on the subject by Iraq`s UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim. The ambassador has described briefings by technical experts, engineers and representatives from UN aid and development agencies as "chilling."
Incidentally, the Mosul dam in northern Iraq was built on an unstable foundation that is continuously eroding. There was a lapse in required maintenance because the ISIS jihadist group had briefly seized it in 2014 and that has weakened the already flawed structure.
The caution has been sounded that in case of a breach, it could release flood waves of up to 45-feet high that could sweep up everything in its path, including people, cars, unexploded ordnance, waste and other hazardous material and that would further endanger the massive population centers that lie in the flood path.
Obviously, repair work must be undertaken on immediate priority and Iraqis must be well informed about the best evacuation routes. An Italian firm has been selected to carry out crucial repair work on the dam, which is currently protected by Kurdish peshmerga forces.


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US drone strike kills at least 150 al-Shebab militants near Mogadishu

The Pentagon has revealed that US drone strike on an al-Shebab training camp in Somalia has killed more than 150 fighters who were planning a "large-scale" attack. The training camp called Raso is located some 195-Km north of Mogadishu.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 8 March 2016.

The fighters were apparently undergoing training in the camp for a large-scale attack and, hence, posed an imminent threat to US and (African Union) forces. As per initial assessments more than 150 terrorist fighters have been eliminated in the strike. The spokesman did not elaborate on the "offensive operations" that the fighters were allegedly planning.
It is felt that such preemptive actions would degrade al-Shebab's ability to meet the group's objectives in Somalia. This is, namely, recruiting new members, establishing bases and planning attacks on US and AMISON (African Union Mission to Somalia) forces.
Incidentally, the training camp had been under surveillance for quite some time ahead of the drone strike. Al-Qaeda aligned al-Shebab jihadists have already claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in recent times including a twin bombing at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa last month.


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ISIS is planning Paris style attack on Britain warns Scotland Yard

UK's top anti-terror officer has warned that ISIS is planning to carry out an attack on British soil in the lines of the Paris attack and efforts have been taken to arrest an unprecedented numbers of women and teenagers who could be involved in such activities.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 7 March 2016.

The officer has indicated that the terror group is 'trying to build bigger attacks' around the world and Britain is believed to be one major targets. Following the devastating series of suicide attacks on Paris last year where 130 died, a similar plot in Britain could be a 'natural next step' for the terror group.
He also added that while in the past few years the ISIS has called on would-be jihadis to attack police and the military, they have now broadened their plans to attack Western lifestyle. To achieve this objective, the ISIS is trying to rope in supporters who have received military training in Syria into northern Europe to stage attacks.
Incidentally, in the past three years the number of arrests of terrorist suspects has risen by 57 per cent as compared to the three years before that. 77 per cent of the arrested were British nationals out of which 14 per cent were female and 13 per cent were aged 20 and under. The increase in the number of girls and women and the number of teenagers appears to be a new trend.


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US ignores India's appeals and finalizes F-16 deal with Pakistan

India had appealed to the US to refrain from supplying F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan but, it now appears that the deal is going through and that the US government has formally notified the intended sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. The deal is in its final stages.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 6 March 2016.

Pakistan adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had indicated in a news briefing in Washington earlier this week that Pakistan had initially requested for 18 F-16s. However, in view of financing problems, it was purchasing just eight. The total cost of the deal would be nearly $700 million. He also added that the F-16s were a critical tool in the war against terrorism.
The US justified the sale as a part of US foreign policy objectives and national security goals because the objective is to help improve the security of a strategic partner in South Asia.
But - India is not happy at this decision. The Indian government and some US lawmakers have criticized the rationale of Washington and have wondered how such an arms transfer will help combat terrorism. They claim that these fighter planes in the hands of Pakistan will change the military balance in South Asia and will ultimately be used against India.
The US has justified its actions by saying that the additional F-16 aircraft in the hands of Pakistan would facilitate operations in non-daylight environments and "enhance Pakistan`s ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations".


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Loss of bees and butterflies is disturbing the ecological balance

Madhya Pradesh to promote tiger tourism

China wants to fight terrorism in Xinjiang with entertainment, singing and dancing


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British actor Tom Hardy could become the new face of James Bond after Daniel Craig


Airstrikes in Syria target schools and hospitals - nearly 50 children killed

F-22 Stealth Bombers of the US fly low over South Korea skies

North Korea plans to carry out terror attacks on South Korea

Kim Jong-un sounds the bugle for a nuclear war

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sounded the bugle for a nuclear war and has demanded the country's nuclear weapons be made ready for use 'at any time'. He has also said that the communist country will revise its military posture in order to be able to carry out pre-emptive attacks. He has also stressed that the current situation has become very precarious.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 4 March 2016.

Kim Jong-un has indicated that his people must always be ready to fire the nuclear warheads at any time and his announcement has come shortly after the United Nations Security Council passed a new sanctions resolution penalizing the country for its fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch earlier in the year.
The nuclear threats of North Korea have come ahead of joint U.S.-South Korean war games this month that the North claims are invasion preparations.
Some of the measures is a new requirement that all countries must inspect cargo destined for and coming from North Korea, in all airports and sea ports. The resolution also bans or restricts exports of coal, iron and iron ore and other minerals from North Korea, and also prohibits the supply of aviation fuel including rocket fuel.
This is going to hurt because North Korea earns about $1billion every year through coal exports - a third of all export revenues - and about $200 million annually from iron ore sales.
US President Barack Obama welcomed the sanctions as 'a firm, united, and appropriate response' to the January 6 nuclear test and February 7 rocket launch. He has reiterated that North Korea must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better path for its people.
The sanctions also cover banking restrictions and governments will be required to ban flights of any plane suspected of carrying contraband destined for North Korea. Moreover, UN member states will expel North Korean diplomats who may be engaged in smuggling or other illegal activities. And, a total of 16 individuals and 12 entities were added to a UN sanctions blacklist - these include North Korea's NADA space agency and its spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Didi knows that ghosts have their uses (satire)

‘Make in India’ concept to market Ganga water (satire)

Moody throws light on conversion and smartness (satire)


Loss of bees and butterflies is disturbing the ecological balance

Madhya Pradesh to promote tiger tourism

China wants to fight terrorism in Xinjiang with entertainment, singing and dancing


Quantum jump for Priyanka Chopra from Quantico to Baywatch

Kissing scenes in movies – why this fad has never caught on in Bollywood

British actor Tom Hardy could become the new face of James Bond after Daniel Craig


Airstrikes in Syria target schools and hospitals - nearly 50 children killed

F-22 Stealth Bombers of the US fly low over South Korea skies

North Korea plans to carry out terror attacks on South Korea

Spanish police seize 20,000 military uniforms meant for ISIS fighters

Spanish police have managed to seize 20,000 military uniforms that were bound for Islamic State and al Nusra Front fighters. The items had been declared as second-hand clothes and a part of humanitarian aid to fool the customs officials and the sheer quantity was "enough to equip an entire army".
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 4 March 2016.

The consignments of these military uniforms were discovered in three shipping containers in the eastern ports of Valencia and Alicante last month. It was an operation undertaken by officers to prevent smuggling of arms to jihadists. In a statement, the police have indicated that with the roughly 20,000 military uniforms and accessories, it would have been possible to equip an entire army. This army would be ready to enter into the combat role in any of the battlegrounds which jihadist terrorist organizations have round the world.
Seven people have been arrested in this connection - one of them was a man who dispatched "military material, money, electronic and transmission material, firearms and precursors for making explosives" to Syria and Iraq via a company. These would be shipped out to the terrorist groups under the guise of humanitarian aid.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Didi knows that ghosts have their uses (satire)

‘Make in India’ concept to market Ganga water (satire)

Moody throws light on conversion and smartness (satire)


Loss of bees and butterflies is disturbing the ecological balance

Madhya Pradesh to promote tiger tourism

China wants to fight terrorism in Xinjiang with entertainment, singing and dancing


Quantum jump for Priyanka Chopra from Quantico to Baywatch

Kissing scenes in movies – why this fad has never caught on in Bollywood

British actor Tom Hardy could become the new face of James Bond after Daniel Craig


Airstrikes in Syria target schools and hospitals - nearly 50 children killed

F-22 Stealth Bombers of the US fly low over South Korea skies

North Korea plans to carry out terror attacks on South Korea