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☆ The 'crown jewel' of the Chinese military appears to have a serious corruption problem, but the US can't afford to bet on its missiles all being defective
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Recent reports point to corruption and readiness problems in the Chinese military, the rocket force in particular. In the aftermath of the report, an ex-PLA official told Radio Free Asia problems like this have long been rampant in the Chinese military. The rocket force shakeups suggest that there are questions over who can be trusted. Xinhua/Cha Chunming via Getty ImagesConcerns about corruption and readiness stand in contrast with the modernization and strengthening of the Chinese military. Is the PLA, particularly the rocket force, the increasingly formidable force the Pentagon described in a military power report last October?

Persons: It's, —, Tom Shugart, Xi Jinping, that's, hotpot, hadn't, bigwig, Xi, Liu Dawei, Shugart, weren't, Lintao Zhang, Li Shangfu, Li Gang, ISW, there's, Andy Wong Organizations: Service, People's Liberation Army, US, Center, New, New American Security, Liberation Army, Getty Images, Bloomberg, PLA, Rocket Force, Radio Free, 14th China International Aviation, Aerospace Exhibition, Getty, Liberation Army Rocket, Business, United, Naval, Army, Air Force, Communist, of, Defense, Chinese Communist Party, Liberation Army's Army Infantry College, Li, Pentagon, U.S . Nimitz, US Army Locations: New American, Taiwan, Hefei, Anhui province, Radio Free Asia, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, Xinhua, United States, Beijing, China, PLA, Gutian, Jiangxi Province, U.S, Tiananmen, Pamir, Kashgar, China's Xinjiang, Pacific

☆ Taiwan made its choice on who will lead it into an uncertain future as China remains hellbent on controlling it, and tough times may lie ahead
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Read previewTaiwan has elected its new president, the Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-te, who is also the current Vice President. While experts still assess that an invasion of Taiwan remains unlikely in the near future, that doesn't diminish concerns about other ways China could squeeze the island. AdvertisementTaiwan's Vice President and presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Lai Ching-te (C) casts his ballot to vote on January 13, 2024, in Tainan, Taiwan. Nevertheless, the win marks the first time a political party in Taiwan has won a presidential election three times in a row. The supporters of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cheer at an election campaign on January 12, 2024 in Tainan, Taiwan.

Persons: —, Party's Lai Ching, Lai's, Lai, Tsai Ing, Lai Ching, Tsai, Getty Images Lai, Hou, Ko Wen, Amanda Hsiao, Annabelle Chih, Nancy Pelosi, flack, Annice Lyn, He's, Hsiao, Hao, Hou Yu, Beijing's, Chuan Kang, Xi Jinping, It'll, Joe Biden's, Xi, Biden, it's, BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI Organizations: Service, Democratic, Taiwan, Business, Democratic Progressive Party, Getty Images, ih, Taiwan's People Party, Kuomintang, KMT, Getty, Washington, NBC, US, People's Liberation Army Locations: Taiwan, China, Beijing, Taipei, New Taipei City, AFP, Tainan, Taichung, Taipei , Washington, San Francisco

☆ Explainer-What's the Israel-Palestinian Conflict About and How Did It Start?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +8 min

The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile Middle East against Palestinians' unmet aspirations for a state of their own. In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Two-state solution: An agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarised so as not to threaten its security. Jerusalem: Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City's sites sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, to be the capital of their state.

Persons: David Ben, Gurion, Israel, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat, Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, Donald Trump's, Joe Biden's, Trump, Edmund Blair, Timothy Heritage Organizations: United Nations General Assembly, Arab League, West Bank, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestinian, European Union, U.S, Israel Locations: Israel, East, Palestine, British, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Egypt, Israeli, Suez, Golan, Lebanon's Iran, United States, Oslo, Arab, Palestinian, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, U.S

☆ China could take inspiration from Vladimir Putin as it seeks to conquer Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Gregor Schwung | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewOn the beach of the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, pointed metal rods protrude from the ground and point towards the sea. To test Western resolve, China could first grab one of the offshore islands - just as Putin initially seized Crimea. After all, the only previous hostilities between Taiwan and China took place here - Beijing tried to conquer Kinmen in 1960 and 1970. To take Taiwan, China does not need Kinmen or the other offshore islands as a springboard. Due to its proximity to the mainland, Chinese military activities and any preparations for an invasion can be easily observed from here.

Persons: —, Gregor Schwung, Xi Jinping, Putin, Xi, Sun Tzu, Li Wen, Jing, Li, Vladimir Putin, Yao, Yuan Yeh Organizations: Service, Business, Congress, Kinmen, dicey coastguard, People's Liberation Army, Institute for National Defence and Security Research, Ministry of Defence, WELT, New, Security, Beijing, Communist Party, St Thomas University, Policy Locations: Kinmen, China, Xiamen, Taiwan, Taipei, Pratas, People's Republic, Crimea, Washington, Beijing, Ukraine, Taiwan's, Houston

☆ China is producing vast undersea maps for submarine warfare, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewChina is mapping vast areas of the Indian Ocean under the guise of civilian research — and it could be to plan submarine warfare, a think tank said. The CSIS said that while much of the research was in the western Pacific and South China Sea, Chinese research vessels increasingly focused on the Indian Ocean. AdvertisementUsing data from Windward, a maritime AI-data company, the think tank said it found Chinese research boats had conducted "hundreds of thousands of hours of operations globally over the past four years." AdvertisementThe Indian Ocean is a vital area for China's "strategic and economic interests," Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow at CSIS who worked on the report, told The Washington Post.

