'More Europe' = More (Unelected) Government, The U.S. Military Is Quietly Building SkyNet

Does "More Europe" Mean More Government?

Imagine for a moment that you are a British citizen with doubts about Brexit. 

You turn on the television and listen to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, state the following:

• That the 27 countries of the Union should adopt the euro and be in Schengen by 2019.
• That “we are not naive defenders of free trade”.
• That Europe needs a European superminister of Economy and Finance who is also Vice-President of the Commission and President of the Eurogroup.
• That a European Monetary Fund should be created

Probably, at that moment, many doubts will dissipate. Unfortunately, for those who would like the UK to remain in the European Union, in the opposite direction of their wishes. You would probably think “thank God we are out”.

Juncker’s speech on September the 13th did not seek to find elements for an agreement with the United Kingdom, but to strengthen the current model of the Eurozone at all costs. 

It was presented as an opportunity to remind us all of his real project for the European Union, clearly based on the French interventionist economic and financial “dirigisme”, and very far from the UK, Finnish, Irish or Dutch open model of economic freedom.

That is the big problem. The message of “more Europe” is always oriented towards “more interventionism” .

A few weeks ago we questioned in this column the triumphant message of the European Commission affirming that “Europe has left the crisis thanks to the decisive action of the European Union“. With Juncker’s speech we can say that the slightest hint of taking advantage of Brexit to improve in freedom, flexibility and dynamism disappears.

Instead of reflecting on the reason why the hyper-regulated and massively intervened Europe has taken more than three times as other countries to emerge from the crisis, we are faced with the classic response of bureaucratic power.

According to Juncker and others’ in Brussels, one could think that if Europe grows less, creates less employment and comes out of the crisis later, it is not because of excessive bureaucracy, but because there is not enough.

The EU runs the risk of falling into the glorification of centralized planning first and foremost, absolute uniformity, and obsolete interventionism that has nothing to do with the plural, free and diverse United States of America and which shows too many coincidences with the Soviet Union dependent on the politburo.

Juncker’s call for efficiency can be interpreted as a breath of fresh air, but it contrasts with reality.

According to the Intelligent Regulation Forum and with the official data of the European Union for 2015, the member countries are subject to more than 40,000 rules by the mere fact of being part of the EU institutions . In total, including rules, directives, sectoral and industrial specifications and jurisprudence, they estimate that there are some 135,000 obligatory rules.

A European Monetary Fund is clearly a subterfuge to give free rein to the uncontrolled financing of white elephants to greater glory of governments and rent-seeking sectors. Faced with the evident failure of the already forgotten “Juncker plan”, no one seems to consider the failure of constant wastefulness in industrial and stimulus plans that have led the European Union to overcapacity of more than 20% and huge financial holes. According to Transparency International, in the European Union, between 10% and up to 20% of all public contracts are lost in excess costs and 5% of the EU’s annual budget is not accounted.

No one thought about it before… A mega Monetary Fund that finances megalomaniac projects with no real economic return with unlimited funds paid with taxpayers’ money, and a superminister that joins to the other superministers and the national and supranational superstructures. A strategy that has worked perfectly … never.

An incorrect model

The fundamental problem of these proposals is that they push forward an incorrect model, which could be improved by learning from those that this “more Europe” message intends to ostracize, be it the British, Finnish, Irish or Dutch.

That none of Juncker’s advisers and assistants have questioned the convenience of including the following phrases is revealing: “We are not naive advocates of free trade”, “We propose a new community framework for the control of investments”.

But no. It is not a question of correcting the evident errors of interventionism. It is not a serious debate on why Europe does not have a Google, an Amazon or an Apple while maintaining dinosaur conglomerates. It is not about improving in openness so that the investment comes to Europe. It is about imposing “dirigisme” above all, whether it works or not. It is about creating a sanctuary of adoration of bureaucracy at all costs, and covering it with unnecessary expenses and burning the printing machine when the evidence of stagnation is imposed after minimal rebounds.

The worst thing is not that the British citizen thinks “it’s a good thing we’re out.” The worst thing is to ignore a part of the European Union that does not want a photocopy of French interventionism.

When Brussels equates more Europe to more interventionism, the EU runs the risk of being less. A lot less.

The US Military Is Quietly Building SkyNet

Maybe Elon Musk had a point…

The US’s military leaders have agreed on a strategy to guarantee the US military retains its global dominance during the twenty-first century: Connect everything with everything, as DefenseOne describes it. 

