Saturday, December 10, 2011

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama With West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon During Football Game At Maryland

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama With West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon During Football Game At Fedex Field In Landover Maryland

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 10, 2011:. US President Barack Obama walks across the field with West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon (R) during halftime of the Army vs. Navy annual football game at Fedex Field in Landover, Maryland, December 10, 2011. . (Photo - Getty)

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama And US Vice President Joe Biden During Football In Landover Maryland

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama And US Vice President Joe Biden During Halftime Of The Army vs. Navy Annual Football In Landover Maryland

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 10, 2011: US President Barack Obama And US Vice President Joe Biden attend the Army vs. Navy football game at Fedex Field in Landover, Maryland, December 10, 2011. . (Photo - Getty)

Friday, December 9, 2011

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama And First Lady Michelle Obama At Hanukkah Reception In The White House

DTN News - WHITE HOUSE NEWS: US President Barack Obama And First Lady Michelle Obama At Hanukkah Reception In The White House

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 9, 2011: US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive for a Hanukkah Reception December 8, 2011 in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo - Getty)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated December 7, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated December 7, 2011

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 7, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued December 7,2011 are undermentioned;

ARMY

ITT Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., was awarded a $121,279,103 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the services in support of the wideband satellite communications missions identified in the Operational Management System. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Fort Meade, Md.; Fort Detrick, Md.; Wahiawa, Hawaii; Landstuhl, Germany; Okinawa, Japan; Fort Gordon, Ga.; MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; and Canberra, Australia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2019. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with three bids received. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity (W91260-12-C-0001).

The Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $141,318,475 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the services in support of 30 Apache AH-64D attack helicopters for Taiwan. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2017. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-C-0147).

AJ Services Joint Venture I, L.L.P., Austin, Texas, was awarded a $90,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the healthcare housekeeping services in support of direct and non-direct patient care and healthcare-related settings of four principal military treatment facilities. Work will be performed in Fort Gordon, Ga.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; and Redstone Arsenal, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2016. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with three bids received. The Center for Healthcare Contracting, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting office (W81K04-12-D-0001).

DTN News - SOMALIA UNREST: AU Troops On Red Alert Patrol In Mogadishu

DTN News - SOMALIA UNREST: AU Troops On Red Alert Patrol In Mogadishu

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 7, 2011: African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops ride an amoured vehicle past a burning car after it exploded in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011.

The explosives-laden car went off at an area called Kilometer 4. Several people were killed and injured accoding to an eye witness and an emergency official. Somalia's capital has seen a wave of blasts since Islamists withdrew from the city in August. (Photo - AP)

DTN News - SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO: KFOR Soldiers Maintain Peace Between Serbs And Albanian Kosovo In Jagnjenic - Former Yugoslavia

DTN News - SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO: KFOR Soldiers Maintain Peace Between Serbs And Albanian Kosovo In Jagnjenic - Former Yugoslavia

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 7, 2011: KFOR soldiers from Germany remove a barbed wire from the road in the village of Jagnjenica, near Zubin Potok December 6, 2011. Minority Serbs in Kosovo began removing barricades in the Balkan country's lawless north on Monday before a European Union ruling on Friday on whether Serbia can join the bloc.

Serbs in a small slice of mainly Albanian Kosovo, not controlled by Pristina, have been manning barricades since July when the Kosovo government tried to seize control of two border crossings there. (Photo - Reuters)

DTN News - U.S. MILITARY NEWS: US Special Forces Are Assisting Ugandan Troops To Capture LRA Chief Joseph Kony

DTN News - U.S. MILITARY NEWS: US Special Forces Are Assisting Ugandan Troops To Capture LRA Chief Joseph Kony

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 7, 2011: US soldiers assist Ugandan Airforce personnel as they package food supplies at a military airbase in Entebbbe, Uganda on December 6, 2011. The food supplies were destined for frontline Ugandan troops hunting rebel group, The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

US Presdient Barack Obama in October sent 100 special forces soldiers to track down LRA Chief and international fugitive Joseph Kony who has been active across four countries in the region for over two decades. The US state department currently gives 17 million US dollars each year to Uganda to cover the costs of transporting Ugandan forces to the affected areas. (Photo - Getty)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated December 6, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated December 6, 2011

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - December 6, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued December 6,2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

NAVY

Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $60,360,995 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-2404) for the procurement, production, and test of the Integrated Shipboard Electronics (ISE) for Landing Platform Dock (LPD) 26 with an option for LPD 27 ISE. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $111,347,220. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by February 2017. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Wyle Laboratories, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $33,693,891 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00421-03-D-0015) to execute an award term for continued E-2C/E-2D/C-2 planning, program, and financial services in support of the Navy (79 percent); and under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the governments of France, Taiwan, Egypt, Japan, Singapore, and Canada (21 percent). Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in December 2012. No funding is being obligated at time of award. Funding will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Deloitte Consulting, L.L.P., Lexington Park, Md., is being awarded a $30,071,729 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00421-03-D-0014) to execute an award term for continued E-2C/E-2D/C-2 planning, program, and financial services. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in December 2012. No funding is being obligated at time of award. Funding will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

DTN News - NATO ATTACK ON PAKISTAN: US officials Say Pakistan Leaving Liaison Centers

DTN News - NATO ATTACK ON PAKISTAN: US officials Say Pakistan Leaving Liaison Centers

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - December 6, 2011: Pakistan is pulling its troops out of at least two of the three centers meant to coordinate military activity across the Afghan border in apparent retaliation for NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, U.S. military officials said.


The move will hamper U.S. efforts to liaise with Pakistani forces, increasing the risk that something could go wrong again, said the officials late Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The U.S. and Pakistan have offered different accounts of what led to the NATO attacks against two army posts along the Afghan border before dawn on Nov. 26, but the deadly incident seems to have been caused in part by communication breakdowns.

The soldiers' deaths have plunged the already strained U.S.-Pakistan relations to an all-time low, threatening Washington's attempts to get Pakistan to cooperate on the Afghan war despite billions of dollars in American aid.

Pakistan retaliated immediately by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies, demanding the U.S. vacate an air base used by American drones and boycotting an international conference held Monday in Bonn, Germany, aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Pakistan wants to repair relations with the United States.

But the military's decision to abandon the border coordination centers shows it is still outraged over the incident, which it has called deliberate - an allegation denied by the U.S. The Pakistan army is considered the strongest organization in Pakistan and will likely determine the future course of ties with the U.S.

Pakistan may still have troops at the coordination center in Torkham in the country's northwest Khyber tribal area, but has pulled out of the other two along the border, said the U.S. officials.

The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to request for comment.

NATO attacks have killed Pakistani troops at least three different times along the porous and poorly defined border since 2008, but the incident on Nov. 26 in the Mohmand tribal area was by far the most deadly.

U.S. officials have said the incident occurred when a joint U.S. and Afghan patrol requested air support after coming under fire. The U.S. checked with the Pakistan military to see if there were friendly troops in the area and were told there were not, they said.

Monday, December 5, 2011

DTN News - RUSSIA NEWS: Russian Election Results Will Be Shock For Vladimir Putin

DTN News - RUSSIA NEWS: Russian Election Results Will Be Shock For Vladimir Putin

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 5, 2011: So when he awoke on Monday morning and saw that support for his United Russia party appeared to have fallen to just under fifty per cent from a stellar 64 per cent of the vote four years ago it must have left a bitter taste in his mouth.

In a de facto one party state where the ruling elite controls all the levers of power embarrassing setbacks like this are not supposed to happen.


Nor, it appears, did Mr Putin's party even win all of its votes fairly. The country's only independent election watchdog uncovered thousands of breaches of electoral law and was itself targeted by the authorities to make its life more difficult.

Mr Putin's Soviet-style party easily won Sunday's parliamentary election anyway. Its closest rival, the Communists, look to have garnered around only twenty per cent of the vote. But the precipitous drop in United Russia's popularity ahead of Mr Putin's own planned return to the Russian presidency next May will have the Kremlin worried.
Sunday's vote was the first chance ordinary Russians had been given to pronounce on his decision to return to the Kremlin next year for a third time. It was hardly the ringing endorsement he had hoped for.

One reason for that is indisputably that some Russian voters are beginning to grow tired of the Putin show and to resent the fact that they are not being offered any alternative.

The former KGB spy's personal popularity ratings are still above fifty per cent but they have been gradually falling.

The manner in which he and the Kremlin have stage-managed political life in the last year has not helped.

Many Russians felt that Mr Putin, who was president from 2000 to 2008, was the right 'muzhik' or real man to "put Russia back on its knees" after the anarchic 1990s.

He was credited with saving the motherland from chaos, restoring order, and then presiding over an unprecedented oil-fuelled decade-long rise in living standards.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

DTN News - DEV ANAND: Indian Legendary Bollywood Actor Dev Anand Passed Away In London

DTN News - DEV ANAND: Indian Legendary Bollywood Actor Dev Anand Passed Away In London

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 4, 2011: Veteran Bollywood actor and director Dev Anand attends a news conference for the premiere of his film "Mr. Prime Minister" in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad in this December 29, 2005 file photo. Anand died on December 3, 2011 after a heart attack in London, according to local media. (Reuters)

Dev Anand, the style icon of 1950s and 1960s, scripted a fashion statement with his scarves, mufflers and jackets and his singnature puff, inspired by his childhood ideal Gregory Peck. The newage designers describe him as a trendsetter.

DTN News - NATO ATTACK ON PAKISTAN: Protesters Set Fire To Obama's Effigy In Multan For Air Strike Killing 24 Pakistani Soldiers

DTN News - NATO ATTACK ON PAKISTAN: Protesters Set Fire To Obama's Effigy In Multan For Air Strike Killing 24 Pakistani Soldiers

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 4, 2011: Activists of Pakistan Mutahidda Shehri Mahaz set fire an effigy of US President Barack Obama during a protest in Multan on December 3, 2011.

Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a US inquiry into air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, exacerbating fears of a prolonged US-Pakistani crisis as a result of the attack.
(Photo - Getty)