WORLD NEWS
US Defense Chief
Warns of Conflict in
S. China Sea
NOVEMBER 9, 2015
Investigators “90
Percent Sure” Bomb
Downed Russian
Flight in Egypt
CAIRO (Reuters) - Investigators of the Russian plane crash in
Egypt are “90 percent sure” the
noise heard in the final second of a
cockpit recording was an explosion
caused by a bomb, a member of the
investigation team told Reuters on
Sunday.
“The indications and analysis so
far of the sound on the black box
indicate it was a bomb,” said the
Egyptian investigation team member, who asked not to be named
due to sensitivities. “We are 90
percent sure it was a bomb.”
Asked to explain the missing 10
percent, the investigator said: “I
can’t discuss this now.”
Islamic State militants fighting
security forces in Egypt’s Sinai
Peninsula have said they brought
down the Airbus A321, which
crashed 23 minutes after taking
off from the resort of Sharm alSheikh a week ago en route to St
Petersburg, killing all 224 passengers.
Egyptian officials say they are
examining all possible scenarios
on what could have caused the disaster but have cautioned against
jumping to conclusions.
US Should End Its
Wars to Pay Off
Debts: Economist
This Department of Defense photo shows US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter (R) as he speaks with Cmdr.
Robert C. Francis Jr. during a visits to the USS Theodore Roosevelt on November 5, 2015
SIMI VALLEY,United States a swipe at recent Russian military
Carter’s trip was dominated by
(AFP) - US Defense Secretary Ash- moves.
questions over China’s continued
ton Carter on Saturday warned that
“At sea, in the air, in space and in land reclamation efforts and mililand reclamation efforts and a mili- cyberspace, Russian actors have en- tary buildup in the South China Sea.
tary buildup in the South China Sea gaged in challenging activities,” he
On Thursday, he flew out to the
could lead to conflict between nations said.
USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft
in the region.
“And, most disturbing, Moscow’s carrier as it was sailing in the South
Speaking at a defense forum at the nuclear saber-rattling raises ques- China Sea.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library tions about Russian leaders’ comThe enormous supercarrier was
in California, the Pentagon chief mitment to strategic stability, their accompanied by the guided missile
also said America was adapting respect for norms against the use destroyer the USS Lassen, which
its military posture to counter in- of nuclear weapons and whether last month sailed past a series of
creased Russian “aggression.”
they respect the profound caution islets in Subi Reef in the Spratly IsAppearing on the final leg of an nuclear-age leaders showed with land chain.
eight-day trip that included meet- regard to the brandishing of nuclear
There, China is using dredgers to
ings with defense ministers from weapons.”
turn reefs and low-lying features
several nations in the Asia-Pacific
In an echo of some of Reagan’s into larger land masses for runregion, Carter said his concerns own attempts to use technology ways and other military uses to
about the frantic pace of land recla- to counter a Soviet nuclear threat, bolster its claims of sovereignty in
mation in the South China Sea were Carter talked up some of America’s the region.
broadly shared.
new high-tech weaponry, includThe Lassen conducted a “freedom
“The United States joins virtually ing an electromagnetic railgun that of navigation operation” as a way to
everyone else in the region in being can fire projectiles at an astonishing rebuff China’s those claims.
deeply concerned about the pace 4,500 miles (7,250 kilometers) per
“We’ve done them before, all over
and scope of land reclamation in the hour.
the world. And we will do them
South China Sea,” Carter told an
He added that the United States again,” Carter said of the sail-by.
audience of senior defense figures.
was modernizing its nuclear arseCarter said he chose to talk about
Carter added he was worried about nal, investing in new technologies Russia at the Reagan library as the
“the prospect of further militariza- such as drones and a new long- Cold War was a defining theme of
tion, as well as the potential for range bomber, as well as lasers and the US leader’s presidency.
these activities to increase the risk new systems for electronic warfare.
