April 2019

April 30, 2019

Two U.S. Navy warships sail through strategic Taiwan StraitThe voyage risks further raising tensions with China but will likely be viewed by self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from the Trump administration amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which also include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. "The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, said in a statement.




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April 30, 2019

From Heisei to Reiwa: how Japan changed under Emperor AkihitoJapan marks the end of an era with Tuesday's abdication of Emperor Akihito, and the outgoing monarch leaves behind a much-changed country. Crown Prince Naruhito will inherit a Japan vastly different from that of the start of his father's reign, when the country was in the grip of an economic bubble and on the verge of a tech revolution. Japan's shrinking population is among the country's most pressing social and economic issues.




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April 30, 2019

UPDATE 1-Gunmen kidnap Canadian, Scottish oil workers from Nigerian oil rigGunman kidnapped three oil workers from Canada, Scotland and Nigeria at a rig in Nigeria's Delta region on Saturday, officials said - the second abduction in the area in less than a week. The attackers raided the rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources in Ogbele, Rivers State at around 8 a.m. (0700 GMT), the spokesman for the area's military operations, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, said. The Niger Delta produces the bulk of Nigeria's crude.




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April 30, 2019

North Korea vs. the F-35 Stealth Fighter (Who Wins? Who Dies?)Alternatively, the F-35A might be assigned to dangerous suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) missions. The stealth and onboard jamming capabilities of the F-35 would make it more survivable than the ROKAF’s 4th generation aircraft in such a role.The ROKAF, South Korea’s Air Force received their first F-35A fighter jets in April 2019. The ROKAF hopes to eventually buy forty F-35As and should have ten F-35As by the end of the year.(This first appeared several weeks ago.)But how do these aircraft fit into the ROKAF’s existing fleet of aircraft? What role could they play in countering the North Korean KPAF?The ROKAF already fields a variety of advanced American fighters, including over one hundred KF-16Cs and around 60 F-15K Slam Eagles. The KF-16C is fully integrated with the American AMRAAM air-to-air missile, which the ROKAF fields in the AIM-120C-5 and AIM-120C-7 variants.The combination of the KF-16C and AMRAAM vastly outclasses the majority of fighters the KPAF can field. The bulk of the KPAF fighter fleet is built out of MiG-21 variants and the J-7 fighter, which can only mount short-range infrared air-to-air missiles. KF-16Cs could just fire AMRAAMs, turn around and bug out before the KPAF MiGs lock on, though individual conditions could dictate engagement at shorter ranges.




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April 30, 2019

Richard Lugar, US foreign-policy luminary, dies at 87Senator Richard Lugar, a leading US voice on foreign policy for decades and a onetime presidential candidate known for his civility and bipartisan ways, has died at a medical center in Falls Church, Virginia. Lugar died of chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, according to a statement from the Lugar Center in Washington, a global policy institute which he founded in 2013. A soft-spoken Republican moderate, Lugar was twice chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and built a reputation as one of Washington's most influential foreign-policy voices during the record six terms he represented Indiana in the Senate.




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April 30, 2019

FOREX-Dollar rally stalls underlining slowdown fearsA rally in the dollar faltered on Monday with strong U.S. data doing little to lift the currency or convince investors that a slowdown in activity is over. The greenback traded in a narrow range as Japan kicked off a week of holidays, typically a period of thin liquidity that can prompt spikes in volatility. A Federal Reserve policy meeting, Brexit negotiations and a raft of global data including on U.S. core inflation and payrolls could each be the trigger for big currency swings this week.




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April 30, 2019

Man arrested after knives found at school desk of only male heir to Japanese imperial throneJapanese police on Monday arrested a 56-year-old man in connection with two paring knives found at the school desk of Prince Hisahito, grandson of Emperor Akihito, local media reported. The incident comes as authorities were beefing up security ahead of the popular emperor's abdication on Tuesday after a 30-year reign, the first monarch to relinquish the throne of the world's oldest imperial family for two centuries. Akihito's eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, will take the throne on Wednesday in a series of ceremonies. Hisahito is the son of Naruhito's younger brother and the last eligible male heir. Japan's centuries-old succession would be broken if Hisahito does not have a male child as the Imperial Household Law, in place since 1947, does not allow women to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Japan's Imperial family The suspect, identified as Kaoru Hasegawa, was arrested on suspicion of illegally entering the premises of the junior high school the 12-year-old prince attends on Friday, public broadcaster NHK and other news reports said. His motive was not immediately clear. NHK said police officials were questioning him and suspected he placed the knives at the desk, while Nippon Television said he admitted the allegations. A police spokesman declined to comment. Hisahito, who began attending the school this month, was not in the classroom when the knives are believed to have been left. There were no reports of any injuries or damage at the school, while police did not find any threatening note related to the case. Security camera footage showed a man with a helmet trespassing on the school grounds at around noon, they said. Police had been searching for the middle-aged man who was dressed as a construction worker. Threats to the imperial family are relatively rare. In 1975, Akihito was almost hit by a Molotov cocktail in Okinawa, a major World War II battlefield where there was strong anti-emperor sentiment.




