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Some world news some history and some tidbits



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Thanks to Robert

I have seen this before and glad to watch it again.

From a fellow Vietnam veteran. A powerful 14 minute video on a true WW2 hero you probably never heard of......

George

If you are unaware of Roddie Edmonds story in 1945, I urge you to watch this short video. Perhaps one of the best videos you'll ever see.

A very powerful and an incredible story of a very courageous man, who save the lives of over 200 POWs in WW-2 .



https://player.vimeo.com/video/198357872







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.thanks to Richard


Subject: Fw: Quite the story





Subject: Quite the story







He Was Suspended in Midair with Little

Chance of Survival

Then Another Plane Came to His Rescue

Almost 80 years after it unfolded in the sky over San Diego, a nearly impossible rescue mission remains one of the most daring feats in aeronautical history.

Courtesy Rick Lawrence (portrait), Shutterstock (4), archive.org (government document)

It began like any other May morning in California. The sky was blue, the sun hot. A slight breeze riffled the glistening waters of San Diego Bay. At the naval airbase on North Island, all was calm.

At 9:45 a.m., Walter Osipoff, a sandy-haired 23-year-old Marine second lieutenant from Akron, Ohio, boarded a DC-2 transport for a routine parachute jump. Lt. Bill Lowrey, a 34-year-old Navy test pilot from New Orleans, was already putting his observation plane through its paces. And John McCants, a husky 41-year-old aviation chief machinist's mate from Jordan, Montana, was checking out the aircraft that he was scheduled to fly later. Before the sun was high in the noonday sky, these three men would be linked forever in one of history's most spectacular midair rescues.



Osipoff was a seasoned parachutist, a former collegiate wrestling and gymnastics star. He had joined the National Guard and then the Marines in 1938. He had already made more than 20 jumps by May 15, 1941.

That morning, his DC-2 took off and headed for Kearney Mesa, where Osipoff would supervise practice jumps by 12 of his men. Three separate canvas cylinders, containing ammunition and rifles, were also to be parachuted overboard as part of the exercise.

Nine of the men had already jumped when Osipoff, standing a few inches from the plane's door, started to toss out the last cargo container. Somehow the automatic-release cord of his backpack parachute became looped over the cylinder, and his chute was suddenly ripped open. He tried to grab hold of the quickly billowing silk, but the next thing he knew he had been jerked from the plane—sucked out with such force that the impact of his body ripped a 2.5-foot gash in the DC-2's aluminum fuselage.

Instead of flowing free, Osipoff's open parachute now wrapped itself around the plane's tail wheel. The chute's chest strap and one leg strap had broken; only the second leg strap was still holding—and it had slipped down to Osipoff's ankle. One by one, 24 of the 28 lines between his precariously attached harness and the parachute snapped. He was now hanging some 12 feet below and 15 feet behind the tail of the plane. Four parachute shroud lines twisted around his left leg were all that kept him from being pitched to the earth.

Dangling there upside down, Osipoff had enough presence of mind to not try to release his emergency parachute. With the plane pulling him one way and the emergency chute pulling him another, he realized that he would be torn in half. Conscious all the while, he knew that he was hanging by one leg, spinning and

bouncing—and he was aware that his ribs hurt. He did not know then that two ribs and three vertebrae had been fractured.

Inside the plane, the DC-2 crew struggled to pull Osipoff to safety, but they could not reach him. The aircraft was starting to run low on fuel, but an emergency landing with Osipoff dragging behind would certainly smash him to death. And pilot Harold Johnson had no radio contact with the ground.

To attract attention below, Johnson eased the transport down to 300 feet and started circling North Island. A few people at the base noticed the plane coming by every few minutes, but they assumed that it was towing some sort of target.

Meanwhile, Bill Lowrey had landed his plane and was walking toward his office when he glanced upward. He and John McCants, who was working nearby, saw at the same time the figure dangling from the plane. As the DC-2 circled once again, Lowrey yelled to McCants, "There's a man hanging on that line. Do you suppose we can get him?" McCants answered grimly, "We can try."

Lowrey shouted to his mechanics to get his plane ready for takeoff. It was an SOC-1, a two-seat, open-cockpit observation plane, less than 27 feet long. Recalled Lowrey afterward, "I didn't even know how much fuel it had." Turning to McCants, he said, "Let's go!"

Lowrey and McCants had never flown together before, but the two men seemed to take it for granted that they were going to attempt the impossible. "There was only one decision to be made," Lowrey later said quietly, "and that was to go get him. How, we didn't know. We had no time to plan."



Courtesy National Archives (Photo No. 127-N-522950)

Lt. Col. John J. Capolino, a Philadelphia artist, painted this scene of Osipoff's rescue in the 1940s. It belongs to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.

Nor was there time to get through to their commanding officer and request permission for the flight. Lowrey simply told the tower, "Give me a green light. I'm taking off." At the last moment, a Marine ran out to the plane with a hunting knife—for cutting Osipoff loose—and dumped it in McCants's lap.

