Latest Aapi Convention videos at PopScreen

That's One Fast Whopper! @BKAnnualConvention

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Fastest Whopper in the kingdom competition - taken at the 2013 Burger King Global Convention in Miami, FL. I think there were about 30 co...

Machine Porn

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The goal in producing this high-end electronics housing was to demonstrate the high level of milling quality that can be achieved within a s...

Obama seeking regime change in Russia

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Moscow believes that US President Barack Obama is seeking a regime change in Russia by putting pressure on President Vladimir Putin and his ...

Moscow believes that US President Barack Obama is seeking a regime change in Russia by putting pressure on President Vladimir Putin and his government, political analyst Jeff Steinberg says. He made the comments after a new report said Washington’s threats of retaliatory action for the development of a new cruise missile by Moscow put the US and Russia on the verge of returning to the era of nuclear rivalry. The Guardian reported on Sunday that rising tension between the two super powers “threatens to end an era of arms control and bring back a dangerous rivalry between the world’s two dominant nuclear arsenals.” Steinberg said that Obama and its allies are trying to have a regime change in Russia. Russia believes “that the policies of the Obama administration, the British and NATO are policies aimed at regime change in Russia,” Steinberg, a senior editor at Executive Intelligence Review, told Press TV on Monday. Steinberg added that Russia would respond to the new form of warfare by the US and its allies using all its advanced military capabilities. “Basically this regime change strategy involves the use of the methods of color revolutions that were pioneered by Gene Sharp and others who are basically proposing a new form of warfare using NGOs,” he noted. “The Russians are basically saying that this new form of warfare will be responded to by the Russians using all of their advanced strategic capabilities,” he added. The Russian “strategic nuclear force has been modernized to a significant extent by the Russians,” he added. Washington, which alleges Moscow of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, has threatened Russia with redeploying nuclear cruise missiles to Europe. Live @ http://www.presstv.ir/live.html Twitter @ http://twitter.com/PressTV LiveLeak @ http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV Google+ @ http://plus.google.com/+VideosPTV Instagram @ http://instagram.com/presstvchannel Less

Top UN court rules Serbia and Croatia not guilty of genocide

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Neither Croatia nor Serbia committed genocide against each other’s populations during the Balkan wars. That is the verdict from the top ...

Neither Croatia nor Serbia committed genocide against each other’s populations during the Balkan wars. That is the verdict from the top UN court, the International Court of Justice. In a complex judgement, the court dismissed both a Croatian claim and a Serbian counter-claim. Judge Peter Tomka, the President of the International Court of Justice, said: “The court considers that even taken together, and interpreted in light of the contemporaries’ overall political and military context, the passages from the Briony transcript quoted by Serbia, like the rest of the document, do not establish the existence of the specific intent (Dolus Specialis)which characterises genocide.” The claims of genocide arose from atrocities committed after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The court said many crimes had been committed by both sides. Croatia was seeking reparations against Belgrade for backing a rebel Serb minority in carrying out ethnic cleansing – in particular in the eastern town of Vukovar. The court found that “Croatia has not succeeded in proving the allegations that genocide was committed”. It was there that the first mass atrocity of the war in the former Yugoslavia was carried out. Serb forces are said to have taken more than 200 patients from a local hospital and executed them in a nearby field. In the days that followed some 2,500 people were reportedly killed after the town had been captured by the Yugoslav army and local paramilitaries. More people were killed in the three days following the fall of the city than in the three-month siege preceding it. The court cited cases at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which proved that there was evidence to show operations had the effect of making people flee, but could not establish intent for genocide under Article II of the Genocide Convention. In response to Croatia’s lawsuit, Serbia had filed a counter claim over the expulsion of more than 200,000 ethnic Serbs from Croatia in 1995 – specifically under ‘Operation Storm’ in Krajina. The court found that the evidence produced by Serbia was not entirely conclusive, but there is evidence to establish such attacks did take place. The judge explained that acts of ethnic cleansing can be elements of a genocidal plan, but only if intention for destruction is there, but not forcible removal. He added that the killing and ill treatment of civilians was not on a scale that it would point to genocide. The judge thus announced that “the counterclaim must be dismissed in its entirety.” Though many crimes had been committed by both countries’ forces during the conflict, neither side had succeeded in proving the intent to commit genocide by “destroying the population in whole or in part”. The 1948 Genocide Convention The convention entered into force in 1951 and defined genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Killing members of the group Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group In Article III defines the acts punishable as: Genocide Conspiracy to commit genocide Direct and public incitement to commit genocide Attempt to commit genocide Complicity in genocide For more background on the cases page 23 of the ICJ’s Annual report 2013-14 has full details. By Joanna Gill and Seamus Kearney #ICJ says Serbia cannot be guilty of #genocide before 27 April 1992 when it signed the convention: ruling out 1991 Vukovar massacre— Int. Justice Tribune (@Justicetribune) February 3, 2015 What most fail to mention: Serbia could not be guilty as a state for acts committed prior to its accession to the Convention #ICJ #genocide— Katja Loncaric (@klonca) February 3, 2015 #ICJ rejects claim & counterclaim in Croatia v. Serbia.Interesting Qs on relationship between state & individual resp http://t.co/qx0FuFqaLY— Paul Kingsley Clark (@_Paul_Clark) February 3, 2015 ICJ Rejects Genocide Claims of Serbia and Croatia http://t.co/2K00VK43a2— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) February 3, 2015 Very unsurprising #ICJ ruling on Croatia & Serbia genocide claims given the precedents of another UN court, #ICTY— Bruno Waterfield (@BrunoBrussels) February 3, 2015 Less

