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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 12/12/2014 4:12:31 PM
	Australia Prepares For World War III, Revives Air Warfare Destroyer Programme By Athena Yenko \| December 10, 2014 11:34 PM EST (Photo: REUTERS/Steve Christo / ) Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes aerobatics team performs a flypast (top) as Royal Australian Navy (RAN) warship HMAS Perth (L) enters Sydney Harbour as part of the International Fleet Review celebrations October 4, 2013. The Review marks the centenary of the first entrance into Sydney by the Royal Australian Navy's fleet, according to the Navy. The Abbott government revives the $8.5 billion Air Warfare Destroyer Programme, or AWD, to enhance wartime capabilities of the Royal Australian Navy. The government had also announced a three-point plan that will create a sustainable naval shipbuilding industry that supports shipbuilding jobs, Defence said in a statement. The government's three-point plan includes working with the industry's best to revive the AWD programme, creating a sovereign submarine industry to avoid a submarine capability gap and creating a naval shipbuilding industry around a fleet of future frigates. The three-point plan is the government's way of showing that it is willing to invest for a safer and secureAustralia. The looming World War III had been widely reported since the annexation of Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin In March, with the Western countries imposing sanctions thereafter. Western countries said the annexation was illegal and had since displayed their hard stance against Russia. Russia's military presence had subsequently become alarming, with NATO intercepting Russian jets in unusual frequency. The last major progress with the AWD project was announced in February 2014. On Dec 9, the Government announced it is reviving the project with an increased involvement with BAE Systems, Navantia SA and Raytheon Australia for an interim period. Their involvement shall ensure that immediate improvements in shipbuilding performance will come to pass. The government said that major progress of the AWD project was halted due to growing cost and schedule overruns of the past administration. By implementing recommendations by Professor Donald Winter following his independent review of the project, the Abbott government is resolving outstanding productivity issues of the past administration. "We are committed to working collaboratively and constructively with all stakeholders to ensure we realise both the critically important national security benefits of this program as well as its long term benefits for the Australian shipbuilding industry in the most efficient and effective way possible," Defence said in a statement. The AWD is designed to protect personnel against missiles and other attacks launched by enemy aircraft. It will be equipped with the Aegis Weapon System with AN/SPY 1D(V) radar and SM-2 missile capable of hitting enemy aircraft and missiles at ranges in excess of 150 kilometres. The AWD will also carry a MH-60R Seahawk Romeo naval combat helicopter for surveillance across major warfare areas. AWD will also come equipped with long-range anti-ship missiles and a naval gun capable of firing extended range munitions to protect ground personnel. AWD, with its modern sonar systems, decoys and surface-launched torpedoes, will be able to conduct undersea warfare. AWD Alliance CEO Rod Equid welcomes the Government's announcement with confidence. He said the alliance continue to uphold its mission of delivering the next generation AWD capability to the navy in order to protect Australia. To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com (au.ibtimes)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 12/12/2014 4:41:15 PM
	Russia's Navy Armed and Ready in North Pole, Black Sea; Gorbachev Warns World Can't Survive Another War By Reissa Su \| December 11, 2014 1:46 PM EST (Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe / ) The Mistral-class helicopter carrier Sevastopol, is seen at the STX Les Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire, western France, May 15, 2014. The Sevastopol is one of two Mistral-class warships ordered by the Russian Navy. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe Russia's military forces continue to widen its presence in the Arctic region and the Black Sea. Former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev has once again called for a dialogue between Russia and the United States to prevent a "dangerous freeze" in relations between the two countries. Gorbachev's policy had a significant role in putting an end to the first Cold War. He warned of catastrophic consequences if U.S.-Russia tensions were not diffused. In a commentary entitled "To Unfreeze Relations" for state daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the former USSR leader wrote that the brewing Cold War between the U.S. and Russia is "extremely dangerous." He added that the world may not survive through these days as one country might be provoked or lose a nerve. Gorbachev suggested that both Russian and U.S. leaders hold talks with a broad agenda. He said leaders should not be afraid of "losing face" or think about someone winning in propaganda. Gorbachev encouraged leaders to think about the future. According to NBC News, the tensions over Ukraine had been described as the worst between Russia and the West since the first Cold War more than 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the Russian navy has revealed plans to boost its