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The signatories to the faltering Iran nuclear deal meet in Vienna on Tuesday as the US is urging international sanctions on the Islamic republic to be reimposed and an arms embargo to be extended. Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia are struggling to save the 2015 landmark accord with Iran, which has been progressively stepping up its nuclear activities since last year. Tehran insists it is entitled to do so under the deal -- which swapped sanctions relief for Iran's agreement to scale back its nuclear programme -- following the US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions. In a boost to Tuesday's talks, the Iranian atomic energy last week agreed for inspectors of the UN nuclear watchdog to visit two sites suspected of having hosted undeclared activity in the early 2000s. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi had travelled to Iran on his first trip since taking up the top post last year and after months of calling

Tensions between India and China on Monday mounted again, after they accused each other of trying to seize territory across their disputed Himalayan border. Accusations flew between the world's two most populous nations just two months after high-altitude hand-to-hand combat between their troops that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. India accused China of seeking to cross their unofficial border in the Ladakh region late Saturday, while Beijing countered that Indian troops tried their own mission on Monday. Both sides said they were determined to defend their territory. Hostility between the nuclear-armed neighbours is now at some of the highest levels since they fought a border war in 1962. The two countries have sent tens of thousands of troops, backed by tanks and fighter jets, to the region since the brutal June 15 battle fought with wooden clubs and fists in which China suffered an undisclosed number of casualties. A military accord between the two prohibits the us

The U. S. Air Force Global Strike Command has set up its first overseas mobile operations center for B-2 stealth bomber missions, the branch announced Monday. The center was established by the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron of Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., for the first time on Aug. 20 during a deployment to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, which is on a British archipelago in the Indian Ocean where a squadron of B-2 bombers was deployed earlier this month. The mission planning and monitoring facility enables the 393rd EBS to plot actions on any airfield in the world available to the B-2, which officials say will offer greater flexibility for mission deployment. "This is the future of bomber mission planning," Lt. Col. Christopher Conant, Bomber Task Force commander, said in a statement. "Our objective out here is to create an ability to move a B-2 unit to any location in the world and generate combat sorties, as the Air Force Global Strike 2020 Strategic Plan

Source:- Indian Forces Are Now 4 KM Inside China Occupation First Time After 1962 War , Indian Troops Took Control Of Hunan Coast And The Nearby Reqin Mountain Pass Indian forces have captured Reqin. It has not been under Indian control since India lost 1962 war. It is a very bold step. And a very important one. On Monday morning, the army put out an official statement stating that it had ‘thwarted Chinese intentions to alter the ground situation’. Hours later, a statement from the PLA’s Western Theatre Command accused ‘Indian troops on Monday of illegally crossing the LoC again (India calls it the LAC)’ at the southern bank of the Pangong Tso lake and near the Reqin Mountain and ‘conducting flagrant violations’. An editorial in the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece,  Global Times , said the south bank of the lake, where the confrontation took place, is under China’s control and accused India of ‘trying to turn it into a new disputed area as a bargaining chip in negotiations’. A s

Source:- India captures Chinese camp in disputed Ladakh as violence erupts again between superpowers. On Saturday evening, around 500 Chinese troops had tried to cross into Indian territory near the village of Chushul Indian troops have captured an important Chinese military post after allegedly fighting off an attempt by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to occupy further Indian territory in the disputed border region of Ladakh. On Saturday evening, around 500 Chinese troops had tried to cross into Spanggur, a narrow valley near the village of Chushul and three hours of hand-to-hand combat ensued. A senior Indian police source told the Telegraph the attack had been repulsed and a retaliatory special operations battalion seized a Chinese camp in the surrounding hills of Pangong Tso Lake in the early hours of this morning. It has not commented on the nature of the clash or whether either side suffered any casualties. Today, the Indian Government accused Beijing of

Source:- China can make India suffer ‘severe’ military losses – Chinese mouthpiece China is able to make India suffer more severe military losses than in the past if it wants to engage in competition, state-backed newspaper Global Times said on Tuesday, after a fresh border flare-up between the two nuclear-armed countries. Indian forces foiled an attempt by Chinese troops to occupy a hill on the Asian giants’ disputed border in the western Himalayas, officials in New Delhi said on Monday. On the same day, China’s military spokesman demanded India withdraw troops that Beijing said had illegally crossed their shared border. China’s foreign ministry said Chinese border troops had not crossed the line of actual control. “India … said it preempted Chinese military activity,” the Global Times said in an editorial. “The word ‘preempt’ shows it was the Indian troops that first took destructive actions, and the Indian troops initiated the standoff this time.” It added that India faced a “p

