Somali Pirates Are Going On Rampage Hijacking Couple Of Ships

Somali Pirates Are Going On Rampage Hijacking Couple Of Ships

*Makes No Sense - Somali Piracy Analysis: It sounds ridiculous that a few bunch of Somali gangs are creating havoc and terror for ocean vessels around Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, which is spreading like a wild fire similar to terrorism factor a menace to the world from Pakistan. U.N. Security Council should organize immediately without any further delay an International Navy Task Force (INTF) consisting of Navies from U.S. (Big Daddy), European Union, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Iran, South Africa, Asean and few other reliable countries. For a change the command of INTF should be handed to a country like China with full co-operation of other members of the Task Force and go after the pirates on land and sea and I am sure with a strong hand and a strong command this menace of Somali pirates can be easily eliminated in a short period before it spreads. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: Somali pirates have hijacked a fourth vessel in 48 hours, seizing a Lebanese-owned cargo ship. The 5,000-tonne Togo-flagged MV Sea Horse was taken by gunmen in up to four skiffs, Nato officials said. Earlier, pirates hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier, the MV Irene, in the Gulf of Aden. On Monday, Somali raiders captured two Egyptian fishing boats. The Greek-managed bulk carrier Irene E.M. , hijacked by Somalia pirates in the Gulf of Aden during the early hours of Tuesday April 14, 2009, is seen in this undated file photo. The Irene E.M was sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, with a Filipiono crew. Analysts say the gangs are clearly not put off by recent US and French hostage rescues that left several bandits dead. Somali pirate leaders - who have generally treated captives well in the hope of winning big ransom payouts - vowed on Monday to avenge the deaths. Attacks rise Nato officials said another ship - the Liberian-flagged Safmarine Asia - escaped on Tuesday after coming under fire from pirates in several small boats. They attacked at night, which was very unusual, they were using the moonlight as it's still quite bright; Lt Cdr Alexandre Fernandes. After a lull earlier this year, the gangs have stepped up their attacks off Somalia's coast in recent weeks. The 22 Filipino crew of the MV Irene, which was sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, are believed to be unhurt. A Nato helicopter has reportedly been dispatched from a Canadian warship to investigate what is happening to the merchant vessel, flagged in Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines. Nato Lt Cdr Alexandre Fernandes told Reuters news agency: "There was only three minutes between the alarm and the hijack. "They attacked at night, which was very unusual. They were using the moonlight as it's still quite bright." Hours later, Nato officials on a Portuguese warship announced the MV Sea Horse had also been seized off Somalia. It is said to be the tenth hijacking in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean since the start of the month. Last Wednesday, a group of Somali pirates attempted to seize a US-flagged ship, the Maersk Alabama, but fled after taking its American captain hostage. But following a stand-off with a US warship, three of the raiders were killed by three single shots from US snipers on Sunday and the skipper was freed. US President Barack Obama promised on Monday to "halt the rise of piracy" in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Last Friday French forces killed two pirates and captured three more while freeing a yacht with five hostages, but the vessel's owner also died in the gunfight. Shipping companies last year handed over about $80m (£54m) in ransom payments to Somali pirates. The Horn of Africa nation has been without an effective government since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed the pirates to thrive. Efforts to stop the raiders have so far had only limited success, with international naval patrols struggling to cover the vast areas of ocean where the gangs operate.

Iran Offers Training For Afghan Police

Iran Offers Training For Afghan Police

(NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: Tehran has offered to help train police forces in Afghanistan as part of a promise to help the reconstruction of the war-torn country.

Asked Monday whether Iran would opt for military cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to help Afghanistan, Iranian police commander Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam responded that Tehran does not attach authority to the alliance.

Head of the Iranian anti-narcotics squad, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, said that even the young Afghan government has been more influential in curbing drug cultivation than the NATO alliance.

"We only recognize the government of Afghanistan and we therefore pursue this issue only through the channel of government authorities," he said.

Iran -- which neighbors Afghanistan -- believes that over sevens years of US intervention in Afghanistan has not been negative for the establishment of calm in the country.

While Washington and Britain began the war to topple the Taliban regime and bring to justice the culprits of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil, the Taliban continue their violent attacks and the al-Qaeda is still at large.

The invasion of Afghanistan was also justified as part of the West's "war on drugs".

"The al-Qaeda network and the Taliban regime are funded in large part [by] the drugs trade," ex-British prime minister Tony Blair said in 2001 when confirming London's participation in the US attack on Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has nevertheless become the second biggest opium producer and now supplies the world with 90 percent of its illegal drugs, the UN drugs monitoring body said in a March report. The NATO failure to curb the drug production that bankrolls the insurgency has put Iran in center stage and has forced the country to intensify a war of its own.

Iran has dug huge trenches on its border to slow down the drug smugglers, who have killed more than 3,600 Iranian law enforcement officers in the past two decades. While being credited by the UN for the seizure of 80 per cent of the opium netted around the world in 2007, Iran has also taken action to impart its experiences in fighting drugs to Afghanistan.

