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The Wire

Algeria court acquits 2 former Guantanamo inmates

An Algerian court on Sunday acquitted two former detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who were returned home to face charges of links to terrorism, their defense lawyer said.

Ugandans upset over Chavez' kind words for Amin

Ugandan officials were offended Sunday after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wondered out loud whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be.

Liberians mourn UN worker killed in Afghanistan

Hundreds of people jammed into a Monrovia church to mourn a Liberian United Nations worker killed in an October attack by Taliban gunmen in Afghanistan's capital.

Ugandan army kills 34 tribesmen on cattle raids

Ugandan officials say the army has killed 34 tribesmen who were stealing cattle in Uganda's volatile northeastern region.

Baby gorillas to get new sanctuary in east Congo

Conservationists say Congolese schoolchildren will soon be able to take a closer look at baby mountain gorillas.

Kenya unveils constitution to avoid vote violence

A government-appointed panel this week unveiled a draft constitution that is part of wide-ranging efforts to avoid a repeat of political violence that saw more than 1,000 people killed after Kenya's December 2007 presidential elections.

Plane misses runway in east Congo, landing in lava

A passenger plane overshot the runway Thursday, landing in hardened lava surrounding an airport in eastern Congo and injuring 20 people, a U.N.-run radio station reported.

Plane misses runway in east Congo, landing in lava

A U.N.-run radio station says a passenger plane overshot a runway in eastern Congo and landed in lava, injuring 20 people.

Ethiopian court convicts 26 in alleged coup plot

An Ethiopian court on Thursday convicted 26 people who were accused of taking part in an alleged coup plot earlier this year and acquitted five others.

Activist probing Guinea massacre denied entry

A human rights activist says he's been denied entrance to Guinea, where he planned to investigate a massacre of opposition supporters earlier this year.

Nicolas Cage visits Kenyan jail to talk to pirates

Film star Nicolas Cage has visited a Kenyan prison holding suspected Somali pirates awaiting trial to highlight the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Somali woman stoned to death for adultery

A judge for an Islamic militant group in Somalia says a woman has been stoned to death and her boyfriend given 100 lashes for having an affair.

Mozambique: Major corruption trial begins

A former Cabinet minister and four other defendants are standing trial in the biggest corruption case to go to court in Mozambique since independence in 1975.

Zambian editor cleared of pornography charges

A Zambian newspaper editor has been acquitted of pornography charges after she e-mailed officials photos of a woman giving birth unassisted to a baby who did not survive.

Mozambique opposition claims election fraud

Mozambique's main opposition party says the ruling party stuffed ballot boxes and expelled opposition monitors from polling stations to help it win the country's Oct. 28 presidential election.

Survey: Gov'ts see climate change as aid challenge

A global network of aid agencies says world powers consider climate change the most significant challenge to humanitarian work.

Aid group: 24,000 infant deaths preventable daily

More than 24,000 infants die daily from preventable diseases in developing countries because governments have failed to spend more on health care, an international aid group said Monday.

Envoy says US to attend war crimes court meeting

The United States will attend an annual meeting of the International Criminal Court, a body it has so far refused to participate in, the U.S. envoy for war crimes said Monday.

Rwandan priest acquitted of genocide charges

A United Nations court on Tuesday acquitted a Catholic priest charged with genocide, murder and extermination in Rwanda's 1994 genocide after the judge said the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

Tourists return to Zimbabwe as economy recovers

The number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe this year has more than tripled, a trade official said Monday as entrepreneurs tried to lure investors to the troubled southern African country.

AP IMPACT: Kenyans recruited to fight in Somalia

The recruits assembled by moonlight at a watering hole. Hundreds of boys and young Kenyan men were herded onto trucks, which were covered with heavy canvas, and driven through the night.

Mozambique: Watchdog decries killings by police

The dancer called police to his home because he feared he was being robbed, only to end up being killed by the officers from whom he had sought help, Amnesty International said, offering one example of deadly police violence in Mozambique.

Nigeria militants start peace talks with president

Nigeria's main militant group in the oil-rich Delta region said Sunday that it had started formal peace talks with the country's president for the first time since it declared an indefinite cease-fire last month.

Kenya harvest example on reversing food shortage

Joram Abiero remembers it was not too long ago that his neighbors went to bed hungry.

Ugandan official suggests caning dead bodies

A Ugandan government official says the bodies of those who die because of drinking a local illicit gin should be caned six times before burial as an example to the living.

The Vine

Do the troops really want to come home?

President Obama stated that he wants to bring the soldiers back home from Iraq/Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Fearless prediction: The Oakland Raiders will beat the San Diego Chargers
Source: Thoughts from the Dark Side

I just have a gut feeling on this one. Granted, at one time I had a gut feeling that the Oakland Raiders were going to be 10-6, and that doesn't look overly realistic at this point so you may not want to bet your 401k on it.

Congress Bows to Big Oil in Burma
Source: washingtonindependent.com

Caving to big oil demands, the Senate on Tuesday approved a plan that intensifies trade sanctions against Burma's military regime but abandons an earlier push to penalize Chevron, the last major U.S. company propping up the repressive junta.