The result? An unimaginably large cephapoloidal nervous system armed with the world’s most advanced weaponry, and in control of all military equipment belonging to the world’s most powerful army.

A networked military – an extreme take on the “internet of things” - would connect everything from F-35 jets to the Navy’s destroyers to the armor of the tanks crawling over the land to the devices carried by soldiers – every weapon would be connected.  Every weapon, vehicle, and device connected, sharing data, constantly aware of the presence and state of every other node in a truly global network.

Of course, the development of these “smart” weapons should unnerve Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has repeatedly warned that AI and machine learning poses a greater threat to the future of the US than North Korea. If not properly regulated, Elon suggested that machines could turn against their human masters.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff described their vision for a completely networked military in the newest iteration of their National Military Strategy, which lays out their plans for building the military's weapon of the future. Ironically, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said he had based the plan on a certain money-losing electric-car manufacturer. Goldfein was particularly impressed by Tesla’s ability to remotely extend the battery life of vehicles as their owners fled Hurricane Irma earlier this month. 

As DefenseOne explains, the idea of a networked military borrows from the  “network centric warfare” concept that first emerged more than a decade ago. However, the concept that military leaders proposed in their latest review is less a strategy for increasing efficiency than a plan to connect all military equipment on a single network. The result would be better coordinated, faster, and more lethal operations in air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace.

As DefenseOne explains, although most of the research into the networked military is being conducted by the Air Force, once implemented, any system would likely include weapons from across the military, like Navy destroyers, said Chow.

“Our scope would be in helping the Air Force to think about operations they would be conducting that would incorporate joint sensors and platforms, like destroyers, I think that has to be part of it. And that is within the charter of the study,” Chow  said, adding that the study has “the highest priority level for Air Force leadership.”

The Marines are also looking at tanks that are digitally connected through their armor, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, who leads Marine Corps Combat Development Command and serves as Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration. Navy leaders have also authorized research into connecting every object on the sea, land, air, space and in cyberspace. This is no exaggeration. Adm. John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, said during a Navy expo earlier this year that he’d eventually like to “network everything,” explaining that creating such a system would be crucial to maintaining US military dominance.  

In an amusing aside, DefenseOne notes that, despite the obvious parallels, military leaders detest comparisons between their tech pet projects and anything from the plot of the Terminator franchise.

And while enabling instantaneous communication between military units would undoubtedly improve efficiency and tactical prowess, as Musk as pointed out, these projects should be undertaken cautiously.

Syria: Staging For The Biblical Wars To Come

Israel Is Going to War in Syria to Fight Iran 

Israeli officials believe that Iran is winning its bid for dominance in the Middle East, and they are mobilizing to counter the regional realignment that threatens to follow. 

The focus of Israel’s military and diplomatic campaign is Syria. 

Israeli jets have struck Hezbollah and Syrian regime facilities and convoys dozens of times during Syria’s civil war, with the goal of preventing the transfer of weapons systems from Iran to Hezbollah. In an apparent broadening of the scope of this air campaign, on Sept. 7 Israeli jets struck a Syrian weapons facility near Masyaf responsible for the production of chemical weapons and the storing of surface-to-surface missiles.

The strike came after a round of diplomacy in which Israeli officials concluded that their concerns regarding the developing situation in Syria were not being addressed with sufficient seriousness in either the United States or Russia. A senior delegation led by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen visited Washington in late August, reportedly to express Israel’s dissatisfaction with the emerging U.S.-Russian understanding on Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi to raise similar concerns with Moscow.

In both cases, the Israelis were disappointed with the response. Their overriding concern in Syria is the free reign that all the major players there seem willing to afford Iran and its various proxies in the country. And as long as nobody else addresses that concern in satisfactory, Israel is determined to continue addressing it on its own.

Iranian forces now maintain a presence close to or adjoining the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights and the Quneitra Crossing that separates it from the Syrian-controlled portion of the territory. Israel has throughout the Syrian war noted a desire on the part of the Iranians and their Hezbollah clients to establish this area as a second line of active confrontation against the Jewish state, in addition to south Lebanon.

“Syria,” of course, hardly exists today. The regime is in the hands of its Iranian and Russian masters, and half of the country remains outside its control. But the Iran-led bloc and its clearly stated intention to eventually destroy Israel certainly do exist, and the de facto buffer against them may be disappearing. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah recently declared “victory” in the Syrian war, adding that what remained was “scattered battles.”

With the prospect of pro-Iranian forces reaching Bukamal on the Syrian-Iraqi border, this opens up the possibility of the much-reported Iranian “land corridor” stretching uninterrupted from Iran itself to a few kilometers from the Israeli-controlled Golan.