DARPA's ALASA Program: 100lb payloads to space for under $1M

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Published on Feb 5, 2015DARPA’s Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program (ALASA) seeks to propel 100-pound satellites into low Earth or...

Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko appeals for support from the West

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With the conflict in eastern Ukraine very much the dominant theme at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ha...

With the conflict in eastern Ukraine very much the dominant theme at the Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has made a fresh appeal to the West for further backing. In an address to attendees on the second day of the convention, he asked for weapons to be supplied to Kyiv, to assist the armed forces against pro-Russian rebels. It’s a subject Western politicians have had heated debates about. Angela Merkel rightly stresses diplomatic approach to crisis. But different means support. Sanctions. Defence could be another. #MSC2015— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 7, 2015 “I know that many experts have argued that enhancing our military will provoke further aggression. On the contrary, we have seen that the lack of defence capability triggers offensive operations against Ukraine and spins the escalation,” said Poroshenko. “Over the course of the conflict, we have proven to be responsible, that we will not use defensive equipment to attack. The stronger our defence, the more conviction our diplomatic voice has.” We are eligible to defend our territory and our people with the support of the whole world pic.twitter.com/fzb2pznmgm http://t.co/sOGV4J2Ni8— Petro Poroshenko (@poroshenkoeng) February 7, 2015 Poroshenko brandished passports he said belonged to Russian troops in Ukraine. Russia denies intervening directly in the conflict. Poroshenko shows passports of detained #Russian soldiers at #MSC2015 – HetmanAndrij pic.twitter.com/b2yMLarD09— Conflict News (rConflictNews) February 7, 2015 On Monday (February 9), the EU is expected to formally endorse new sanctions against a list of Russians and pro-Moscow Ukrainians. Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister will be the highest-profile target. “I am honoured because it means that I am working effectively. It is a positive remark and it is a high evaluation or estimation of what I have made,” he said. “I am a little surprised when I hear that somebody would like to introduce sanctions against diplomats. What will be in the future? Who will start a dialogue?” Speaking earlier on day two of the Conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke up about the conflict and its repercussions. He pointed the finger at the US and the EU, accusing them of taking steps “that led to the escalation of the situation” in Ukraine. Less

Poland: 'Beautiful' presidential candidate Magdalena Ogorek works the crowd

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Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) candidate for the 2015 presidential election, Dr. Magdalena Ogorek, was applauded as she spoke at a party con...

Venezuela to limit the number of US diplomats

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Relations between the US and Venezuela have taken a new turn, as President Nicolas Maduro announced he will limit the number of US diplomats...

Relations between the US and Venezuela have taken a new turn, as President Nicolas Maduro announced he will limit the number of US diplomats in the country and establish visa fees. He said the move was necessary due American ‘meddling’ in the nation’s affairs. It comes after his government detained US citizens, inlcuding a pilot, on suspicion of espionage. Speaking at what he called the Great Anti-imperialist March in the capital Caracas he said, “I’ve ordered the Foreign Minister to immediately process, in accordance with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention, to review, reduce, adjust and limit the number of U.S. officials at the embassy in Venezuela.” The president said that the US had 100 diplomatic staff working in the country in comparison with Venezuela’s 17 based in America. He also slapped a ban on George W Bush and Dick Cheney from entering the country, calling them ‘terrorists’. Maduro has renewed accusations that the US is seeking to oust him from power. The allegations were dismissed by the White House. The opposition say Maduro is creating a smokescreen to distract from the country’s economic woes in the wake of tumbling oil prices. As he spoke in Caracas, an anti-government rally attracted thousands of protesters in San Cristobal to call for justice for a 14-year-old boy who was shot dead at a protest on Tuesday. Demonstrators rallied around the boy’s death but voiced their anger at a lack of basic foodstuffs believe. #Venezuela: 14-year-old boy killed during anti-government protest. http://t.co/qpIrwqbRmE pic.twitter.com/jYzDIPqsvv— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) February 25, 2015 SOS 24F Our update on the death of a 14 year old during an antigovernment protest in Venezuela http://t.co/Dm5poaedHT pic.twitter.com/fYku2aH8RW— Mi Venezuela LIBRE! (@PMT67) February 24, 2015 Missionaries questioned The head of an evangelical organisation said that a group of missionaries had been called in for questioning on spying allegations after taking part in a medical assistance campaign in the coastal town of Ocumare de le Costa. Tense relations The move has strained already tense relations between Washington and Caracas. The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. It is not the first time Maduro has accused the US of attempting to topple his government. Last year the US denied accusations it was recruiting students to lead opposition protests. He also slammed US sanctions on Venezuelan officials as the actions of ‘Arrogant Yankee Imperialists’. The tense relations stretch back to the era of former leader Hugo Chavez who was briefly toppled in a 2002 coup, which he said was orchestrated by the US. Then president George W Bush endorsed the coup before backtracking when Chavez returned to office. Less

Brazil: Check out this Spiritist centre for PETS

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Rather than turning to the vets for medical treatment, dozens of people took their ill and wounded pets to a less conventional place of heal...

Moscow ‘completely’ ends actions under CFE arms treaty

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Russia has announced that it is “completely” ending actions under an arms control agreement. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces ...

Flight data recorder is key to ending flight 9525 speculation

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Speculation continues to surround Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed Germanwings flight 9525, particularly ...

Speculation continues to surround Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed Germanwings flight 9525, particularly about his mental health at the time the Airbus A-320 flew into a mountain. When questioned by AFP, French and German investigators declined to confirm or deny reports suggesting Andreas Lubitz had been treated by neurologists and psychiatrists. Some of the speculation is based on apparently leaked information. Germanwings pilot Frank Woiton is from the same German hometown of Mountabaur as Lubitz. “I flew with that colleague three or four weeks ago,” he said, referring to Lubitz. “I had quite a normal notion of him. He even had future plans. He said that he is happy to fly for Lufthansa that he wants to fly long distance. He wants to become A380-pilot.” Meanwhile, Evan Cullen, president of the Irish Airline Pilots Association said he was not happy with media coverage of the crash. “We still don’t know exactly what happened,” he told broadcaster Marian Finucane during an interview on RTE Radio One. “We have no technical report and we certainly don’t have a report from qualified accident investigators according to the international rules.” When Finucane said it seemed “a little unfair” that Lubitz had been “found guilty more or less overnight,” Cullen explained: “Where I have the difficulty is that a country such as France, which signed up to the international conventions on accident investigation and doing it properly and scientifically, has allowed a magistrate jump to this conclusion without any technical report, without any sign-off from a technical expert. They have done all of this in the absence of the flight data recorder.” “I’m flying airplanes 26 years,” Cullen said. “I never ever recall an accident such as this where a determination has been made by an authority in 48 hours in the absence of the flight data recorder. It is an extraordinary thing that’s happened.” A chief French investigator said on Saturday it was too early to rule out other explanations for the crash. “There is obviously a scenario that is well known to the media and which we are focusing on,” French investigator General Jean-Pierre Michel told French media. “But we have no right today to rule out other hypotheses, including the mechanical hypotheses, as long as we haven’t proved that the plane had no (mechanical) problem,” he added, pointing out that a second black box containing the flight data recorder had not been found yet. Less

Armenia remembers the victims of 1915 massacre

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Armenians have marked the centenary of the mass killing of their people at the hands of Ottoman Turkish forces in 1915. Coming from all ov...

Albanian terrorist scum arrested, albanian leaders, call for war and violence

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Arrested: Muhamed Krasniqi = komandant Malisheva Mirsad Ndrecaj = komandant Nato Sami Ukshini = komandant Sokoli Beg Rizaj = komandant Begu...