"We have declared our readiness to train Afghan police," Ahmadi Moghaddam told the press on Monday. According to the police commander, NATO forces have only played a "symbolic role" in confronting drug cultivation.

"Wherever the Afghan government has sovereignty the cultivation of narcotics is either zero or minimal," Ahmadi Moghaddam explained.

The official said Iran in the Iranian year to March 20 had seized about a third of the 3,000 tons of drugs smuggled into the Islamic Republic from Afghanistan.

North Korea Threatens To Quit Talks, Produce Plutonium

North Korea Threatens To Quit Talks, Produce Plutonium

(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL - April 14, 2009: North Korea threatened today to withdraw from the stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, saying it would soon return to making arms-grade plutonium at its weapons facilities.

North Korea's State-run media criticize a U.N. Security Council call for continuing sanctions against the communist nation in response to its rocket launch this month.

A South Korean man stands next to illustrations of North Korean missiles at an observation post in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Tuesday, April 14, 2009. North Korea vowed Tuesday to bolster its atomic deterrent and boycott six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization in protest of a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the country's recent rocket launch.

The announcement came in response to international outrage following an April 5 rocket launch that many observers said was a ruse to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile. North Korea has insisted that it launched a communications satellite into space, though neighboring countries say no object reached orbit. The state-run media released a statement criticizing the United Nations Security Council's Monday rebuke of the launch that called for continuing sanctions against the isolationist nation. "The DPRK resolutely rejects the unjust action taken by the [United Nations] wantonly infringing upon the sovereignty of the DPRK and seriously hurting the dignity of the Korean people," said the announcement by the government-controlled Korean Central News Agency, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Quoting a statement from the Foreign Ministry, the news agency said North Korea "will never participate in the talks any longer nor it will be bound to any agreement of the six-party talks."

South Korean officials said today that they would not overact to the North's proclamation.

North Korea's response is stronger than expected, considering such strong words as 'never' were used," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official told Yonhap news service. "The government will deal with North Korea's threats in a calm manner." Northeast Asia security analysts reacted with dismay to the development, which comes after months of international pressure failed to dissuade Pyongyang from the launch. "Isn't this what the United States expected?" asked Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies expert at Dongguk University in Seoul, saying the U.S. had called for sanctions against Pyongyang."North Korea had said that six-party talks would break up when the issue of the rocket launch is brought up on the table in the United Nations."U.S. Embassy officials in Seoul declined to comment today.

Egypt Accuses Hezbollah Of Plotting Attacks And Arms Smuggling to Gaza

Egypt Accuses Hezbollah Of Plotting Attacks And Arms Smuggling to Gaza

(NSI News Source Info) CAIRO - April 14, 2009: Egypt released new details on Monday of what it said was a Hezbollah plot to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, to attack Israeli tourist sites in the Sinai Peninsula and to fire on ships in the Suez Canal.

Officials said the police were hunting for 10 Lebanese suspects believed to be hiding in the mountainous terrain of central Sinai. The case gained wide attention after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, acknowledged on Friday that he had sent an agent to Egypt to organize assistance for the Palestinians in their fight with Israel, and it quickly took on broader regional implications. Hezbollah is a military, political and social organization in Lebanon with strong ties to Iran, a bloc in Lebanon’s Parliament and ministers in the cabinet.

