Thursday, 25 July 2019

North Korea's Kim says missile launch a warning to South Korean 'warmongers'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the demonstration of a "new-type tactical guided weapon" on Thursday as a warning to South Korean "warmongers" to stop importing weapons and conducting joint military drills, state media said on Friday.


from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2LNOAQv

British Airways to resume flights to Cairo on Friday

British Airways, part of International Airlines Group, will resume flights to Cairo following a suspension over security concerns, the airline told Reuters on Friday.


from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2K32kDl

A Violent Turn in Hong Kong Protests Marks a Dangerous New Phase

A Violent Turn in Hong Kong Protests Marks a Dangerous New PhaseSparked by a proposed bill that would allow suspected criminals to face trial in China, protests in Hong Kong have turned violent.




No F-35 for You: Iran's Air Force Might Be Dying

No F-35 for You: Iran's Air Force Might Be DyingNot good.Two incidents in late August 2018 involving Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-5F Tiger II fighter jets underscored the ongoing crisis in Iran’s air force.On Aug. 21, Iran unveiled what it described as a new, fourth-generation fighter jet. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani even sat in the plane’s cockpit and posed for photographs.One problem. The aircraft in question was conspicuously an F-5F, one of the 17 Iran bought from the United States during the rule of the Shah. It was not domestically-built.“Iran has probably upgraded the electronics systems, originally from the 1960s, and made other upgrades,” Iran analyst Nader Uskowi suggested. “But it is not clear why the president of the country should unveil a 40-year-old plane as a new fighter.”War Is Boring contributor Sebastien Roblin pointed out that Iran is in fact developing a new plane called the Kowsar-88, another in a long line of modified reverse-engineered F-5s that Tehran will either use as a trainer or light-attack aircraft.But that jet “wasn’t ready for display this August, so Tehran simply took an old, very well-known jet fighter and claimed it was a new one, in full view of domestic and international audiences that would know better,” Roblin wrote at The National Interest.




'Daddy, I’m scared': Police smash car window, drag man out while baby sits in back then hand him over to ICE

'Daddy, I’m scared': Police smash car window, drag man out while baby sits in back then hand him over to ICEA video showing police officers smashing a man's car window before dragging him from his vehicle in front of his terrified children has sparked outrage in the US.The footage of Florencio Millan-Vazquez being hauled from his car and dumped onto the pavement in Kansas City, Missouri, was live streamed on Facebook.In it, his11-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter can be heard crying in the back as officers wrestle the unresisting chef from the vehicle and onto the pavement.“Daddy,” the boy says at one point. “I’m scared.”The incident happened as Mr Millan-Vazquez, aMexican national, and his girlfriend Cheyenne Hoyt were preparing to take the baby, who is disabled, to a doctor’s appointment.Immigration agents, apparently acting on intelligence, swooped on the family as they were set to drive out of their apartment complex.The officials ask to see proof that Mr Millan-Vazquez is in the country legally. When he and Ms Hoyt reply by asking to see a warrant for his arrest, the agents tell the couple they do not need one.After 25 minutes of Mr Millan-Vazquez refusing to leave his vehicle, city police officers arrive, smash the window and drag him out.Mr Millan-Vazquez can later be heard asking to say goodbye to his son – a request that is denied.“I’m still in shock,” Ms Hoyt said following the incident on Monday. “You think that it’s not going to happen to my family, like I never thought this was going to happen.“You hear the things Trump says, but [Mr Millan-Vazquez] is not a rapist, he’s not a murderer, or a drug dealer. And the way they did it in front of the kids – they didn’t care.”Ms Hoyt, who shot and posted the video, added: “It was like something you saw on a movie.”Emanuel Cleaver, US congressman for Missouri, called the video “very concerning as to the traumatization of children and the reasonable use of force”.He said it was “heart-breaking and gut-wrenching”.US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials later defended their actions saying that Mr Millan-Vazquez has twice re-entered the US illegally since being voluntarily deported in 2011 and that he had misdemeanours on his record.Shawn Neudauer, ICE spokesman, said: “Millan-Vazquez was uncooperative and refused to exit his vehicle or follow lawfully issued commands issued by ICE and local police.“After attempting to negotiate with Millan-Vazquez for about 25 minutes, the ICE officers were left with no other choice than make the arrest by physically removing him from the vehicle.”The arrest occurred on the same day Donald Trump’s administration announced it was to allow immigrants to be deported without going before a judge if they had been in the US for less than two years. Previously that time span was just two weeks.




The Latest: Johnson, Juncker to discuss Brexit by phone

The Latest: Johnson, Juncker to discuss Brexit by phoneEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have a phone call later Thursday to discuss the prospects of reaching an orderly departure of Britain from the bloc. EU Commission chief spokesperson Mina Andreeva said the phone call is planned for 5.45 p.m. Brussels time (1645GMT). Johnson has insisted that he wants to renegotiate the withdrawal deal both sides agreed on under Prime Minister Theresa May. EU leaders have firmly refused to consider the option and said they only want to discuss changing an additional political text outlining future arrangements.




Glaciers Are Melting Underwater. It's Worse Than Previously Thought

Glaciers Are Melting Underwater. It's Worse Than Previously ThoughtUnderwater glacier melt could be happening faster than previously thought, a dangerous finding as melting ice and glaciers raise sea levels