Pakistan eyeing deal for U.S. F-16 jets

   ISLAMABAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) --- The government of Pakistan is in the process of securing a deal with the U.S. government for the delivery of new F-16 fighter jets.

   The deal was discussed by Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, who confirmed to local media outlets at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex that officials are in talks. The announcement came during the rollout ceremony of the 16th JF-17 Thunder aircraft.

   "We are in talks with U.S. defence officials to get some latest F-16s but the deal may take some time," Aman said.

   Aman did not disclose the number of aircraft to be procured. Pakistan's Air Force already includes over 70 F-16s, in addition to dozens of Chinese and French attack aircraft. The United States has been selling the fighters to the country since the two governments inked a deal in the 1980s.

   While U.S. lawmakers have been critical of arms sales to Pakistan, Defense News reports there is an interest in maintaining the relationship to keep the F-16 production line open. With the U.S. Department of Defense moving forward with its next-generation F-35 Lightning II program, which is meant to replace the F-16 fleet, the F-16 program is relying on exports and no longer enjoys domestic demand.

   Pakistan's potential procurement of F-16s is part of its effort to modernize its fleet, which includes aging models such as the Mirage III/5. Pakistan hopes to replace its older generation jets by 2020.

China says it is building its second aircraft carrier

The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, sails in the sea 

near Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province.

   BEIJING (AP) — China is building its second aircraft carrier, this time entirely with domestic technology, its Defense Ministry said Thursday, in a leap in its naval development that is increasingly tipping the regional balance of power.

   The 50,000-ton vessel is being built in the northern port of Dalian and will be conventionally, rather than nuclear, powered, ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun told reporters at a news conference.

   The yet-to-be-named vessel will carry J-15 fighter-bombers and other aircraft and use a ski jump mode for launching fixed-wing aircraft, Yang said. The J-15 is a copy of Russia's Sukhoi Su-33.

   "After an overall consideration of various factors, the relevant authorities started the research and development of China's second aircraft carrier which is currently under independent design and construction," Yang said.

   China currently operates one aircraft carrier that was purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago and then armed and equipped in China before being commissioned in 2013. That carrier, christened the Liaoning after the port in which it was refitted, has yet to take on its full aviation complement and is currently undergoing testing and training.

   Yang said the second carrier is being built entirely with domestic technology but has drawn on China's experience refitting its first carrier "with new improvements in various aspects."

   Plans for a second aircraft carrier had long been rumored, with many designating Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard as the most likely build site. Thursday's announcement was the first official confirmation.

   China is also steadily adding cutting-edge frigates, destroyers and nuclear submarines to its fleet and by some estimates has been launching more vessels than any other nation. Its rapid naval modernization is seen as aimed at asserting its maritime claims and extending its power far from its shores. Those ambitions have raised tensions with Japan, the U.S. and Southeast Asian nations with rival territorial claims.

   China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, which is home to key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of mineral resources. Five other governments claim the maritime space either in part or in whole, and the Philippines and Vietnam in particular have sought assistance from the U.S. and others in beefing up their ability to resist what they view as Chinese aggression, including its construction of seven new islands by piling sand atop coral reefs.

   Yang said the date of the second carrier's launching would "depend on progress made at the current stage." As to how many flat-tops China aimed to build in total, he said, "Relevant authorities will take into consideration various factors."

   The second carrier will be roughly the same size as the Liaoning but only about half the size of the U.S. Nimitz class nuclear powered super-carriers, of which 10 are currently in operation.

Germany took in 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015

   Berlin (AFP) - Germany took in almost 1.1 million asylum-seekers this year, an all-time record and five times last year's total, a newspaper reported Wednesday citing unpublished official figures.

   Monthly arrivals for all of December reached an estimated 125,000 with 117,000 registered by December 29, said the Saechsische Zeitung regional daily.

   This would bring the year's total to 1.09 million newcomers, after just over 200,000 last year.

   The December arrivals actually represented a slowdown after 206,000 new asylum requests were registered in November, 181,000 in October and 164,000 in September.

   German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won both praise and criticism for her decision in September to open Germany to a record wave of refugees, about half from war-torn Syria.

   Faced with opposition in her conservative camp and popular concerns about an influx greater than one percent of the national population of 80 million, she has vowed steps to reduce numbers next year.

   Her plan involves an EU deal with gateway country Turkey to better protect its borders, heightened security for the external frontiers of the 28-member union, and convincing other members of the bloc to take in more refugees, so far with little success.

Turkey detains two suspected Islamic State members planning New Year attack

   ANKARA (Reuters) --- Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected members of the Islamic State militant group believed to have been plotting suicide attacks in the capital Ankara on New Year's Eve, a senior government official said.

   The official told Reuters the two men, who entered Turkey from Syria, were thought to have been preparing an attack on Kizilay square in the center of Ankara, where crowds usually gather to celebrate the New Year.

   A spokesman for the police terrorism division in Ankara declined to comment.

   A double suicide bombing blamed on Islamic State killed more than 100 people in Ankara in October, and Turkey has since stepped up its efforts to tackle the militants.

   Turkey has a 900-km (550-mile) border with Syria, some of which is controlled by Islamic State on the Syrian side and has been used as a transit route by would-be jihadists from early on in Syria's civil war.

Norway to turn back asylum seekers on Swedish border

Refugees arrive at the Norwegian border crossing station 

at Storskog on November 12, 2015 

(AFP Photo/Jonathan Nackstrand)

   Oslo (AFP) --- Norway said Tuesday it would start turning back refugees without visas arriving from elsewhere in the passport-free Schengen zone, particularly Sweden.