Lebanese Hezbollah supporters, listen to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's speech via a video link from a secret location through a giant screen, during a speech marking Prophet Muhammad's birthday, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 13, 2009. The case has complicated faltering efforts to reconcile differences among Arab states over how to deal with Iran’s rising regional influence and the Palestinian problem. It also highlighted the growing anxiety among some Arab leaders, especially Washington’s traditional allies in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, over Western outreach to Iran and Hezbollah. “I think the Egyptian leadership wants to remind the public and its other partners that there is something serious going on here,” said Gamal Abdel Gawad, head of the international relations section of the government-financed Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “It wasn’t just a war of words. There was an attempt to destabilize Egypt.” When Egypt announced late last week that it had uncovered the Hezbollah cell, the news was greeted skeptically in the region. Months ago Hezbollah’s chief effectively urged Egyptians to rise up against the government for not doing more to help Hamas as it battled Israel in Gaza. So the Egyptian announcement was widely perceived as payback. “These accusations seem to be fabricated from beginning to end,” read an editorial on Thursday in Al Quds al Arabi, an Arabic-language, Palestinian-owned newspaper. A day later, Mr. Nasrallah confirmed that Egyptian authorities had arrested a Hezbollah member, a man he called Sami Shihab. He denied that there had been any plans for attacks on Egyptian soil, but that did little to undermine Egypt’s main charges. The Egyptian press went on the attack, labeling Mr. Nasrallah a “war criminal” and a “monkey” and calling for his arrest and prosecution. Mr. Nasrallah accused Egyptian authorities of being agents of Israel and the United States. “If aiding the Palestinians is a crime, then I am guilty and proud of it,” he said. Egypt’s very public and caustic response to the case appeared similar to the reaction some Arab states had to statements in February by an influential former Iranian speaker of Parliament that Bahrain was historically part of Iran. Arab leaders jumped on the remark as evidence of Iran’s intentions in the region, and Iran apologized for it. Iranian officials sharply attacked Egypt during the Gaza fighting for its refusal to open its borders with the beleaguered territory. Iran is a major supporter of Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. With this case, Egypt offered a portrait of a conspiracy that it said should give pause to all Arab states, including Syria, which is aligned with Iran and also supports Hezbollah. Officials said Hezbollah had set up an office in Egypt as part of a unit called “the belt,” meaning it sought to coordinate activities in Arab states bordering Israel. It is not clear when Egypt began making the arrests or how many arrests were made. Officials said only that 49 people had been “accused of participating.” Some local news reports said that the first suspects were arrested in November, but that the interrogations did not begin until Saturday. On Monday officials said that six had been charged with spying and weapons possession. Montasser al-Zayyat, a lawyer who said he represented some of the accused, said 46 men had been arrested. A Palestinian man sleeps near the smuggling tunnels area on the border between Egypt and Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian government will ask the international community to give $2.8 billion to rebuild Gaza after Israel's devastating military offensive there, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said warning that the money wouldn't do any good unless Gaza's borders reopened. On Sunday, an Egyptian cabinet minister of state, Mofeed Shehab, said the Hezbollah agent whom Mr. Nasrallah had called Sami Shihab was actually Muhammad Youssef Mansour. He said Mr. Mansour had traveled to Egypt on two fake passports and had been organizing plans to recruit members, indoctrinate them and send them to Lebanon to train for “hostile operations” inside Egypt. He said Hezbollah agents had been asked to conduct surveillance of police and military offices and checkpoints, schools and tourist sites, and to e-mail the information to Lebanon. He said they were also supposed to rent a place near the Suez Canal to monitor ship traffic “in preparing for targeting them.” There were many other details, including charges that they had been storing “explosive belts” and had planned to buy a ship to ferry weapons into Egypt, for eventual shipment to Gaza, and to smuggle weapons there through tunnels. Mr. Mansour, the man charged with spying on behalf of Hezbollah, acknowledged that he was working in Egypt, but insisted that he had been ordered not to carry out attacks there. A transcript of a portion of his interrogation, confirmed by his lawyer, was printed Monday in an independent daily newspaper, Al Masry al Youm. “Hezbollah’s leadership issued strict orders to not target Israelis on Egyptian soil,” Mr. Mansour was quoted as saying. But even a Hezbollah official saw this conflict as part of a broader struggle with the Egyptian leadership for regional support. “The Egyptians are trying to create a problem, to change the opinion of the Arabs who are now with the Lebanese resistance,” said Nawar al-Sahili, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament. “We don’t want to have a problem with any Arab country. The Egyptian authorities are not giving the real facts.”

U.S. May Drop Condition For Iran Talks

U.S. May Drop Condition For Iran Talks

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 14, 2009: The Obama administration and its European allies are considering dropping a long-standing U.S. demand that Iran immediately shut down its nuclear facilities if it enters talks over its atomic program, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. The proposal would also allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks in what is considered a sharp break from the Bush administration, which had demanded Iran halt its enrichment activities, the report said. Enriching uranium can produce fuel for a nuclear power plant or, if purified to a much higher degree, provide material for an atomic bomb. The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is cover for building an atomic bomb but Tehran says it is to generate electricity. The proposals, still under discussion, were aimed at drawing Iran into nuclear talks that it has so far shunned, the newspaper said, citing officials involved in the strategy sessions. A senior Obama administration official cautioned that "we are still at the brainstorming level" and said the terms of an opening proposal to Iran were still being debated, the newspaper said. The six major powers dealing with Iran, including the United States, met in London last week and invited Tehran to a new round of talks about its nuclear program. The New York Times cited European officials as saying that in talks during Obama's visit to Europe there was agreement that Iran would not accept the immediate shutdown of its facilities that the Bush administration had demanded. Obama administration officials declined to discuss details of their deliberations, but said any new American policy would ultimately require Iran to cease enrichment, the newspaper said. "Our goal remains exactly what it has been in the U.N. resolutions: suspension," one senior administration official told the newspaper. The report comes as Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Monday he welcomes nuclear talks with the United States and other countries. The negotiator, Saeed Jalili, made the comments during a telephone call with the European Union's foreign policy chief, state television reported. During the conversation, Jalili said the talks should be aimed at "constructive cooperation" between countries. Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was open to talks -- but only if they were based on respect for Iran's rights, suggesting the West should not try to force Tehran to stop uranium enrichment. Jalili's comments appeared to be more of a definitive answer, but he stressed that Iran would issue an official response to the invitation soon, the TV reported. He did not elaborate. The United States announced last week that it would join direct talks with Iran that Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia are seeking to convene. The talks aim to break a long deadlock over Iran's nuclear program, which the U.S. and its allies fear aims to build atomic weapons. Iran denies the charge.

