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After Galwan Valley Standoff, Does the Russia-India-China Trilateral Still Matter?
By Aleksei Zakharov
The Russia-India-China trilateral meeting between (from left) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of G-20 Summit 2019 in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019.
The China-India standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas emerged as a serious test for Russia's policy in Asia. Nurturing hopes for stability and prosperity in Eurasia, Russia's diplomacy found itself in an intricate situation and forced to strike a balance.
Despite Moscow's close proximity to Beijing, the Russia-China connection is still far from an alliance relationship, as both sides, even while deepening their military and political cooperation, often disagree when it comes to specifics. Still, it is hard to deny that overall Russia's "pivot to Asia" has been overly dependent on its China policy. Unlike the glory days of Indo-Soviet friendship, today there is more room for doubt in New Delhi as to whether Russia can qualify as a shoulder to lean on.
Chinese Navy Submarines Could Become A Reality In Indian Ocean
H I Sutton
The Chinese Navy is rapidly pursuing global capabilities. A key area of future operations may be the Indian Ocean. Chinese submarines in particular could have a strategic impact if they were roaming those waters. From China's standpoint this would protect vital sea lanes that will be vulnerable in any war. Naturally many of the world's navies would be concerned if this were the case. Chief among them is the Indian Navy, which currently has the largest submarine fleet in the South Asia region.
For Chinese submarines, the relevant routes into the Indian Ocean are the Malacca Strait, Sunda ... [+] H I SUTTON
Concern about China's naval expansion is a hot topic on the world stage. The U.S. Navy is increasingly pivoting towards Asia. Speaking at the Brussels Forum virtual conference on June 25, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referenced the Chinese Communist Party's "threats to India" and other countries in Asia. "We are going to make sure that we are postured appropriately to counter the PLA." (People's Liberation Army, which includes the Chinese Navy.)
China's Indian Ocean ambitions
Joshua T. White
China has significantly expanded its engagements in the Indian Ocean region over the past three decades, raising fears among American and Indian strategists that its growing naval presence, together with its use of so-called "debt-trap diplomacy," might provide it with meaningful military advantages far from its shores.
Although China's ultimate aims in the Indian Ocean remain somewhat ambiguous, it is clear that the Chinese leadership is actively pursuing capabilities that would allow it to undertake a range of military missions in the region. This paper explores five such mission objectives — ranging from relatively "benign" activities to those that would be more alarming to U.S. and Indian policy planners — and describes the kinds of defense and economic investments that China would require to carry them out. These objectives are: 1) conduct non-combat activities focused on protecting Chinese citizens and investments, and bolstering China's soft power influence; 2) undertake counterterrorism activities, unilaterally or with partners, against organizations that threaten China; 3) collect intelligence in support of operational requirements, and against key adversaries; 4) support efforts aimed at coercive diplomacy toward small countries in the region; and 5) enable effective operations in a conflict environment, namely the ability to deter, mitigate, or terminate a state-sponsored interdiction of trade bound for China, and to meaningfully hold at risk U.S. or Indian assets in the event of a wider conflict.
Delhi Must Help Taipei Get Into the WHO
By Jagdish N. Singh
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: It is disappointing that the 73rd meeting of the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), went ahead on May 18-19 without the participation of Taiwan. The dominant mood in the democratic part of the world has long been to bring Taiwan and its 23.8 million people into the WHO.
In May of this year, some 127 European parliamentarians backed Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO). On May 6, US Secretary of State Pompeo called on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to invite Taiwan to the upcoming meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the WHO. He also called upon all nations to support Taiwan's participation as an observer at the WHA. On May 11, the US Senate passed an act directing Pompeo to "develop a strategy to regain observer status" for Taiwan in the WHO.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Dubs Osama Bin Laden a 'Martyr': What Now?
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has stirred new controversy after a speech he gave in the national parliament in which he described Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's death as martyrdom by the United States. Bin Laden was "martyed," he said.
The statement from the country's premier is problematic for several reasons. The fact that Khan has given similar statements in the past shows what the country's ruling elite thinks about the slain leader of the transnational terrorist organization and what it means for Pakistan's security policy in essence.
It doesn't appear that Khan's description of al-Qaeda's leader as a "martyr" was a mere slip of the tongue. Sources within the prime minister office say that Khan is unlikely to offer a clarification over his statement. This is worrying for two reasons. First, if Khan's office doesn't offer clarification, it means the country's highest policymaking office believes that al-Qaeda's former head, who killed thousands of civilians worldwide, was a victim rather than an an aggressor.
Regional Implications of a U.S. Pullout from Afghanistan
Thomas Parker
Dr. Thomas Parker worked in the Executive Office of the President, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, the Intelligence Community and the U.S. Congress over the course of thirty years. He currently teaches security studies at George Washington University.
President Donald Trump has said he plans to withdraw all U.S. troops (about 12,000) from Afghanistan by 2021 and that the United States should never have gotten involved there in the first place. Moreover, another 7,000 military forces from European countries would almost certainly leave if the United States did. (Turkey, Jordan and the United Arab Emirate also have had forces in Afghanistan in the past.) Trump's views echo a general disenchantment by much of the American public about U.S. engagement in Afghanistan. No one likes wars that have a beginning but no end.
Virtually all observers of Afghanistan believe that a total international withdrawal of military personnel would result in an Afghan civil war whose violence would be even worse than the current level. About 60,000 full-time Taliban fighters, various militia groups, and remnants of the Afghan National Army would jockey for power locally and for control of Kabul.
Asia Hurtling Towards A Fentanyl Disaster – Analysis
By Pascal Tanguay*
In May 2020, authorities in Myanmar seized a whopping 3700 litres of liquid fentanyl — equivalent to about 30 bathtubs' worth — alongside other drugs, precursors and weaponry. The lethal drug is increasingly being found cut into common illicit substances as the opioid epidemic rages in North America and Europe. 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, its growing presence in Asian illicit drug markets will likely prove disastrous.
In 2017, the opioid epidemic claimed the lives of more than 70,000 Americans and close to 4000 Canadians. Opioid overdose is the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in the United States. North America accounts for around a quarter of all opioid users worldwide and just below 10 per cent of all opiate users, a subset of opioid users, globally.
Estimates place the number of people who inject drugs (generally opioids) at around 2.5 million across North America, or about 16 per cent of all injectors across the globe. But in North America, community-based harm reduction services are comprehensive and widely available and take-home naloxone programs are in place.
An Emboldened Beijing Seeks to Consolidate Its Power
The Galwan Valley in the Himalayas is located at an altitude of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). It is a remote area where the slopes are covered in snow all year round. Last week, the valley made an appearance on the global political stage. China and India, the two most populous countries on the planet faced off along their -- disputed -- Himalayan border. The exact location of where one country ends and the next begins has long been unsettled. Indeed, the two countries went to war over it in 1962.
As the two nuclear-armed states clashed, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed on the night of June 15. There were also reports of deaths on the Chinese side.
For the first time in almost half a century, the rivalry between the two neighbors has cost human lives. No shots are said to have been fired. Patrols in the area generally don't carry firearms. Both governments are apparently aware that they could easily trigger a world war. The soldiers may have beaten each other to death with stones and clubs. Some are said to have fallen into a ravine during the fighting.
The incident shows how quickly the situation in Asia can escalate and how a cold war can turn into a hot one at any given moment, despite the high level of caution.
China's Answer to GPS Is Now Fully Complete
By Abhilash Halappanavar
Technological independence and superiority have long been hallmarks of superpowers; China too, in its quest to be a dominant force in the world, has invested heavily in state-of-the-art communication and transmission systems. On June 23, China concluded its decades-long project to build its own global navigation satellite system, a venture that will make it self-sufficient and avoid dependence on foreign rivals when it comes to a network that undergirds modern business, technologies and the military.
The latest satellite in China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a third-generation satellite known as BeiDou-3, now in geostationary orbit after having lifted off earlier this week from the Xichang Center in southwestern China. This final satellite of the system will give it full global capability. At this point, China's completed system is poised to rival America's GPS, Europe's Galileo, and Russia's GLONASS. BeiDou is a prototype of Beijing's push to build and offer commercial surrogates to Western tech platforms. The system is meant to provide error-free global positioning services, as well as a means to transfer limited amounts of data, for commercial and military users.
Amid a U.S-China 'Cold War,' Here's Where Conflicts Could Break Out
BY DAVID BRENNAN
President Barack Obama announced America's "pivot to Asia" in 2011, acknowledging that the future prosperity and influence of the world's wealthiest and most powerful nation would hinge on its presence in the world's most populous continent.
The U.S. pivot to Asia is part of Washington, D.C.'s response to the predicted "Chinese Century," as Beijing comes of age and emerges as the first superpower to challenge U.S. hegemony since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Indeed, some observers have already declared a new Cold War.
Through President Donald Trump's tenure, America's eastwards shift in strategic focus has become more obvious. There are now few in Washington and in capitals across the Western world that do not consider China the greatest strategic challenge facing liberal democracies and the so-called "rules based international order"—sculpted by the U.S. and its allies in the aftermath of World War Two and cemented by the collapse of the USSR.
Trump's tough-on-Beijing rhetoric was a feature of his campaign before he entered the White House. His expansive trade war with China has colored bilateral ties since it began, even though Trump has lauded his personal friendship with President Xi Jinping and praised the dictator's iron grip on power.
Planes in China's Air Force.
Mark J. Valencia
When in November 2013, China surprised Japan, the U.S. and the world by declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1796488/chinas-potential-security-game-changer-south-china-sea, analysts, media, and US officials warned that the 'sky is falling.' They hyped its possible dire consequences and warned that China would declare a similar ADIZ in the South China Sea.
In December 2013 then US Secretary of State John Kerry admonished China to "refrain from taking similar unilateral actions elsewhere in the region and particularly in the South China Sea." https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1384255/us-warns-china-against-imposing-south-china-sea-air-zone
In January 2014 Evan Medeiros, then Director for Asian Affairs at the US National Security Council said, "We have been very clear with the Chinese that we would see that as a provocative and destabilizing development that would result in changes in our presence and military posture in the region." http://cc.pacforum.org/2014/05/chinas-maritime-disputes-top-agenda/
Central Asian Gas Exports to China: Beijing's Latest Bargaining Chip?
Maximilian Hess
Natural gas supplies to the People's Republic of China have helped drive Central Asia's economic growth for the last decade. For no country is this more true than for Turkmenistan: over 90 percent of Turkmenistan's total exports is natural gas exports to China. This figure is up from near zero before the Central Asia-China gas pipeline opened in December 2009. In 2019, Turkmenistan sold Beijing just over 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan each selling 10 bcm. The initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China caused significant disruption to these supplies. As the pandemic continues to have an effect on energy demand, a result of the ongoing global economic slowdown, the short-term outlook for Central Asia is troubled. However, over the medium term, the crisis appears set to solidify China's role in the region—at Central Asia's expense.
The Pandemic and Energy Exports
The first hint of trouble came in early March when the head of Kazakh state pipeline company KazTransGas (KTG) announced that his firm had received a force majeure declaration from Beijing regarding its natural gas supplies. China released import data for the first two months of the year jointly, arguably in an attempt mask the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, but Turkmen imports—the best proxy for China's total natural gas imports—were published shortly thereafter and had fallen some 17.2 percent. Chinese imports from Uzbekistan, of which gas is a major component, fell a staggering 35.4 percent. However, the picture is heavily clouded by the fact Kazakh exports rose by 31.6 percent. The trend continued in March and April, both of which saw year-on-year declines for Turkmen and Uzbek exports in excess of 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while Kazakh exports again increased by more than 20 percent.
CATCHING UP IN A TECHNOLOGY WAR—CHINA'S CHALLENGE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
By Dieter Ernst
HONOLULU (16 June 2020)—In July 2017, China's State Council released the Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (AIDP). The plan is a road map for using artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade China's manufacturing and service industries and to catch up with the US and other advanced economies. This is just the latest in a long string of Chinese efforts to create an advanced technology ecosystem that would be less vulnerable to outside pressures.Monitors at Huawei's Bantian campus in Shenzhen, China, display AI applications for facial recognition. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.
America's political elites broadly agree that the AIDP poses a serious threat to US leadership in science and advanced technology. Following years of concern about intellectual property and technology transfer, the Trump administration has now sharply increased restrictions on China's access to advanced US technology.
The US Treasury has introduced almost unsurmountable hurdles to Chinese investment in US firms with "sensitive" technology, while the Commerce Department has placed Huawei and China's leading AI start-up companies on its so-called "Entity List," which bars foreign companies from buying advanced semiconductors and software from US companies without the government's approval. According to the new rules, any transfer of information to a foreign national can be deemed an export, requiring an export license. This systematic blocking of knowledge exchange, in effect, cuts off the lifeblood of the global AI industry.
EXPLORING CHINA'S UNMANNED OCEAN NETWORK
China has deployed a network of sensors and communications capabilities between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands in the northern South China Sea. These capabilities are part of a "Blue Ocean Information Network" (蓝海信息网络) developed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a state-owned company, to aid in the exploration and control of the maritime environment using information technology. The network constructed in the northern South China Sea between early 2016 and 2019 is referred to as a demonstration system. However, future plans for the Blue Ocean Information Network involve expanding the sensor and communications network to the rest of the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and other ocean areas far from Chinese territory. While the Blue Ocean Information Network is largely cast as an environmental monitoring and communications system, the military utility of its sensing and communications functions makes its development important to monitor.
The most visible elements of this network are two types of "Ocean E-Stations" dubbed "floating integrated information platforms" (IIFP) (浮台信息系统) and "island reef-based integrated information systems" (IRBIS) (岛礁信息系统). AMTI previously identified one of the latter systems after it was deployed to Bombay Reef in the Paracels in mid-2018.
The Monarchs' Pawns?
Alexandra Stark
This report examines the combined influence of four factors by about 2014 led three Gulf monarchies to change their calculations and adopt proxy warfare strategies aimed more consistently at managing crises that threatened their spheres of interest and maintaining the political status quo for the region rather than revising the regional balance of power. After introducing you to the three Gulf monarchies the report is divided into four sections. The first section examines each of these three Gulf monarchies' strategic interests in the early post-Arab Spring period from 2011 through 2014 and goes on to look at how these interests shaped their proxy interventions in Bahrain, Libya, and Syria. The second section examines the four factors that led the Gulf states to change their strategic assessments, and the third section examines the interventions that followed that turning point in Yemen. Finally, the conclusion discusses what the Gulf states' shifting approach means for U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Thank you to David Sterman for his careful editorial guidance and support throughout the production of this report, to the rest of the International Security Program team, and Joe Wilkes for formatting the report. I would also like to thank my PhD dissertation advisor Dr. Lise M Howard, and committee members Dr. Andrew Bennett and Dr. Daniel Byman. Their guidance greatly shaped my dissertation framing and research, which in turn helped me conceptualize the framework for this report. Many thanks also to Nate Rosenblatt, the reviewer of this paper, and Andrew Leber for their thoughtful feedback. Any remaining errors are mine alone.
Why Putin's Bid to Become President for Life Is No Sure Thing
Candace Rondeaux
If all goes as planned next week, Vladimir Putin will be on a glide path to serve as Russia's perpetual president. On July 1, Russia will hold a national referendum on a proposed package of changes to its constitution that many predict will essentially pave the way for Putin to run for office again after his current six-year presidential term expires in 2024.
In theory, the proposed changes—which will, among other things, "reset the clock" on the current constitutional limit of two consecutive presidential terms—mean Putin could win two more elections and remain in power until 2036. If he does, he would be 84 years old by the time he stepped down and would have outstripped the tenure of the Kremlin's last iron-fisted leader for life, Joseph Stalin, by about seven years.
Reopening America&The World
The coronavirus has imposed a heavy toll on people's lives, livelihoods, and connections with one another. As America and the world reopen from this devastating pandemic, it is important to examine how the process is taking place, its impact on individual lives and livelihoods, and learn from the experiences of other nations. In this report, we look at the experiences of the United States and other countries to see what we can derive about the reopening and its human impact. We present the insights and observations of three dozen Brookings scholars who look at reopening from many different angles and offer their thoughts and recommendations.
The first volume focuses on the American experience while the second one examines the experiences of other nations and lessons for the United States. Brookings President John Allen's essay presents an overview of the pandemic and the serious questions it has raised for the world. Our goals in this project are to inform the public conversation about COVID, help business, government, and civic leaders take their next steps, and think about the immediate and longer-term consequences of the virus. We must learn as much as possible about this pandemic in order to address its overall ramifications.
Pompeo says US ready to team up on China, but EU eyes a post-Trump world
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Donald Trump is finally ready to join forces with the EU against China — but his offer to link arms comes just as many European leaders are hoping U.S. voters will soon ditch the president, and after three years in which trust in Washington has all but evaporated.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday unexpectedly declared that the U.S. had accepted a proposal to create a new U.S.-EU dialogue on China that was put forward last week by the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, during a videoconference.
Pompeo, in a speech to the Brussels Forum, an annual event held by the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., laid out a litany of complaints and grievances with Beijing, referring repeatedly to "the threat of the Communist Party in China" and hammering especially hard on allegations that China covered up information about the outbreak of the coronavirus.
He accused China of "provocative military actions" including "continued aggression in the South China Sea, deadly border confrontations in India, an opaque nuclear program and threats against peaceable neighbors."
The Retrenchment Syndrome
By H. R. McMaster
In the decades after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, the simplistic but widely held belief that the war had been unjustified and unwinnable gave way to "the Vietnam syndrome"—a conviction that the United States should avoid all military interventions abroad. The mantra of "no more Vietnams" dominated foreign policy, muting more concrete discussions of what should be learned from that experience. Instead, the analogy was applied indiscriminately; U.S. military operations in the Balkans, the Horn of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East prompted assertions that the use of force would lead to "another Vietnam." It was not until the United States won a lopsided victory over the military of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the 1990–91 Gulf War that President George H. W. Bush could declare that the United States had finally "kicked the Vietnam syndrome."
Nearly three decades later, however, a new mantra of "ending endless wars" has emerged from frustrations over indecisive, protracted, and costly military interventions abroad. These frustrations have reproduced the Vietnam syndrome in a new guise: the Afghanistan-Iraq syndrome. Across the political spectrum, many Americans have come to believe that retrenchment would not only avoid the costs of military operations overseas but also improve U.S. security. They have found support for this belief in analyses like those that appeared in this magazine's lead package for its March/April 2020 issue, titled "Come Home, America?"
South Korea's Digital New Deal
As the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 induced economic recession, the Moon administration has proposed spending 76 trillion won ($62 billion) over the next five years on the Korean New Deal to prepare the South Korean economy for the future.
The Korean New Deal is centered on two pillars – the Green New Deal and the Digital New Deal. While the Green New Deal is focused on transitioning South Korea to a net-zero emissions economy, the Digital New Deal would lay the foundations for a digital economy that will spur economic growth and innovation.
Information and communications technologies (ICT) are transforming the global economy. The new digital economy that is emerging is underpinned by technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI). IHS Markit estimates that by 2035 the 5G global value chain will be worth $3.6 trillion and support 22.3 million jobs. AI and big data are expected to have similar economic impacts.
Global Economic Prospects, June 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has, with alarming speed, dealt a heavy blow to an already-weak global economy, which is expected to slide into its deepest recession since the second world war, despite unprecedented policy support. The global recession would be deeper if countries take longer to bring the pandemic under control, if financial stress triggers defaults, or if there are protracted effects on households and firms. Economic disruptions are likely to be more severe and protracted in emerging market and developing economies with larger domestic outbreaks and weaker medical care systems; greater exposure to international spillovers through trade, tourism, and commodity and financial markets; weaker macroeconomic frameworks; and more pervasive informality and poverty. Beyond the current steep economic contraction, the pandemic is likely to leave lasting scars on the global economy by undermining consumer and investor confidence, human capital, and global value chains. Being mostly a reflection of the recent plunge in global energy demand, low oil prices are unlikely to provide much of a boost to global growth in the near term. While policymakers' immediate priorities are to address the health crisis and moderate the short-term economic losses, the likely long-term consequences of the pandemic highlight the need to forcefully undertake comprehensive reform programs to improve the fundamental drivers of economic growth, once the crisis abates.
WHAT THE EU SHOULD DO FOR DEMOCRACY SUPPORT IN AFRICA: TEN PROPOSALS FOR A NEW STRATEGIC INITIATIVE IN TIMES OF POLARISATION
The EU has made democracy support a stronger aspect in its relations with African countries since 2002. However, a broad range of political and economic dynamics within as well as outside of Europe challenge democracy and its supporters: the rise of non-democratic countries such as China, challenges to democracy within the EU, and global autocratization trends, which include African countries. While posing new challenges the EU needs to react to, these trends also reinforce the importance of continued support and protection of democracy abroad. In light of this changed context, the EU will need to fundamentally adjust its strategic approach and instruments towards democracy support in Africa. Against this background, this paper discusses reasons for the EU to continue and even strengthen its democracy support in Africa: societal demands in Africa and regional democracy norms; the relationship between democracy and sustainable development as well as the new geostrategic competition. The paper analyses how the EU's support for democracy and human rights in sub-Saharan Africa has developed over the last decades in terms of its understanding of democracy support as well as its substance. The paper concludes by making ten proposals for reforming the EU's democracy support in Africa. The reform proposals relate to a new narrative and more strategic approach to democracy support in light of the changed geopolitical setting, to addressing megatrends more explicitly through democracy support or to reforming the EU's institutional prerequisites.
Europe as a Neutral Giant?
Joseph de
From Emmanuel Macron to Ursula von der Leyen, many European leaders dream of the European Union (EU) asserting itself one day as a geopolitical superpower in its own right.
There is still a long way to go, however. True, the Europeans manage to play some degree of power politics vis-à-vis Moscow—the EU economic sanctions over the annexation of Crimea certainly help contain a resurgent Russia. But on almost all other geopolitical hot-button issues, Europeans fail to formulate any meaningful foreign policy that can't be ignored by the big powers.
In Syria, the EU has been AWOL despite millions of Syrians having fled the civil war to Europe. In Libya, EU members cancel each other out. Berlin and Rome back the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, while Paris lends at least diplomatic support to military strongman Khalifa Haftar. In Iran, Europeans fail to deliver on their obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, as Washington's secondary sanctions prevent EU companies from trading with Tehran. In the Balkans, Brussels is struggling to uphold its influence, which is further complicated by France, the Netherlands, and Denmark making it clear that they are not keen on allowing EU enlargement into Albania and North Macedonia anytime soon.
THE ORIGINS OF THE COVID-19 GLOBAL PANDEMIC, INCLUDING THE ROLES OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY AND THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
The world is currently in the grips of a global pandemic known as COVID-19. As of June 10, 2020, there were more than 7.2 million confirmed cases1 in at least 177 countries.2 More than 412,100 people have reportedly died due to the disease3 , which is caused by a strain of coronavirus. First identified in 1968, coronaviruses are a family of related RNA viruses known to cause illness in animals and humans.4 Depending on the strain, coronaviruses can cause a range of illnesses, from mild infections like the common cold to deadly diseases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a strain of coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV, the strain that caused the 2003 SARS pandemic. This virus has been designated SARS-CoV-2. Based on an examination of the early stages of the outbreak, efforts to conceal the spread and novel nature of the virus, failures to share accurate information as required by international law5 , and the suppression of voices seeking to warn the world, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bears overwhelming responsibility for allowing a local outbreak to become a global pandemic. Senior CCP leaders, including CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, knew a pandemic was occurring weeks before they warned the public. Research shows that the CCP could have reduced the number of cases in China by up to 95%6 , had it fulfilled its obligations under international law and implemented a public health response at an earlier date. 7 The World Health Organization (WHO) enabled the CCP cover-up by failing to investigate and publicize reports conflicting with the official CCP, while at the same time praising the CCP's response. In sum, the COVID-19 global pandemic could have been prevented if the CCP acted in a transparent and responsible manner
Can Telephones Race? 5G and the Evolution of Telecom
This report is divided into three sections, which are published separately. The first, presented here, looks at the environment for competition by exploring how 5G creates wealth, the standards contest, and the effect of technological change in telecommunications as we move to an "open" environment. The second will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of two key national competitors in Europe and China. A final section to be published later concludes by assessing U.S. strength and recommending elements of a comprehensive national approach to 5G strategy.
The growing recognition that technology builds national power has led to a narrative of a "race" between the United States and China. China is now what the European Union calls a "systemic rival" and technology is a central part of this rivalry. China has recognized the advantages of being a leader in technology and uses statist economic policies and espionage to obtain an advantage. Fifth-generation mobile technologies (5G) have become one of the most high-profile domains where this competition is playing out.
The United States is not losing the 5G "race." S. (and Japanese) technologies are essential for 5G infrastructure.
To Stand Up to China, India Must First Boost Its Economy
MILAN VAISHNAV
While last week's border skirmishes between India and China sent commentators rushing to Google Maps to locate obscure mountainous locales, the jousting in the Himalayas may prove to be a geopolitical inflection point. On strategic affairs, New Delhi and Beijing have long been at loggerheads, but the former has attempted a tightrope walk of cozying up to the West without alienating the communist regime. That may be about to change. In the wake of the brutal killing of at least twenty Indian soldiers by Chinese forces wielding a medieval mix of stones, clubs, and nail-studded rods, India might be forced to rethink its longstanding policy of strategic hedging.
IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Yet the foreign policy impact of last week's high-altitude encounter will turn less on India's diplomatic and defense maneuvers than on simple economics at home. India's ability to project power abroad, protect its homeland, and assemble and sustain meaningful partnerships depends on the capacity of India's political leaders to quickly and competently get its economy back on track. The foreign policy crisis consuming the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of the border clash—as real and raw as it might be—cannot be resolved unless India first fixes its economic emergency.
The Sino-Indian Clash: Russia in the Middle
By Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan
In the midst of a border crisis with China, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is away in Moscow. At the same time, India's foreign minister joined his Russian and Chinese counterparts online for an Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting. The Sino-Indian crisis potentially puts Russia in a difficult position, having to choose between its traditional partners in India, which also represents a lucrative arms market, and its new but much more powerful friend in the east, China.
The ostensible reason for Singh's visit to Russia was to attend the rescheduled Victory Day Parade. The annual parade commemorating the end of World War II was supposed to be held on May 9, but was postponed due to the pandemic. A 75-member tri-service Indian military contingent participated in the parade.
The Chinese defense minister was also in Moscow to attend the same parade. However, the Indian side made it clear that there would be no meeting between the two ministers. All negotiations between India and China on the border crisis are taking place bilaterally either through diplomatic channels or through local military commanders. The fact that the RIC meeting was an online affair also helps to ensure that Russia is not forced to mediate between the two sides.
Afghanistan: Road To Nowhere – Analysis
By S. Binodkumar Singh*
On June 17, 2020, at least 10 Police personnel were killed when Taliban militants aggressively attacked their checkpoints in the Shurabak District of Kandahar Province.
On June 17, 2020, seven Police personnel were killed in a Taliban attack in Pul-e-Khumri, capital of the Baghlan Province. Another five Police personnel were wounded in the attack.
On June 16, 2020, six Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants attacked an Army post in the Bala Hisar area of Aqcha District in Jowzjan Province. Another three soldiers were injured in the incident.
On June 5, 2020, 15 Police personnel were killed in an ambush by the Taliban on the Zabul-Kandahar highway near the city of Qalat in Zabul Province.
On May 28, 2020, 14 members of the Afghan Border Force were killed in an attack by the Taliban in the Dand-e-Patan District of Paktia Province. Three members of the Border Force were also wounded in the attack.
By Steven Lee Myers
In the same week that Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in a deadly brawl, one of China's submarines cruised through the waters near Japan, prompting a scramble of aircraft and ships to track its furtive movements. Chinese fighter jets and at least one bomber buzzed Taiwan's territorial airspace almost daily.
With the world distracted by the coronavirus pandemic, China's military has encroached upon its neighbors' territories on several fronts throughout the spring and now into summer, flexing its military might in ways that have raised alarms across Asia and in Washington.
China's military assertiveness reflects a growing sense of confidence and capability, but also one of confrontation, particularly with the United States over the pandemic, the fate of Hong Kong and other issues that China considers central to its sovereignty and national pride.
China Has 'First-Strike' Capability To Melt U.S. Power Grid With Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon
James Conca
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a scary report on China's ability to conduct an Electromagnetic Pulse attack on the United States. The key takeaway, according to Dr. Peter Pry,
executive director of the department's EMP task force, is that China now has super-EMP weapons, knows how to protect itself against an EMP attack, and has developed protocols to conduct a first-strike attack, even as they deny they would ever do so.
According to the Center for Strategic International Studies, China has the most active ballistic missile development program in the world, so this is doubly troubling. China used stolen U.S. technology to develop at least three types of high-tech weapons to attack the electric grid and key technologies that could cause a surprise "Pearl Harbor" attack that could produce a deadly blackout to the entire country.
Dr. Pry outlines how China has built a network of satellites, high-speed missiles, and super-electromagnetic pulse weapons that could melt down our electric grid, fry critical communications, and even takeout the ability of our aircraft carrier groups to respond.
In U.S.-China Trade War, New Supply Chains Rattle Markets
YUKON HUANG, JEREMY SMITH
With relations between Washington and Beijing in freefall, the future of global supply chains is uncertain. Even as inconsistent White House messages continue to raise questions about the direction of U.S. trade policy, trade war tariffs remain in effect. Meanwhile, the fallout from Beijing's proposed national security law, which threatens to constrain Hong Kong's autonomy, further imperils the already fragile phase one trade agreement between the two superpowers. This friction, paired with the race to secure medical supplies and develop a coronavirus vaccine, is provoking a reevaluation of just-in-time supply chains that privilege efficiency above all else.
A chorus of 're'-themed supply chain buzzwords—resiliency, redundancy, reshoring, restructuring, and regionalization, to name a few—is music to the ears of White House protectionists, who launched the trade war and who think China's global manufacturing role is long overdue for revision. U.S. President Donald Trump's strategy of reducing the United States' trade deficits and rejuvenating the U.S. economy stems from a nationalist view of supply chains. In this vein, Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro signaled the country's $2 trillion in spending on stimulus packages in part aims to bring more manufacturing jobs back to American shores.
The US and China Tussle Over Hong Kong
HONG KONG: President Donald Trump's announcement that the United States would sanction China for ending Hong Kong's autonomous status is unlikely to have much impact on the ground, but does reflect the depth of deterioration in the bilateral relationship during the weeks since March 27, when he last spoke with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law," as the adage goes, and China undoubtedly possesses Hong Kong. No one challenges that. The United States and other countries, including Britain, may challenge the legality of China's actions but since there is no way to enforce international law, the most any can hope for is that Beijing will be more circumspect in its actions. Immediately, this means drafting the national security law for Hong Kong narrowly to avoid unduly affecting the vast majority of the city's residents.
Trump has indicated a lack of personal support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and in 2019 referred to them as "riots." He earlier referred to the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing as "riots" and called the Chinese leaders "strong" for having put the uprising down.
The China "Constrainment" Doctrine
LONDON – It is necessary to know some history in order to draw the right lessons from it. All too often, alleged parallels and similarities seem far-fetched on close examination. So, when it was suggested recently that China's recent behavior – bullying, lying, and violating treaties – was similar to that of Germany prior to World War I, I was doubtful.
In 1911, for example, Germany's Wilhelm II provoked an international crisis by deploying a gunboat to Agadir, Morocco to try to squeeze concessions out of France and drive a wedge between that country and Britain. Instead, the episode convinced France and Britain of Germany's aggressive intentions – a conclusion borne out three years later by the outbreak of war.
Maybe it is too pessimistic to draw similar conclusions today about the behavior of the Communist Party of China (CPC). But the events of the last few months surely call for a coordinated response by the rest of the world, and especially by liberal democracies. If Chinese President Xi Jinping's aggressive behavior is to be discouraged, we need to get together and stick together.
The list of China's transgressions is long. While the rest of the world has been distracted by a pandemic that spread in part because of the CPC's secrecy and lies, China has increased its military threats against Taiwan and reneged on treaty-based promises to respect Hong Kong's traditional freedoms under the rule of law.
China's Approach to Global Governance
For more than two millennia, Chinese leaders saw their country as one of the dominant actors in the world. The concept of zhongguo—the Middle Kingdom, as China calls itself—is not simply geographic. It implies that China is the cultural, political, and economic center of the world. This Sino-centrist worldview has in many ways shaped China's outlook on global governance—the rules, norms, and institutions that regulate international cooperation. The decline and collapse of imperial China in the 1800s and early 1900s, however, diminished Chinese influence on the global stage for more than a century.
In the past two decades, China has reemerged as a major power, with the world's second largest economy and a world-class military. It increasingly asserts itself, seeking to regain its centrality in the international system and over global governance institutions.
These institutions, created mostly by Western powers after World War II, include the World Bank, which provides loans and grants to developing states; the International Monetary Fund, which works to secure the stability of the global monetary system; and the United Nations, among others. President Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, has called for China to "lead the reform of the global governance system," transforming institutions and norms in ways that will reflect Beijing's values and priorities.
China's Great Wall of Finance Shows First Signs of a Crack – in Hong Kong
By Macro Yuk-sing Kwan
A day before Beijing passed a decision paving the way for its national security law for Hong Kong, the global index provider MSCI decided to relocate its financial derivative products from Singapore to Hong Kong, citing its confidence in Hong Kong as an international financial center for "years and decades to come."
Perhaps one should not be too surprised by MSCI's move. For a long time Hong Kong has been blessed by the fact that China-U.S. decoupling is taking place in everything but finance. Even as Beijing and Washington traded barbs over tariffs, technology, and indeed Hong Kong's own future, the financial arena has been curiously ringfenced.
As a result, Hong Kong as a global financial hub has continued to prosper amid mounting political tension, even to the point of overtaking Singapore in terms of foreign exchange turnover according to a 2019 survey by the Bank for International Settlements.
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Videos produced by and for students at James Logan High School in Union City, California
Logan Live
Logan Live for the Week of 5/24/2021 (Last show for 2020-2021 School Year)
This is the last a special edition of Logan Live! for the 2020-2021 school year. While James Logan High School experienced distance learning, new episodes were pre-recorded and debuted once each week. Starting next school year Logan Live! should return to live broadcasts most school days starting just before second period.
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I'm try to use the plugin flippy and i have a problem. For this plugin work fine on ie, i have to load the excanvas.js script file. The problem is that i have already loaded the plugin on the page but when the plugin is call by telerik, he can't regonigze the G_vmlCanvasManager. I follow the intructions here but uncessfull. Can anyone help me please?


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Lidov may refer to the following:

 Mikhail Lidov (1926-1933), Soviet space scientist;
 Alexei Lidov (born 1959), Russian art historian, son of Mikhail Lidov;
 Arthur Lidov (1917-1990), American artist, illustrator, muralist, sculptor and inventor;
 4236 Lidov, asteroid named after Mikhail Lidov;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Browse COBRA Institutions
Collection of Biostatistics Research Archive
Home > Harvard Biostatistics > 199
Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series
Leveraging Contact Network Structure in the Design of Cluster Randomized Trials
Guy Harling, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthFollow
Rui Wang, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital
Jukka-Pekka Onnela, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Victor DeGruttola, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Correspondence: Guy Harling, Department of Global Health & Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 1639 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120. gharling@hsph.harvard.edu. Acknowledgements: The authors thank participants at the 2015 Ebola Modeling Workshop at Georgia Tech, at Healthmap and in the Onnela and De Gruttola lab groups for comments on presentations of these ideas, and Laura Balzer for her several helpful comments on a draft of this paper. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers R37 AI51164, R01 AI24643].
Background: In settings like the Ebola epidemic, where proof-of-principle trials have succeeded but questions remain about the effectiveness of different possible modes of implementation, it may be useful to develop trials that not only generate information about intervention effects but also themselves provide public health benefit. Cluster randomized trials are of particular value for infectious disease prevention research by virtue of their ability to capture both direct and indirect effects of intervention; the latter of which depends heavily on the nature of contact networks within and across clusters. By leveraging information about these networks – in particular the degree of connection across randomized units – we propose a novel class of connectivity-informed cluster trial designs that aim both to improve public health impact (speed of control l epidemics) while preserving the ability to detect intervention effects.
Methods: We consider cluster randomized trials with staggered enrollment, in each of which the order of enrollment is based on the total number of ties (contacts) from individuals within a cluster to individuals in other clusters. These designs can accommodate connectivity based either on the total number of inter-cluster connections at baseline or on connections only to untreated clusters, and include options analogous both to traditional Parallel and Stepped Wedge designs. We further allow for control clusters to be "held-back" from re-randomization for some period. We investigate the performance of these designs in terms of epidemic control (time to end of epidemic and cumulative incidence) and power to detect vaccine effect by simulating vaccination trials during an SEIR-type epidemic outbreak using a network-structured agent-based model.
Results: In our simulations, connectivity-informed designs lead to lower peak infectiousness than comparable traditional study designs and a 20% reduction in cumulative incidence, but have little impact on epidemic length. Power to detect differences in incidence across clusters is reduced in all connectivity-informed designs. However the inclusion of even a brief "holdback" restores most of the power lost in comparison to a traditional Stepped Wedge approach.
Conclusions: Incorporating information about cluster connectivity in design of cluster randomized trials can increase their public health impact, especially in acute outbreak settings. Using this information helps control outbreaks – by minimizing the number of cross-cluster infections – with modest cost in power to detect an effective intervention.
Harling, Guy; Wang, Rui; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; and DeGruttola, Victor, "Leveraging Contact Network Structure in the Design of Cluster Randomized Trials" (January 2016). Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series. Working Paper 199.
https://biostats.bepress.com/harvardbiostat/paper199
Biostatistics Commons
COBRA Institutions
Harvard Biostatistics
Harvard School of Public Health, Dept. of Biostatistics


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Tyranny: Bastard's Wound
Suitable for mature audiences 16 years and over.
NOTE: Violence
SMPDX1248
This content requires the base game Tyranny - Standard Edition on Steam in order to play.
About This Downloadable Content
Experience a new chapter of Tyranny, the critically-acclaimed role-playing game (RPG), in Bastard's Wound, a new expansion that builds upon the game's compelling story. Tyranny, an original RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, invites the player to make their mark on a world conquered by evil, and the Bastard's Wound expansion opens up a new area of the Tiers where refugees from the war-torn world have established a haven in secret.
Delve deeper into the mysteries of Terratus as you bring Kyros' justice (or your own version of it) to a new corner of the Tiers. In addition to the new region, Bastard's Wound gives you a chance to learn more about your party in a trio of companion quests featuring Lantry, Verse, and Barik.
Bastard's Wound will feature:
A Refuge from Kyros:
Players will explore an all-new section of the world, centered around an illegal settlement of those who have fled the devastation of the war. What sentence will you mete out to the refugees?
Companion Quests:
Learn more about Verse, Barik, and Lantry in new quests and interactions to earn their loyalty or enmity. What does Barik truly look like under his armor?
Loyalty and Service:
Bastard's Wound will arrive alongside a free update to Tyranny, including new voice-acting, expanded content in the game's third act, and an all-new path to an unseen ending. What fate awaits those who remain truly loyal to Kyros?
About Tyranny - Standard Edition
Play an RPG with meaningful, world-altering choices, unique and memorable companions, and a new perspective on morality. Tyranny casts you as the arbiter of law in a world devastated by war and conquered by a despot. Will you work inside the system or try to dismantle it… and will it be for the glory of Kyros, for the good of the world, or for your own ambition?
From Obsidian Entertainment, the team behind Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tyranny is a classic-styled RPG with a new and original story, shaped and molded by your actions. The very layout of the world will be altered by your decisions as you choose sides, make allies and enemies, and fight for your own vision of law and order in an immersive and reactive story.
Branching, unique stories in an original setting:
In a realm where the tyrant has already won, the player must decide how to reshape the world. Strengthen the pillars of a new regime, or search for more power at the top of the new order!
Choices matter – make world-altering decisions with far-reaching consequence:
As a Fatebinder in the Overlord's army you wield a vast amount of power in the occupied lands of the Tiers. Will you use that to inspire stability and loyalty, or will you try and offer a better way?
Challenging, classic RPG combat:
Tactical real-time-with-pause combat with new party-driven mechanics and modern presentation
A rich original setting:
Tyranny turns the archetypal RPG story on its head and allows players to explore a new take on good and evil. The player is not a random villager who rises to power, but an instrumental officer with considerable resources and authority. Use that power to enforce the new status quo, or try to make change from the inside!
OS: Windows 7 64-bit or newer
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 @ 2.80 GHz / AMD Athlon II X4 840 @ 3.10 GHz
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 or NVIDIA GeForce GTS450 with 1GB VRAM
Hard Drive: 15 GB
Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.10 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.10 GHz
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6850 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 with 1GB VRAM
OS: OSX 10.10
Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 2.9 GHz
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6950m with 1GB VRAM
Graphics Card: AMD R9 390m or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750m
OS: 14.04 LTS
Buy Tyranny: Bastard's Wound Steam Key for PC on Windows, Mac, Linux at Noctre.com!
Experience a new chapter of Tyranny, the critically-acclaimed role-playing game (RPG), in Bastard's Wound, a new expansion that builds upon the game's compelling story.


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Steve Carver (April 5, 1945 – January 8, 2021) was an American film director, producer, and photographer.

Biography
Carver attended Manhattan's High School of Music and Art and received his BA from Cornell University and his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. He was originally interested in cartooning, commercial art and animation. He was a cameraman for the Wide World of Sports, for the St. Louis Cardinals, and made 30 documentaries in two years while teaching in St Louis area colleges.

American Film Institute
In 1970, a documentary he shot in grad school got him admitted to the American Film Institute, then in its second year of taking in fellows in Hollywood. While at the AFI he studied under such filmmakers as George Stevens, George Seaton, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck. He worked as an assistant director on Dalton Trumbo's sole effort as director, Johnny Got His Gun (1971).

Carver's final AFI project was a short film based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart starring Alex Cord and Sam Jaffe. The Los Angeles Times described it as "an effective mood piece, a beautiful work in ominous life and shadow".

"I loved AFI", said Carver. "It was an opportunity to use some very talented people."

Roger Corman
The Tell-Tale Heart was widely screened and attracted the attention of Roger Corman who had made a number of adaptations of Poe's works. Corman hired Carver to work at New World Pictures.

Carver spent his first year at New World cutting trailers. He later estimated he cut 100-150 trailers in that time. He also wrote a number of scripts for Corman, including one on Admiral Byrd that floundered when they could not secure rights from Byrd's estate. He was working on a script about a black female private eye when Corman gave him the chance to direct with The Arena (1974), a film about female gladiators shot in Italy.

Big Bad Mama and Capone
Corman was pleased with The Arena and gave Carver another directing job, a gangster film starring Angie Dickinson, Big Bad Mama (1974). Paul Bartel, who directed second unit on the film, described Carver as "very well organised" and "having great control of the medium". It was a big success at the box office.

Corman used Carver on another gangster film he made over at 20th Century Fox, Capone (1975), starring Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes.

In a 1975 interview Carver said "All I want to do for now is a string of good commercial pictures but in my own style. I'm not looking for a multi-million-dollar picture; $1 to $2 million will do for now." The same interview described him "as intense and dynamic as his films... an aggressive achiever who has already accomplished enough for three people."

Drum
Carver was mentioned as a possible director for the third film in the "Billy Jack" series, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, but in the end Tom Laughlin decided to do it. Instead Dino De Laurentiis hired Carver to replace Burt Kennedy as director on Drum (1976). Although the movie was completed successfully and proved profitable, Carver described the experience of taking over another director as "horrible". In a later interview Carver described Burt Kennedy's attitude towards him as "very gracious": "He sat down with me, explained the situation. He warned me that part of the cast would follow him off of the movie. He went over a lot with me."

Carver was going to make a film for Ray Stark with Susan Blakely, Freestyle, about a hotdog skier at the end of her career. However it was never made. Neither was another film Carver was attached to, Summer Camp from a script by Barry Schneider. Instead Carver directed Steel with Lee Majors, then made another for Roger Corman,  Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979), starring David Carradine.

He did some uncredited work on a TV movie, Angel City (1980). Carver left the production, because the producers refused to fire actor Ralph Waite, who, according to Carver, came to the set drunk.

Chuck Norris
Carver made two highly successful films with Chuck Norris, An Eye for an Eye and Lone Wolf McQuade.

The development of Walker, Texas Ranger led to a lawsuit filed by Carver and his production partner Yoram Ben-Ami, which they lost. Carver in 2020: "We failed to convince the Supreme Court that there were similarities. Now, you and I and anybody else knows that there are similarities between Lone Wolf McQuade and Walker, Texas Ranger."

Later career
His late-'80s movies tended to be less distinguished – Oceans of Fire (1986), a TV movie; Jocks (1987), a teen comedy with a young Mariska Hargitay; Bulletproof (1988), an action film with Gary Busey; River of Death (1989); Dead Center (1993); The Wolves (1996). He also directed a number of movies uncredited. As he explained in an interview from August 2020: "I became known as a "go-to" director with other producers. When a movie got in trouble and a producer needed a director to step in to "save" their picture, they called me. It was fun for a while and good money."

Eventually Carver left directing and went into photography. "Roger spoiled me", Carver reflected later, saying other producers "wore me down and chased me back to doing photography." He opened a photography lab in Los Angeles in 1995.

He is featured in the documentary film That Guy Dick Miller, over the acting and life of Dick Miller.

Death
Carver died from COVID-19 in Los Angeles on January 8, 2021, at age 75, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California, though it was initially reported that he died from a heart attack.

Films
The Tell-Tale Heart (1971) (short) – director, producer
Johnny Got His Gun (1971) – assistant director
The Arena (1974) – director
Big Bad Mama (1974) – director
Capone (1975) - director
Drum (1976) – director
Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider (1979) – director
Steel (1979) – director
Angel City (1980) (TV movie) – director (uncredited)
An Eye for an Eye (1981) – director
Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) – director, producer
Oceans of Fire (1986) (TV movie) – director
Jocks (1987) – director
Bulletproof (1988) – director
River of Death (1989) – director
Dead Center (1993) – director
The Wolves (1996) – director

References

External links

1945 births
2021 deaths
Action film directors
AFI Conservatory alumni
American film producers
Cornell University alumni
Film directors from New York City
Artists from Brooklyn
Photographers from Los Angeles
Photographers from New York City
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts alumni
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California


The number of corporate failures in South Africa fluctuates greatly over time, and the characteristics of these fluctuations have not been investigated sufficiently. This paper examines the trends in corporate failures, specifically for small medium and micro enterprise (SMMEs) and private companies in South Africa, with a particular focus on identifying the dynamic features of the series and associated macroeconomic variables movements. We examine the interactions between corporate failures and macroeconomic aggregates, and specifically the accounts of policy-induced changes in the macroeconomy for the observed fluctuations of South African business failures in the period 1994–2009. This research investigates both the short-run and long-run dynamic linkages between corporate failures in South Africa and selected macroeconomic variables by employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test. Time series Error Correction Model (ECM) estimates suggest that macroeconomic risk factors are related to firm failures in the same direction both in the short run and the long run, and that adjustment to steady state path is quite quick. A regression model is also estimated with a dummy variable included to decipher the corporate failure rates during the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. The results demonstrate that macroeconomic aggregates exert differential impacts on corporate failures both in the short run and in the long run. The study also reveals that corporate failure rates in South Africa are significantly and positively associated with the average lending rate, inflation rate, new corporation, exchange rate, 2007-2009 financial crisis, and inversely related to gross domestic product (GDP) and money supply both in the short run and long-run. In general, the results show expected and consistent relationships between shocks on economic variables and corporate failures.


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Open forums today for director position
Open forums will be held at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. today, Thursday, March 14, for two candidates applying for the director of recruitment marketing and enrollment development position. Each candidate will discuss the role of recruitment marketing and enrollment development in the Missouri S&T strategic plan. The campus community is invited to attend the forums as follows:
The open forum for Timothy L. Albers, former associate vice president for enrollment management and director of admissions at Western State College of Colorado will be held at 3 p.m. in the Meramec Room of the Havener Center.
A member of the Western State College enrollment management staff from 2000-2012, Albers served as director of admissions at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., and as senior associate director of admissions for the Colorado School of Mines. He currently serves as interim director in the marketing and enrollment development office on campus.
The open forum for Debra Schatz, assistant director of admissions for transfer students will be held at 4 p.m. in the Meramec Room of the Havener Center.
Before joining S&T in 2002, Schatz was a high school math teacher and an instructional assistant in the pre-engineering department and adjunct math faculty at East Central College. She is responsible for programs that assist students who transfer to S&T from other colleges or universities.
On March 12, 2013. Posted in Announcements


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Indiana Jones and the Next Indiana Jones Movie
By Julian Sancton
Many submissions included fan art. Left: Dave Cordes's Indiana Jones and the Quest for Another MacGuffin. Right: Hans-Günther Jongebloed's Indiana Jones and the Hoard of the Nibelungs.
After considering hundreds of submissions, VF Daily is proud to announce the winner of the contest to come up with best title and plot for the fifth Indiana Jones movie. But first, some of our favorite runners up:
Indiana Jones and the Incredible Diamond (No plot provided) —Ron R.
Indiana Jones and the Orifice of Doom (No plot provided) —Steve Lydon
The creators of the two fan-art posters above. Well done, even if that wasn't part of the assignment.
An overwhelming plurality of entries predicted Indy would search for lost city of Atlantis, which was the storyline of the 90s LucasArts PC game. We agree that the fountain of youth premise fits well with an aging Indy, but way too many contestants suggested it for us to choose one. Herewith, a breakdown of the submissions by most popular plotlines:
And now the winner, after the jump.Judging from his email address, his name is Maximillian, and he comes from Australia. He will be the happy recipient of the official Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull crate, complete with Indy's official fedora, blanket, thermos, DVD set, and Blackberry.
Indiana Jones and the Son of Man
A skeptical Jones is offered the chance to visit Palestine in the time of Christ in a joint U.S. Army/Vatican time-travel experiment—overseen by Albert Einstein, who is also part of Indy's posse—to verify the existence of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, Soviet agents bent on erasing Christ from history hijack the experimental base underneath the Vatican, and pursue Indy through the tunnels of Time, as Jones tries to save a man who neither needs nor wants saving.
Yes, the idea is preposterous, but which Indy movie isn't? We love how it combines the Judeo-Christian overtones of the first and third movies with the 1950s, B-movie feel of the last one, while intelligently integrating the atheistic Soviet baddies. And though this synopsis (edited for style) doesn't include Shia Labeouf's character, there's no reason he couldn't tag along, lending double meaning to the title (and giving him extra credit for Sunday school).
We hope Maximillian will wear his new hat to the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Son of Man and, for his sake, to nothing else.
And with that, we temporarily end our obsessive coverage of Indiana Jones.
Julian Sancton
See More By Julian Sancton »
Leslie Jones Takes Over The Daily Show With Her Signature Brand of Chaos
The comedian is the first host to sit behind the desk since Trevor Noah departed the show in December, kicking off the new era of The Daily Show with a bit of frivolity and a fresh perspective. But is she interested in the full-time gig?
CODA Star Emilia Jones Returns to Sundance, Where It All Began
Two years after a storybook launch with the Oscar-winning drama, the British actor will premiere two buzzy films at the fest (this time in person!)
Daisy Jones & the Six Drops Its First Single and New Teaser
It's the first full track released from the highly anticipated show, featuring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin performing.
By Kase Wickman
The Art That Inspired 6 Major Filmmakers
A short story suggested by Martin Scorsese, a 1970s documentary, a photograph of the Blitz—inspiration came from many sources to create some of 2022's best films.


RAJSHAHI: Administrative and police officials at a training session here unanimously observed that strict enforcement of traffic rules besides creating wide-ranging mass-awareness has become an urgent need to ensure road safety, reports BSS. They mentioned that the country experiences over 5,000 road accidents in every year claiming over 4,000 lives and injuring many others. The total loss of properties in the accidents is estimated over Taka 5000 crore which is 2 percent of the country's total GDP.
They were addressing the inaugural session of an eight-day training workshop styled "Citizens Duty for Road Safety" in the conference hall of divisional office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in the city on Saturday.
The district administration organised the workshop with the main thrust of disseminating ideas relating to the existing traffic rules among drivers so that they can avert road accident.
Chaired by Deputy Commissioner SM Abdul Kader, the session was addressed, among others, by Additional District Magistrate Nasima Khatun, Superintendent of Police Md Shahidullah, Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Anirban Chakravarty and BRTA Assistant Director Kamrul Islam.
The speakers mentioned that the drivers alone are not responsible for any accident but other reasons like frequent movement of the pedestrians is equally responsible.
They underlined the need for a strict enforcement of laws together with collective efforts of all to reduce road accidents significantly.
Enhancement of competence and awareness of the professional drivers and others concerned is very important to this end.
Abdul Kader observed that road accidents could have reduced substantially if the authorities concerned had discharged duties properly while providing driving licenses and fitness certificates.
He told the meeting that the government has launched training so that the drivers can get proper training round the year.
A step has also been taken to incorporate the issue of road accident and its causes and prevention ways in the course-curriculum besides other various programmes to reduce the country's road accidents by 50 per cent within the next 15 years, he added.
RAJSHAHI: Administrative and police officials at a training session here unanimously observed that strict enforcement of traffic rules besides creating wide-ranging mass-awareness has become an urgent need to ensure road safety, reports BSS. They mentioned that the country experiences over 5,000 road accidents in every year claiming over 4,000 lives and injuring many others. The total loss of properties in the accidents is estimated over Taka 5000 crore which is 2 percent of the countrys total GDP. They were addressing the inaugural session of an eight-day training workshop styled Citizens Duty for Road Safety in the conference hall of divisional office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in the city on Saturday. The district administration organised the workshop with the main thrust of disseminating ideas relating to the existing traffic rules among drivers so that they can avert road accident. Chaired by Deputy Commissioner SM Abdul Kader, the session was addressed, among others, by Additional District Magistrate Nasima Khatun, Superintendent of Police Md Shahidullah, Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Anirban Chakravarty and BRTA Assistant Director Kamrul Islam. The speakers mentioned that the drivers alone are not responsible for any accident but other reasons like frequent movement of the pedestrians is equally responsible. They underlined the need for a strict enforcement of laws together with collective efforts of all to reduce road accidents significantly. Enhancement of competence and awareness of the professional drivers and others concerned is very important to this end. Abdul Kader observed that road accidents could have reduced substantially if the authorities concerned had discharged duties properly while providing driving licenses and fitness certificates. He told the meeting that the government has launched training so that the drivers can get proper training round the year. A step has also been taken to incorporate the issue of road accident and its causes and prevention ways in the course-curriculum besides other various programmes to reduce the countrys road accidents by 50 per cent within the next 15 years, he added.


The Traits An Online Business Needs To Survive – Start & Grow Your Business!
Nowadays, we've all heard the hype about giving your business a proper online presence. If you want any kind of impact, it's important to tap into the huge resource that the internet can be. But you don't want to make any amateur efforts, either. That can damage your business more than help it. So here, we're going to look at what traits you're going to need to focus on to have a successful business site.
You need to make sure that people can actually find your site. Spreading the word on social media isn't enough. You need to hit the search engines that most people will use to try and find services. Search engine optimization is all about using different techniques to be more visible. Using the right keywords to match with users' search queries, building links to make your site more relevant and more.
Once they get onto your website, how easy are your customers going to find it to use? One problem that many new businesses will have is front-loading their site. The homepage should contain navigation and calls to action, making it clear what you offer. Loading it with tons of detail and paragraphs are going to make it a miss for a lot of browsers. Readable content, an intuitive sitemap and making sure no pages are broken is also important.
If you run an ecommerce site or simply experience a lot of traffic, you're likely to find your business site can get stressed. It's up to you to make sure it can handle the load without going offline. For international businesses, consider using different domains on different servers. Do you have a network of employees managing your business? Cloud load balancing can make sure that your shared resources aren't stressed too hard, as well.
It's important that your online resources are more easily reached by employees and customers, alike. Nowadays, businesses are making their services and processes easier. They do this by taking into account some of the most common disabilities. Learn more about accessible design regarding autistic users, dyslexic users and more. Try providing alternative versions of your web pages and user tools. You'll be making it clear you're dedicated to accommodating the people important to your business.
An online presence should be more than a place that people can find your services. It's also a community that you build, a conversation that can help drive your marketing. So being connected to other users and businesses on the net is an important part of that presence. For example, looking for opportunities to guest post and accept guest posts.
Another big problem of businesses on the internet is that they tend to be slow at updating their site. This is a huge no-no. Don't keep information on your site that later proves unreliable. Your users will be likely to make the same assumption of the business in general. Similarly, you should be keeping all links relevant. For instance, make sure you use proper landing pages instead of linking to the front page. All the steps above are about making your online presence easier to use for staff and customers alike.


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to boldly go
NASA extends 8 missions, including plans to scrutinize a large asteroid that will swing by Earth in 2029
NASA granted eight missions an extension, allowing continued exploration of Mars, asteroids, the Kuiper Belt, and the Moon.
Heritage Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
NASA has announced extensions for eight of its planetary science missions, giving a new lease on life to spacecraft studying the Moon, Mars, the outer Solar System, and more.
The agency cleared the eight missions to run for another three years, except for the asteroid-hunting spacecraft OSIRIS-REx. That mission will run for at least another nine years as it chases down the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, once thought to be the most hazardous asteroid in the Solar System.
Some of the extensions simply continue the goals of current missions, while others, like OSIRIS-REx and New Horizons, are getting new directives as they move beyond their primary missions.
Mission extensions are a fairly routine part of the life of a NASA spacecraft. NASA launches all missions with a primary goal, like taking new images of Pluto. Many, though, survive long beyond that first mission and have enough fuel and working instrumentation to keep giving us valuable data. The most inspiring example may be the two Voyager spacecraft, which send back data more than 40 years after launch and after entering interstellar space.
That kind of longevity is rare, but many older NASA missions are still kicking. The most recent crop of mission extensions includes five on Mars alone, on spacecraft both on and above the planet.
Illustration of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over Mars. AFP/Getty Images
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbital mission will be watching how Mars' atmosphere and magnetic field change during an upcoming solar maximum, when the Sun's activity increases. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft, a 21-year-old orbiter mission to the Red Planet, will search for evidence of subsurface rocks and ice, monitor radiation levels and climate, and act as an important relay for communications from other spacecraft on Mars back to Earth. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), now in its sixth extended mission, will also be relaying communications, as well as studying the planet's surface, ice, active geology, and more.
Down on the surface, the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight) lander will continue to monitor seismic activity on Mars — including so-called "Marsquakes" — and weather. But with its solar panels covered in dust, the mission might not survive for long, and its only hope might be for a passing dust devil to scour it clean. Also pushing valiantly forward on Mars is the Curiosity rover, which has already ventured more than 16 miles across Gale Crater in its nearly 10 years on the Red Planet. Curiosity is set to climb to higher elevations in the crater in its fourth extended mission and further explore the history of water on Mars.
Closer to home, NASA also extended the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission to continue studying the surface and geology of the Moon and search for water ice in permanently shadowed regions of our satellite as its orbit takes it away from the poles. These regions are essential for future human missions to the Moon, like the Artemis program.
These 2012 images of Apophis helped rule out danger to Earth. But now, NASA wants to study the object up close. NASA
Another asteroid for OSIRIS-REx
NASA's flagship asteroid-hunting spacecraft OSIRIS-REx also got a mission extension, and with it, a brand new target. The spacecraft is currently returning to Earth to deliver a sample of the asteroid Bennu, which it intercepted back in 2018. Once it swings by Earth in 2023 to drop off its payload, the spacecraft will be heading back out to meet 99942 Apophis, an asteroid set to zoom close by Earth in 2029.
Apophis measures about 1,200 feet in diameter. It will come within about 20,000 miles of our planet, or about one-tenth of the distance to the Moon. That's close enough that Apophis will be visible with the naked eye for a short time. While our planet's in no danger, the flyby represents the perfect opportunity to learn more about the asteroids that come very near Earth.
"We have the capability to get up close and personal with a small asteroid, which is really pretty challenging because these are microgravity objects," Daniella DellaGiustina, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab and Principal Investigator of the new mission, tells Inverse.
Under the new name OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX), the spacecraft will meet up with Apophis shortly after it passes Earth to take images of the asteroid and study how the brush by Earth might have affected it.
"We know that that close approach, as the asteroid is getting tugged within Earth's gravitational well, is going to change it," DellaGiustina says.
Many asteroids are piles of rubble held loosely together by gravity, and Apophis' pass by Earth might kick off landslides on Apophis and other feature-altering events and change the way it spins.
OSIRIS-APEX will also make a feint at the asteroid by flying close and then burning its thrusters near the surface to blast off rocks and other debris. The goal is to expose the deeper subsurface layers to study them, as well as watch how the debris behaves. Insights from that maneuver should give astronomers a better idea of the material properties of near-Earth asteroids, which could be vitally important in the future should we ever need to protect ourselves from a potential impactor.
After that, DellaGiustina says they might be able to make a soft landing on Apophis and, if everything works out perfectly, perhaps even intercept another asteroid.
"If it's still operational and we still have the fuel and there's a new object to go to, I think there might be a third chapter for OSIRIS-REx," she says.
After a successful encounter with Pluto and Charon, seen in this illustration utilizing NASA observations, New Horizons continued on a path that will eventually take it out of the Solar System. HYPERSPHERE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
New horizons for New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons mission flew by Pluto in 2015 and the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth in 2019. It is currently voyaging ever farther from Earth on a path that will eventually take it to interstellar space.
But for the next decade or so, until it reaches the heliosphere's edge, New Horizons will be our only spacecraft in the Kuiper Belt. In this vast region, minor planets and other bodies lurk, and we still don't know much about it or the points just beyond it. Its rarified location and suite of instruments mean the spacecraft should be returning some new data on a little-studied part of our stellar neighborhood and potentially turning up new insights. New Horizons' instruments can see in infrared through to ultraviolet, analyze the solar wind and interplanetary dust grains, and more.
"It turns out there's a whole slew of science you can do besides explore the Kuiper Belt with a spacecraft that's that far from the Sun that you could not otherwise do," Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission, tells Inverse.
That includes using the spacecraft's spectrometers to map the heliosphere, a giant bubble formed by plasma from the Sun that extends far out into space. Astronomers can't observe this from Earth because of the light-blocking dust circulating in the inner Solar System.
New Horizons will also be looking back at Uranus and Neptune to study their atmospheric properties in advance of possible upcoming missions to the ice giants, using its unique vantage point to return data we can't get from Earth.
The spacecraft has more exotic goals as well, like imaging the cosmic optical background, a diffuse wash of light that emanates from unknown sources in the universe, and searching for free-floating black holes.
Stern and his team are also hard at work looking for another Kuiper Belt object that New Horizons might be able to fly by on its journey. It's a long shot, Stern says, "but if we don't look, then the odds are precisely zero."
Eventually, New Horizons will join the Voyager probes in interstellar space, speeding outward into the universe on a one-way journey to infinity. Stern says the spacecraft has enough fuel to remain operational for at least two decades, so we could potentially be tuning in to the wider universe for at least that long. Who knows what we'll find out there?
No, the Curiosity rover didn't find gem opals — but it may have found something more important
A new lightweight instrument could directly find life on Europa or Mars