Author Archives: Kami Klein

Russia Continues Bombings in Syria -Defends Targets

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed reporters outside the U.N. on the second day of Russian bombings in Syria. Russia’s airstrikes in Syria “do not go beyond ISIL (ISIS), al Nusra or other terrorist groups recognized by the United Nations Security Council or Russian law,”

Lavrov defended Russia’s air strikes remarking that the U.S. led coalition was going after the same terror groups as the Russian’s were. Rejecting any comments that their actions were to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he said that Russia did not consider Assad’s main opposition, the Free Syrian Army to be a terrorist group.

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive to accompany Russian airstrikes. According to defense officials it was always “understood” that the Russians would provide the air force and the Iranians would provide the ground force in Syria.“It has always been understood that the Russians would provide the air force, and the Iranians would provide the ground force in Syria,” one official said.

U.S. officials say that the bombings are not in ISIS held territories. Russian were given only a one hour notice before the bombings and that was more to tell our military to stop our own airstrikes. The U.S. declined that request.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that the Russian attacks, which the Kremlin said were meant to target terrorists, didn’t appear to hit targets under the control of ISIS, which operates in the north and east of the country.

Sen. John McCain — chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee called the Russian strikes “an incredible flouting of any kind of cooperation or effort to conceal what their first — Putin’s priority is. And that is of course to prop up Bashar al-Assad.”

U.S.-Led and NATO Special Forces Join Fight in Kunduz

NATO special forces have joined Afghan forces in their attempt to retake the city of Kunduz which fell into Taliban control on Monday.

The heavily assailed airport, which sits on a hilltop a few miles outside Kunduz, is now the only place held by the Afghan army. The nearby Bala Hisar fort fell when soldiers there ran out of ammunition, deputy provincial governor Hamdullah Daneshi said.  Thousands of troops have fled to the airport during the intense fighting over the last two days.

U.S. special forces had been advising Afghan troops while operating from a temporary base at the Kunduz airport for several weeks, according to a special forces commander.

Coalition spokesman Col. Brian Tribus gave few details about the foreign troops’ engagement with insurgents while supporting Afghan forces overnight, including the troops’ nationalities. Although the U.S. and NATO have officially handed over the battle against the Taliban to Afghan forces, the terms of their mission allows them to fight when they come under direct threat.

That happened early Wednesday morning when a team of U.S. special forces “encountered an insurgent threat in the vicinity of the Kunduz airport at approximately 1 am, 30 September,” Tribus told Reuters, adding that the soldier had acted in self-defense. “When they encountered the threat, they defended themselves,” he said.

Russians Release First Airstrike in Syria

After Russian Parliament gave the all go to using air power to combat in Syria, a Russian General told the U.S. to stay out of Syrian airspace.

“A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIL missions today over Syria,” said spokesman John Kirby. “He further requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions.”

Putin said the action was preemptive, warning that Moscow would be hunting down Islamic State militants before they target Russia.

Russian defense officials say that they were targeting the Islamic State group saying it has hit IS weapons, depots, ammunition, communications infrastructure, and fuel.  

The head of the Western-backed Syrian political opposition said the Russian strikes had killed at least 36 civilians and targeted areas where Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked fighters were not present.  Official reports of casualties have been mixed.  

An unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that so far they did not appear to be targeting ISIS held territory but only hitting areas where Free Syrian Army and other anti-Assad groups are located.  

Hurricane Joaquin Threatens U.S. East Coast and Bahamas

Tropical Storm Joaquin was upgraded to a Category 1 Hurricane early this morning as it bears in on the Bahamas.  Forecasted to become a Category 3 Hurricane with wind gusts up to 115 mph by Saturday. Winds are now sustained at 80 mph and will hit the Bahamas by early Sunday. Hurricane watches and warnings have been issued.

More than 10,000 people live on the Bahamian islands and should experience tropical storm-like winds Wednesday and hurricane conditions by noon Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Five to 15 inches of rain could fall. Dangerous storm surges 4 feet above normal tides are also expected.  

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the hurricane center said about the Bahamas on Wednesday.

Hurricane Joaquin is the 2015 Atlantic season’s third hurricane. Residents along the East Coast of the U.S. should pay close attention to the forecast now through this weekend. It is a particularly difficult forecast that hinges on the behavior of several different atmospheric features over North America and the North Atlantic Ocean.   

Typhoon Dujuan Hits Mainland after Pummeling Taiwan

Over half a million homes are without power in Taiwan while officials survey the damage caused by Typhoon Dujuan.  Two deaths were reported as well as hundreds of injuries. Dujuan made landfall in China Tuesday morning with an average sustained wind at 74 mph.

Two to three feet of rain have been reported from Taiwan in a number of mountain locations with wind gusts as high as 154 mph.  

The torrential rainfall from what is left of the Typhoon still torment the already battered Taiwan, threatening more flooding and dangerous mudslides.