   The move is part of a draft law containing a series of immigration measures that the Oslo government says will make its asylum policy "one of Europe's toughest".

   The conservative minority last month gathered enough parliamentary support from the centre and labour parties to adopt the measures.

   Norway does not belong to the EU but it is, like Sweden, a member of the Schengen area which has no passport or immigration controls.

   According to Schengen rules, asylum seekers must apply for a visa in the country they first arrive in, mostly Italy and Greece. But many instead move on to the country they want to eventually settle in, often in Europe's richer north.

   Most of the 30,000 people asking for asylum in Norway this year have crossed the border from Sweden.

   Critics say the Norwegian move would place undue pressure on the southern European arrival countries.

   "Norway is choosing an isolated policy, by refusing to see that if every country in the Schengen area blocked refugees the same way, they would all get stuck in Greece and Italy," Pal Nesse, senior advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP.

   But Norway's Immigration Minister Sylvi Listhaug said the new law would actually improve the lives of legal immigrants.

   "We will have an asylum policy that will be among the toughest in Europe," she told the NTB news agency. "And that is completely necessary so that we can welcome those who come here, settle them in and integrate them."

   The new law also calls for welfare payments for asylum seekers to be below those for Norwegian residents in order to make the country less attractive; the expulsion of unsuccessful applicants; restrictions on long-term residency permits and tougher rules on family members joining successful asylum applicants.

Ukraine Update - 27 December 2015

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

5:10 AM

Terrorists shell Popasna with Grad missiles

   (UNIAN) --- At about 09:00 Kyiv time on December 23, the terrorists started firing Grad multiple rocket launchers on the town of Popasna from the militant-controlled village of Kalynove, the press service of the Luhansk Regional State Administration has reported.

   "At the moment, we have no information about casualties or damage. Despite the next stage of the Minsk agreements, the terrorists once again grossly violated them, firing heavy weapons on the region," Chairman of Luhansk Regional Military and Civil Administration Heorhiy Tuka said.

   In addition, it is reported that three missiles hit near Parusovka Street.

   As UNIAN reported earlier, the militants of the Donetsk People's Republic terrorist organization deployed Grad multiple rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery to attack the Ukrainian military.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

1:54 AM

Ukrainian govt forces claim Donbas militants violate ceasefire 25 times

   (Interfax) --- The Ukrainian military have recorded 25 ceasefire violations by Donbas militiamen on Friday evening and on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian press center of the military operation in the eastern part of the country reports.

   "Since 6:00 p.m. yesterday, Russian-terrorist gangs have violated the absolute ceasefire agreement in the ATO [antiterrorist operation] area about 25 times," the press center said on Facebook.

In particular, Ukrainian government forces were fired upon near Novhorodske, Zaitseve, Mayorsk, Luhanske, Opytne and Pisky with small arms, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns.

   Moreover, militants used 120-mm mortars to shell Ukrainian government forces' positions in Pisky, 82-mm mortars in Zaitseve, and antitank rocket systems in Luhanske.

   The militants have undertaken 61 acts of armed provocation over the past 24 hours, the press center said. The village of Vodyane near Mariupol was also shelled twice, it said.

8:06 AM

Turkey to support formation of Crimean Tatar voluntary battalion

   (Zik) --- Turkey pledged to help in the formation of a voluntary battalion consisting of Crimean Tatars. The battalion is to be deployed in the Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, near the border with Crimea, Lenur Islyamov, coordinator of Crimea’s Blockade campaign said Dec. 26.

   Turkey will supply the uniforms and equipment, Islyamov said.

   The battalion will be part of Ukraine army, Islyamov explained.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

2:09 AM

Several mortar shells hit civilian houses as militants fired from different types of weapons at Zaitseve – ATO headquarters

   (Censor.NET) --- ATO headquarters reported on the details of the yesterday's mortaring of Zaitseve village.

   "Yesterday, Dec. 26, the Russia-controlled armed groups fired several times at the positions of the ATO forces located near the village of Zaitseve. The militants did not limit themselves in firepower: they fired from small arms, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, antiaircraft guns, 82 mm mortars, as well as tanks, which had to be withdrawn at a significant distance from the line of collision according to the Minsk Аgreements," Censor.NET reports citing the ATO press center.
   Several shells hit houses of local civilians during the attack. One of the houses caught fire. Ukrainian soldiers rushed to give first aid to local residents. In one of the houses, they found an elderly woman who suffered multiple shrapnel wounds as a result of a mortar shell hit. Ukrainian soldiers began to provide first aid, trying to evacuate the woman to the nearest medical facility under continuing fire. However, the condition of the wounded woman was very bad and she died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
   "This tragic incident is one more evidence to the fact that the invaders of the so-called self-proclaimed republics and their Moscow curators continue breaking all sorts of agreements on the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Thus, their statements about the safety and welfare of the people of the Donbas are just empty words," the press center stressed.

4:00 AM

Ukraine, Poland to team up to develop two self-propelled artillery systems

    (Zik) --- The state-run Ukroboronprom Corporation uniting weapons manufacturers and a Polish company will cooperate to develop two self-propelled artillery systems mounted on Ukraine-made vehicles, Ukrinform reports Dec. 26.

   Ukraine’s Morozov design bureau and Poland’s Huta Stalowa Wola are to develop a 120-mm APC-mounted mortar and a 155-mm howitzer mounted on the Oplot tank chassis.