Persons: —, Matthew Funaiole, Andrew Scobell Organizations: Service, Business, Center for Strategic, International Studies, China's People's Liberation Army, CSIS, Washington Post, United States Institute of Peace, Associated Press Locations: China, Pacific, South China, Windward, Beijing, India, New Delhi, Sri Lanka

☆ The Point - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Patrick Healy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese officials had strongly warned Taiwanese voters not to choose as their next president Lai Ching-te, a Harvard-educated doctor whom it detests as a separatist. China cautioned that the election of Lai could lead to war in the Taiwan Strait, and it interfered in the election to try help Lai’s rivals. Taiwan’s voters took that all in and then did what mainland Chinese can’t do openly: They defied President Xi and elected Lai as president. They have made “China’s reunification” a nightmare to most Taiwanese voters. I lived in Taiwan in the 1980s, studying Chinese, and have been here countless times since.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Lai Ching, Lai, Xi, Tsai Ing, Jinping, Hsiao Organizations: Harvard, People Liberation Army Locations: Taiwan, China, Taiwan Strait, Hong Kong, New Jersey, United States

☆ Top China, U.S. military leaders hold first meeting in more than a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Other Southeast Asian countries such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam also claim parts of the South China Sea. "The key to developing a healthy, stable, and sustainable military-to-military relationship is ... a correct understanding of China," China's Defense Ministry said in a readout of the Brown-Liu virtual call. China has consistently maintained its claim over self-governed Taiwan and the majority of the South China Sea. The U.S. has documented more than 180 coercive and risky air intercepts against its aircraft in the region between 2021 and 2023, according to its latest China Military Power Report. This includes their bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks, Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, and opening lines of communication between the leaders of the respective military commands in the South China Sea and the broader Pacific.

Persons: Cope, Charles Brown, Liu Zhenli, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, General Brown, General Liu, Nancy Pelosi, Brown, Liu, — CNBC's Evelyn Cheng Organizations: Air Force, Clark Air Base, U.S, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Economic Cooperation, Biden, Beijing, U.S ., Defense Ministry, U.S . Defense Department, People's Liberation Army, Maritime, Eurasia Group Locations: Philippines, Mabalacat, Pampanga, Asia, San Francisco, Eurasia, China, Taiwan, Beijing, Singapore, Manila, South China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, United States, The Hague, U.S, South

☆ A decade after Mandela's death, his pro-Palestinian legacy lives on
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Former South African president Nelson Mandela (R) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) address the media after holding talks on the crisis in the Middle East May 3, 2001. It was a gesture as controversial then as South Africa's support for the Palestinian cause is today, but Mandela brushed off criticism. Last month, the ruling ANC backed a motion in South Africa's parliament to suspend diplomatic ties with Israel until it agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel has disputed the comparison with apartheid as a lie motivated by antisemitism, but many South Africans follow Mandela's lead. Some in South Africa's Jewish community criticise the ANC's stance, pointing out that Mandela himself eventually tried to build bridges with Israel.

Persons: Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Mandela, Arafat, S.Africa, Carien du Plessis, Mandla Mandela, Obed Bapela, Lebogang Mashile, David Saks, Ehud Barak, Ezer Weisman, Saks, Shafiek, Tim Cocks, Alex Richardson Organizations: South, Arafat ANC, ANC, Palestine Liberation Organisation, Hamas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Shafiek, JOHANNESBURG, Palestine, Johannesburg, South Africa's, South Africa, South

On Nov. 18, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that authorities in northern Myanmar had handed over some 31,000 suspects. The Kokang Self-Administered Zone and the Wa Self-Administered Division both share a border with China and are heavily influenced by their bigger neighbor. The Ming family are not the only powerful Kokang families caught up in the drive. Wa police handed 194 Chinese nationals to Chinese authorities on Nov. 28, according to Wa's state media, Voice of Wa State. Others say that China is showing it won't tolerate the scams anymore, regardless of how powerful are the people behind them.

