JAPAN
US to offer Hawkeye aircraft
The US Department of State on Monday said it is ready to approve the sale of up to nine early-warning military aircraft to Japan. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft, made by Northrop Grumman, are equipped with powerful radars that can detect other airplanes and ships at long range. Worth an estimated US$3.1 billion, the deal would also include associated technology and spare engines. The US Congress has 30 days to raise objections to the sale, though this is unlikely given that Japan is a close US ally. “It is vital to US national interests to assist Japan in developing and maintaining a strong and effective self-defense capability,” the State Department said.
SOUTH KOREA
Military talks to lead summit
South Korea yesterday said it would hold military talks with North Korea this week to discuss ways to ease tensions along their border ahead of a summit between their leaders. The talks, scheduled for Thursday at the border village of Panmunjom, would come just days before the leaders of the two countries meet for the third time this year. The South Korean Ministry of Defense said the talks would deal with disarming a jointly controlled area at Panmunjom, removing front-line guard posts and conducting joint searches for soldiers missing from the Korean War.
LIBYA
More migrants die off coast
Doctors Without Borders has said that more than 100 people have died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast and the remaining survivors are being held in detention in Libya. The humanitarian organization said in a statement on Monday that the shipwreck occurred on Sept. 1. Two rubber boats left the Libyan coast carrying migrants from Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Algeria and Egypt, it said, adding that one of the boats deflated and sank. The Libyan coast guard recovered 276 survivors from both boats and brought them to the port city of Khoms, Libya, and only two bodies were reportedly recovered.
UNITED NATIONS
Head says 2020 climate key
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said the world is facing “a direct existential threat” and must rapidly shift from dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 to prevent “runaway climate change.” The UN head called the crisis urgent and decried the lack of global leadership to address global warming. “Climate change is moving faster than we are,” Guterres said. He said extreme heatwaves, wildfires, storms and floods “are leaving a trail of death and devastation.” Scientists have been warning about global warming for decades, but “far too many leaders have refused to listen — far too few have acted with the vision the science demands,” he added.
UNITED STATES
Marijuana items fail tests
Nearly 20 percent of all the marijuana products tested in California for potency and purity have failed. That is according to state data provided to the Associated Press. California started testing on July 1. In the first two months nearly 11,000 samples were checked and almost 2,000 failed. In some cases, the product must be destroyed, but many involve labeling issues that can be corrected. Testing has been especially tough on infused cookies and candies: About one-third have failed. Some in the marijuana industry say the standards are too strict and that technical glitches have contributed to the high failure rate. The state is considering revamping testing rules.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of