   In 2016, Ukroboronprom has plans to launch production of ammunition and engines for tanks and APCs.

   Ukroboronprom also plans to modernize the Kharkiv Morozov design bureau and Malyshev tank plant for serial production of Oplot tanks and spares for APC-4s and Dozors.

4:48 AM

Poroshenko approves NATO military exercises in Ukraine next year

   (UAToday) --- The decree also allows Ukrainian troops to undertake training abroad with partner countries

   President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree authorizing multinational military exercises in Ukraine next year. Under the plan, US forces along with other NATO members and states involved in the Partnership for Peace programme - will be allowed to operate with appropriate weapons and equipment. The decree published late Saturday also permits Ukrainian soldiers to train abroad.

   A number of military exercises will be hosted by Ukraine next year – including Maple Arch 2016 – which focuses on stabilization and peacekeeping missions and Sea Breeze 2016, centered on international maritime operations.

   In a statement, the presidential administration said, "[The] exercises will increase the efficiency of national programs for training the Armed Forces to carry out their tasks of national defense and implementation of Ukraine's international obligations, including the participation in international operations on maintaining international peace and security."

   The invasion of Russian forces into east Ukraine has prompted Ukraine and its NATO allies to bolster military cooperation across a broad range of areas including in training, reforms and the supply of 'non-lethal' aid and military equipment.

4:50 AM

One Ukrainian soldier killed, three wounded in Donbas in last day

   (UNIAN) --- One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another three were wounded in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine in the last day, according to the Ukrainian Presidential Administration.

   "In the last day, unfortunately, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and three soldiers were wounded in hostilities," Press Secretary for the Presidential Administration for ATO issues Oleksandr Motuzianyk said at a briefing in Kyiv.

   The ATO positions were attacked 66 times by Russian-backed militants in the past 24 hours amid growing escalation in Donbas.

5:39 AM

Militants shelled Zolote checkpoint – State Border Guard Service

   (Censor.NET) --- On Dec. 26, the illegal armed units shelled Zolote checkpoint located on the demarcation line in the Luhansk region.

   Censor.NET informs citing the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
   "Yesterday, the illegal armed units have carried out provocative attacks at Zolote checkpoint where border guards and Armed Forces of Ukraine are deployed. They fired from uncontrolled territory, namely from the town of Pervomaisk," the report reads.
   However, there were no unmanned aerial vehicles recorded in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions yesterday.
   "Measures to end illegal movement of goods and cargoes along the demarcation line are taken. Mobile border groups detained four vehicles transporting goods without proper documentation over the past 24 hours," the State Border Guard Service reported.

TASS: Finland prohibits crossing border with Russia on bikes

Finnish side of Russo-Finnish border

   (UNIAN) --- Finland's border patrol service has prohibited crossing the border with Russia on a bicycle, MTV3 TV channel reported on Sunday citing the Lapland border patrol service, according to Russian news agency TASS.

   "It is allowed to cross the border only by car now. The measure was taken due to the situation when more and more refugees are coming to Finland from the Russian territory on bicycles," TASS wrote.

   The measure will be enforced only on northern border checkpoints Salla and Raja Jooseppi.

   The border patrol service said that the measure was introduced because "riding bicycles in the winter is a threat to cyclists themselves and other participants of road traffic."

   From Wednesday to Friday no asylum seekers came to Finland's border checkpoints.

   On Saturday a car came to the border, and five out of six passengers filed for asylum in Finland. The sixth passenger was a Russian citizen who did not file for asylum but is now suspected of organizing illegal transportation of refugees across the border.

   According to the Interior Ministry, up to 35,000 refugees may arrive to Finland by the end of 2015.    The ministry earlier expected as much as 50,000 refugees to arrive. In 2014, around 4,000 refugees arrived in Finland. Since the start of 2015, more than 32,000 migrants came to Finland, mostly from Iraq. Most refugees come through the border with Sweden, while more than 600 people arrived from the Finnish-Russian border at checkpoints of Salla and Raja Jooseppi.

NATO to strengthen Turkey's air defense by German reconnaissance aircraft

   (Censor.NET) --- The German Military are preparing to send several Airborne Early Warning and Control planes (AWACS) in support of NATO member state Turkey, bordering Syria.

   Germany 's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense informed the Bundestag, Censor.NET reports citing DW
   The planes to be moved from Germany Geilenkirchen base to the central Turkish city of Konya. Germany is expected to provide 30 percent of all personnel.
   It is still unclear how many German soldiers exactly would be affected by the move.
   The Bundestag was not required to sign off the operation as this was not part of a combat mission. It specified that the self-declared "Islamic State" (IS) did not have any known air defenses of its own and that there were no indications that other parties involved in the conflict, such as Syria and Russia, would use their air force against NATO member Turkey.  

Czech leader calls migrant wave in Europe an 'organised invasion'

   Prague (AFP) --- Czech President Milos Zeman called the current wave of refugees to Europe "an organised invasion", adding young men from Syria and Iraq should instead "take up arms" against the Islamic State (IS) group.

   "I am profoundly convinced that we are facing an organised invasion and not a spontaneous movement of refugees," said Zeman in his Christmas message to the Czech Republic released Saturday.

   He went on to say that compassion was "possible" for refugees who are old or sick and for children, but not for young men who in his view should be back home fighting against jihadists.

   "A large majority of the illegal migrants are young men in good health, and single. I wonder why these men are not taking up arms to go fight for the freedom of their countries against the Islamic State," said Zeman, who was elected Czech president in early 2013.

