Category: Current affairs

The state of the world, now, as it happens.

Al-Jazeera hits back at Israel’s proposal to block the news channel’s signal in the country

jazeera

 

Al-Jazeera has hit back at Israel’s proposed ban of the broadcaster’s signal in the country.

The news channel, which is owned by the Qatari Government and based in the country’s capital, Doha, has faced similar bans on other Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Now, Al-Jazeera says that Israel’s position makes mockery of the country’s claim to uphold democratic values, and aligns it instead with the very countries it professes to oppose.

Al-Jazeera’s troubles began soon after the outset of the Gulf Crisis, when several neighbouring countries colluded to ban Qatar from their airspace, and also forbid the importing of any Qatari products.

Last month, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Al-Jazeera of ‘inciting violence’ over its coverage of clashes between Muslim worshippers and Israeli security forces.

US will bolster its military presence in South Korea with the deployment of 16 additional F-16 fighter jets and 200 troops

f162

The US is set to reinforce its military deployment in South Korea, as it plans to send 16 extra F-16 fighter jets and 200 military personnel to Kunsan Air Base, some 180km south of Seoul.

The four-month long deployment comes in the wake of heightened tensions in the area, prompted by a string of missile tests by North Korea.

South Korea and the US have been conducting joined military exercises in recent days, in a clear show of force to the Pyongyang regime.

The exercises called for two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers to fly over South Korean airspace.

The Rockwell B-1B is a heavy, long-range bomber, and one of the cornerstones of the US’ strategic bombing fleet, along with the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress.

The aircraft carries the largest payload in the entire US Air Force, and first saw action in 1998.

NASA will test its new planetary defence system on an asteroid zooming close to our planet in October

asteroid

NASA will get a chance to test its brand new planetary defence system in October, as 2012 TC4 will fly past Earth at a distance of just 4,200 miles. That is a very close call in astronomical terms indeed, though NASA have confirmed that the space rock will not hit our planet.

2012 TC4 is about 30mts across, and will become the test subject for a new detection and tracking network developed to assess the level of threat posed by rogue asteroids.

The next phase of NASA’s planetary defence system is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, which should be ready by 2022.

Anthony Scaramucci booted from the White House after just ten days on the job

mooch

Anthony ‘The Mooch’ Scaramucci is no longer the White House communications director. And having spent less than two weeks on the job, he’s not likely to be missed all that much.

The axe fell on the wealthy former hedge fund impresario earlier today, in a move that shocked many but surprised few. The axeman? The White House’s brand new Chief of Staff, no-nonsense retired Four-Star General John F. Kelly of the USMC.

It had been a relatively quiet two weeks inside the corridors of power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., by the the current Administration standards at least. The chaos and the uncontrolled dive seemed to have righted themselves, for a while at least. Critical mass appeared to have been averted.

Then, a few short days after launching an expletive-laden tirade against Reince Priebus, The Mooch found himself on the firing line.

Fast-talking Scaramucci entered the White House riding a high horse, wearing aviator glasses with a Top Gun-esque blue tint, and boasting to report directly to his idolized boss, gunning for anyone suspected to have leaked information to the press. He took aim at Reince Priebus, who resigned last Friday ‘to give Scaramucci a clean slate.’

No such luck for Scaramucci, however. The once fawning Mooch was escorted out of the White House today, out of the job he had longed for since the Boss rose to power in the last election.

And Scaramucci is not just out of a job. He is out of a marriage too, as his wife filed for divorce ‘because he had turned into a Trump sycophant.’

Charlie Gard case: Judge will rule on where tragic baby Charlie Gard should spend his last moments of life

charlie_gard

The case of baby Charlie Gard has gripped the public across Europe and elsewhere.

Charlie was born on August 4, 2016, to the parents of Connie Yates and Chris Gard.

Afflicted from birth by a rare genetic condition known as mitochondrial depletion syndrome, Charlie has not had much of a life outside hospital environments in London.

Charlie’s condition causes progressive muscle weakness, and in Charlie’s case, he’s also suffered brain damage, now known to be irreversible.

His parents fought a valiant, but ultimately futile legal battle to have their son treated with an experimental treatment that has reportedly had some success in other cases. Much to the parent’s pain and sorrow however, the window of opportunity to treat Charlie -if there ever was one-, has now passed. The damage to his brain is too great, and cannot be undone. Charlie cannot move or breathe unassisted. His body is being kept alive by machines.

Charlie’s parents are now fighting to be given the chance to take their son home for the last time, and let him pass away there.

A judge will rule tomorrow on the place and manner of Charlie’s passing, after the hospital where the baby is currently being cared for raised concerns about transporting the terminally ill Charlie Gard home, explaining that the ventilator that keeps him alive ‘might not fit through the door.’