Russian Doctors Find Tree Growing In Man's Lung

Russian Doctors Find Tree Growing In Man's Lung

(NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: Surgeons in Russia's Urals Region were staggered to find a 5-centimeter high spruce growing inside a man's lung, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported on Monday. The discovery was made while Artyom Sidorkin, 28, from the Urals city of Izhevsk, was undergoing surgery. Sidorkin had complained of extreme pain in his chest and had been coughing up blood, doctors suspected cancer. "I blinked three times and thought I was seeing things," Izhevsk surgeon Vladimir Kamashev told the paper. Medical staff believe Sidorkin had somehow inhaled a seed, which later sprouted inside his lung. The spruce, which was touching the man's capillaries and causing severe pain, was removed. "It was very painful. But to be honest I did not feel any foreign object inside me," Sidorkin said.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Signs Off On Islamic Law Deal

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Signs Off On Islamic Law Deal

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - April 14, 2009: Pakistan's pro-U.S. president signed a regulation late Monday to put a northwestern district under Islamic law as part of a peace deal with the Taliban, going along after coming under intense pressure from members of his own party and other lawmakers. U.S. Sen. John Kerry, right, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, shakes hands with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday, April 13, 2009. Kerry arrived in Pakistan to hold talks with Pakistani officials and leaders regarding regional security, and economics issues. Asif Ali Zardari's signature was a boon for Islamic militants who have brutalized the Swat Valley for nearly two years in demanding a new justice system. It was sure to further anger human rights activists and feed fears among the U.S. and other Western allies that the valley will turn into a sanctuary for militants close to Afghanistan. Whatever criticism may come, Zardari can claim some political cover — the National Assembly voted unanimously Monday to adopt a resolution urging his signature, although at least one party boycotted. Earlier, a Taliban spokesman had warned lawmakers against opposing the deal. Zardari's spokeswoman, Farahnaz Ispahani, confirmed the president signed the regulation Monday night. His signing implemented a deal agreed to in February by provincial officials to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas in exchange for a cease-fire between security forces and the local Taliban. Zardari had put off signing the agreement, saying he wouldn't until peace was restored in Swat but never defining what that meant. The delay led a hard-line Muslim cleric mediating the agreement to leave Swat in anger last week and upset lawmakers from the region. As pressure mounted, the federal government said over the weekend that Zardari wanted parliament first to debate the accord to implement an Islamic legal system, as long demanded by some residents disenchanted with inefficient regular courts. Lawmakers made clear they believed the deal should go ahead, saying it would bring calm to the area after months of bloodshed that killed hundreds of people and displaced up to one-third of the valley's 1.5 million residents. "The whole nation is united in its support of the Swat regulation and wants the president to approve it," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at the start of parliamentary debate Monday. Even without the president's approval, judges trained in Islamic law had begun hearing cases in Swat, and witnesses say Taliban fighters are in effective control of much of the region. The provincial government also agreed to other measures under the peace deal, such as cracking down on prostitution and sales of movies deemed "obscene." Supporters say the changes in the legal system will speed up justice, not lead to harsh punishments or restrict the rights of women. Critics say the agreement is a surrender to extremists whose tactics include beheading opponents and burning girls' schools. The events Monday "strengthened the militants," said Mahmood Shah, an analyst and former top security official in northwest Pakistan. Shah noted Taliban fighters in Swat recently staged a violent foray into the neighboring Buner district, possibly to put the heat on lawmakers and Zardari to support the deal. "They have really forced the government to do that," he said. Those brokering the deal have given few specifics about conditions placed on the Taliban in Swat, including whether they have to give up their weapons. But the Swat Taliban's spokesman, Muslim Khan, suggested after the parliament vote that disarming was at least an option. "We had picked up weapons for the sake of a justice system, and we will put them down for the sake of a justice system," he said. Lawmakers from the Muttahida Quami Movement, a party based in the southern city of Karachi that has a strong anti-Taliban stance, walked out of the parliament session before the vote on the resolution. "We can't accept Islamic law at gunpoint," said Farooq Sattar, a top party leader. Muslim Khan would not say if the Taliban would target legislators who opposed the deal, saying only that a militant council would discuss the matter. The Taliban warned before the vote that lawmakers against the deal were guilty of apostasy, or abandoning Islam, which carries the death penalty in some parts of the Muslim world. Elsewhere, Pakistani authorities announced the arrest of another suspect in the deadly terrorist assault on the Indian city of Mumbai, which killed 164 people as well as nine of the 10 gunmen. Pakistan has acknowledged that the November attack was partly planned on its soil. The Interior Ministry chief, Rehman Malik, said Shahid Jamil Riaz was arrested in Karachi on charges of maintaining financial accounts and helping plan the attack. Authorities now have five suspects in custody, he said. Also Monday, visiting U.S. Sen. John Kerry met with Pakistan's president, prime minister and other top officials, including Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, head of Pakistan's most powerful spy service, Inter-Services Intelligence. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is spearheading a bill to increase nonmilitary aid to Pakistan, with the goal of helping it improve economic, educational and other sectors as a way to lessen the allure of Islamic extremism. In a statement after the meeting, Gilani urged the U.S. not to attach conditions to aid funds, saying "strings attached would fail to generate the desired goodwill and results in Pakistan." During a news conference, Kerry took a friendly stance when asked about U.S. allegations that elements within Pakistan's spy agencies are assisting militant groups, saying he had a good meeting with Pasha. "I think that he and your government are making enormous efforts to guarantee the absolute cooperation and accountability of the intelligence efforts in this country," Kerry said.