   He added that their fleeing their war-torn countries only serves to strengthen the IS group.

   The 71-year-old evoked a comparison to the situation of Czechs who left their country when it was under Nazi occupation from 1939-1945.

   It is not the first time Zeman has taken a controversial stance on Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

   In November, the leftwinger attended an anti-Islam rally in Prague in the company of far-right politicians and a paramilitary unit.

   The country's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, who has previously criticised the head of state's comments, said Zeman's Christmas message was based "on prejudices and his habitual simplification of things".

   Migrants are not the only target of Zeman's caustic remarks: he said last week that his country should introduce the euro on the first day after indebted Greece's departure from the common currency, causing Athens to recall its ambassador.

   He also said he was "very disappointed" that talks in the summer to eject Greece from the euro did not come to fruition.

   Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, former communist countries that joined the European Union in 2004, have rejected the EU's system of quotas for distributing refugees amid the current migrant wave.

   More than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year, mainly fleeing violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

   The crisis has strained ties within the European Union, with mostly newer members taking a firm anti-migrant stance and some northern countries like Germany welcoming those fleeing war.

   Few asylum seekers have chosen to stay in the Czech Republic, a NATO member nation of 10.5 million people.

   Regardless, a recent survey showed that nearly 70 percent of Czechs oppose the arrival of migrants and refugees in their country.

Muslim prayer hall in France damaged as violence continues

   PARIS (AP) — A crowd vandalized a Muslim prayer room in Corsica a day after an ambush injured two firefighters responding to an emergency in a housing project, the state prefect on the French island said Saturday.

   Prefect Christophe Mirmand said police reinforcements were being called into the Corsican capital of Ajaccio from mainland France, and prayer rooms and mosques were being guarded.

   Two separate investigations were opened, one into the attack on firefighters Thursday and the other into the damage to the prayer room Friday, he said on iTele TV station.

   Tensions were high on the Mediterranean island, widely known in France as the Isle of Beauty.

   The violence began Thursday night, when firefighters responding to an emergency call were ambushed in a housing project in the hills of Ajaccio. It was not clear what prompted that violence.

   On Friday, a gathering of about 600 people that started as a show of support for the injured emergency officials led to more violence when several dozen people broke away, headed to the prayer room. There, they threw objects and tried to burn Qurans and prayer books, officials said. They also vandalized a kebab shop.

   "All these events are linked," Mirmand said.

   Video showed some in the group shouting "this is our home" before the prayer room was damaged.

France's prime minister, Manuel Valls, called Friday for respect for French law after "the intolerable aggression toward firefighters and unacceptable profanation of a Muslim place of prayer."

   France's interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, condemned those responsible for going after firefighters. He also said the "intolerable exactions" against the place of worship carried the "odor of racism and xenophobia" and would not go unpunished.

Bosnia says arrests foiled Islamist attack in Sarajevo

Bosnian military personnel and police are seen working 

in the Sarajevo suburb of Rajlovac after two members 

of Bosnia's armed forces were killed in a suspected 

terror attack in November (AFP Photo/Elvis Barukcic)

   Sarajevo (AFP) --- A Bosnian anti-terrorism prosecutor has said the recent arrests of 11 suspected jihadists prevented an attack that purportedly would have killed around 100 holiday revelers in Sarajevo, state television said Saturday.

   The arrests were carried out Tuesday in several parts of the Bosnian capital.

   On Friday, a Sarajevo court ordered eight of the suspects to be held for 30 days, Bosnian television reported.

   It quoted prosecutor Dubravko Campara as telling an investigating magistrate that the group were planning "a terrorist act during end-of-year celebrations."

   "They were threatening to carry out an explosives attack in which 100 people would be killed," RTRS television quoted Campara as saying.

   The suspects' lawyers dismissed the allegations as a "simple farce" and said their clients were merely "practicing their religion".

   Prosecutors said the suspects habitually gathered at a place of worship set up in a rented house in a Sarajevo suburb.

   After the arrests, prosecutors gave reporters a photograph taken at the site showing a printout of the Islamic State group flag on the wall.

   "Physical evidence of the links with the Islamic State group structures were seized," Campara said, while adding that no explosives were found in the raids.

   The operation was conducted in several Sarajevo districts, including in Rajlovac, where two members of Bosnia's armed forces were killed in November in a suspected terror attack by a man who then blew himself up.

   Around 40 percent of Bosnia's population of 3.8 million are Muslim, most of whom follow a moderate form of Islam. Orthodox and Catholic Christians make up most of the rest of the population.

   Of some 200 Bosnian nationals who joined jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq in 2012 and 2013, at least 26 have died while about 50 have returned to the Balkan country, authorities say.

   Last year Bosnia adopted a new law providing for jail sentences of up to 20 years for jihadists and their recruiters, since when the number leaving for the Middle East appears to have dropped off.

Japan says armed Chinese vessel spotted off disputed islands

In this photo provided by Japan Coast Guard, an armed 

Chinese coast guard ship sails in the water near islands, 

known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in 

Chinese, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015.

   TOKYO (AP) — Japan said it spotted for the first time Tuesday an armed Chinese coast guard ship near islands at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between the two Asian giants.

   Chinese ships regularly sail around the uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese, but a Japanese coast guard spokesman said an armed Chinese coast guard vessel had never been sighted before in the area.

   "We don't know China's intentions, but our response will remain unchanged, and we'll act calmly and decisively for Japan's safety," said Yosuke Watanuki, a spokesman for the regional unit covering Japan's remote southern islands.

