Life-saving Sentinel R1 spy planes grounded by lack of crews

A NEW billion-pound fleet of spy planes able to spot the roadside bombs that kill troops in Afghanistan will be out of action until at least the middle of next year because the RAF has failed to train enough crew.

Two Sentinel R1 aircraft were deployed to a Gulf base at the end of last year to fly over Afghanistan, conducting trials with their stand-off radar (Astor). The aircraft had an immediate impact — commanders were delighted by its ability to provide high-definition video footage of an area 200 miles long and 200 miles wide, day or night.

Astor can detect any movement and even record the speed of a car from more than 200 miles away in almost any weather. It flies seven miles up, far out of sight of guerrillas.

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Looking for love: Livni the lonely spy

THE politician vying to become Israel’s first woman prime minister since Golda Meir has disclosed personal details of her former career in the intelligence agency Mossad, hinting that she considered “short relationships” to relieve her loneliness as a secret agent.

Tzipi Livni, 50, whose centrist Kadima party emerged as the largest single group in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, after elections last week, is now scrabbling to form a coalition government. She is expected to be beaten to the prime minister’s job by Binyamin Netanyahu, 59, leader of the conservative Likud party.

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Terror suspects in aid convoy

THREE Islamist terror suspects who were arrested in northwest England on Friday night planned to leave the country under the cover of a humanitarian convoy to Gaza led by George Galloway, the maverick MP, senior police sources said.

The three suspects were among nine men arrested in a joint operation by police and MI5 while they were driving two vans on the M65 near Preston, Lancashire. Six were later released and three men, aged 26, 29 and 36, remained in custody last night.

The men had been under surveillance for some time as part of what police described as “an ongoing intelligence-led operation”. Although details of the surveillance remain unclear, one source said the men were believed to be planning a terrorist operation abroad.

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David Miliband urged America to send Binyam Mohamed torture letter, says Bush aide

Foreign Secretary David Miliband is at the centre of damaging new claims that he colluded with the US to cover up the alleged torture of a British resident in Guantanamo Bay.

A senior member of George Bush’s administration has disclosed Foreign Office officials asked them to draft the letter which warned intelligence sharing could be damaged if documents about Binyam Mohamed’s treatment were published.

The letter played a key role in the decision by two High Court judges to suppress the reports following a challenge by Mohamed’s lawyers.

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Taleban announces Swat ceasefire

Taleban fighters in north-west Pakistan’s restive Swat valley have announced a 10-day ceasefire.
The move was a “goodwill gesture” amid positive talks between the Taleban and government officials, a militant spokesman said.
A Chinese engineer held hostage for five months had also been released as a sign of good faith, the militants said.
Once one of Pakistan’s most popular holiday destinations, the Swat valley is now mostly under Taleban control.

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Film offers new insight into fall of Berlin Wall

The contrast between the electric mood that built up in the days before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the sense of disorientation immediately after the demise of communist East Germany is exposed in a new film.

“Material,” shown at the Berlin film festival, explores the effects of the collapse of the Cold War’s most potent symbol, twenty years ago this November.

Director Thomas Heise presents a montage of previously unseen footage, including a mass rally at Alexanderplatz and speeches by East German leader Egon Krenz defending the Soviet policy of “perestroika” just days before the barrier fell.
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Explosive goes off in California prison

An improvised explosive device went off inside a federal prison in California during a search Saturday, according to federal authorities.

No one was injured, the authorities told CNN.

The incident happened in the recreation area of the Victorville Federal Penitentiary. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Traci Billingsley said the device was found by a staff member during a “routine search of inmate property”. She said it “detonated upon discovery.”

A bomb squad from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and FBI bomb technicians were called to the prison to examine the device and make sure it didn’t pose any further danger. They remained inside the prison as of 9:30 p.m.

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Explosives lab found in Galilee; 3 suspects arrested

Carmiel police and Border Guard officers arrested three residents of Dir al-Assad under suspicion of operating a laboratory for the production of explosive devices. Police suspect the three were responsible for hurling many devices at their rivals last year.

Raw materials for the production of dozens of explosive devices were found at the scene, and police said the lab’s operation was criminally motivated. The suspects will stand a remand hearing on Sunday.

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Army foils Assam serial blasts plan

The army today claimed to have foiled a plan by a militant outfit to set off a series of blasts using high-powered explosives in Lakhipur subdivision under Assam’s Cachar district by apprehending the key person behind the plot.

Sources in the army said the plot was hatched by the People’s United Liberation Front, a militant outfit operating in Manipur and the adjacent Cachar district.

The outfit had decided to set off periodic blasts in the subdivision since Republic Day.

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Iran Is Helping Taliban in Afghanistan, Petraeus Says

Iran is helping Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, said General David Petraeus, who is in charge of U.S. forces in the Central Asian nation and Iraq.

“There is a willingness to provide some degree of assistance to make the life of those who are trying to help the Afghan people difficult,” Petraeus told a conference today in the Qatari capital, Doha.

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