Fears of imminent attack: ISIS declares state of emergency - US military official claims

ISLAMIC State (ISIS) has declared a state of emergency in its terror heartland over fears of an imminent attack, a US military official has claimed.

The jihadi group feels threatened in its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria and is moving troops to prepare for a possible invasion, according to Colonel Steven Warren.

The US military official said it was monitoring the terror group’s declaration to attempt to better understand what it meant.

Speaking in a Pentagon briefing over the phone from Baghdad, Iraq, Col Warren said: “We have seen this declaration of emergency in Raqqa, whatever that means.

Hilarious!! - TRUMP'S FIRST DAY AS AMERICAN PRESIDENT - Sent via WhatsApp

Trump's first day in the Oval Office.

First briefing by CIA, Pentagon, FBI:

Trump: We must destroy ISIS immediately.

CIA: We cannot do that, sir. We created them along with Turkey, Saudi, Qatar and others.

Trump: The Democrats created them.

CIA: We created ISIS, sir. You need them or else you would lose funding from the natural gas lobby.

Trump: Stop funding Pakistan. Let India deal with them.

CIA: We can't do that. It is Modi in India and not Manmohan.

Trump: So what?

CIA: Modi will cut Balochistan out of Pakistan.

Moscow defends intercept of U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane

Moscow defended its intercept of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea on Friday, saying it took the action because the aircraft turned off its transponder.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov dismissed Pentagon claims that the maneuver by the Russian SU-27 against the U.S. Air Force RC-135 was “unsafe and unprofessional.”

"We’re already getting used to claims of Pentagon representatives regarding alleged 'non-professional' maneuvers of our fighters when intercepting the U.S. scout planes on the Russian borders," he said in a statement carried by the state-run ITAR-TASSnews agency. "At the same time, we want to note that the RC-135U surveillance plane tries to sneak up to the Russian border with the transponder turned off each time. Therefore, the air defense forces on duty have to lift the fighter to visually identify the type of aircraft and its tail number.”

Why China denies U.S. aircraft carrier Hong Kong port visit

China has denied a U.S. aircraft carrier entry into a Hong Kong port, according to Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban.

"We were recently informed that a request for a port visit by a U.S. carrier strike group, including the USS John C. Stennis and accompanying vessels, to Hong Kong was denied," he said. 

"We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including with the current visit of the (command ship) USS Blue Ridge, and we expect that will continue."

BREAKING: US soldier released in controversial swap with Taliban arrives home in Texas

The American soldier released in a controversial swap with Afghan insurgents has arrived back in the United States, the Pentagon says.

SERGEANT Bowe Bergdahl arrived on Friday on a flight from Germany to San Antonio, Texas where he will continue treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center after spending five years as a prisoner in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said on its web site.

Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 and released by the Taliban on May 31 in a deal struck by the Obama administration in which five Taliban officials were released from detention.

US, UK specialist team in Maiduguri, set to start search for missing Chibok girls

Among the many world powers that indicate interest and support to join Nigeria in the search and rescue operations to free the Boko Haram Abducted Chibok School Girls in Borno state are US, UK, Canada France and China. United States military officials are arriving Nigeria Friday to join local officials in the search for over 200 school girls taken captive by the Islamist Terrorists.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, and the defence department, Pentagon, confirmed the deployment of their special forces for the search operations in Nigeria. “Our interagency team is landing the ground in Nigeria now and they are going to be working … with President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to do everything that we possibly can to return these girls.” Kerry said.

US set to support Ukraine, send fighter jets to fly to Poland for training drill

As Ukrainian, Russian crisis deepen in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said there was so far no agreement between Moscow and Washington on  the situation in Ukraine, after talks in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Therefore, US military has also concluded plans of sending 12 F-16 fighter jets to Poland for a training exercise, Polish media reported.

US fighter jets will arrive at the Lask base, in central Poland, on Monday, the online versions of the Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita newspapers reported.  A Polish defence ministry spokesman said he could not confirm the reports.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it would intensify defence training with Poland in the light of the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine. [Reuters]

Ukraine's parliament has also began a procedure to dissolve the regional assembly in Crimea after it asked to join Russia, Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov said. 

"The Rada (parliament in Kiev) will begin the procedure for dissolution," Turchynov said hours after the assembly in the tense peninsula adopted a motion to become part of the Russian Federation. [AFP]