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
Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former aide to late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and a leader of Iraq’s Sunni insurgency, may have been killed by Iraqi forces and Shi’ite militias fighting the insurgents. Douri was killed in a military operation, Raed al-Jubouri, the governor of Salahuddin province, told Reuters. Amongst the bodies was Douri’s.” He said the operation was carried out in the Hamrin area near al Alam in Salahuddin province,
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
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
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man accused of plotting to attack a military base or prison after returning to the U.S. from terrorist training in Syria has pleaded not guilty.
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
By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) – Top Russian officials accused the United States on Thursday of seeking political and military dominance in the world and sought to put blame on the West for international security crises, including the conflict in east Ukraine. Evoking Cold War-style rhetoric, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said a drive by the United States and its allies to bring Kiev closer to the West was a
By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A compromise allowing the U.S. Congress to vote on a nuclear deal with Tehran may prompt Iranian negotiators to drive a harder bargain, but does not drastically weaken President Barack Obama’s ability to deliver on a final agreement. For months Obama resisted attempts led by Republicans and some Democrats to open an agreement with Iran to congressional approval. On Tuesday he backed down in
By Angus McDowall and Mohamed Mukashaf RIYADH/ADEN (Reuters) – Yemen’s newly-appointed Vice President Khaled Bahah, a widely respected figure named this week to shore up the legitimacy of the exiled Saudi-backed government, said on Thursday he hoped to avert a Saudi-led invasion to restore unity to the country. Arab military exercises planned for Saudi Arabia have raised speculation that Riyadh is considering land operations in Yemen, after three weeks of
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it had a “constructive exchange” with Iran this week but there was no sign of a breakthrough on aspects of its nuclear program that the agency says Tehran has failed to fully address. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is investigating Iran’s nuclear program in parallel to talks between Tehran and six world powers that aim to broker a deal by the end of June