Persons: ”, Lu Jiantang, Jason Tower, Ming, Hu Xijin, ” Hu, Wei Qingtao, they’ll, ” Wei, Liu Zhengqi, Ming Xuechang, Kokang, Yin Masan, MNDAA, cyberscammers, Richard Horsey, “, Bai Suocheng, Li Kyar Wen, It’s, Wanqing Chen Organizations: China’s Ministry of Public Security, U.S . Congress, United States Institute of Peace, Communist Party, China’s Communist Party, CCTV, Global Times, of Public Security, Fully, Wa Construction Ministry, Wa Communist Party, Brotherhood Alliance, Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, National Liberation Army, International Crisis Locations: BANGKOK, China, Myanmar, “, Wa, Kokang, Yunnan, Wa State, Shan, Arakan, cyberscams, Beijing

☆ CNN took an 11-day cruise through some of the most-contested waters on Earth. Here’s what we learned
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

China claims almost all of the 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. In daylight hours in the South China Sea, from Ottawa’s flight deck or outdoor bridge wings, Chinese warships are often visible to the naked eye. Aviator Gregory Cole/Canadian Armed Forces PhotoOn October 29, things take a potentially dangerous turn, one that could have cost lives and ratcheted up tensions in the South China Sea to new levels. Radar operators scan their instruments in a Canadian antisubmarine warfare helicopter over the East China Sea. Hammerhead targets drones await their fate on the deck of the frigate HMCS Ottawa in the South China Sea.

Persons: Sam Patchell, Jacob Broderick ,, Ben Hughes, Gregory Cole, he’s, “, King Neptune, Xi Jinping, Brad Lendon, Rafael Peralta, Collin Koh, ” Patchell, Patchell, Aviator Gregory Cole, ”, haven’t, Xi, Rob Millen, they’d, Long, Peralta, It’s, Qinetiq, Noble, That’s, Cmdr, Sean Milley, Christine Hurov, Wally Shirra, it’s, Wally Schirra, Loverboy’s, Australia’s, doesn’t, We’ll Organizations: HMCS, HMCS Ottawa CNN, Royal Canadian Navy, Canada, United, Naval Warfare Officers, Canadian Armed Forces, US Navy, Ottawa, CNN, Canada’s Defense Ministry, Chinese Communist Party, Coast Guard, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, People’s Liberation Army Navy, PLA Navy, United Nations, Ottawa's, Cyclone, Canadian, Royal Canadian Air Force, Chinese Defense Ministry, Pentagon, troika, Peralta, Brisbane, CNN Radio, New, New Zealand Navy’s, Cmdr, HMNZS Aotearoa, Australian, Southern Hemisphere, One Locations: HMCS Ottawa, Taiwan, Ottawa, China, United States, Canadian, South China, Gaza, Ukraine, East, Washington, Singapore, Beijing, Spratly, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Chinese, South, East China, CNN Beijing, Canada, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Australian, Brisbane, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Okinawa, replenishments, Aotearoa, American, Ottawa’s

☆ China's military: US combat ship 'illegally' entered territorial waters
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - China's military on Monday said a U.S. combat ship illegally entered waters adjacent to the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed South China Sea atoll. "The U.S. seriously undermined regional peace and stability," said a spokesperson for China's Southern Theater of Operations in a statement. The spokesperson also said the U.S. deliberately disrupted the South China Sea and seriously violated China's sovereignty. China is in dispute with several of its neighbours over its extensive claims of territorial waters in the South China Sea. ship., and that "its troops in the theater are on high alert at all times to resolutely defend national sovereignty."

Persons: Thomas, Bernard Orr, Chizu Nomiyama, Diane Craft Organizations: BRP, BRP Sierra Madre, Rights, China's Southern Theater of Operations, People's Liberation Army, Philippine Coast Guard, Thomson Locations: BRP Sierra, South China, Rights BEIJING, U.S, China, South, Shanghai

☆ Despite Pause, a Long-Term End to Israel-Hamas War Is Not in Sight
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Michele Chabin | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Its militants killed 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians, and fired thousands of rockets into Israel. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants or those killed by IDF airstrikes or errant Palestinian rockets. At the completion of a humanitarian truce that began on Nov. 24, Israel’s goal is to gain military control over northern Gaza and gradually ferret out Hamas in southern Gaza. The operation in the south “will require a very different mode of operation,” Novik said, because 2 million Palestinian civilians – half of them displaced from northern Gaza – live there. As long as Hamas remains a threat, most of the 200,000 Israelis evacuated from southern Israel cannot go home.

Persons: ”, Nimrod Novik, Israel, ” Novik, Jake Sullivan, Israel’s, “, ” Jonathan Rynhold, Joe Biden, Biden, Jeff Horwitt, Gilad Shalit, Sara Hirschhorn, “ Israel, ” Hirschhorn Organizations: Hamas, Israel, “, U.S, Israel Defense Forces, CBS, Bar Ilan University, NBC, Democratic, Hart Research Associates, Biden, Israel Democracy Institute, University of Haifa, Israel’s Finance Ministry, Palestinian Liberation Organization Locations: JERUSALEM, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon

☆ Trump’s avalanche of dishonesty: Fact-checking 102 of his false claims from this fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +111 min

Below is a fact check of 102 of Trump’s false claims from the 12 speeches. But contrary to Trump’s claim, it’s not true that people had been attempting for decades to create such an initiative. Trump’s aid to farmersIn speech after speech, Trump claimed that he had given US farmers $28 billion from China. Even if the poll result is off, it’s clear that Trump’s claim that “nobody wants them” is not true. He said he was an airline pilot.”Facts First: Trump made a false claim while mocking Biden for making false claims.

Persons: Donald Trump, –, Trump, Joe Biden, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, “, ”, Mexico’s, ‘ Trump, Defense Department –, ” Theresa Cardinal Brown, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, ” Trump, I’ve, Todd Harrison, Harrison, It’s, Trump’s, ” Ben Cahill, Nobody, Jimmy Carter’s, Barack Obama, isn’t, El Salvador –, Obama, we’d, Obama’s, Webster, Covid, Wuhan ”, They’d, they’d, you’d, Scott Gottlieb, ” Gottlieb, Trump Trump, it’s, Abraham, Aaron David Miller, Miller, Dana El Kurd, Qasem Soleimani, they’ve, we’re, We’re, ’, Iran haven’t, ” Matt Smith, Biden’s, Smith, Ali Vaez, Kpler, Biden Trump, Iran “, Democrats ”, that’s, Jimmy Carter, Carter “, Carter, ‘, Hillary Clinton, Kari Lake, Bill Gates, Gates, ” Chris Wallace, Chris Wallace, Hunter Biden, “ Chris Wallace, ‘ He’s, ‘ ” Trump, Wallace, “ you’re, “ Biden, ‘ You’re, Wallace interjected, Rather, you’ve, ’ ” Pavel Molchanov, Raymond James &, ” Molchanov, Tim Woody, Woody, autoworkers, CNN’s Ella Nilsen, Joe Biden’s, Erin Mellon, Gavin Newsom, Mellon, ” Vonette Fontaine, Biden “, CNN’s Matt Egan, Egan, ” Biden, Europe Trump, United Kingdom “, Brent, Pavel Molchanov, Raymond James, Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy, De Haan, Matt Smith, Matt Egan, Afghanistan Trump, we’ve, Krista Wiegand, Wiegand, ” Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Qasem, Bibi, Netanyahu, Soleimani, Asad, Mark Milley, Hezbollah Trump, Steven Cheung, John Kirby, Cheung, Kirby, Iran’s, ” Ali Vaez, Joseph Amon, Washington –, Faiq Zidan, Zidan’s, Zidan, Abu Mahdi al, China Trump, Ukraine Trump, Letitia James, James, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Matthew Colangelo, You’re, Bragg, Colangelo, Tanya Chutkan, I’m, Jack Smith, Bill Clinton, That’s, everybody’s, Letitia James –, Al Capone’s, Al Capone, Capone, Brad Schwartz, CNN couldn’t, Schwartz, Eliot Ness, MAGA, “ MAGA, …, White, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Inflation Trump, Bacon, Joe, PolitiFact, Trump . Howard Gleckman Organizations: Washington CNN —, CNN, Republican, Trump Trump, Republican Jewish Coalition, Department, ISIS, Trump’s, Democratic, Congress, Defense Department, former Defense Department, Center, US Customs, Trump, American Enterprise Institute, Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Energy Security, Center for Strategic, International Studies, US, IHS, Islamic, The State Department, Customs Enforcement, Policy Institute, ICE, El Salvador, ”, Merriam, The New York Times, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Abraham Accords, United Arab Emirates, West Bank, Hezbollah, State Department, Carnegie Endowment, International, Arab Center Washington DC, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, Obama, US International Trade Commission, Washington Post, U.S . International Trade Commission, New England lobstermen, England lobstermen, Americas, Crisis, government’s Energy, Administration, Washington Free Beacon, Energy Information Administration, Democrats, Biden, Electoral, Georgia, Michigan, Carter, Democrats can’t, Republicans, Alabama, Arizona, Fox News, ” Energy, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Wildlife, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Raymond James & Associates, Wilderness Society, Cox Automotive, Pew Research Center, New York Times, National Oceanic, California Gov, California, American Petroleum Institute, Union, West, Energy, American Automobile Association, AAA, GasBuddy, New Hampshire, Houston, Keystone XL, Obama administration’s State Department, –, Foreign, Military, DoD, Afghan, Defense, Policy, Taiwan News, “, University of Tennessee’s Center for National Security, Foreign Affairs, Israeli, NBC, Jerusalem Post, Yahoo, Pentagon, ” CNN, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Post, National Security, Group, US government’s Defense Intelligence Agency, Narcotics Bureau, Global Health, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Justice Department, Washington, Judicial, Popular Mobilization Forces, Customs and, Middle East, Customs, Protection, CBP, Border Protection, Kiel Institute, European Union, New York, New, ExxonMobil, Trump University, Trump Foundation, Manhattan, Attorney, federal Justice Department, Department of Justice, Washington DC, Presidential Records, Presidential, Mar, Biden White, MAGA Republicans, Inflation, Heritage Foundation, Trump ., Brookings Tax, Urban Institute Locations: New Hampshire, New York City, Saudi, Florida, al Qaeda, New York, Texas, Iowa, Mexico, “, U.S, Houston, Iraq, Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nord, Germany, Russian, Trump’s, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, El, Washington, ”, ” In Texas, Covid, China, Wuhan, Italy, France, Abraham, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, New England, England, Kpler, Malaysia, Oregon, Alabama, Maricopa County, Arizona, Arizona’s, Moscow, Alaska, East, South Carolina, California, “ California, West Virginia, Virginia, United Kingdom, West Texas, “ U.S, Los Angeles, Venezuela, Mississippi , Louisiana, Canada, United States, Paris, Taiwan, “ China, Iranian, that’s, –, Singapore, Iraqi, San Diego, Kiel, York, Manhattan, York’s, Chicago, Philadelphia, Georgia, Qaeda

According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbours Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020. He declined to offer details when asked whether those plans had been raised with international partners, including Arab states. A U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said Israel had "floated" the buffer zone idea without saying to whom. The regional sources compared the Gaza buffer zone plan to the "security zone" Israel once had in south Lebanon. "The buffer zone could make (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's forces a target also in the zone," he said.

