product:su-25

African Modernism: Nation Building | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/rethink/african-modernism-nation-building/10019150.article

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As countries in Africa gained their independence, modernist architecture attempted to express their new identities

In the late 1950s and the early ’60s most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa gained their independence. Architecture became one of the principal means for the young nations to express their national identity. Parliament buildings, central banks, stadia, conference centres, universities and independence memorials were constructed, often featuring heroic and daring designs.

Modern and futuristic architecture mirrored the aspirations and forward-looking spirit dominant at that time. A coinciding period of economic boom made elaborate construction methods possible, while the tropical climate allowed for an architecture that blended the inside and outside, focused on form and the expression of materiality.

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‘The paradigm of development-aid-charity has come to dominate African architecture to the exclusion of almost everything else’ | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/rethink/the-paradigm-of-development-aid-charity-has-come-to-dominate-african-architecture-to-the-exclusion-of-almost-everything-else/10019122.article

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Only with change will Africa – confined by the expectation of being influenced rather than influencing – realise its true architectural potential

It has often been said that the number of times the word ‘Africa’ is heard in a song is in almost inverse proportion to its quality: in other words, ‘Africa’ has become a lazy substitute for any number of ideas from the political to the social, cultural, historical, economic – you name it, ‘Africa’ covers it. In 2005, Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina published a controversial essay, How To Write About Africa, which, to this day, remains Granta’s most forwarded article. With its uneasy combination of laugh-out-loud satire and sarcasm, Wainaina offers a number of tips for would-be writers on Africa: ‘always use the word “Africa” or “Darkness” or “Safari” in your title. Subtitles may include the words “Zanzibar”, “Congo”, “Big”, “Sky”, “Shadow”, “Drum”, “Sun” or “Bygone”.

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‘Speak up, speak out, speak back’: Africa Architecture Awards 2017 | News | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/today/speak-up-speak-out-speak-back-africa-architecture-awards-2017/10024190.article

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‘What is African architecture?’, asks Mark Olweny, senior lecturer at Uganda Martyrs University and chair of the judging panel of this year’s Africa Architecture Awards, ‘What makes architecture work on this continent?’

#afrique #architecture

What Is Russia Bombing in Syria? - Syria in Crisis - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
▻http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=61493

Syrian dissidents now rush to blame Putin for every airstrike in the country, but evidence is often lacking. Identifying which specific attacks can be attributed to Russian pilots is made more difficult by the fact that Assad’s air force operates in the same airspace, aided by Russian reconnaissance. While Putin has upheld at least some pretense of distinguishing the radical jihadis from other insurgent factions, Assad makes no distinction at all among the armed groups opposing him.

It is hard to tell a Syrian strike from a Russian strike, not least because both nations use similar or even identical equipment. Russian-made jets and helicopters, including Su-24 fighter-bombers and Mi-24 helicopters, have been deployed in Syrian skies by both Assad and Putin. But the Russian expeditionary force also includes more advanced Sukhoi models (Su-25, Su-30, and Su-34), which are not known to be in Assad’s inventory. So if these planes were used in a particular airstrike, chances are they were Russian-piloted.

Russian military: Russian air monitoring services registered Ukrainian Su-25 sweeping towards Malaysian Boeing on July 17
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russian-military-russian-air-monitoring-services-registered-ukrainian-su-2

Russian air monitoring services registered a Ukrainian plane, tentatively a Sukhoi Su-25, sweeping up towards the Malaysian Boeing on July 17, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

All Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes operated by the #Pasdaran have completed their deployment to #Iraq: ▻http://theaviationist.com/2014/07/01/iranian-su-25-iraq #Iran #IRGC

Tensions rise as Iran shoots at American predator drone and covert war heats up
Nov 09, 2012 12:43 pm | Annie Robbins
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An MQ-1 Predator drone. (Photo: Reuters)

The American and Israeli covert war against Iran has been cranked up a notch over the last few days and representatives of Iran and the Pentagon are engaged in some rhetorical sparring over another drone incident, so far with no independent confirmation of what really happened.

On November 1st two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired at a US predator drone off the Iranian coast and then as the drone started to retreat the jets ’chased it away’ by doing aerial loops around it before returning to Iran. Sounds somewhat theatrical.

The Pentagon insists it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance in international airspace . Whether Iran intended to fire at the drone directly or were simply inept and missed their target surprisingly appears to be part of the narrative. A Pentagon spokesperson says "Our working assumption is that they “fired to take it down.”

We were never supposed to hear about it, the information was leaked yesterday. The Pentagon says they routinely don’t inform us as to their goings on ("we routinely do not advertise our classified surveillance missions"). A Pentagon spokesperson, George Little, is insisting “our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace.” But the Pentagon has a history of being loose with the truth in our dealings with Iranian territorial space, or more politely, “correct facts have not always been initially forthcoming in past.” More on that later.

Mr. Little:

The United States has communicated to the Iranians that we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters over the Arabian Gulf, consistent with longstanding practice and our commitment to the security of the region.

The Arabian Gulf ? Take that Iran!

Today General Massoud Jazayeri, an Iranian senior armed forces commander issued a stern warning:

“The defenders of the Islamic Republic will respond decisively to any form of encroachment by air, sea or on the ground,” Fars news agency quoted General Massoud Jazayeri, a senior armed forces commander, as saying on Friday.

“If any foreign aircraft attempts to enter our airspace our armed forces will deal with them,”

Christian Science Monitor:

“There is absolutely no precedence for this. This is the first time that a [drone] has been fired upon to our knowledge by Iranian aircraft,” said Mr. Little.

Note, Iran did bring down the CIA’s drone last year though. In their report today the Washington Post claimed that drone “crashed” and Iran said they shot it down, which we know isn’t true and even their supporting link does not confirm. They completely evade admitting it was captured intact reconfiguring the drone’s GPS coordinates.

More from CSM’s Scott Peterson on the truthieness factor:

Two decades earlier, the US Navy was found to have covered up critical details of the 1988 shooting down by the USS Vincennes of an Iranian commercial jet over the Persian Gulf, which killed all 290 on board.

A Newsweek investigation found the official Pentagon investigation to be a “pastiche of omission, half-truths, and outright deceptions” that amounted to a “cover-up approved at the top.”

Among a host of other issues, the US Navy attempted to prove to Congress – using altered maps – that the USS Vincennes was in international waters at the time, when it was in fact inside Iranian waters, in violation of international law.

Meanwhile both sides are jostling war games to bolster their upcoming diplomacy. Iran is poised for another series of war games called the Defenders of Velayat Skies 4:

The 7-day maneuver dubbed “Modafe’an-e Aseman-e Velayat 4,” (Defenders of Velayat Skies 4) will be held later in November with the participation of units from the IRGC and other forces of the Army, Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli told reporters today.

He added that the military exercise will be carried out in an area of more than 850,000 square kilometers to display the full strength and preparedness of Iran’s air defense forces to defend the Islamic Republic’s eastern borders.

The Iranian commander noted that various long-range radars and electronic surveillance systems will be tested during the drill, and added that the maneuver will display Iran’s defense policies in the air defense sector.

He added that the units would practice modern tactics in proportion to the recent threats made in certain parts of the world.

In May, Lieutenant Commander of the Army’s Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari stated that the Iranian Army plans to unveil and put into operation Iran’s first home-made Cobra chopper in special wargames of the Army’s Airborne unit in the near future.