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TOKYO - Japan is ready for North Korea to carry out its threatened nuclear test as soon as this weekend, officials said yesterday. Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, on a visit to Washington, said Pyongyang's resolve to test its first atom bomb should not be underestimated. "We discussed the possibility that the test would occur this weekend," Mr Yachi said after talks with US Deputy National Security Adviser Jack Crouch. North Korea issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would test a nuclear bomb, dramatically raising the stakes in its standoff with the US on its quest for atomic weapons....

Rumsfeld Ponders Nuke Test Ramifications Thursday October 5, 2006 11:46 PM By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday if North Korea successfully tests a nuclear weapon, it will show weakness on the part of the international community. ``And that failure ... is something that the international community would have to register and ask itself how comfortable are we being that ineffective in this situation,'' Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon during a visit by Croatian Defense Minister Berislav Roncevic. His comments came as U.S. officials warned North Korea anew not...

Russians 'in N Korea test talks' Mr Lavrov said North Korea must be persuaded back to talks Russia says it is in direct contact with North Korea to try to prevent it from carrying out its plan to test a nuclear weapon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was talking to the North Korean leadership in an attempt to dissuade it from conducting a test. It comes two days after North Korea said it would test a nuclear weapon. The announcement drew warnings from the international community to North Korea not to take such a step. The secretive communist...

Ho report - Download 243k Listen to Ho report The top U.S. diplomat in the six nation talks on the North Korean nuclear program says the United States and its allies will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. Christopher Hill (file photo) U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill had a blunt warning for North Korea."It can have a future or it can have these weapons," said Chris Hill. "It cannot have both."His comments came in response to Pyongyang's announcement Tuesday that it intends to conduct a nuclear test. Hill said the United States has been in close consultations with...

Rice: Nuclear Test a 'Provocative Act' Wednesday October 4, 2006 2:01 AM By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday a North Korean nuclear test would be ``a very provocative act,'' and she prodded Asian nations to rethink their relationships with the North Koreans. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States would have to assess its options should such a test be carried out, but she did not elaborate. ``It would be a very provocative act by the North Koreans,'' Rice said during a press conference in Cairo, second stop...

YUMA – Sophomores and seniors at two Yuma high schools will be required to take the Armed Services Vocational Battery this week. That's unless their parents object. The ASVAB tests whether someone qualifies for military service and what jobs in the military would suit him or her. Before, the ASVAB was only given to students who requested to take it. ---snip---

Australia considers test for would-be citizens By Nick Squires in Sydney (Filed: 18/09/2006) Australian immigrants will have to show they are "fair dinkum" — or genuine — by taking a tough citizenship test and waiting longer before applying for a passport, the government said yesterday. The proposal has divided Australians with some welcoming it as a way of blocking potential Islamic extremists and others dismissing it as an act of embarrassing jingoism. The prime minister, John Howard, wants a test to assess applicants' knowledge of Australian history, values and customs. "Most people who come to this country are fair dinkum...

Each state has its own constitution. State constitutions: a. are usually identical to the federal Constitution. b. must not contradict the federal Constitution, but may offer more protections and rights to their people than the U.S. Constitution provides. c. may differ from the federal Constitution, but must be approved by Congress first. Correct answer is (b). States are free to make their own constitutions. Many are modeled after the federal Constitution but vary widely in their length, language and provisions. Each state must comply with the federal Constitution when making its laws; if it does not, the federal Constitution will...

Welcome to The Political Compass™. There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left', established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape. For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ? On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental...

EDWARDS AFB - Searching for a means of reducing dependence on foreign oil, the Air Force is testing a synthetic fuel for its aircraft. The fuel could be a replacement for the JP-8 aviation fuel currently in use. Already tested by the Air Force Research Laboratory and in ground tests using an aircraft engine unattached to an airplane, the fuel will be put to the test at Edwards Air Force Base this month. "Now what we're going to do is take the next step and fly this," said Col. Arnie Bunch, commander of the 412th Test Wing. The flight tests...

North Korea 'determined to carry out underground test' By Sergey Soukhorukov in Pyongyang (Filed: 10/09/2006) Russian diplomats believe it is now "highly probable" that North Korea will officially join the nuclear club by carrying out its first underground test of an atomic device. Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, is said to have made clear his intention to explode a device during recent talks with Russian and Chinese officials in Pyongyang. Although he was pressed to resume six-party talks over his nuclear programme, the Russians concluded that he was serious in his desire to demonstrate that his scientists have...

This thread is to serve as a file for the known information on the time line, and for adding new information as it becomes available. Please include link to source of your information.

Pessin report (Real Media) - Download 212k Listen to Pessin report (Real Media) The U.S. Defense Department says it conducted a successful test of its land-based ballistic missile defense system on Friday.Officials say a missile launched from California intercepted a target missile from Alaska 23 minutes after it was launched on Friday, in outer space somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Before the test, officials said the goal was not necessarily to intercept the Alaska missile, but rather was to gather data about the system's performance. The director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, says the exercise...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – A test of the Ground-based Missile Defense System today was a total success, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency. Obering called today’s test, the first operational one for the system, a huge step in fielding of the missile defense shield. He said he feels good about the capability for the United States to defend itself from an attack from a rogue nation. The test was the most realistic to date without a nation like North Korea launching the real thing, the general said. “The test...

Growing fears over North Korea nuclear test Jonathan Watts in Beijing Wednesday August 30, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Kim Jong-il. Photograph: AP International concerns about a possible North Korean nuclear test increased today with reports that Kim Jong-il may have crossed the border into China to explain his military provocations to uneasy allies in Beijing. According to the South Korean media, satellites have tracked a special North Korean train, the usual form of transport for Mr Kim, entering Chinese territory. If confirmed, it would be his second trip to Beijing in less than a year - an unheard-of flurry of...

Just a headline right now. Will post a full story when available. (Aug.29 09:54) http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstSearchResult/index.php?page=1&searchKind=0&searchChr=nuke+test [ first headline, at top of screen currently ]

Rumsfeld eyes ICBMs in terror war Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:41 PM ET By Kristin Roberts FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday warned North Korea may pose a threat as a weapons seller to terrorists and that America would consider taking the nuclear warheads off intercontinental ballistic missiles so they could be used against terrorists. Rumsfeld, in Alaska to visit a missile defense installation weeks after Pyongyang test-fired a long-range missile believed capable of reaching the United States, said North Korea is testing missiles to show the capabilities to potential buyers. "They sell anything to...

Tehran - Iran tested on Sunday a submarine-launched missile in its southern Gulf waters on the last day of a military manoeuvre, the website of the state television reported. The new missile was fired from a submarine and hit the imaginary surface target successfully, the report said, adding that the new missile could be fired from all vessels. ISNA news agency reported that another missile would be tested later Sunday but gave no details. Iran has for the last week tested different types of coast-to-sea, surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles and all the tests were successful, the report claimed. As no...

HELLOOOOO.... Are we listening? Now we can add the latest plan to blow up more airplanes with liquid explosives to the list. Does anyone see an "agenda" here? Does it look like they plan on stopping? But let's feel sorry for them until they succeed in taking this country away from us, because that's The American Way. Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened!!! Do you remember? -1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a. Superman b. Jay Lenno c. Harry Potter...

P’unggye-yokBy Nick Grace, GlobalCrisisWatch.com / ClandestineRadio.comAugust 20, 2006   Many thanks to Bill Roggio of the Counterterrorism Blog for assistance.   Suspicious activity reported in North Korea's northeast mountains, specifically P’unggye-yok.  Large reels of cable being unloaded.  Activity increasing to alarming levels Thursday and Friday.  Underground nuclear test feared in Washington.   "It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility." "senior State Department official" ABC News, August 17, 2006   "If North Korea were to conduct a test, it's just a constant reminder, for people in the neighborhood in particular, that North Korea...