A News Aggregator That Covers The World's Major Wars And Conflicts. Military, Political, And Intelligence News Are Also Covered. Occasionally We Will Have Our Own Opinions Or Observations To Make.
Less than a week before the California primary, Google listed “Nazism” as the ideology of the California Republican Party.
In the “knowledge panel” that provides easy access to information next to search results, Google was showing “Nazism” as an “ideology” of the party as of Thursday morning. The word “Nazism” was hyperlinked to a secondary page that shows “Nazism” alongside other “ideologies” of California Republicans like “Conservatism,” "Market liberalism,” “Fiscal conservatism,” and “Green conservatism."
California voters have been casting their absentee ballots for weeks ahead of Tuesday’s statewide primary elections, which will help determine the majority in the House of Representative and the potential next governor of the world’s fifth-largest economy.
China's aircraft carrier Liaoning (C) takes part in a military drill of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the western Pacific Ocean, April 18, 2018. (REUTERS)
* The carrier group is led by China's first aircraft carrier, called the Liaoning
* A spokesperson said today that it had reached 'initial' combat readiness
* Also today, China called U.S. claims of it militarising South China Sea 'ridiculous'
* U.S. previously said it would confront China's actions in the disputed waterways
China's carrier group led by the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has reached 'initial' combat readiness, the defence ministry said today.
Also today, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson called the U.S. assertions of China militarising the South China Sea 'ridiculous'.
The statements were made by China's defence ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang and China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying during separate press briefings.
Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana W. White and Joint Staff director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie brief the media at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Oct. 5, 2017. (DOD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley)
Washington (CNN)The Pentagon on Thursday ratcheted up rhetoric about China's militarization of islands in the South China Sea, even as the Trump administration presses China for cooperation on North Korea.
When asked by a reporter about the ability of the US to "blow apart" one of China's controversial man-made islands, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters, "I would just tell you that the United States military has had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific taking down small islands."
His comments come amid growing tension in the hotly contested region, as the US ramps up freedom of navigation operations in response to China's steady militarization of its artificial islands.
The US Navy sailed two warships within 12 nautical miles of the disputed Paracel Islands in the past week, the first time it has used more than one vessel in the operations, which are meant to demonstrate the right of free passage in international waters.
Several militants dressed in U.S. military uniforms opened fire outside the Afghan Interior Ministry on Wednesday, before being fatally shot by security forces, the top U.S. commander in the country said.
The attack began as 10 militants, traveling in armored vehicles, gathered outside the interior ministry in Kabul, according to The Associated Press. Two militants then detonated suicide bombs, allowing the others to pass through a gate at the ministry.
The militants traded fire with security forces before they were killed within minutes. One police officer was killed and five others were wounded in the attack, the AP reported.
A TV report in the South Korean capital of Seoul broadcasts news about the dismantling of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
The head-spinning ups and downs of the “on-off-and-now-maybe” summit between Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is diverting attention from the real choice facing the U.S. president: if he remains inflexibly committed to eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile program by the end of his first term, he will fail.
Contrary to the sky-high expectations being set, rollback of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs will not happen anytime soon because – after investing so much blood, sweat, and treasure to develop operational nuclear weapons over the past 25 years – the North will not give them up quickly or easily.
"This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point their common sense will prevail," said Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau.
The Trump administration on Thursday slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, prompting outrage from America’s closest allies and major trading partners and setting off a trade war that could see U.S. consumers pay more for everything from canned soup to cars.
The move to implement tariffs under the guise of national security measures triggered strong response across the globe, including a firm reproach from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who denounced the punitive tariffs as "totally unacceptable" and "an affront," saying that the very idea "Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable."
Read more ....
* President said before boarding Air Force One that he might have to meet more than once with Kim Jong-un
* Scheduled summit will 'hopefully' still happen June 12 according to Trump
* Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a working dinner on Wednesday in New York City with top North Korean aide Kim Yong Chol
* Trump said he expects to receive a formal letter on Friday from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, carried by a delegation sent to Washington
President Donald Trump signaled on Thursday that he still expects to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, saying he's 'hopeful' that the summit will happen as scheduled.
But he warned at the same time that just one sit-down with the communist country may not be enough to ensure it doesn't pose a nuclear threat.
The two leaders are expected to sit down to negotiate the terms of North Korea's withdrawal from an effort to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States.