Arrested: Muhamed Krasniqi = komandant Malisheva Mirsad Ndrecaj = komandant Nato Sami Ukshini = komandant Sokoli Beg Rizaj = komandant Begu Dem Shehu = komandant Juniku Several months before terrorist attack, in Kumanovo, near FYROM (macedonia) capital of Skoplje (Skopje) all of them were returned to Kosovo from Syria. Mark of the terrorist group responsible for the attack on the border post Gošince and terrorist attack in Kumanovo. UÇK = Ushtria Çlirimtare Kombëtare / Nacionalna oslobodilačka vojska / National Liberation Army / NLA Danaj: Time Has Come For Unification of Albanians TIRANA – Albanian politician, leader of the “List for natural Albania” Koco Danaj, claims that war in Kumanovo, in the settlements inhabited by Albanians, is caused by Macedonian authorities and that the time has come for the unification of all Albanians. By analyzing the latest developments in Kumanovo municipality in northern Macedonia, the creator of the “Platform for Natural Albania”, says that Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, whom he called a fascist and compared him to Hitler, is behind everything, Danaj said for the Albanian “Sot”. Danaj seeks greater engagement by Albanian politicians, not only in Tirana but also in Pristina, Skopje and Ulcinj, so “Gruevski’s plan could be stopped”. Expressing his mistrust of Albanian politicians, who he considers to be loyal to Gruevski, Danaj claims that “foreigners will support any solution that Albanians choose.” He recalls that he had previously announced unrest in Macedonia and argues that it is not a coincidence that they occurred just yesterday, on the Day of Victory over Fascism. “The fact is that today, 9 May, is 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism, therefore, victory over dictator Hitler, the moment that the European Union, democratic governments in the region, the Albanian government in Tirana, Kosovo and Albanians in Macedonia finally realize that although today celebrates the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism, in present-day Macedonia fascism in its purest form is flourishing,” said Danaj. Those who support the current government of Gruevski, Danaj considers collaborators of fascism and anti-Albanians, adding that Albanians have every right to use all means to topple Gruevski from power. “If there are people in Brussels, politicians who do not agree with that, then we should point them out that they are collaborators of fascism,” he said. Asked what he predicts will happen in the future, Danaj says he expects the deterioration of the situation in Macedonia, and that “Gruevski will end in blood”. That happened to all those who have acted against the Albanians, Danaj said. Danaj sees only one solution for Albanians in Macedonia – unification. “This is the only way to save the Albanians from the Macedonian chauvinism and fascism. Nikola Gruevski and Zoran Zaev (leader of the SDSM, opposition party) differ in brutality but do not differ in their attitude toward the Albanians. Both are equally chauvinists, fascists, enemies, and have the same tactics,” he said. He believes that “before foreigners, Albanians should speak” and that “they now have only one way, to finally separate from Macedonia.” “There is no other way. Foreigners will accept any solution that Albanians choose. Albanians, not Albanian politicians,” said Danaj. Kumanovo / Skopje - Following the clashes between the police and an armed group in Kumanovo, northern Macedonia, that lasted all day Saturday, the situation is relatively calm but still tense due to sporadic gunfire that could be heard during the night and in the morning .Helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles are flying over the Kumanovo area, and witnesses say that thick, black smoke is seen gushing out from this direction, the MIA news agency reported. Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said on Saturday evening that five police officers were killed and 30 persons injured in Tuesday's police action, adding that the terrorist group has laid down the weapons.She said that there are victims both among civilians and terrorists, but did not what to speculate on numbers. The terrorist attack was aimed at the government institutions, she reiterated. According to the latest information, 8 police officers were killed in action, Serbian daily “Novosti” reported. According to GazetaExpress.com, on Sunday was announced that a protest will take place in Tirana in support of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, following the ongoing conflict in Kumanovo. A call for protest was distributed today on social media, for a gathering in front of Piramida in Tirana, starting at 18:30, and a march towards the Macedonian Embassy in Tirana. Albanian media quoted a statement of the so-called “National Liberation Army” (NLA), which claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that the army and police carried out “terror against civilians” and announced even fiercer attacks on the security forces of Macedonia. “We will continue to attack the police and the army without mercy. We will fight to the end to unite territories with Albanian population. Today we are stronger, and tomorrow we will be even stronger. We are everywhere.” The National Liberation Army, also known as the Macedonian UÇK, is a militant organization closely associated with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). "We are ready to destroy Macedonia and the whole Balkans" “The Guard of Republic Ilirida” (GRI) on Sunday informed the public, and, as they say, “all Albanian territories and the international community”, that today all Albanian groups and military units of NLA started to act as “one body” in establishing the “Republic of Ilirida”. The group said in a statement that “at the same time, they require from international factors to immediately force Macedonian military and police forces to cease using military helicopters against NLA, and against our land forces, which are lightly armed.” “Otherwise we will be forced to take proportional measures that are in complete contradiction with international conventions of war,” the group threatens. “The international factor is responsible for non-implementation of the Ohrid Agreement in 2001,” the statement reads. “In addition to continuing struggle and reorganization of NLA and GRI, which is imposed as the only option for achieving the Republic of Ilirida, if the leadership of Macedonia, as a false creation, continues to be repressive with its state apparatus, we are ready to destroy, if necessary, not only Macedonia but also the whole Balkans, wherever Albanians live, because the international factor leaves us no other choice,” reads the statement signed by “Commander Hamdi Ndrecaj Panter”. Source: http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.300.html:547361-POGLEDAJTE-Snimak-terorista-uhapsenih-u-Kumanovu http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.300.html:547357-Danaj-Vreme-za-ujedinjenje-Albanaca Less

