News Story: Former chief minister of Indian-controlled Kashmir meets Modi

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Former chief minister of Indian-controlled Kashmir Farooq Abdullah Friday called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss the prevailing situation in the restive region.

The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, the party of which Abdullah is the president, revealed in a statement.

Reports said Abdullah urged Modi to initiate a dialogue with all the stakeholders in the region to end the ongoing the stalemate.

"I am sure that the Prime Minister will urgently address all the issues that have been flagged by me and others from the state," India's semi-official news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Abdullah as having said.

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News Story: China opposes India's invitation to Dalai Lama for activities in disputed border areas

Arunachal Pradesh in shaded Box upper right of map

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China is firmly opposed to any visit by the Dalai Lama to the disputed border region between China and India, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

According to Indian media reports, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit a disputed zone in the eastern part of the China-India border area in March next year at the invitation of the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" government.

"China is very concerned about these recent reports," said spokesperson Lu Kang at a routine press briefing.

Lu said the Dalai Lama has long engaged in anti-China separatist activities with the aim to split Tibet from China and has behaved disgracefully on the China-India border issue.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: S. Korean opposition party voices against intelligence sharing with Japan

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korean main opposition Minjoo Party on Friday expressed its strong objection to the resumption of talks with Japan to share military intelligence on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the party, said at a supreme council meeting that it can never be accepted to militarily join hands with Japan which has yet to sincerely repent over its past atrocities during the World War Two and its colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

He said the adoption of the military intelligence-sharing accord between Seoul and Tokyo will prop up Japan's militaristic ambition, urging the South Korean government to stop the talks which will make people enrage again.

Seoul will reportedly resume talks soon with Japan to ink the deal, called General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), to share intelligence on the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Indonesia to monitor dozens of militants back home after joining IS in Iraq

JAKARTA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian counter-terrorism agency (BNPT) will pay close attention to over 50 militants who have returned home from joining the activities of global terrorist group, IS, in Mosul of Iraq, top official of the agency disclosed here on Friday.

Head of the Counter-Terrorism Agency Suhardi Alius said that the return of the militants had triggered wariness over possible further spread of radicalism to communities and recruitment.

The chairman said that the agency would intensively monitor the movement of the IS' militants in the country, which has been frequently targeted by the global terrorists strikes.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 21 Taliban, Daesh Fighters Killed In Nangarhar Airstrikes

Local officials in Nangarhar on Friday said at least 21 Taliban and Daesh insurgents were killed in recent airstrikes carried out by Afghan forces in parts of the province.

Hazrat Husain Mashriqiwal, spokesman for Nangarhar police chief, said a number of airstrikes were carried out against Daesh militants in Khonchakhail, Khelakhail and Shpelagai areas in Pachir Aw Agam district of Nangarhar, where 13 fighters of the group were killed.

Meanwhile, Nangarhar governor's spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said another airstrike was carried out in Shirzad district to target the house of Taliban's local commander, Mawlawi Alam.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Farah Residents Praise Security Forces For Defeating Taliban

by Jawed Ziaratjaee

A number of Farah residents, civil society activists and religious scholars at a gathering on Friday praised the security forces for defeating the Taliban and pushing them back from Maimana city, the provincial capital.

The residents said the efforts of the security forces in ousting the Taliban from outskirts of the city is appreciable and that they will not forget their sacrifices for the safety of Afghans countrywide.

Religious scholars at the event said the security forces are defending the country against any kind of threats from insurgents and they have so far saved the Islamic and national values of Afghanistan.

"The Afghan security forces have always defended their country against threats posed by militants. This war is not an Afghan war; it is a strangers' war," said Mawlawi Sayed Mohammad, a religious scholar in Farah.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Massoud Warns NUG Against 'Following Wrong Path'

by Tariq Majidi

Ahmad Zia Massoud, the president's special representative on reforms and good governance, on Thursday said that national unity government (NUG) leaders should choose the right way; otherwise, people will seek an alternative to the NUG.

