Archives for October 2017

The U.S. military flew two Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force late on Tuesday amid high tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, South Korea’s military said.

The two B-1B bombers were accompanied by two F-15K fighters from the South Korean military after leaving their base in Guam, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a news release on Wednesday.

The U.S. military said in a separate statement Japanese fighters had also joined the drill, making it the first night-time combined exercise for the U.S. bombers with fighters from Japan and South Korea.

After entering South Korean airspace, the two bombers carried out air-to-ground missile drills in waters off the east coast of South Korea, then flew over the South to waters between it and China to repeat the drill, the South’s release said.

The South Korean military said this was part of a regular exercise to bolster military defences and also to display the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

U.S. Air Force Major Patrick Applegate said: “Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea and hones the tactical prowess of each nations’ aviators.”

“This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies anytime, anywhere,” the U.S. release quoted him as saying.

The U.S. bombers had taken off from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. In August, Pyongyang threatened to shoot intermediate range missiles towards the vicinity of Guam, a target frequently subjected to sabre-rattling from the North.

South Korean and U.S. government officials have been raising their guard against more North Korean provocations with the approach of the 72nd anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling party, which fell on Tuesday.

North Korea has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test in recent weeks in defiance of U.N. sanctions as it races towards its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

The North Korean party anniversary passed without any missile launches or nuclear tests, but officials are wary the North could engage in more provocations at any time, especially with China to begin its all-important Communist Party Congress on Oct 18.

U.S. flies bombers over Korean peninsula with S Korean, Japanese fighters – http://bndl.tw/0XsknGeZ

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North Korean special forces have carried out an exercise in which they used paragliders to simulate infiltrating behind South Korean lines and launch an attack on the headquarters of the joint South Korean-US military command.

Officials of Seoul’s Defence Ministry told Yonhap news that the exercises were conducted over a number of days in mid-September and were the first time that the tactic had been tested by the North.

Special forces troops used paragliders to land on a training ground where a mock-up of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command in Seoul had been constructed.

The new infiltration technique has caused concern in Seoul, where a defence source said that existing radar systems would be unlikely to detect such small targets crossing the border. Paragliders can also travel swiftly and in silence and would allow the North’s special forces to carry out an attack with little warning, particularly at night.

“A paraglider flies at low altitude without making a sound”, the official said. It could be useful for making a surprise attack, like a drone.

“I believe that North Korean special forces are adopting amazing methods of infiltration with limited resources”.

The North is clearly attempting to develop its own “decapitation” capabilities, aimed at the joint South Korean-US command and control capabilities in the event of war breaking out on the peninsula.

Seoul has made no secret of its development of a specialised unit that will be tasked with eliminating the leadership of the North should war appear to be imminent.

South Korea and the US responded to the exercises by staging short-range air defence drills close to the border.

North Korea has carried out previous demonstrations of its special forces’ capabilities, with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, in December overseeing an assault by commandos on a full-scale mock-up of the Blue House, the official residence of the South Korean president.

In footage broadcast on national television, troops used ropes to descend from helicopters before commencing their attack, with the replica of the Blue House later pictured wreathed in smoke. The images also showed attackers firing semi-automatic weapons into the building.

Mr Kim was also pictured standing in front of heavily armed members of the unit.

He also ordered the unit to be ready to “conduct bold combat actions with the southern part of Korea as their theatre”, state-run media reported.

North Korean special forces use paragliders in simulated attack on South Korean-US military HQ – http://bndl.tw/ewb5b3in

PHOTO: Experts say emissions from mobile phones and tablets are “low intensity”. (ABC News: Clarissa Thorpe)

MAP: Australia

Vitamin companies are peddling “ludicrous” claims about products that protect children’s eyes from the blue light emitted by digital devices, according to doctors.

Key points:

• Eye doctors say there is no scientific evidence that blue light is damaging to the eye
• Blue light refers to a range of the visible light spectrum, and can come from sources such as computers, torches and lasers
• Scientists say the blue light emitted by phones and tablets is “low intensity”

Ads for the dietary supplements suggest they can “guard” or “shield” children’s eyes from “high energy” blue light.

However the organisation that represents eye doctors, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, said there was no scientific evidence that blue light was damaging to the eye or caused disease.

“The idea that a vitamin might stop blue light absorption to me is ludicrous,” the college’s Dr Shanel Sharma said.

Marketing expert Debra Grace, from Griffith University in Queensland, said the ads were aimed at the biggest and most captive market.

“These ads are perfect examples of marketers targeting parents, based on their guilt feelings,” Professor Grace said.

“There may be a bit of guilt thereabouts at their children spending too much time on their iPad or the iPhone.”

Do you know more about this story? Email investigations@abc.net.au

What is blue light?

Blue light refers to a specific range of the visible light spectrum. It can come from artificial sources such as computers, torches and lasers, but Dr Sharma said most of it came from sunlight.

PHOTO: Products from Bioglan and Caruso’s claim to help protect children’s eyes from blue light. (Supplied)

One of the vitamin products advertised recently is sold by Caruso’s Natural Health. The company’s website said the product “may support cells within the eye by absorbing high energy blue light”.

In a statement, Caruso’s Natural Health technical and regulatory manager Gulhan Demirci said blue light’s “cumulative effect is known to cause damage to the retina”.

Scientist Dino Pisaniello, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Public Health, said damage was caused only by high-intensity exposure, such as from a solar eclipse, a welding torch or a laser.

“The emissions from mobile phones and tablets screens have been measured and they are very low-intensity sources,” he said.

However, Professor Pisaniello noted that there hadn’t been any population studies looking into whether the light from screens caused damage.

“What it is doing in terms of affecting the eye is very minor and it’s compensated to a large extent by the existing body defences,” he said.

“It’s not like there isn’t some process for dealing with that kind of exposure anyway, that’s normal vision and it’s normal … body defence.

“The question is whether or not we need to supplement that body defence. I would say no.”

Can vitamins protect the eye?

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists said the only evidence of vitamins helping eye health applied to the aging-related condition macular degeneration.

PHOTO: Dr Shanel Sharma says vitamins will not stop blue-light absorption. (ABC News: Meredith Griffiths)

Dr Sharma said a very specific combination of vitamins, known as the AREDS formulation, slowed the rate of macular degeneration in one out of four aged people whose disease was in an advanced stage.

“But in patients who have macular degeneration in a milder form, there is no evidence that even if they took the full vitamin complement for five years that there is any reduction in the rate of development of macular degeneration. So I would not prescribe it for children,” she said.

The Caruso product contains two elements from the AREDS formulation, substances called lutein and zeaxanthin. Caruso said they helped “to absorb and filter out blue light”.

TV ads for similar tablets by Bioglan also said they contained lutein, “which may help shield the retina from blue light and support growing eyes”.

Professor Pisaniello said there was scientific evidence that lutein did absorb blue light, but children could get enough lutein from a healthy diet.

“If they had a normal diet with the sort of green vegetables and so on, they wouldn’t have to worry about supplementation,” he said.

Another element of the Caruso product is fish oil, which Dr Sharma said may help soothe dry eyes caused by looking at screens — but she added that dryness did not damage children’s eyes.

The Bioglan product also contains vitamin E, which is part of the AREDS formulation, and betacarotene.

Dr Sharma said there was scientific evidence linking betacarotene to an increased incidence of lung cancer in smokers.

“I would be concerned about children being given this, particularly those exposed to second-hand smoke,” she said.

Can devices harm children’s eyes?

Dr Sharma said there was some evidence that children may become short-sighted if they hold screens at distances less than 30 centimetre for sustained periods of time, but she said vitamins would not protect against that.

She said parents should worry more about UV sunlight than blue light. UV light can damage the eye and most of that harm occurs before a person turns 18.

“So if parents are worried about protecting their children’s eyesight they should be putting properly protective sunglasses on them,” Dr Sharma said.

‘The parental market is huge for manufacturers’

Professor Grace from Griffith University said parents often bought products for their children that they wouldn’t use themselves.

“The parental market is huge for any manufacturer,” she said.

“This is what you see quite often with a lot of pharmacy lines they actually have a line that may be very, very similar to something they already selling but they put the words ‘children’ or ‘kids’ on it, and they have a captive market.

