Source: Associated Press

By MANSUR MIROVALEV | Associated Press | 41 minutes ago in

Russia's top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach an agreement with the United States and NATO on the missile defense system.

Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov went even further Thursday. "A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens," he said at an international conference attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials.


Read more: http://www.newser.com/article/d9uha22o0/russias-military-threatens-preemptive-strike-if-nato-goes-ahead-with-missile-plan.html

The IDF has issued emergency call up orders to six reserve battalions in light of new dangers on the Egyptian and Syrian borders. And the Knesset has given the IDF permission to summon a further 16 reserve battalions if necessary, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

An IDF spokesperson said intelligence assessments called for the deployment of more soldiers.

According to 2008′s Reserve Duty Law, combat soldiers can be called for active reserve duty once every three years, and for short training sessions during the other two. Rising tensions between Israel and Egypt and the ongoing unrest in Syria caused the army to ask the Knesset for special permission to call up more soldiers, more often.

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the request recently, enabling the IDF to summon up to 22 battalions for active duty for the second time in three years. Already, the army has called up six of them.

MORE...

http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-approves-call-up-of-22-idf-battalions/

Source: LA Times

Demand for manufactured products posted its largest decline in three years in March, according to a government report released the day after several private reports found major gains in U.S. factory activity.

The Commerce Department said that new orders slumped 1.5%, falling $7.1 billion to $460.5 billion, after growing 1.1% in February. That's the steepest drop since March 2009.

Demand for transportation equipment suffered the most dramatic plunge, diving 12.6%. Strong auto sales earlier in the year cooled off last month as vstmakers such as Hyundai, Kia and Nissan watched their previously double-digit gains shrink.

Without transportation, new orders overall were flat. Durable goods -- products designed to last at least three years -- saw demand drop 0.8%.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-new-factory-orders-20120502,0,5781069.story

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By Katarzyna Klimasinska - Tue May 01 04:01:58 GMT 2012

Natural-gas companies drilling on U.S. land would be permitted to wait until after hydraulic fracturing is completed to disclose what chemicals they used, under a draft rule being considered by the U.S. Interior Department.

A version in February required companies to file a complete chemical makeup at least 30 days before work began, something energy trade groups, including Washington-based American Exploration and Production Council, complained about. They said it could slow energy production on federal lands.

President Barack Obama has pledged to increase U.S. natural gas production in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, releases gas trapped in shale rock by injecting water, sand and chemicals thousands of feet underground. It’s used for almost every new natural-gas well drilled in the U.S.

Requiring disclosure of chemicals “would only be required after the fracturing operation has taken place,” according to the draft, obtained by Bloomberg News.

MORE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-01/drillers-may-frack-first-disclose-later-under-draft-plan.html