Typhoon Dujuan is forecasted to rapidly weaken and dissipate as it moves over the terrain of southeastern China.

U.S. Military Airstrike Launched in Attempt to Regain City

In an attempt to regain Kunduz from the Taliban in Afghanistan, military officials announced airstrikes that were launched on Tuesday.  

U.S. Army Col. Brian Tribus, spokesman for the U.S. and NATO missions in Afghanistan, said the strike was carried out “in order to eliminate a threat to the force.”  

Afghanistan troops were amassed outside Kunduz in an effort to take back the city that had fallen to the Taliban on Monday.   

President Ashraf Ghani stated in a televised address to the nation, that the military launched a counter-offensive on the city, with security forces “retaking government buildings … and reinforcements, including special forces and commandos are either there or on their way there.”

“The enemy has sustained heavy casualties,” said Ghani, who marked his first anniversary in office on Tuesday. He urged his nation to trust Afghan troops and not give in to “fear and terror.”

Many analysts and officials predict a very difficult time in the fight ahead.  Taliban have control of many of the roads to the city which make supply runs and reinforcing troops quite challenging as well as the fact that the Taliban has infiltrated residential areas which make airstrikes and the use of heavy weapons quite costly.  

Evidence of Water Found on Mars Announced by NASA

The strongest evidence yet of water on mars was announced by NASA Monday afternoon.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

Although scientists are not sure where the water comes from, liquid water runs down the crater walls over the summer months and leave dark stains on the Martian terrain that have been measured hundreds of meters downhill before they dry up in the autumn when temperatures drop.  

Researchers say the discovery raises the chances of this being home to some form of life.  

Stock Market Dives Sliding 313 points

The volitive stock market took another dive as the Dow slid 313 points on Monday and plunged biotech stocks way lower.  The S& P lost 2.6%.

The Nasdaq experienced steeper losses, shedding 3%. It was the Nasdaq’s worst one-day decline since August 24, the day the Dow took an unprecedented 1,000-point nosedive.

Biotech stocks have stumbled amid concerns that political pressure will end steep drug price increases.

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF plummeted 6.3% on Monday, its biggest one-day loss since 2011.

Blue chips comprising the Dow temporarily ducked below 16,000 at one point, the first time the index has fallen below that mark since Aug. 25.

“Investors are in a more conservative mood right now. The higher the valuation of a sector, the more vulnerable it is,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.

Typhoon Dujuan Slams into Taiwan

With wind gusts over 150 miles per hour Typhoon Dujuan has slammed into Taiwan.  Dujuan has been categorized as a Super-typhoon and has left 24 injured as the incredible winds and massive rain battered the Island on Monday evening.

Most of the 24 people hurt suffered minor injuries, the island’s Emergency Operation Center said, many of them hit by flying debris.

More than 7,000 people have been evacuated in anticipation of the storm. About 200 people staying in emergency shelters.   

So far, more than 330,000 home are without electricity and tens of thousands of troops are on standby.  

Rainfall amounts have already reached 30 inches in some areas spawning fears of mudslides in the mountains.  

China has issued its top alert as the storm approaches the mainland.  

U.N Summit, World Leaders Meet to Discuss Global Problems

Today five of the most powerful men in the world will be speaking at this historic meeting at the U.N. United States President Obama, Russia’s President Putin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki Moon called for a political solution to the war in Syria that has left more than 200,000 dead and unleashed a torrent of refugees. “The global humanitarian system is not broken; it is broke,” he said. He also urged world leaders to work together in order to banish the “blatant brutality” of extremist groups, such as the Islamic State.

U.S. President Barack Obama said they would work with any country to solve the crisis and war in Syria but that we must also not allow Syrian President Bashar Assad to stay in office. When speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, he said the world cannot stand by while Russia violates Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty.

The need to protect and nurture the environment was first thing on Chinese President, Xi Jinping’s agenda in his speech today. “We should care for nature and not place ourselves above it. We should reconcile industrial development with nature.” He added that China would never pursue “hegemony, expansion or sphere of influence” in the world. And he pledged $1 billion over the next decade to support U.N. efforts to further global peace and development.

Russian President Putin stressed the importance of combating the ISIS threat in Syria stating that it must be done in cooperation with the Syrian government. “We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to work with the Syrian government and its armed forces,” Putin said. “No one but the Syrian forces and Kurdish militia are seriously fighting against the Islamic state.” The alternative is to arm terrorists who threaten Europe, Russia and other countries, he said.

The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani praised the Iranian/U.S. agreement on nuclear weapons as an example of global cooperation. On the terroristic threats in the middle east, he stated firmly the terrorist “wave of destruction has gone beyond the Middle East and the Arab world and reached the shores of the United States and Europe,” he added. “Without the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and U.S. support for the Zionist regime, the terrorists would not have justification for their actions.”

President Obama and Putin are scheduled for an intense meeting this afternoon at the White House to discuss their differences on Syria and the Ukraine.