Still, he also made some concilof miscalculation or conflict among
The defense chief hinted at addi- iatory gestures to both China and
claimant states.”
tional new weapons that would be Russia, suggesting there potentially
The Reagan National Defense “surprising ones I really can’t de- was room for both countries to be
Forum is an annual event that sees scribe here.”
part of broader international secudozens of America’s top defense
Additionally, “we’re updating rity structure.
figures -- including politicians from and advancing our operational
“We do not seek a cold, let
both political parties -- discuss plans for deterrence and defense alone a hot war with Russia. We
America’s defense policies.
given Russia’s changed behavior,” do not seek to make Russia an
Carter used his platform to take Carter said.
enemy,” he said.
Kashmir on Strike to Protest Killing
TEHRAN (Press TV) - The residents of Indian-administered Kashmir have staged a strike in reaction
to the killing of a man by security
forces in the disputed Himalayan
region.
On Sunday, almost all businesses
and schools remained closed, and
public transport stayed off the
streets in Srinagar, the summer
capital of the Kashmir region.
Indian security sources confirmed
that several other major towns in
Kashmir also observed the strike.
A large number of Indian paramilitary troops patrolled the main city
of Srinagar and some other major
regions.
The strike was called by several
pro-independence groups that
oppose New Delhi’s rule over the
valley.
The developments came after Indian troops violently attacked proindependence demonstrators on
Saturday, killing one person, identified as Gowhar Ahmad Dar, 22,
and injuring several others.
The violence followed a day-long
visit by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to the restive Muslim-majority region.
A security clampdown continues
with barricades and barbed across
the region. In the run-up to Modi’s
visit, hundreds of pro-independence figures were detained to prevent anti-India protests.
The New Delhi government has
deployed large contingents of po-
lice and paramilitary troops to most
parts of Srinagar and several other
major towns to prevent street demonstrations.
Indian troops are also in constant
clashes with the armed groups
seeking independence across the
valley.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, with both claiming sovereignty over the entire
region. The two countries have
fought two wars over the territory since they were partitioned
in 1947. Both neighbors claim
Kashmir in full, but have partial
control over it.
Thousands of people have been
killed in violence in Kashmir since
the 1980s.
TEHRAN (Press TV) - The Unit-
ed States cannot pay off huge national debts of $65 trillion, unless it
stops its endless wars in the Middle
East and elsewhere, says an American economist.
Paul Sheldon Foote made the
comments on Sunday when asked
about comments by Dave Walker,
former comptroller general, who
said the US national debt is [over]
three times as much the oft-cited
figure of $18 trillion.
“If you end up adding to that
$18.5 trillion the unfunded civilian and military pensions and retiree healthcare, the additional
underfunding for Social Security,
the additional underfunding for
Medicare, various commitments
and contingencies that the federal
government has, the real number is
about $65 trillion rather than $18
trillion,” Walker had said.
Foote noted that “the reasons are
very simple, if you keep the interest rate very low and have invest-
ment opportunities low and that
the stock market has been flat
that means that the pension funds
are not going to be the 79 percent
growth rate that had been put into
their models and so there will not
be enough money to pay people’s
pensions.”
“Both the corporate and government pensions in this country for
the large part are far underfunded,
social security we have known for
a long time is not adequate and will
not be without major changes,” he
noted.
“That’s true that the deep hole we
have for ourselves is much worse
than politicians want to talk about,
so they keep kicking the can down
the road, hoping that somehow it
will go away, but it cannot go away
without economic growth and that
cannot happen until we stop the
endless wars and stop the endless
programs for we promise people
something for nothing,” he concluded.
Haitians Protest at
Alleged Vote Rigging
TEHRAN (Press TV) - Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in
the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to protest against alleged vote rigging
in the country’s recent presidential election.
The rally, which was held on Saturday, turned violent as some demonstrators threw rocks while police fired tear gas at them to break up the
protest.
The preliminary results from last month’s first-round presidential election was announced on November 5 after Haiti’s Provisional Electoral
Council delayed an earlier planned announcement to give authorities
additional time to deal with complaints of fraud submitted by different
quarters.
They received a total of 162 complaints, out of which 43 were assessed
as admissible and forwarded to a tabulation center.