‎Massoud said the division in government appears more important than the lives of dozens of security forces for NUG leaders.

Three days ago Massoud visited Panjshir where he sharply criticized the NUG. On Thursday he visited the Stalif district in Kabul to encourage the people to take a firm stance against insurgents.

Massoud warned that if the rifts between the NUG leaders does not end, big parts of the country will fall to armed anti-government groups.

"The current political rift is not acceptable to the people. People are also waiting for them to end their disagreements in the near future, otherwise, they will seek an alternative for the NUG," Massoud said.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Embraer Admits Illicit Payments for Military Sales

Embraer EMB-145 AEW&C of the Indian Airforce

by Chris Pocock and Neelam Mathews

Embraer has agreed to pay some $205 million to settle corruption charges involving sales of military and civil airplanes to four customers. The agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal (MPF) and the Brazilian Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) end a six-year graft probe that found that Embraer paid bribes and created false records to conceal illicit payments. But further action could be taken against Embraer in India, concerning the acquisition of three EMB-145 aircraft for conversion to the AWACS role, suggested the Indian defense minister.

This inquiry began in 2010, when U.S. authorities questioned Embraer about “potential nonconformities” related to certain commercial transactions abroad. The company proceeded to undertake an investigation led independently by external law firms.

The SEC’s complaint alleged that Embraer made more than $83 million in profits as a result of bribe payments from its U.S.-based subsidiary through third-party agents to foreign government officials in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and Mozambique. Embraer also allegedly engaged in an accounting scheme in India.

According to the SEC, Embraer paid $3.52 million in bribes to an official in the Dominican Republic’s air force to secure a contract for eight Super Tucano light attack turboprops, and another $1.65 million in bribes to an official in Saudi Arabia to win a sale of three E170 jet airliners to Saudi Aramco. It also allegedly paid $800,000 at the behest of a Mozambican government official as a condition of obtaining a contract involving two E190s with state-owned LAM. 

Finally, some $5.76 million allegedly went to an agent in India in connection with the sale of the three EMB-145s to the Indian Air Force (IAF). Embraer falsely recorded those payments in its books and records as part of an illegitimate consulting agreement. Those aircraft received an indigenous radar system designed by the government’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The IAF is expected to receive the first one soon, but now favors longer-endurance and higher-altitude platforms for the AWACS mission.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: Latest Chinese Airpower To Debut at Zhuhai Airshow

KJ-500 AEW&C Aircraft

by Mike Yeo

China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will be showcasing a number of new platforms at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which will be held next week at Zhuhai airbase near Guangdong. They include Chengdu J-10B multirole fighter, the Xi’an H-6K bomber and the Shaanxi KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. Airshow organizers were also touting a “secret combat aircraft” belonging to the PLAAF for the flying display, which is thought to be the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter, currently in low-rate initial production (LRIP). But it was missing from the updated line-up that they published today.

A pair of LRIP J-20s sporting a new two-tone dark gray splinter camouflage have been observed carrying out maneuvers and formation flying over Chengdu Aircraft Corporation’s facilities, further fueling speculation the type will make its debut at Zhuhai this year.

Meanwhile, the appearance of the J-10B confirms that the type has entered PLAAF service. The aircraft that is in Zhuhai carries tail serials for the PLAAF’s 2nd Air Division, 5th Regiment based at Guilin, Guangxi. Photos of J-10Bs in PLAAF colors have been appearing since late 2014, but with tail serials either blurred or edited out altogether, precluding identification of their unit.

Read the full story at AINonline

News Story: Myanmar arrests eight more border post attackers

Hanoi (VNA) – The Myanmar government’s army captured eight more men involving in attacks in border posts in Maungtaw, the western state of Rakhine, according to local media. 

Those people were arrested in a raid in Ngarsarkyu village of Maungtaw on October 27. 

Earlier, on October 18, the government military seized 11 armed men in Ngakhuya village, who were defined to get involved in the attacks in three border posts in Maungtaw on October 9.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus