NEWS: Kim Jong Il is Dead

More to follow, but state TV is reporting it, so we'll go with it.

UPDATED:

Here's the current story from CNN.

North Korea's longtime leader Kim Jong Il, the embodiment of the reclusive state where his cult of personality is deeply entrenched, has died, state TV reported.
He was believed to be 69.
Regarded as one of the world's most-repressive leaders, Kim Jong Il always cut a slightly bizarre figure. His diminutive stature and characteristically bouffant hair have been parodied by some in the West.
"He's a mysterious person -- I think by design," said Han S. Park, director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues at the University of Georgia and a frequent visitor to North Korea. "Mystery is a source of leverage and power. It's maintaining uncertainty."

more at the link

By: Brant

NEWS: Gaddafi Captured, Wounded (UPDATED)

Reuters is breaking the news that Gaddafi has been captured and wounded

Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been captured and wounded in both legs, National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid said on Thursday.

"He's captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance," the senior NTC military official told Reuters by telephone.

UPDATED:
He might be dead.



By: Brant

It's All About Who You Believe

You gotta love this report from NewsMax...

The U.S. on Monday deployed 41 C-5 transport planes to prepare for a war game in the region that will test America’s ability to provide a rapid strategic airlift in response to a crisis, according to a report from an Israeli intelligence site, DEBKAfile.

The planes were expected to land in Israel and an Arab state packed with fighting units with full equipment, the report stated.

Really? DEBKAfile? Your source is the same site that said Saddam and his sons were hiding in Belarus, and refused to retract it even after we had their bodies on slabs? The same site that said that Moqtada al-Sadr was on the US payroll as late as 2007? The guys that said both Iran and Saudi Arabia were funding the Haqqani network?

By: Brant

Stealth Sea Fighter Under Development

High speed attack craft like The Ghost could pose a real threat to larger ships in littoral waters.

A US company has built a high-speed stealth "attack helicopter on the water" that could revolutionise navies and the shipping industry.
The ship, called The Ghost, can glide on water using a layer of gas that is generated around its submerged areas at high speeds - a technology called "supercavitation", designer Juliet Marine Systems said.

The Ghost can reach speeds of up to 97km/h, would be undetectable by radar and could be used by the US Navy to carry torpedoes, the company said.

By: Shelldrake

NEWS: No-Fly Zone Now Being Enforced - UPDATED

UPDATE 2!

Multiple nations are now involved in air & missile strikes against Libya, including US warships.

More than 110 Tomahawk missiles fired from American and British ships and submarines hit about 20 Libyan air and missile defense targets in western portions of the country, U.S. Vice Adm. William Gortney said at a Pentagon briefing.
The U.S. will conduct a damage assessment of the sites, which include SA-5 missiles and communications facilities. A senior U.S. military official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the cruise missiles, which fly close to the ground or sea at about 550 miles per hour, landed near Misrata and Tripoli, the capital and Gadhafi's stronghold.
Gadhafi responds to air strikes Warplane falls from sky
Gallery: Civil war in Libya
The salvo, in an operation dubbed "Odyssey Dawn," was meant "to deny the Libyan regime from using force against its own people," said Gortney, who declined to detail future operations.

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UPDATE!

The French are engaging ground targets.

French warplanes have hit four tanks used by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on the outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, on a day when opposition fighters in the city reported coming under constant artillery and mortar fire.

The action marks the first international military move against the Libyan leader, and it comes a day after the UN Security Council authorised a no-fly zone over the North African country.

A spokesman for the French military had confirmed that his country's fighter jets have attacked another vehicle belonging to Gaddafi's forces.

"The vehicle was clearly identified as being enemy," army spokesman Colonel Thierry Burckhard said after the first UN-mandated air strike, describing the target as "a vehicle that was threatening the civilian population".

Earlier on Saturday, pro-government forces had entered the western outskirts of the city, while French Rafale and Mirage fighter jets began reconnaissance overflights of "all Libyan territory".

Ahmad Shabani, a spokesman for the Libyan opposition's national council, told Al Jazeera the opposition was heartened by the move.

"We are very happy about that, hopefully it's not late... and hopefully it makes a difference," he said.

Witnesses in Bengazi, in the east of the country, said they heard large explosions on Saturday. Al Jazeera's correspondents in the city reported multiple explosions, plumes of smoke in the sky and a fighter jet belonging to the opposition getting shot down

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The French are patrolling the skies over Benghazi.