   The incident is likely to fuel concern in Japan that China may be slowly escalating its activities in the East China Sea. Last month, a Chinese navy ship took its time traversing the waters, attracting Japan's attention. Japan also went public earlier this year with complaints about Chinese oil and gas exploration in the East China Sea, posting photos online of Chinese drilling rigs and other equipment.

   The Japanese coast guard released a photo of the armed ship sailing in the East China Sea on Tuesday. It was one of four Chinese coast guard vessels spotted in the waters, but was the only one that was armed. They did not come close enough to the islands to violate what Japan considers its territorial waters.

ATTENTION:

   Sorry for not updating the last couple weeks as my computer crashed and since it was old I upgraded to a new system. I will attempt to get caught up on all that's been going on.

German steps up deportation of failed asylum-seekers

   New figures show that the number of deportations almost doubled this year from 2014. By the end of November, authorities had deported 18,363 people whose asylum request had been rejected, compared to 10,884 in all of last year.

   "(The increase) can be explained on the one hand simply by the increasing number of people who are getting negative (asylum) decisions," Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said Monday.

   But the trend is also affected "by the states' increasing willingness to carry out these procedures," he said.

   The task of handling asylum requests falls to Germany's 16 states and some have been more rigorous in applying the law than others.

   Bavaria, the state that most asylum-seekers first set foot in, more than trebled its deportations to 3,643 in the first 11 months of 2015 from 1,007 last year. The conservative government there has been particularly forceful in pushing to limit the number of refugees coming to Germany — estimated at about one million this year — and speed up deportations of those already in the country.

   Earlier this year, Bavaria opened a special center for people unlikely to get asylum. Situated on a former U.S. Army barracks in Bamberg, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Nuremberg, the Arrival and Return Facility II currently houses about 850 people.

   Almost all are from western Balkan nations, chiefly Albania, followed by Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia.

   Germany considers them to be safe countries where individuals are unlikely to face the kind of persecution that would warrant asylum. Some were sent to the center straight from the border, others have been in Germany for more than a year. Most said economic hardship made them travel to Germany.

   "In Serbia there*s no work," said Elvis Asani, a Roma from Serbia who is being sent back with his wife and children. "So we thought we go to Germany and work a little bit."

   "I go back, but we have no home," Asani said when asked what he would do in Serbia. "Where shall we go with three kids?"

   Since the center was opened in mid-September, the 15 staff processing asylum requests haven't issued a single permanent residency permit, officials said. Meanwhile, 463 people were deported voluntarily and 170 were forcibly deported. Decisions are made within five to ten days.

   "We don't want to paint a discouraging picture, we want to paint a realistic picture," Stefan Krug, an official with the regional government of Upper Franconia, said Monday.

   "The mood ahead of Christmas is obviously a bit depressed," he added. "But all in all it's peaceful."

   Interior Ministry spokesman Dimroth said, unlike in previous years, none of Germany's states have suspended deportations for the winter — and says federal authorities also see "no place for a halt to deportations."

   Authorities are planning to increase the Bamberg center's capacity to 1,500 by the end of December, and to 4,500 by the end of March.

Vice chancellor says Austria cannot accept more than 100,000 migrants

Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner

   VIENNA (Reuters) --- Austria's Vice Chancellor said on Monday that Austria could not accept much more than the roughly 100,000 asylum seekers it expects to receive this year, following a pledge from its larger neighbor Germany to limit arrival numbers.

   Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere, have entered Austria on their route northwest from the Balkans since early September.

   Most have moved on to Germany, but Austria still expects to have received about 95,000 asylum applications this year, equivalent to more than 1 percent of its population, compared with the 28,000 registered in 2014. Of those, 38 percent were approved.

   "Around 90-100,000 -- a lot more will simply not be possible," Reinhold Mitterlehner, from the conservative OVP, junior partner in the coalition, told ORF radio, pointing to bottlenecks in available accommodation for asylum seekers.

   "That's not the sum which comes in addition every year," he told reporters on Monday. "Those who leave, who get integrated...those who return to their countries - that's roughly the room for maneuver which we have for the next few years."

   Chancellor Werner Faymann, a Social Democrat who has generally adopted a more compassionate tone on the issue than the conservatives, was quoted as saying on Saturday that Austria should step up deportations of migrants who do not qualify for asylum.

   Faymann has also emphasized that policy decisions have been closely coordinated with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, who has pledged to "noticeably reduce the number of refugees", fending off a challenge from critics of her own.

US says bombers didn't intend to fly over China-held island

   BEIJING (AP) — The United States said its two B-52 bombers had no intention of flying over a Chinese-controlled man-made island in the South China Sea, after Beijing accused Washington of "a serious military provocation" in the strategic waters with overlapping claims.

   China's Defense Ministry on Saturday accused the U.S. of deliberately raising tensions in the region, where China has been aggressively asserting its claims to virtually all islands, reefs and their surrounding seas. It reiterated that it would do whatever is necessary to protect China's sovereignty.

   Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said that the Dec. 10 mission was not a "freedom of navigation" operation and that there was "no intention of flying within 12 nautical miles of any feature," indicating the mission may have strayed off course.

   The U.S. uses pre-planned freedom of navigation operations to assert its rights to "innocent passage" in other country's territorial waters.

   "The United States routinely conducts B-52 training missions throughout the region, including over the South China Sea," Wright said in an email to The Associated Press. "These missions are designed to maintain readiness and demonstrate our commitment to fly, sail and operate anywhere allowed under international law."