Plastic nightmare: Spiralling consumption of plastic bottles threatens to become environmental disaster in the near future

 

plastic

The consumption of plastic bottles has skyrocketed over the last decade. About 480 billion were sold worldwide in 2016. This compares to about 300 billion just ten years before. To put it into perspective, if one were to stack 480 billion bottles, the plastic tower would reach almost half way to the Sun.

Right now, factories produce an average of 20,000 bottles every second of every day. Tonnes of discarded plastic enter the world’s oceans all the time, ultimately entering the food chain through birds and fish.

Plastic bottles have been found in every corner of the oceans, including the Arctic and remote, uninhibited islands. The world’s fatal love affair with plastic is now threatening to become a harmful environmental issue not far into the future, as consumption rates far outstrips recycling.

Experts are warning that plastic pollution will soon become as harmful as climate change, unless drastic measures are taken.

 

War to infinity and beyond: US Army committee votes for the creation of ‘space corps’ army branch

PFC. Vasquez and PFC. Drake, Smartgun Operators attached to 2nd Battalion, Bravo Team of the United States Colonial Marine Corps (USCMC), onboard  the USS Sulaco, from the movie Aliens. Photo credit: Fox.

 

Having almost run out of foes to fight on Earth, the US House Armed Services Committee has set its iron sights on the Solar System.

The committee has voted in favor of the creation of a brand new ‘space corps’ army branch, whose mission would be to conduct exoatmospheric operations.

The proposal, which has bipartisan backing, would require the personal signature of President Donald Trump to become a reality.

If it comes to pass, the so-called ‘Space Corps’ would become the sixth branch of the US Army, and the first US command to be created in seven decades.

The new corps would assume the responsibilities currently carried by the US Air Force in outer space. The Air Force does have a Space Division at present time, but if the new proposals become law, the space branch would become its own entity, featuring a new chain of command.

The ‘space soldiers’ would presumably be tasked with defending US interests around known space, and defend the country from potential alien threats.

B-52 bombers to be deployed to the UK as part of joint NATO exercises

b52

A number of long-range B-52 bombers will be deployed to the UK to take part in upcoming joint wargames with NATO forces.

The deployment takes place against a backdrop of uncertainty about the future role of US forces in the defence of the continent.

President Donald Trump has alienated many European countries with comments about the perceived obsolescence of NATO, and his views that Germany is not ‘paying enough’ towards defence spending.

Nevertheless, a number of bombers and up to 800 troops will soon arrive in the UK. The upcoming wargames will take place across the Baltic region, right on Russia’s borders, later this month.

The B-52 Stratofortress is one of the US Air Force’s longest serving aircraft.

It first entered active service in 1955, and carried out a large number of bombing operations throughout the Vietnam War, notably during sustained bombardment campaigns as part of operations Rolling Thunder and Arc Light.

The aircraft, which completed its sixtieth operational year in 2015, has seen action as recently as 2016, conducting sorties in Afghanistan.

Having undergone a large number of modifications throughout its long history, the B-52 is likely to remain operational at least until 2045, some 90 years after the aircraft first entered service. This is an unprecedented length of service for any aircraft, civilian or military, in history.

Trump accelerates climate apocalypse after announcing that the US will withdraw from Paris Agreement

climate

The end of days inches yet a bit closer after US President Donald Trump announces that his country will no longer abide by the Paris Agreement on climate.

Trump, who is almost as oblivious to scientific reality as our very own Danny Healy-Rae from the Kingdom, has unilaterally decided that the US will withdraw from the historic deal on climate reached in Paris in 2015.

The agreement was reached after decades of wrangling and toing and froing regarding global warming and climate change. Those countries responsible for producing 55% of the global carbon and gas emissionns ratified it, and the agreement became legally binding a few months later. Only two countries -Syria and Nicaragua- opted out.

The overall aim of the deal is to keep global temperature increases to less than 2C, with particular effort put into maintaining the figure at 1.5C.

The US will now be free from such obligation. It is worth mentioning that energy companies poured tens of millions of dollars into supporting the president during his campaign, lobbying hard to exert influence over future decisions that could potentially affect their own coffers.

It is now clear that such covert moves paid off, as energy giants stand to gain big time financially after today.

Enemy of his own state: The end of the Trump era is nigh

 

Donald Trump

‘I hope you can let this go’

So President Trump allegedly told the now ex-FBI Director James Comey, referring to the bureau’s probe into Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. ‘I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,’ Trump was quoted as saying in a private meeting with Comey. ‘He (Flynn) is a good guy.’ Comey was cleverly selective with his answer. ‘I agree he is a good guy.’

That one sentence, which essentially amounted to a thinly veiled attempt to shut down an FBI investigation into Flynn’s murky liaisons with Russian personnel, is likely to become Trump’s political epitaph.

