Welcome to FBNC's June 29 morning International news Here are today's outstanding news British, US China hawks call for ‘Nato for trade’ against Beijing Xi, Putin to meet online, underscoring unwavering strategic partnership China eyes new generation of tech-driven helicopters Is Hong Kong’s national security law being weaponised? Questions being asked as first case out of 61 goes before courts In Indonesia, anti-vaccine messages come with a dose of religion, anti-Chinese sentiment and conspiracy theories Iran says it will ‘NEVER’ give nuclear site images to UN watchdog as monitoring deal expires What’s Behind ‘Mislaid’ Defence Documents Showing Crimea Incident Was Planned? German Opposition Leader Warns Against Starting Arms Race With Russia Developers of doomed Fla. tower were once accused of paying off officials Hawkish British politicians and an American industrial lobby group have called on Western allies to form a “Nato for trade” to counter China’s “weaponisation of policy tools to punish any nation that does not kowtow to Beijing”. The proposal is for democratic nations to create a trade-based alliance along the lines of the North Atlantic military grouping formed to counter the Soviet Union in 1949 Under Nato rules, members agree to defend any one of them that comes under attack.
Similarly, backers of the proposed Democracies’ Alliance Treaty Organisation (Dato) advocate retaliation in response to coercive measures by China against any member. A report on the proposal was commissioned by the China Research Group, a hardline group of British Conservative members of parliament, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a science and technology policy think tank with links to the US government and big tech firms. It offers examples of how such an alliance would work. For instance, if China threatened to withdraw its students from a country reliant on income from Chinese overseas students, other nations would ban Chinese students in retaliation. Or if China threatened to put a country’s firms on its unreliable entity list a blacklist for corporations that fall foul of Beijing – the alliance would agree to limit imports from Chinese firms.
“Any democratic nation would be welcome to join, including Taiwan, but should any nation not take the needed steps to respond after a Dato decision, they would lose the right to be a member,” The proposal has no official backing – the British government declined to comment on the report but it represents a further push by hawkish lawmakers who have been instrumental in shaping Westminster’s China policy, as well as national sentiment towards Beijing. The Kremlin said on its website that the event is timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the signing of Russia-China Treaty on Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. The two leaders will exchange congratulations and evaluate the current state of and prospects for a strategic partnership between Russia and China, Yang Jin, an expert with the Institute of Russian, said "Also, Putin and Biden just met. While the US had tried to lobby Russia to curb China, the online meeting between the Chinese and Russian top leaders would convey great significance, delivering a clear message to the world about their unwavering strategic partnership, which won't be affected by external factors," After having established a family of helicopter types that has several dozen models, including advanced fourth-generation choppers like the Z-20, China aims to go beyond and design more advanced new choppers. These models would include heavy transport helicopters, next-generation high-speed helicopters and new concept helicopters that would integrate the latest technologies - including artificial intelligence (AI) - Xu Jianhua, head of the China Helicopter Research and Development Institute said Since the 1950s, China's helicopter industry has produced more than 60 types of helicopters based on 12 platforms.
affiliated with the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China This also means that China has established a complete family of domestically developed light, medium-sized and large helicopters, which have played important roles in the modernization of national defense and economic development, While the development of a heavy helicopter would expand China's helicopter family, China is also looking to make a technological leap from fourth-generation to fifth-generation models by developing high-speed helicopters, China's future helicopters could also integrate high technologies including AI, the Internet of Things, 5G communications, new energy and new materials. For example, AI could be applied in situational awareness enhancement, decision-making assistance, intelligent pilot-helicopter interaction, smart cockpits, autopilots, boundary protection, noise-reducing smart rotor adjustments and smart landing gears, But critics at home and abroad have argued the wide reach of the law, which bans acts of secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, is being used to attack civil liberties and demolish the city’s formal political opposition. Since the legislation came into effect on June 30 last year, police have arrested 114 suspects from all walks of life from a 15-year-old girl waving a banner calling for the city’s independence to the 73-year-old founder of the now- So far, 61 have been charged in court, and the first trial began last week, with the defendant facing a possible life sentence. But several critical questions over how the cases will be handled remain unknown, and the answers could affect international confidence in Hong Kong’s legal system, the bedrock of its success as a global financial hub.