22.05.2015 Ukraine Crisis News

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Last night, maintenance party 28 of Kiev’s forces started advancement in settlement Mariinka around the city Donetsk. Also, pro-Kiev milit...

Last night, maintenance party 28 of Kiev’s forces started advancement in settlement Mariinka around the city Donetsk. Also, pro-Kiev militant attacked in the sector of Donetsk airport. City Donetsk, settlement Shirokino and town Gorlovka were hard shelled by artillery of Ukraine’s forces. Witnesses report about causalities among civilians there. Furthermore, Kiev’s military hit passenger-train around town Yasinovataya yesterday. 22 train carriages were burned. Meanwhile, according to Novorossian warriors’ reports Kiev are concentrating military equipment including battle tanks, armored vehicles and artillery around town Dzerjinsk and settlement Shirokino. Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday backed a decree allowing the country to rescind its commitments outlined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Social Charter. The decree was passed at second reading by 249 votes in the Verkhovna Rada, 23 more than the minimum required. Thus, now Kiev government forces and pro-Kiev militants won’t violate Ukrainian law when they torture civilians and prisoners of war. Though, when is it stopped them? Kiev’s decision to renege on its international commitments by refusing to guarantee protection of human rights in the zone of military operations in the east indicates "a criminal character" of the state, the top foreign policy parliamentarian in Russia's State Duma assembly said on Thursday, adding that Ukraine therefore undermined its positions in Europe’s political bodies. "When a country weasels out of its obligations, this is simply an indication of a criminal character of this state," Alexey Pushkov, head of the International Affairs Committee at the Russian parliament's lower chamber, said in an interview with Vesti FM radio station. The term "annexation of Crimea" will remain in the declaration of the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, but a special position of Armenia and Belarus will be mentioned in it, a source in the Western delegation told TASS on Thursday. "The situation looks as follows now: the wording will remain, but a reference will be introduced to the position of countries that disagree with it during voting in the UN," the source said. The summit’s participants in clause 4 of the document urge all sides to observe the Minsk agreements, express full support to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the Contact Group, and pledge to keep backing all diplomatic efforts of the Normandy format (Russia, France, Germany, Ukraine). Visit us: http://southfront.org/ Follow us on Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/SouthFrontEN https://twitter.com/southfronteng http://instagram.com/southfronten Our Infopartners: http://www.sott.net/ http://thesaker.is http://fortruss.blogspot.com http://in4s.net http://www.globalresearch.ca/ Less

World's most powerful nations (2015)

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This list provides a unique analytical display of data concerning today's world military powers. Over 100 world military powers are consid...

Assad's relentless revenge bombing of Jisr Al-Shughour has even left a feline in a state of shell shock

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Whenever a population centre in Syria is liberated from the assad crime dynasty's control, its immediate response is to conduct random terro...

USA: CatCon 2015 kicks off in Los Angeles

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The 2015 CatCon convention kicked off in Los Angeles on Saturday, attracting cat and kitten enthusiasts to get up close and personal with a ...