Persons: Ronen, Israel, Abu Dhabi, Ophir Falk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanon's, it's, Mohammad Dahlan, Benjamin, Netanyahu's, Samia Nakhoul, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Jonathan Saul, Dan Williams, Aidan Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland, Edmund Blair, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Reuters, U.S, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestinian Fatah, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Gaza Israel, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, U.S, DUBAI, CAIRO, LONDON, Israel, Riyadh, Arab Turkey, Qatar, Qatari, Turkish, Palestinian, Cairo, Lebanon, PLO, Dubai, London, Jerusalem, Washington

☆ Philippines builds new coast guard station on island in South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An aerial view shows the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, locally known as Pag-asa, in the contested Spratly Islands, South China Sea, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMANILA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines has built a new coast guard station on the contested island of Thitu in the South China Sea, boosting its ability to monitor movements of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy disputed waterway. Inaugurated on Friday, the new three-storey facility is equipped with state-of-the art technology such as radar, automatic identification, satellite communication, and coastal cameras, the Philippine coast guard said in a statement. Manila's outpost of Thitu is its biggest and most strategically important in the South China Sea, largely claimed by Beijing, despite conflicting territorial claims by several regional nations. Besides the Philippines, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of $3 trillion every year.

Persons: Eloisa Lopez, Eduardo Ano, Thitu, Karen Lema, Mikhail Flores, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, People's Liberation Army, PLA ) Navy, Philippine, Thomson Locations: Philippine, Thitu, Pag, Spratly Islands, South China, Rights MANILA, Philippines, Manila, Spratly, Beijing, Palawan, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam

☆ When Henry Kissinger Became an Opera Character
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Zachary Woolfe | More About Zachary Woolfe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As opera characters, both Nixon and Mao Zedong are faintly ridiculous and faintly noble, singing of their hopes and dreams in Goodman’s enigmatic, evocative lines. And Kissinger — Nixon’s national security adviser in 1972 and, a year later, his secretary of state, too — is there by their side, just as he was in history. “When Peter Sellars proposed the idea of the opera,” Adams said in an interview, “he had just finished reading Kissinger’s ‘White House Years,’ which I seem to recall being pretty pompously self-congratulatory. The opera’s Kissinger, though, is never really human; he doesn’t get the exposure of thoughts and ambivalence granted to the other main players. “He’s not the character we go into great psychological depth with,” Adams said.

Persons: Nixon, Mao Zedong, Kissinger —, “, Peter Sellars, ” Adams, Kissinger’s ‘, ” “ Nixon ”, Adams, Sellars, Goodman, J, Robert Oppenheimer, opera’s Kissinger, doesn’t, “ He’s, He’s, Kissinger Organizations: Palestine Liberation Front militants

☆ How Qatar swayed Israel and Hamas to make a truce work
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

It was necessary to clarify all the points in the agreement and make sure they meant the same thing to Israel and Hamas, a source briefed on the negotiations said. Qatar's foreign ministry told reporters that Hamas and Israel negotiated in Doha until "the early morning" of Nov. 23 and agreed on a plan to implement the truce deal the next day. Qatari negotiators shepherded Israel and Hamas to agree on exactly where in Gaza Israeli tanks would be stationed during the truce. Israel vets all financial transfers Qatar makes to Palestinians in Gaza, Qatari sources have said. Despite proximity to Hamas officials, Qatari negotiators did not speak directly to the group's leaders in Gaza, but through its representatives based in Doha.

Persons: Qatar’s, Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Imad Creidi, Qatar's, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed, David Barnea, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, shepherded Israel, Al Shifa, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Joe Biden, Sheikh Tamim, Mehran Kamrava, We've, Al Sulaiti, I've, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Matt S, Dan Williams, David Gauthier, Frank Jack Daniel Organizations: Hamas, National Command Centre, REUTERS, Rights DOHA, Qatari, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S . Department of State, U.S, Gaza, Bild, Palestinian, Georgetown University, Thomson Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Doha, Qatar, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Gaza, Moscow, London, Hamas, U.S, Russia, Gulf, Berlin, Syria, Qatari, Cairo, Washington, Jerusalem

☆ Chinese celebrity chef vows to never cook egg fried rice again after nationalist backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

However, by attacking mentions of egg fried rice by famous chefs and other online influencers, the nationalist users have inadvertently promoted the very rumor their government is trying to quash. Celebrity chef Wang Gang says he won't make egg fried rice again. But can it be a coincidence every single time?” a comment said of Wang’s egg fried rice videos. But some have also come to Wang’s defense, noting that the chef has posted egg fried rice in other months throughout the year. “Why don’t we clearly stipulate a complete ban on eating and making egg fried rice in November, or simply retire egg fried rice from Chinese cruisine all togther,” another supporter quipped.

