If you’re looking to bling out your wrist with something a little more technologically advanced than your standard Timex watch, the Samsung Gear S3 is the perfect way to go. It’s sleek, intuitive, and a great way to become even more connected with your other smart devices.
With this Samsung smart watch, you can text, call, and get notifications directly from your phone without ever reaching for it. The built-in GPS constantly keeps track of your activity — you can also share your location with others easily. The S3 also has the ability to store your credit card information, making it possible to use Samsung pay almost anywhere you go without taking out your wallet. With military-grade performance, this device can withstand dust, water, extreme weather, and the occasional drop (but do your best not to drop it). (Also, unlike most smart watches, it looks like a normal watch.) Read more...
Spring is a great time to bag a bargain. There isn't the widespread craziness that comes with Prime Day or Black Friday, but there are plenty of great offers out there.
Spring is the perfect time to shop for travel accessories like luggage, cookware and kitchen appliances, bedding, and clothing. It's also the best time to shop for office products like furniture and technology, especially when Dell's Small Business division is having a clearance sale.
Take your pick from a wide range of huge deals on innovative laptops, desktops, monitors, and accessories for your business or home office, available until May 3: Read more...
Not everyone wants an absolutely massive broadband package, with download speeds in the hundreds, and a monthly rate of over £50. No, most of us just want to be able to stream, game, and watch in HD on multiple devices, and to do it as cheaply as possible.
That's exactly what you can do with BT's Superfast Fibre 2 broadband. With average speeds of 67 Mb, this package can handle large families with ease. With this package you also get unlimited monthly usage, a BT Smart Hub, BT Virus Protect on 15 devices, and no price rises in 2019. There's a lot to like about BT broadband, and the price is another impressive aspect. Read more...
The "no pain no gain" and "feel the burn" mantras are in constant circulation for a reason. After all, you can't really expect to have washboard abs or Michelle Obama arms without hitting the gym.
To recover from your rigorous workouts (even if that just means a Netflix marathon), take your pick from these massagers that are now on sale:
Equipped with 10 invigorating massage motors, this flexible plush massage mat targets your entire body — from your neck, back, lumbar area, all the way down to your legs — to alleviate pain and stiffness. It has a built-in heater, pre-programmed modes, and an accompanying interactive controller that you can use to toggle between different independently controllable zones and intensity levels for targeted massages. It's flexible and foldable, too, allowing you to easily tote it around when you travel. Read more...
Walmart has transformed an ordinary grocery store into a 50,000-square-foot AI lab that tests new retail technologies in a real-world setting. The Intelligent Retail Lab is located in Levittown, New York, and is equipped with AI-powered sensors that keep track of the inventory and the freshness of the produce. Read more...
Despite increasing competition from Apple Music, Spotify is still seeing healthy growth.
The music-streaming service released its financial results for the first quarter of 2019 on Monday. In its report, Spotify says it now has 217 million monthly active users worldwide — 100 million of which are paid subscribers — with growth largely driven by higher sign-ons in the U.S. and Canada due to promotions.
Alexa and Google Assistant have made your home life more convenient by enabling voice control of smart home devices, but your car has basically been left out of the equation. Sure, some cars have smart technology built in and there are even some pretty advanced GPS devices that give you hands-free use. But how dope would it be to have those kinds of controls plus the ability to turn on smart home devices from your car?
The Roav Viva car charger from Anker is Alexa-enabled, giving you voice control in your car to get directions, hear news, shop online, play music, make calls, and more. Right now the device is $33 off at Amazon, dropping the price down to $41.99. Read more...
A new clip of Hillary Clinton reading a passage from the newly released Mueller Report in which Donald Trump utters the phrase, "I'm fucked" is destined to become an iconic moment in American political history.
The moment comes courtesy of Comedy Central's Jordan Klepper, who brought in Hillary Clinton along with her husband, Bill, to pick a GoFundMe cause worthy of a $1,000 donation.
But three minutes in, and after a delightful debate over goat milk, they come upon this campaign to raise money to have Hillary create an audiobook version of the Mueller Report. Hillary is happy to oblige with a sample of the now-oft-quoted moment when Trump learned of Mueller's appointment. Read more...
The Beats Powerbeats Pro will be available in four colors: black at launch, with ivory, navy and moss coming in the summer. The price: $249.95.
If you saw that price and cringed — and remembered Apple's own AirPods cost $159 — wait. There are genuine reasons why you should consider Apple's new earphones, despite the stingy price. Read more...
You might think that you're a big Nintendo fan, but you can't really be considered a top fan until you've put it on a T-shirt.
You can now get Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and other Nintendo stalwarts on a shirt, at super low prices. Nintendo T-shirts are now available for just £8.99 with free delivery, if you use the code NINTENDO at the checkout of the IWOOT store.
You do have a choice when it comes to codes though. If you opt for the code TWINNING, you can grab a free kids shirt with any adult shirt. You can't combine the codes unfortunately, but two codes is better than one, right?
The shirts are usually dispatched within two days, so you shouldn't have a long wait to get your hands on your chosen design. If you want to go with the £8.99 deal then you need to act pretty fast though, because this offer expires on May 2. Read more...
Because Avengers: Endgame is a movie about time travel, it has a scene in which the Avengers rattle off a list of time travel movies.
There's Back to the Future, of course. And Star Trek, Terminator, A Wrinkle in Time, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Time Cop, Hot Tub Time Machine —
Yep, Avengers: Endgame, a movie starring Sebastian Stan, has a reference to Hot Tub Time Machine, another movie starring Sebastian Stan. Which opens up a whole new can of worms for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is basically all cans of worms already. Read more...
Whether your weekend was filled with relaxing activities and sleepy mornings, or wild parties and an exhausting schedule, you can start this week in the best possible way with deals.
We have lined up the best offers on health and fitness devices, headphones, speakers, and more, from top brands like Sony, Bose, Slendertone, Fitbit, and Anker. You can pick up fitness trackers, portable chargers, vacuum cleaners, and a whole lot more with this round-up.