   Wright said the U.S. was "looking into the matter."

   The U.S. takes no official stance on sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in international trade passes each year. However, Washington insists on freedom of navigation and maintains that China's seven newly created islands do not enjoy traditional rights, including a 12-nautical-mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit.

   China's Defense Ministry demanded that Washington immediately take measures to prevent such incidents and damage to relations between the two nations' militaries.

   "The actions by the U.S. side constitute a serious military provocation and are rendering more complex and even militarizing conditions in the South China Sea," the ministry said in a statement.

   The statement said that Chinese military personnel on the island went on high alert during the overflights by the B-52 strategic bombers and that they issued warnings demanding the aircraft leave the area.

   As is China's usual practice, the Foreign Ministry took a more diplomatic tone, saying the situation was stable.

   Speaking to reporters on a visit to Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi drew a contrast between the situation in the South China Sea region and the chaos and turmoil in other parts of the world. "The situation in the South China Sea is essentially stable overall," he said.

   Wang also said that while China understands the concerns of nations from outside the region — a clear reference to the U.S. — they should "do more to benefit peace and stability and support efforts to find a resolution through talks, and not manufacture tensions or even fan the flames."

   "We don't think this is a constructive approach and will not receive the support and welcome of relevant nations," Wang said.

   The Foreign Ministry said it had "lodged solemn representation with the United States" over the incident.

   China's latest protest comes amid a simmering dispute over Washington's approval this past week of the first arms package in four years offered to Taiwan, Beijing's self-governing rival. Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, demanded the deal be scrapped to avoid harming relations across the Taiwan Strait and between China and the U.S.

   Beijing filed a formal diplomatic complaint and its Foreign Ministry said it would take "necessary measures, including the imposition of sanctions against companies participating in the arms sale to Taiwan."

   The main contractor behind the weaponry is Raytheon. U.S. defense firms are forbidden to sell arms to China.

NATO readies new support for Turkey

   Brussels (AFP) --- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday the alliance was working on new support measures for Turkey, but insisted the commitment predated Ankara's shooting down of a Russian jet on the Syrian border.

   Speaking as foreign ministers from the 28 NATO nations gathered in Brussels, Stoltenberg also reiterated his call for Turkey and Russia to calm the crisis and to find ways to ensure there is no repeat.

   "We will work on further measures to assure Turkey's security," Stoltenberg said at the start of the two-day meeting dominated by Syria, Ukraine and relations with a "more assertive" Russia, as well as future plans in Afghanistan.

   "I would like to underline... that this is something not related to the incident last week. It has been going on for several years as part of our commitment to an ally," he told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

   The NATO chief did not specify what the new measures would involve but said that the alliance has for many years helped Turkey with its air defences.

   Russia said this week that it had deployed its advanced S-400 air defence system at its base in Latakia, Syria, following the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkish aircraft in November.

   In 2012 as the bloody conflict in Syria deepened, NATO allies deployed Patriot anti-missile batteries along Turkey's southern border to prevent any spillover of the fighting.

   They have been progressively withdrawn but one battery remains, supplied by Spain although that was due to be pulled out at the end of the year.

   Stoltenberg also cited as examples naval deployments by Germany and Denmark in the Mediterranean, or the presence of US aircraft on Turkish soil.

   "All of this is relevant for Turkey's reassurance," he said.

   The NATO chief also reiterated his call for Turkey and Russia to calm the crisis and to find ways to ensure there is no repeat.

   "The focus now should be on how we can de-escalate and calm tensions (and find) mechanisms so that we can avoid the type of incident we saw last week," he said.

   The two-day NATO meeting will review measures adopted in the fallout from the Ukraine crisis to upgrade readiness levels and reassure nervous eastern Europe members who were once ruled from Moscow that the alliance will stand by them.

   Stoltenberg says the changes, which include creation of a new fast response force, apply globally in what he described as a "dark" security environment.

NATO set to invite Montenegro to join

   Brussels (AFP) --- The Balkan state of Montenegro will on Wednesday be formally invited to join the NATO military alliance, diplomatic sources said, a move which could further strain already difficult ties with Moscow.

   The offer is expected to come after a meeting of foreign ministers from the 28-nation alliance in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.

   "The proposed text has been approved at (NATO) ambassador level," one source said Monday, asking not to be named. "After that, it would take at most a year and a half for Montenegro to become a member state," the source added.

   NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he could not confirm the decision because it was up to the grouping's foreign ministers but he commented positively on the prospect.

   "Montenegro has come a long way on its path to join the Euro-Atlantic family," he told a briefing ahead of the meeting.

   "Extending an invitation to Montenegro to start accession talks would be a historic decision. It would signal our continued commitment to the Western Balkans," he said.

   The foreign ministers' meeting is expected to be dominated by the Syrian conflict, closely followed by relations with Russia and the Ukraine crisis.

   Moscow has historic ties with Montenegro's neighbour Serbia and interests in the Western Balkans, while finding itself at loggerheads with NATO over a series of issues.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin bitterly complains of what he sees as NATO encroachment, especially after the pro-Western Kiev government said it was looking to join the US-led alliance in the future.

   NATO offered Ukraine membership in 2008, when Russia went to war against another former Soviet state, Georgia, but Kiev opted for what it said was a "non-bloc" policy instead.

   President Petro Poroshenko however reversed that position last year over Moscow's support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.

   Most of the former communist states of the Soviet-era Warsaw Pact have joined NATO, starting in 1999.

   Balkan states Croatia and Albania were the most recent countries to join, in 2009.