Persons: –, ” Wang Gang, Wang’s, ”, Wang, Mao Zedong’s, Mao Anying, Mao Anying’s, Wang Gang, Chef Wang, Yang Di, Mao, Xi Jinping, Luo Changping, Xi, “, ‘, ” Wang, Hu Xijin, ” Hu Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, People’s Liberation Army, Chinese Academy, Communist Party, Weibo, telegraphs, Fried, Daily, Global Times Locations: Hong Kong, China, Weibo, American, North Korea, Nanchang, Yangzhou, Sichuan

☆ US lawmakers seek probe of Chinese drone maker Autel Robotics
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Autel Robotics Dragonfish Pro drone, with an 18-mile range, is displayed during CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of 11 U.S. House lawmakers on Thursday asked the Biden administration to investigate and potentially sanction Chinese drone maker Autel Robotics, citing national security concerns. The Pentagon said it would respond to the lawmakers' letter. Another signer of the letter, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, said, "Autel drones made in Communist China present an unacceptable national security risk and should not be allowed to operate in America." Over 50% of drones sold in the United States are made by DJI, and they are the most popular drones in use by public safety agencies, Republican lawmakers said earlier this year.

Persons: Steve Marcus, Biden, Mike Gallagher, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Autel, Elise Stefanik, Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi, David Shepardson, Chris Reese, Mark Porter Organizations: Las Vegas Convention, REUTERS, Rights, House, Republican, Commerce , Defense, Treasury, Autel Robotics, Technology, Robotics, China's People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Pentagon, Commerce, Commerce Department, U.S . Interior Department, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, House China, Communist China, America, China, Xinjiang, Ukraine, The U.S, United States

Díaz’s parents - Luis Manuel Díaz Jiménez and Cilenis Marulanda — were kidnapped by a unit of the ELN at a gas station by armed men on motorcycles. Marulanda was rescued by police a few hours later, but Díaz’s father was held captive for 12 days by the ELN. Prosecutors said in a statement that Alcires Bolivar was a merchant in La Guajira who had been contacted by a member of the ELN to help him kidnap Díaz’s parents. After the kidnapping, special forces were deployed to search for Díaz’s father in a mountain range that straddles Colombia and Venezuela. The ELN acknowledged the kidnapping, saying it was a mistake and that its top leadership had ordered the father’s release.

Persons: Luis Díaz, Colombia’s, Andrés Alcires Bolívar, Marlon Rafael Brito, Díaz’s, Luis Manuel Díaz Jiménez, Marulanda —, Marulanda, Alcires Bolivar, “, Rafael Brito, Díaz, ELN Organizations: Liverpool, National Liberation Army, Catholic Church, United Nations, Prosecutors, Barrancas Council, national soccer team, Police Locations: BOGOTA, Colombia, Barrancas, La Guajira, Colombia’s, Venezuela

☆ How Jewish People Built the American Theater
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +46 min

Let Us Tell You A Story How Jewish people built the American theater as we know it. The theater, which for many Jews was a major way of becoming American in the first place, seems unable to acknowledge that the danger that American Jews face is not just historical, and not just onstage. (Both of Adler’s parents were Yiddish theater stars — her father, Jacob Adler, was a renowned Shylock in 1903.) Embedding their own observation and experience within Stanislavsky’s, along with the best of Yiddish theater and a generous dollop of Freud, they converted the American theater to Judaism. Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe Jewish contribution to the creation of the American theater was built on the acknowledgment of a larger humanity alive within each of us, available to some, with natural empathy and rigorous training.

