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Iraqi army builds up first tank division Published: Dec. 21, 2010 BAGHDAD, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The new Iraqi army has started building up its armored forces with the first batch of 140 U.S.-built M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, the same type that crushed Saddam Hussein's military in March 2003. The 9th Armored Division, based near Baghdad, will be the spearhead of an army that will likely have a strength of more than 300,000 troops in up to 20 divisions, six of them armored. That's a far cry from the 1 million-man army, with 5,500 mainly Soviet- built T-72 and...

Is the Louisiana forest monster Super 8 viral marketing? Remember yesterday's creeptastic news report about a ghoul shambling through the Louisiana woods? Bad news, cryptid fans — this creature is now being pegged as some extraterrestrial horror from the Steven Spielberg-produced and J.J. Abrams-directed alien flick Super 8. According to Movieweb, this image is Super 8 viral marketing that began on a hunting supply site's Facebook page and wended its way to mainstream media: It first appeared on Wildgame Innovation's Facebook page. It is a picture reportedly snapped by a deer hunter on a reserve in Berwick, near Morgan City,...

Heading into its mind-bending third season, the critically acclaimed FRINGE continues to explore otherworldly cases with endless impossibilities. Set in Boston, the FBI's Fringe Division was introduced when Special Agent OLIVIA DUNHAM (Anna Torv) enlisted institutionalized "fringe" scientist WALTER BISHOP (John Noble) and his globe-trotting, jack-of-all-trades son, PETER (Joshua Jackson), to help in the investigation of an airline disaster that defied human logic. After the defining case was solved and revealed to be one of a series of unusual incidents linked together, the unlikely trio supervised by Special Agent PHILLIP BROYLES (Lance Reddick) and assisted by Junior Agent ASTRID...

Channel 39 will end its traditional newscasts by this fall to launch a new format called NewsFix, which discards on-camera anchors and reporters and focuses on natural sound and video to tell stories. KIAH employees were informed Thursday about the changes, which apparently involve reassigning anchors and reporters to new, off-camera duties and signal a sharp reversal from the station's recent advertising campaign focusing on its lead anchor, Mia Gradney. Roger Bare, Channel 39's general manager, said KIAH will be the pilot program for Tribune Broadcasting's NewsFix, which is expected to launch in late September or early October. "The core...

Lost Season 6 Episode List Episode 1: LAX Episode 2: LAX (2) Episode 3: What Kate Does Episode 4: The Substitute Episode 5: Lighthouse Episode 6: Sundown Episode 7: Dr. Linus Episode 8: Recon Episode 9: Ab Aeterno Episode 10: The Package Episode 11: Happily Ever After Episode 12: Everybody Loves Hugo

I love ABC's Lost. It is by far my favorite TV show of the last decade. Unfortunately for new viewers, it is one of those shows that is virtually impossible to come into halfway.

FRINGE returns for a second thrilling season that will continue to explore the unexplained phenomena and terrifying occurrences linked throughout the world - known simply as "The Pattern" - in pursuit of a larger, more shocking truth. Set in Boston, the FBI's Fringe Division formed when Special Agent OLIVIA DUNHAM (Anna Torv) enlisted the help of institutionalized "fringe" scientist WALTER BISHOP (John Noble) and his son, PETER (Joshua Jackson), to save her partner and lover from a mind-bending death. Through unconventional and unorthodox methods, the FRINGE team imagines and tests the impossibilities while investigating unbelievable events, macabre crimes, and mystifying...

AS President Obama and his advisers contemplate a new course for Afghanistan, many commentators are suggesting analogies with earlier conflicts, particularly the war in Vietnam. Such comparisons can be useful, but only if the characterizations of earlier wars are accurate and lessons are appropriately applied. Vietnam is particularly tricky. While avoiding the missteps made there is of course a priority, few seem aware of the many successful changes in strategy undertaken in the later years of the conflict. The credit for those accomplishments goes in large part to three men: Ellsworth Bunker, who became the American ambassador to South Vietnam...