Trump tweeted that the U.S. had been engaging in 'very good meetings with North Korea.'
WNU Editor: Today's meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol ended earlier than expected. When that happens .... one of two things happen .... if the talks were successful the negotiators will keep to themselves. If the talks broke down .... they would go to the microphone and condemn the other party. Since the negotiators kept to themselves, and they will now meet President Trump at the White House .... these talks must have been a success .... or at least on some of the key points.
More News On The Current Talks Between North Korea And The U.S.
(CNN)A march honoring Nicaraguans killed in violence surrounding recent anti-government demonstrations also ended in bloodshed Wednesday -- the country's Mother's Day.
"We've received grave claims of deaths and serious injuries that resulted from today's violence in Nicaragua," Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Executive Secretary Paulo Abrao tweeted Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights released a statement saying 11 people had been killed and 79 injured during the clashes. The march had been promoted as a peaceful demonstration by organizers.
Rights group Amnesty International, which had a delegation accompanying the march, said it "witnessed the chaos caused by the detonation of firearms," and accused police and pro-government groups, known as "Sandinista mobs," of carrying out attacks.
The picture of the F-35 in action – before even the US military has claimed to use it – was interpreted as a show of strength for Israel's enemies ( Screenshot via Hadashot News )
A photo of an Israeli fighter jet flying over Beirut has drawn angry reactions and criticism within Lebanon.
"This is Israel playing a psychological side of the war,” General Mouawad Tannous, a former Lebanese military intelligence officer and former defense attaché with Lebanon's Embassy in Washington D.C. told The Independent. “Israel is flaunting its power, and showing to all its high military superiority.”
Israeli air force commander Major General Amikam Norkin showed the high-quality photo of a U.S.-made F-35 hovering over Beirut during a presentation at an international security conference last week. During the presentation, he said he believed Israel is "the first to attack with the F-35 in the Middle East."
WNU Editor: When I posted this story on War News Update's social media accounts a few days ago .... the reaction I got from Arabs in the Middle East was universal anger. So yes .... the Lebanese are "not happy".
FILE PHOTO: Israeli soldiers sit atop a tank as they watch the border with Syria near the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, July 3, 2013. REUTERS
Iranian advisers and Hezbollah fighters will be withdrawing from the southern regions of Daraa and Quneitra near the Golan Heights, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says .
A Syrian war monitor says Iranian troops and fighters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group are getting ready to withdraw from southern Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday Iranian advisers and Hezbollah fighters will be withdrawing from the southern regions of Daraa and Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
A Syria-based official with the Iran-led axis of resistance denied the report saying it is "untrue." The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, gave no further details.
Syrian President Bashar Assad says Moscow deterred the West from launching a devastating country-wide air strike last month, and believes that Damascus has nearly won the seven-year war, despite continued US “interference.”
“With every move forward for the Syrian Army, and for the political process, and for the whole situation, our enemies and our opponents, mainly the West led by the United States and their puppets in Europe and in our region, they try to make it farther – either by supporting more terrorism, bringing more terrorists to Syria, or by hindering the political process,” Assad told RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev, during a sit-down interview in Damascus, noting that without outside funding his opponents inside the country could be subdued “within a year.”
* Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri captured after September 11 attack
* They were sent to black sites in Romania and Lithuania between 2004 and 2006
* CIA subjected them to 'enhanced interrogation' including waterboarding
* European Court of Human Rights ruled both countries violated European law
* They were admonished by the court and ordered to pay each man €100,000
Romania and Lithuania violated EU anti-torture rules by allowing the CIA to interrogate terror suspects at secret black sites, a court ruled.
Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were captured after the September 11 attacks and sent to the sites for 'enhanced interrogation' in 2004-06.
There they suffered 'inhuman treatment' and 'an extremely harsh detention regime', the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday.
* Vote called after Rajoy's party was caught taking bribes over public contracts
* Pedro Sanchez, leader of the opposition, warned Prime Minister 'your time is up'
* It now appears Sanchez has secured more than 176 votes needed to unseat Rajoy
* Fatal blow came when Basque Nationalist Party turned on its former ally
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to be kicked out of office when a no-confidence vote takes place on Friday.
Pedro Sanchez, leader of the Socialist opposition, called the vote after Rajoy's conservative party was caught taking kickbacks in return for awarding public contracts.
