A gold mine of new technologies: compared with the plethora of engineering developments and new technologies displayed at the recent Association of the United States Army exhibition in Washington, DC, the innovations of the Industrial Revolution are almost dulled to a quiet <<Eureka>> moment in some back-street laboratory.
The catch phrases of <<smaller, more powerful, quieter and autonomous>> were accompanied by every iteration of <<force protection>> one could have imagined. Hand-launched drones, hand-held tactical radios and combat language translators, wrist-worn communicators, tactical knives, lights and weapons with integrated fire control systems ... the list continues. One could...

Shows & exhibitions.
All exhibitions, including Idex, have their ups and downs, but many will tell that this year's Abu Dhabi performance was definitely an the high, if not one of the best so far. Icing on the cake, it was held for the first time in the city's brand-new and well-appointed...

Never again, yet again: unless action replaces delay, our denunciations of genocide are nothing but talk.
DARFUR HAS BECOME A MARQUEE GLOBAL TRAGEDY with celebrities such as George Clooney and Don Cheadle gamely trying to draw public attention to the killing fields in western Sudan. Dispatches from the frontlines over the past four years document the mayhem that has become the daily landscape for the...

Sudan Violence Worries Saudis.
Another issue worrying the Saudis is the violence in Sudan's western province of Darfur and a renewal of North-South tension. The UNSC on Oct. 31 voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the 18,800-strong UN force monitoring a 2005 peace deal which ended a 21-year North-South war (see gmt18SudanOct29-07)....

New framework allows ARMM folk to design own political structure; Secretary Afable bares new strategy to move peace process.
Byline: CHARISSA M. LUCI With much hope that the peace process would move forward, the government has come up with a framework which would allow the people of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to design their own political structure. Secretary Silvestre Afable, chairman...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 5 - Israel Says Hizbullah Violated 1701.
The Israeli Army claims that it found and detonated at least four bombs just south of the UN-demarcated Blue Line, inside Israeli territory - and accused Hizbullah of planting the explosives as recently as Feb 4. If confirmed, it would mark the first clear violation of the UN-brokered cease-fire...

Comelec official asks Abra politicians to make May 14 polls peaceful, orderly.
Byline: DEXTER A. SEE BANGUED, Abra - Romeo Brawner, commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) challenged here politicians in this conflict-rocked province to make the May 14, 2007 elections peaceful by preventing violence that had plagued Abra for several years now. During a hearing...

Europe's last colony: Bosnians are allowed to vote, but not to govern themselves.
LONDON -- Liberal commentators in Europe are desperately worried about Burma. They cannot bear the sight of a military junta using batons and worse to beat peaceful, saffron-clad monks and pro-democracy protesters off the streets. They are also perturbed by Pakistan, where Pervez Musharraf, a military strongman backed by...

I won't contest Aquino votes, Oreta says.
Byline: CHARISSA M. LUCI TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol--Former Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta will not contest at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) the stand-alone- Aquino vote, saying that she is willing to give it up to his nephew, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, in memory of his late brother Benigno Aquino....

Keeping your Guard up; Mass. units' expertise seen around the world.
Byline: John J. Monahan The following correction was published Feb. 20, 2007: Capt. Richard Cipro of the Massachusetts National Guard served in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2002 and 2003. Because of a reporter's error, a story in the Sunday Telegram included incorrect deployments of Capt....