From the Trenches World Report
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Seoul (AFP) – North Korea denounced the US deployment of a naval strike group to the region Tuesday, warning it is ready for “war” as Washington tightens the screws on the nuclear-armed state.
The strike group — which includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson — cancelled a planned trip to Australia this weekend, heading to the Korean peninsula instead in a show of force. Continue reading “North Korea vows response to ‘reckless’ US Navy move”
Egypt’s president called for a three-month state of emergency Sunday after at least 44 people were killed and more than 100 more were injured in two Palm Sunday suicide attacks at Coptic Christian churches, each carried out by the ISIS terror group.
Sunday’s first blast happened at St. George Church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, where at least 27 people were killed and 78 others wounded, officials said. Continue reading “Palm Sunday attacks: 44 dead, more than 100 injured in church bombings carried out by ISIS in Egypt”
Washington (AFP) – The US Navy said on Saturday it had sent a carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula in a show of force against North Korea’s “reckless” nuclear weapons program.
The move will raise tensions in the region and comes hard on the heels of a US missile strike on Syria that was widely interpreted as putting Pyongyang on warning over its refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Continue reading “US navy strike group heads toward Korean peninsula”
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I have an important update: based on Russian sources, including video footage and the reports of one Russian journalist on the ground, Evgenii Poddubnyi, it has become clear that the US strike was largely symbolic. Here is the evidence: Continue reading “SITREP: Important update on the US attack on Syria”
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The ” town” has been called a village by the media. It’s population in 2011 before being taken by Al – Nusra in 2014 was almost FIFTY THREE THOUSAND People! That is not a hamlet or village with a donkey going ’round a watering hole! No one can answer the question why would Assad target this area? Please research the SS Donald Cook and the Russians “buzz” fly by. They knocked out all the AEGIS electronic defence technology leaving it a sitting duck. They did this TWICE 3 years apart. When the ship docked in Romania for repairs all 27 crew on board resigned. It’s called Khibiny technology. The navy is obsolete….I think it’s a fake war. No fly by this time!
The U.S. will impose new economic sanctions against Syria designed curb its government’s use of chemical weapons, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday.
“We view sanctions as being a very important tool,” Mnuchin told reporters at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Continue reading “US preparing new sanctions against Syria”
Anti-Media – by James Holbrooks
East Asia — As journalists, analysts, and world leaders wait to see what transpires at the much-hyped summit between Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping this Friday, Asian media reported Monday that the U.S. and its allies in East Asia are conducting their first ever joint anti-submarine drills. They are aimed at coordinating an “effective response” to the purportedly belligerent North Korea.
“Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have conducted the first joint anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills involving the three countries,” The Japan Times reports, “amid North Korea’s growing submarine-launched ballistic missile threat.” Continue reading “U.S., Japan, and S. Korea Hold First Ever Anti-Submarine Drills Targeting North Korea”
The Hill – by Alexander Bolton
The Senate on Friday confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, giving President Trump the biggest victory of his first 100 days in office.
The 54-45 vote caps a bitter political battle that began with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia more than a year ago and resulted in the Senate triggering the “nuclear option,” breaking Democrats’ blockade and ending filibusters for Supreme Court nominees. Continue reading “Senate confirms Gorsuch to Supreme Court”
A Russian warship entered the eastern Mediterranean Friday and was heading toward the area where two U.S. Navy destroyers launched missile strikes into Syria, Fox News has learned.
The Russian frigate, Admiral Grigorovich RFS-494, crossed through the Bosphorus Strait “a few hours ago” from the Black Sea, according to a U.S. defense official. Continue reading “Russian warship steams toward US destroyers that launched Syria strikes”
March was a month of giving back: after a very strong, if downward revised start to the year, with both January and February payrolls revised lower by a total of 38,000 jobs, March saw the worst job gains since May 2016, with only 98,000 jobs added. While many have claimed it was the weather’s fault, the BLS reported that 164K people said they were unable to work in March due to poor weather conditions. This was just fractionally more than the 143K long-term average. Continue reading “Where The March Jobs Were: Plunging Retail Workers Offset By Doormen Hiring Surge”
Moscow says it is halting an agreement with Washington aimed at avoiding mid-air collisions during their military missions in the Syrian airspace after US launched a missile attack against a Syrian army airbase.
