Project 955A: This New Russian Submarine Is Ready to Rumble (Source The National Interest)

“The ceremony of raising the flag aboard the Knyaz Vladimir that will signify the underwater cruiser’s official inclusion in the Fleet’s combat structure is scheduled for June 12,” a source in the domestic defense industry told Russian state media this week. “The submarine will operate in the 31st submarine division.” The improved Project 955A lead nuclear-powered submarine completed its state trails late last year, but the delivery to the Russian Navy was delayed after faults were discovered. Tass has reported that those faults were removed and that the submarine held its final trials in the White Sea on May 12-21 before returning to Severodvinsk. The acceptance/delivery certificate for the underwater cruiser—the nomenclature for very large submarines that are designed to remain at sea for extended periods of time—was signed on May 28.

The strategic missile-carrying underwater cruiser represents the fourth generation of nuclear-powered subs built for the Russian Navy.

Big chains filed for bankruptcy (Source cnn.com)

Gold’s Gym said in its May 5 fling that the virus has affected it “deeply and in many ways,” which includes the temporary closures of many of its 700 global gyms. Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help it “emerge stronger and ready to grow,” the statement continued.

The 55-year-old company intends to exit bankruptcy by August and said it is “absolutely not going anywhere.” Car rental giant Hertz filed for bankruptcy on May 22. The company also rents cars under the brands Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly.

The company has been in business since 1918, when it set up shop with a dozen Ford Model Ts. Hertz has survived the Great Depression, World War II’s near-total halt of US auto production and numerous oil price shocks. By declaring bankruptcy, the rental car company says it intends to stay in business while restructuring its debts so it can emerge financially healthier. Coronavirus could be the final blow for 118-year-old department store stalwart JCPenney. It was already struggling to overcome a decade of bad decisions, executive instability and damaging market trends. JCPenney filed for bankruptcy on May 15. The company has an agreement with most of its lenders that will allow it to attempt a turnaround plan to stay in business. But it will close 30%, or around 200, of its 846 US stores.

Sovereignty over the Jordan Valley is key to Israel’s security (Source thehill.com)

When assessing Israel’s core national security interests, applying Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley fits squarely within the list of Israeli needs. Our nation, with its ancient past, must take an equally long view of its future, particularly given the many security challenges that likely await us. Israel must act to solidify its key needs in the fields of security, economy and development, and must not hesitate when doing so. 

In just 50 years from now, our population is projected to exceed 20 million people. In order to thrive, and not just survive, we must have a minimally defensible eastern border, located in the Jordan Valley, and it must retain control of the eastern mountain ridge.

Yitzhak Rabin, architect of the Oslo Accords, in the eponymous “Rabin parameters,” included full Israeli security control over Jewish cities in Judea and Samaria/the West Bank, and full freedom of maneuver for Israelis along the main roads of the area, within those parameters. He did so based on the need to protect the large Israeli communities of Judea and Samaria known today as the “Settlement blocs.”

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms can be healer for the nation (Source nypost.com)

One completely unexpected consequence of this week’s horrific events could be this: a President Keisha Lance Bottoms. Most of us had never heard of Mayor Bottoms before last night’s riveting, heartbreaking speech denouncing the riots in Atlanta. If any other leading official in the entire country has given a more apt response to the rioting, I haven’t seen it. We know that Joe Biden wishes to name a woman as his running mate, and as of this week former prosecutors such as Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris no longer look like great picks. Harris was so prosecution-happy as San Francisco district attorney that she locked up parents whose children skipped school and laughed about it. Stacey Abrams, the sore loser who has spent two years promoting a conspiracy theory that she was cheated out of being elected governor of Georgia in 2018, is a disgrace and would be a drag on Biden’s fortunes.

Right there in Abrams’ state, though, is the answer for Biden. Mayor Bottoms proved last night that she is the real deal. Her five-minute plea for rioters to stop as Atlanta burned was one of the most spellbinding impromptu speeches I’ve ever seen from a political figure.

Trump, an infrequent churchgoer, focuses on Christian base amid protests and pandemic

(Source cnn.com)

President Donald Trump made his second visit to a religious site in as many days on Tuesday with a visit to the John Paul II National Shrine in Washington alongside first lady Melania Trump. Later Tuesday, Trump will sign an executive order on international religious freedom.

His photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square from the White House on Monday came only after protesters — and some members of the church’s clergy — were pushed back using tear gas and flash bangs. The episode drew sharp criticism from the bishop who oversees the church, who called it a “charade.”

2020 gives triple eclipse treat in a row to skywatchers(Source indiatvnews.com)

2020 is undeniably bad for all of us. However, there is some good news for the ardent sky-watchers. This year, there will be three eclipses in one lunar month. Sounds exciting, right?  In the period between June 5 and July 5, one will get to witness two lunar eclipses and one solar eclipse. 

According to the astronomers, triple eclipses are very rare as compared to double or single eclipse. 

Between June 5 and 6, a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur, which will then be followed by an annular solar eclipse on June 21 and another lunar penumbral eclipse on July 5. 

As per the Banglore Mirror, the next full moon will be on June 6 at 12.42 am. On the night of June5/6, the moon will be in penumbral eclipse. During such an eclipse, the moon passes through the earth’s outer shadow, the penumbra. In the penumbra, the moon is only slightly dimmed, As the brightness drop in less than 10 per cent the human eye cannot notice. 

New charges against Minneapolis policemen as protests continue (Source reuters.com)

Prosecutors on Wednesday leveled new criminal charges against four Minneapolis policemen implicated in the death of a black man pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest that sparked more than a week of nationwide protest and civil strife. The added murder charge filed against one officer already in custody and the arrest of three more accused of playing a role in the killing of George Floyd, 46, came as several nights of escalating unrest gave way to mostly peaceful protests. Thousands of demonstrators massed near the White House lit up their cellphone flashlights and sang along to the 1970s soul tune “Lean on Me,” before resuming a chorus of anti-police chants.

Ex-Defense Secretary William Perry joins Mattis in condemning Trump (Source politico.com)

Former Defense Secretary William Perry on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of politicizing the armed forces and criticized his threats to deploy the military against American citizens.

Perry, a national security expert who served in government for decades, including as Defense secretary from 1994 to 1997 under President Bill Clinton, said in a statement provided to POLITICO that the military “was never intended to be used for partisan political purposes.”

In the statement, Perry criticized the current secretary, Mark Esper, for labeling the streets of America a “battlespace” and for taking part in the president’s photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House on Monday. “When I was Secretary of Defense I made it a priority to avoid any suggestion of support for partisan political actions, and I assured that the president did not use any military facilities to support his political ends,” Perry wrote. “But on Monday Secretary Esper walked with the president to St. John’s Church in an implicit show of support, after peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Park had been forcibly subdued and dispersed with tear gas under the orders of Attorney General Barr.”

Rev. Al Sharpton announces march in Washington,D.C. on August 28(Source nbcnews.com)

On Thursday, George Floyd’s family held a memorial in Minneapolis, with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered a powerful eulogy and announced a march on Washington is scheduled for August.

The ninth-straight evening of protests over Floyd’s death in police custody largely passed with calm in many parts of the United States on Wednesday night. Police in New York patrolled on horseback, while Seattle and San Francisco lifted curfews. The Rev. Al Sharpton, during his eulogy at a memorial for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Thursday, announced plans for a march in Washington on Aug. 28, the anniversary of the original March on Washington in 1963 where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Sharpton said he was glad the civil rights icon’s son, Martin Luther King III, was at the memorial. “Because on Aug. 28, the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, we’re going back to Washington, Martin,” Sharpton said. “That’s where your father stood in the shadows of the Lincoln memorial and said, ‘I have a dream.'” “Well we’re going back this Aug. 28 to restore and recommit that dream,” Sharpton said. “To stand up, because just like at one era we had to fight slavery, another era we had to fight Jim Crow, another era we dealt with voting rights. This is the era to deal policing and criminal justice.”  Sharpton added, “We need to go back to Washington and stand up — black, white, Latino, Arab — in the shadows of Lincoln and tell them, ‘This is the time to stop this.'”

Sharpton also called for a federal policy to address a wide range of policing issues, including the inability to fully background check police officers and creating residency requirements for officers to live in the communities they police. At the close of his eulogy, Sharpton asked Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, to join him and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump on stage while those gathered stood in silence for 8 minutes, 46 seconds — the amount of time a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck during the arrest where he died.

‘People are going to go hungry’: pandemic effects could leave 54million Americans without food

(Source theguardian.com)

A record number of Americans face hunger this year as the catastrophic economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic looks set to leave tens of millions of people unable to buy enough food to feed their families. Nationwide, the demand for aid at food banks and pantries has soared since the virus forced the economy to be shutdown, resulting in more than 40m new unemployment benefit claims, according to the latest figures. As a result, an estimated one in four children, the equivalent of 18 million minors, could need food aid this year – a 63% increase compared to 2018. Overall, about 54 million people across the US could go hungry without help from food banks, food stamps and other aid, according to an analysis by Feeding America, the national food bank network. As states start to reopen for business, economic recovery is expected to be painfully slow especially if further outbreaks are not adequately contained, which could trigger a full-blown second wave of the pandemic. Underemployment could last for years, which means millions of Americans are likely to need help with food, utilities and rent in the medium and long term. “If the numbers stay like this, no way food banks can cope, it’s beyond our capabilities, a lot will depend on how long federal help lasts,” said Michael Flood, president of the Los Angeles Food Bank, which has distributed 80% more groceries since the pandemic began.