These are the best deals from across the internet for April 29.
Best of the best
Take your pick from this selection of deals on everything from lawn mowers to spirits, including an Epson Lumens Projector that's reduced by over £100. Read more...
YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, known worldwide as PewDiePie, has officially called for an end to the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme.
In a video posted Sunday, the creator of YouTube's second most-subscribed channel addressed the meme and its connection to the Christchurch terror attack in March that left 50 people dead.
While livestreaming the attack on multiple mosques on Facebook, the perpetrator of the shooting could be heard saying the words, "Subscribe to PewDiePie."
What more is there to say? When we're looking back across the expansive 80-minute battle of Winterfell — what we could see of it, anyway — there's really only one MVP pick. The defenders of the Stark stronghold emerged victorious, but let's not mince words here: Arya actually won the battle.
She's the one who survived death countless times to then eventually train and become what is probably the most skilled dealer of death in all of Westeros. She's the one who was entrusted with the Valyrian steel dagger that nearly killed her brother and the future Three-Eyed Raven, Bran Stark. Read more...
Victims of crimes in England and Wales, including survivors of rape and sexual assault, are being asked to grant police access to their phones. If they do not hand over their phones, investigations into allegations risk being dropped.
Rape charities have raised serious concerns over complainants' privacy and the fact that suspects aren't being placed under the same level of scrutiny by police.
According to the BBC, complainants will now be given consent forms stating that they'll have the opportunity to say why they don't want police to access their phone data. The forms request permission to access messages, emails, social media accounts, and photographs. Read more...
Still feeling FOMO from missing out on Best Buy Apple Event last week? If so, you're in luck: Best Buy is holding a flash 24-hour Apple sale with savings of up to $400 off select MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, iMac, and iPhone. This is a great time to snag a Mother's Day gift, so don't mess this second chance up.
Focusing on saving for summer adventures instead? Road trips are fun and all, but not so much when you have to sit at a Starbucks to charge your dead phoneAmazon is offering up to 44% off select Anker car chargers, including one that's Alexa-enabled. For extra security during your road trip, grab a Anker Roav C1 Pro dash cam for $55 off. Read more...
Warning: Contains giant spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3.
There were a lot of heroes at the Battle of Winterfell.
And while there may have been characters with higher, or more game-changing, kill counts, there was ONLY ONE CHARACTER THAT DIED STABBING A GIANT ZOMBIE IN THE EYE.
Jaguar Land Rover has partnered up with cryptocurrency IOTA to add several crypto-related options to its cars.
Most importantly, drivers will be able to earn cryptocurrency by allowing the car to hand over some driving data. These coins will be redeemable for things such as coffees, parking tickets and electric car charging, the company announced Monday.
This technology, which is currently undergoing testing at Jaguar Land Rover, will allow the car to automatically report "useful" road conditions, like traffic congestion or potholes to entities such as navigation providers or local authorities. If the car owner allows this, they will get "credits" — presumably IOTA coins, though it's not specified — which will be redeemable for a variety of products and services. Read more...
If you've never heard the name Chiitan before, you sure have been missing out.
In his own words, the Japanese mascot is a "0-year-old fairy baby" who "plays around super actively every day!"
As John Oliver points out in his deep dive into the world of Japanese mascots, Chiitan is a "giant otter wearing a turtle as a hat," who posts deeply entertaining videos of himself behaving in rather strange ways.
Words can't really do justice to Chiitan's power to entertain. Just watch the video and see for yourself. Read more...
Warning: Contains chilly spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3.
If there's one thing we should have learned by now with Game of Thrones, it's that predictions are futile.
After months of assuming the Night King would be the final, ultimate enemy, Arya came running into our lives and shattered him into a million dead pieces.
It's one of the most iconic rescues in cinema, but you haven't seen it like this.
In the latest of Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventuresseries, a collection of super short, kid-friendly versions of iconic Star Wars scenes, we're whipping through the rescue of all-round scoundrel Han Solo by his badass love, Princess Leia Organa.
Although Han dropped the whole "I know," bullshirt on Leia before he was frozen in carbonite on Bespin and taken to Jabba the Hut's palace on Tatooine, she's still the only kween who can get him outta there (with some help from your pals Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca of course). Read more...
If you can see through your tears, the scenes for next week on Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4 is here. And it is all about the bloody aftermath that will seemingly follow the Long Night we just survived.
"We Have won the Great War," Daenerys says. "Now we will win the Last War."
Surprisingly, this strongman tactic appears to work on the ice cold northerns, who seem to finally be warming up to their new dragon king. Read more...
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 3.
Game of Thrones fans around the world were stunned at the end of the Battle for Winterfell.
The entirety of Episode 3, Season 8 of Game of Thrones had a tremendous amount of tension, beautifully built up through nearly 80 minutes of battle scenes and beloved characters fighting for their lives. All of that tension released in the last 10 minutes of the episode as Arya Stark stabbed the Night King and ended the onslaught of undeath on Winterfell.
While there was plenty of death at the Battle of Winterfell, including the heartwrenching demise of Theon, Beric, and the heroic Lady Mormont, the most impactful demise of the season, if not the series, was that of the Night King. Read more...
Ending five years of anything is hard, but you'd ideally like to go out in a blaze of glory.
It's not quite the situation that saw the unlucky end of a five-year run of Minecraft, reportedly the longest known on the game's hardcore permadeath mode.
As Polygon reports, talented Twitch streamer Philza ended his lengthy five-year run after being attacked by a dreaded zombie baby in magic armour, and finished by a spider.
"No! Really? That's how I die?" said Philza as the screen suddenly flicked over to 'Game Over.' Read more...
To the total stranger who seemingly ran all 26.2 miles of the London Marathon while wearing a full-body Big Ben costume: I salute you.
