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☆ China is looking all over the world for help building and flying its fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet at RAF Coningsby in May. Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot, has been accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by training Chinese military pilots. "Currently, Chinese jet engines can at best achieve one-fourth the life span of Western engines," the report says. To manufacture engines, China still needs to import complex machine tools, including equipment made in Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. A J-20 stealth fighter jet at Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai in November.

Persons: —, Der Spiegel, Christopher Furlong, Daniel Duggan, Duggan, Chen Jimin, Deng Hua, John Paul Jones, walling, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Privacy, China, NATO, Taiwan, British Royal Air Force Eurofighter, Coningsby, US, Chinese headhunters, US Marine Corps, Western, China News Service, Getty, Center for Strategic, International Studies, CSIS, Nations, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: China, May, Australian, Zhuhai, US, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Xinhua, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, Hungarian, Russia, Russian, Nazi, Forbes

☆ Why the Battle for Supremacy in Asia Begins With China’s Coast Guard
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But they are not Chinese Navy vessels. Their hulls are painted white, with “China Coast Guard” in block letters on the sides. In just a decade, China has amassed the world’s largest coast guard fleet, and it is like no other. More militarized, more aggressive in international disputes and less concerned with the usual missions of policing smugglers or search and rescue, the Chinese force has upended 200 years of global coast guard tradition. But with coast guard standoffs quietly escalating around the region, officials and analysts increasingly worry about a rising threat: an accident or violent skirmish anywhere in the vast area that China’s Coast Guard roams, which could spark a broader conflict, even a war between major powers.

Persons: standoffs Organizations: U.S . Navy, China Coast Guard, Guard Locations: Asia, China, Beijing, Taiwan

☆ Russia repelled a mass attack by Ukraine's high-speed marine drones on a reconnaissance warship in the Black Sea, Moscow says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine unsuccessfully attacked a Russian warship in the Black Sea, Russia's defense ministry said. Russia said Ukraine used six unmanned boats to try and attack the ship on Sunday. The Black Sea peninsula was invaded by Russian forces and illegally annexed by Putin in 2014. At the time of Ukraine's attempted attack, an American RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in the central part of the Black Sea, the ministry's statement added. In May, a Russian warship, the Ivan Khurs, was attacked by three unmanned speedboats in the Black Sea.

Persons: —, Ukraine's, Ivan Khurs Organizations: Service, Russian, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Reuters, Russia's Defence Ministry, Russian Defence Ministry Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Sevastopol —, American, Europe, Turkey, Black

CNN —Hundreds of far-left protesters clashed with police in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Saturday night, during demonstrations over jail terms handed down to several people convicted of vigilante attacks against neo-Nazis. Groups sympathetic to Lina E., who is from Leipzig, have been protesting the verdict. Police tried at first to accommodate the demonstration, but when it turned violent and officers came under attack, authorities responded with force. Five people were arrested, all male German citizens aged 20 to 32 years old, Leipzig police said. “All the information available to the Leipzig police department suggests that protesters will still gather in Leipzig on Saturday despite the ban,” a Leipzig police spokesperson told CNN on Friday.

Persons: Lina E, –, Der, ”, Jan Woitas, Lina ”, Lennart A, Jannis, Jonathan M, Germany’s Organizations: CNN, Der Spiegel, Police, ”, Saturday, Prosecutors Locations: German, Leipzig, Dresden, Leipzig –, ” Leipzig, Europe, Germany, Hamburg, Berlin, Wurzen, Eisenach, Thuringia

☆ NATO head urges Kosovo to ease tensions with Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Stoltenberg, the transatlantic military alliance's Norwegian secretary-general, said he had spoken to European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about Kosovo. Ethnic Albanians make up more than 90% of the population in Kosovo as a whole. Local Serbs, backed by Belgrade, said they will not accept the mayors and that they do not represent them. The situation remained tense on Sunday with heavily armed police in armoured vehicles still guarding the mayors' offices. Reporting by Sabine Siebold, writing by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

CNN —Dutch police arrested over 1,500 people after Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked a motorway in The Hague on Saturday. Hundreds of police were deployed to “maintain public order” during the climate protest, Dutch police said in a press release Saturday. Oscar Brak/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesActivists are arrested after blocking the A12 motorway in The Hague. Michel Porro/Getty ImagesVideos of the protest posted in social media showed protesters dressed in swimsuits and raincoats, prepared for the water cannons. Forty people were arrested for other criminal offenses including obstructing, blocking, vandalism, and insulting, according to the press release.