forces in the Arctic zone and the Black Sea as Moscow focuses on widening its strategic military presence in the two regions in 15 years. Newsweek reported that Admiral Victor Chirkov, the Russian navy head officer, spoke before Russia's Marine Board and announced the strengthening the military around the North Pole and Crimea. Chirkov believes that the role of the Arctic region between 2014 and 2030 will grow. Russia sees the need to strengthen its presence in the region to defend national interests and promote security around the Arctic. Previous reports have indicated that Russia's territorial claim over the North Pole has led to President Vladimir Putin being at odds with Canada, Denmark, Norway and the U.S. over rights to gain access to the oil resources of the region. The Russian navy has successfully tested its new marine ballistic missiles in November. The new missiles were launched from the Alexander Nevsky submarine in the Barrents Sea which is north of Scandinavia. Under Russia's new naval plans, Chirkov revealed that the waters around Crimea will be the "highest priority" for a longer term. Earlier reports said neither the European Union nor the U.S. have acknowledged the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Despite the annexation being viewed as illegitimate, Russia has always maintained a strong naval presence in the region with the Black Sea Fleet. Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis are expected to last until 2017, theMoscow Times reported. Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev told the Russian View magazine that the country's economic forecast was based on assumptions that sanctions will last until the end of 2017. To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 12/12/2014 5:13:08 PM
	WW3 Scenario? 28 Russian Planes Intercepted Over Baltic Sea by NATO Jets in One Day By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times \| December 11, 2014 Last Updated: December 12, 2014 10:46 am A Russian MiG-29 plane flies during a celebration marking the Russian air force's 100th anniversary in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze) Twenty-eight Russian military planes were intercepted by NATO jets over the Baltic Sea earlier this week, the Latvian government said. Officials on Thursday said the recent upturn in Russian activity over the region is not a sign the Kremlin is “preparing to attack” but is testing NATO defense and reaction times. NATO confronted 28 planes on Monday–including Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers–over neutral waters near Latvia’s maritime border, reported Bloomberg News. On Sunday, 13 Russian planes were intercepted in the same area. As Bloomberg notes, the increase in Russian plane activity poses a threat to commercial airliners because they fly sometimes with transponders turned off. There’s been an uptick in the number of Russian planes that have flown in the Baltic Sea in recent months amid tensions between the West and the Kremlin over Russia’s moves in eastern Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last month that NATO’s interceptions of Russian planes in the Baltic region have increased by about three times. On Thursday, Polish officials said that Russia’s military actions in the Baltic Sea region is a new development and “unprecedented,” according to the BBC. Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the majority of the activity was in international waters and airspace. He added that Sweden, which is not a NATO member state, is the country most affected. Siemoniak said that Russia isn’t “preparing to attack” but it is testing NATO’s defenses. That, he added, “does not serve to build good relationships and trust.” As the BBC reported, there were a few incidents in the region this week: On Tuesday the Norwegian military said one of its warplanes had a “near miss” with a Russian fighter which had ventured too close, north of Norway The Finnish air force said that there had been “unusually intense” Russian activity over the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland, with most flights involving bombers, fighters and transport planes heading between the Russian mainland and the Kaliningrad enclave, between Lithuania and Poland Nato said on Monday the alliance’s jets intercepted Russian planes repeatedly in the Baltic, and reported more than 30 types of Russian military aircraft in the area More than a week ago, a Russian fighter jet was involved in a “near-miss” with a Norwegian NATO warplane north of Norway. “The Russian pilot’s behaviour was not quite normal,” Norwegian armed forces spokesman Brynjar Stordal said. The incident was captured on video, which appears to show a fighter jet sweep very close to the Norwegian plane. “We don’t know if it was a miscalculation or if he deliberately put himself in the path of our F-16,” added Stordal, per The Local. NATO has station 14 aircraft in the Baltic nations as part of a regional air-policing initiative. There were four aircraft in the countries before the crisis erupted in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Britain said NATO planes were called on to look for a suspected Russian submarine off the coast of Scotland, reported the National Post. Aircraft from France, the US, and Canada were deployed to Scotland to look for the submarine. Angus Robertson, a defense spokesperson with Scotland, said: “This is hugely embarrassing for the UK which is totally exposed without such critical maritime patrol assets. It is not the first time they have had to depend on the good will of allies to fill this massive capability gap.”
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 12/12/2014 5:23:39 PM
	Ukraine truce under pressure as Europe raises Russia fears By Oleksandr Stachevskiy with Dmytro Gorshkov in Kiev21 hours ago A Ukrainian artilleryman carries a shell past spent cases near the eastern Ukrainian village Pisky, in the Donetsk region on December 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Anatolii Stepanov) View Gallery Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - A three-day-old ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was under pressure on Thursday after three government soldiers were killed, while European nations raised new fears about Russia's "unprecedented" military build-up. On some parts of the frontline, there appeared to be a determined effort to keep the shaky truce from collapsing. Government soldiers could be seen blithely ignoring rebel forces firing on their position at the hotly contested Donetsk airport. "Our adversaries started to provoke us, to fire on our positions. I did not give the order (to fire back)," said a commander going by the name "Coupol". "They ended up calming down." But the military said three soldiers had been killed and eight injured in the past 24 hours. View gallery A seperatist rebel fighter walks towards a check-point on December 9, 2014 in the Kuibishevskiy dist … "Terrorists are violating agreements and continuing to fire on positions of the Ukrainian military and civilians. Tanks and artillery were used, but our forces did not respond," said military spokesman Andriy Lysenko. Rebel commanders in Donetsk denied they had carried out any attacks and said government forces had breached the ceasefire on five occasions. "Our weapons are not being used and we are not firing back," said deputy chairman of the rebel administration, Denis Pushilin. - Concern in Europe - The deaths will cast doubt on the prospects of this latest ceasefire -- the fourth since the conflict erupted in April. View gallery A woman stands in the cellar of her building, often used as a shelter, in Kievskiy district in the e … The process is being closely watched in Europe, where concerns over Russia's support for the rebels has plunged East-West relations to their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War. The heightened atmosphere has also prompted Sweden to moot the possibility of recalling around 7,500 recent veterans to form a reserve voluntary force. "The world has changed in a negative way, partly as a result of Russia's rearmament, partly due to the annexation of Crimea, and partly due to the armed conflict in Ukraine," Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told local station SVT on Thursday. Poland's defence minister meanwhile said he was concerned by the extent of Russia's recent military activity over the Baltic sea. On Monday, Dutch F-16 fighters intercepted two Russian bombers over the Baltic Sea as part of their participation in NATO's Baltic air policing mission. View gallery Latvian troops preparing for live-fire exercises at the Adazi military base outside Riga on November … All told, more than 30 Russian aircraft were intercepted in international airspace "over the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Norway" on Monday, a NATO spokesman said. "For a few days now, there has been unprecedented Russian activity, from its Baltic fleet to flights over the Baltic sea," Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told Polish broadcaster TVN24. Poland and the Baltics -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- have been on edge since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March and, according to the West, began supporting the rebels battling government forces in eastern Ukraine. NATO has deployed more aircraft, ships and personnel in a bid to reassure the four countries, all new members formerly dominated by Moscow. There have been around 400 intercepts of Russian military flights near NATO member countries this year, the Western defence alliance said last month. View gallery A man stands next to his house, destroyed by shelling in the Kuibishevskiy district of the eastern U … Lithuania put its military on higher alert on Monday after 22 Russian warships were spotted in the Baltic Sea. - 'Everything is calm' - Despite some ceasefire breaches in eastern Ukraine, the worst of the shelling appeared to have stopped. In the main separatist stronghold of Donetsk, "the night passed without large bombardments", the city authorities said in a statement on Thursday. Other parts of the frontline appeared peaceful on both sides. In the village of Tonenke, a short distance from Donetsk airport, a Ukrainian military unit said there had been no exchanges. "Everything is calm, no one is firing. There have not been any bombardments either in the night or morning," one soldier, Mikhail, told AFP by phone. The ceasefire was introduced on Tuesday in the hope of ending an eight-month conflict that has claimed at least 4,300 lives and displaced close to a million people, according to United Nations figures. The two sides -- along with Russian and European monitors -- are still trying to organise comprehensive peace talks. The Ukraine government had initially hoped to hold talks in the Belarus capital Minsk on Tuesday but they have been postponed without clear explanation.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 12/12/2014 5:42:39 PM
	11 December 2014 Last updated at 10:59 GMT Russia Baltic military actions 'unprecedented' - Poland Poland says the level of Russian naval and air force activity in the Baltic Sea region has been "unprecedented" this week. Video shot by Dutch F-16 pilots for Nato's Baltic Air Policing mission on 8 December shows the apparent interception of Russian military aircraft (click to watch) Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said most of the activity was in international waters and airspace and Sweden was the country most affected. Nato partners of the Baltic states, including the UK, have military jets on an air policing mission in the region, monitoring the Russian planes. Fighting in Ukraine has raised tension. Mr Siemoniak said Russia was "not preparing to attack" but it was testing Nato defences, which "does not serve to build good relationships and trust". The three small ex-Soviet states in the Baltic - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - joined Nato in 2004. Speaking on the Polish news channel TVN24, he said there was no need to put the Polish army on a state of high alert. Nato and Ukraine accuse Russia of fomenting the conflict in eastern Ukraine and supplying the pro-Russian rebels there with troops and heavy weapons. Russia denies the allegations, but admits that Russian "volunteers" are helping the rebels. Finland's air force said Tupolev Bear bombers had been involved in "unusually intense" activity A Russian MiG-31: Russia sees Nato's stance on Ukraine as provocative 'Near miss' Several incidents have been reported in the region this week: On Tuesday the Norwegian military said one of its warplanes had a "near miss" with a Russian fighter which had ventured too close, north of Norway The Finnish air force said that there had been "unusually intense" Russian activity over the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland, with most flights involving bombers, fighters and transport planes heading between the Russian mainland and the Kaliningrad enclave, between Lithuania and Poland Nato said on Monday the alliance's jets intercepted Russian planes repeatedly in the Baltic, and reported more than 30 types of Russian military aircraft in the area The spike in activity follows a study by the London-based think tank European Leadership Network, which detailed 40 incidents over recent months, including 11 that it said were of a "more aggressive or unusually provocative nature, bringing a higher level risk of escalation". In one case, an SAS civilian airliner taking off from Copenhagen narrowly avoided colliding with a Russian reconnaissance plane. Separately, Sweden conducted a massive search in October for a suspected Russian submarine in the waters near its capital Stockholm, but after a week-long hunt no submarine was found. INTERACTIVE 8 1 6 10 9 5 7 3 2 4 × 5 September: Abduction of an Estonian security service operative × INCIDENT: Estonian security service operative captured by Russian agents on Estonian territory in a raid involving communications jamming and smoke grenades. Incident took place immediately after Obama’s assurances to the Baltic States. CATEGORY: High Risk. Incursion into NATO member state’s territory. Had the Estonian official or his colleagues resisted, fatalities on either side would have been a catalyst for further escalation. 3 March: Near-collision between airliner and Russian aircraft × INCIDENT: A commercial airline narrowly avoids collision with a Russian recon aircraft due to the latter’s not broadcasting its position. CATEGORY: High Risk. Had a collision occurred, this would have caused a major diplomatic response, condemnation and further isolation of Russia. June: Simulated attack by Russian aircraft on Denmark × INCIDENT: Armed Russian aircraft approach the heavily populated Danish island of Bornholm before breaking off in what appears to have been a simulated attack. CATEGORY: Serious. The Danish intelligence service described the incident as “of a more offensive character than observed in recent years.” At the time of the simulation, the island in question was hosting a major meeting of Danish politicians and journalists. 16 July: Provocative Russian action aimed at Swedish aircraft × INCIDENT: Armed Russian aircraft intercepts Swedish surveillance plane conducting operations between Gotland and Latvia in international airspace, flies 10 metres from the plane. CATEGORY: Serious. Indicated more aggressive approach by intercepting aircraft than in previous encounters. 18 July: US aircraft violates Swedish airspace to avoid Russian interceptor × INCIDENT: American surveillance plane conducting operations near Kaliningrad takes refuge in Swedish air-space after being approached by Russian fighters. This evasive action takes place without prior Swedish approval. CATEGORY: Serious. Indicated more aggressive approach by intercepting aircraft than in previous encounters and forced the U.S. aircraft to violate Swedish airspace. August 2014: Multiple breaches of Finnish air-space by Russian state aircraft × INCIDENT: Multiple breaches of Finnish air-space by Russian state aircraft. CATEGORY: Serious. Finland has already articulated that it will respond more firmly to future violations, this is already an escalation. 17 September: Violation of Swedish airspace × INCIDENT: Two Russian military aircraft cross into Swedish air-space south of the island of Oland. CATEGORY: Serious. Su-24 bombers intentionally violated Swedish airspace. Swedish Foreign Minister described it as 'most serious aerial incursion' in years. 17 - 27 October: Swedish 'underwater activity' hunt × INCIDENT: Major submarine hunt prompted by reports of “underwater activity” in Swedish territorial waters. CATEGORY: High Risk. Biggest anti-submarine operation in Sweden since the Cold War. 28 - 30 October: Massive surge of Russian aviation activity along NATO borders × INCIDENT: In a series of developments, aircraft from Nato states and partners track Russian long-range bombers conducting missions over the North Sea, Atlantic and the Black Sea, as well as a big formation of Russian fighter and bombers conducting missions over the Baltic Sea; all missions conducted in international airspace CATEGORY: Serious. Large-scale Russian air operation involving different kind of aircraft and different zones of operation. While no incursion into any national airspace was reported, the operation added to increased tensions along the Nato-Russia borders. (BBC)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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