Suicide bombers kill five at Pakistan navy college

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a prestigious naval college in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 19, officials said.

One bomber rammed a motorcycle into the gate of the Naval War College in the heart of Pakistan’s second biggest city, then the second drove another bike into the parking lot where he detonated explosives, they said.

The attack was the fourth in five days in Pakistan, posing a major challenge to the country’s incoming government, set to be a coalition led by the parties of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and former premier Nawaz Sharif.

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the bombings, vowing that the “government will not be cowed down by such acts” and expressing the “resolve to fight against extremism and terrorism,” the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

China’s defence spending to soar

CHINA says it will raise military spending by nearly 18% this year, triggering renewed tensions with the US and its close regional allies.

The military budget would rise 17.6% to 417.8 billion yuan ($A63.3 billion), a Government spokesman said, following a 17.8% rise in 2007.

Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, said military spending remained comparatively low as a percentage of the economy and was intended for peaceful development.

“China will not pose a threat to any country,” he said.

But Mr Jiang reiterated the Government’s preparedness to use force towards Taiwan, which it sees as part of China.

Official figures put the level of Chinese military spending at just 1.4% of GDP, down from about 6.4% between 1950 and 1980. The rapid spending growth compares with last year’s 11.4% growth in GDP and 31% growth in tax revenue.

The US Government regularly criticises the scale and transparency of Chinese military spending, which it estimates to be two or three times the official figures.

Navy holds Virginia Beach hearing on sonar’s marine life impact

The Navy is conducting a public hearing in Virginia Beach on the effects of its sonar training on marine mammals.

Tuesday’s hearing follows the discovery of 3 dolphins on the shores of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend. To weak to be saved, they were euthanized.

A U.S. Fleet Forces Command spokesman said the Navy hasn’t conducted sonar tests within 200 nautical miles of the Virginia coast for more than a week.

Ship to be named after Navy’s first black deep-sea diver

A new cargo ship will bear the name of the Navy’s first black deep-sea diver.

Carl Brashear joined the Navy in 1948 when he was 17 years old. 1 of 6 children born to a sharecropper in Kentucky, he dreamed of becoming a Navy diver. No blacks were Navy divers at the time.

Brashear remained determined and made his way into the service, eventually retiring as a Master Chief Petty Officer in 1979.

He died at age 75 in 2006.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 and is filed under China, Environment, History, Maritime Strategy News, Navy, Pakistan, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.