☆ Swarm of bees delays a Delta flight by three hours
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Marnie Hunter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A swarm of bees touched down on a parked Delta Air Lines aircraft Wednesday, delaying a flight from Houston to Atlanta for about three hours. Delta apologized to customers on the delayed flight. My flight leaving Houston is delayed because bees have congregated on the tip of one of the wings. A swarm of bees delayed an Air India flight in 2019. The airport involved in Wednesday’s bee-related delay hasn’t joined in airport beekeeping efforts – yet.

☆ U.S. military aid for Ukraine includes air-launched rockets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The United States said Wednesday it would send a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $300 million, including for the first time the Hydra-70 short-range. The security assistance package would be the 37th approved by the United States for Ukraine since Russian invaded its neighbor in February 2022, for a total of $35.7 billion. "The United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement announcing the aid package. The rockets, munitions and 155mm howitzer cannons included in the package would help Ukraine weaken Russian ground positions for advancing Ukrainian ground forces as Kyiv plans a spring offensive. The rockets are typically launched from pods attached to aircraft to provide support for ground troops.

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The United States plans to announce as soon as Wednesday a new $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that will for the first time include a short-range air-launched rocket, two U.S. officials said. The Hydra 70 is an air-launched unguided rocket made by General Dynamics (GD.N). The rockets could help Ukraine weaken Russian ground positions and provide advancing Ukrainian ground forces with air support as Kyiv plans a spring offensive. The security assistance package would be the 37th approved by the United States for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, for a total of nearly $36 billion. However, members of both parties insist they support continued aid for Ukraine including top Republicans House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate.

At about 8.30 a.m. shooting started at the Soba military camp in the south of Khartoum, according to three eyewitnesses and an advisor within Dagalo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Burhan's air force was studying where the RSF was gathered, using coordinates provided by the army, two military sources told Reuters, describing plans that have not previously been reported. The RSF, meanwhile, had been locating more and more gunmen at Soba and other camps across Khartoum, the same military sources said. The army also established a small committee of senior generals to prepare for a possible conflict with the RSF, the same sources said. Both the army and the RSF were quick to blame the other publicly for sparking the violence and attempting a power grab.

☆ US Air Force secretary says it's time to move on from the A-10 Warthog because it 'doesn't scare China' and has only 'limited usability'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US Air Force has been trying for years to retire its aging fleet of A-10 Warthog planes. During a Thursday hearing, the service secretary said the aircraft "doesn't scare China." I was an advocate for that program for a long time, but it doesn't scare China." US Air Force maintainers work on an A-10 Warthog at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, September 2, 2011. In December 2021, the Air Force secretary lauded the Warthog, C-130 transport aircraft, and MQ-9 Reaper drone for their past effectiveness.

☆ A 1960s-era cannon is 'kicking ass' against Russia's drones, but the country that makes ammo for it won't send more to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But Switzerland, where Gepard ammo is made, is not allowing more of that ammo to be sent to Ukraine. The Gepard SPAAGA German Gepard anti-aircraft tank during an exercise near Munster in June 2007. German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann built 570 Gepards between 1963 and 1980 — 420 for the German Bundeswehr, 95 for the Dutch army, and 55 for the Belgian army. Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty ImagesAfter being criticized for its reluctance to send heavy weaponry to Ukraine, the German government promised some 50 Gepards to Ukraine in April 2022. In February, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that German firm Rheinmetall would restart ammo production for the Gepard.

☆ A fighter plane designed for the US Navy during World War II was still taking down jet fighters over Vietnam 20 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was designed for the US Navy in the final years of World War II. The US Air Force and its South Vietnamese counterpart also began operating the plane that year. Navy Skyraider pilots even managed to down MiG-17 fighter jets on two occasions. By the end of the war, Air Force Skyraiders conducted more than 90,000 combat sorties, including more than 1,000 a month during the peak of the fighting. The last Air Force Skyraider mission was on November 7, 1972, and all of the service's remaining Skyraiders were transferred to the South Vietnamese air force in 1973.

☆ An NYC real estate investor explains why the 'golden age' of being a landlord is over and he's switching to 'safer' investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A major NYC landlord told Bloomberg this week that he's selling off the bulk of his properties. He says the shifting political power of tenants and increased costs of being a landlord are why. Ben Carlos Thypin told Bloomberg this week on the "Odd Lots" podcast that he's pursuing an "orderly liquidation" of his properties. Power is slowly shifting from landlords to rentersWhen directly asked by Bloomberg about whether there ever was a "golden age" for landlords, Thypin pointed to research showing how policies in the 1950s helped create a boom for property owners. She added that real estate policies tend to target the creation of new properties, rather than protecting tenants in existing ones.

☆ Italy's ski industry fires cannon against climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stefano Bernabei | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/7] Skiers pass on an artificial snow slope as end of the ski season nears, in Monte Cimone, Italy, March 31, 2023. "The ski-lifts were closed, the ski instructors and seasonal workers had nothing to do and we lost 40% of our revenue for the whole season," said Luciano Magnani, head of the local consortium of ski tourism operators. Some 90% of Italy's pistes rely on artificial snow, compared with 70% in Austria, 50% in Switzerland and 39% in France, according to data from Italian Green lobby Legambiente. Italy's ski sector directly or indirectly employs 400,000 people and generates turnover of 11 billion euros ($11.92 billion), according to Anef data, equal to about 0.5% of national output. Some economists and climatologists argue that trying to keep low-altitude ski resorts in business is destined to fail, and snow-making merely delays the inevitable.

☆ Israel isn't 'out of the woods' even though Netanyahu paused the plan that pushed his country into chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( John Haltiwanger | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A judicial overhaul plan pushed by Netanyahu's government sparked a major crisis in Israel. "The crisis was deferred, but definitely not resolved," a former US ambassador to Israel told Insider. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to hit pause on a deeply controversial plan to overhaul the country's judiciary, but Israel's problems are far from over. One piece of the plan has already been passed into law, narrowing the circumstances under which a prime minister can be deemed unfit for office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a voting session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel on March 27, 2023.

Police sprayed protesters with water cannons on a highway in Tel Aviv. ReutersCivil unrest broke out in Israel’s major cities as protesters opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system. Tel Aviv: Protesters block highway and clash with policeThousands of protesters blocked Ayalon highway, the main highway in Tel Aviv, for several hours overnight, lighting bonfires along the road until the early hours of Monday morning. Yehuda Bergstein/EPA, via ShutterstockIsraeli police cleared the highway overnight, but protesters blocked it again on Monday as widespread protests continued. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesProtesters scuffled with police outside the parliament as the rally grew on Monday.

☆ The future of the U.S. tank force
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Brad Howard | Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe future of the U.S. tank forceDrones, anti-tank missiles and precise artillery have been used to great effect against tanks on both sides during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. military relies on the Abrams tank to be a bedrock of power in any potential conflict, but with war entering a new era, will these giant tracked behemoths equipped with massive cannons still be the cornerstone of land warfare?

☆ King Charles' visit to France postponed after wave of protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

French gendarmes react near burning garbage bins amid clashes with protesters during a demonstration as part of the ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, March 23, 2023. King Charles III's visit to France has been postponed, as protests continue over the Paris government's pension system reforms. Unions on Thursday called for a national day of action involving strikes and protests on March 28. The decision to cancel the visit was taken by the French and British governments after a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles, according to an official statement from the Élysée Palace. King Charles was due to visit Paris and Bordeaux, both of which have experienced tense protests.

