Month: April 2025

The Chinese military staged a second day of exercises around Taiwan on Wednesday, launching live-fire strikes in the East China Sea and practicing blockade operations near crucial shipping lanes to the east and west of the island.

China has ramped up the frequency and complexity of its military drills around Taiwan in recent years – exercises that analysts say serve both as critical preparation and strategic cover for a potential future invasion of the self-governing island.

On Wednesday, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched exercises – codenamed “Strait Thunder-2025A” – in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, focusing on testing the troops’ capabilities of “joint blockade and control” and “precision strikes on key targets,” the Eastern Theater Command’s spokesperson Senior Colonel Shi Yi said in a statement.

As part of the drills, the ground army of the Eastern Theater Command conducted “live-fire long-range strike drills in designated areas of the East China Sea,” Shi said.

China’s military launches live-fire exercise in escalation of blockade drills near Taiwan https://t.co/iTEzQ2eMZi

— primenews (@primeNPU) April 2, 2025

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Val Kilmer, star of “Top Gun,” “The Doors” and several other classic films, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to his family.

Val’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told the New York Times — which first reported the death — her dad died of pneumonia. He had been diagnosed with a throat tumor back in 2014, and had to be rushed to UCLA Medical Center in 2015 to treat severe bleeding in his throat. The tumor was the result of oral cancer.

Val famously played the lead role of rock star Jim Morrison in the film about The Doors, and also starred as Bruce Wayne in “Batman Forever.”

One of his most beloved roles was at Iceman in “Top Gun” … a character he managed to reprise in the 2022 sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick” despite his health challenges at the time.

The filmmakers used AI to recreate Val’s voice, which he’d lost at that point, due to the throat cancer.

Prolific American actor Val Kilmer, who was propelled to fame with "Top Gun" and went on to starring roles as Batman and Jim Morrison, has died at age 65, the New York Times has reported. https://t.co/iSQaKijCQ7 pic.twitter.com/kXMmdtgJY7

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 2, 2025

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Europe has “a strong plan” for striking back at the United States in response to Donald Trump’s tariff hikes “if necessary,” a top official said Tuesday on the eve of a long-anticipated announcement of massive import levies by the US president.

For weeks, Trump has promoted April 2 as “Liberation Day” in America, when a number of hefty tariffs will be unveiled to implement his administration’s radical economic agenda. The United States has already announced a sharp increase in tariffs on all imports of steel, aluminum and cars.

“Europe has not started this confrontation,” Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Union’s executive, said in a speech. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it.”

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would reveal his tariff plan in a press conference Wednesday. She did not provide any details about what he would announce but suggested, as Trump has said repeatedly, that the president could unveil reciprocal tariffs, matching other countries’ tariffs dollar for dollar.

In her speech, von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Europe was “open to negotiations.”

“We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” she continued. “But this strength is also built on our readiness to take firm countermeasures if necessary. All instruments are on the table.”

Europe has a "strong plan" for striking back at the US in response to Trump's tariff hikes "if necessary," top EU official sayshttps://t.co/wRvsKeXKoF

— CNN (@CNN) April 1, 2025

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Days earlier, a US manufacturer delivered an advanced version of the F-16 fighter jet to officials in Taipei

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has launched a military exercise near the self-governed island of Taiwan, aimed at deterring “separatism,” the Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The drill includes the army, navy, air, and rocket forces, according to Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command. The exercise focuses on joint sea-air combat readiness patrols, coordinated efforts to achieve comprehensive dominance, assaults on maritime and ground targets, and blockades of critical areas and sea lanes, the statement added.

Taiwanese officials cited by Reuters said the PLA had sent ten military ships toward the island, to which its military responded with their own naval deployment.

The American Institute in Taiwan, which functions similarly to an embassy, has described the exercise as proof that China is “not a responsible actor and has no problem putting the region’s security and prosperity at risk,” as quoted by the news agency.

China announces military exercise near Taiwan
Days earlier, a US manufacturer delivered an advanced version of the F-16 fighter jet to officials in Taipeihttps://t.co/x5Zo7D2pZL pic.twitter.com/5laObJylpy

— rbg4lif 🟥⬛🟩 (@rbg4lif) April 1, 2025

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