According to international observers, the October 25 election was held
in a peaceful fashion and relatively smoothly. However, some political
factions allege that a number of ballots have gone missing.
Based on the preliminary results, government-backed candidate, Jovenel Moise, and former state construction chief, Jude Celestin, are the two
finishers that should head for a run-off vote scheduled for December 27.
Celestin of the Lapeh party received 25 percent of the vote, according
to the results, and Moise garnered 32 percent.
Eight presidential candidates in the 54-candidate vote condemned extensive fraud in the voting in a move that sparked street protests in the
impoverished Caribbean country.
The 53-year-old Celestin has also denounced the first-round results a
“ridiculous farce,” telling a news conference that the results of “the people have yet to be announced.”
“They have put in place a repressive force to crush the people, to kill the
people, but they won’t be able to kill all the people,” he added, pointing
to the current government of President Michel Martelly.
The October poll comes almost five years after Martelly took office in
the poorest country in the Americas.
Haiti got rid of the 30-year Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 but has not
been able to find democratic stability since then.
5
Los Angeles (AFP) - A massive sexting
ring is rocking a high school in Colorado, with at least 100 students trading
nude pictures and posting them on social media, news reports said.
Some of the kids in the photographs
were as young as 12, and included
eighth graders from the middle
school, The New York Times reported.
The students, many of whom are
on the football team at Canon City
High School, could now face criminal charges, reports said.
The school district announced
Wednesday that “a number of our
students have engaged in behavior where they take and pass along
pictures of themselves that expose
private parts of their bodies or their
undergarments.”
Noting that a “large number” of
the high school football team players were implicated int he scandal,
the district said it was canceling the
high school’s last football game of
the season.
“Because we can’t guarantee that
every kid we put out on the field
would be clean of this circumstance,
we would just rather not put a team
out at all,” Canon City Schools
Superintendent George Welsh told
NBC television affiliate KOAA.
****
Moscow (AFP) - Russia will on Saturday send 44 planes to repatriate
its nationals from two Egyptian Red
Sea resorts, the Russian Federal Air
Transport Agency said as suspicions
grow that a bomb caused last weekend’s plane crash.
Thirty empty planes will be sent
to Hurghada, and 14 will be sent to
Sharm el-Sheikh, the Rosaviatsya
agency said in a statement.
Moscow has said a total of 78,000
of its nationals are currently on holiday in Egypt.
“For security reasons, only hand
baggage will be allowed on board,”
while cabin baggage will be transported by the Russian emergency
situations ministry, it said.
“Two Ilyushin-76 planes should
take off today for Egypt to transport
the Russian tourists’ bags,” the ministry said Saturday.
“The return of the tourists will be
carried out in accordance with their
planned stay in Egypt and the dates
on their (homeward bound) plane
tickets,” it said.
****
Chinese state media warned Taiwan against pursuing independence
Sunday, a day after a historic meeting between the leaders of the mainland and the island it calls its own.
President Xi Jinping and Ma Yingjeou’s handshake in Singapore was
a symbolic step towards closing the
rift that has separated Beijing and
Taipei since the end of the Chinese
civil war in 1949.
But the occasion has also highlighted the tensions that remain
across the Taiwan strait, where
China still has an estimated 1,500
missiles aimed at stopping the island
from declaring its independence.
Relations have improved dramatically since Ma’s 2008 election, with
increases in trade and tourism, as
well as the start of direct flights.
But Beijing has grown concerned
about the relationship’s future as
Taiwan’s opposition Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), which
has long called for a split with the
mainland, looks set to win January’s
presidential election, potentially unseating Ma’s friendly Kuomintang
party (KMT).
****
At least five people have been killed
in clashes between police and protesters in the West African country of
Togo, the government says.
The fatalities occurred during two
days of skirmishes that erupted on
Friday in the city of Mango, some
600 kilometers (370 miles) north of
the capital, Lome.
The protesters were angry at government plans to rehabilitate several protected areas, which cover a number of
localities in the northern region over
an area of 179,000 hectares.