The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something. It was not quite clear what. Since President Obama came to office on Jan. 20 and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 31, the main motif in relations between the two governments has been friction. While nearly 80% of American Jews voted for...

A key Bush administration official is disputing the Obama administration's contention that there were no understandings between President George W. Bush and then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the issue of continued West Bank settlement construction. In an op-ed piece which appeared in Thursday's editions of The Wall Street Journal, Elliott Abrams, who served under Bush in the National Security Council and who held a series of discussions with the Israeli leadership, said that Bush and Sharon did strike a deal which constituted U.S. acquiescence to continued construction in Israeli settlement blocs that Jerusalem intended to keep under any final status...

SEASON PREMIER "Because You Left" - Part 1 "The Lie" - Part 2 Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 @ 9/8c In the season premiere, the remaining island survivors start to feel the effects of the aftermath of moving the island, and Jack and Ben begin their quest to reunite the Oceanic 6 in order to return to the island with Locke's body in an attempt to save their former fellow castaways. And Hurley and Sayid are on the run from the cops after stumbling into trouble at the safehouse; the island survivors come under attack by unknown forces; and an old...

When J.J. Abrams and his team first signed on to resurrect "Star Trek," Hollywood insiders questioned whether sci-fi fans still cared about the franchise. After a $76.5 million opening this past weekend the previous franchise record-holder was "First Contact" with a mere $30 million — you can consider "Trek" successfully rebooted. And as you read this, a whole new series of sequels are being planned for this new alternate reality. "One of the obstacles that we found ourselves butting up against [when we took on the job] was this idea that we already knew the fate of the characters," writer/producer...

Hit Sci-Fi Show Finishes First Season with Appearance by Leonard Nimoy: Fans of Fringe can relax. FOX has given the sci-fi/fantasy series a second season. Fringe is a weekly paranormal thriller starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble as an FBI team that Fringe Gets Second Season from FOX investigates mysterious and terrifying events that are related to an upcoming war between parallel universes. Fringe Gets Second Season from FOX The announcement is not a huge surprise, because Fringe has been one of just a small number of new shows that premiered last fall to become ratings hits. J.J....

STAR TREK STAR TREK STAR TREK

This is simply a great movie. For those of us who grew up first on the television series, then the series of motion pictures, then "The Next Generation," this is the TV series on special-effects steriods, and in my opinion the second best movie of all Star Trek movies, next to "The Wrath of Khan." The first 20 minutes is jarring, and you have to pay attention. It runs the viewer from Capt. Christopher Pike (played by a one of my favorites, Bruce Greenwood), to the evil Romulan Nero (Eric Bana, sans Hulk get-up), to the young Spock, to the...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Star Trek" debuts in movie theaters on Thursday backed by huge hype, but whether the film based on a 43-year-old franchise can win young fans and big box office returns has industry watchers scratching their heads.

Video on siteThe M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. It is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for modern armored ground warfare. Notable features of the M1 Abrams include the use of a powerful gas turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. It is one of the heaviest tanks in service, weighing in...

World just not into U.S. battle tanks anymore WASHINGTON — The end of U.S. dominance over the main battle tank market has been projected. A leading U.S. consultant asserted that non-U.S. MBTs were expected to dominate the global market over the next decade. In a report, Forecast International asserted that MBTs from China, Pakistan and Russia would account for most of the market through 2018. "In terms of sheer numbers, Forecast Internat ional expects Pakistan's Al Khalid, the Type 98 of the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation's T-90 — including India's licensed T-90S production program — to...

From J.J. Abrams ("Lost"), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the team behind "Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible III" and "Alias," comes a new series that will thrill, terrify and explore the blurring line between the possible and the impossible. When an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport with no signs of life, FBI Special Agent OLIVIA DUNHAM (Anna Torv) is called in to investigate as part of an inter-agency task force. After her partner, Special Agent JOHN SCOTT (Mark Valley), is nearly killed during the investigation, a desperate Olivia searches frantically for someone to help, leading her to DR. WALTER...

Nicely produced video focused on the Abrams tank in Iraq. There is no way we can't be proud of the service of the crews to our country.