TOP NEWS

China's Armament
Task: China Practices Shooting at Fictitious American Targets

The Chinese army is practicing to knock out American aircraft carriers and military bases, reports Dagens Nyheter. The country has constructed fictitious targets in the country's deserts that look like copies of American warships.

According to experts, the purpose of the models is to practice firing shots at moving targets. According to reports, China has hypersonic naval missiles for this purpose, weapons that can hit targets at a distance of 150 kilometers.

-The US military power in the region depends on its aircraft carriers and air bases when they wage war. China is trying to neutralize them both, says Per Olsson, a defense economist at the Swedish Defense Research Institute, to the newspaper

Middle East Crisis  Political Situation in Israel
Netanyahu on Turkey's Position: Cannot Be Tolerated

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is raising his voice against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his involvement in the conflict in the Middle East, writes AFP.

In a statement on Friday, Netanyahu called Erdogan an "anti-Semitic dictator." He also said that Israel will respond forcefully to what he believes are Turkish attempts to destabilize the region.

The move comes days after the Israeli military bombed an airport in northern Syria, a facility where Turkey is said to have planned to establish a military presence.

"Israel cannot tolerate it," Netanyahu said according to the statement. 

Middle East Crisis  Iran War
Trump Promises Economic War – But Iran’s Partners May Be Hard to Reach

US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday with unprecedented economic warfare against Iran and its allies. Iran’s largest trading partners are China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey – and they may be difficult for Trump to influence, writes Reuters.

As for China, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, the country has built independent oil refineries that reduce its exposure to American intermediaries. The United Arab Emirates’ trade with Iran was sharply reduced at the beginning of the war, and this week it announced that all transactions with Iran are being halted. As for Turkey, trade has continued, and according to Reuters, the country has shown no intention of reducing it.

Finland summons Russian ambassador

Finland's Foreign Ministry is summoning Russia's ambassador to the country after a suspected violation of Finnish airspace.

Finland is demanding an explanation for the incident, according to the ministry's statement on social media.

On Thursday afternoon, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft is suspected of having flown into Finnish airspace over the central Baltic Sea, southeast of Åland in the area where the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland meet.

Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen initially announced that the matter was being taken seriously and investigated further.

Finland's Border Guard announced on Friday that the violation allegedly took place for three minutes and extended 4.7 nautical miles into Finnish territory, Yle reports.