Archive for the ‘News’ Category
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Second bomb explodes at Russian train crash site after 39 killed by first
- December 02, 2009
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The second bomb which exploded Saturday, Nov. 28, at the site of the Nevsky Express which was derailed Friday between Moscow and St. Petersburg crash site injured no one. It was less powerful than the first, which left 39 dead and 90 injured Friday near the town of Bologove. The Russian authorities confirmed a bomb of app. 7 kilos of the equivalent of TNT threw the train off the tracks when it was travelling at 200 mph. Elements of an explosive device were found at the scene where rescue teams are still digging for missing passengers.
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Iran plans to charge five British yachtsmen as spies
- December 01, 2009
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Tehran is thinking in terms of prosecuting the five British yachtsmen seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guards naval commandos on their way from Bahrain to Dubai last month. Tuesday, Dec. 1, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff said: “The judiciary will decide about the five… but naturally Iran will take hard and serious measures if we find out they had evil intentions.”
DEBKAfile‘s Iranian and intelligence sources report that the Iranians plan to claim that instruments for tracking aircraft, missiles and electronic jamming devices were found aboard their yacht.
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US, Iranian naval Red Sea buildup off Yemen. Debut for Iran’s midget subs
- November 30, 2009
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The Yemeni conflict is fast evolving from a Houthi insurgency against the Abdullah Salah regime in Sanaa to a broad regional conflagration drawing in Saudi Arabia and Egypt as major players and increasingly the United States, whose involvement is building up into a direct confrontation with the rebels’ sponsor, Iran.
DEBKAfile‘s military and intelligence sources report that over the weekend, the Aegis class cruiser USS Chosin was designated the flagship of Combined Task Force 151.
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Who is the rising figure in Obama’s White House?
- November 30, 2009
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A dark horse is overtaking chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and NSA James Jones as President Barack Obama’s most influential adviser. Revealing this, the latest DEBKA-Net-Weekly issue out Friday discussed how the new White House dynamic helped Moscow block stiff sanctions against Iran.
To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly click HERE .
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One year after the Mumbai attack, the tentacles of terror are spreading
- November 30, 2009
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Thursday, Nov. 26, marks the first anniversary of the Islamic terrorist siege of the Indian city of Mumbai, in which 170 people were shot and blown up and more than 300 wounded by ten killers of the Pakistan-based al Qaeda offshoot, Lashkar-re-Taibe.
Wednesday, Nov. 25, in Washington, prime minister Manmohan Singh paid homage to the Mumbai victims and vowed not to rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
A newly-completed Torah scroll has been dedicated to the six victims at the Chabad center and will be placed in the new building.
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Clinton welcomes Netanyahu’s token 10-month settlement construction freeze
- November 30, 2009
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Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu appears to be working to a five-month cycle: It took him five months to line up behind Washington on a two-state solution, and another five months to announce Wednesday, Nov. 25, that the security-political cabinet had approved a 10-month freeze on new apartment construction in the West Bank settlements.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton praised the decision as helping to “move forward” efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Iran tests nuclear site defenses: Stage One a washout
- November 29, 2009
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From the word go on Sunday, Nov. 22, Iran’s five-day drill demonstrated that its air force and air defense units were unequal to their mission of keeping the skies over its nuclear sites clear of incoming strike aircraft, DEBKAfile‘s military and Iranian sources report. In conditions of real war, therefore, Iran’s atomic installations would be destroyed in the first hours of an attack.
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Jordanian forces pitch in to help Saudis expel Yemeni rebels
- November 29, 2009
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In response to an appeal from the Saudi King Abdullah, the Jordanian monarch this week dispatched his army’s elite Royal Special Force of 2,000 commandoes to help the Saudis drive out the Yemeni Houthi rebels, who invaded the oil kingdom with Iranian support earlier this month. DEBKAfile‘s military sources report that the Jordanian troops are now battling the Yemeni invaders holding onto the Jebel Dukhan sector.
To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly click HERE .
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Egypt’s abrupt shutdown of operations against tunnels revives missile flow to Gaza
Tuesday, Nov. 18, Egypt’s special forces and engineering units suddenly shut down operations against the smuggling tunnels to Gaza without warning to Washington or Jerusalem, DEBKAfile‘s military sources report. US and Israeli requests for clarifications from Cairo were not answered. So the Obama administration signaled Egypt that if it continues to violate international accords, there will be consequences.
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Denied Russian S-300 missiles, Iran cannot protect nuclear sites
Iran launches its huge Modafean-e (Defenders) Aseman-e-Velayat air defense exercise Sunday, Nov. 22, to protect its nuclear sites, after failing to persuade Russia to deliver the linchpin of its air defenses, S-300 missiles.
Our sources report that, aside from the Russian-made Tor-M 1 short-range interceptor, Iran’s air defense systems are outdated and pretty useless against US stealth bombers or the Israeli air force’s electronic jamming instruments.