Earlier this month, Israel shot down an Iranian drone over the Golan Heights. It was the latest evidence of Iran’s activities on the border. Syrian opposition reports have noted an Iranian presence in Tal Al-Sha’ar area, Tal Al-Ahmar, and Division 90 headquarters, all in the vicinity of the border. Pro-Iran forces, meanwhile, are open in their ambitions. Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite force supported by Iran, has formed a “Golan Liberation” unit and declared itself “ready to take action to liberate the Golan.” Senior figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij have been photographed in areas close to the border.

Israel has so far thwarted these ambitions in two ways. First, it has launched attacks to frustrate and interdict attempts to build a paramilitary infrastructure in the area. Most famously, the killing of Jihad Mughniyeh, son of Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh, in a targeted strike at Mazraat Amal in the Quneitra area in January 2015 was part of this effort. Five other Hezbollah members and a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Allahdadi, were also killed in the strike.

Second, Israel has developed pragmatic working relations with the local rebel groups who at the moment still control the greater part of the border, such as the Fursan al-Joulan group. This cooperation focuses on treating wounded fighters and civilians, and providing humanitarian aid and financial assistance. There has also probably been assistance in the field of intelligence, though no evidence has yet emerged of direct provision of weapons or direct engagement of Israeli forces on the rebels’ behalf.

On July 9, a ceasefire agreement directly brokered by the United States and Russia for southwest Syria was announced. It posits the establishment of a de-escalation zone in Syria’s southwest, in the area of the Quneitra and Daraa provinces. The details of the de-escalation zone are still being negotiated. But Israel has been deeply concerned that it could seriously complicate the de facto Israeli safeguards in place against Iranian infiltration of the border. 

As of now, Russian attempts to assure Israel that the terms of the ceasefire adequately address its concerns in this regard have evidently failed to persuade. The latest media reports on the negotiations for the zone suggest that the United States has reached an agreement with Moscow that pro-Iranian militias will be kept 25 miles from the border.

But the issue goes beyond arrangements at the southwestern edge of Syria. Israel is concerned by Iran’s overarching regional ambitions. Recent comments by Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, that a future war with Israel might involve additional pro-Iranian militia forces to the Lebanese groups have been well noted in Jerusalem. 

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz recently told a security conference in Herzliya, as reported by Reuters, that in a future war between Israel and Hezbollah the latter may be able to make use of an Iranian naval port, bases for Iran’s air and ground forces, and “tens of thousands of Shiite militiamen being brought in from various countries.”

This all forms a larger picture in which Israel sees a major shift underway in the regional balance of power, to the benefit of the Iran-led regional bloc. Anyone who has received briefings from senior Israeli security officials in recent years has become familiar with a conception of the region as divided into four broad blocs: Iran and its (mainly Shiite) allies; a loose group of countries opposed to Iran that includes the Arab autocracies of the Gulf (excluding Qatar), along with Egypt, Jordan, and Israel itself; an alliance of conservative Sunni Islamist forces, such as Turkey, Qatar, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni Arab rebels in Syria; and finally the regional networks of Sunni Salafi jihadism, most notably the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Where does this leave Israel?

First, Israel’s diplomatic avenues to the international power brokers in Syria remain open. 

When it comes to Washington, Israel’s task is to locate or induce a more coherent American strategy to counter advance of the Iranians in the Levant. Its goal when it comes to Moscow is to ensure sufficient leeway from Putin, who has no ideological animus against Israel and no special sympathy for Tehran, so that Israel can take the measures it deems necessary to halt or deter the Iranians and their proxies.

Second, Israel will continue to rely on its military defenses, which remain without peer in the region. And as shown in Masyaf, they can be employed to halt and deter provocative actions by the Iran-led bloc where necessary. 

Nevertheless, as seen from Jerusalem, the shifting regional tectonic plates are producing a new situation in which the Iran-led alliance is once again directly facing Israel, consequently raising the possibility of direct confrontation. Masyaf was not the first shot in the fight between Israel and its proxies in the Levant — and it is unlikely to be the last.

Seoul Fears October Shocker As N Korea Strengthens Army, Puerto Rico: What It's Really Like Now

Seoul fears October shocker as North Korea strengthens army

As sabre-rattling continues between Washington and Pyongyang, Seoul is bracing for an October shockers from its nuclear active neighbour.

On Thursday, North Korea claimed that 4.7 million of its citizens had volunteered to join or re-enlist in the military since the country’s leader threatened to "tame” President Trump “with fire" last week.

Meanwhile, preparing for the horrors that await, the U.S. has now agreed to begin regularly deploying its ‘strategic assets’ to the Korean Peninsula.

The South Korean government said that the decision was made as North Korea’s testing of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons puts the region on high alert. 

The announcement was made by the chief of South Korea’s National Security Office, Chung Eui-young after his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and leaders of other political parties.

Chung told the political leaders that, "The U.S. has pledged to expand the rotational deployment of its strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula.”

According to the Yonhap News Agency, Chung’s discussion with political leaders revolved around whether there was "any crack" in terms of trust between the security allies. 

He said, “[The deployment] will begin as early as late this year, and this will help us expand our defense capabilities.”

Further, during their meeting at the annual United Nations General Assembly last week, officials said Moon and President Trump agreed on the additional deployments. 

While neither sides have specified the nature of these strategic assets, experts believe the terminology usually refers to stealth planes, long-range bombers and ballistic-missile submarines. 

While the U.S. Pacific Command has not made any official comments, a ruling party spokesman in Seoul reportedly said that the U.S. has made its pledge in writing.

Meanwhile, with the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean communist party and China’s all-important Communist Party Congress lined up next month, South Korea is said to be expecting more provocative acts by North Korea in October.

US to Send More Nuke-Capable Submarines, Bombers to Korean Peninsula

South Korean lawmakers have been wondering whether fault lines might emerge in US-South Korean military ties as tensions on the Korean Peninsula grow, but have been reassured that the US actually plans to increase the number of its “strategic” military assets in their region by the end of the year.

“The US has pledged to expand the rotational deployment of its strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula,” Chung Eiu-young, chief of South Korea’s National Security Office, told lawmakers Wednesday, according to Yonhap.

A document has been signed by US personnel stating the US would make good on its promise, the South Korean news agency said. 

The "strategic" assets would comprise an aircraft carrier, nuclear Ohio-class submarines, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and F-22 Raptors, the US military’s de facto air superiority fighter, reports Chosun, a South Korean newspaper. Each Ohio-class sub carries 20 D-5 Trident ballistic missiles; one Trident can carry up to 12 nuclear warheads.

Each B-2, meanwhile, can pack 16 nukes in its bomb bay in addition to "bunker busters," a signal to North Korea that underground caves cannot be considered secure hiding places.

Two squadrons of US F-35s have already deployed to both South Korea and Japan. And in February, supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers, by treaty not nuclear-capable, arrived at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. At least a dozen F-22s have been stationed in Japan since 2016.

Bringing some of those chess pieces directly to the Korean Peninsula would signal a more assertive US posture toward Pyongyang.

DHS Chief: U.S. Efforts to Combat Chemical, Biological, Nuclear Threats Are 'Inadequate'

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts to combat chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats facing Americans are “inadequate,” the department’s acting secretary told lawmakers Wednesday.

In written testimony prepared for a Senate panel hearing on threats to the American homeland, Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke revealed, “The Department’s current approach to addressing CBRN matters is inadequate. For nearly a decade, DHS has looked at reorganizing internally to better counter these dangers.”

DHS is reportedly taking action to address its shortcomings in dealing with CBRN issues.

“I want to emphasize that we are overhauling homeland security to cope with changes in the threat landscape,” testified Secretary Duke.

“As we continue this overhaul, it is clear that the authorities, structures, and accountability measures developed for DHS over 15 years ago are no longer sufficient,” she added.

Choosing not to elaborate further in a public setting, Secretary Duke only said that terrorist groups are showing a “renewed” interest in weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), telling Senators:

Puerto Rico: What It's Really Like

Things are dire in Puerto Rico. We haven’t heard much directly from people there since Hurricane Maria took out power for the entire island, but what we do know is that the situation is desperate. This is a shocking, real-life glimpse into what it’s really like when the S hits the fan.

I saw a post from a friend of a friend who has family in Puerto Rico. I don’t have permission to share names, but here’s what she said:

“My family has lost everything. My uncle with stage 4 cancer is in so much pain and stuck in the hospital. However conditions in the island are far worse than we imagined and my greatest fear has been made reality. The chaos has begun. The mosquitos have multiplied like the plague. Dead livestock are all over the island including in whatever fresh water supplies they have. 

My family has been robbed and have lost whatever little they had left. The gang members are robbing people at gun point and the island is in desperation. People are shooting each other at gas stations to get fuel. 

