Miscellaneous News

Jura said:

Breaking News at gazeta.ru right now (

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) says (and I'm unable to verify the rest) a Japanese source
北朝鮮ミサイル 日本海の排他的経済水域に落下 官房長官

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says a ballistic missile (North Korean, I presume) fell into

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this morning

EDIT now I used google:

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9 mins ago

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Trump administration national security, military and diplomatic officials are holding an unexpected July 4 meeting to discuss what options might be needed if it is determined by the US that

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, several administration officials tell CNN.
US military technical experts are now reviewing all data and intelligence gathered by US satellites, aircraft and other systems to determine if North Korea's claim that it fired an intercontinental missile is true. "The claim is being taken seriously," one senior Administration official said.
Top officials at the State Department and the Defense Department are participating in the meeting. If it is determined that an ICBM was launched, the goal is for President Donald Trump to potentially approve a "measured response," one official told CNN. Nothing has been decided, but that response could include sending additional US military assets such as troops, aircraft and ships to increase the US presence in the region. Diplomatic options are also being considered including more sanctions.
If it is determined that an ICBM has been fired, the Pentagon will publicly communicate that all missile defense measures aboard Navy ships in the western Pacific and land-based missiles in Alaska are fully ready, as are missile defense systems in South Korea and Japan. The aim is to send a message to Asian allies and the world that the US stands ready to defend against North Korean aggression.
At this stage the US believes that whatever capability the North Koreans have demonstrated it does not necessarily mean they can immediately launch a working missile that can reach as far as western Alaska. And it's also not clear that the regime has a functioning miniaturized nuclear warhead.
However US military commanders have long said they plan against a worst case scenario. Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command recently said, "I know there's some debate about the miniaturization advancements made by Pyongyang. But PACOM must be prepared to fight tonight, so I take him at his word. I must assume his claims are true -- I know his aspirations certainly are."
Defense Secretary James Mattis also recently underscored US military policy when asked by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, "Is it the policy of the Trump administration to deny North Korea the capability of building an ICBM that can hit the American homeland with a nuclear weapon on top?"
Mattis answered simply "Yes, it is, Sen. Graham."
As CNN has previously reported, US military commanders have updated options for Trump specifically in anticipation of a North Korean ICBM or underground nuclear test.

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Jura said:

now I read
China opposes DPRK missile launch
Xinhua| 2017-07-04 17:47:07

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Jura said:

Today at 9:24 AM

what's the status? I now read
US officials meet to discuss response to North Korea missile launch

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which is vague

EDIT
China's strategy in Korean peninsula 3 minutes ago

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A paradigm-changing North Korean missile test has left the United States and China split over how to deal with the aggressive rogue state.
While China and Russia have called for concessions on both sides, the US so far has made no public move to open talks, instead opting to engage in a renewed military show of force with its South Korean ally.
North Korea announced Tuesday it had

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, which state media said had reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers (1,741 miles), its highest ever missile test.
The country's state media claimed they had the power to now strike the American mainland with a nuclear warhead.

In a joint press statement issued by Russia and China, the two countries reiterated their call for North Korea to stop its missile and nuclear programs in exchange for the US and South Korea holding off on future large joint military drills.
However, within hours of the statement, the US and South Korea announced they'd held a new ballistic missile drill to counter "North Korea's destabilizing and unlawful actions."
"(The drills) showcased precision targeting of the enemy's leadership in case of an emergency,"

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The contrasting responses expose the diplomatic divisions over how to deal with an increasingly aggressive North Korea.
Speaking alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Moscow press conference Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said both leaders wanted "peace and stability" on the Korean peninsula.
"It is very important to push forward our joint initiative on settling the Korean problem with a view of immediately freezing the ballistic missile strikes and also dealing with the US deployment of weapons in South Korea," he said.
Joe Cirincione, president of the

