US military assets in space 'being targeted'

CALIFORNIA • A senior United States general has said countries like Russia and China are actively building weapons that can target space-based US military assets, reported CNN.

General John Hyten, head of US Strategic Command, who oversees all American military operations in space, told the Reagan National Defence Forum in California's Simi Valley last Saturday that these countries have "jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secret".

Saudi privatisation scheme moving slowly

DUBAI/RIYADH • Saudi Arabia's US$300 billion (S$400 billion) privatisation programme, billed as the sale of the century last year, is moving at a snail's pace 19 months later, bankers, investors and analysts familiar with the process say.

The main problems they cite are heavy bureaucracy, an inadequate legal framework, frequent changes of priority in government departments, and uncertainty about the fallout from the recent anti-corruption campaign.

REUTERS

Sunken remains not missing Argentine sub

BUENOS AIRES • Argentina's navy has investigated what appeared to be remains of a ship on the South Atlantic seabed, but concluded that they did not correspond to the submarine that disappeared more than two weeks ago with 44 crew members on board.

The remains detected at 477m under the ocean had dimensions similar to the missing ARA San Juan, but appeared to be from a sunken fishing vessel, Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told journalists last Saturday.

Last Thursday, the authorities formally ended the search for survivors, shifting its mission from rescue to recovery.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE