Sunday, February 15, 2009
Iran Warns it Will Attack US Bases
Foreign Confidential....
Iran has again warned the United States that in case of an attack by either the U.S. or Israel, Iran will target 32 U.S. bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, entrance to the Persian Gulf.
The Strait is a major oil shipping route. An estimated 40% of the world's oil supply passes through the waterway.Astronomers Say Galaxy Has Billions of Earths
South Korea Aims for Missile Defense by 2012
South Korea plans to complete its own missile defence system against North Korea in three years, officials said Sunday amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's new test-launch preparations.
Continue here.
Officials at Seoul's defence ministry said South Korea was pushing to establish its own air defence unit, exclusively to detect and intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, by 2012.
The unit, to cost a total of 300 billion won (214 million dollars), will complete an ambitious air and missile defence project which has been pushed for since 2006, they said.
Seoul plans to buy new radars which can detect objects up to 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away for the new system, which will put the North's missiles under close watch around the clock, they said.
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended in a fragile armistice
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North Korea has short-range Scuds and Rodongs with a range of 1,300 kilometres, while actively developing longer-range Taepodong missiles that could reach the United States.
Scuds and Rodongs put all of South Korea within range.Friday, February 13, 2009
Sources Say N. Korea Moved Taepodong-2
Following reports of clandestine, indoor assembly (see story below), analysts tell China Confidential that nuclear-armed North Korea has transported a Taepodong-2 missile to its east coast launch site in Musudan-ri, in North Hamgyong Province.
The sources say North Korea used a specially constructed, covered cargo carriage that made the long-range missile--supposedly capable of striking Alaska--difficult to track. The cargo carriage is double the length of an ordinary carriage and is capable of carrying first- and second-stage rockets.
A missile launch--over Japan--is likely before the end of the month.
North Korea seems bent on raising tensions and provoking an international crisis. The secretive, Stalinist/Kimist regime in Pyongyang believes that the United States, which protects South Korea and Japan, is economically weak and especially vulnerable.
Moreover, the regime's Islamist ally, nuclear-arming Iran, needs a new diversion that will provide Iran with more time to achieve breakthroughs in (a) uranium enrichment that will allow for the manufacture of several nuclear weapons and (b) warhead and missile technology for development and deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
North Korea and Iran are coordinating and cooperating closely, and have been for many years. The best hope for the U.S. is that North Korea is more criminal than imperialist, that it can still be bribed to stop it from overthrowing the status quo on the Korean Peninsula. Iran, in contrast, is imperialist to the core; it is bent on destroying Israel, dominating the Middle East, and driving the U.S. out of the region for once and all.
Bottom line: the Obama administration, faced with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s and draining conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, has its hands full.Thursday, February 12, 2009
North Korea Assembling Long-Range Missile
The Stalinist regime plans to test-fire the missile over Japan, analysts say.IEC Raises $123 Million in Private Bond Offering
Foreign Confidential....
Israel Electric Corp (IEC) said on Thursday it raised 500 million shekels ($123 million) in a private bond offering to institutional investors in Israel.
State-owned IEC issued non-tradable bonds, bearing 6.85% annual interest, which will mature in 2020.
The bond issue came a month after IEC raised $500 million in bonds in the United States at a higher interest rate of 9.375%.
The offerings reflect investors' confidence in the company and its ability to raise money despite the global financial crisis, IEC said in a statement.
About IEC
IEC is Israel'ssole integrated electric utility in the State of Israel. The company, which was incorporated in pre-independence, mandatory Palestine in 1923, generates, transmits and distributes substantially all the electricity used in Israel. The Israeli government owns approximately 99.85% of the company.
IEC is one of the largest industrial companies in Israel, owning and operating 17 power stations sites, including five major thermal power stations, with an aggregate installed generating capacity of 10,899 MW.
Monday, 16 February 2009
AFP reports:
North Korea is assembling a Taepodong-2 missile indoors--to escape satellite detection--at an east coast launch base.
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