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Iran: Foreign planes violated our airspace
UK’s first Sikh High Sheriff
Two Qaida operatives arrested in Pak
Pak politicians helping Taliban: Arrested ultra |
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Iran: Foreign planes violated our airspace
Tehran, November 17 The remarks by Gen Hamid Arjangi, a spokesman for the exercise, were the first Iranian claim of an intrusion. Initially, he had only said that foreign reconnaissance planes had approached Iran's airspace. Gen Hamid Arjangi said Iran's radar stations and observation posts picked up on the planes entering Iranian air space during the five-day drill, which started yesterday. "There were six cases of intrusion by unidentified planes into the country," Arjangi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. "In all six cases, air force jet fighters took off and carried out interception operations ... artillery systems were alerted, targets were identified and necessary warnings given." The Iranian exercise is meant to showcase the country's capabilities in defending its nuclear facilities from possible attack. It followed an official announcement by the Iranian Air Force saying its troops earlier this year conducted exercises at several facilities — from the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, the under-construction enrichment site at Fordo, to the nuclear-conversion facility near Isfahan and the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Arjangi said thousands of surveillance outposts had been stationed along 7,000 km of Iran border, equipped with sophisticated communication systems capable of countering enemy jamming to transfer data to control command centres. He did not specify whether the figure, which is only a segment of the total Iranian borderline, referred to that in the Persian Gulf. Gen Ahmad Mighani, head of an air force branch in charge of responding to threats to Iran's air space, said, "The war games seek to upgrade the combat preparedness of the country's air defence system." The United States and its European allies accuse Iran of embarking on a nuclear weapons programme. Iran denies the charge and insists the program is only for peaceful purposes. Israel has not ruled out military action to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran, in turn, has said Israel would face a "devastating retaliation" if it attacked the Islamic Republic. Iran is expected to unveil a locally made radar system with a range of some 2,900 km during the drill. Iran's armed forces conduct several war games every year and frequently unveil new weapons and military systems during those exercises. — AP
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UK’s first Sikh High Sheriff
London, November 17
Sandhu, who was awarded the MBE in 2002, migrated to Leicestershire from Punjab 38 years ago. He will be the first turban-wearing Sikh in the UK to hold the office of High Sheriff. "It's a great honour and privilege. This is going to set a good image of Great Britain. People can see that if you really work hard and deserve it, you can become a civic dignitary. It promotes multi-culturalism," he told the media in Leicester. He added: "My family in Punjab always worked to help other people. When I came over here I wanted to do the same. I didn't do it because I wanted to be recognised for it - I never expected that." Sandhu, a former chairman of Leicester's council of faiths, was commissioned in 2006 as the Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Leicestershire. He will succeed Colonel Robert Martin in either March or April next year and will be expected to attend royal visits and be entitled to act as a returning officer in parliamentary elections. —PTI
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Two Qaida operatives arrested in Pak
Karachi, November 17 The duo was arrested from the Sohrab Goth area located near the super highway, Geo TV reported today, adding that the men had been shifted to Islamabad for interrogation. The report identified the two men as Umar Misri and Mohammd Mohammad and said they had apparently entered Pakistan through the Chaman border in Balochistan province. "They were hiding in a safe house in Sohrab Goth and communicating with their associates through a satellite phone and laptop," it said. Pakistani law enforcement and security agencies have stepped up their campaign against terrorists, in retaliation of which militants last week bombed the CID centre in the city, killing at least 22 persons and injuring around 125 others. — PTI
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Pak politicians helping Taliban: Arrested ultra
Islamabad, November 17 Mohammad Rafique was arrested Monday, when he allegedly attempted to deliver a parcel containing a bomb to an officer in the Crime Investigation Agency in Islamabad. Rafique, who has been linked to JuD, told investigators that certain politicians, including some who are "very important and influential," were compelled to help the Taliban either because of direct threats to them and their families or their vulnerability due to their links to the tribal areas and the country's northwest, The News daily quoted unnamed sources as saying. The sources claimed Rafique had been cooperating with investigators and providing information, while answering questions put to him. — PTI
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An election banner of Sara May, a polish singer and tabloid celebrity, is seen on a street in Warsaw. May, whose real name is Katarzyna Szczolek, has put up posters of herself stretched out on the sand in a provocative bikini as part of her campaign to win a Warsaw district council seat in municipal elections on November 21. — Reuters
The High Sheriff is a volunteer, unpaid and in office for one year, and is the Queen's representative for law and order in the county. Leicestershire has had High Sheriffs since 1172. Historically, the responsibilities of this office included tax collection, conscription and maintaining law and order, but today the role is chiefly attending royal visits and acting as returning officer in parliamentary elections.