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April 30, 2019

Here's What Happens After Russia or China Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft CarrierAn attack that sank a carrier with significant casualties, on the other hand, might well result in demands for vengeance, the specific circumstances of the attack notwithstanding. This could put U.S. policymakers in the awkward position of needing to escalate, without being able to use some of the most lethal military options in their toolkit.Since the 1950s, the supercarrier has been the most visible representation of U.S. military power and maritime hegemony. Although supercarriers have participated in nearly every military conflict since the commissioning of USS Forrestal in 1955, no carrier has come under determined attack from a capable opponent. In part, this is because supercarriers are very difficult to attack, but the symbolic grandeur of the massive ships also plays a role; no one wants to know what the United States might do if one of its carriers came under attack.(This first appeared several months ago.)What would happen if a foe attacked a United States Navy (USN) aircraft carrier during a conflict? How would the United States react, and how would it respond?Circumstances:




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April 30, 2019

Officials: Parents of suspect among 7 killed in TennesseeNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man suspected of killing his parents and five other people in two rural Tennessee homes stole the car of one of the victims and was wearing a blood-stained T-shirt when he was seen, telling acquaintances the stain was just chocolate, according to authorities and court documents.




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April 30, 2019

US stocks tread water ahead of more earnings, FedWall Street was flat but holding near record levels just after the open on Monday as investors awaited a fresh set of corporate earnings during week loaded with economic data. Markets were also absorbing an upbeat report on consumer spending for March, which showed a big jump at the end of the first quarter. The data come as the Federal Reserve is due to begin its latest-two day policy meeting on Tuesday but is overwhelmingly expected to leave interest rates untouched.




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April 30, 2019

Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders Stake Out Ideological Poles of Democratic RaceBiden is an establishment Democrat with a long record of bipartisan deals ranging from budget accords this decade to a now-maligned 1994 crime bill. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was an early adopter of ideas including single payer health insurance and a $15 federal minimum wage, that have rapidly gained traction in the progressive base. For the moment, Biden, 76, and Sanders, 77, lead the pack in virtually every poll, buoyed by strong name recognition.




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April 30, 2019

Poway Synagogue Shooting Suspect’s Parents Call Him ‘Evil’via FacebookPOWAY, California—The parents of John Earnest, who allegedly opened fire on a synagogue Saturday, called their son evil on Monday.“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue,” the family said in a statement released through an attorney. “But our sadness pales in comparison to the grief and anguish our son has caused for so many innocent people. He has killed and injured the faithful who were gathered in a sacred place on a sacred day. To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries.” On Saturday morning, Earnest entered Chabad of Poway with an assault-style rifle and allegedly opened fire, killing one woman and wounding three others, including a rabbi. Twenty minutes before the attack, Earnest published a virulently anti-Semitic manifesto repeating centuries’ old libels against Jews as justification for murdering them. The message said he idolized Brenton Tarrant, the alleged Christchurch mosque attacker, and Robert Bowers, who allegedly murdered 11 Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Earnest also approvingly cited Adolf Hitler. Twenty minutes after posting the message, he entered Chabad of Poway with an assault-style rifle and allegedly opened fire, killing one woman and wounding three others, including a rabbi. Earnest was chased out of the synagogue by an Army veteran and fled in a vehicle. Soon after, he called 911 and told authorities where to find him on a highway, according to authorities. He will be arraigned Wednesday morning in San Diego County court, one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.Earnest, 19, grew up in a middle-class neighborhood not far from Poway. He was an honors student and accomplished pianist at Mt. Carmel High School, where his father, also named John, works as a teacher. Earnest’s father also served as board president of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Escondido, where the family attended church weekly. Gerrit Groenewold, a member of the church, told The Daily Beast on Sunday that Earnest was the quietest of his family, so quiet that Groenewold grew concerned. “I noticed that he was quiet and just wanted to have contact,” he said. “It’s not good if someone is that quiet. He needs to be part of the community, to let them know what is going on.”Earnest was not known to law enforcement prior to the attack, authorities said, and has no known ties to white supremacist groups.Read more at The Daily Beast.




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April 30, 2019

Washington's Woeful Maduro MiscalculationWhen Washington recognized Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful president, Trump administration officials clearly hoped that incumbent Nicolas Maduro’s grip on power would not last long. There were reasons for such optimism. The socialist regime’s corruption and grotesque economic mismanagement had reached crisis levels. Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, had transformed Venezuela from one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries into a poverty-stricken horror marked by runaway inflation and severe shortages even of the most basic consumer necessities. Venezuela was the latest exhibit in the museum of socialist calamities. Maduro’s popularity had plunged, and his implementation of ever more autocratic measures to suppress opponents did not help his situation.




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April 30, 2019

FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: sourceUS regulators considered grounding some Boeing 737 MAX planes last year after learning belatedly of a problem with a system that is now the main suspect in two deadly crashes, a source close to the matter said. Investigators in the Lion Air crash in October and the Ethiopia Airlines disaster in March have zeroed in on the planes' anti-stall system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Last year, before the Lion crash, inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration discovered that the manufacturer had de-activated a signal designed to advise the cockpit crew of a malfunctioning of the MCAS system, the source said.




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April 30, 2019
A few days back a news report mentioning that a cat in Crimea had adopted four orphaned baby squirrels turned viral and made netizens across the world go 'awww'.Following that we take a look at the surprising bonds between predator and prey -- animals forming the unlikeliest of friendships.

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April 30, 2019
The top court had rejected the objections raised by the Centre that those documents were not admissible as evidence under Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, and no one can produce them in court without the permission of the department concerned as they are also protected under the Official Secrets Act.

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April 30, 2019

Air Force calls for new 'Vanguard' weapons program with hypersonics, lasers and networked missiles



Aggressive pursuit of hypersonics, lasers, networked cruise missiles, artificial intelligence, smart bombs and cyberwar inform the conceptual and technical basis for the Air Force’s new “Vanguard” programs, new Air Force strategic efforts to synthesize science and technology with prototyping and emerging weapons systems.

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