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Russia - Masque Of The Red Death Vladimir Putin has been hailed perhaps as the pivotal post cold war Russian leader. He has executed a skillful dog and pony show, convincing both the Bush and Blair administrations that the former Soviet Union was not only no longer a military threat to the West but was indeed now becoming a close ally. Obviously Russia's cooperation with the French and German UN delegation's intransigence in dealing with Iraq has done much to throw cold water on this heretofore-budding union. It's important to note that such a relationship offered hope, though ultimately unfounded,...

Twenty-five inflatable boats capable of carrying 1,700 illegal migrants, which were being shipped to people smuggling gangs operating in the English Channel have been intercepted in Bulgaria. Customs officers in the Eastern European country, who work closely with the National Crime Agency to track and stop consignments of small boat equipment shipped through the country, made two separate seizures. Five boats were found in an HGV attempting to enter Bulgaria at the Lesovo border crossing after the NCA and Home Office International Operations shared intelligence with Bulgarian partners through the NCA’s international network. Then, two days later on Friday 26...

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines on Friday to exercise caution when flying over Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing the risks of potential military activities and GPS interference. The FAA said it had issued Notices to Airmen covering Mexico and Central American countries, as well as Ecuador, Colombia and portions of airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean. The warnings began on Friday and will last 60 days, it said. Tensions between the U.S. and regional leaders have ramped up since the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean, attacked Venezuela and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologizes to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for what the Kremlin said was a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25. Putin tells Aliyev that Russian air defense was active when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before it crashed in a phone call, the Kremlin says. “During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin says Putin told Aliyev, without explicitly acknowledging that...

Ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf have reported unusual GPS interference, among other problems, and the US believes Iran is to blame. The Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration issued a warning on Wednesday highlighting threats to commercial vessels posed by Iran. The warning revealed that ships have had a variety of issues when operating in the region, including "spoofed bridge-to-bridge communications from unknown entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships." (excerpt) US defense official told CNN that Iran has GPS jammers operating on Abu Musa Island, an island in the Persian Gulf located...

271454Z AUG 97SUBJ: RUSSIAN AVIACONVERSIA PORTABLE GPS AND GLONASS JAMMER SYSTEM (U) SUMMARY: (U) CONFEX - THE RUSSIAN FIRM AVIACONVERSIA MARKETED AND DISPLAYED ITS PORTABLE GPS AND GLONASS JAMMER AT THE MOSCOW AIR SHOW '97, 19-24 AUG 97, IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA. THE 4-WATT JAMMER JAMS CIVILIAN AND MILITARY FREQUENCIES OF GPS AND GLONASS UP TO A RANGE OF 200 KM. PROTOTYPE AT THE SHOW - LOOKING FOR BUYERS. TEXT: 1. (U) THE REPORTING OFFICER (RO) SPOKE WITH DR. OLEG ((ANTONOV)), DIRECTOR OF AVIACONVERSIA (ADDRESS - 103009 MOSCOW, TVERSCAYA, D.27-2, OFFICE-88, TELEPHONE/FAX +095 2995454) ABOUT THE GPS/GLONASS JAMMER AT THE MOSCOW...