TOKYO: As investigators looked for additional hints as to what caused the fatal accident, crews at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport began removing the charred wreckage of a Japan Airlines ( JAL ) plane on Friday, January 5. On the airport in Tokyo on Tuesday, the JAL Airbus A350 ran into aContinue Reading
GRIEF At least 330 people were hurt by the strong main tremor, which was followed by lots of waves, according to local officials. In the Ishikawa place, about 30 000 families were without power, and 89,800 homes there and in two nearby areas had no waters. There were hundreds ofContinue Reading
In order to prepare for a “military showdown” with South Korea and the United States, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased missile launcher production, according to state media on Friday ( Jan 5 ). Soon after Washington claimed that Russia had used projectile missiles and missiles suppliedContinue Reading
It will take years for NATO to solve its enormous issue.  , Put simply, despite the fact that Russian armor is by no means the best, NATO’s armor vehicles wo n’t hold up in a firefight with the Russians.
Russia has shown in Ukraine that it can defeat some of NATO’s best tanks and destroy European armored fighting vehicles andnbsp, such as the US, Bradley, and German, Marder, in conventional warfare.
NATO faces significant challenges when battling contemporary Russian ground troops and does not have sufficient tanks or sound logistics to help them.
Despite Polish efforts to try and address some of the Leopard tank’s numerous issues, it has performed badly.
The Ukrainians have refrained from using the American , M-1 Abrams, tanks, and Forbes reports & nBSP on the battlefield, likely because US advisors warned them that it would n’t survive and that the US would suffer a black eye if it were to be destroyed.
Instead, in an effort to “upgrade” the Abrams, the Russians have been frantically constructing bars on top of the vehicles ‘ spires and gluing on Russian sensitive gear to fend off Russian Lancet unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Germans, however, claim that Ukraine  no longer has any functional Leopard collection 2 tanks; any that were destroyed or saved from the battlefield have instead been sent to Estonia and restocked. However, Estonia  does not have any extra parts to repair them, so they are rusting in the marshalling feet.
Similar to contemporary aircraft carriers, modern tanks must overcome significant obstacles to live in hostile environments.
Tank now are susceptible to anti-tank weapons, property mines, and other threats.
Today’s anti-tank weapons employ  , tandem shaped- charge warheads, which are intended to penetrate armor even in areas where reactive armor is applied. These weapons are known as e-rating, explosive reactive armour, and ( ERA ), which protect the tank.
Since using the hand-held , RPG- 7 & bbp in the research is a suicide mission, I have not included them. Additionally, American soldiers naturally lack the RPG- 7.  , These are effectively dispersed to extremists and Russian customers. In the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians used them, but typically the technician was killed.  ,
They do n’t employ a tandem warhead configuration; instead, they use shaped charges. The precision shoulder-fired rocket launcher- 1 , ( PRSL-1 ) is the US equivalent.  , Although it is not included in the standard US Army equipment, US Special Forces occasionally use it.
To reduce the impact of a parallel weapon weapon, ERA are violent panels that are mounted on tanks. In addition,  ,
Because the highly classified passive armor of the tank body ( sometimes referred to as , Chobham armor ) was supposed to be able to shield the Tank from contemporary anti-tank weapons like the Russian&tramp, 9M133 Kornet and nrp ( Comet ), neither the Abrams nor the Leopard have reactive armor ( ERA ). Additionally, Kornet employs a combination Heating warhead, which is an acronym for high-explosive anti-tank. Its purpose was to dismantle violent reactive armor,nbsp.
In 1949, Soviet academician Bogdan Vjacheslavovich Voitsekhovsky andnbsp created the second ERA. However, preliminary tests of Russian armor revealed that if a tank was struck with the armor, all of the ERA modules did explode, rendering the system inoperable.
Working with the Israeli Defense Force ( IDF), a German researcher named   Manfred Held developed reactive armor between 1967 and 1969. It was used on Israeli tanks beginning in the early 1980s and was first demonstrated to be effective during the 1982 Lebanon War.
Israel was not permitted access to advanced armor, in contrast to the US, the UK, and Germany, where Chobham armor ( and its offspring ) were available. Spaced weapons was used by the container master General , Israel Tal, in the creation of the Merkava tank.  , ERA was essential for Israel in fending off Soviet dangers.
Chobham gear is also known as hybrid shield and is made up of layers of different materials, such as steel and polymers. A T-80U Russian pond that was destroyed in the conflict in Ukraine was equipped with hybrid armor and was built similarly to the Leopard and Abrams. The Soviet armor was skilled at deflecting form charge weapons,andnbsp. Anti-tank weapons also use a  and form charge to help penetrate heavy steel plating. Extreme heat and shock are applied to the target by a designed charge, which “focuses” the violent blast.
Additionally, container gear must be able to fend off enemy tanks ‘ cannonfire.  , modern tank rounds ( 105mm and 120mm in the west, and 115mm, 125mm for Soviet-era weapons ) use penetrator rods made of either tungsten carbide or depleted uranium ( APFSDS&bnp ) or Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot shells. Responsive armor can be powerful against APFSDS,nbsp.
Europeans claim to already possess a brand-new version of the 2A7V, also known as the Leopard. Additionally, Germany has a contract with Italy, Spain, and Sweden to create the Leopard’s replacement pond. With the exception of the gun, the new tank will have advanced situational awareness and a 130mm tank gun ( similar to Israel’s new Merkava 5 ).  ,
Additionally, the US has abandoned the most recent advancement version of the Abrams , also known as SEP v4, and is currently working on a different method to improve the tank.  ,
Germany and the US are both aware that neither the Leopard nor the Abrams is endure today’s battlefields.
Violent reactionary gear comes in a wide variety of forms. The Russian ERA has changed from Kontakt 1 to Kontakt V, and its most recent tanks are of the Malachit form. Although Malachit’s information is confidential, it was created to work with the most recent APFSDS cylinder cartridge, the M829E4, which has a depleted uranium penetrator. The 120mm weapons are unable to use sessions with longer projectiles, which presents a concern for the Germans and the US. That explains why the Abrams may also need to up-gun and the European future container will include a 130mm gun.
Active protection is one of the tank inventions that Israel invented. Israel has two methods that are mounted on Israeli Merkava vehicles and , on equipped fighting vehicles, and on other platforms. These systems were developed by Rafael and B&P, Iron Fist, by Israel Military Industries and General Dynamics. They use specialized radar sensors and rapidly formed projectiles to counteract incoming threats.
Active Protection Systems come in a variety of forms in different nations, including Russia, but none of them have appeared in Ukraine.
It’s unclear whether an active security system will be able to stop an APFSDS square.
The majority of NATO tanks lack effective safety on board.
The Russians have strongly relied on air-launched mine to defend themselves against Russian tanks and armed combat vehicles. Additionally, they have created a brand-new kind of leading striking mine called the PTKM- 1R. The tone of an armoured vehicle activates the PTKM- 1R mine,nbsp. Andnbsp, it appears to have an inner library that can identify a considerable target, such as an armored fighting vehicle or tank. The PTKM- 1R fires its me that houses in on the underside of the objective, destroying it, when the audio indicates that it is within striking distance.
Even when airborne, conventional mines usually attack the back of a car. nbsp, They can either kill the vehicle itself or punch off the lines or wheels ( in the case of turned fighting vehicles ). nbsp, Every reservoir has two weak points.
Both NATO and the Russians have created a number of cars intended to destroy mining.  , These are valuable in some way.  ,- Some container clearing systems ( which may be rollers or earth-moving plows ) use a container chassis. However, enemy fire makes mine-clearing methods vulnerable because they must move gradually on the field. In Ukraine, plant- opening vehicles have been destroyed in large numbers.
The number and fighting prowess of NATO’s weapons capabilities are currently significantly limited. Beyond that, there is little maintenance and a dearth of spare parts, such as new weapons barrels.
While the US is generally better at supporting its technology, it is unlikely that US tanks on a current battlefield are any better than European ones. Because the Challenger 2, a British main battle tank, does not use NATO ammunition and is incompatible with NATO’s 120mm smooth-bore normal due to its rifled gun barrel, I have not included it. So, if it were to be deployed on the NATO front line, it would be a problem.
Practically speaking, this indicates that NATO is not prepared to combat Russian ground forces because its crucial weapons systems are extremely vulnerable, its logistics are disorganized, and its ammunition and part supplies are scant.
NATO will further undermine its ability to wage war if it keeps shoving weapons into Ukraine, anything that seems to have received little attention in NATO capitals like Washinngton.  , The Ukraine War has exposed NATO’s weakened- weapons underworld.
Stephen Bryen, who oversaw the Near East Subcommittee of the
As a assistant secretary of security, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and nbsp
is now a senior colleague at Yorktown Institute and the , Center for Security Policy.
Previously published , this article was about his Weapons and Security Substack. With your style agreement, it is republished.
Noor Bashar only earns 500 Bangladeshi taka ($ 4.50,$ 3.55 ) per day, or half of what he requires to support his nine-person family.
That amount might decrease even more as Bangladesh’s prices rate rises.
The 43-year-old day laborer who lives in Cox’s Bazaar, 400 km ( 250 miles ) south of the capital Dhaka, says,” People are really suffering.”
” I cannot get spices if I buy bass.” If I purchase spices, I am unable to purchase corn.
A cost-of-living issue is plaguing Bangladesh, a nation of 170 million people. The once-promising development curve of the nation has dipped, and greater difficulties now loom in the low-lying delta that is susceptible to climate change.
Disgruntled citizens, however, have no faith that Sunday’s vote, which they claim is a foregone conclusion, will make their lives better.
My family’s needs are my top priority. Politics are not something I care about because it wo n’t support my family. I’m constantly considering how I may pay back the money I took out from people, said Mr. Bashar.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ), the main opposition, has boycotted this election, and the ruling Awami League, led by Hasina,Sheikh, appears poised to tighten its authoritarian hold on it.
Many voters believe that the Awami League has already won because there is n’t a strong opposition candidate. Some worry that Ms. Hasina’s third direct term will make the economic situation worse and increase their desperation.
” The elections do n’t interest me in the least. Why if I give a damn? Gias Uddin, a security guard in the port town of Chittagong, said that the goal, whatever it may be, will never alter my fate.
The 57-year-old claims that his family’s finances are so small that they can only manage two meals per day. Fish and meat are no longer purchased by him because they are too costly, and he frequently gathers other people’s crumbs to prepare meals for his nine kids.
The home gets by on donations and friend money.
” I have so far borrowed 200, 000 baht. How I may pay back the money is a mystery to me. Simply God knows, according to Mr. Uddin.
” This is a really challenging situation. I occasionally feel like I may pass away.
According to some experts, Bangladesh’s descent into monarchy was one of the greatest threats to the country, which was hailed as an “economic wonder” just a few years ago.
According to scholar Debapriya Bhattacharya of the Centre for Policy Dialogue think tank in Dhaka, the next government may face a problem in regaining trust in the economy.
However, it would be very challenging because the state lacks the political clout to carry out the stability-related plans.
Bangladesh had experienced rapid economic growth in recent years.
Despite its difficult working conditions, its garment industry has helped millions of people escape poverty and now makes up about 80 % of the nation’s exports, making it the second-largest garment producer in the world after China.
The International Monetary Fund approved a$ 4.7 billion borrowing in 2023 to strengthen Bangladesh’s weak economy after once predicting that its gross domestic product could exceed that of developed markets like Singapore and Hong Kong.
However, researchers have cautioned that Bangladesh’s issues cannot be solved but quickly. Although outside factors played a role, some believe that politicians did not address them or carry out necessary changes.
Corruption is another scourge that has gone unchallenged. Bangladesh was ranked as the 12th most dishonest nation in the world by Transparency International.
” The ruling party has no reason to crack down on fraud severely.” And following this election, people and organizations connected to them will continue to have influence, according to Dr. Bhattacharya.
According to Ali Riaz, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, the folks at bottom of the social ladder did continue to bear the burden of its troubled economy as the national debt grows heavier.
” In any one-party state, there are no checks and balances.” According to Prof. Riaz, no one holds the government accountable for its financial decisions.
There have been claims of extensive vote-rigging in the past, which the Awami League refuted.
Additionally, there is worry that Bangladesh’s democracy and human rights situation may result in economic sanctions from important buying lovers like the US and the EU. Washington started enforcing immigration restrictions on Bangladeshi authorities past September after concluding that they were responsible for undermining the nation’s democratic election process.
Another significant and urgent issue is weather change. Bangladesh is located less than 5 meters above sea level in about two-thirds of the country. A 30 to 45 inches rise in sea level could force more than 35 million people—roughly 25 % of the nation’s population—out of southern areas, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In the south-western region of Satkhira, where vegetables simply grow during specific seasons or in corn sacks stuffed with compost due to the increasing acidity of the soil, tidal surges and cyclones are a growing threat.
The biggest issue in our region is the lack of clean drinking water. We are surrounded by salt water, according to local native Shampa Goswami.
She added that many people who live in rural areas are not well-informed about culture issues and that weather has not been a top priority in the poll plan.
This, in Prof. Riaz’s opinion, highlights the absence of a political approach. You wo n’t be able to address a crisis like this that calls for engagement with the common people unless you have an accountable system, he said.
Since the end of military rule in 1991, the Awami League and the BNP have alternated as the nation’s leaders, and some people claim that both parties have made a mockery of politics.
” Generally, whoever is in power will act in the same way.” It is very challenging to determine which of two evils is the lesser of the two. According to AKM Mohsin, managing director of the Bangladesh Centre in Singapore, “democracy in Bangladesh is defined in the government’s officials ‘ words.”
They cling to their authority when they have it. But rather than removing opportunities for the populace through poor governance of the nation, Bangladesh definitely needs officials who work to create them.
In the second quarter of this year, Nvidia, the largest supplier of graphic chips in the world, is reportedly going to mass produce three reduced artificial intelligence ( AI ) chips for China’s customers.
The California-based business originally intended to release three AI chips—H20, L20 and L2—for Chinese industry last November, but it postponed that release until 2024 in order to verify that the chips complied with US export restrictions.  ,
According to an essay published by the American tech news website Wccftech, the three cards will be produced by Taiwan’s Wistron Corp in the second quarter and are fully compliant with US export regulations.
According to the report, the first shipment of H20 bits will likely be delivered to customers in the middle or late next quarter of 2024.
According to a Chinese author for Shenzhen Xinbang Information Technology Co Ltd., H20’s efficiency density and computing power adhere to US export policies in terms of parameters.
In FP8 Tensor Core operations, he claims that H20 has a speed of 296 trillion floating point operations per second (teraflops or tflop ) when compared to H100’s 1, 979, and H200’S 3, 958, respectively. The H200, the most potent Artificial device in the world, is 13 times faster than the H20, according to him.
The H20 is a relatively lean and mean system, according to published transactions. In a piece that was published in November, analyst Dylan Patel from Semianalysis.com claims that the H20 performs large language model ( LLM) reasoning, which can be used to produce content using very large datasets, over 20 % faster than the M100.
He claims that when evaluating the performance of the H100, people should take into account the MFU ( model FLOPs utilization ) rate, also known as the actual utilization rate.  ,
The H20 performs close to 50 % of as well in actual multi-GPU connection conditions as the H100 does because its MFU is just 38.1 % while its may reach 90 %.  ,
According to other technologies writers, H20 consumes less power than H100 because its thermal pattern power is 400 watts. In addition,  ,
The A100 and H100 chips from Nvidia and AMD as well as the MI250 device from AMD were prohibited from being exported to China and Russia in August 2022 due to their high connection bandwidths—600 gigabytes per minute or higher—by the Biden administration.  ,
The A800 and H800 computers, which operate at 400 and 300 terabytes per minute, between, were eventually unveiled by Nvidia with a focus on the Chinese marketplaces. According to IT professionals, the A800 and H800 have efficiency rates that are roughly 70 % of those of an A100 and an H100, respectively.
The Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) of the US Commerce Department announced on October 17 that restricted chips would now be categorized using “performance” and”performance density” as new criteria. The new regulations forbid the shipment of Nvidia’s A800, H800s, L40S, and RTX 4090 bits to China. Nvidia wants to ship H20 to the nation to close the resulting distance.
According to some experts, this new chip may be appealing to Chinese consumers if it can reach 50 % of H100’s speed while using 43 % less power than that.
Foreign buyers continue to be very interested in the H20 chip, according to Kuo Ming-Chi, a Chinese tech researcher at the Hong Kong-based TF International Securities Group Ltd.” Despite having less computing authority than the HP100, it will be priced more affordably, and it supports Nvidia’s unique features like NVLink and CUDA platforms.”
In an article published on December 30, a Liaoning-based blogger claims that while H20 still outperforms Chinese AI cards in terms of performance and efficiency, this benefit is eroding.  ,
According to him, many Chinese chip manufacturers are expanding rapidly thanks to Beijing’s policy and financial assistance, and they will eventually overthrow Nvidia in the market for AI chips.  ,
In fact, some Chinese technology companies have already switched to using local chips, such as the 910B and BR100 chips from Huawei and Biren, because they do n’t want to wait for Nvidia’s arrival.
The strain on Nvidia might increase. In a conference on December 2, United States Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that the US government will take control of any US company if it redesigns its chip to fit into the specific split line that allows Chinese firms to use AI the very next day.
It is possible that Raimondo will strengthen the trade restrictions even more if H20 achievement is able to match that of H100s by 50 %.  ,
Read: Raimondo criticizes Nvidia for supplies to China
At , @jeffpao3 is Jeff Pao’s Twitter account.
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Trends in quantitative and qualitative fragmentation
Taking stock of polarization trends in the financial, business, and social spheres, including the possibility of expanding the Middle East conflict to include Iran and its proxies, the approaching Taiwan election, as well as the status of Russia’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine.
China was in a stronger strategic position at the start of the time.
According to Uwe Parpart, President Xi Jinping of China is on the verge of engaging in a military conflict in the Middle East and wants to take advantage of Washington’s precarious proper stance against the US.
Hazards of military issue: The Middle East crisis is still tumultuous.
David Woo examines the findings of the RIWI-Unbound Military Conflict study, which highlights the Middle East’s extremely dangerous situation. The percentage of Israeli respondents who anticipate an increase in military hostilities with Iran this week reached a six-week high of 40 %.
Purchase themes in a world that is polarizing,
In addition to outsourcing, electric vehicles, semiconductors, and other investments, David Woo , Scott Foster & NBSP study several investment options related to supply growth from US Treasuries with phrase premiums quickly declining since October.
The Russia-Ukraine option will be difficult in 2024.
According to James Davis, Moscow wants to subvert the public’s support for the Zelensky government as well as their desire to oppose Russian war goals by systematically destroying Russian capabilities for prolonged warfare.
Japan: A Japan Airlines Airbus A350 struck a coast guard aircraft as it was coming in to land, killing five of its passengers. However, all 379 passengers were evacuated. Here is a summary of the information that has come to light following the incident at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday,Continue Reading
Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a former prime minister and vice chairman of UMNO, denied attending the meeting the following morning. According to Berita Harian, he never traveled to Dubai and preferably made the brief trip in Mecca and Medina.
Abang Johari Openg, the top of Sarawak and GPS president, also referred to the action as a “waste of time” and stated on January 1 that GPS supports the unity state for social security, which had promote economic growth and, in turn, help Sarawah.
He dismissed rumors that the strategy called for his appointment as the next prime minister, claiming that since GPS merely held 23 seats in parliament, his probable championship had finally come under fire.
The subsequent- and third-largest portions of the government bloc are made up of BN’s 30 seats and GPS’23 seats, making them crucial to any potential strategy to overthrow the unity government.
On January 2, Mr. Anwar himself commented on the Dubai Move, claiming that it had no bearing on his administration’s efforts to build the country and protect its citizens. He told native press,” Their dishonesty for me has no consequence.”
According to “intelligence” reviews of the Dubai planes the plotters took, UMNO main Mr. Ahmad Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, confirmed that such a program existed.  ,
He did, however, admit to reporters that the program was “ill-conceived” and that past attempts to overthrow the government had been unsuccessful.
Marzuki Yahya, a former deputy chairman of Pejuang, also denied Dr. Mahathir’s involvement in the Dubai walk, calling the charges “baseless.”
According to Sinar Premium, he claimed that this was due to the fact that Dr. Mahathir, the former chairman of the Pejuang group, had not traveled overseas recently.
The Dubai Meeting may have happened because some people were “panicking” that Mr. Anwar’s main goal was to clear the nation of fraud, according to political analyst at Universiti Malaya.
Without naming them, he stated that these people were interested in self-preservation and that they were either currently being investigated or have not yet been investigated.
Despite this, Dr. Awang Azman asserted that it is improbable that the unity government would be overthrown given its current two-thirds majority ( 152 out of 222 seats ) in parliament.  ,
According to him, any political revolution had first require the GPS MPs to leave the government alliance and overthrow this two-thirds majority.
Asrul Hadi Sani, an independent researcher, stated that he thinks Mr. Daim played a” significant role” in the Dubai appointment, particularly in light of the ongoing federal investigation into his possessions and his” near relationship” with Mr Abang Johari.
” The key is GPS, never UMNO.” There could be a domino effect of Members changing their support if Mahathir and Daim can persuade Abang Johari not to help Anwar, he told CNA.
It’s doubtful that the federal government may fall apart without GPS.
The idea of 23 GPS MPs fleeing does carry pounds and build momentum, he said, in contrast to a divided UMNO, which Mr. Asrul Hadi believes may only offer 10MPs willing to switch support.
He continued,” Abang Johari has control over all of his MPs in deciding who to support in parliament as prime minister, unlike Zahid, who does n’t have the support of all his party members.”
But, 23 plus 10 perhaps persuade other UMNO MPs and other events to oppose Anwar.
COMPLETE Power According to OAG, a UK-based go industry data company, Tokyo Haneda is the third-busiest airport in the world. According to Reuters ‘ analysis of Cirium flight schedule data, 1, 290 flights left and arrived at Haneda on average each day in December. The aircraft was fully operational onContinue Reading