Defence Sec’y Mattis seeks continuity in policy toward Asia

The Trump administration is aiming for continuity in Asia policy, sticking broadly with the approach its predecessors have taken by emphasizing diplomacy and co-operation with allies, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday. Mattis outlined the Trump administration's approach in remarks to reporters travelling with him to Singapore, where he will deliver a policy speech at an international security conference Saturday and meet with several Asian counterparts.

South Side Education News & Notes

The Manchester Alumni Association will recognize its Distinguished Alumni Award winners June 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Prestwick Country Club, located at 2220 Raber Road. Association officials announced award recipients are: Elca Swigart, Ph.D., Class of 1957, Alumni Achievement Award; Dr. Vincent Sudimak, Class of 2001, Early Career Achievement Award; Al Knack, Class of 1973, Leadership Excellence Award; Joe Ashley, Class of 2000, Posthumous Panther Alumni Award; and Sam Reynolds, Outstanding Educator Award.

StealthGas Achieves High Revenue

StealthGas, ship-owning company primarily serving the liquefied petroleum gas sector of the international shipping industry, registered an operational utilization of 97.3% in Q1 2017 , best performance since the beginning of 2014. Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2017 amounted to $38.1 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 4.4%, compared to revenues of $36.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, due to increased fleet utilization and a slight increase in market rates.

Port of Hamburg Volumes Up 1.7% in Q1

In the first quarter of 2017, the Port of Hamburg's total throughput was up by 1.7 percent at 35.4 million tons. Growth in Germany's largest universal port was therefore slightly above the average 1.6 percent for the other major North Range ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Bremen/Bremerhaven.

In first under Donald Trump, US warship challenges Beijing’s claims in South China Sea

China's claims to the South China Sea, which sees about trillion in ship-borne trade pass every year, are challenged by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan. A U.S. Navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, the first such challenge to Beijing in the strategic waterway since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

US Navy Patrols China Islands for First Time Under Trump

The U.S. Navy sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built by China in the South China Sea, the first such challenge to Beijing in the strategic waterway since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said on Wednesday that the USS Dewey traveled close to the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors, reported Reuters.

Crystal Lake dedicates Blue Star banners to deployed military personnel

Information Systems Technician Steven Chaix, on leave from the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, talks to Navy veteran and Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce member John Pletz. Chaix, of Crystal Lake, and eight other military personnel were honored with Blue Star banners along a stretch of Route 14 in front of the chamber's office.

Human rights concerns prove no obstacle in Trump-Saudi ties

On his first overseas visit, President Donald Trump presided over a nearly $110 billion sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia that made clear his administration did not see the kingdom's human rights record or its devastating war in Yemen as an obstacle to restoring ties that had been strained under his predecessor. The military agreement with Saudi Arabia, effective immediately, could expand up to $350 billion over 10 years.

David Clarke’s Plagiarized Masters Thesis

David Clarke, recently appointed as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security and infamous former Milwaukee County sheriff, plagiarized significant portions of his thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School. First, as many on my Twitter feed noted when this broke last evening, this offense pales in comparison to the outrages he committed as sheriff.

US refuses to add sailors’ names to Vietnam Memorial

In this November 2014 photo, Lawrence J. Reilly Sr., a U.S. Navy veteran of World War ll and the Vietnam War, sits in the living room of his home in Syracuse, N.Y. He and his 20-year-old son Lawrence J. Reilly Jr. were serving together on U.S. Navy destroyer Frank E. Evans when the ship was cut in half in a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne of the Royal Australian Navy during joint maneuvers in the South China Sea. Seventy-four sailors died but the Pentagon has rejected a longstanding request from survivors of the disaster to add the names of their fallen comrades to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., saying the accident occurred outside the Vietnam combat zone.

Three Royal Navy sailors are arrested in Sicily

Meghan arrives just in time for Pippa's high-flying reception after Harry's 100-mile dash to pick her up: Actress ducks cameras to avoid stealing limelight at Spitfire finale to million dollar wedding 'This makes me want to puke': Trump loyalist Roger Stone slams President for accepting highest civilian honor from 'enemy' Saudis who 'financed 9/11' 'Every day he looks more and more like a complete moron': Trump officials 'complain about the president's behavior after he trash-talked James Comey to Russian officials' Conrad Hilton is released from jail after his parents post $90,000 bail and ask that he be sent to a psychiatric hospital upon his release Princeton University admissions officers wrote of Asian applicants as having 'very familiar profiles' and that they were difficult to differentiate Trump curtsies for the King: Donald is mocked on Twitter for crouching 'like a sparkly ... (more)

More ships, and make it fast

To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: It has been a portentous week for ships and shipbuilding for the two military services with bases in southeastern Connecticut. Both the Navy and the Coast Guard are telling Congress and their new commander-in-chief that new vessels need to be built and commissioned at a much faster rate.

Prosecutors: Times Square driver wanted to ‘kill them all’

A man accused of mowing down a crowd of Times Square pedestrians, killing a teenage tourist, waited for traffic to move before making a U-turn and purposely driving onto the sidewalk, prosecutors said Friday. Rojas told police after he was tackled following the mayhem in Times Square that police should have shot him to stop him and that he wanted to "kill them all," prosecutors said.

India-Singapore naval drill in South China Sea shouldn’t hurt us: China

"We have no problem, if such exercises and cooperation are for the benefits of regional peace and stability," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when asked for China's response by Indian media at a daily briefing in Beijing. "We have a very open attitude to normal exchanges between various countries," she said when asked for China's reaction to the joint naval exercise of India and Singapore.

Officials: Man who ran over pedestrians was ‘hearing voices’

By Associated Press A man accused of steering his car onto one of the busiest sidewalks in the U.S. and mowing down pedestrians for three blocks before a row of steel security barriers finally stopped him told police he was "hearing voices," law enforcement officials said. A smashed car sits on the corner of Broadway and 45th Street in New York's Times Square after ploughing through a crowd of pedestrians at lunchtime on Thursday, May 18, 2017.

Car mows down Times Square pedestrians for blocks, killing 1

A man steered his car onto a sidewalk running through Times Square and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks Thursday, killing a teenager, then emerged from his wrecked vehicle wild-eyed and screaming before he was subdued by police and bystanders. The driver, a 26-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, told officers he was hearing voices and expected to die, two law enforcement officials said.