A Basque nationalist party's decisive announcement on Thursday that it would vote in favour of the no-confidence motion has spelled the almost certain end of Prime Minister Rajoy's eight-year rule.
The Basque party's support gives Sanchez 180 votes in parliament to become prime minister, more than the absolute majority of 176 votes he needs to unseat Rajoy.
WNU Editor: The corruption scandal engulfing Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy's party has finally caught up to all of them. Expect a new Spanish government in the coming days.
More News On Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy Facing A No-Confidence Vote On Friday
The US is to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from allies in Europe and North America.
The US said a 25% tax on steel and 10% tax on aluminium from the EU, Mexico and Canada will start at midnight.
The move immediately triggered vows of retaliation from Mexico and the EU, which called the tariffs "protectionism, pure and simple".
The UK said it was "deeply disappointed" by the US decision, which followed weeks of negotiations.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said it was a "bad day for world trade", while European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the move was "totally unacceptable.
WNU Editor: I cannot say that I am surprised. There has been no progress on trade issues, and the U.S. President is now implementing what he promised last year on what he would do if there was no progress. My prediction for the future .... expect a lot of tit-for-tat moves in the coming weeks.
More News On The U.S. Imposing Tariffs On Steel And Aluminum Imports From The EU, Mexico And Canada
State department says regime must map out denuclearisation steps it is willing to take if summit is to go ahead
The North Koreans will have to lay out a disarmament plan in the next few days if a planned summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is to go ahead on schedule in two weeks’ time, a senior US state department official said on Wednesday.
The official was speaking in New York as the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and a top North Korean official, Kim Yong-chol, met over a dinner ahead of a day of talks on Thursday aimed at defining negotiating positions and narrowing differences before the summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam November 10, 2017. Xi and Putin have become closer as President Donald Trump attempts to isolate them with sanctions. /Konstantin Zavrazhin/Kremlin/Sputnik/Reuters
Russia and China—the two leading rivals of the U.S. military—vowed in their latest meeting to pursue new defense ties as they faced heightened pressure from Washington in the form of military dominance and economic sanctions.
In recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have invested heavily in building up their own armed forces and enhancing bilateral military cooperation. Major General Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, and Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian military's general staff, co-hosted the 20th round of strategic consultation between the two nations Wednesday in Beijing.
Just as it was reported that the summit between the United States and North Korea was back on and that Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea was on his way to New York to meet with officials in preparation for the June 12 summit, the CIA leaked an intelligence assessment concluding that “North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear weapons any time soon.” The timing of this leak is striking, as it seems to be an effort to undermine negotiations between the two nations and comes just days after ranking members of the Democratic Party and Republican hardliners attacked President Donald Trump over his efforts to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
WNU Editor: When I read this leaked CIA report to NBC yesterday my alarm bells started ringing .... CIA report says North Korea won't denuclearize, but might open a burger joint (NBC). Why leak it now .... on the eve of talks between US Secretary of State Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol? We all know that there has been a problem between President Trump and some in the intelligence community since he was elected. It looks like those problems are still there.
Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang shows that Moscow pays much attention to the development of relations with Pyongyang, the North Korean leader said
PYONGYANG, May 31. /TASS/. North Korea highly values the Russian government’s course, in particular that of President Vladimir Putin, for countering the US’ dominance, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday. The footage of the meeting was published on YouTube.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is changing in accordance with the requirements of the interests of the two countries’ [North and South Korea] nations. I highly value the fact that Putin’s administration strictly opposes the US’ dominance," Kim Jong-un stressed. "You strictly oppose, and we are always ready to conduct negotiations and a profound exchange of opinions with the Russian side on this issue."
WNU Editor: The Kremlin is out of the loop on what is happening on the Korean peninsula. This Lavrov - Kin Jong-un meeting should have happened two or three months ago.
More News On Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Meeting North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un
South Korean President Moon Jae-in may travel to Singapore next month to hold a three-way summit with his US and North Korean counterparts, Seoul officials noted Thursday, possibly suggesting that Washington and Pyongyang may currently be considering a formal end to the Korean War as an incentive to the North for its denuclearization.
An official from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said nothing has yet been decided when asked if President Moon planned to visit Singapore for a three-way summit with US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who are expected to hold a bilateral summit there on June 12.
However, the official said the president will make a trip if there is an invitation from the US and North Korea.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol enter a second day of meetings in New York on Thursday as they try to settle nuclear weapons disagreements and set the stage for an historic summit between their leaders.
