Ministry of Defence

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'Grenade Cam' Gives 360° View
 'Grenade Cam' Gives 360° View 

'Grenade Cam' Gives 360° View

Technology hopes to protect soldiers in urban operations

(Newser) - The British military is developing a small, ball-shaped camera that soldiers can throw like a grenade to get visual information about dangerous surroundings, the BBC reports. The “I-Ball,” which will also be able to be fired from a grenade launcher, transmits a 360-degree image as soon as it’...

Britain Opens X-Files Vault
 Britain Opens X-Files Vault 

Britain Opens X-Files Vault

ET, phone the home office: 90% of UFO sightings are bogus

(Newser) - Britain has released the first batch of secret files on reported UFO sightings, Reuters reports, and concluded that 90% are bogus. The Defense Ministry's Flying Saucer Working Party found that the other unexplained 10% posed no security threat. It has investigated some 11,000 reports dating back to the '50s...

Prince Pilots Chopper to Gal Pal's Home

Military defends 'royal heir farce'

(Newser) - British officials have defended allowing Prince William to land a military helicopter on a field next to the home of his girlfriend’s family after the media blasted it as “ridiculous and inappropriate,” the BBC reports. “This was a routine training sortie"—and no one entered...

Brits Will Pay $4M to Iraqi Boy Paralyzed by Bullet

Record compensation for teen shot by dropped rifle

(Newser) - Britain's Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay $4 million in compensation to an Iraqi boy accidentally shot by a British soldier, the Guardian reports. The boy, now 17, is paralyzed from severe spinal injuries inflicted when the soldier dropped his rifle at a Basra base in 2003. He is...

We Were Hunting Harry: Taliban
We Were Hunting Harry: Taliban

We Were Hunting Harry: Taliban

Militants after 'important chicken'

(Newser) - Taliban militants knew Britain's Prince Harry was deployed with his infantry unit in Afghanistan and were plotting to kidnap or kill him, one of their leaders tells Newsweek. Deputy Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Karim claims he learned of the presence of "an important chicken" as long ago as December,...

UK Troops Accused of Executing Iraqis

Five men file suit, say soldiers killed and tortured 20 captives

(Newser) - British soldiers killed up to 20 Iraqi captives after a 2004 firefight, say lawyers representing five men taken prisoner that day, the BBC reports. The men—described by their lawyers as laborers, not insurgents—say they heard UK soldiers killing and torturing captives at a British base after the gun...

Brits to Study 'Invisible' Brain Injuries

Shock waves from IED blasts affect 20% of US troops in Iraq

(Newser) - The "invisible" brain injuries that are plaguing as many as 20% of US troops coming home from Iraq are now getting attention in Britain, where the Defence Ministry is launching a major study of returning British troops. The injuries, called "mild traumatic brain injury" (mTBI), are the result...

British Troops Pull Out Of Basra
British Troops Pull Out Of Basra

British Troops Pull Out Of Basra

UK ready to hand over city to Iraq army

(Newser) - British troops yesterday began pulling out of the center of Basra as they prepared to hand over control of the southern port city to the Iraqi army. A small UK force of about 500, which had been headquartered in Saddam Hussein's former palace, moved to Basra's airport, reports the Guardian....

Prince Harry Heads for Iraq
Prince Harry Heads for Iraq

Prince Harry Heads for Iraq

(Newser) - England's Prince Harry is scheduled to deploy to south-east Iraq with his regiment next month, in spite of misgivings about the high-profile royal becoming a target for insurgents. The British Ministry of Defense continues to support his deployment, saying that holding him back would be a "tremendous propaganda coup"...

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