The revelation that the 45th President uttered these words came in the form of a memo written by Comey, on foot of the alleged conversation that took place during a meeting back in February, exactly the day after Flynn resigned. Comey was reportedly shocked that the President would ask something that could be interpreted as intimidation, and took down notes after the meeting ended. Comey wanted to ensure that a paper trail existed, as current notes taken by an FBI agent usually hold up in court.

James Comey’s habit of writing down conversations that may later come into question was well known among his associates. In this case, such work practice may very well bring about the end of Donald Trump’s Presidency.

Despite Trump’s attempts to derail the probe into Flynn’s activities, the investigation continued. Indeed, a federal grand jury in Virginia has recently issued subpoenas relating to material involving Mr. Flynn.

Trump shoots himself in the head, politically speaking: The firing of James Comey

Donald Trump pressed the nuclear button and fired Director Comey on May 9th, immediately sending shockwaves across Washington. The official reason given for the man’s dismissal quoted Comey’s work performance, particularly in relation to the controversial decision not to prosecute Hilary Clinton over the use of public email servers during her presidential campaign. According to Clinton, Comey’s intervention costed her the election, and Trump had nothing but admiration and praise for Comey at the time.

But things had changed by May 10th: ‘He wasn’t doing a good job,’ Trump said about Comey on that date, a day after the drama began to unfold.

The official reason notwithstanding, the White House was thrown into disarray over the issue 24 hours later, as conflicting reports about the reason for Comey’s dismissal began to emerge. One spokesperson after another attempted to justify the President’s decision to get rid of Comey, to little avail.

So intense was the fallout that the White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, was seen hiding from the press to avoid questioning. This would later be lampooned by Melissa McCarthy’s portrayal of Spicer on the SNL show. A newspaper went as far as saying that Spicer ‘hid in the bushes.’ The paper was later forced to issue a retraction to change ‘in‘ for ‘among.’

Yet, all attempts to protect the President would be swiftly dismantled by the President himself, when he revealed during a TV interview that he targeted Comey over the probe into collusion with Russia during the presidential campaign.

Trump said during the interview that ‘this Russia thing‘ was one of the reasons he fired Comey, adding that the whole Russia issue was a ‘made-up story.’ This revelation pretty much destroyed whatever little credibility the White House had managed to hold on to up to this point. To add insult to injury, Trump referred to Comey as “a showboat” and “grandstander.” Both the press and the Trump camp were left aghast at the statement.

Architect of his own demise: Trump reveals classified information to Russia

When it comes to torpedoing his own tenancy as President of the United States, nobody does it better than Trump himself.

Still reeling from the Comey scandal, the latest shot under the White House’s waterline came in the form of highly classified intel openly spoken about in the presence of Russian representatives.

The top secret material, relating to an intelligence operation against ISIS, was discussed in plain English during a meeting between Trump and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Trump was on a roll at the time. The fateful meeting took place less than 24 hours after the termination of FBI Director Comey.

The White House, and the intelligence community as a whole, was left speechless after Trump’s blunder. The President’s basic competence was quickly called into question.

Trump’s fundamental ignorance about history is well documented. The President, a self-confessed TV addict, openly admitted that he believed Frederick Douglass to be still alive and that ‘he is doing an amazing job,’ for example. And he has also made some bizarre comments about the Civil War.

But despite these obvious academic shortcomings, one would think that Trump, as a security-obsessed American and as President, would have enough intellect to mind his mouth when it comes to matters of national security. Not so, apparently. The untold damage caused by the security breach is likely to ‘cost American lives,’ according to security analysts.

Obstruction of Justice and possible impeachment

It is hard to see Trump’s alleged attempts to meddle into the Flynn investigation first, and then into the probe of whether or not Russia had any role to play in the presidential election, as anything other than interfering into the FBI’s and Department of Justice’s dealings with these matters.

Comparisons have been drawn between these issues and the Watergate, the scandal that culminated in Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974, days before an imminent impeachment.

Back then, journalists and law enforcement organizations untangled a complicated trail of illicit activities that led all the way to the White House.

With the scandal out in the open, Nixon and a few other top political associates were accused of obstruction of justice, after it emerged that Nixon planned to use the CIA to stop an impending investigation by the FBI.

Nixon was pushed into a corner, and with the threat of impeachment looming closer, he chose to resign. Though later pardoned for his involvement in the shady affair, the Watergate legacy stayed with Nixon until his death in 1994.

Impeachment proceedings have been initiated against several US presidents, though only two -Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton- have ever been successfully impeached.

There are now sufficient grounds to impeach the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, in light of his alleged intervention in the FBI’s affairs, and the recent alleged leak of classified information.

The seventh trumpet is about to blow for Mr. Trump.