“Modern parents worry about everything and so if there’s even a suggestion that something may be harmful to their children, they’re right onto it.”

Company says evidence supports their product

Ms Demirci from Caruso’s Natural Health said the company was not targeting parents’ feelings of guilt.

She said the company was very careful not to incite fear or distress, or to imply harm will result by not taking Caruso’s products.

“The science and evidence supporting the product is more than adequate,” she said.

“The product was developed and designed to help support children’s diets and help ensure they are getting the correct nutrients they need to help support and protect their eyes in an environment which is increasing their exposure and risk of blue light.”

Ms Demirci said Caruso encouraged parents to limit their children’s time on devices, encourage them to go outside, and to provide a diet with lots of fruit and vegetables.

Bioglan has been contacted for comment.

Vitamin companies are peddling ludicrous claims about products that protect children’s eyes from the blue light emitted by digital devices, according to doctors.

Source: Can a vitamin product protect kids’ eyes from a tablet’s blue light? – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Ahotel security guard was shot by the Las Vegas mass shooting’s gunman six minutes before he opened fire on concert-goers, authorities said on Monday, revising the timeline of the attack.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo had previously said the guard was shot after gunman Stephen Paddock fired at the country music festival and that the guard’s arrival in the hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel may have caused Paddock to stop firing.

It was not immediately clear why the timeline of the shooting changed a week later and what the impact could be on the investigation.

On Monday, Lombardo said security guard Jesus Campos was in a hallway of the Mandalay Bay hotel responding to a report of an open door when he heard drilling from Stephen Craig Paddock’s room.

Paddock, who had installed three cameras to monitor the approach to his suite, opened fire through the door, spraying 200 shots down the hall and wounding the guard, who alerted other security officials, Lombardo said.

Six minutes later, Paddock began a 10-minute killing spree that killed 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, Lombardo said.

Authorities also said on Monday that Paddock targeted aviation fuel tanks, stocked his car with explosives and had personal protection gear as part of an escape plan.

Paddock had power tools and was attempting to drill a hole in an adjacent wall, perhaps to mount another camera or to point a rifle through, but he never completed the work, Lombardo said. He also drilled holes and bolted a metal bar to try to prevent the opening of an emergency exit stairwell door near the door of his room.

Lombardo again expressed frustration with the pace of the investigation, but not with the investigators who have yet to pinpoint the motive behind the shooter’s decision to fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel casino on a Las Vegas Strip concert crowd of 22,000 on October 1.

“It’s because this individual purposely hid his actions leading up to this event, and it is difficult for us to find the answers to those actions,” Lombardo said. “We believe he decided to take the lives he did and he had a very purposeful plan that he carried out.”

 
Hotel security guard praised by Trump and Las Vegas police for helping to stop shooter

There is still no evidence Paddock was motivated by ideology, or that there was another shooter, he said. Investigators have found 200 incidents of Paddock moving through the city, and at no time was he with anyone else, Lombardo said.

Lombardo said police and FBI agents, including behavioural profilers, still haven’t found a particular event in Paddock’s life that might have triggered the shooting. The sheriff added that a complete evaluation of Paddock’s mental condition was not yet done. Authorities didn’t find a note in his room, only a paper with numbers, he said.

Investigators believe the numbers represented calculations for more precise shots, according to a law enforcement official.

The sheriff also confirmed investigators were talking with Paddock’s brother Eric Paddock, who travelled to Las Vegas, and continue to speak with the shooter’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, to get insight.

Police bodycam video captures chaos of Las Vegas shooting

Lombardo declined to reveal what they’ve said, but he stated, “Every piece of information we get is one more piece of the puzzle.”

Eric Paddock said he came to Las Vegas to retrieve his brother’s body in hopes of sending the cremated ashes to their 89-year-old mother in Orlando.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said on Monday he could not discuss the results of an autopsy done on Stephen Paddock, who police said shot himself dead before officers arrived at the Las Vegas Strip hotel suite from which he rained gunfire on a concert crowd below.

Eric Paddock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he planned to put his brother’s assets in a trust that would benefit the shooting victims.

 

Las Vegas security guard was shot before gunman opened fire on crowd – http://bndl.tw/uSplDSpX