Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists.

Now UAVs may be landing in the United States.

A House of Representatives panel heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring. More >

US to test 700-tonne explosive

 The US military plans to detonate a 700 tonne explosive charge in a test called "Divine Strake" that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said.

"I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons," said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Tegnelia said the test was part of a US effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

"We have several very large penetrators we're developing," he told defense reporters. More >

Attacking Iran May Trigger Terrorism

 As tensions increase between the United States and Iran, U.S. intelligence and terrorism experts say they believe Iran would respond to U.S. military strikes on its nuclear sites by deploying its intelligence operatives and Hezbollah teams to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide.

Iran would mount attacks against U.S. targets inside Iraq, where Iranian intelligence agents are already plentiful, predicted these experts. There is also a growing consensus that Iran's agents would target civilians in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, they said.

U.S. officials would not discuss what evidence they have indicating Iran would undertake terrorist action, but the matter "is consuming a lot of time" throughout the U.S. intelligence apparatus, one senior official said. "It's a huge issue," another said.

Citing prohibitions against discussing classified information, U.S. intelligence officials declined to say whether they have detected preparatory measures, such as increased surveillance, counter-surveillance or message traffic, on the part of Iran's foreign-based intelligence operatives.
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Cracks emerge in front against Hamas

 France has established secret contacts with Hamas representatives on behalf of the European Union, showing cracks in the policy of rejecting the new Palestinian government, a special report submitted to officials in Jerusalem revealed on Monday.

Israel also suspected that other countries including India, Japan and China would soon publicly recognize the Hamas-led government, Army Radio reported.

According to the report, despite the refusal of the US and Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians, the European Union, Russia and India were already holding secret or open talks with Hamas officials.

Reportedly, the EU talks have been sponsored by France, while India has already held official meetings with senior Hamas officials and Russia held consultations with the organization even prior to the Palestinian parliamentary elections, publicizing the talks after Hamas' landslide victory.

Japan and China also expressed willingness to publicly recognize the Hamas government. Israel was concerned that these countries and many others would follow Russia's lead and hold official meetings with the movement.

The United States has remained a staunch supporter of the policy of isolating Hamas. It has not backed down from its policy of shunning the new Hamas-led Palestinian government and has not made any attempts to pressure Israel into negotiating with the organization.
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