Japan marks WWII's end, Kishida doesn't mention aggression
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida renewed Japan's no-war pledge at a somber ceremony Monday as his country marked the 77th anniversary of its World War II defeat, but he did not mention Japanese wartime aggression. In his first address as prime minister since taking office in October, Kishida said Japan will “stick to our resolve to never repeat the tragedy of the war." Kishida did not mention Japanese aggression across Asia in the first half of the 20th century or the victims in the region.
news.yahoo.comUS official says Solomon Islands leader 'missed opportunity'
The U.S. deputy secretary of state says the prime minister of the Solomon Islands “missed an important opportunity” by failing to attend a memorial service to mark the anniversary of a key World War II battle, amid concerns the South Pacific island nation is building closer ties with China.
Chinese company eyes Solomon Islands deep-water port
A Chinese state-owned company is negotiating to buy a forestry planation with a deep-water port and World War II airstrip in Solomon Islands amid persistent concerns that China wants to establish a naval foothold in the South Pacific country. A delegation from China Forestry Group Corp. visited the plantation that covers most of Kolombangar Island in 2019, asking questions about the length of the wharf and depth of the water while showing little interest in the trees, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Monday. The board of Kolombangara Forest Products Ltd., the takeover target known as KFPL which is owned by Taiwanese and Australian shareholders, wrote to the newly elected Australian government in May warning of the “risks/strategic threats” posed to Australia by such a sale, the ABC reported.
news.yahoo.comEdinburg to hold remembrance ceremony for USS Indianapolis sailor
Edinburg city officials will be hosting an event they’re calling a Ceremony of Remembrance in honor of an Edinburg native who served aboard the USS Indianapolis during World War II. After over seven decades of being declared “Unaccounted For,” SC3 Jose Antonio Saenz was officially declared “Buried at Sea” in June. The ceremony to honor Saenz will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Edinburg City Hall, located at 415 W. University Drive in Edinburg. The ceremony comes on the 77th commemoration of July 30, 1945, the day the Indianapolis sank. Saenz was among the nearly 1,200 men on board the Indianapolis, whose last mission was to deliver atomic bomb components.
myrgv.comGreat white shark washes ashore Long Island beach
A New York official removed the carcass of a great white shark from a beach on the south shores of Long Island Thursday. It’s believed to be the same one seen on shores in the the Village of Quogue, west of where it was removed in Southampton. (July 22)
news.yahoo.comSC Governor seeks to protect port from landmark's pollution
The nation’s ninth-busiest port is at risk of pollution by more than 100,000 gallons (378,500 liters) of fuel from a Navy aircraft carrier that served in World War II and the Vietnam War before its decommissioning and designation as a National Historic Landmark. The USS Yorktown — located in Charleston Harbor — is experiencing continued corrosion on its outer hull. If hazardous materials leak into the harbor, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster warned it would impair commercial shipping and harm the ecosystem.
news.yahoo.comTearful WWII vet says on his 100th birthday that current state of America is 'not what they died for'
A U.S. veteran who saw action in World War II lamented the current state of the country while celebrating his 100th birthday. Carl Spurlin Dekel, who spent his special day on June 29 with friends and family, broke down in tears as he told Fox13 in an interview shared the day after that his fellow soldiers did not die in the war for what America has now purportedly become.
news.yahoo.comWorld War II-era boat emerges from shrinking Lake Mead
A sunken boat dating back to World War II is the latest object to emerge from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona. The Higgins landing craft that has long been 185 feet (56 meters) below the surface is now nearly halfway out of the water at Lake Mead. The boat lies less than a mile from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor.
news.yahoo.comPope orders online release of WWII-era Pius XII Jewish files
Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of its Jewish files from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, the Vatican announced Thursday, amid renewed debate about the legacy of its World War II-era pope. The documentation contains 2,700 files of requests for Vatican help from Jewish groups and families, many of them baptized Catholics, so not actually practicing Jews anymore. The files were held in the Secretariat of State's archives and contain requests for papal intervention to avoid Nazi deportation, to obtain liberation from concentration camps or help finding family members.
news.yahoo.com77 years after battle's end, Okinawa wants US base reduced
Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary Thursday of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension. The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents. Japan's wartime military, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.
news.yahoo.comNavy destroyer bears name of decorated Marine killed in WWII
The christening of a Navy destroyer on Saturday highlighted the sacrifices of two generations — the ship’s namesake killed in World War II and another Marine who died more than 60 years later. The future USS Basilone bears the name of a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor before his death on Iwo Jima. The legacy and sacrifice of such Marines are never forgotten, Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Troy Black told a crowd of 2,000 gathered next to the warship at Navy shipbuilder Bath Iron Works in Maine.
news.yahoo.comHow Putin’s Spooking Japan Further Away From Pacifism
Bombed-out and poverty-stricken after World War II, Japan disbanded its military and renounced war, devoting its efforts instead to economic development under a pacifist constitution. More than seven decades later, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spooked Prime Minister Fumio Kishida into pledging a substantial increase in defense spending, which has long been only about half the target set for its Western counterparts.
washingtonpost.comRep. Sylvia Garcia, and the life of Ken Caminiti (May 31, 2022) – Houston Public Media
On Tuesday's show: Rep. Sylvia Garcia answers listener questions, we learn why former Houston Astros star Ken Caminiti admitted he'd used steroids long before anyone else did, and we discuss a piece of artwork at the MFAH that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
houstonpublicmedia.orgAfter 77 years, Edinburg sailor on USS Indianapolis classified as ‘buried at sea’
An Edinburg man who served on the USS Indianapolis during World War II is among 13 soldiers whose status recently changed from “unaccounted for” to “buried at sea,” nearly 77 years later, according to a Navy news release. Ship’s Cook 3rd Class Jose Antonio Saenz enlisted in the Navy in 1943, according to Monitor newspaper archives, where he would then board the USS Indianapolis. Two Japanese torpedoes hit the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when the heavy cruiser was on its way to the Philippines from Guam. During his time working for the Navy History and Heritage Command, Rick Stone began the USS Indianapolis Burial at Sea Project — the goal of which was to resolve the misclassifications. Petty Officer Max Hill of McAllen was declared dead after the ship went down.
myrgv.comRussian ambassador to Poland hit with red paint
Russia's ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack, saying on her messaging app channel that “we won’t be scared” while the “people of Europe should be scared to see their reflection in a mirror.”
news.yahoo.comRussia planned to fly planes in a Z formation as part of a military parade for Victory Day, then called it off citing bad weather despite clear forecasts
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the display was canceled due to "bad weather," though weather reports from Moscow said it was sunny with little wind.
news.yahoo.comRussia marks WWII victory shadowed by Ukraine
Tanks, armored personnel carriers and transports carrying huge intercontinental ballistic missiles will rattle across the paving stones. This year, as Russian troops fight gruelling battles in Ukraine and unleash torrents of missiles and bombs, few Russians are likely to be dulled by the parade’s rituals.
news.yahoo.comBob Dole, WWII hero and former Republican presidential candidate, dies at 98
Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, has died. He was 98.
Veterans Day legislation targets GI Bill racial inequities
In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.