“The Russian side is halting the effect of the memorandum for prevention of incidents and ensuring safety of air flights during operations in Syria which was agreed with the US,” said a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday. Continue reading “Russia suspends Syria flight safety deal with US after missile attack”
When disaster strikes, you’ve basically got two options: to bug in or to bug out… and it’s pretty clear that venturing outside is going to be more dangerous than hiding into your house, safe room or underground shelter.
When you’re on the run, there are worse things that can happen to you than watching your house catch fire. Thieves, gangs, law enforcement impersonators, wild animals, extreme temperatures, lack of food, water and shelter are just a few of the things you might have to deal with. Continue reading “Bug Out Accidents and How to Prevent Them”
The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was the Syrian government’s use of banned chemical weapons blamed for having killed at least 100 people on Tuesday, U.S. military officials told NBC News.
The U.S. military fired at least 50 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Ash Sha’irat in Homs province in western Syria, the officials said. Continue reading “U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base After Chemical Weapons Attack”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday said the U.S. is considering an “appropriate response” to the Syrian government’s apparent use of chemical weapons and that he sees “no role” in the country for President Bashar Assad.
“The process by which Assad would leave is something that requires an international community effort both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving,” Tillerson said at a news conference in Palm Beach, Fla. Continue reading “Tillerson: ‘Steps are underway’ to remove Assad”
The Senate voted Thursday to move forward with Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination after Republicans took a historic step that lowers the vote threshold for high court nominees to a simple majority.
Senators voted 55-45 to end debate on Gorsuch’s nomination, setting up a final confirmation vote for Friday. Thanks to a procedural move that changed Senate rules earlier Thursday, a simple majority was needed to move forward. Continue reading “Senate goes ‘nuclear’ to advance Trump Supreme Court pick”
VOA News – by Catherine Maddux
The United States formally entered World War I a hundred years ago, on April 6, 1917.
The nation set aside its posture of neutrality nearly three years after the start of the bloody conflict that came to be known as the “Great War.” Continue reading “This Day in History: US Marks Centennial of Entry Into the ‘Great War’”
As the U.S. and other Western nations sharply denounced the Assad and Putin regimes for the deadly gas attack in Syria, Russia on Wednesday tried to deflect blame by pointing to Syrian rebels.
“It’s necessary to demand that the rebels offer full access to study the area and collect necessary information,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Continue reading “Syria gas attack: Russia deflects at UN Security Council”
Bloomberg – by Catherine Traywick and Sheela Tobben
China became the biggest buyer of U.S. crude oil in February, surpassing Canada, at a time when OPEC is cutting back output.
China imported 8.08 million barrels of U.S. light crude, nearly quadrupling its January purchases, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday. That helped boost U.S. exports to a record 31.2 million barrels during the month. Canada, the U.S.’s largest trade partner, imported 6.84 million, down 20 percent from a month earlier. Continue reading “China becomes top importer of US crude”
SALEM, N.H. (AP) — A condemned house exploded after a neighbor dispute over stacking firewood, and a body was found in the basement, police said Tuesday.
The body was seen through a basement window; police hadn’t gone inside yet. Investigators found items on the Salem property such as boards with nails poking through them, which appear to be intended to hurt or slow anyone approaching the house, Capt. Joel Dolan said. The Nashua bomb squad was called in to assist. Continue reading “Condemned home explodes after neighbor fight; body found”
WASHINGTON (AP) — After his press secretary blasted it as an example of rampant government overreach, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Monday that could eventually allow internet providers to sell information about their customers’ browsing habits.
The bill scraps a Federal Communications Commission online privacy regulation issued in October to give consumers more control over how companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon share that information. Critics have argued that the rule would stifle innovation and pick winners and losers among internet companies. Continue reading “Trump signs bill blocking online privacy regulation”