ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Dec 22 - Russia Denies Selling Missile System To Iran.
Russia is not selling Iran an advanced air-defense system, Russia's agency for monitoring international defense co-operation said in a statement, refuting claims by an Iranian official reported Sunday that the system was already being delivered. "Military-technical cooperation with Iran is conducted on a planned basis corresponding with agreements signed...

ARAB ISRAELI RELATIONS - Dec 29 - Israel Set For Ground Invasion.
Israeli warplanes continue pounding the Gaza Strip as the casualty toll in the two-day offensive reached 296 killed and over 900 injured. At least 180 of the injured were in critical condition, Palestinian medical sources said. The UN Security Council urged an immediate end to all military activities in...

IRAN - Dec 21 - Tehran Says It's Getting Missiles.
An Iranian official says Russia had started delivering an advanced air-defense system to Iran, despite earlier denials by Russia that a deal had been reached. The official, Esmail Kosari, the deputy head of Parliament's Commission for Foreign Affairs and National Security, was quoted by IRNA as saying, "After a...

Forgotten high-vel king.
[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The .30 Mauser was invented by an American, Hugo Borchardt, and chambered in the Borchardt semiauto pistol in 1893 by Ludwig & Lowe, a German firm. L & L became DWM and the pistol was redesigned to become the Luger. The .30 Mauser (7.63x25) was...

Rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- At least four rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding two people, police and medics said, in an attack likely linked to Israel's offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip. It was not immediately clear whether Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas,...

Comprehension.
Read this issue's cover story, "The New Blackbeards." Then answer the following questions. 1. What did pirates discover when they hijacked the MV Faina and took its crew hostage on September 25? (A) tanks, ammunition, and military weapons (B) an elite team of...

Ban cluster bombs.
In May, representatives from more than 100 nations met to forge a global agreement to ban cluster bombs, aerial weapons that release tiny "bomblets" over a wide area and kill indiscriminately. At the Dublin summit, 111 countries formally agreed to end the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster...

Standard & Poor's Announces Changes to U.S. Indices.
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 100, S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indices: -- S&P MidCap 400 constituent Equitable Resources Inc. will replace Transocean Inc. in the S&P 500, S&P SmallCap 600...

Kalashnikov culture; small arms proliferation and irregular warfare.
9780313346149 Kalashnikov culture; small arms proliferation and irregular warfare. Carr, Christopher. Praeger Security International 2008 185 pages $75.00 Hardcover PSI reports JZ5645 "Kalashnikov culture," named after the widely available...

NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR.
COLUMN: NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR Army Pvt. Stephen P. DeMontigny has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat...