India tests new long-range missile

India test launched a new nuclear-capable missile on Thursday that would give it, for the first time, the capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, according to television news channels. 

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) - India successfully test-fired a new long-range missile on Thursday capable of delivering a one-tonne nuclear warhead anywhere in regional rival China and countries outside Asia.

Taiwan upgrades fighter jets

Taiwan will this week receive its first batch of a fleet of Indigenous Defensive Fighters upgraded as part as part of a $587 million (S$727 million) project to beef up air defences, officials said on Sunday. -- PHOTO: AP

TAIPEI - TAIWAN will this week receive its first batch of a fleet of Indigenous Defensive Fighters upgraded as part as part of a $587 million (S$727 million) project to beef up air defences, officials said on Sunday.

An unspecified number of the domestically-manufactured jets are scheduled to be delivered in central Taichung city on Thursday, an air force spokesman said.

Russian submarines for self-defence

Vietnam said on Sunday six Kilo class diesel-powered submarines that it was buying from Russia would be used only for self-defence. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE - VIETNAM said on Sunday six Kilo class diesel-powered submarines that it was buying from Russia would be used only for self-defence.

'We regard this as a normal activity for the People's Army of Vietnam,' Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh told the Shangri-La Security Meeting in Singapore.

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, a deterrent against India, but also United States ?

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons have been conceived and developed as a deterrent against mighty neighbour India, more so now when its traditional rival has added economic heft to its military muscle. But Islamabad may also be holding onto its nuclear arsenal  to deter an even more powerful challenge, which to its mind, comes  from the United States, according to Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who led President Barack Obama’s 2009 policy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gates: Little impact on military from gay policy

Defense Secretary Robert Gates talks to US troops at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. -- PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON - DEFENSE Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday reassured US warfighters in Iraq that allowing gay people to serve openly in the military will have little impact on the armed forces, an argument largely echoed by the top leaders of the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy.

China strengthens N. Korea border fence

This picture taken on March 29, 2011 shows four-metre-high steel fences, linked with woven metal wires and topped with barbed wire, being erected along Yalu River at the Chinese city of Dandong. -- PHOTO: AFP

SEOUL - CHINA has reinforced fences and patrols along parts of the border with North Korea in an apparent bid to ward off a growing stream of refugees from its impoverished neighbour, a report said.

Four-metre-high fences topped with barbed wire are being erected along the Yalu River around the Chinese city of Dandong facing the North's north-west city of Sinuiju, Yonhap news agency reported late Tuesday.

In pictures: Russian spy Anna Chapman on the web

Russian spy Anna Chapman is in from the cold and out on the Internet with an official website featuring photos, news and an upbeat message urging Russians to smile and be self-reliant. -- PHOTO: AP

MOSCOW - RUSSIAN spy Anna Chapman is in from the cold and out on the Internet with an official website featuring photos, news and an upbeat message urging Russians to smile and be self-reliant.

The site www.annachapman.ru is the latest venture from Ms Chapman, who has made a media splash since her deportation from the United States in a Cold War-style spy swap last July.

US, S.Korea launch war games amid N.Korea threat

In this Feb 25, 2011 file photo, South Korean marines on an inflatable boat aim their machine guns during a military exercise to prepare for a possible North Korean surprise attack on the Han River in Gimpo, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP

SEOUL - THE US and South Korean militaries on Monday launched major annual land, sea and air exercises, amid North Korean threats to turn Seoul into a 'sea of flames' in case of any provocation.

The Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills are the first to be held since the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean border island last November. The US and South Korea said the exercise is defensive in nature but North Korea habitually denounces it as a rehearsal for invasion.

Qantas flight barred from Iraq airspace

Qantas was now liaising with Iraqi authorities to determine why the plane had been denied entry. -- PHOTO: AP

SYDNEY - A QANTAS plane flying from London to Singapore was diverted out of Iraqi airspace on Monday, the Australian flag carrier said, after officials on the ground refused to recognise a pre-approved flight plan.

QF 32 had to divert to Dubai to refuel as a result, a Qantas spokesman told AFP, describing it as an 'unusual' incident.

Hillary Rodham Clinton to Lead U.S. Delegation to Munich Conference

Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet with more than 350 top-level decisionmakers from across the globe at the 47th Munich Security Conference February 4–6.

Clinton is expected to make major speeches on security issues such as limiting theater nuclear warheads and will quite likely include remarks on events unfolding in Egypt. National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon is also attending the annual security conference.

35 killed in Moscow airport suicide bomb

A suspected suicide bombing on Monday killed at least 31 people and wounded over 100 at Moscow's Domodedovo international airport. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW - A SUICIDE bomber killed at least 35 people at Russia's busiest airport on Monday, state TV said, in an attack on the capital that bore the hallmarks of militants fighting for an Islamist state in the North Caucasus region.

President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to track down and punish those behind the bombing, which also injured over 150 people, during the busy late afternoon at Moscow's Domodedovo airport. The dead included some foreigners.

Gates cutting Pentagon budget by $78bn over five years

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced a $78bn (£50.3bn) military budget cut, to be achieved in part by scrapping a $14bn amphibious vehicle.

The cuts over the next five years come in addition to $100bn in internal savings already announced.