Pakistan Boosts Defense Budget By 11% (2015)

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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has once again increased its defense spending as revealed in the fiscal year 2015-16 budget revealed Friday. The doub...

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has once again increased its defense spending as revealed in the fiscal year 2015-16 budget revealed Friday. The double-digit increase is in line with successive increases in recent years, but analysts predict the increase will once again be absorbed by operational demands. A resumption of wider state-funded defense modernization efforts is therefore uncertain given the still uncertain state of the economy. Reports previous to the unveiling of the budget indicated the fiscal year 2015-16 defense budget allocation stood at 772 billion Pakistani rupees (US $7.6 billion). However, the figures unveiled Friday showed 781 billion rupees (nearly US $7.7 billion) for "'Defence Affairs and Services," an approximately 11 percent increase over the previous year's budget, according to the Associated Press. Regardless, much of any increase will be to finance the ongoing operation against the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), Operation Zarb-e-Azab. A breakdown of allocations to the various services is presently unavailable. There has also been some confusion regarding the security for the recently signed Pakistan-China Economic Corridor project, with previous reports saying some 45-50 billion rupees (up to US$491 million) had been set aside for its related security, but the budget only showing a figure of 3.5 billion rupees (US$34 million). The defense allocation amounts to another double digit percentage increase over the previous fiscal year of just over 700 billion rupees, which was later revised to 720 billion rupees. Overall the national budget is running at a deficit of 4.3 percent of GDP, which has been exacerbated by the ongoing anti-TTP operations and subsequent refugee fallout. Furthermore, though the economy is in reasonable shape and the government hopes for a 5.5 percent growth in GDP in the upcoming fiscal year, analysts do not expect the essentially stalled Armed Forces Development Plan, which was put in place modernize the military with new capabilities and equipment, to be restarted on wide scale. Speaking about the latest increase, Brian Cloughley, former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, said, "I'm not at all surprised. The operating costs of Zarb-e-Azb have been enormous. Provision and transportation of fuel are major items in the budget, and air support is vastly expensive." "And of course there can be no mention of the nuclear program, which must soak up an enormous amount, too," he added in highlighting that this would not be responsible for all the additional expenditure. Though not entirely defense related, the budget for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which supports major aspects of the nuclear weapons program, also has been reduced from 59.3 billion rupees to 30.4 billion rupees for the new fiscal year. The true amount spent on defense is unclear due to programs funded by additional allocations, something which has consistently been the source of much comment and speculation. Acquisition programs are also sometimes funded by contingency funds. Pakistani defense budgets also consistently rise with Indian budgets, something which Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has previously highlighted. The true size of the defense budget is thought to be somewhat higher, and some reports indicate 26 percent of taxes raised in fiscal 2015-16 will be allocated to defense in some form or another. However, despite some improvement in the economy, Cloughley says the "AFDP seems to be stuck in the mud – but there's still a lot of procurement." Much of this present procurement is from China, and Claude Rakisits, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, believes this will remain the case for the foreseeable future. "The Pakistan military will continue to depend on Chinese loans to buy their big ticket items, as is the case of the 8 conventional, diesel-powered submarines that Pakistan is going to buy from China for $6 billion as part of the $46 billion [Pakistan-China Economic Corridor] deal," he said. Pakistan has a long list of requirements when it comes to new equipment for all three branches of the armed forces, however, much of it from China, and analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank says this includes tanks such as the VT-4, which will be called 'Haider' in Pakistani service; the VN-1 8x8 wheeled APC, surface to air missiles such as the FM-90, HQ-17, and HQ-9 to establish an integrated air defense system, plus submarines and frigates. Though this amounts to a considerable amount of very expensive equipment, Khan highlights moves made by China that will streamline funding their acquisition for Pakistan. "Since China has established Export-Import Bank of China is one of three institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, diplomacy, economy, and provide policy financial support, these procurements from China would become more manageable for Pakistan. The Chinese EximBank is based on the American EXIM for granting financial help, this new Chinese financial institutions has generated a lot of negative blow back from the Obama administration," he said. Though he highlights there are other acquisition programs that also include the US, and that evaluation efforts are ongoing. "On the other hand the sale of 15 AH-1Z has been approved and the deal will be paid by Pakistani funds via Foreign Military Financing. Pakistan is still looking for surplus or even new F-16.Serbia has sent one of its APC and SPA systems for evaluation along with China supplying three of its most advance attack-helicopter WZ-10 for real time evaluation," he said. Less