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  • China denies access to U.S. stealth helo wreckage

    On Tuesday, the Chinese military refuted a report that its military engineers were given access to wreckage from a new U.S. stealth helicopter in Pakistan; the Information Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of National Defense called the reports “groundless and ridiculous” in a press release; the wreckage is from a helicopter used by Navy SEALs in the clandestine operation that killed Osama bin Laden in May; U.S. intelligence officials recently stated that they suspect the Pakistani intelligence agency gave Chinese military engineers access to the wreckage

  • Chinese carrier completes maiden voyage

    On Sunday, China’s first aircraft carrier completed its maiden voyage; the carrier made a four-day trip to conduct drills and to test its systems; the carrier is a retro-fitted Russian carrier purchased from Ukraine; the carrier is expected to enter official service in August of next year, and the ship is still in the process of being tested and refitted

  • U.S. -- South Korea joint military exercises begin

    On Tuesday the United States and South Korea launched its annual joint military exercise; the drills will last for ten days and the operation has been dubbed Ulchi Freedom Guardian; 530,000 troops from South Korea, the United States, and various United Nations member-states will participate in the drills; the drill is taking place on the Korean peninsula as well as U.S military headquarters in the Pacific; the United States has informed North Korea of the defensive nature of the drills; General James D. Thurman said the drill is “focused on preparing, preventing and prevailing against the full range of current and future external threats” to South Korea and the region

  • Japan struggles to begin reconstruction, mountains of debris still remain

    The 11 March earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan left 22 million tons of debris scattered across three prefectures that the government is still struggling to clear; reconstruction cannot begin until the debris is removed; the geography and land layout in the different affected prefectures has slowed the cleanup process; some towns and villages with little flat land focused on building temporary housing which left little room for temporary debris storage; furthermore 7,000 people are still missing, so cleanup crews are proceeding carefully with the debris disposal process

  • Japanese government agrees to decontaminate areas hit by radiation

    The central government of Japan is currently debating a bill to decontaminate the soil, buildings, and any vegetation exposed to radiation after the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant began leaking radiation; under the proposed legislation, the central government will also remove contaminated rubble; currently there are no laws concerning the cleanup of environmental contamination by radioactive materials and if passed this would be the first

  • Israel detains Al Jazeera bureau chief

    Last week Israeli troops arrested Samer Allawi, the bureau chief of Al Jazeera’s Afghanistan office; Al Jazeera reports that Israel is charging Allawi with belonging to Hamas; Israeli officials have declined to release any details on why the journalist was detained until the investigation is complete; Allawi was arrested on 10 August at a checkpoint in the West Bank near the Jordanian border as he tried to return to Afghanistan; Al Jazeera reports that Allawi had been in the West Bank to visit his family for his annual vacation

  • New survey finds British feel increasingly unsafe at home

    A new survey found that four out of ten people keep a weapon near their bed — a kitchen knife or a heavy flashlight — to defend themselves against intruders; the survey also found that one in seven Britons do not feel safe at their homes at night; young people are more likely to feel unsafe than older people with one out of five aged eighteen to twenty-four feeling unsafe; a spokesman for the Police Federation said, “It is understandable that people are feeling vulnerable at the moment as they witness fall in police numbers and a rise in the number or reported burglaries”

  • Monk burns himself to death, calls for Dalai Lamai's return

    In southwest China a Tibetan monk has burned himself in death as an act of protest calling for the return of the Dalai Lama; officials fear that the monk’s actions will spark racial tensions in Sichuan, which has a large population of ethnic Tibetans; Sichuan borders Tibet and in March a Tibetan monk burned himself to death there as well following a series of protests