Who does this? What kind of a brain dreams it up? There's actually a good, heartwarming reason. But first, you need to see it. Behold the excellence of this absolute real life superhero....
Meet Lukas Bates, who is aiming to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as a landmark building.
Mild spoilers ahead for Us, proceed with caution if you haven't seen it yet.
Here's a different song of ice and fire, compliments of Us star Lupita Nyong'o.
For reasons that aren't explained — and whatever, who cares, this is great — Nyong'o took to Twitter on Sunday to do a little analysis. The Us star is caught in the grip of Game of Thrones fandom, just like everyone else. And because loving Game of Thrones involves thinking about Game of Thones constantly, Nyong'o has some Thoughts.
Specifically, she feels there are cinematic and textual links to be found between the Tethered in Jordan Peele's March 2019 hit and the soon-to-be-completed HBO series' White Walkers. You might or might not agree, but talking it all out is a good way to kill time while we count the hours together until the next Thrones episode. Read more...
Indiegogo, the crowdfunding startup popular with filmmakers and other creatives, is banning anti-vaxxers from its platform.
According to BuzzFeed News, the company will “no longer allow anti-vaccine fundraisers or any projects making health claims that do not have a scientific backing.” The policy change comes after the sequel to a well-known anti-vaccination film raised funds on the Indiegogo platform.
The filmmakers behind Vaxxed II: The People's Truth recently raised $86,543 on the site. Because Indiegogo’s new policy wasn’t in effect at the time, the company will disperse the funds, minus the company’s cut, to the filmmakers. The new policy will bar future anti-vaxxer projects from crowdfunding. Read more...
With the mobile game market booming, one company has taken the next step in portable gaming: it's created a phone with an internal cooling fan.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Nubia has announced the latest refresh for its popular mobile gaming device, the Red Magic 3. Judging by its specs, the phone is about to provide some real extra competition in a fast-growing space.
Nubia’s latest flagship gaming device is the first mobile phone with a built-in fan. The company says the fan is quiet and can spin up to 14,000 rpm. Along with the fan, the Red Magic 3 will utilize a liquid cooling system which has become popular with its competitors. Read more...
Game of Thrones is ending. But there's still plenty to talk about — and that's what we're going to highlight every Sunday until the final episode airs.
Of course, as we round into Season 8's third episode, there's only one topic on everyone's minds: death. Specifically, who's going to die, and how horrible will it be?
See, the third chapter in Game of Thrones final season brings us to a momentous showdown: the battle of Winterfell. The White Walkers and their wight army have finally reached the gates to the Stark stronghold and they're fixing for a fight that the gathered armies of Westeros (minus Cersei's forces) are set to deliver. Read more...
According to police, a carjacker tried to drive away with eight-year-old Chance and his sister Skylar in the backseat, grabbing hold of Skylar as she tried to escape. Chance was able to get the door open and haul himself and his sister to safety.
On April 1, Burger King started testing the vegetarian burger, using a plant-based patty from Impossible Foods. The test took place in St. Louis and "went exceedingly well."
Tune in to the music and drown all outside distractions out: these 1Voice AXR Active Noise-Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones last for 12 hours off a single charge and can also be used with the 3.5mm jack. They're on sale for just $49.99 today.
Until you've read firsthand accounts of shattered arms and metal plates in faces, it's hard to comprehend just how completely these little scooties can wreck your s**t.
"Now, you might be wanting to ask how does an umbrella-wielding, coked-up otter being assaulted in a windowless room encourage tourism to the small Japanese port city of Susaki? Well, I'm on TV and I'm talking about the small Japanese port of Suzaki."
Michael Dell started his entrepreneurial journey at a young age by selling newspaper subscriptions as a high-school student. In college, as a pre-med student, his focus shifted to personal computers.
Only recently have scientists directly witnessed this most pivotal of events in biology, thanks to new technology that allows them to observe the process in living cells. It's teaching them a lot.
Historian Yuval Noah Harari and computer scientist Fei-Fei Li discuss the promise and perils of the transformative technology with WIRED editor in chief Nicholas Thompson.
A new exhibition traces the remarkable evolution of writing. Cameron Laux picks 12 highlights offering insights into one of humanity's greatest achievements.
SLAB's — an acronym for slow, loud and bangin' — emerged in Houston during the mid 1980s as an artistic outlet and style flex. They've since become an iconic part of the city's hip-hop legacy.
As "Avengers: Endgame" marks the end of some characters and the beginning of new franchises, we examined how the MCU impacted the careers of its beloved heroes.
A year and a half ago, in the middle of the Antarctic winter, satellite images of the frozen continent revealed something wild: A gaping hole in the middle of Antartica's sea ice that spanned thousands of square miles. Now, a team of researchers think they know what caused it.
"[My mum] wasn't getting it at all. It was like someone being confused why penguins can't fly — they've got two wings like all of the other birds, so why not throw them out of a plane?"
With the help of billionaires, President Emmanuel Macron raised $1 billion for the reconstruction of Notre Dame, but what about France's huge shortage of mosques?
What happened in San Francisco suggests that without remedies like wide-scale busing, or school zones drawn deliberately to integrate, school desegregation will remain out of reach.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem, pictured, sailed through the Taiwan Strait with USS William P Lawrence on Sunday. Photograph: HANDOUT/Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it sent two Navy warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday as the Pentagon increases the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.
The voyage risks further raising tensions with China but will likely be viewed by self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from the Trump administration amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which also include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols.
The two destroyers were identified as the William P. Lawrence and Stethem. The 112-mile-wide (180-km) Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from China.
WASHINGTON — Overall military expenditures rose 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2018, to hit a total of $1.82 trillion dollars, according to new research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The total from 2018 is 5.4 percent higher than 2009, and represents a 76 percent increase over 1998, a 20-year period.
Sixty percent of global military spending came from five countries: The United States ($649 billion), China ($250 billion), Saudi Arabia ($67.6 billion), India ($66.5 billion) and France ($63.8 billion). Russia ($61.4 billion) and the United Kingdom ($50 billion) were the other two countries to spend $50 billion or more on defense.
