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Abandoned by the US, Fukushima-irradiated service members get help from former Japanese Prime Minister

Peter Van Buren
We Meant Well
Tue, 11 Jul 2017 13:26 UTC
ship scrubbing
© U.S. NavySailors scrub the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan following a countermeasure wash down to decontaminate the flight deck while the ship is operating off the coast of Japan on March 23, 2011.
It was a rescue mission, but one that years later turned the tables on victim and rescuer. Abandoned by their own government, American servicemembers who came to the aid of Japanese disaster victims will now benefit from a fund set up for them by a former prime minister.

Following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011 in Japan, it quickly became clear the rescue work needed far outstripped the capabilities of Japan's Self Defense Forces. The tsunami, whose waves reached heights of 130 feet, crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant, shutting down its cooling system and causing a nuclear meltdown that devastated the immediate area and at one point threatened to send a radioactive cloud over much of the nation.

Operation Tomadachi

The United States quickly dispatched an entire aircraft carrier group, centered on the USS Ronald Reagan, some 25 ships, for what came to be known as Operation Tomadachi (Friend). The U.S. provided search and rescue, and medical aid. Thousands of American military personnel assisted Japanese people in desperate need.

But it did not take long before the problems started.
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People

Report indicates ISIS command helped Philippine militants seize Marawi through funding and recruits


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 13:28 UTC
Smoke is seen following a Philippine Army airstrike
© Jorge Silva / ReutersSmoke is seen following a Philippine Army airstrike as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group in Marawi city, Philippines June 29, 2017.
A new report has revealed that the Islamic State central command in Syria has been steadily funding militants in the Philippines, helping them seize the city of Marawi, arranging funding and carrying out recruitment.

The report was published by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, and listed examples of how Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) provided assistance for terrorist groups in Southeast Asia.

As one example, it detailed how a top IS figure from Malaysia, Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, collaborated with the terrorist group's command in Syria to receive funding and secure international recruits to ensure Maute militants took control of territory in the Philippines.
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Attention

US to urge all nationals in North Korea to 'depart immediately', bans tourists from visiting

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 13:20 UTC
north koreans
© Reuters
Dennis Rodman will be disappointed to learn that the US is set to ban all citizens from traveling to North Korea, according to two agencies that operate tours there. Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours said the ban would be announced on 27 July to come into effect 30 days later, the BBC reported. "After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government." The ban comes one month after US student Otto Warmbier died following his imprisonment by the Kim regime.

China-based Young Pioneer Tours, which had taken Warmbier to North Korea, and Koryo Tours said the ban will come into force on July 27 - the anniversary of the end of the Korean War - with a 30-day grace period. Koryo Tours added that the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which handles consular affairs for the United States in the North, informed it of the ban, but did not say how long it would last. The U.S. embassy in the South Korean capital, Seoul, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rowan Beard said that the 30-day grace period would "give leeway for any [Americans] currently in the country as tourists or on humanitarian work". Simon Cockerill, of Koryo Tours, said: "It remains to be seen what the exact text is, but the indication is it's just a straight up ban on Americans going." Mr Cockerill told the BBC the agency would still conduct tours and take Americans until the ban came into effect.

Comment: State Department issues release:
The Trump administration will ban US citizens from traveling to North Korea, according to the State Department.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson authorized the implementation of a "geographical travel restriction" for North Korea, which would make it illegal to use a US passport to enter the country, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.


Americans seeking to visit North Korea for "humanitarian or other purposes may apply for a special validation passport," Nauert said.




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Pistol

Michigan woman found guilty after husband's parrot witnesses his murder


The Detroit News
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 13:05 UTC
Glenna Duram
© Rex Larson/Detroit NewsThe Newaygo County jury deliberated about eight hours before finding 49-year-old Glenna Duram guilty Wednesday of killing 46-year-old Martin Duram
A jury has convicted a western Michigan woman of first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband in a crime apparently witnessed by the man's pet parrot.

The Newaygo County jury deliberated about eight hours before finding 49-year-old Glenna Duram guilty Wednesday of killing 46-year-old Martin Duram. He was shot five times in May 2015. Glenna Duram suffered a head wound in what prosecutors said was a suicide attempt, but survived.

Comment: Police believed this was a botched murder-suicide as the couple had financial troubles due the suspect's gambling.

See also: Family of slain Michigan man hope to use parrot as evidence in murder investigation

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Attention

'At some point, everything will collapse': German courts 'overwhelmed' by asylum seeker claims


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 13:07 UTC
refugees
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
The number of cases filed by asylum seekers challenging the decisions of immigration authorities in German courts has brought the legal system to the brink of collapse, a top German judge has warned in an interview.

