News of the Force: Sunday, September 24, 2017 - Page 1

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Sunday, September 24, 2017 - Today is Heritage Day in South Africa

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President Trump tweets on Kim Jong-un

    

    U.S. President Donald Trump has tweeted that Kim Jong-un, whom he called a "madman," will be tested like never before.

    President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un escalated months of tensions this week, trading fierce threats and pointed insults like "rocket man" and "dotard" in high-profile addresses on two continents.

    North Korea has released fake images of Kim Jong-Un's lethal missiles shooting down a U.S. bomber.

    North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho warned yesterday that it is "inevitable" that his country will launch a missile toward the mainland United States in revenge for the insults President Trump has directed at leader Kim Jong Un. But if North Korea's foreign minister hoped to draw a response from U.S. President Donald Trump with his speech yesterday to the U.N. General Assembly, he got his wish. Trump said North Korea's leaders "won't be around much longer," if they attempt to launch a strike on the U.S. 

    Many members of the national media hate President Trump so much that they'll even defend North Korea if it keeps them consistent in their opposition to everything he does.

    President Trump's new Executive Order on North Korea sanctions is a unilateral declaration of economic warfare designed to bring the North to its knees through the aggressive use of secondary sanctions against any country that trades with or finances the communist nation.

    U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and F-15 jets, flying in international waters, carried out a show of force yesterday off the coast of North Korea aimed at countering what the Pentagon called Pyongyang's "reckless behavior."

    And South Korea's weather agency said a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was detected in North Korea yesterday close to where the country recently conducted a nuclear test, but it assessed the quake as natural.

 

The U.K. is facing another financial setback from the 'Brexit'

    

    Moody's has downgraded the U.K.'s credit rating from Aa1 to Aa2, citing fears that it will have a hard time making trade deals in the wake of the "Brexit."

 

In Mexico, villagers feel forgotten

    

    Inhabitants of the villages that dot the largely rural southern edge of Mexico City say they feel abandoned as aid and rescue workers focus on the 38 buildings that collapsed in the earthquake nearer the city's downtown district.

    Meanwhile, two more earthquakes shook southern Mexico yesterday, further rattling a country still coming to grips with the devastation from stronger temblors earlier this month.

 

Six injured in London acid attack

    

    A still image from video shows ambulances and other emergency services response vehicles outside Stratford station, in London, yesterday. The London Metropolitan Police are investigating after the six people were injured by a "noxious substance" thrown during a fight at a shopping center.

 

Syria looks for peace

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    Syria's foreign minister told world leaders yesterday that victory against terrorists in his war-ravaged nation "is now within reach."

    The Turkish Parliament yesterday renewed a bill allowing the military to intervene in Iraq and Syria if faced with national security threats - a move seen as a final warning to Iraqi Kurds to call off their independence referendum set for tomorrow. Turkey's government will never accept a separate Kurdish state in neighboring Iraq, and won't refrain from taking steps to prevent it, the government says.

    Iran's Khoramshahr missile was displayed by the Revolutionary Guard during a military parade marking the 37th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran. U.S . President Donald Trump took to Twitter yesterday to weigh in on the news that Iran defied his warnings with a new ballistic-missile test. Iranian media reported the missile could carry multiple warheads but wasn't designed for nuclear capabilities.

    And Israeli air force jets have attacked several targets near the Damascus airfield, Syrian media has reported. The attack seems to have been directed at a Hizbollah weapons storage warehouse.

 

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    Couzin Gym's Thought for the Day: Trouble in a marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earning his salt that he forgets his sugar.

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NOAA news

    

    Tens of thousands of residents in northwestern Puerto Rico were ordered to evacuate amid fears that a dam holding back a large inland lake was in imminent danger of failing because of damage from Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico is already experiencing major flooding in numerous areas, including San Juan. NOAA's National Weather Service has warned the failure of Guajataca Dam in northwest Puerto Rico was "imminent" and could lead to “life-threatening" flash flooding.

    In the northern Puerto Rico town of Vega Baja, the floodwaters reached more than 10 feet. Stranded residents screamed "save me, save me," using the lights in their cell phones to help rescue teams find them in the darkness.

    Just as large swaths of the Caribbean try to recover from powerful hurricanes that turned small paradises into islands of destruction, another storm - Tropical Storm Lee - is gaining strength in the Atlantic.

    Hurricane Maria is expected to soon create dangerous waves and strong rip currents along parts of the southeast U.S. coast as the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas are no longer under hurricane warnings. During the past several hours, NOAA buoy #41047, located to the east of the storm's center, reported sustained winds of 68 mph and a wind gust of 85 mph.

    And a 150-pound sub-adult male was the 1,000th turtle in the state of Hawaii to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild by NOAA.

 

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

    

    BAE Systems has been awarded a $51.3-million contract for maintenance and modernization of the U.S. Navy's USS Roosevelt guided missile destroyer.

    A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 (Reinforced), 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has departed its base for Puerto Rico.

    A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey has landed in St. John, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, bringing in personnel and equipment.

    The "Red Devils" put the faces to Marine Corps fighter pilots at California's Miramar Air Show.

    U.S. Marine Corps aircraft joined Japanese and South Korean military aircraft in a sequenced bilateral show of force over the Korean Peninsula.

    And the Marine Corps Reserve will host a golf tournament on Oct. 7th in South Bend, Indiana. It's part of an effort to raise money for the annual "Toys for Tots" drive. The event will be held at the Elbel Golf Course. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and shotgun at 10 a.m. There will be food, prizes, games and a raffle. The event ranges between $60 and $400. If you would like to register, you must sign up by Oct. 1st.

 

Homeland insecurity

    

    The city of San Diego, Calif., has turned to the Department of Homeland Security for help in combating a hepatitis outbreak.