Source:- Chinese Came In “Sufficient Numbers”, Indian Army Was Ready: Sources New Delhi:- The movement by Chinese soldiers took place at Ladakh’s Pangong Lake overnight to change the status quo in the area, sources have said. With no road in the area, a huge number of Chinese troops, deployed along the south bank of the Pangong Lake, footed it westward. Their aim was to unilaterally occupy the area, sources said. Sources said the Chinese troops came in “sufficient numbers”. But the Indian army was aware of the Chinese move and established themselves in a move to block the Chinese advance. No physical clashes took place and there is no face-off situation at present, sources said. Indian forces in large numbers remain dug-in in the area and are ready to respond. Some Chinese forces also remain in the area, sources said. This morning, the government said that the Chinese troops’ attempt to carry out “provocative military movements to change the status quo” near Pangong lake has been b

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Aug. 28, 2020) Lockheed has been awarded an additional $911.7 million contract for additional incremental development, support to flight and ground test programs of the THAAD air-defense missile, boosting total funding to $3.24 billion. (DoD photo) Lockheed Martin Corp., Sunnyvale, California, is being awarded a $911,765,000 modification (P00049) for existing sole source, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HQ0147-12-D-0001 for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense element development and support services. This modification brings the total maximum ceiling value of this contract from $2,335,000,000 to $3,246,765,000. This modification provides for the extension of the period of performance for additional incremental development, support to flight and ground test programs and responsive support to warfighter requirements to sustain the Ballistic Missile Defense System throughout the acquisition life cycle. Expected completion date

NORAD Conducts Three Intercepts of Russian Aircraft Entering Air Defense Identification Zone (Source: North America Aerospace Defense Command; issued Aug. 28, 2020) PETERSON AFB, Colo. --- North American Aerospace Defense Command F-22 fighter aircraft, supported by KC-135 air refuelers, intercepted three groups of two Tu-142 Russian maritime patrol aircraft that entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone late last night. The Russian aircraft loitered within the ADIZ for approximately five hours and came within 50 nautical miles of Alaskan shores; however, remained in international airspace and at no time entered United States or Canadian sovereign airspace. NORAD employs a layered defense network of radars, satellites, and fighter aircraft to identify aircraft and determine the appropriate response. The identification and monitoring of aircraft entering a US or Canadian ADIZ demonstrates how NORAD executes its aerospace warning and aerospace control missions for the United

WASHINGTON --- The Navy has awarded the first delivery orders from the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity - Multiple Award Contract (IDIQ-MAC) to support the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Family of Systems, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announced Aug 28. Advanced Acoustics Concepts LLC, Arete Associates Inc., Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., and Peraton Inc. were awarded fixed-price contracts on Aug. 12 for sonar tow body integration technical evaluations. The combined value of the contracts was $1,549,202. Arete Associates Inc. received the first IDIQ-MAC delivery order on July 23 for volume sonar risk reduction analysis. The fixed-price contract was valued at $903,625. The delivery orders were solicited under the Payloads functional area of the IDIQ-MAC and will support risk reduction efforts to inform the future AN/AQS-20 surface towed sonar production contract. Deliverables include trade studies, test and verification studies, product improvements plan, Technical Data P

The Indian military on Monday accused China of carrying out "provocative" movements on their contested Himalayan border near where 20 Indian troops were killed in a battle in June. A defence ministry statement said the incidents happened in eastern Ladakh on Saturday night but did not indicate whether there was a new clash. Chinese People's Liberation Army troops "carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo" at the border, it said. It added the two sides were holding military talks on Monday. On June 15, troops from the two sides fought hand-to-hand combat in which 20 Indian troops were killed. China also acknowledged casualties but did not give numbers. New Delhi and Beijing have blamed each other for the latest frontier tensions between the two sides who fought a border war in 1962 and have been involved in regular showdowns since. The Chinese and Indian militaries have poured tens of thousands of troops into the region since the

  The BBC can cherry pick polls as much as it likes, but this speaks volumes :

  On the same theme as the previous two posts, here's a transcript from Channel 4 News on Cathy Newman's interview with Tim Montgomerie and Ed Vaizey . I'd only add in advance that Mr Vaizey - a former minister for culture - is out-of-date (ill-informed) as far as LBC is concerned. Nigel Farage was forced out of LBC in June. Cathy Newman : Fair, balanced and impartial, that's the law for anyone broadcasting news and current affairs programmes in the UK. But two new channels are hoping to capitalise on what critics of the BBC have described as its "woke, wet" agenda. One is spearheaded by former Downing Street advisor Sir Robbie Gibb, the other is reportedly being mulled by Rupert Murdoch's News UK. Both insist they will be impartial. Well, to discuss I'm joined now by the former culture minister Ed Vaizey, who's talked of the BBC's "massive public support", and Tim Montgomerie, a former prime ministerial adviser who's accuse

  And it wasn't just Nick Robinson... I see that  Newsnight  policy editor Lewis Goodall entered the fray too - while simultaneously continuing his feud with former BBC head of news/Mrs May spokesman Sir Robbie Gibb.  Earlier yesterday   he tweeted   the following: I’ve been trying to think of a way to show that often, when someone attacks the BBC or other broadcasters for not being impartial it’s really because it’s saying something they don’t want to hear and would rather have their own views reflected back at them. Well, here we are. He then linked to  a  Mail on Sunday  front page story  headlined  Top Tory launches rival to 'woke wet BBC' ...and that 'top Tory' turned out to be none other than old nemesis Sir Robbie Gibb (who repeatedly criticises him for showing bias). Lewis isn't, however, being either fair or accurate in reflecting the aims of what Sir Robbie's new outlet, GB News, seemingly intends to be, which the direct quotes in the  MoS

  So  as someone on Twitter said yesterday,  here we got the BBC's Nick Robinson " basically tweeting , with a nod and a wink, telling people to complain to Ofcom about the new "Fox News" channel". If the overwhelmingly hostile online response to Nick's outrageous tweet is anything to go by, it backfired on him  spectacularly. (Good!).  This is a highly representative selection of the most-liked replies: Dear Ofcom, please ignore Nick's ramblings. He’s really not qualified to speak on our behalf, even though he thinks he is. Does a biased, socially elitist, metropolitan public service broadcaster completely out-of-touch with working class people improve democracy? Send your answer to Ofcom and 10 Downing Street. Surely "debate" is best served by providing more than one opinion? Perhaps those who are scared of this new channel are merely recognising that the wider public have never shared their flavour of opinion? I'm not wild

Source:- Smart Policy by PM Modi will frustrate PLA designs on border Neither the top tier of the Chinese Communist Party (which elevated him in 2012 to the post of CCP General Secretary over the claims of Li Keqiang), nor the international community correctly understood the difference between Xi Jinping and his party peers. Before taking over the top job in China, Xi had been content to walk in the shadow of his elders. The anti-corruption campaigns that he launched prior to his appointment in 2012 had netted only small fish, or those few in the middle echelons who had fallen out of favour with higher echelons in the CCP. There were few hints of the thorough-going changes that Xi would make to both the CCP as well as to domestic and foreign policy soon after his takeover, or of his emergence not just as first among equals but as the second CCP supremo after Mao. What the elders who chose Xi over Li in 2012 failed to factor in was the fact that in common with Mao Zedong, Xi has a ru

The launch of a U.S. spy satellite from Florida was called off early Saturday morning, just three seconds before the rocket was to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Flames already were spewing from engines on the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy, but a computer aborted the launch. Mission directors quickly worked to ensure the rocket was secured and its fuel drained so engineers could further investigate the cause of the problem and crews could assess any damage to the launch pad. "The bird is in good shape," Tony Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, tweeted after the abrupt halt. "This was an automatic abort during the ignition sequence. Cause seems to have been in the ground system." ULA said the "required recycle time prior to the next launch attempt is seven days minimum." The "hot fire abort" came at 3:37 a.m., a little over an hour after the initial planned liftoff. The first delay occurred because the