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Greece examining ‘free’ US tank offer ATHENS — Cash-strapped Greece is considering a free offer of hundreds of redundant M1A1 Abrams tanks extended by the US government, the Greek army said on Wednesday. “This is a free offer,” army spokesman Yiannis Sifakis told AFP. “A delegation of officers has travelled to the United States to examine tanks in storage; we are departing on the premise of picking 400 of them,” he said. “The only cost will be that of transport, which is estimated in the region of eight million euros ($11 million),” the spokesman added. Ta Nea daily reported that...

Despite revolution, US set to approve tank sales to Egypt By YAAKOV KATZ 07/08/2011 18:21 If approved, the deal would increase the number of Abrams tanks in Egypt from around 1,000 to 1,13; Congress must approve deal. Despite the recent revolution in Egypt and continued anti-government demonstrations there on Friday, the United States signaled this week that it plans to continue business as usual when it comes to arms sales to the Egyptian Military. On Friday, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of 125 M1A1 Abrams tank to Egypt – the first large arms deal...

Factbox: Most U.S. aid to Egypt goes to military (Reuters) - The United States has given Egypt an average of $2 billion annually since 1979, much of it military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service. The combined total makes Egypt the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel. The White House said on Friday it would review U.S. aid to Egypt based on events in the coming days amid mass protests aimed at ending President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Here are some facts about the aid: -- In 2010, $1.3 billion went to strengthen Egyptian forces versus $250...

"Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?"... "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe - because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said. "As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish,...

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.