CHINA PREPARING PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST US

China has deployed an HQ-9 surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries in its significant development of new military constructions and placement of new naval and aerial military assets in the Paracel Islands, a disputed territory in the South China Sea.

New photos of the islands that make up the Paracels, showing significant construction on all of them, has been published by The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

The most developed island is Woody Island, which China has long used as its central base in the region. Woody Island, CSIS notes, now possesses “an airstrip, hangars, and a deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missile batteries.”

CSIS found seven new harbors on the islands, as well as one under construction, and five helipads.

While Chinese officials have insisted for years that the South China Sea/ (part of West Philippine Sea) has been under Beijing’s control “since ancient times,” the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague found last year that China’s claims over the territory are invalid and the establishment of military bases in the area are illegal.

UK SCRAMBLES FIGHTER JETS TO INTERCEPT INTRUDING RUSSIAN BOMBER PLANES

British Royal Air Force (RAF) scrambled fighter jets on Thursday morning to intercept Russian bomber planes that spent more than five hours skirting the edges of British airspace.

The Russian Tu-160 “Blackjack” bombers entered the UK’s area of interest from the north-east at around 10 a.m. yesterday, flying between the Shetland and Faroe islands, then down the west coast of Ireland and over the Bay of Biscay, The Independent said.

French and Spanish aircraft took over the interception but the two planes then turned around to head towards Russia, flying back into the British military’s “patch” while heading north. The bombers passed the coast of the Outer Hebrides shortly after 3 p.m.

RAF spokesman said: “We can confirm that quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers while they were in the UK area of interest. At no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK territorial airspace.”

LARGEST DAM ABOUT TO COLLAPSE IN CALIFORNIA

An immediate evacuation of all people below the damaged huge Oroville dam, has been ordered by the sheriff in Butte County, California on Monday, Feb. 13 morning, Reuters reports.

It is feared to be in danger of imminent collapse according to the report. Butte County Sheriff Facebook statement said: “Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered. This is NOT A Drill. This is NOT A Drill. This in NOT A Drill.”

The Oroville Dam in northern California is the tallest with a 770-foot (230 m) embankment dam completed in 1968. Five of the ten highest dams in the U.S. are located in California.

“DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE,” the Yuba County Office of Emergency Services said on Facebook, urging evacuees to travel safely in all other directions and help the elderly.

The dam’s spillway was “predicted to fail within the next hour,” the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said at around 4:30pm PST Sunday (00:30 GMT Monday).

BRITAIN PLANNING TO DEPLOY THESE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, WARPLANES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the United States, recently told a Washington think tank that Britain will send aircraft carriers and warplanes to the South China Sea and across the Pacific.

“Certainly, as we bring our two new aircraft carriers onstream in 2020, and as we renew and update our defense forces, they will be seen in the Pacific,” Darroch announced.

Four Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters, which arrived in Japan in October for joint exercises, are scheduled to fly over the South China Sea, the ambassador added.

“And we absolutely share the objective of this U.S. administration, and the next one, to protect freedom of navigation and to keep sea routes and air routes open.”

Assuming the Queen Elizabeth–class carriers and their F-35B aircraft are ready by 2020—two big ifs, given the history of these two programs—then each carrier will accommodate perhaps fifty aircraft at most, including F-35B vertical/short takeoff and landing strike fighters, as well as assorted airborne early-warning and antisubmarine aircraft and helicopters.

US AIRCRAFT FLIES 300 METERS CLOSE TO CHINESE PLANE IN SCARBOROUGH SHOAL

Reuters on Friday morning, (5:55pm EST) reported U.S. Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft encounter face-off over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy believes was unexpected.

Citing an unnamed U.S. military official, Reuters said the aircraft came within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of each other on Thursday in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland.

The US Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy.

Such interactions between Chinese and American aircraft are infrequent, with only two occurring in 2016, the official said.

INDIA BEATS NASA, RUSSIA AFTER EXTRAVAGANT SATELLITE LAUNCHING

India has created a world record on Wednesday by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, overtaking the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014 and the US space agency’s NASA which launched 29.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) workhorse rocket PSLV created a record today by launching 104 satellites in a single mission from the space centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV, in its 39th flight (PSLV-C37), launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation along with 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighing about 664 kg at lift off.

A big chunk of those space probes — 88, in fact — belong to Planet, a US private imaging company with high ambitions of continuously monitoring the Earth from space.

Speaking on the record launch, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar had earlier said the aim was to maximise the capability with each launch and it was not to set a record.

“We are not looking at it as a record or anything like that; we are just trying to maximise our capability with each launch, in trying to utilise that launch for the ability it has got and getting the maximum return,” he had said.

DENR orders cancelling of 75 mining contracts throughout the country

The latest Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) order cancelling 75 mining contracts throughout the country is consistent with the law, but due process must still be observed before its enforcement, a Malacañang official clarified Wednesday.“The cancellation of 75 mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) by Secretary Regina Lopez is consistent with Republic Act 7942 that mining applications are closed to proclaimed watershed forest reserves,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement distributed to media.

“However, as agreed upon in the last Cabinet meeting, the DENR is to establish that it has gone through due process before enforcing the applicable laws, rules, or regulations,” Abella said.According to the Palace official, “the DENR is to issue a show cause order for concerned mining companies and they will be given seven days to reply.”

Lopez on Tuesday ordered the cancellation of the 75 mining contracts in an intensified campaign to stop extraction of resources in sensitive areas.

The cancelled contracts, which cover projects that are still in the exploration stage or are not yet in production, are all located in watershed zones.

These include the USD5.9-billion Tampakan gold and copper project in South Cotabato, potentially the country’s biggest foreign investment and believed to be one of the largest gold prospects in the world.

Also affected by the cancellation order was the USD1.2-billion copper-gold project of Philex Mining Corp., one of the country’s biggest miners, in Mindanao.

Lopez said that she had to order the cancellation of the MPSAs because they could endanger the water supply.

Earlier, the DENR chief ordered the closure of 23 of the country’s 41 mineral mines while five other mines were suspended.

The February 2 decision to close or suspend existing mine operations followed a months-long audit of the mines.

This prompted an outcry from the mining industry, represented by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), which maintained that due process were not observed in the proceedings.

On February 7, Abella said that President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet decided to give affected mining firms the opportunity to present their side.

“This means companies affected by mining closures for violations of environmental laws and regulations will be given the opportunity to respond to or dispute the audit, or make the necessary remedies to ensure compliance with government standards,” Abella said.