BREAKING: With nearly all ballots counted, Spain's Socialists win vote, but left-wing bloc falls short of majority to form government. https://t.co/vuDeTTtSK5
PSOE wins 123 seats on 75% turnout and is likely to seek coalition to reach 176-seat target for working majority
Spain's ruling socialists won the most votes but fell short of a majority in Sunday's snap general election, a contest marked by the breakthrough of the far-right Vox party and a disastrous performance by the country's traditional conservative party.
Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Workers' party (PSOE) won 123 seats, the conservative People's party (PP) 66, the centre-right Citizens party 57, the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos and its allies 42, and Vox 24.
Despite it being the country's third general election in under four years, turnout was 75.8% – well up on the 66.5% two years ago.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sails behind a Spanish navy frigate during a photo exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, April 24, 2019. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jessica Paulauskas
According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two leaders stressed that the people of Venezuela should independently decide on the future of their country, including on its political leadership
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, April 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meeting in Beijing stressed that foreign pressure on Venezuela and the attempts of using force with the goal of ousting the authorities are unacceptable, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
"As for Venezuela, both the Chinese and our leader highlighted that it is totally unacceptable when anyone tries to topple authorities in a third country, attempting to use force and illegal international pressure against a sovereign state, in order to change the leadership there," Peskov told the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 TV channel.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, commenting on a media report that U.S. President Donald Trump wants a new arms control deal with Moscow and Beijing, said Russia was open to the possibility of new arms control deals, but that there were no ongoing talks.
Citing administration officials, The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump has ordered his administration to prepare a push for a new arms control agreement with Russia and China due to the mounting cost of the 21st-century nuclear arms race.
Ushakov, in remarks to Russian state TV released on Sunday, said Moscow was ready to hold talks about the subject.
"Firstly, what exists already (by way of arms control agreements) needs to be honored," said Ushakov. "We are also ready for new ones, but for that serious negotiations are needed and unfortunately so far nobody has embarked on any."
Syrian government forces and Iranian militiamen came under attack shortly after midnight in the northern province of Aleppo. One of the jihadi groups involved in the assaults is linked to al-Qaida.
Jihadi militants killed 22 Syrian government soldiers and allied Iranian militiamen on Saturday in two synchronized attacks in northern Syria, a British-based war monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally, Hurras al-Deen, also wounded 30 soldiers and militiamen in the assaults in the northern province of Aleppo.
Pakistani health officials have suspended a nationwide anti-polio campaign following the killings in less than a week of a health worker and two policemen escorting vaccination teams.
Health officials on April 27 confirmed to RFE/RL that the campaign to eradicate the crippling disease has been suspended, despite the recent reporting of two new polio cases in Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
But militant threats, deep-rooted superstition, and opposition to vaccination by some local clerics have prompted many parents to refuse to have their children vaccinated there.
Tripoli-allied forces appear to gain ground against Haftar's LNA as officials say four civilians killed in LNA raids.
Forces backing Libya's internationally recognised government fought house-to-house battles with troops loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar in southern parts of the capital, Tripoli, on Sunday and appeared to be gaining ground.
Government soldiers, some in jeans and t-shirts, took cover by abandoned buildings as they fired on Haftar's positions. Some carried anti-aircraft guns they had had to remove from their trucks to get through the narrow streets.
Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which is allied to a rival administration in eastern Libya, mounted an offensive on Tripoli three weeks ago, but despite heavy fighting has failed to breach the city's southern defences.
There will be no enduring peace in Afghanistan unless the Taliban adapt to the changes that have swept the country since they were ousted in 2001, a US diplomat said Sunday.
Special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading US efforts to forge a peace deal with the Taliban, made the comments in a visit to Kabul as he continues a months-long push for a settlement.
Speaking to Tolo News, Khalilzad said the Taliban recognise their government "made a lot mistakes" when it was in power from 1996-2001, and "they have learned a lot".
* Zainee Hashim, Rilwan Hashim and their father Mohamed Hashim were killed * A raid earlier this week saw police engage in an intense shootout in Ampara * Security measures led authorities to close Catholic churches across Sri Lanka
The father and two brothers of the suspected mastermind of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings were killed when security forces stormed their safe house two days ago, police sources and a relative of the suicide bombers told Reuters on Sunday.
Zainee Hashim, Rilwan Hashim and their father Mohamed Hashim, who were seen in a video circulating on social media calling for all-out war against non believers, were among 15 killed in a fierce gun battle with the military on the east coast on Friday, four police sources said.
A senior Pentagon official warns that the Russian and Chinese militaries are refocusing their efforts to counter U.S. space operations, posing an existential threat to America's military edge.
Russia and China reorganized their forces in 2015, putting special emphasis on countering America in space, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy Steve Kitay said this week during a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He explained that the two U.S. adversaries have gone beyond simply improving their own operations in the space domain and have taken an offensive posture.
"Not only do Chinese and Russian military doctrine indicate they view space [as] important to modern warfare, they view counter-space capabilities as a means to reduce U.S. and allied military effectiveness," said Kitay.
The Sri Lanka bombings were a preview of the Islamic State's future.
Two days after the bombings in Sri Lanka, the Islamic State came out and said it was behind them. It backed up its claim with video evidence that showed the attackers gathering in front of its flag to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group's current leader. The attack had been coming for some time, and others like it are almost certainly being planned—and not just in Sri Lanka. That's because terrorism has long been a crucial promotional tactic for ISIS. This won't change just because the organization, which tried to build a proto-state on territory it held in Iraq and Syria, was militarily defeated earlier this year.
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter piloted by Maj. Akinori Hosomi mysteriously disappeared from radar Tuesday, April 9. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexander Cook
* A Japanese Air-Self Defense Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is still missing in the Pacific after a little over two and a half weeks of searching.