The two men left a 90-minute private dinner at a New York apartment on Wednesday night without providing details about their conversation. Another round of talks is due on Thursday.
The United States has been demanding that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program amid reports that it is close to being able to launch a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.
Pyongyang has long argued that it needed nuclear weapons for its security.
WNU Editor: What is remarkable about this meeting is that this is the first time for the Trump administration that they are dealing with the Kim regime unfiltered by mediators like South Korea. On another note .... no leaks from Pompeo's office on what was discussed.
More News On U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo And North Korean Official Kim Yong Chol Meeting Today For A Second Day Of Talks
At the turn of the millennium, Blink-182 was everywhere. On the cover of the pop-punk band's smash album, "Enema of the State," a busty nurse with a lustful grin snapped on a latex glove. At MTV beach concerts, sunburned masses moshed to the No. 1 hit "All the Small Things." But frontman Tom DeLonge — the one with the angsty, adolescent singing voice — had been nurturing an offstage hobby that was decidedly out of the mainstream.
With his first record-deal payout as a fledgling teenage rock star, DeLonge had bought a computer to research the prospect of intelligent life beyond Earth. And after Blink-182 made him a fortune, he further indulged his fascination with the paranormal.
WNU Editor: The above article is trying to give credit to one person for this sudden interest in UFOs. But truth be told .... interest in UFOs have been around for as long as I can remember. And as much as there may be a lot of interest in the U.S. right now on the subject .... I know in Russia this is a subject that that has been discussed for decades. On a personal note .... my heart likes to believe, but my brain makes me skeptical that these are extraterrestrial beings visiting earth. I more inclined to believe that they are advanced defense projects .... and they show up once in a while surprising everyone .... including the military who have been kept out of the loop on what is being developed/researched.
The ships would be called “multi-purpose operational mother ships.”
The Japanese government is considering a bold plan: converting its largest ships to carry the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in order to shore up a key defense vulnerability. The country’s use of aircraft carriers during World War II, however, has made loathe to actually use the phrase “aircraft carrier,” instead preferring the term “multi-purpose operational mother ship”.
In the early years of World War II, Japan had the largest and most power aircraft carrier fleet in the world. An island nation bereft of natural resources, Japan needed to procure them abroad, making a powerful navy vitally important. Japan’s carrier force swept across the Pacific, bombing China, attacking Australia, and infamously the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
The big cargo hauler executed a knife edge turn and dived down into the canyon in a way that would make an F-16 blush.
Star Wars Canyon, also known as the Jedi Transition or Rainbow Canyon, and the aviation photographers that trek there, have offered up some of the most stunning and interesting images and footage of military aircraft over the last half-decade. The variety of aircraft that blast through the chasm is one of the locale's biggest attractions. Like fishing in some bizarre intercoastal waterway you truly never know what you might catch. In the case of pro photog Eric Larson, he recently caught a whale with one hell of an attitude.
Jumping out of a plane without a parachute is never a good idea. But it is striking that some individuals walk away, or more likely are carried away, with a few token broken bones and a story to dine out on for the rest of their lives. Most modern examples are of parachutists who have had chute problems, particularly while messing around with free fall. But ‘the golden age’ of parachuteless falls was, of course, WW2, when hundreds of thousands of young men took to the skies to fight for their countries and many found themselves (i) without a parachute, (ii) without a serviceable parachute, (ii) out of reach of a parachute, or (ii) otherwise indisposed (e.g. unconscious) when the time came to leap. These men were all ineligible for the caterpillar club (a club for those who have survived thanks to a parachute: another post another day). We nominate them, instead, for membership of the gannet club: named after the rapid diver that plunges vertically from great heights after fish.
Vice Chairman of North Korea Kim Young Chol arrives at the Millennium Hotel in New York ahead of talks with the US amid a scramble to organize next month's historic nuclear summit https://t.co/hqDYN0WRlrpic.twitter.com/CZFmUny1rW
VIDEO: Russian journalist, Arkady Babchenko, reported killed in Kiev turns up at a news conference. His "fake death" was part of a special operation to pre-empt a real plot to kill him pic.twitter.com/DEW7V90Sm0
More than half of the world’s children are threatened by conflict, poverty or sexual discrimination, Save the Children says in a report published on the eve of the International Children’s Day pic.twitter.com/u3KdURPWK4