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, an organization working to stop nuclear proliferation, told CNN North Korean officials had previously expressed willingness in unofficial two-party talks to pause their weapons programs if US and South Korean exercises were suspended.
Tillerson: 'Global action' need to stop North Korea
The United States and South Korea regularly hold annual military drills in March and April which often provoke a fierce response from North Korea,

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China first suggested a suspension of drills in exchange for North Korea's nuclear program in March, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the

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The latest United States and South Korea drills held Wednesday were designed to display both countries' own missile strength, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.
The night before the drills commenced,US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the ICBM test as a "new escalation,"

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"As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea," he said.
Cirincione said while the US drills were "legitimate," it was important for the US administration to begin negotiations with the North Koreans.
"There is no military option here. Even a limited military strike could escalate to a major war ... (We should) have talks about talks with no preconditions. This is what China and Russia and South Korea and Japan are urging us to do," he said.
While South Korea joined in Wednesday's drills, new President Moon Jae-in has

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, rather than confrontation.
No good options for US
Analysts told CNN there are very few good options for US President Donald Trump to deal with the North Korean threat.
"A really difficult question will be whether Donald Trump feels like he's (been) backed into a corner and doesn't have options short of war,"

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"I think what we'll have to grapple with in Washington is that none of our tactics, or our levers, mean the same thing anymore," Mount added.
On Tuesday night, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, which will be held on Wednesday afternoon.
Mount said although the Trump administration had repeatedly raised the possibility of negotiations, the US President could be unwilling to enter into long, messy negotiations.
"He likes simple, neat wins ... but there's no easy wins on the North Korean issue. Any agreement would be unsatisfying and prone to failure," he said.
Meanwhile any move towards confrontation could result in a North Korean strike on the neighboring South Korean capital of Seoul, analysts said, potentially killing millions of people.
"The inevitable end point will be that we do live with a nuclear North Korea with long-range missiles in some form. And it is only a matter of time until that bitter pill is swallowed in Washington," Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at Sydney's Lowy Institute, told CNN.

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Jura said:

now noticed US Army, South Korea respond to North's latest missile test

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N00813 said:

LOL Greece isn't feeling very loyal to the EU after 2008...
Even without the speculation from Reuters, this is most likely linked to Greece being one of the terminals for OBOR.

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Greece blocks EU statement on China human rights at U.N.

FILE PHOTO: Flags of European Union and China are pictured during the China-EU summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

By

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and

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| BRUSSELS/ATHENS

...One EU diplomat expressed frustration that Greece's decision to block the statement came at the same time the International Monetary Fund and EU governments agreed to release funds under Greece's emergency financial bailout last week in Luxembourg.

"It was dishonorable, to say the least," the diplomat said...

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plawolf said:

Most interesting and revealing part of the article.

So does this EU diplomat think the bailout funds somehow dependent on the recipients toeing the EU and US (IMF) foreign policy party lines?

In an article all but blantantly accuse China of playing money politics. I suspect the hypocrisy and irony is entirely lost on the editor to allow the journalist to split that gem past him.

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PiSigma said:

Journalists are just English majors that sometimes get to travel. I found most of them to have tunnel vision on what they are reporting. Aldo who said the editor isn't biased, or the paper itself.

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U.S. LEGAL NEWS | Thu Jul 6, 2017 | 7:47am EDT
Hobby Lobby to forfeit ancient Iraqi artifacts in settlement with U.S. DOJ

By Dan Whitcomb | LOS ANGELES
Arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has agreed to forfeit thousands of illegally smuggled ancient Middle Eastern artifacts obtained from antiquities dealers for a Bible museum headed by its president, the company and U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The forfeiture will include some 5,500 artifacts purchased by Hobby Lobby Inc that originated from the region of modern-day Iraq and were shipped under false labels, as well as an additional $3 million to settle the civil charges, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

"The protection of cultural heritage is a mission that (Homeland Security Investigations) and its partner U.S. Customs and Border Protection take very seriously as we recognize that while some may put a price on these artifacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless,” Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York, said in the statement.