They’re telling us to rescue them and get them out of the island because they are scared for their lives. We’re talking about 3.5 million people on an island, with no food, no drinking water, no electricity, homes are gone. Family if you have the means to get your people out, do it. This is just the first week. Imagine the days and weeks to come. These are bad people doing bad things to our most vulnerable. 

Imagine a few weeks with no resources and the most vulnerable become desperate. What are you capable of doing if your children are sick and hungry? We have to help.”

I decided to vet what I could, and I believe this horrible story is absolutely true. I confirmed that there is very little food, no fresh water, 97% are still without power, limited cell signals have stymied communications, and hospitals are struggling to keep people alive. There is no 911. Help is not on the way. If you have no cash, you can’t buy anything. As people get more desperate, violence increases.

Never doubt that such an event could happen to any of us, no matter how carefully we prepare. Your best-laid plans could be swept away by a storm, flood, or fire. The immediate support most people have grown to expect might not be on the way.

Here’s what I learned.

Many homes were completely destroyed.

In the town of Catano, more than 60% of the residents are homeless due to the storm. At the shelter in Catano, the bathrooms flooded and sewage backed up into the building. There is food, but no water. It’s hot, dark, and the stench is overwhelming. There is more than one person at the shelter who is diabetic, and there is no ice for their insulin. (source)

The homes that are still standing were horribly damaged. “Even in homes that remain standing on the island, water damage and power outages have destroyed most belongings, medicine, and food.” (source)

There is hardly any potable water.

Nearly half the people in Puerto Rico are without potable drinking water. The tap water that is restored has to be boiled and filtered, and others are finding water where they can. You can expect a health crisis soon due to waterborne illnesses. When I researched my book about water preparedness, I learned that waterborne illness is one of the deadliest threats post-disaster. Although FEMA has delivered 6.5 million liters of water, on an island with 3.4 million people, it isn’t enough.

Isabel Rullán is the co-founder and managing director of a non-profit group called ConPRmetidos. She is very concerned about the water situation. She said that even if people were able to acquire water “they may not have the power or means to boil or purify it.”

She added that the problem went beyond access to drinking water — it was becoming a real public health concern.

Compounding that issue was hospitals lacking diesel and being unable to take new patients, she said.

“There’s so much contamination right now, there’s so many areas that are flooded and have oil, garbage in the water, there’s debris everywhere,” she said by phone.

“We’re going to have a lot of people that are potentially and unfortunately going to get sick and may die,” she said. (source)

And speaking of hospitals, 59 of the 69 on the island were, according to the Department of Defense, “operating on unknown status.”

Only 11 of 69 hospitals on Puerto Rico have power or are running on generators, FEMA reports. That means there’s limited access to X-ray machines and other diagnostic and life-saving equipment. Few operating rooms are open, which is scary, considering an influx of patients with storm-related injuries. (source)

 A hospital in San Juan reported that two people in intensive care died when the diesel fueling the generator ran out. The children’s hospital has 12 little ones who depend on ventilators to survive, and once they ran out of fuel, they have gotten by on donations. FEMA has delivered diesel fuel to 19 hospitals.

Without sufficient power, X-ray machines, CT scans, and machines for cardiac catheterization do not function, and generators are not powerful enough to make them work. Only one in five operating rooms is functioning. Diesel is hard to find. And with a shortage of fresh water, another concern looms: a possible public health crisis because of unsanitary conditions…

The hospitals have been crippled by floods, damage and shortages of diesel. The governor said that 20 of the island’s hospitals are in working order. The rest are not operational, and health officials are now trying to determine whether it is because they lack generators, fuel or have suffered structural damage. All five of the hospitals in Arecibo, Puerto Rico’s largest city in terms of size, not population, are closed. (source)

There isn’t much food.

Much of the food on the island has spoiled or been contaminated.

In the town of Utuado, Lydia Rivera has started to ration crackers and drink rainwater to keep her two grandchildren alive. “No water, no food,” Rivera told CNN. (source)

The few markets that are open are rationing food with only 10 items per person allowed. People are standing in lines for hours to purchase their 10 items. There’s no way to keep perishables fresh. (source)

And there won’t be food produced anytime soon. 80% of the crops were completely wiped out and it will take a long time to produce more.