The sheer number of cases filed has overwhelmed the civil courts of the country, said Robert Seegmuller, chairman of the Association of German Administrative Law Judges while speaking to the publishing house Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

"The situation is dramatic for administrative courts," Seegmuller told RND. "We are now completely stretched to our limits."

Seegmuller had been complaining since spring about the number of lawsuits being filed against the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Thousands of applicants have challenged the decisions delivered on their cases by the BAMF, including deportation orders back to potentially unsafe countries such as Afghanistan.
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Info

Russian companies welcome to take part in rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure


Sputnik
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 12:46 UTC
Iraqi army truck
© Sputnik/ Sarah Nusreddin
Russian companies are most welcome in Iraq and can participate in the restoration of Iraqi destroyed infrastructure, Deputy Head of International Relations Committee in Iraqi Parliament Abbas al Bayati told Sputnik on Thursday.

"Iraq particularly invites Russian companies to participate in restoring the damaged infrastructure. The Iraqi market is open for their goods. The Iraqis trust the quality of Russian products. Of course, we hope that Russian oil and arms companies will occupy a special place in our market," the official said.
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Attention

5 year old London girl fined £150 by local council for selling homemade lemonade


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 12:28 UTC
lemonade
© Global Look Press
A five-year-old girl has been fined £150 by her local council for selling 50p cups of homemade lemonade to festival-goers in London.

The girl's father, Andre Spicer, said his daughter set up the stall in Mile End where thousands of music fans were on their way to Lovebox Festival at the weekend.

Spicer said after a short time trading, four enforcement officers from Tower Hamlets council walked over from the other side of the road to shut her stall down.

He said he expected the officers to "tell us to pack up and go home," but instead "turned on their mobile camera and began reading from a big script explaining she did not have a trading license."
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Network

Hackers nab $32mn worth of ether cryptocurrency


RT
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 12:21 UTC
computer user
© Global Look Press
Some $32 million worth of ether cryptocurrency has been stolen by hackers. Ether, a digital currency, resides on the ethereum network and is now a rival to Bitcoin. The monumental theft was carried out due to a bug on a wallet software program.

The hacking into Parity wallet started Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday, July 19. Parity wallet allows users to access to a large number of cryptocurrencies within the ethereum network. The tool had a vulnerability that hackers took advantage of in order to steal 153,000 units of the currency.

Three separate accounts in particular were attacked.

Edgeless Casino, an online gambling site, Aeternity, a smart-contract platform and Swarm City, a commerce platform, which said 44,055 in the currency was drained from their wallet. This constituted the entirety of Swarm City's funds, according to a blog post.

Eventually, a large share of the currency was able to be saved before the hackers could swindle even more.
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Pistol

Florida man shoots utility trucks outside his home with 'actual gun'


Sputnik
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 00:21 UTC
florida-man
© Youtube
Angered and bothered by the sight of two AT&T telecom utility trucks parked in front of his driveway, 64-year-old Jorge Jove chose to shoot out the tires and engines of said vehicles Wednesday morning.

The incident was filmed by Derrick Taylor, a technician for the telecommunications company, as he was calling in law enforcement.

"There's a guy shooting out the tires," a shocked Taylor told the police operator. "And he's shooting out the engine on the trucks and everything."
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Attention

'We'll sink them': Migrant traffickers' ships arriving in Sicily threatened by angry activists


RT
Thu, 20 Jul 2017 14:52 UTC
migrants Sicily
© Giorgos Moutafis / Reuters
As Italy becomes increasingly frustrated with the number of African migrants reaching its shores, activists are taking matters into their own hands. They say they're ready to sink migrant-trafficking ships and ensure that asylum seekers are returned to Libya.

Anti-immigration activists are threatening to sink ships used to transport migrants off the coast of Sicily to prevent them from bringing in more people.

"When we will be on the sea, we will find the boat of immigrants empty and when we will ensure that they are empty, we will sink it to be sure that they will not be used anymore by the smugglers," organizer of Operation Defend Europe, Clément Galant, told Ruptly.

When asked whether he or fellow activists would step in to save migrants who are drowning in the Mediterranean, Galant replied, "Yes, of course."

Comment: The societal destabilizations and fracturing that we are seeing in Sicily, cities in Germany, and elsewhere in Europe, is tantamount to the 'weaponization of migrants,' or the geopolitical use of the migrant crisis as a horrific means - to a horrific end.

Read it and weep: J. Michael Springmann on 'manufactured migrants': Pawns on the U.S. Empire's 'grand chessboard'

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