Russia didn't give downed jet's flight plan to U.S.: U.S. officials

   WASHINGTON (Reuters) --- Russia did not inform the U.S. military of its jet's flight plan before Turkey shot it down on Tuesday, despite assertions to the contrary by Russian President Vladimir Putin, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

   Putin has suggested some degree of U.S. culpability in the aftermath of the incident, even hinting that the United States might have given detailed Russian operational plans to Turkey ahead of time.

   Addressing reporters in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said "we informed our American partners" about when and where Russian aircraft would be operating. It was "precisely" then that the Turkish air force shot down the Russian warplane, Putin said.

   "The question arises: Why did we pass on that information to the Americans," Putin asked.

   The Pentagon did not immediately comment on Putin's remarks but in the past acknowledged that Russia has given basic notification to the U.S.-led coalition ahead of some operations, like a Nov. 17 launch of cruise missiles.

   Such communication is aimed at preventing an accidental clash between the former Cold War foes as they carry out parallel bombing campaigns inside of Syria.

   The two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, however, that Russia had not passed along the kind of granular operational details suggested by Putin in his public remarks. The extent of any communications between the U.S. and Russian militaries before or after the incident was not immediately clear.

   Turkey's shoot-down of the Russian jet was one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member and Russia, and raised the stakes in Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war.

   U.S.-led coalition forces have struck Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. They accuse Moscow of focusing its firepower mainly on opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Russian ally.

   Turkey, which has long sought Assad's ouster, said that Turkey did not go looking to shoot down a Russian jet but acted after it strayed into Turkish air space. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called it an "automatic reaction" to standing instructions given to the military.

   Moscow insists the jet never left Syrian air space.

   The incident has worsened the outlook for the Syrian peace process, dashing recent optimism following the Group of 20 meeting in Turkey.

Putin retaliates with economic sanctions against Turkey

   MOSCOW (Reuters) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing economic sanctions against Turkey on Saturday, four days after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border.

   The decree, posted on the Kremlin's web site, said a ban on charter flights from Russia to Turkey would be introduced, that Russian tour operators should stop selling trips to Turkey, and that imports of some Turkish products would be halted.

   It also said the operations of Turkish companies in Russia and the employment of Turkish staff by Russian firms would face restrictions and ordered the government to prepare a list of goods, firms and jobs that would be affected.

   The decree, which came into force immediately, was entitled "On measures to ensure Russia's national security and protect Russian citizens from criminal and other illegal activities, and the application of special economic measures against Turkey."

   Some of the measures announced had already been informally introduced.

   Turkey mainly sells food, agricultural products and textiles to Moscow. A Kremlin spokesman said earlier on Saturday there could be up to 200,000 Turkish citizens on Russian soil.

   Putin signed the decree days before a climate change summit in Paris next week, which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Saturday could be a chance to repair relations with Moscow.

Two Iranians arrested in Kenya suspected of planning attacks

   NAIROBI (Reuters) --- Kenyan security forces have arrested two Iranian men on suspicion of planning attacks in Nairobi, the Interior Ministry and Kenyan media reported on Saturday.

   The two men had planned to attack hotels in the Kenyan capital used by tourists, business executives and diplomats, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said, according to a report carried by the website of Kenya's Daily Nation.

   Kenya has suffered from a series of attacks by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, a Sunni Muslim group that has said its assaults are aimed at driving Kenyan troops and other members of an African Union force out of Somalia.

   There was no indication of any link to the latest arrests in the ministry statements. At least one of the Iranians was identified as a Shi'ite Muslim, the predominant sect in Iran.

   "Two Iranians arrested by KE (Kenyan) security agencies with a plan to mount a terror attack in NBI (Nairobi). The plan was foiled and suspects arrested," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

   An Interior Ministry official confirmed the report.

   The ministry identified the two men as Abubakar Sadiq Louw, 69, describing him as a "senior figure" in the Nairobi Shi'ite community. It named the other as 25-year-old Yassin Sambai Juma, saying he was also from Nairobi and describing him as a "recruit".

   The two men "have admitted to conspiring to mount terror attacks" in Kenya, the ministry added on Twitter.

   Boinnet said Louw admitted to recruiting young Kenyans to spy and mount attacks, Daily Nation reported.

   In 2013, two Iranian men were sentenced to life in prison by a Kenyan court for planning to carry out bombings in the country.

   In 2014, a court ordered an Iranian man and woman held under anti-terrorism laws to serve two years in jail or pay a fine after admitting to using fake Israeli passports to enter Kenya. They had been detained on suspicion of planning an attack, but officials did not say if those suspicions were laid to rest.

Bulgaria parliament ratifies fighter jets repair deal with Poland

   SOFIA (Reuters) --- Bulgaria's parliament ratified on Friday an agreement with NATO ally Poland for the repair of its ageing Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, part of a push by the Balkan country to reduce its reliance on Russia.

   Under the deal, which Russia has sought to challenge, Poland will lend Bulgaria two jet engines for two years and repair the engines of six MiG-29 jets for an estimated 6.14 million euros ($6.52 million).

   Bulgaria was Moscow's loyal ally during the Cold War and had a contract with Russia to maintain the jets, but that expired in September and Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev said Poland could now repair the jets at a lower cost.

   The agreement marks another step by Bulgaria to gradually switch to non-Russian supplies, a trend that has accelerated since the European Union - to which Bulgaria belongs - and the United States imposed sanctions on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

   The deal won support from 130 lawmakers with 41 voting against it.

   The Russian Aircraft Corporation (RSK) MiG, however, said that the fighter jets could not be repaired in Poland since Warsaw did not have the right to provide spare parts of the aircraft to third countries.

   Nenchev rejected that, saying Poland had provided guarantees for the much needed repairs. "Poland is the only country that has the economic and the technological capacity to maintain and repair our MiG-29s," he told parliament.

Philippines gets 1st fighter jets in a decade

   CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines on Saturday took delivery of two Korean-made fighter jets — the country's first supersonic combat aircraft in a decade — as it strengthens its underfunded military amid an escalating territorial feud with China.

   The FA-50 jets touched down at Clark Freeport, a former U.S. Air Force base north of Manila, as Philippine defense officials applauded and fire trucks sprayed water as a traditional welcome salute for the still-unarmed aircraft.

   The Philippines bought 12 FA-50s, which are primarily trainer jets that the military converted to also serve as multi-role combat aircraft, from Korea Aerospace Industries at a cost of 18.9 billion pesos ($402 million). The other jets will be delivered in batches through 2017.

   Weapons for the FA-50s, including bombs and rockets, will be purchased later.

   "We're glad we're finally back to the supersonic age," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

   The Philippine military decommissioned its last fleet of supersonic combat aircraft, the F-5, in 2005. A military modernization program that included plans for the purchase of at least a squadron of fighter jets and naval frigates didn't happen for several years largely because of a lack of funds.

   Over the years, the military has deteriorated to become one of Asia's weakest.

   Under current President Benigno Aquino III, however, territorial spats with China over islands in the South China Sea have escalated and resulted in the Chinese seizure of a disputed shoal in 2012, prompting the military to scramble to acquire new navy ships and air force planes with the help of the United States, the Philippines' longtime defense treaty ally.

   Last week, Aquino authorized Gazmin to enter into major contracts to acquire 44 billion pesos ($936 million) worth of military hardware, including two frigates, anti-submarine helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles for the navy, and long-range patrol aircraft, munitions for the FA-50s and surveillance radar for the air force, Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said.

   The new ships, aircraft and military equipment were expected to be purchased from this year up to 2018, according to Manalo.

   Lt. Col. Rolando Condrad Pena III, one of three Filipino air force pilots who received training in Korea to fly the FA-50s, said that the jets could carry enough munitions payload and could be used in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

   "Now that we have a supersonic aircraft our reaction time will be faster," Pena told reporters.

   Still, the Philippines has ruled out a military solution to the territorial conflicts with its limited defense capabilities. In January 2013, the Philippines brought its disputes with China to international arbitration, but Beijing refused to participate and pressed for one-on-one negotiations.

   An international tribunal in The Hague, however, dismissed China's legal arguments last month and ruled that it has authority to hear the Philippines' case. It said it expects to hand down a decision next year on several issues raised by the Philippines, including the validity of China's sweeping territorial claims under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Chinese military flies near Japan islands

Tokyo has bolstered its military amid lingering 

territorial rows and worries over China's 

expanding naval reach (AFP Photo/Mark Ralston)

   (AFP) --- Japan scrambled jets after 11 Chinese military planes flew near southern Japanese islands during what Beijing said was a drill to improve its long-range combat abilities, reports said Saturday.

   The planes -- eight bombers, two intelligence gathering planes and one early-warning aircraft -- flew near Miyako and Okinawa on Friday without violating Japan's airspace, the Japanese defence ministry said in a statement released on Friday.

   Some of them flew between the two islands while others made flights close to neighbouring islands, the ministry said.

   A Chinese air force spokesman said several types of planes, including H-6K bombers, were involved in Friday's drill over the western Pacific, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

   Shen Jinke said such open sea exercises had improved the force's long-distance combat abilities, according to Xinhua.

   While there were no further comments from the Japanese ministry, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that it was "unusual" for China to dispatch such a large fleet close to Japan's airspace and the ministry was analysing the purpose of the mission.

   Japan scrambles jets hundreds of times a year to defend its airspace, both against Russia and these days also against Chinese aircraft.

   Beijing has warned this is heightening tensions between the two Asian powerhouses, which are already at loggerheads over a longstanding territorial row in the East China Sea and Japanese military aggression in the first half of the 20th century.

   The move comes with tensions running high in the South China Sea after a US warship sailed close to at least one land formation claimed by China, which has rattled its neighbours with its increasingly assertive stance in territorial disputes.

   China transformed reefs in the region into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the US says threatens freedom of navigation in a region through which one-third of the world's oil passes.

   China insists on sovereignty over virtually all the resource-endowed South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by a handful of other countries.

   Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognise the Chinese claims.

UK air force needed over Syria says French Defence Minister

   PARIS (Reuters) --- British air force capabilities would make a difference in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, with precision strikes especially increasing pressure on the group, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a column on Thursday.

   The opinion piece in Britain's Guardian newspaper was published after Prime Minister David Cameron urged parliament on Thursday to back British air strikes against Islamic State in Syria. Cameron told lawmakers Britain could not "subcontract its security to other countries".

   "We need British defense capabilities to win this war. The Royal Air Force is already in action over Iraq. Its involvement over Syria would make a practical difference," Le Drian wrote in the column, published on the Guardian website.

   "The RAF has significant capabilities for precision air strikes, aerial reconnaissance and air-to-air refueling support. On a daily basis, its Tornado aircraft and unmanned drones are causing very severe damage to Isis (Islamic State) in Iraq. The use of these capabilities over Syria would put additional and extreme pressure on the Isis terror network."