French fighter jets soared over a rebel-held city besieged by Moammar Gadhafi's troops on Saturday, the first mission for an international military force launched in support of the 5-week-old uprising against the Libyan leader's rule.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after an emergency summit in Paris that French jets were already targeting Gadhafi's forces. The 22 participants in Saturday's summit "agreed to put in place all the means necessary, in particular military" to make Gadhafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday demanding a cease-fire, Sarkozy said.
Gadhafi had tried to take advantage of the time lag betwen the U.N. resolution and the launch of the international operation, making a decisive strike on the Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and the first major stronghold of the rebellion. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to the city center as its residents despaired. A doctor said 27 bodies were brought to the hospital by midday. By late in the day, warplanes could be heard overhead.
"Our planes are blocking the air attacks on the city" of Benghazi, he said, without elaborating. French planes have been readying for an attack in recent days.

View Larger Map


By: Brant

Dutch Marines Captured In Libya

Rescue missions aimed at extracting foreign nationals from Libya are not without risk for the rescuers, as a Dutch helicopter crew recently discovered.

Talks are under way to free a Dutch helicopter crew captured in Libya trying to evacuate foreign citizens, the Netherlands' defence ministry says.

The three marines landed their Lynx near the port of Sirte on Sunday, flying in from the Dutch warship Tromp, which is anchored off the Libyan coast.

"Intensive negotiations" were under way, a ministry spokesman said.

The ministry was in contact with the marines who were "doing well under the circumstances", he added.

"We hope they will be released as quickly as possible," Otte Beeksma told the Associated Press news agency.

Asked if the Dutch government considered the marines hostages, he replied: "They are being held by Libyan authorities."

Two people the marines were trying to rescue - one Dutch person and another European - were captured but have since been released and have left Libya, Dutch media say.

By: Shelldrake

NEWS: Shooting in Germany Hits Busload of US Troops

Looks like some Kosovar took a shot at a US bus. Don't they know that we stole their country from Yugoslavia for them?

From CNN

Two people were shot and killed Wednesday in an incident involving a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, a police spokesman said.
Another person is severely wounded, Juergen Linker told CNN, and one person is in custody.
A U.S. military official said initial reports were that two people had been killed, including the driver of the bus.
It is not clear if the driver was German or American, or military or civilian.
Two others are wounded, said the source, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.
The troops killed and injured are U.S. Air Force airmen from Lakenheath base in the United Kingdom, the U.S. official said, emphasizing that the information was only preliminary.
They were security forces on their way to a deployment, the source said, without saying specifically where they were heading.
They were flying commercial, not on a military plane, according to the source.
It's believed the German police have a young Kosovo national in custody, the U.S. official said.

From MSNBC

It reported that a U.S. service member and the bus driver were thought to have been killed with at least two other people injured.
The Local, citing police, said the suspect was a 21-year-old from Kosovo.
The shootings appeared to have taken place inside the bus, police spokesman Jurgen Linker told Germany's Die Welt newspaper.

By: Brant

NEWS: More Libyan-nities

At least 2 Libyan air force planes have fled the country and landed in Malta.

Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday and their pilots asked for political asylum amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in Libya, a military source said.
The two Mirage jets landed at Malta International Airport shortly after two civilian helicopters landed carrying seven people who said they were French. A military source familiar with the situation said the passengers had left in such a hurry that only one had a passport.

Were they trying to not take part in a reported air force attack on protestors in Tripoli?

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is employing fighter jets to bomb civilians protesters of his regime around the capital Tripoli.

Military planes and helicopters have wrought havoc around the Libyan capital as the 40-year-old dictatorship of Gaddafi is struggling for survival against the massive pro-democracy wave rapidly taking over the country in a follow-up of the revolutions in its other Arab neighbors Tunisia and Egypt in the recent weeks.

Al Jazeera has cited witnesses as saying that the military planes and helicopters continue to bomb the protesters targeting anything that moves, be it a person or a car, in the vicinity of the Libyan capital.

Meanwhile, two Libyan fighter jets with a total of four crew members have landed in Malta as the crews fled a Libyan military base in Benghazi, 1 000 km east of Tripoli, allegedly because they refused orders to bomb protesters. Two civilian helicopters with seven French citizens, who worked on an oil platform, also arrived in Malta seeking asylum.

By: Brant

NEWS: Mubarak Has Resigned

At some point, everyone in Tahrir Square are going to look at each other and say "now what?"

What do you think? What's next for Egypt? And how's it going to affect Israel?

By: Brant

NEWS: Clashes in Egypt

I've been watching the events unfolding on Morning Joe today, but only just now found the articles online that I could link to. Some video here, and more will unfold throughout the day.

It looks like the pro- and anti-Mubarak crowds are facing off. The Army, so far, is still neutral.

Mubarak supporters, protesters clash in Egypt - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com

Egypt crisis: Men charge into crowd on horseback, camels – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

By: Brant

NEWS: Bomb Blasts in Rome

The Swiss and Chilean embassies have been hit. There's an investigation right now at the Ukrainian embassy.

CNN here

BBC News here


map from the BBC


By: Brant

Car Bomb Explodes In Stockholm

Sweden may be the latest country to be targeted by Islamic radicals in retaliation for its participation in the ISAF.

A car blew up in a busy shopping area on Saturday afternoon, followed moments later by a second explosion nearby.

Witnesses said a man found dead after the second blast had been carrying an explosive device. Two people were hurt.

Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt condemned the attacks as unacceptable in an open society with a functioning democracy that respects different cultures.

"Our democracy functions well," he told a press conference. "Those who feel frustration or anger have the opportunity to express it without resorting to violence."

Police are investigating an e-mail sent shortly before the blasts threatening attacks because Sweden had sent troops to Afghanistan.

Sweden has some 500 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan as part of the international military force.

By: Shelldrake

Adieu HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal has completed her farewell tour and has returned to Portsmouth for the last time.

HMS Ark Royal has entered her home port of Portsmouth for the last time today, bringing her 25 years of service in the Royal Navy to a close.

The aircraft carrier is being decommissioned as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. Her role as the current Royal Navy flagship will initially be taken on by amphibious assault ship HMS Albion.

Following a brief farewell tour of the UK and a stopover in Hamburg, the aircraft carrier, which is being decommissioned early next year, sailed into Portsmouth Naval Base today, and in keeping with tradition flew a decommissioning pennant.

Ark Royal's farewell voyage took her around the north of Scotland and on into Newcastle where she was built by Swan Hunter in their Wallsend shipyard.

By: Shelldrake

GrogNews IITSEC Headlines

A keynote speaker tells the sims guys to stop living in a bubble.
The local newspaper talks about the healthcare focus of this year's exhibitors.
And a perfect example of the over-the-top propaganda generated by exhibitors there.


By: Brant

NATO Troops Killed By Afghan "Policeman"

There has been another incident in which NATO troops have been attacked and killed by a "friendly".

NATO forces say a gunman in an Afghan police uniform has killed six service members in eastern Afghanistan.

NATO said the shooter turned his weapon on NATO troops during a training mission on Monday. He was also killed in the incident.

It was not immediately clear if the shooter was a police officer or someone who had infiltrated the training exercise. Insurgents commonly wear police uniforms to attack Afghan government installations.

NATO said it is investigating the incident along with Afghan authorities. The nationalities of the NATO service members has not been released.

By: Shelldrake

Decorated Senior SAS Commander Resigns

The negative impact of recent defence cuts on morale has led to the resignation of yet another talented senior UK Army officer.

A highly decorated senior SAS commander, who masterminded a deadly campaign against the Taliban, has resigned from the Army amid claims that defence cuts are hitting morale.

Friends of the colonel, who cannot be named for security reasons, said he had grown increasingly despondent with service life following the cuts imposed on the military by the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

It is understood that two highly respected Brigadiers, one of whom also served with the Special Forces, are considering their positions.

Senior officers have warned that many more high calibre officers are expected to resign in the coming months especially if the Continuity of Education Allowance – which pays for a proportion of boarding school fees for service families – is cut.

By: Shelldrake

Al-Qaeda Group Reveals Cargo Plane Bomb Plot Details

More on the recent bomb plot by Yemen-based militants to down US-bound cargo planes.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is promising more small-scale attacks like its attempts to bomb two U.S.-bound cargo planes, which it likens to bleeding its enemy to death by a thousand cuts, in a special edition of the Yemeni-based group's English on-line magazine, Inspire.

The editors boast that what they call Operation Hemorrhage was cheap, and easy, using common items that together with shipping, cost only $4,200 to carry out.