Somali Militants Fire At U.S. lawmaker

Somali Militants Fire At U.S. lawmaker

(NSI News Source Info) MOGADISHU - April 14, 2009: Somalia's militant Islamist rebel group al Shabaab said Monday it fired mortars at a plane carrying a U.S. lawmaker, a day after U.S. snipers killed three Somali pirates and freed the American ship captain they had been holding hostage. An al Shabaab spokesman said his group fired at the plane carrying Representative Donald Payne as he left the anarchic Horn of Africa country following a rare one-day visit by a U.S. official. Payne's plane took off safely and no-one was hurt. U.S. Congressman Donald Payne (left) sits with Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid in Mogadishu's presidential place April 13, 2009. The crew of a U.S. ship attacked off Somalia called on President Barack Obama to lead the battle to stamp out piracy on Monday, after U.S. forces freed the ship's captain to end a five-day hostage drama. The successful rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held by pirates for five days in a drifting lifeboat after their attempt to hijack the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama failed, was hailed in the United States as a "feel-good" story that temporarily lifted the country's spirits in gloomy economic times. Three U.S. snipers each fired a single shot virtually simultaneously, each killing his target. A fourth pirate was captured alive. The successful conclusion boosted President Barack Obama, who had authorized the U.S. navy to use force if the commander on the spot felt Phillips's life was in danger. Obama, in brief comments Monday, called Phillips a hero and reiterated that he was resolved to work with other countries to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia. "We're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," Obama said. "We have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise." More than 250 hostages of many nationalities are still being held along the Somali coast by pirates who have seized dozens of vessels, from tankers to yachts, in recent months. Helicopters once again flew over pirate bases near Eyl on the Somali coast overnight after Phillips' rescue. "They killed our friends on the lifeboat and we thought helicopters would bomb us in Eyl last night," a pirate in Eyl, who called himself Farah, told Reuters. "We were mourning for dead friends and then roaring planes came -- grief upon grief. America has become our new enemy." Al Shabaab, which condemns both piracy and anti-piracy patrols by international navies off Somalia, said the attack on Payne's plane was a message to the United States but did not directly link it to the hostage issue. ENCOURAGE PROSECUTION State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Washington was encouraging states to prosecute suspected pirates and working with the shipping industry to avoid future hijacks. He cautioned that the problem would not be solved overnight. Responding to threats by the pirates' to kill foreign hostages in retaliation for the rescue, Wood said: "These folks are bandits. They're lawless." Phillips was the first American taken by pirates who have plundered ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for years. The U.S. Navy said the decision to shoot his kidnappers was a split-second one, taken because he appeared to be in imminent danger. "They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said. Phillips contacted his family after the rescue, received a medical check, and rested aboard the USS Boxer. His crew set off flares, hoisted an American flag and jumped for joy at the news of their captain's rescue. They called on Obama to take the lead in combating piracy. A Somali man is rushed into the local hospital after a mortar attack targeting US congressman Donald Payne during the congressman's one day visit to Mogadishu on April 13, 2009. Somalia's hardline Shebab Islamists on Monday claimed responsibility for a mortar attack targeting US congressman Donald Payne, who was unharmed, one of the group's officials said. "We carried out mortar attacks against the enemy of Allah who arrived to spread democracy in Somalia," Sheikh Husein Ali Fidow told reporters in Mogadishu Payne is the chairman of the subcommittee on Africa and global health in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Maersk Alabama, carrying food aid for the region, was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean Wednesday, but its 20 American crew regained control. Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a lifeboat in exchange for the crew's safety. So far, pirates have generally treated hostages well, sometimes roasting goat meat for them and even letting them phone loved ones. The worst violence has been the occasional beating. No hostages are known to have been killed by pirates.

