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Images show rapid Chinese progress on new South China Sea airstrip

By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Recent satellite images published on Thursday show China has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in contested territory in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands and may be planning another, moves that have been greeted with concern in the United States and Asia. IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly said March 23 images from Airbus Defence and Space showed work on

Israel military networks breached by hackers: researchers

By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hackers have managed to penetrate computer networks associated with the Israeli military in an espionage campaign that skillfully packages existing attack software with trick emails, according to private security researchers. Waylon Grange, a researcher with security firm Blue Coat Systems Inc who discovered the campaign, said the vast majority of the software was cobbled together from widely available tools, such as the remote-access

South Africa seeks diplomatic support to defeat anti-immigrant unrest

By Ed Cropley PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa sought diplomatic support from countries across the continent on Friday to defeat the “demon” of anti-immigrant violence in which at least four people have been killed over the past fortnight. Foreign nationals have complained that the South African police are failing to protect them, raising the prospect of a row between Pretoria and its neighbors, as well as stirring hostility to South

Qaeda takes key Yemen army camp, heavy weapons: official

Al-Qaeda militants in southeast Yemen on Friday seized heavy weapons as they overran a key camp in Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla, consolidating their grip on the city, an official said. “Today Al-Qaeda fighters took control of the 27th Mechanised Brigade’s camp and seized heavy weapons including tanks and artillery,” the official told AFP, confirming that Al-Qaeda now controlled all of Mukalla a day after seizing its airport. Until Friday, the

German president: Germanwings crash an 'unbelievable horror'

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — The Germanwings crash last month was an “unbelievable horror” for the families of those killed, compounded by the apparent senselessness of the co-pilot’s actions in bringing down the plane, German President Joachim Gauck told hundreds of victims’ relatives and dignitaries at a memorial service Friday.