    A local company in Bozeman, Montana, that supplies laser technology to the military and Homeland Security has gotten a visit from Sen. Jon Tester, who is seeking alternatives to building a costly wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

    A rash of recent high-profile cyber attacks has security experts scrambling to find solutions.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Wisconsin's voter registration system was unsuccessfully targeted by Russian hackers. The Department of Homeland Security and election officials from around the country are expected to meet next month to begin working toward a solution to the problem.

 

U.S. Army

    

    Struggling with an embarrassing series of misconduct and behavior problems among senior officers, the Army is putting together new ways to address the problems of its misbehaving generals.

    A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter has collided in mid-air with a drone during an air patrol over New York City, where international diplomats have gathered for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

    Robert Perez, a U.S. Army captain stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., smiled for the first time in a week as he saw his parents arrive at Florida's Orlando International Airport after they escaped from Hurricane Maria.

    An Atlanta, Ga., man was convicted on Wednesday of placing malicious code on a U.S. Army computer that eventually cost taxpayers about $2.6 million.

    One hundred soldiers of the U.S. Army Reserve's 603rd Military Police Company, which is based in Belton, Kansas, have returned home from their service at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    Scientists from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have devised a way to extract fuel power from urine by combining it with a newly engineered nanotechnology.

    The U.S. Army said yesterday it has deployed more than 1,900 soldiers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel to Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories since Maria hit.

    South Carolina State University President James Clark is no stranger to flying an airplane, and he's now participated in a U.S. Army Reserve tandem jump.

    Police on Long Island, N.Y., say a woman was seriously injured when an unoccupied U.S. Army Reserve Humvee on display rolled out of gear and pinned her against a truck at a food festival.

    And members of the Michigan Army National Guard's C Co., 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment have qualified with the British Army's primary assault rifle, the SA80.

 

MacArthur Justice Center sues St. Louis over 'unlawful' arrests of protesters

    A new lawsuit seeking class-action status says that St. Louis, Mo., officials are improperly arresting, jailing and prosecuting protesters, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported. The lawsuit, filed by the MacArthur Justice Center on behalf of St. Louis resident and tech executive Nick Apperson, says that Apperson has repeatedly been arrested during protests for activity that is protected by the First Amendment.

    Rather than issuing a citation and releasing arrestees, the St. Louis police jail them and charge them with outdated and unconstitutionally vague and overbroad municipal ordinances, the suit claims. Then prosecutors refuse to drop charges against protesters or "cop watchers," the suit says, and require those charged to waive civil claims to receive a plea offer.

    The suit says that Apperson, 32, was "brutally wrestled" to the ground, handcuffed and jailed during a July 21st protest at the city’s medium-security jail, known as the "workhouse," after which Apperson was charged with a civil violation of interfering with an officer and resisting arrest, the newspaper says.

    Apperson was arrested on Feb. 10th after asking about and videotaping officers who held someone at gunpoint "on a public street in front of a popular restaurant in the middle of the day." Apperson was again charged with interfering with an officer and resisting arrest, the suit says.

    On Aug. 9, 2016, Apperson was arrested at the Muny and charged with disturbing the peace during a demonstration in which protesters sang racial justice hymns and carried banners on the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, the suit says. Each time, the suit says, Apperson was forced to post "an arbitrary amount of bail" and was never taken before a judge.

    The suit seeks monetary damages and a judge’s order that would halt the practices.

    The ACLU also filed a lawsuit Friday claiming the police violated protesters’ rights.

 

U.S. Coast Guard

    

    Crew members of USCGC Alex Haley have medevaced a man from aboard a Chinese research vessel sailing near Alaska.

    In a statement yesterday, the Texas General Land Office said it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to test the vessels displaced by Hurricane Harvey for oil leaks.

    The U.S. military continues to evacuate hurricane victims from Dominica. Hurricane Maria forced them to seek shelter at the Muniz Air National Guard Base and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, in Puerto Rico.

    U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., is the Coast Guard's only boot camp, producing 3,500 new Coast Guard members each year. The facilities are on a 352-acre peninsula along Cape May Harbor.

    Did you know? Applicants to all U.S. service academies, except the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, must obtain a nomination from an official nominating source.

    An abandoned "ghost boat" that washed ashore near Melbourne Beach, Fla., last week was last registered in the name of a man who is jailed in Key West for attempted murder, kidnapping, and a variety of other charges, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has confirmed. Jeffrey Ray Sundwall, 47, of Key West, is an inmate at the Monroe County Detention Facility. The abandoned 45-foot sailboat Cuki was reported last Tuesday morning to be on the sand at Spessard Holland South Beach Park. A magnet for park visitors, the vessel may not be removed for another two weeks to two months because of its size. Jeffrey Ray Sundwall was Cuki's last registered owner logged in the NOAA registry, Coast Guard spokesman Luke Clayton has confirmed. In March, Sundwall was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping-false imprisonment and sexual assault in an alleged incident with a Texas woman aboard a different boat - a 34-foot trawler named Today, Monroe County Sheriff's records show. According to the offense report, Sundwall used a neck restraint device to choke the victim unconscious, committed sexual battery, and forced her to smoke crack cocaine. At the time, the trawler was anchored off Christmas Tree Island near Key West.

    The U.S. Coast Guard is putting the finishing touches on its new head-quarters facility at Texas' Corpus Christi International Airport.

    Rescue crews responded on Friday night to Essex Bay, Mass., where two kite surfers were stranded after their boat became disabled, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

    And the Coast Guard rescued 12 people from aboard a 160-foot vessel taking on water near Port Mansfield, Texas, on Friday.

 

UFO news

    

    The earliest sighting of a UFO in Hull, in the U.K., can be traced back to June 1801.

 

 

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