Top Stories Today – May 23, 2019
Top Stories Today – May 23, 2019
Pakistan tests nuclear-capable ballistic missile
Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a “training launch” of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads, Shaheen-II, up to 1,500 kilometers. The move came amid Pakistan’s heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, and it is seen by observers as part of the efforts Islamabad is making to keep pace with New Delhi’s massive investments in military hardware and advancements.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in March the country had shot down a satellite in low orbit, making it the fourth country, after the United States, China and Russia, to have used an anti-satellite weapon. Pakistan has already test-fired the Shaheen-III nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to 1,700 miles, enabling it to strike all corners of India and reach deep into the Middle East, including Israel. Pakistan and India have fought three major wars since 1947 and came close to the brink of another war earlier this year. The Voice of America
Landslide win for Modi in India elections
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another five-year term after winning a landslide general election victory. Results so far show his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament.
The main opposition alliance, which is headed by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, is yet to concede. The vote had been widely viewed as a referendum on the prime minister’s Hindu nationalist politics. Over 600 million people voted in a marathon six-week process. Modi has not just exceeded exit poll predictions but has also won a larger share of the vote than the 2014 elections, partial results show. BBC
Iraq’s Christians close to extinction
The Archbishop of Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, has accused Britain’s Christian leaders of failing to do enough in defense of the vanishing Christian community in Iraq. In an impassioned address in London, the Rt Rev Bashar Warda said Iraq’s Christians now faced extinction after 1,400 years of persecution.
Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003, he said, the Christian community had dwindled by 83%, from around 1.5 million to just 250,000. “Christianity in Iraq,” he said, “one of the oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom.” He referred to the current, pressing threat from Islamic State (IS) jihadists as a “final, existential struggle”, following the group’s initial assault in 2014 that displaced more than 125,000 Christians from their historic homelands. BBC
Trump: No more negotiation with Democrats
In a surprise Rose Garden press conference on Wednesday, President Trump announced that he would no longer negotiate with Democrats on legislation until House panels end the myriad investigations into his administration and his finances.
After reportedly cutting short a planned meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that was intended to hash out details on a previously agreed upon infrastructure deal, Trump expressed anger that some Democrats discussed the possibility of impeachment during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. Trump said he won’t work with Democrats on an infrastructure deal, spending bills, or any other legislation until they “get these phony investigations over with.” He said he respects Congress’ oversight role but claimed “what they’ve done is abuse.” CNN, NBC News via The Week
US may send up to 10,000 troops to Mideast
The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, US officials said Wednesday.
The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it’s not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran, but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced. The Associated Press
Rising sea levels could displace 200 million people
A new study warns that if nothing is done to curb carbon emissions, sea levels could rise by more than six feet by the end of the century, flooding major cities — including Shanghai, Miami, and Mumbai – and displacing about 200 million people. As the Earth gets warmer, ice sheets are melting faster than previously predicted, the study’s scientists said.
Co-author Robert Kopp, director of the Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Studies at Rutgers University, told NBC News there are many uncertainties when it comes to the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. The worst case scenario would be a temperature increase of 9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, which is “consistent with unchecked emissions growth,” Kopp said. Scientists said this would lead to sea levels rising by more than six feet and the permanent flooding of 700,000 square miles of land. NBC News via The Week
Ozone-killing chemicals traced to China
Scientists say they have pinpointed the source of a globally banned chemical that damages the Earth’s protective ozone layer: China. In a report published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the scientists who monitor the planet’s atmosphere say the recent rise in the emission of the ozone-depleting chemical CFC-11 has been traced to two provinces in eastern China. Any production and use of CFC-11 is a violation of the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 agreement that phased out chlorofluorocarbons that cause damage to the ozone layer.
Over the last two years, scientists have used air monitoring stations in Japan and Korea along with water studies to pinpoint the offenders as foam factories in the provinces of Shandong and Hebei in eastern China. Scientists say the report will help Chinese authorities find the exact sources and stop the emissions before they deal a major setback to ozone hole recovery. The Voice of America
US Treasury drops plans for Tubman $20 bill
The US Treasury is giving up plans to introduce a new $20 bill with the picture of escaped slave turned abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The redesigned bill was to have entered circulation next year, but now will be put off until 2028. It is also unclear whether Tubman will still be on the new bill when it is finally rolled out. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave no clear reasons for the postponement.
The $20 bill currently features a picture of 19th century US President Andrew Jackson. Jackson owned slaves and forced Native Americans out of their ancestral lands in the southeastern US leading to the deaths of thousands of Indians. The episode has been called The Trail of Tears. The move to replace Jackson, preferably with a historically important woman, was announced during the Obama administration. Tubman was chosen from an online poll of Americans. President Trump is said to be an admirer of Andrew Jackson. Trump called replacing Jackson with Tubman “pure political correctness” and proposed putting Tubman on the $2 bill, which is rarely printed. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in Maryland as a young woman and returned to the southern US to help other slaves escape and to work as a union government spy during the Civil War. She was thought to be in her early 90s when she died in 1913. The Voice of America