Persons: Glocca, “, Lerner, Loewe, ”, Isidore Hochberg, Burton Lane, né Burton Levy, William Goldman, “ Killybegs, Sammy Davis Jr, Julie Andrews, Connie Francis, Rosemary Clooney, Tommy Dorsey, Davis, —, Arthur Miller’s “, joyously, Jason Schmidt, Christine Jones, Miller, I’ve, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Brustein, Neil Simon’s, ” Cynthia Ozick, Sholom, Philip Roth, Simon, Leonard Bernstein, Matt Nadel, Bradley, Bernstein, “ Maestro, Shylock, William Shakespeare’s “, Venice ”, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe’s, Farah Karim, Cooper, Bard ”, “ Merchant, Tom Stoppard’s, Sara Krulwich, Ansky’s, Stella Adler, Bessie Berger, Clifford Odets’s, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Francis Joseph Bruguière, Billy Rose, Eugene Smith, Roth, Arthur Schnitzler, Juliet Stevenson, Ruth Wolff, Lorraine Hansberry’s, Sidney’s, Alex Edelman’s “, Leo Frank, Bernard B, Frank, Mandy Patinkin, James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim’s, George, Martha Swope, outspokenness, creatives, Oscar Isaac, Sidney, “ Sidney Brustein, Isaac, Stevenson, Robert Icke, Roman Catholic Cooper, Rachel Brosnahan, Maisel, Joan Rivers —, Brosnahan, Sidney Brustein’s, Alec Guinness, Fagin, “ Oliver Twist, I’m, Micaela Diamond, Ben Platt, Lucille, Alfred Uhry, Jason Robert Brown’s, Rivers, Wolff, Robert, Republic ”, isn’t, LEE Strasberg, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s, Fyodor Ivanovich, Strasberg, Israel Strassberg, Zalmon, Srulke, Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock’s “, Bette Midler, Jackie Hoffman, Photofest Stanislavsky, Theater’s, Isaac Butler, Stanislavsky, Harold Clurman, George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, Clurman, Adler, Jacob Adler, Freud, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ruthie Rivkin, Jerome Weidman, Harold Rome’s “, John Weidman, disown Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Bobby Lewis, né, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Meisner, Robert Duvall, Lewis, Meryl Streep, Clifford Odets, Jacob Garfinkle, Jules Garfield, Odets, Sam Feinschreiber, Garfield, Ralph Berger, wasn’t, John, Tovah Feldshuh, Golda Meir, William Gibson’s, Aaron Epstein, exigencies, Bessie, Feinschreiber —, loveless, William Fox, Louis B, Mayer, Jack Warner, Marjorie Morningstar ”, Morgenstern, Marjorie, Natalie Wood, Anne Frank ”, Millie Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Susan Strasberg —, Ibsen, Sholom Aleichem, August Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Thomas Jefferson, Lin, Manuel Miranda’s “ Hamilton ”, Adrian Lester, Emanuel Lehman —, Barbra Streisand, Marmelstein, George Silk, Miller’s, Sophie Okonedo, Elizabeth Proctor, Ben Whishaw, John Proctor, Jan Versweyveld, Don’t, — Bernstein, Stoppard, Schnitzler, Jeanine Tesori, Tony Kushner’s “ Caroline, Sharon D Clarke, Adam Makké, Noah Gellman, Leo, Stoppard —, Hermine, ” Leo Frank, there’s, Matthew Broderick, Eugene Jerome, it’s, Edelman’s, Queens bigots, David Yosef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman, Woody Allen, Joshua Harmon’s, — George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Porgy, Bess ”, Barns, Alex Edelman, Paula Vogel, Harvey Fierstein, Jordan Taylor Fuller, — that’s, Wendell Pierce, Friedman, Jacobs, Hirschfeld, Gershwin, Rodgers, PAULA VOGEL, BRANDON URANOWITZ, DAVID CROMER, MICAELA DIAMOND, TONY KUSHNER, Diamond, Monica Rich Kosann, Marco Bicego, JESSE EISENBERG, MATTHEW BRODERICK, AMY HERZOG, LESLIE RODRIGUEZ KRITZER, JOEL GREY, Herzog, Michael Kors, Kritzer, Marco, HARVEY FIERSTEIN, LIEV SCHREIBER, ETHAN SLATER, IDINA MENZEL, TINA LANDAU Organizations: Broadway, Broadway’s Lyceum, “, of Venice, New York Times, Defamation League, New York Public Library, Performing, Vandamm, Billy, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Performing Arts, New, Jacobs, Empire State, Nazi, Goyim Defense, The New York Public Library, Roman Catholic, New York City, Street, Moscow Art, Group, Hollywood, Disney, Everett, The New York Times, Philadelphia, Brit, Times Locations: Poland, American, kilts, E.Y, Harburg, Kilkerry, Kildare, Philadelphia, New York, Polish, Massachusetts, Vichy, Biloxi, Venice, Malta, of, ”, Germany, playgoers, Sweden, England, United States, Pittsburgh, Nazi, Brustein’s, Greenwich, Georgia, Gutenberg, “, Atlanta, Republic, New, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow, Russian, America, Moscow, Stanislavsky’s, Clurman, Eastern Europe, Czech, Austrian, Auschwitz, Heini, Southern, Brighton, Rivers, French Republic, “ Brigadoon

☆ How the U.S. courted the Philippines to thwart China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

What followed was two trips to the United States in less than a year for Marcos, and visits to the Philippines by high-ranking Biden administration officials. Marcos’ predecessor, the populist firebrand Rodrigo Duterte, was openly hostile to the United States and attempted to bring his country closer to communist China during his six-year term. For the United States, cementing alliances in the Asia-Pacific region is likewise crucial to keeping China in check. China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement to Reuters, characterized China and the Philippines as “close neighbors across the sea” with a common interest in friendship. At the time, he said the cancellation of his visa was the latest in a list of “gripes and disrespect” by the United States.

Persons: Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Joe Biden, Marcos, Gregorio Maria Araneta III, “, ” Araneta, Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Defense Lloyd Austin, Julio Amador III, Marcos ’, Rodrigo Duterte, China’s, Xi Jinping, ” Marcos ’, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, ”, Marcos family’s, Washington, Duterte, China “, Becca Wasser, Wasser, Barack Obama, Xi, “ I’ve, ” Duterte, Ronald “ Bato, dela Rosa, Dela Rosa, gripes, Toribio Adaci, hadn’t, Blake Herzinger, Herzinger Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Defense, ., Party, China, U.S . State Department, ” Reuters, Philippine, United, Foreign Ministry, ” ‘, People’s Liberation Army, Center, New, New American Security, CNAS, U.S . Department of Defense, U.S ., Initiative, Philippines National Economic Development Authority, United States, Philippine National Police, Washington, Forces, VFA, Mutual, China’s, U.S . Pacific Fleet, Cooperation Locations: Philippines, Philippine, Manila, United States, U.S, China, America, Asia, Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, South, East Asia, Pacific, Washington, Hawaii, South China, It’s, American, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New American, Taiwan . U.S, Duterte, China’s, Guangdong

☆ The Palestinian keffiyeh explained: How this scarf became a national symbol
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Dalia Jacobs, a Palestinian brand strategist and creative director, told CNN she wears a keffiyeh made in her hometown, Hebron, when she travels abroad. The keffiyeh “says who I am and carries my family’s history with me always,” she told CNN. To combine the two pieces of Palestinian cultural heritage, she used traditional embroidery techniques to adorn her black and white keffiyeh. During the 1960s, there was another resurgence in the keffiyeh as political symbol, with the scarf worn by both men and women. Yasser Arafat, who served for decades as the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was often pictured wearing the black and white keffiyeh, which further cemented the scarf as a symbol of the Palestinian national struggle.

Persons: ”, Majeed Malhas, keffiyehs —, keffiyehs, Malhas, Hazem Bader, Dalia Jacobs, ” A.S, “, Ghnaim, ” Yasser Arafat, Georges De Keerle, Yasser Arafat, Leila Khaled, Harry Koundakjian, Carrie Bradshaw, Louis Vuitton, keffieh, ” Malhas Organizations: CNN, University of Toronto, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arab, Palestinian, West Bank, Getty, Palestinian Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization, Popular Front, Liberation, Palestine, City Locations: Vermont, Israel, Palestinian, Canadian, Palestine, New York City, ”, Old City, Hebron, North Carolina, Jordan, France, Burlington, New York

☆ Chinese navy ships visit Myanmar amid heightened security tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Three Chinese navy ships have arrived in Myanmar on a goodwill visit as part of renewed Chinese defence engagement amid Chinese concern about a surge of fighting between Myanmar junta forces and insurgents near the Chinese border. The Chinese task force would "conduct naval security exercises" with Myanmar, it reported. This month, the Chinese and Vietnamese navies conducted their 35th joint patrol in Beibu Gulf since 2005, while Chinese troops held a border defence exchange with armed forces from Laos. The Chinese naval visit comes as Myanmar junta forces are battling ethnic minority insurgents near the border with China, raising concerns in China, which has called for peace. Chinese troops have been conducting live-fire drills on their side of the border since Saturday so that People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces are "ready for any emergency", the PLA Daily reported.

Persons: China's, Sun Bo, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo, Robert Birsel Organizations: Myanmar, Liberation Navy, Senior, United, Liberation Army, PLA, PLA Daily, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Myanmar, Myanmar's, Yangon, Gulf, Aden, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia, Beibu Gulf, Laos, China

CNN —Almost three years on from its bloody coup, Myanmar’s military junta is facing the biggest threat to its hold on power as it fights wars on multiple fronts across the Southeast Asian nation. Junta airstrikes and ground attacks on what the Myanmar military calls “terrorist” targets have killed thousands of civilians to date, including children, and displaced about 2 million people. Stringer/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN has reached out to Myanmar’s military spokesperson for comment on the recent fighting but has not received a response. Stringer/AFP/Getty ImgesIn the jungles of southeast Kayah state, fighting has raged near the state capital Loikaw. Video filmed and published by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force appears to show Myanmar army soldiers surrendering to rebels at Loikaw University who are filmed treating their injuries.

Persons: ”, Matthew Arnold, ” Arnold, Min Aung, Aung, Suu Kyi, “, Bo Nagar, Stringer, Myint Swe, Chin Shwe Haw, Nan Diya, Lalmalsawma Hnamte, Lin Lin, Ye Myo Hein, May, – “, Karen, Chin state’s Matupi, Tian Junli, Arnold, Myanmar’s, it’s, Suu Organizations: CNN, United Nations, National Unity Government, Junta, Myanmar, UN, Administration Council, Burma National Revolutionary Army, National Liberation Army, Alliance, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Arakan Army, ”, Getty, Reuters, Loikaw, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, Loikaw University, Resistance, Burma People’s Liberation Army, Brotherhood Alliance, United States Institute of Peace, Wilson Center, Border Guard Forces, China, Global Times, PLA Southern Theater Command Locations: Myanmar, Myanmar’s, Suu, Yangon, Mandalay, Burma, Namhsan Township, Shan State, AFP, Arakan, China, ”, Shan, Chin, Muse, Rakhine, Pauktaw, Lashio, Kayah, Mizoram, “, Sagaing region, Asia, Kawkareik, Karenni, Sagaing, India, Thailand, Bangladesh

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