NASA Searches For Solar System's Lost Planet

NASA Searches For Solar System's Lost Planet

(NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: The solar system might once have had another planet named Theia, which may have helped create our own planet's moon. Now two spacecrafts are heading out to search for leftovers from this rumored sibling, which would have been destroyed when the solar system was still young. "It's a hypothetical world. We've never actually seen it, but some researchers believe it existed 4.5 billion years ago — and that it collided with Earth to form the moon," said Mike Kaiser, a NASA scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Many scientists figure that indeed some large object crashed into Earth, and the resulting debris coalesced to form the moon. It is unclear though if that colliding object was a planet, asteroid or comet. In any case, the debris that would have spun out from the two slamming bodies would have mixed together, and could explain some aspects of the moon's geology, such as the size of the moon's core and the density and composition of moon rocks. Scientists are hoping NASA's twin STEREO probes, launched in 2006, will be able to discover leftover traces of Theia that may finally help close the case on the birth of our moon. So far, signs of Theia have proved elusive to telescopes searching from Earth. But the STEREO spacecraft are set to enter special points in space, called Lagrangian points, where the gravity from the Earth and the sun combine to form wells that tend to collect solar system detritus. "The STEREO probes are entering these regions of space now," Kaiser, a STEREO project scientist, said. "This puts us in a good position to search for Theia's asteroid-sized leftovers." By visiting the Lagrangian points directly, STEREO will be able to hunt for Theia chunks up close. The nearest approach to the bottoms of the gravitational wells will come in September and October 2009. "STEREO is a solar observatory," Kaiser said. "The two probes are flanking the sun on opposite sides to gain a 3-D view of solar activity. We just happen to be passing through the L4 and L5 Lagrange points en route. This is purely bonus science." Scientists think Theia may even have formed in one of these gravitational points of balance from the accumulation of flotsam that had built up there. "Computer models show that Theia could have grown large enough to produce the moon if it formed in the L4 or L5 [Lagrangian] regions, where the balance of forces allowed enough material to accumulate," Kaiser said. "Later, Theia would have been nudged out of L4 or L5 by the increasing gravity of other developing planets like Venus and sent on a collision course with Earth."

Britain To Use Google Against Terrorists: Reports

Britain To Use Google Against Terrorists: Reports

(NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: The British government may be deploying a new weapon against terrorists: Google. According to the tech-related news site The Register, the Home Office's Office for Security and Counter Terrorism plans to work with "approved" Islamist Web sites to "flood the Internet" with pro-Western viewpoints. It will train the operators of the pro-Western sites in search-engine optimization, an arcane strategy that basically makes sure your site is near the top of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft LiveSearch results pages. That way, young British Muslims searching online for say, "jihad," will get pro-Western Web sites instead of Al Qaeda mouthpieces, or so the theory goes. "In order to support mainstream voices, we work with local partners to help develop their communication, representational and leadership skills," an unnamed Home Office spokesman told The Register. "This support could include media training, which can help make their voices heard more widely, and support the development of skills which allow communities to be more effective in debate." In fact, a Google search for "jihad" comes up with only two radical Islamist links out of the first 10 returned. But it's possible the British government effort could make it zero. Then again, a recent study by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR) doubted that curbing Islamist material online would have much impact on terrorist activity. "It is unlikely that any but the most callow wannabe terrorist would use a mainstream search engine to find banned material," wrote the report entitled "Countering Online Radicalization." A call and e-mail placed to the Home Office seeking comment were not immediately answered.

U.S. Navy Growler EW Upgrades On The Way

U.S. Navy Growler EW Upgrades On The Way (NSI News Source Info) April 14, 2009: The brand-new EA-18G Growler has additional advances for airborne electronic attack (AEA) already on the way. High on the list is the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ), which is to add even longer-range electronic attack, spoofing and advanced information and network attack options.

The U.S Navy has ordered a total of 57 airplanes to replace its existing EA-6B Prowlers in service, all of which will be based at NAS Whidbey Island save for Reserve Squadron VAQ-209 based at NAF Washington, MD. The US DoD gave approval for the EA-18G program to begin low-rate initial production in 2007. Full-rate production is to begin in 2008. The EA-18G is scheduled to finish flight testing in 2008, then earn initial operational capability in 2009. The Navy is planning to buy approximately 85 aircraft in order to equip 11 squadrons. The first Growler for fleet use was officially accepted by VAQ-129 "Vikings" at NAS Whidbey Island, on 3 June 2008. The first deployable EA-18G squadron is slated to be VAQ-132 "Scorpions", with its Initial Operational Capability (IOC) status expected in 2009. In 2008 the Australian Government requested export approval from the US government to purchase up to six EA-18Gs, which would be part of the order for 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets. On 27 February 2009, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced that 12 of the 24 Super Hornets on order would be wired on the production line for future fit-out as EA-18Gs. The additional wiring would cost $35 million. The final decision on conversion to EA-18Gs, at a cost of $300 million, would be made in 2012. With the new digital telecommunications used by opponents, U.S. planners have to be much more detailed about how electronic attack is conducted against networked, computer-controlled threats such as integrated air defenses. Part of the new threat involves commercially available communications. GSM, Satphone, Bluetooth, 80211G and 80216 technologies are all built into one handset. It switches the user through all the options to find a usable route when being jammed. That type of connection technology is available and cheap. New special-purpose electronic attack involves attacking more than external emissions. It goes after the digital instructions, called protocols, that run a network. It's electronic warfare against a computer network and not just a radar or radio signal. The goal is controlling communications more than preventing them. Nontraditional electronic attack involves producing long-lasting instead of temporary effects on enemy electronics. Navy officials are a bit more circumspect and focused on incremental, near-term improvements. "A much better jammer than the ALQ-99 [jamming pods that now equip both the Growler and Prowler] is part of the Growler roadmap," says Commander Frank Morley, program manager for the EA-18G. There are areas that could profit significantly from improvements "including the number and size of antennas and the small number of bands that can be attacked." There also are issues with in-flight flexibility. Once the aircraft takes off, there is a limited, fixed configuration for electronic attack. NGJ is expected to offer more flexibility once airborne, and more band coverage that also can be adjusted in flight. ICAP III has already added information on board, networking capability and information from off-board sources to the older Prowler. NGJ is expected to allow even greater in-flight reactive capability. "An EA-6B Prowler [in contrast] doesn't have a radar so it can defend itself only by running away," Morley says. "With the Growler's AESA radar, the crew can see what's going on. They know if there are fighters that have leaked through the front wall of the strike package. Situational awareness and the ability to defend themselves in an offensive manner is a first step that will make a difference. Now you don't have to put it in the back of the strike package with a section of fighters. [The Growler] may be able to hang around longer, planners may not have to put up as many assets to protect it and it may be able to make some of its own tactical decisions."