* Japan has deployed submarine rescue ships, coast guard vessels, rotary aircraft, and, most recently, a maritime survey vessel to find the fifth-generation stealth fighter and its pilot.
* The US military has sent a destroyer, maritime patrol aircraft, a high-altitude reconnaissance plane, and a salvage team equipped with the same tools that were used to search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.
It's been nearly three weeks since a Japanese F-35 crashed in the Pacific, but the US and Japan have yet to recover the missing stealth fighter.
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter piloted by Maj. Akinori Hosomi mysteriously disappeared from radar Tuesday, April 9. The pilot did not send out a distress signal before the plane vanished roughly 85 miles east of Misawa Air Base.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II's performance is far lower than desired by the US Department of Defense (DoD), largely due to spare parts shortages, as well as difficulty managing and moving parts around the world.
Only 27% of F-35 fighters worldwide were full mission capable between May and November 2018, according to a study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Some 52% of the stealth fighters were mission capable – able to perform at least one mission – over the same period.
The incident raises concerns about Russian training procedures, as well as the capabilities of the MiG-31's radar and other key systems.
A new report, citing a leaked Russian government document, says that a crash of MiG-31 Foxhound in Siberia almost two years ago was actually the result of a friendly fire incident during a botched training exercise. In addition, the summary of the mishap suggests that there could be dangerous problems with the aircraft's Zaslon-AM radar and Baget-55 fire control system that might increase the risk of more accidental shootdowns occurring in the future.
Baza, a relatively new Russian independent online investigative news outlet, revealed the new information on Apr. 23, 2019. The incident in question had occurred on Apr. 26, 2017, over the Telemba proving ground in Buryatia, a semi-autonomous republic within Russia that borders Mongolia. At the time, the Kremlin said that the plane had been on a training exercise, but offered no additional details about the mishap. Both of the Foxhound's crew survived the incident.
* Video released by Tasnim news agency shows fighter jets parked on American carrier deck in the Persian Gulf * US Navy says USS Dwight D Eisenhower hasn't been in the Gulf since 2016 * The drone that took the footage is apparently an Ababil-3 with an eight-hour flight capability at 12,000 feet and range of 155 miles * Earlier this month, the US government designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a 'terrorist organisation' * Tehran immediately announced retaliatory measures, declaring the United States a 'state sponsor of terrorism' and US forces as 'terrorist groups'
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard has successfully managed a surveillance flight over a U.S. aircraft carrier, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.
The report included footage apparently from a Guard drone that flew over the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and another U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf.
The images show fighter planes parked on the carrier deck with crew members down below seemingly unaware they are being spied upon.
Virtualization could allow cruisers such as the USS Chancellorsville, built in 1987, to serve longer and help grow the fleet. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Peter Burghart
Thanks to Moore's Law, the Navy can save a lot of time, effort, and weight replacing old, big computer systems with new, small ones.
A recent missile test by the U.S. Navy validated an innovative concept that will make upgrading the electronics and computer systems on older warships much, much easier.
The late March test saw the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner controlling its Aegis Combat System, including the launch of a missile, through a handful of computers in boxes small enough to "fit under a dining room table".
The heart of the U.S. Navy's shipboard defenses is the Aegis Combat System. Named after Zeus' shield in Greek mythology, Aegis was designed to be "the shield of the fleet", making it possible to defend carrier battle groups from mass attack by missiles and bombers. Designed in the 1970s, Aegis ties together the SPY-1 radar system and air defense missiles such as the Standard SM-2, SM-6, SM-3, and others to identify, track, and systematically shoot down up to hundreds of targets at a time.
81.cn recently has released a series of photos that truly reflect the image of Chinese military and soldiers. Among which, the series of battle ship firing drill has won the most applause. Let's all take a look at these striking firing moments.(Photo/www.81.cn)
* In the maritime battlespace, Chinese warships have an advantage over US Navy vessels that could prove "decisive" in a conflict. * While the US has China outgunned, having greater capacity than the Chinese, China's naval forces have greater range. * Were China to initiate hostilities from a safe distance, its clear range advantage could render the US Navy's capacity advantage irrelevant.
Chinese warships can shoot farther than the US Navy, an ability that could prove "decisive" in a naval conflict, experts argue.
China is arming its surface warships with supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles with far greater range than the Cold War-era subsonic missiles the US Navy has in its arsenal.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's advanced Type 052 and Type 055 destroyers carry YJ-18 cruise missiles with an operational range that extends out to 540 kilometers.
(COLOMBO, Sri Lanka) — The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka said Monday that the government should crack down on Islamic extremists with more vigor “as if on war footing” in the aftermath of the Easter bombings.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said the church may not be able to stop people from taking the law into their own hands unless the government conducts a more thorough investigation and does more to prevent further attacks.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Easter attacks, which killed more than 250 people, and investigators are looking into the extent of the extremist group’s direct involvement with the local radicalized Muslims who carried out the suicide bombings.
The cardinal said he is not satisfied with how the government has conducted its investigations so far. “All the security forces should be involved and function as if on war footing,” Ranjith told reporters.
“I want to state that we may not be able to keep people under control in the absence of a stronger security program,” he said. “We can’t forever give them false promises and keep them calm.” He urged the government “to implement a proper program in order that the people don’t take the law into their own hands.”
Ranjith, however, said the church assures Muslims that it will not allow any revenge attacks against them.
He also said church services would be held this coming Sunday after necessary precautions are taken. The number of Masses will be reduced at every church, with police and parish committees entrusted with the task of looking out for strangers.
Churches were shut across the nation on Sunday, a week after the bombings, for fear of an attack by Islamic State group-linked militants. Sri Lanka’s Catholics celebrated Mass in their homes as Ranjith presided over a televised service.
The closing of the churches came after local officials and the U.S. Embassy in Colombo warned that more militants remained on the loose with explosives.
Even though all of the island nation’s schools are to reopen May 6, Ranjith said Catholic schools could be kept closed after that date if the church is not satisfied with security.
Meanwhile, the government has banned all kinds of face coverings that may conceal people’s identities. The emergency law, which took effect Monday, prevents Muslim women from veiling their faces.
The decision came after the Cabinet had proposed laws on face veils at a recent meeting. It had deferred the matter until talks with Islamic clerics could be held, on the advice of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The Easter attacks were carried out by seven suicide bombers who blew themselves up targeting three churches and three luxury hotels. Two other suicide bombers died triggering blasts, one to avoid capture by the police and another at an inn where he was staying.
PEMBA, Mozambique (AP) — A second disaster unfolded on Sunday in northern Mozambique in the wake of Cyclone Kenneth as raging flood waters killed one person and began to cut off the region’s main city from the outside world. Some 160,000 people were at risk, with more torrential rain forecast for the days ahead.
“Help us, we are losing everything!” residents in Pemba city shouted at passing cars as the rushing waters poured into doorways. Women and girls with buckets and pots tried to scoop away the torrent, in vain. Some houses collapsed, the United Nations said.
“It’s an awful sense of deja vu,” said Nicholas Finney, response team leader with the aid group Save the Children. Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai ripped into central Mozambique and killed more than 600 people with flooding.
This was the first time in recorded history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season, again raising concerns about climate change.
The new storm’s remnants could dump twice as much rain as Idai, the U.N. World Program has said. Up to 100 millimeters (nearly 4 inches) were forecast in the next 24 hours for some parts of the region, according to Mozambique’s meteorological institute.
“I have never seen such rains in my life,” said one Pemba resident, 35-year-old Michael Fernando.
Residents mourned one death in the Nitate neighborhood after a brick wall fell on a woman and the waters swept her against another building, said community leader Estenacio Pilale.
Other residents tried to pile up tires and sand-filled sacks as barricades. Cars began to slip under the waters.
“We will keep moving until we get somewhere safe,” one man said, as people fled carrying belongings in plastic bags. Others showed flashes of impatience. “Will this water ever give us a break?” Abdul Carimo asked. “The moment we try to do anything with our lives, it starts again.”
Authorities earlier said at least five people died after Kenneth roared in Thursday evening with the force of a Category 4 hurricane, stunning residents of a region where such a storm had not been recorded in the modern era.
The government said more than 160,000 people have been affected in the largely rural region, many now exposed and hungry. More than 35,000 homes in parts of Mozambique’s northernmost Cabo Delgado were partially or fully destroyed by the storm. More than 23,000 people were in shelters, the government said.
Aid workers trying to reach hard-hit communities outside Pemba on Sunday were forced to turn back by rivers that burst their banks, with flood waters reaching the roofs of nearby houses. It was not clear when aid to scores of thousands of people outside the city could be delivered.
“Helicopters cannot fly, a number of flights were canceled, so humanitarian workers cannot arrive and additional cargo cannot arrive by air,” Finney with Save the Children told The Associated Press. He was concerned that the main road to Nampula, an important trucking route, would soon be blocked.
He described “total devastation” affecting a 60-kilometer (37-mile) stretch of coastline and nearby islands.
On Saturday, aerial photos showed several coastal communities flattened by the cyclone. “Not a single house is standing anymore,” Saviano Abreu, a spokesman with the U.N. humanitarian agency, told reporters.
Livelihoods have been lost and people are wondering how they will cope in a country struggling with one of the world’s highest poverty rates.
With notebook and pen in hand, elderly Luis Momade walked near the beach in Pemba on Saturday, taking advantage of a rare lull in the rains to record the damage from the cyclone. The president of the local Paquite Residents Association, his notebook was almost full with names and figures of boats damaged or destroyed.
With unemployment rife and many in coastal areas surviving with fishing and related activities, not going to sea could mean going hungry for days.
Men, women and children foraged in the waters off the littered shore, looking for seashells to sell.
(MADRID) — Spain’s governing center-left Socialists won the country’s election Sunday but must seek backing from smaller parties to maintain power, while a far-right party rode an unprecedented surge of support to enter the lower house of parliament for the first time in four decades.
With 99% of ballots counted, the Socialists led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez won 29% of the vote, capturing 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies. The new far-right Vox party made its national breakthrough by capturing 10% of the vote, which would give it 24 seats.
Sánchez announced that he would soon open talks with other political parties, telling crowds gathered at the gates of his party headquarters in central Madrid that “the future has won and the past has lost.”
He hinted at a preference for a left-wing governing alliance but also sent a warning to Catalan separatists whose support he may need that any post-electoral pact must respect the country’s 1978 constitution, which bans regions from seceding.
“The only condition is to respect the constitution, move toward social justice, coexistence and political cleanliness,” Sánchez said of his criteria for working with other parties.
Vox’s success came at the expense of the once-dominant conservative Popular Party, which fell to 66 seats, losing more than half of its representation since the last election in 2016. The conservatives lost votes both to Vox and to the center-right Citizens party, which will increase its number of seats from 32 to 57.
Voters in Spain had become disillusioned as the country struggled with a recession, austerity cuts, corruption scandals, divisive demands for independence from the restive Catalonia region and a rise in far-right nationalism not seen since Spain’s dictatorship ended in the 1970s.
“We told you that we were going to begin a reconquering of Spain and that’s what we have done,” Vox leader Santiago Abascal said, referring to the 15th century campaign by Spanish Catholic kingdoms to end Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.
Vox, which was formed five years ago, has promised to defend Spain from its “enemies,” citing feminists, liberal elites and Muslims among others. Its emergence on the national stage gives Spain five political parties, furthering political fragmentation in a country that was alternately ruled for decades by the Socialists and the Popular Party.
To stay in office, the Socialists and Sánchez must form a governing alliance with smaller parties, including the far-left United We Can led by Pablo Iglesias.
Iglesias said after the vote the he “would have liked a better result, but it’s been enough to stop the right-wing and build a left-wing coalition government,” adding that he’s already offered support to Sánchez.
But Sánchez will still need support from 11 more seats to produce a 176-seat majority in the lower house of parliament, meaning he may be forced to make pacts with Catalan and other separatist parties — moves that would anger many Spaniards on the left and the right.
Pablo Casado, who had steered the Popular Party further to the right to try to stop it from losing votes to Vox, called his party’s worst ballot result ever “very bad,” saying that “we’ve been losing our electoral support for several elections.”
The once-dominant conservative party also took a big blow in the Senate, losing the absolute majority to the Socialists.
Turnout was nearly 76%, up more than 8 points since the previous election in 2016. The vote surge included a huge boost in the northeastern Catalonia region, which has been embroiled in a political quagmire since its failed secession bid in 2017 put separatist leaders in jail while they are tried.
The arrival of Vox in Madrid’s national parliament marks a big shift for Spain, where the far right has not played a significant role since the country’s transition to democracy following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.
The Popular Party and the Citizens party had focused their campaigns on unseating Sánchez, hinting they could create a conservative coalition government — with the backing of Vox — like a regional one that recently ousted the Socialists from southern Andalusia.
Political pundits have predicted a long road to forming a government, with parties likely to put the brakes on negotiations in order not to hurt their chances in elections to the European Parliament at the end of May, which in Spain coincide with regional and township ballots.
The political scenario will be further complicated because regionalist parties and separatists also surged as a response to fear of a possible crackdown from a Vox-influenced right-wing government, said Cristina Ares, a senior politics lecturer at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
“This means that there is a significant sentiment against centralization and in favor of regionalization,” she said, pointing at that as one of the challenges that the new prime minister will face.
Speaking Sunday after voting, Sánchez said he wanted a mandate to undertake key social and political reforms.
The prime minister said he wanted “a stable government that with calmness, serenity and resolution looks to the future and achieves the progress that our country needs in social justice, national harmony” and in fighting corruption.
At the Palacio Valdes school in Madrid, voter Alicia Sánchez, a 38-year-old administrator, worried about the influence of Vox.
“I’ve always come to vote, but this time it feels special. I’m worried about how Vox can influence policies on women and other issues. They are clearly homophobic. Reading their program is like something from 50 years ago,” she said.
Having voted in all elections since Spain returned to democratic rule four decades ago, Amelia Gómez, 86, and Antonio Román, 90, said they had little faith in any of the candidates.
“All I want is for whoever wins to take care of the old people,” Gómez said, complaining that together the two of them receive less than 1,000 euros ($1,100) a month in state pensions.
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SRI LANKA's president used emergency powers on Sunday to ban face coverings to prevent terrorists from disguising themselves a week after the Easter suicide bombings.
BREXIT negotiator Michel Barnier tonight will deliver a so-called "future of Europe" speech as he seeks to cement himself as a candidate to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president.
THE SPANISH Socialist Workers' Party has won the country's third election in four years - but not in the landslide hoped for. So what does this mean for Europe?
SPAIN'S centre-right failed to defeat the socialists because conservative politics was punished by "fragmentation", according to political scientist Manuel Arias Maldonado.
SAN DIEGO's accused synagogue shooter reportedly posted a manifesto online stating he carried out the attack in honour of the mass murderer Brenton Tarrant, who is accused of killing 50 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand.
PEWDIEPIE, the most subscribed to YouTube personality, has called for an end of the "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme following last month's Christchurch massacre.
Long volatility ahead of poll results can offer gains: Analysts Mumbai: Rich traders aiming to play the Union election outcome on May 23 could initiate a risky Nifty options strategy called long strangle — purchase of an out of the money call and put — which benefits traders by an increase in implied volatility (Vix) ahead of the event and price momentum in either direction after it. Both the options expire on May 30.The buyer of a call and a put pays a premium to the seller. This premium rises as fear gauge India Vix rises. One of the options — call or put — also rises depending on the sharp move on either side ahead of or post the event. The maximum loss to the option buyer is limited to the premium she pays to the seller.For the elections outcome, derivatives strategists such as Amit Gupta of ICICI Direct and Nitin Kedia of Kedia Commodity have advised clients to initiate a long strangle — buy May 30 call at 12500 and May 30 put of 11000. Kedia said buying two strangles (two calls and two puts) to earn from a spike in volatility as measured by India Vix and price momentum of around 6 per cent either side post the event was "expedient".Analysts expect the Vix to rise from current level of 22 to 35-40 ahead or the results. This is the trend observed before previous election results. In May 2009, for example, Vix surged to a high of 84.93 while in May 2014 it topped at 38.96. Also the two strikes — 11000 put and 12500 call — are equidistant from the current Nifty level of 11,755. They imply 6 per cent movement of Nifty either side for the election results.Long volatility to help tradersAssume the Vix rises from 22 to 40 ahead of the event, the combined value of the options (one strangle) would increase from Rs 115 a share (Friday closing) to Rs 421 a share (75 shares make one contract) as every percentage point rise in Vix changes the options' price by Rs 17. However, the strangle's premium falls by Rs 5 with each passing day (theta). Over the 20 days, theta will erode the option price by Rs 100. Thus one strangle premium will rise to Rs 321 from Rs 115, implying a 179 per cent gross return. This makes the other strangle literally free of cost.Kedia suggests booking profit on one strangle a day or two prior to counting. The other one is kept to play for price momentum.After the results are announced on May 23 , the Vix will collapse, reducing the premium of the remaining strangle, but if the Nifty moves by, say, 500 points either side, one of the two options in the strangle will see price rising by at least Rs 75 based on 0.15 delta. What cost Rs 115, will be worth at least Rs 200-210 post the event. Source: ET