The first person charged under the new law was motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit, 24, He was arrested in Wan Chai last July after allegedly riding his motorcycle into a group of police officers with a black flag sticking out of his backpack declaring: “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” Tong was denied bail, The researchers monitored the hashtags #vaksin and #tolakvaksin which respectively mean “vaccine” and “reject the vaccine” – posted by Indonesian users on TikTok in March and April. Anti-vaxxers also exploit anti-Chinese sentiment on Indonesian social media, saying that Chinese vaccines – like other China-made products – are of poor quality, Indonesia has taken delivery of over 104 million vaccine doses, 94.5 million of which are the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, while the rest are the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm inoculations. Ika of Paramadina University said anti-Chinese sentiment had been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic in Indonesia, much like in the United States. “Last year, negative stigma towards China and the Chinese was strong, triggered by the arrival of Chinese workers and tourists” before March, when Indonesia declared its first Covid-19 case, she said. Reuters reported that more than 350 health workers in Kudus, Central Java, contracted Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated with it.
While most of the workers were asymptomatic, dozens were in hospital with high fevers and falling oxygen-saturation levels. According to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), 61 doctors have died of Covid-19 between February and May 10 of whom had been fully vaccinated with Sinovac, while four had received a single dose. Indonesia has the most coronavirus cases and deaths in Southeast Asia. U.S. President Joe Biden did not comment on reports that the United States on Sunday (June 27) carried out another round of air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, this time in response to drone attacks by the militia against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. In a statement, the U.S. military said it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria
and one location in Iraq. It did not disclose whether it believed anyone was killed or injured. The strikes came at the direction of President Joe Biden, the second time he has ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia since taking office five months ago. Biden last ordered limited strikes against a target in Syria in February, that time in response to rocket attacks in Iraq.
"As demonstrated by this evening's strikes, President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect U.S. personnel," Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said during a parliament session on Sunday. “The agreement has expired... any of the information recorded will never be given to the IAEA and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Iran’s reluctance to cooperate with the IAEA could negatively affect the outcome of the ongoing talks to revive the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In their first face-to-face meeting since Israel's new government was sworn in two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lapid had a very positive and warm discussion, according to U.S. officials. "Israel has some serious reservations about the Iran nuclear deal that is being put together in Vienna.
We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversations, not in press conferences," Blinken told Lapid that Washington would remain in close contact with Israel over the Iran negotiations, U.S. officials said. The official chain of events around the leak of classified and embarrassing Ministry of Defence documents raises more questions than it answers. The bundle of papers was reportedly discovered a day before the incident between HMS Defender and the Russian Navy, with a BBC journalist aboard, but official sources are vague about who 'mislaid' them.
One document in the bundle shows two alternative routes for the warship from Odessa in Ukraine to Batumi in Georgia, its next port of call. One involves sailing almost due south before making a dog-leg to east-south-east to reach Batumi, giving the Crimean peninsula a wide berth. That would "provide an opportunity to engage with the Ukrainian government… in what the UK recognises as Ukrainian territorial waters" the document read indicating that the voyage was planned as a challenge to Russian sovereignty over the Crimea, which voted overwhelmingly to reunite with its historical mother-country in 2014 Sky News quoted a "Whitehall source" claiming a "senior civil servant" at the MoD had "mislaid" the documents. But other journalists speculated that it may have been a deliberate leak from another ministry as part of a battle over whether foreign policy takes a more hawkish or dovish turn.
The news comes a day after the former health secretary resigned following The Sun’s publication of footage showing Hancock violating coronavirus restrictions that were devised by his ministry. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid was appointed to replace him. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted at Matt Hancock’s potential return, The Sun writes.
According to the newspaper, responding to Hancock’s resignation letter, Johnson wrote that he was "sorry" to receive it and underscored that the official’s "contribution to public service is far from over", which the outlet writes opens the door for Hancock’s potential return. Washington has pressured the country to further ramp up spending to meet a NATO 2 percent of GDP spending guideline. Tino Chrupalla, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party, told Sputnik Germany should not be seeking to further grow defence spending, but looking for ways to reduce military outlays and engage in talks with Russia, German defence spending has gone up by double digits in recent years, with Berlin committing over $61 billion to its military in 2020 The government submitted a budget of 53 billion euros ($63.8 billion) for the current year.)