Privately-held Hobby Lobby said that it was new to the world of antiquities when it began acquiring historical items for its Museum of the Bible in 2009 and made mistakes in relying on dealers and shippers who "did not understand the correct way to document and ship" them.

The company's president, Steve Green, is the chairman and founder of the Museum of the Bible, which is under construction in Washington, D.C.

The artifacts being forfeited include cuneiform tablets and bricks, clay bullae and cylinder seals. Cuneiform is an ancient system of writing on clay tablets.

"At no time did Hobby Lobby ever purchase items from dealers in Iraq or from anyone who indicated that they acquired items from that country," Green said in his statement. "Hobby Lobby condemns such conduct and has always acted with the intent to protect ancient items of cultural and historical importance. ...

“We have accepted responsibility and learned a great deal,” Green added, saying that the company has now "implemented acquisition policies and procedures based on the industry's highest standards."

Federal prosecutors say that when Hobby Lobby, which is based in Oklahoma City, began assembling its collection it was warned by an expert on cultural property law to be cautious in acquiring artifacts from Iraq, which in some cases have been looted from archaeological sites.

Despite that warning and other red flags the company in December 2010 purchased thousands of items from a middle-man, without meeting the purported owner, according to prosecutors.

A dealer based in the United Arab Emirates shipped packages containing the artifacts to three Hobby Lobby corporate addresses in Oklahoma City, bearing false label that described their contents as "ceramic tiles" or "clay tiles" and the country of origin as Turkey.

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SteelBird said:

No journalists are ever neutral. They report on what they believe and trust. You can't blame them.

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In a speech delivered before a noisy crowd in Warsaw Thursday, President Donald Trump praised NATO ally Poland for increasing its defense spending and restated his Administration’s

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of other European nations for not spending enough. “We salute the Polish people,” Trump said, for raising their military spending to two percent of GDP and reaching “the benchmark for investment in our common defense.”

Still, according to

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released by NATO last week, only three other European nations—Greece, Estonia, and the United Kingdom—met the two percent threshold for defense spending in 2016, with Romania also expected to reach it in 2017.

“Europe must do more,” Trump said. “Europe must demonstrate that it believes in its future by investing its money to secure that future.” Trump told his audience that, by way of contrast, “the United States has demonstrated, not merely with its words but with its actions, that we stand behind Article 5,” the NATO pledge for member nations to come to each other’s defense. The US spent 3.6 percent of its GDP on defense in 2016, according to NATO.

“Americans know that a strong alliance of free, sovereign and independent nations is the best defense for our freedoms and for our interests,” Trump said. “That is why my administration has demanded that all members of NATO finally meet their full and fair financial obligation.”

Trump claimed that, “as a result of this insistence, billions of dollars more have begun to pour into NATO.”

More than money was on Trump’s mind in Warsaw, however, as he also questioned the drive of European nations to defend their citizens. “The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive,” Trump said. “Our defense is not just a commitment of money. It is a commitment of will.”

He said the survival of “the West” relies upon “the will of its people to prevail and be successful” beyond military capabilities. “We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive.”

Trump’s speech came ahead of his visit to the G20 conference, which begins Friday in Hamburg.

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Jura said:

LOL Trump is in Europe

(I now spent some time in Polish Internet, the most controversial moment during the visit of Warsaw is described in English in
Trump praises Lech Wałęsa in front of Solidarity leader’s foes

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and I read in Czech Internet as many as 100k protesters were expected in Hamburg ... now found using google indeed "Police expected around 100,000 protesters in the port city, some 8,000 of whom are deemed by security forces to be ready to commit violence."
Trump, risking isolation over climate, arrives for G20

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)

here's the military-related news:
Trump Praises Poland, Calls Out Other NATO Allies in Warsaw Speech

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PiSigma said:

... Romania,

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PiSigma said:

Estonia,

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PiSigma said:

and Poland ...

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