Boeing CH-47F Chinook Helicopter Fielded By US Army's 82nd Airborne Division

Boeing CH-47F Chinook Helicopter Fielded By US Army's 82nd Airborne Division

(NSI News Source Info) RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. - April 14, 2009: Boeing April 13, announced that a fourth U.S. Army unit has fielded the CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Company B, 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, is based at Fort Bragg, N.C. "Fielding the new CH-47F Chinook continues the proud heritage of the unit's aviation history," said Capt. John Gunter, Commander, B Company, 3rd GSAB, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade. "The capability of this aircraft will maximize our performance in missions around the world, today and well into the future."

The CH-47F, an upgraded D model, first flew in 2001. The first production model was rolled out on June 15, 2006 at the Boeing facility in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, and had its maiden flight on October 23, 2006. The CH-47F was designed to extend the service life of the Chinook class beyond 2030. Among its upgrades are new 4,868 shaft horsepower Honeywell engines, improved avionics, and an upgraded airframe with larger single-piece sections to reduce part count and need for fasteners. The new milled construction will reduce vibrations, eliminate points of joint flexing, and reduce the need for inspections and repairs, and reduce maintenance costs. It is also expected to increase service life. The CH-47F can fly at speeds of over 175 mph (282 km/h) with a payload of 21,000 lb (9,530 kg). The improved avionics include a Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit, and BAE's Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS). Boeing has delivered 48 F model helicopters to the United States Army; on August 26, 2008, Boeing announced that the Army has signed a five year contract, worth over $4.8 billion for 191 more, plus 24 options.[19] In February 2007 the Netherlands was the first international customer to order the F model, six helicopters were ordered to expand their current fleet to 17. These six helicopters will be equipped with an upgraded version of the Honeywell Avionics Control Management System (ACMS) cockpit. Additional orders are expected from Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom. The 82nd Airborne "Flippers" have a long and distinguished history of using the Chinook to conduct both military and humanitarian support missions around the world. The division has received numerous accolades for its service from Vietnam to Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Fielding the CH-47F is another significant milestone to add to the 82nd's lineage. "The advanced features of the new aircraft significantly increase the unit's mission capability," said Tommy Filler, director, Boeing CH-47F Program. "Our quality commitment and daily focus on the production line is 'Soldiers First.' The successful performance of the CH-47F helicopter in theater is a direct result of that commitment." The CH-47F, built at Boeing's Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Township, Pa., features a newly designed, modernized airframe, a Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit and a BAE Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS). The CAAS greatly improves aircrew situational awareness, and DAFCS provides dramatically improved flight-control capabilities through the entire flight envelope, significantly improved performance, and safety in the harshest of environments. CAAS also incorporates an advanced digital map display and a data transfer system that allows storing of preflight and mission data. Improved survivability features include the Common Missile Warning and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser systems. Powered by two 4,733-horsepower Honeywell engines, the new CH-47F can reach speeds greater than 175 mph and transport more than 21,000 pounds. The CH-47F, with the Robertson Aviation Extended Range Fuel System, has a mission radius of more than 400 nautical miles.

Northrop Grumman's LITENING Precision Targeting System Surpasses One Million Operational Hours Milestone

Northrop Grumman's LITENING Precision Targeting System Surpasses One Million Operational Hours Milestone

(NSI News Source Info) ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. - April 14, 2009: Northrop Grumman Corporation April 13, announced the achievement of over one million operational hours for the company's LITENING precision targeting and sensor systems currently deployed with U.S. and allied forces. "LITENING continues to be the precision targeting system most called on, indicated by the one million operational hours milestone," said Mike Lennon, vice president of Targeting and Surveillance Programs at Northrop Grumman's Defensive Systems Division. "LITENING has pioneered such advanced targeting technologies as precisely aligned and stable sensors, coordinated air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities through laser spot search and track and laser markers, data links for coordinated air-ground attack and J-series weapons employment capabilities, and we continue to refine our system today as proven by the cutting-edge LITENING G4." Of the more than one million hours accumulated to date, just under half have been logged under deployed and combat conditions, with an operational availability of over 97 percent for over two consecutive years, performance unequaled in industry, Lennon noted. LITENING Advanced Targeting (AT) pods have proven their combat capabilities and inherent flexibility to adapt to changing operational requirements. Rapid integration on a wide variety of aircraft (AV-8B, A-10A/C, B-52H, EA-6Bs, F-15E, F-16 and F/A-18s), plus the wide fielding of internal data links are just two examples of the benefits realized by the warfighter. Customers for LITENING include all components of the U.S. Air Force (active duty, Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)), the U.S. Marine Corps (active duty and reserves), the Italian and Spanish navies, the Israeli Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Netherlands Air Force, the Finnish Air Force and the Portuguese Air Force. Since its introduction in 1999 with the ANG and AFRC, the LITENING system has undergone four spiral upgrades to ensure continued combat relevance in an ever-changing battlespace. LITENING G4 is the next step in the evolution of the LITENING family and applies the latest in sensor technology to achieve unprecedented levels of target detection, recognition and identification ranges. The LITENING G4 pod includes an advanced 1k forward-looking infrared sensor, a 1,024 x 1,024 pixel charge-coupled device (1k CCD), laser target imaging, advanced high power laser and advanced next-generation data links. Deliveries of the LITENING G4 system will begin in mid-2009. The LITENING G4 technology and capability is also available in a kit form that allows existing LITENING users to upgrade their currently fielded LITENING pods to this new and advanced standard. Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Lockheed Martin Rolls Out THAAD Launchers And Fire Control And Communications Units

Lockheed Martin Rolls Out THAAD Launchers And Fire Control And Communications Units

(NSI News Source Info) CAMDEN, ARKANSAS - April 14, 2009: Lockheed Martin officially rolled out the new Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System launcher and Fire Control and Communications unit today in a ceremony at the company’s THAAD Launcher Integration Complex in Camden, AR. The ceremony, attended by U.S. Senator Mark Pryor and U.S. Congressman Mark Ross, commemorated the delivery of the first THAAD ground segment vehicles to come off the production line in Camden.

The THAAD weapon system consists of Launchers, Missiles, Battle Management/Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (BMC3I) units and THAAD radars. The THAAD (theatre high-altitude area defence) missile system is an easily transportable defensive weapon system to protect against hostile incoming threats such as tactical and theatre ballistic missiles at ranges of 200km and at altitudes up to 150km. The US Army is expected to acquire 80 to 99 THAAD launchers, 18 ground-based radars and a total of 1,422 THAAD missiles. Two THAAD battalions are planned, each with four batteries. In 1992 Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space and other industrial team partners were awarded a $689m contract to develop the THAAD system. Raytheon was selected as sub-contractor to develop the ground-based radar. Raytheon is responsible for the solid-state receiver / transmitter modules. TRW is responsible for software development. The other main contractors are Raytheon for the traveling wave tubes, Datatape for the data recorders and EBCO for radar turrets. The THAAD programme entered the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase in 2000. In May 2004, production of 16 flight test missiles began at Lockheed Martin's new production facilities in Pike County, Alabama. Flight testing, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, of the EMD system began in 2005. The first flight test of the entire system including missile, launcher, radar and fire control system took place in May 2006. Flight testing began at Pacific Missile Range, Kauai, Hawaii in January 2007 with a successful intercept test in the high endo-atmosphere. A second successful test took place in April 2007 with intercept in the mid endo-atmosphere. The final White Sands test took place in June 2007, with a low endo-atmosphere test. In October 2007, THAAD performed a successful intercept of a unitary target outside the atmosphere (exo-atmospheric). In June 2008, THAAD successfully intercepted a separating target in mid-endo-atmosphere. Tests will continue at PMR till 2009. The new hardware will be delivered to Soldiers at Fort Bliss, TX, who will have a fully operational THAAD battery (equipment and personnel) by the end of 2009. “What the hardworking employees of Lockheed Martin’s Camden Operations have accomplished in such a short time is a testament to their dedication to our troops,” said U.S. Senator Mark Pryor. “It gives me great pride to know that one of the world’s most advanced and proven air defense systems is produced, in part, here in the great state of Arkansas.” “The THAAD system will play a pivotal role in our nation’s missile defense, and today’s rollout is an encouraging sign of the tremendous progress we’re making in this vital technology,” said U.S. Congressman Mike Ross. “The Camden area employees of Lockheed Martin have a long history of success and today is no exception. I thank them for their hard work in providing our military with the technology it needs to protect and defend our troops and our homeland.” “This is truly a great day for air defenders,” said Tom McGrath, vice president of the THAAD program at Lockheed Martin. “We are proud to deliver this proven air defense capability to our forces. We are seeing the incredible power of THAAD to protect our Warfighters and population centers with each successful test flight, and now we are seeing the reality of production hardware rolling off the line.” Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the THAAD Weapon System. The company’s new 200,000 square-foot Launcher Integration Complex at Camden Operations currently has an employee population of approximately 600. “This is an outstanding example of government/industry partnership to achieve great things for the Warfighter,” said Glenn David Woods, Camden Operations plant manager for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our commitment is to produce the world’s most advanced and effective air defense capability for our Soldiers and allies.” Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.