"What Are We Going To Do?" Puerto Rico In Chaos As Cash Runs Out

Puerto Rico’s Looming Medical Crisis Is About To Explode 

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Chinese Authorities Ordered All N Korean Firms (Including Banks) To Stop Doing Business With China

Beijing Orders All North Korean Businesses To Close

In the latest sign that China is moving to dramatically limit its exposure to its restive neighbor and long-time economic dependent, Chinese authorities on Thursday ordered all North Korean firms to stop doing business in the world's second-largest economy, fulfilling Beijing's obligations according to the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions, which were passed two weeks ago.

The order comes just days after President Donald Trump revealed that the People’s Bank of China had asked the country’s banks to sever their business ties with North Korea.

Specifically, they were ordered to stop providing financial services to North Korean customers and to wind down existing loans, severing one of North Korea’s most reliable connections to the global financial system. It was reported that the banks were warned that continuing to transact with North Korean business could result in embarrassment and economic losses, according to Russia Today.

After the UN Security Council passed new sanctions two weeks ago, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said North Korean firms and joint ventures in China would be closed within 120 days. 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the US announced sanctions against eight North Korean banks and 26 individuals. The new punitive measures followed President Trump’s executive order targeting North Korea’s access to the international banking system.

Perhaps the intensifying economic desperation in the isolated country has helped push more young men and women to volunteer for the country’s army. According to official propaganda, nearly 5 million North Koreans have volunteered for the army over the past week. That’s a staggering success rate for the country’s recruiters, considering the North has a population of about 25 million people.

China's President Xi Jinping has sought to sooth Trump’s doubts about Beijing’s commitment to denuclearizing North Korea, though the Chinese government has continued to advocate for talks between the two countries that could eventually lead to a peaceful settlement.

Pyongyang has accused the US of “declaring war” on the North, claiming that Trump’s violent rhetoric and repeated promises to “destroy” North Korea and topple the Kim regime constituted a declaration of war. Of course, the US has denied this, and both sides have continued to trade increasingly detailed threats. The North, for example, recently threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, Trump responded that the US has devised “four or five” military options for dealing with North Korea.

US officials have expressed hope that the economic sanctions will force North Korea to the negotiating table. However, their economy has proven resilient so far. But will China’s decision to sever ties with the North make a difference? We should know soon. 

Entire Island In Vanuatu Evacuated From Threat Of Volcanic Eruption

Entire Island is now evacuated as state of emergency has been declared on a Vanuatu island from threat of a major volcanic eruption

An erupting volcano in Vanuatu has sparked an unprecedented evacuation of an entire island.

All 11,000 residents of Ambae have been told to leave and will be moved to other islands in the Pacific state.

The Manaro Voui volcano, which has been rumbling for days, began spewing ash in a "moderate eruption" over the weekend.

A state of emergency has been declared on a Vanuatu island in the Pacific Ocean as the threat of a major volcanic eruption forced at least 11,000 people to flee their homes.
According to the Associated Press, a state of emergency was declared Monday after a recent flurry of activity at the Manaro volcano on Ambae island raised fears that a major eruption was imminent.

The volcano on the island that is home to 11,000 and located between Australia and Hawaii has been active since 2005, but an increase in activity, including rocks and gas spewing from the volcano, prompted authorities to raise the activity to Level 4 for the first time over the weekend, indicating a "moderate eruption" risk, the second highest level in Vanuatu's volcanic alert system.

"There's ash, fire, stones and lava being thrown out from the mouth of the volcano," Shadrack Welegtabit, the director of Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office, said Tuesday of the recent activity.

"There's a lot of activity going on," Welegtabit noted that it's impossible to say whether there will be a major eruption, but it was better to be cautious.

"With the seismic machine, we can measure what's happening but we can't really predict what the volcano will do next," he said.

Australia's ABC News reports that the government of Vanuatu approved $2 million in funding to provide food, shelter and water for evacuees.

Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico explodes 9 times in last 24 hours of enhanced volcanic activity video and pictures

The Popocatépetl volcano erupted 9 times during 6 hours 16 minutes continuously, sending incandescent fragments 1,000 meters around its crater and its flanks.

Some explosions during this long period of volcanic activity sent a plume of ash and gas rising 1,000 to 1,500 meters above the crater.

The monitoring system also registered 61 low-intensity exhalations, three volcanotectonic events, and 53 minutes of episodes of exhalation trains.

From these 9 explosions, four occurred yesterday at 14:13, 16:54, 21:24 and 23:09 h, and the others today at 02:53, 03:05, 06:41, 09:39 and 09:45 h. Ashfalls have been reported in the area.

The Cenapred said the Popocatepetl volcano activity is within the normal parameters of activity for a Yellow phase 2 level of activity and therefore does not require a preventive evacuation.