[ Reuters ] Turkey to expel U.S. envoy and nine others, Erdogan says

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had told his foreign ministry to expel the ambassadors of the United States and nine other Western countries for demanding the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala. Seven of the ambassadors represent Turkey’s NATO allies and the expulsions, if carried out, would open the deepest rift with…

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[ The Independent ] Singapore recovery stalled by 100k seniors who won’t get jabs

Chris Barnett, the South-east Asia correspondent for  The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, said this when he reported  the extension of strict social curbs here until next month which was announced by Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF) on Wednesday. “Now, though, after setting the standard in the region with its COVID-19 immunisation drive, vaccine…

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[ The Jakarta Post ] Myanmar junta blames ‘foreign intervention’ for ASEAN summit exclusion

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2021/10/17/myanmar-junta-blames-foreign-intervention-for-asean-summit-exclusion.html A spokesman for Myanmar’s military government blamed “foreign intervention” for the rare exclusion of its junta leader from a regional leaders’ summit later this month. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the BBC Burmese news service that the United States and representatives of the European Union had pressured other leaders of the 10-member…

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[ Washington Post ] Navy nuclear engineer and his wife charged with trying to share submarine secrets with a foreign country

A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife have been charged with repeatedly trying to pass secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines to a foreign country, in an alleged espionage plot discovered by the FBI, according to court document The court papers say that in December 2020, an FBI official received a package that had been sent…

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China hit by flood again, 3rd time this year.

Dykes of the Yellow River breached, causing the 3rd flood of 2021 for China. Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, that are in the Yellow River basin are hit by severe flooding. More than 120,000 people had been evacuated thus far just in Shanxi alone. It is said to be the largest flood in nearly 40 years…

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Dutch frigate, HNLMS Evertsen’s voyage so far as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21); will arrive in Singapore on 10 October 2021

The Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen will arrive in Singapore tomorrow (10 October 2021) in their first deployment of a Royal Dutch Navy vessel to the region under the Indo-Pacific Guidelines, announced by Netherland in late 2020. HNLMS Evertsen is part of the Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21) deployment led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the…

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[ Intelligencer ] U.S. Troops Have Reportedly Been in Taiwan for Over a Year

According to the Wall Street Journal, a small contingent American troops have been deployed in Taiwan for over a year, involving a special-operations unit of around two dozen and supporting Marines. U.S. officials told the Journal that the troops are working with local maritime forces on training missions involving small boats. DPA Notes: Curious that USA would actually…

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[ Forbes ] It’s Official: After A 75-Year Gap, The Japanese Navy Has An Aircraft Carrier

On Sunday, a pair of U.S. Marine Corps F-35B jump jets from the Japan-based Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 landed on, then launched from, the Japanese carrier JS Izumo. The proof-of-concept comes just months after the 813-foot Izumo, which the Japanese built as a helicopter carrier, completed the first of two rounds of modification—so far costing around…

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