Alerted to the late October bomb plot by Saudi intelligence, security officials chased the packages across five countries, trying frantically over the next two days to prevent an explosion that could have come at any moment. The pursuit showed that even when the world's counterterrorism systems work, preventing an attack is often a terrifyingly close ordeal.

The group says it's part of a new strategy to replace spectacular attacks in favor of smaller attacks to hit the U.S. economy, according to the special edition of the online magazine, made available by both Ben Venzke's IntelCenter, and the Site Intelligence Group.

"To bring down America we do not need to strike big," the editors write. With the "security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch" thereby circuventing U.S. security, they conclude.

In the magazine, an author identified as the group's head of foreign operations says the package attacks were intended to cause economic harm, not casualties. "We knew that cargo planes are staffed by only a pilot and a co-pilot," the author writes, "so our objective was not to cause maximum casualties but to cause maximum losses to the American economy," by striking at the multi-billion dollar U.S. freight industry.

By: Shelldrake

US Would Like NZ Troops To Extend Their Afghanistan Mission

The US government clearly appreciates the presence of New Zealand special forces soldiers in Afghanistan and would like them to remain in country beyond the scheduled withdrawal date.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that she hopes New Zealand will extend the mission of its special forces soldiers in Afghanistan. She also said she wants to leverage enhanced U.S.-New Zealand ties to promote human rights, democracy and environmental issues across the Asia-Pacific.

Visiting the South Island city of Christchurch, Clinton praised the work of New Zealand's 40 Special Air Service elite combat troops in Afghanistan and said she would like them to stay beyond the end of their current tour of duty early next year. But, she said the decision would be up to the government.

"They are very highly regarded," she told TV New Zealand in an interview. "They work extremely professionally."

"We have a high regard for New Zealand and the troops that you deploy there, of course we would like them to stay as long as you have them stay," Clinton said.

She said she had discussed New Zealand's military presence in Afghanistan, both the special forces and a 140-strong provincial reconstruction team of troops in Bamiyan, in talks with Prime Minister John Key in the capital of Wellington on Thursday. She would not say if she had asked him to keep the troops in Afghanistan.

"It's a decision of the government and people of New Zealand but I certainly praised their performance and expressed to the prime minister how grateful both our military and civilian officials are at the work that is being done by the troops from New Zealand," Clinton said.

By: Shelldrake

Russian Navy To Launch Next-Generation Frigate

The first of a new class of frigates for the Russian Navy will be launched this Friday.

The Admiral Sergei Gorshkov frigate will be floated out on Friday, a Russian Navy spokesman said.

"It is planned that the sea trials of the ship constructed using the latest methods in shipbuilding will begin in 2011," the spokesman said.

The warship is part of an upgrade program of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The Admiral Sergei Gorshkov class frigate is capable of carrying out long-range strikes, anti-submarine warfare and air defense missions in distant maritime zones.

The Russian Navy said earlier it plans to build 20-30 frigates of this class in the future to supplement all four of its fleets.

By: Shelldrake

WW2 Bombs Force Rennes and Woippy Evacuations

The discovery of unexploded bombs from the Second World War triggered large scale evacuations in the northern French cities of Rennes and Woippy.

Sixty five years after the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, the city in Brittany was closed as engineers worked to defuse a 550lb RAF device. It was one of thousands dropped on northern France in 1944 as Allied troops prepared to invade. Some 10,000 people living in Rennes were involved in the evacuation as the centre of the city resembled a ghost town.

"I remember the bombing raids during the war when hundreds were killed," said Maurice Leclerc, an 81-year-old pensioner who was among the evacuees.

"The fact that the bombs are still disrupting our lives all these years on is truly incredible."

Further east, 4,500 people were moved out of Woippy, in the suburbs of Metz, as bomb disposal experts worked on devices around a former Wehrmacht supply centre. It is now being converted into a bus station, but was bombed so many times during the war that its basement and foundations are littered with ordnance, including RAF and US air force devices.

All of the work was being coordinated by France's Département du Déminage (Department of Mine Clearance), which recovers around 1,000 tons of unexploded munitions every year. Since 1945, around 650 of its staff have died handling unexploded munitions, two as recently as 1998 in the former First World War battlefield of Vimy Ridge. Their work is concentrated on the so-called 'Iron Harvest' of unexploded ordnance which is littered around the battlefields and bombing targets of northern France. Many of the devices are still live, and the workers are particularly wary of artillery shells containing chemical warfare agents like mustard gas, which was widely used during the trench warfare of World War I.

By: Shelldrake