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For the third time in 7 years (first one being in 2005, second earlier in 2012) several websites in China (link in Chinese) are reporting that China and Russia have agreed for Beijing to buy the production line for the Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber at a cost of 1.5 billion USD.

Once in service with the Chinese Naval Air Forces the Tu-22M3 will be known as the “H-10″.

The deal struck with Russia comes with 36 aircraft (and engines): an initial batch of 12 followed by a second batch of 24 aircraft are thought to be on order.

The Tu-22 will be employed in the maritime attack role and will be used to attack targets from low level (to avoid radar detection).

Read more ....

My Comment: Wikipedia has more information on the Tupolev Tu-22M3. So .... for 1.5 billion USD the Chinese are buying the production line of an old bomber .... on the surface I am not impressed .... but the Chinese usually have a very good reason on doing such purchases .... and your guess is as good as mine on this one. On a side note .... if the Chinese start to mass manufacture these planes (and others) .... expect the arms race in Asia to heat up.

Vice president Nicolas Maduro tells Venezuelan people the president's health is delicate following cancer operation.


Hugo Chávez has suffered "new complications" following his cancer surgery in Cuba, his vice president said, describing the Venezuelan leader's condition as delicate.

Vice president Nicolas Maduro delivered a solemn televised address from Havana, saying he had spoken with Chávez and that the president sent greetings to his homeland. Maduro did not give details about the complications, which he said came amid a respiratory infection.

"Several minutes ago we were with president Chávez. We greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications," Maduro said, reading from a prepared statement. Maduro was seated alongside Chávez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as attorney-general Cilia Flores.

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Chavez suffers new post-surgery complications -- Reuters
Chávez Faces New Complications After Surgery -- New York Times
Battling cancer, Chavez suffers more complications -- CNN
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said to suffer 'complications' -- L.A. Times
Hugo Chavez: Venezuela leader suffers 'new complications' -- BBC
Chavez suffers new post-op setback: VP -- AFP
Chavez Suffers New Complications After Cancer Operation -- Bloomberg

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was admitted to a New York City hospital on Sunday after doctors discovered that a blood clot had formed, the State Department said in a statement.

Philippe Reines, a deputy assistant secretary, said in the statement that the clot stems from a concussion Clinton sustained several weeks ago.

Reines said that Clinton, 65, is being treated with anti-coagulants at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. She will be monitored there for the next 48 hours, he said.

“Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," he said. "They will determine if any further action is required.”

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My Comment: Our prayers are with her and her family.

Moscow officials have acknowledged that citizens will be pulled out of the country should Assad’s regime fall.

The Kremlin is sending another warship to the Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia has a naval base, Russian news agencies reported.

The reports Sunday by the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agency cited an unidentified official in the military general staff as saying the Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, has set sail from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. She was “accompanied by a combat ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” according to a Russian news source.

The Novocherkassk was the third vessel of its kind dispatched since Friday from Russia to Tartus, AFP reported, and was expected to arrive in the area in early January.

The reports gave no information on the ship’s intent. But Russian diplomats have said that Moscow is preparing a plan to evacuate thousands of Russians from Syria if necessary. The Defense Ministry announced two weeks ago that several ships were being dispatched to the Mediterranean.

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Update #1: Reports: Russia sends another naval ship to Syrian port -- Washington Post/AP
Update #2: Report: Russia Sends Landing Ships to Syria -- Defense News/AFP

My Comment: The U.N. special envoy is now predicting that 100,000 Syrians are going to die if this civil war continues for the rest of the year. If true .... that the situation is this dire .... I am surprised that the Russians are not evacuating right now.

WASHINGTON — In the final presidential debate, President Barack Obama declared to the American people with unflinching certainty that sequestration “will not happen.”

Two months later, the Jan. 1 deadline is looming, with no debt reduction deal in sight.

Now what?

How quickly and deeply will these automatic defense budget cuts totaling about $500 billion over the next decade hit troops, Defense Department civilians and contractors? And how much will they hurt?

Many experts agree: “The sky is not going to suddenly fall on Jan. 2,” said Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank. “In fact, we are likely to see hardly any impacts in that first week.”

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My Comment: If I was working for the Pentagon or for a defense contractor .... times are going to be tough. This is the 'worst case scenario'.

President Obama says problems behind the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, resulted from mistakes, not wrongdoing.

"There was just some sloppiness — not intentional — in terms of how we secure embassies in areas where you essentially don't have governments that have a lot of capacity to protect those embassies," Obama said on NBC's Meet The Press.

Obama also said that investigators "have some very good leads" on who carried out the attack that killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

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Obama on Benghazi: 'This was a huge problem' -- NBC
Benghazi security a 'huge problem': Obama -- The Australian
Obama: U.S. has good leads on who carried out Benghazi attacks -- Reuters
Obama: We've got 'very good leads' on Benghazi -- Politico
Obama says US has good leads on Benghazi attackers -- ITV
Obama Blames Benghazi Attack on 'Sloppiness,' Says Investigation Turned Up 'Some Very Good Leads' -- Weekly Standard
Obama admits 'security problem' at Benghazi mission -- AFP

My Comment: I do not know what he means when he stated that some US State Department employees have been held accountable for this "sloppiness" .... especially in view of this.

Being hooked by a fisherman is probably up there with the worst things that could happen to a shark. But what about becoming bait for an even bigger beast as you're being hauled into the boat?

This was the fate of a poor great white in New Zealand this week.

And a spectacular photograph of the encounter, which shows Charles Darwin's survival of the fittest - or perhaps biggest - theory in action, has taken the web by storm after it was posted on Reddit.

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My Comment: I know that this is not a war/defense/military related post .... but it is a cool pic. The moral of the story .... there is always someone out there that is bigger, stronger, and meaner. Hmmmm .... come to think of it .... I just described how some combat scenarios.