Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Two rockets Saturday hit Iraq’s Al-Balad air base, where US troops are stationed, while two mortars hit Baghdad’s Green Zone, a high-security enclave housing the US embassy, security sources said. Sirens immediately rang out at the American compound in Baghdad hosting both diplomats and troops, …
Read More »Beijing warns of ‘countermeasures’ over US missile plans
Beijing, China | AFP | China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington was now free to deploy the weapons following its …
Read More »US-N.Korea tensions rise with Pyongyang launches, ship seizure
Washington, United States | AFP | The US seized a North Korean freighter in a further escalation of tensions Thursday after Pyongyang fired what was believed to be two missiles and President Donald Trump said Kim Jong Un was not ready to negotiate denuclearisation. The launch of the projectiles — identified …
Read More »North Korea fires missiles as US envoy visits Seoul
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea welcomed a US envoy’s visit to Seoul by firing two missiles Thursday, the South’s military said, in Pyongyang’s second launch in less than a week as it seeks to up the ante in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington. It came after North Korea …
Read More »Race for ‘hypersonic’ weapons heats up as France joins fray
Paris, France | AFP | World powers are vying to develop so-called “hypersonic” weapons that travel several times the speed of sound, with France the latest to join a field led so far by Russia and China. Hypersonics are like missiles that travel at over five times the speed of …
Read More »Trump says N.Korea missile work ‘normal’
Trump Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States was aware of undeclared North Korean missile bases revealed by US researchers but insisted all was fine. “We fully know about the sites being discussed, nothing new — and nothing happening out of the …
Read More »Russia to test missiles in NATO exercise zone
Byneset, Norway | AFP | Russia plans to test missiles off Norway this week in an area where NATO is carrying out its biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, NATO’s chief said Tuesday, downplaying the situation. “We were notified last week about the planned Russian missile …
Read More »Over 100 missiles fired at Syria, ‘significant number’ intercepted: Moscow
2178, Russia | AFP | The US and its allies fired more than 100 cruise missiles at Syria, a significant number of which were intercepted by Syrian air defences, the Russian defence ministry said Saturday. “More than 100 cruise missiles and air-to-land missiles were fired by the US, Britain and …
Read More »Israel gets first joint US military base
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel on Monday inaugurated with its US ally a joint missile defence base on Israeli soil, the first ever, a senior Israeli air force officer said. The new facility, at an undisclosed location in southern Israel, was announced as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due …
Read More »Trump gives North Korea ‘final warning’
Trump warns North Korea of ‘fire and fury’ Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump issued an apocalyptic warning to North Korea on Tuesday, saying it faces “fire and fury” over its missile program, hours after US media reported Pyongyang has successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead. “North Korea …
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