Hero facing headwinds may not speed up enough to suit investors ET Intelligence Group: Hero MotoCorp appears no longer an investment script sticking to the tagline in its 20th century joint-venture avatar: Fill it, Shut it, Forget it.The biggest beneficiary of India's switch in consumer preference from scooters to bikes over the past two decades is now at a crossroads, and analysts are unsure whether the drive would be as racy as it has so far been after the BS-VI traffic junction switches on the green light.Hero's single-digit earnings growth in FY19, therefore, is likely to keep the upside capped for the stock, even though it is trading at 14.7 times twelve-month earnings, a discount of 7 per cent to its long-term average. Hero MotoCorp trailed the Nifty by 8 per cent in FY19, and the tide is unlikely to turn soon unless volumes and margins head north.Hero MotoCorp's earnings growth in FY19 dropped 7.5 per cent, the first in five years. Muted volume growth and margin worries promise hardly any better in FY20, as India deploys new emission standards.Hero sold 78.21 lakh units last fiscal, and had volume growth of 3.1 per cent due to contraction in the scooter segment. The Street is pricing in volume growth 4-5 per cent in FY20, but the pressure on margins would likely remain. It has guided for 5-7 per cent volume growth for FY20 as it expects higher scooter sales.The company expects improvement in scooter volumes after the launch of another higher-displacement model in the next few months. Scooters made up a tenth of total volumes in FY19 and volumes dropped 18 per cent in the same period.On motorcycles, growth prospects are linked to revival in rural demand. The company, in a post-March earnings conference call, said that rural sales remain challenging and the first half of the current fiscal is likely to be muted, and some pickup in rural demand is expected in the Kharif season. On the overall market, the channel inventory continues to remain elevated.Hero's inventory is still about 10 days higher than average and the company plans to bring it down to the average level, affecting shipment growth in the first quarter. Also, liquidity in the system continues to remain tight and aggressive finance offers by NBFCs are not available. So, volume growth of 4-5 per cent in the domestic motorcycle business would be a tall ask.Hero's operating margins fell to 13.6 per cent in the March quarter, the lowest in four years. Lower capacity utilization and increased competitive intensity could weigh on the margins. So, the company believes margins would remain at where they are at least until the first half of FY20. The Street is pricing in operating margins of 14.5 per cent and 14 per cent for the current and next fiscal years.The next big trigger for the stock will be its decision on the volumemargin trade-off in the festive season before implementation of new emission norms next April. 69089905 Source: ET
Microsoft testing android alerts on Windows 10 PCs In its new Insider Preview Build for Windows 10, Microsoft is working on a feature as part of its "Your Phone" software that would display notifications received on Android smartphones on PC screens.Launched in 2018, "Your Phone" is an app for Windows 10 that allowed users to see recent photos taken on a Android phone directly on a Windows 10 PC and to send SMS messages from a computer."If you allow apps to display alerts on PCs, you can find out about an important message or status update without reaching for your handset," Engadget reported on Sunday.The new preview build is allowing insiders to see incoming phone notifications in real-time, customise notifications and clear notifications individually or all at once."Boost your focus and productivity by seeing your phone's notifications on your PC. You are in control and manage which apps you want to receive notifications from. Dismiss a notification on one device and it goes away on the other," the company wrote in a blog-post.Users testing the feature need devices running Android 7.0 Nougat with at least 1GB RAM."You can't respond to notifications (at least not yet), but this could be particularly vital for Snapchat and other apps that don't really have a presence on the desktop," Engadget added.The feature is being tested as part of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18885 (20H1). Source: ET
Rafale remarks: Rahul Gandhi files reply in SC on contempt notice issued to him The apex court had on April 23 issued criminal contempt notice to Gandhi for his "chowkidar chor hai" remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi while referring to the Rafale judgment, which the apex court said was "incorrectly attributed" to it.
Gujarat: Tur dal stock inspection begins after adulteration complaints The development comes three days after seven persons were booked after tur dal stocked in a warehouse in Keshod town of Junagadh was found to be adulterated
Man held for raping & cheating woman at Juhu The accused identified as Virendra Saha was arrested on Saturday and he has been remanded to police custody till Saturday.
Gujarat: State consumer forum relies on PM report, asks insurance firm to pay Rs 1 lakh Company had rejected claim stating it was suicide; PM report had mentioned starvation as cause of death
Mumbai: Two rescued from drowning at Aksa Beach The duo, identified as Tushar Pawar (15) and Shubham Vishwakarma (17), are residents of Rathodi village in Malad west.
Retirement blues or bliss: Getting through the golden years The last day of the employee could have the same buoyancy, spring and twinkle in the eyes that the first day on the job brought
Gujarat: Massive fire in cardboard factory at Bavla The fire was reported from six godowns of a company named Big Box, that is into production of cardboard boxes.
Mumbai: Gastro on rise, think before you have roadside nimbu pani, lolly According to the civic body's health official, carrying water bottle from home to avoiding drinking water and cold beverages from the street is the best way to dodge these diseases.
Galvanising creative societal energy for larger good is important Open source multi-media, multi-language content must be delivered to each government school and college in a timebound manner so that even if teachers lack interest in some schools, children can learn on their own through phone based applications
Gujarat: Cops close in on one more Ramol gang rape accused The police had arrested Ankit Parekh and Chirag Vaghela in connection to the gang rape case on Friday, while Hardik Shukla and Raj are yet to be arrested.
MahaRERA orders promoter to compensate investors A bunch of complainants approached MahaRERA stating, they booked flats in the project Bhagtani Serenity, Powai.
Mumbai: Vote for change, but don't forget to grab your shades to beat the heat Kapadia also suggested that it would be good to stay hydrated and carry a cap and sunglasses when outdoors to avoid the risk of heat stroke.
Gujarat: Man who threw acid on wife, kid nabbed Cops arrested Narottam Solanki (40), a day after the case came to light. Solanki had been absconding after the incident.
BMC slaps notice to society after fund manager falls into manhole Arora fell in the manhole after getting out of his car at Phoenix MarketCity, Mahalaxmi.
