1…………> New Guinea: 7.5 Shaker
Powerful aftershocks continue to rock Papua New Guinea after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck the country’s southern highlands, forcing ExxonMobile to shut its nearby gas conditioning plant due to fears of damage to the structure.
The quake hit in the early hours of this morning at a relatively shallow depth of 25 miles, with the epicenter was about 65 miles south-west of Mendi, the capital of Southern Highlands province, a town of more than 50,000 people.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-26/powerful-earthquake-hits-papua-new-guinea/9483916
2…………> Cult Of Personality: Mr.Xi Forever
China’s ruling Communist Party has proposed scrapping the ten-year term limit for the President, in a move almost certain to be written into the country’s constitution in March, a change that would allow President Xi Jinping to continue as head of state beyond 2023, and into “Communist Part Of Heaven” eternity.
Sydney academic Dr. Feng Chonygi says Mr. Xi has “much greater power than Vladimir Putin”, and certainly more than President Trump.
This would allow Mr.Xi to continue as both the head of state and Communist Party General Secretary beyond 2023, not forgetting his Chairmanship of the Central Military Commission, yet another title that does not have a term limit.
According to China’s state media, the Communist Party’s main leadership group — the Central Committee — proposed the amendment, along with writing Mr. Xi’s ideology into the country’s constitution. Can a Communist leader become a saint?
3…………> Elephant In China’s Store: Carl Vinson
Deep in the South China Sea the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is sailing right through the red lines of the proposed South China Sea new sovereignty and dreams for world domination.
“It shows resolve, and gives decision space to our leaders,” the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Doug Verissimo, said.
“When they put a carrier strike group somewhere it helps to show that the United States is interested.
“We don’t have a lot of these, so when you put one in a certain area it has some influence.
“Of course it also gives our diplomats time and space to negotiate and make decisions, ultimately to try and prevent any type of armed conflict.”
The Carl Vinson, the flagship of a strike group from the US Third Fleet is shielded by a screen of distant guided missile cruisers and destroyers that form a protective “iron dome” around the aircraft carrier.
China has built airstrips and ports on reefs and shoals throughout the sea in defiance of a ruling from an international tribunal in the Hague.
“We want to keep laws and norms in place that we don’t change the map along the way, to avoid frictions,” Captain Verissimo said.
4…………> Turkcoin: National Cryptocurrency
Despite the condemnation of virtual currencies as un-Islamic because they cannot be audited and surveilled by Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs,
the country is contemplating its own national cryptocurrency called Turkcoin.
“The world is advancing toward a new digital system. Turkey should create its own digital system and currency before it’s too late,” a senior finance official warned.
https://sputniknews.com/world/201802251061966075-turkey-cryptocurrency-turkcoin/
5…………> Breaking The Law: Oakland Mayor
The mayor of Oakland Libby Schaaf issued a warning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could be conducting a raid in the area as soon as Sunday, a warning which she “learned from multiple credible sources” and intended “not to panic our residents but to protect them.”
Ms. Schaaf claimed she felt it was her “duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give those families fair warning when that threat appears imminent” as the feds detained at least four people during the weekend.
She joined other law enforcement officials in Northern California who would not cooperate with ICE, and noted state law “prohibits business owners from assisting ICE agents in immigration enforcement and bars federal agents from accessing employee-only areas.”
“It is no surprise that the bully in chief is continuing to try to intimidate our most vulnerable residents,” Schaaf said at the time. “We’re very clear that our values are to protect all of our residents regardless of where we come from. We want to protect families, not tear them apart.”
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