Air Force backs off subsidy issue: Boeing are not the only people who know how to lobby...
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Northrop Grumman was very active behind the scenes in ensuring that the subsidies it's partner EADS receives (and likely will receive) via Airbus would not harm it's chance sin the tanker competition. This will be dissapointing news to Boeing, however not all is bad.

Trade dispute colors air tanker competition
Source: heraldnet.com

The real bloodbath will start if and when Airbus goes cap in hand to the EU for launch aid on the A350-XWB, which will see Boeing screem foul and a real possibility of Airbus beign disqualified from the USAF tanker replacement bidding.

Turkish air force closer to opting for 30 more Lockheed Martin F-16s over F-4E upgrade
Source: flightglobal.com

We will be seeing more of this, as nations who are not amongst the welathiest in the world opt to upgrade older platforms rather thanh invest in new aircraft.

Dragonslayer: US to fly F-22 fighter from Guam to counter growing PRC prescence
Source: Reuters

Close enough to send a message but far enough not be a threat, the F-22 move into Guam shows the US will match China's moves in the region without becoming too provocative.

Senate vs. House: showdown brewing over allowing overseas F-22 sales
Source: Military.com

The US has a long memory and the loss of F-14 secrets via Iran to the Soviet Union still resonates among some. However, it is just about impossible that Japan, Australia or the UK would divulge the F-22s most coveted technologies.

Invasion of killer drones hits Farnborough
Source: Reuters

UACV (Unmanned Air Combat Vehicles) have been a reality for a few years now, but in the near future we will see advanced new types undertaking far more demanding missions.

Australian F-111 makes emergency belly landing
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

A spectacular and flawless belly landing for one of the RAAF's last remaining F-111 strike aircraft after the nosegear would not deploy. No casualties, but it remains to be seen if the aircraft is viable to repair.

Nepotism at work: Defense audit says Boeing contract was awarded unfairly
Source: The Seattle Times

Whilst Boeing may have paid a settlement, there are still going to be repurcussions from its past mis-deeds.

Boeing reaches 'critical juncture' on C-17 transport production line
Source: The St Louis Post Dispatch

What we have now here is a game of chicken: the Pentagon wants Boeing to blink first and offer a better deal on future C-17 versions/upgrades and Boeing wants the military to blink for fear of closing down a critical production line when the world looks very unstable.

House votes to let allies buy the F-22 Raptor...if they can afford it
Source: The Washington Post

The US would have preferred not to sell the world's most advanced fighter to any foreign country, but cutbacks in US orders have seen the unit price of the F-22 balloon to an astronomical USD 361 million per copy.

US seeks to lift export sales ban on F-22A: but who can afford it?
Source: janes.com

The world's best to be available to America's best - and wealthiest - friends. The export F-22 will doubtlessly be a somewhat toned down version, but will still represent a combat system that will put its operators in a different league for a long time to come.

Australian defense minister visits Lockheed plant to view JSF
Source: Monterey Herald

The F-35 that Australia is likely to purchase is having a difficult birth - no surprises here, as no fighter program in modern history has come in on time, on spec or on budget.

$798 million for C-17 could save Boeing's factory in California
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Strange: the Pentagon actually NOT wanting more military hardware. And even stranger that here we have a case of pork barrelling actually being a good idea. The C-17 production line in Long Beach will now remain open beyond 2008 with 3 more orders for the type.

F-22 Raptor scores direct hit in testing of supersonic, high-altitude JDAM drop
Source: Yahoo! Finance

A remarkable advance in air to ground warfare: an F-22 released a bomb at Mach 1.5 which then hit a target over 20 miles away.

Boeing assisting South Korean AF in investigation into fatal F-15K accident
Source: flightglobal.com

The crash of such a new build development of a proven aircraft is always a concern, however the circumstances of the crash initially do not appear to point to a technical malfunction.

Boeing, Gripen, Lockheed vie for Bulgarian fighter jet deal
Source: news.dnevnik.bg

Not a big deal by the standards of the industry but welcome nevertheless.

How Lockheed Martin revamped its supply chain for the F-35
Source: eweek.com

If Boeing can do it, so can Lockheed: change a business model from that of a plane builder to a plane designer / external project manager / sub-systems & component assembler...whoever thought bringing to fruition a next generation fighter would be so complex? The technologies of  …

Buying C-17s delivers vital independence
Source: Australian News Network

Australia will greatly benefit from the remarkable abilities of the C-17, notably with the requirement to lift large quantities of often heavy material and land it on short and poorly maintained runways. However, the high cost of the acquisition of 4 planes is raising eyebrows.

Boeing rolls out new lightweight bomb
Source: The St Louis Post Dispatch

Modern warfare has emphasized the need to minimize collateral damage and Boeing's Small Diamter Bomb should go a fair way - when combined with precision guidance and good intelligence - to reducing harm to innocents caught up in warzones.

Boeing to settle federal suits for $615 million
Source: Reuters

In the ballpark of expectations and no admission of wrongdoing: Boeing should consider itself lucky that this is the most likely outcome of an investigation into a horrendous episode of corporate irresponsibility - at best.

Lockheed Martin successfully tests entire THAAD weapon system at White Sands missile range
Source: The Houston Chronicle

A great milestone in missile defense technology: after a number of slip ups, the successful test of THAAD brings troops a step closer to protection from both IRBM and SRBM threats...as well as giving a new level of defense against air strikes.

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