Boeing Co invingind Lockheed Martin , a  reusit   să-şi păstreze poziţia sa ca prim contractor pentru scutul antirachetă american cu bataie lunga,  a declarat  Pentagonul , vineri.

   Departamentul american al Apararii a declarat ca lui  Boeing   i   s-a  atribuit    un   contract de 3.48 miliarde dolari, de şapte ani pentru a dezvolta, testa, cerceta şi fabrica sistemele  de apărare anti-rachetă.

  O echipa condusa de Lockheed Martin Corp şi Raytheon Co  s-au întrecut cu Boeing pentru a extinde şi de a menţine    proiectul  Apărării de sol Midcourse, sau GMD, hub-ul de protecţie antiracheta stratificat.

   .Boeing partnered with Northrop Grumman Corp to retain the work."We believe the government conducted a fair and open competition, making the right decision for the future of the program," Norm Tew, Boeing vice president and program director of GMD, said in a statement.Lockheed said it was "honored" to have participated on the bid, a company spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

  The GMD contract's value to Boeing will have been about $18 billion from January 2001, when it formally became the system's prime contractor, through the end of this year, Boeing has said.GMD uses radar and other sensors plus a 20,000-mile fiber optic communications network to cue interceptors in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.The shield has been shaped initially to guard against ballistic missiles that could be fired by Iran and North Korea.

    It is the only U.S. defense against long-range missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.

** sursa  : Reuters

Iranul avertizează SUA peste Strâmtoarea Hormuz Teheran (Reuters) - Un înalt comandant al Gărzilor Revoluţionare Iraniene a afirmat joi că Statele Unite nu sunt  în măsură să spună Teheran "ce să facă în strâmtoarea Hormuz," a  raportat   televiziunea de stat , după ce   Statele Unite ale Americii au declarat că va păstra transporturilor de petrol dinGolf.

Ameninţarea  Teheran de a bloca traficul prin pasajul crucial pentru furnizorii de ţiţei din Orientul Mijlociu a urmat deciziei Uniunii Europene de a strânge sancţiuni asupra Iranului pentru programul său nuclear, precum şi de însoţire se mută de către Statele Unite pentru a strânge sancţiuni unilaterale.

   Liderul nord-coreean Kim Jong-il a murit de un atac de cord în timp ce  era  într-o călătorie cu trenul, a  raportat  mass-media de stat , ceea ce a dus la  o  preocupare imediată privind   controlul de stat  şi programul său nuclear.

   Un crainic de televiziune  îmbrăcat  în negru, a declarat  ca Kim Jong-il   in  varsta   de 69 de ani a murit sâmbătă de  epuizare fizică şi psihică   la locul de muncă în drumul său de a oferi "îndrumări  in domeniu."

    Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son, is seen as the leader-in-waiting after he was appointed to senior political and military posts in 2010.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency said the elder Kim died at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday (6:30 p.m. EST on Friday) after "an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock." Kim had suffered a stroke in 2008, but had appeared to have recovered from that ailment.

South Korea, still technically at war with the North, placed its troops and all government workers on emergency alert, Yonhap news agency reported. But Seoul's Defense Ministry said there were no signs of any unusual North Korean troop movements.

"Up until tonight, if anybody had asked you what would be the most likely scenario under which the North Korean regime could collapse, the answer would be the sudden death of Kim Jong-il," said Victor Cha, a Korea expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank in Washington.

"And so I think right now we're in that scenario and we don't know how it's going to turn out."

The White House said President Barack Obama had been notified of the reports of Kim's death and it was closely monitoring and in touch with South Korea and Japan.

The United States was committed to stability on the Korean peninsula as well as to its allies, the White House press secretary said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told ministers at a special security meeting to prepare for the unexpected, including on border affairs, Japan's top government spokesman said.

China, North Korea's only major ally, has yet to comment.

Asian stocks and U.S. index futures fell, with South Korean shares tumbling as much as 5 percent, and the dollar gained after the announcement. The Korean won fell 1.8 percent.

Kim Jong-un was at the head of a long list of officials making up the funeral committee, indicating he would lead it, and a key sign that he had taken, or been given, charge.

But there will be enormous questions over how much credibility the younger Kim has, since he is only in his late 20s and has had little time to prepare for the role.

"Kim Jong-un is not yet the official heir, but the regime will move in the direction of Kim Jong-un taking center stage," said Chung Young-Tae at the Korea Institute of National Unification. "There is a big possibility that a power struggle may happen.

"It's likely the military will support Kim Jong-un," he added. "Right now there will be control wielded over the people to keep them from descending into chaos in this tumultuous time."

Portugalia trece la austeritate: taxa suplimentara pentru companiile cu profit de peste 10 mil. euro

Guvernul portughez a anuntat, astazi, o taxa suplimentara de cel putin 5% pentru companiile cu profituri de peste 10 milioane de euro, informeaza Reuters. Masura de austeritate este necesara pentru a respecta obiectivele fiscale convenite in pachetul de ajutor financiar de la UE si FMI, sustin oficialii portughezi.