☆ France pension reform protests turn violent following national day of action
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Aurore Laborie Dalal Mawad Oliver Briscoe Allegra Goodwin Pierre Bairin Helen Regan | Aurore Laborie | Dalal Mawad | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN —More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday with protests turning violent in some areas as demonstrators voiced their fury at proposed pension reforms. At least 80 people were arrested and 123 police officers injured in France on Thursday during the nationwide protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. The gate of the Bordeaux city hall after it was set on fire during a demonstration on a national day of action, on March 23 in Bordeaux, southwestern France. French riot police apprehend a protester amid clashes during a demonstration against pension reform in Paris on March 23, 2023. It rammed the legislation through the French National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.

☆ To stay or go? The dilemma Ukrainians near front face every day
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mike Collett-White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

KALYNIVKA, Ukraine, March 21 (Reuters) - It was finally time for Vasyl Kurlyshchuk to leave. She was going to stay in the settlement and wanted to know if Kurlyshchuk was taking his solar powered battery with him. What is now ordinary for the hundreds who remain in Chasiv Yar out of a pre-war population of some 13,000 would be extraordinary elsewhere. "Vera was evacuated to Poltava but a lot of people have stayed," said the 67-year-old, pointing to pictures on her smartphone of her friend, who had left Chasiv Yar for a safer place. That meant three fewer familiar faces for Olena and her friends as they carried on in Chasiv Yar.

CNN —Sri Lanka on Monday secured a much-anticipated loan of about $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the South Asian nation navigates its worst financial crisis in decades. The deal, nearly a year in the making, will aim to “restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability” and “unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential,” the IMF said in a statement. In July last year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is “bankrupt,” adding negotiations with the IMF were “difficult.”Monday’s loan approval will provide much-needed respite for the nation as it faces an uphill climb to revive its flailing economy. The IMF will immediately disburse an initial $333 million to Sri Lanka, with more funds to follow in the coming months. “For Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis, swift and timely implementation of the EFF-supported program with strong ownership for the reforms is critical,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

☆ French Protests, Turning Violent, Aim to Override Macron’s Pension Overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters set garbage on fire in Paris, prompting police to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse the groups . President Emmanuel Macron of France might have circumvented Parliament in passing his contentious pension overhaul, but there remains a large constituency—millions of street protesters—who contend they have final say in the matter. Protest movements have long been the final arbiter, albeit an unofficial one, of France’s political system, bringing successive governments to their knees and forcing previous presidents to abandon or even rescind legislation protesters oppose. That is why thousands of protesters have streamed into public squares across France since Mr. Macron exercised Article 49 of the constitution to raise France’s retirement age to 64 from 62 by 2030 without the consent of Parliament.

☆ Violent Protests in France Continue After Macron Pushes Through Pension Overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters in Paris set fire to a barricade on Saturday night in the wake of the government’s move to raise the retirement age to 64. PARIS—Protesters set fires and clashed with police in the French capital and other cities for the third consecutive day after President Emmanuel Macron pushed through his divisive pension overhaul bill without a vote in parliament. A demonstration of several thousand people in southern Paris organized by a far-left union, the CGT, disintegrated into chaos Saturday evening. Live televised footage of the scene showed protesters setting garbage on fire and throwing projectiles at police, who responded by firing tear gas and water cannons at the crowds and charging at them with shields.

☆ At a Steam-Age Arsenal, U.S. Army Forges Cannons for a Digital Era, War in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Daniel Michaels | Photographs Angus Mordant For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WATERVLIET, N.Y.—On a military base more than two centuries old, the Army is hammering out its cannon of the future. The Watervliet Arsenal opened during the War of 1812 and one building dates to 1828. Yet inside an aging production hall, new digital machine tools that resemble science-fiction space pods are churning out components for Abrams tanks, a weapon pledged for fighting in Ukraine. In another hall, an automated forge pounds red-hot metal cylinders into 20-foot gun barrels for America’s next howitzers, which will lob shells more than 40 miles.

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