Tino Chrupalla, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party, told Sputnik Germany should not be seeking to further grow defence spending, but looking for ways to reduce military outlays and engage in talks with Russia, Earlier this week, on the anniversary of the start of the war on the eastern front in World War II between the USSR and Nazi Germany, Sevim Dagdelen, a member of the Bundestag from The Left (Die Linke) faction, penned an article in which she warned that NATO’s arms buildup and the deliberate escalation of tensions with Russia was a sign that the German government had “forgotten history.” Dagdelen warned that relations between Germany and Russia have reached a new low, and that ‘not a day goes’ without demands for new sanctions against Moscow. She added that instead of diplomacy, Berlin is betting on an unprecedented rearmament campaign and “openly taking a course to prepare for a war against Russia.” Russia – NATO’s chief perceived adversary, spent $61.7 billion on defence in 2020, During the same period, the Western alliance spent over $1.09 trillion on defence.
In the United States, to bring about a long-awaited end to the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and state health officials have been urging all Americans to get vaccinated. But, amid stagnating national vaccine rates, some states in the south have been lagging behind when it comes to vaccinating their populations, raising fears of deepening regional disparities. Several southern states, particularly in more rural communities, have vaccination rates that are below the national average, In Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, less than 50% of adults have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Dr Michael Saag, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham said “We’re all swimming against a strong current, in some areas, or pretty strong resistance because of the nature of people thinking together and reinforcing doubts about [the] vaccine in their day to day conversations with friends and family who are resistant to being vaccinated,” Southern states, in urban and rural communities, can also struggle with a lack of health infrastructure, restricting a person’s access to vaccine information and the ability to make an appointment. The political undercurrents behind vaccine hesitancy are hard to miss. Republican governors have shrugged off concerns of low vaccination rates, including the Mississippi governor, Tate Reeves, despite Mississippi having the lowest vaccination rates nationwide.
Last week Joe Biden and Jill Biden made separate trips to southern states to visit vaccination sites and urge people in the region to get the vaccine. The wide-majority of continued Covid-19 deaths are among unvaccinated people. The Delta variant of Covid-19, a more contagious and deadly strain of coronavirus that is currently on the rise, poses an additional threat to pockets of people who do not get the vaccine. The developers of the Miami condo tower that collapsed were once accused of paying off local officials to get permits for the site which needed $15 million in repairs just to bring it to code, a new report says. Building rivals claimed that the partners behind Surfside Champlain Towers South were receiving preferential treatment when it came to getting through the permit system as the site was being built in 1981, Surfside’s developers had contributed to the campaigns of at least two town- council members, Meanwhile, the 12-story tower had been on the verge of undergoing $15 million in renovations to pass a required 40-year certification when it collapsed, killing at least nine people and leaving more than 150 unaccounted for Thursday, The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Sunday released new videos and photos captured by the country's first Mars probe Tianwen-1 during its landing and roving exploration on the red planet.
On Sunday, four video clips were released for the first time. The first, captured on May 15, recorded the descent and landing process of the lander and rover. A second one showed the rover driving down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on May 22 Two more videos, shot on June 1, recorded the rover driving around and having photos taken alongside the lander. An image released by the CNSA which was taken by Zhurong's rear-view camera captured its tracks on the Martian surface. This is the first time that videos of the rover's movements on Mars have been seen. The Tianwen-1 mission was launched on July 23, 2020 On May 15, 2021, the lander finally touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.
A week later, Zhurong the rover started its exploration of the red planet, On June 16, the rover conducted an overall assessment of its surrounding environment to plan its paths for subsequent scientific exploration. So far, the Tianwen-1 mission has been in space for 338 days. The Zhurong rover has been working for 42 Martian days – one Martian day equals one day and 37 minutes on Earth – and has traveled a total of 236 meters on the red planet. Both the orbiter and the rover are in good working conditions, the CNSA said. Zhurong will continue its movement, detection and scientific exploration missions as planned. Meanwhile, the orbiter will continue to operate in a relay orbit, providing relay communication for the rover's scientific exploration while conducting its own scientific detection operations.
Hundreds of dolphins began to stampede next to a tour boat in Newport Beach Friday. The stampede was captured by Newport Whales which offers whale watching and dolphin tours all year in Southern California. The pod of around 400 common dolphins swam alongside and in front of the Newport Coastal Adventure fast raft boat Roame. “We don’t know exactly what causes common dolphins to stampede, but it’s thought that the dolphins could be evading a predator, Roame said Southern California is one of the best places in the world to see large pods of dolphins on a regular basis, These are FBNC's morning International news Thank you for watching See you in the next FBNC's morning International news
2021-07-01