As the SOC-1 roared aloft, all activity around San Diego seemed to stop. Civilians crowded rooftops, children stopped playing at recess, and the men of North Island strained their eyes upward. With murmured prayers and pounding hearts, the watchers agonized through every move in the impossible mission.

Within minutes, Lowrey and McCants were under the transport, flying at 300 feet. They made five approaches, but the air proved too bumpy to try for a rescue. Since radio communication between the two planes was impossible, Lowrey hand-signaled Johnson to head out over the Pacific, where the air would be smoother, and they climbed to 3,000 feet. Johnson held his plane

on a straight course and reduced speed to that of the smaller plane—100 miles an hour.

Lowrey flew back and away from Osipoff, but level with him. McCants, who was in the open seat in back of Lowrey, saw that Osipoff was hanging by one foot and that blood was dripping from his helmet. Lowrey edged the plane closer with such precision that his maneuvers jibed with the swings of Osipoff's inert body. His timing had to be exact so that Osipoff did not smash into the SOC-1's propeller.

Finally, Lowrey slipped his upper left wing under Osipoff's shroud lines, and McCants, standing upright in the rear cockpit—with the plane still going 100 miles an hour 3,000 feet above the sea— lunged for Osipoff. He grabbed him at the waist, and Osipoff flung his arms around McCants's shoulders in a death grip.

McCants pulled Osipoff into the plane, but since it was only a two- seater, the next problem was where to put him. As Lowrey eased the SOC-1 forward to get some slack in the chute lines, McCants managed to stretch Osipoff's body across the top of the fuselage, with Osipoff's head in his lap.

Because McCants was using both hands to hold Osipoff in a vise, there was no way for him to cut the cords that still attached Osipoff to the DC-2. Lowrey then nosed his plane inch by inch closer to the transport and, with incredible precision, used his propeller to cut the shroud lines. After hanging for 33 minutes between life and death, Osipoff was finally free.

Lowrey had flown so close to the transport that he'd nicked a 12- inch gash in its tail. But now the parachute, abruptly detached along with the shroud lines, drifted downward and wrapped itself around Lowrey's rudder. That meant that Lowrey had to fly the SOC-1 without being able to control it properly and with most of Osipoff's body still on the outside. Yet, five minutes later, Lowrey somehow managed to touch down at North Island, and the little

plane rolled to a stop. Osipoff finally lost consciousness—but not before he heard sailors applauding the landing.

Later on, after lunch, Lowrey and McCants went back to their usual duties. Three weeks later, both men were flown to Washington, DC, where Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox awarded them the Distinguished Flying Cross for executing "one of the most brilliant and daring rescues in naval history."

Osipoff spent the next six months in the hospital. The following January, completely recovered and newly promoted to first lieutenant, he went back to parachute jumping. The morning he was to make his first jump after the accident, he was cool and laconic, as usual. His friends, though, were nervous. One after another, they went up to reassure him. Each volunteered to jump first so he could follow.

Osipoff grinned and shook his head. "The hell with that!" he said

as he fastened his parachute. "I know damn well I'm going to

make it." And he did.

This article first appeared in the May 1975 edition of Reader's Digest.









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Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day



*MINUE, NICHOLAS
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company A, 6th Armored Infantry, 1st Armored Division. Place and date: Near MedjezelBab, Tunisia, 28 April 1943. Entered service at: Carteret, N.J. Birth: Sedden, Poland. G.O. No.: 24, 25 March 1944. Citation: For distinguishing himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the loss of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 28 April 1943, in the vicinity of MedjezelBab, Tunisia. When the advance of the assault elements of Company A was held up by flanking fire from an enemy machinegun nest, Pvt. Minue voluntarily, alone, and unhesitatingly, with complete disregard of his own welfare, charged the enemy entrenched position with fixed bayonet. Pvt. Minue assaulted the enemy under a withering machinegun and rifle fire, killing approximately 10 enemy machinegunners and riflemen. After completely destroying this position, Pvt. Minue continued forward, routing enemy riflemen from dugout positions until he was fatally wounded. The courage, fearlessness and aggressiveness displayed by Pvt. Minue in the face of inevitable death was unquestionably the factor that gave his company the offensive spirit that was necessary for advancing and driving the enemy from the entire sector.

RUIZ, ALEJANDRO R. RENTERIA
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, 165th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 28 April 1945. Entered service at: Carlsbad, N. Mex. Birth: Loving, N. Mex. G.O. No.: 60, 26 June 1946. Citation: When his unit was stopped by a skillfully camouflaged enemy pillbox, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. His squad, suddenly brought under a hail of machinegun fire and a vicious grenade attack, was pinned down. Jumping to his feet, Pfc. Ruiz seized an automatic rifle and lunged through the flying grenades and rifle and automatic fire for the top of the emplacement. When an enemy soldier charged him, his rifle jammed. Undaunted, Pfc. Ruiz whirled on his assailant and clubbed him down. Then he ran back through bullets and grenades, seized more ammunition and another automatic rifle, and again made for the pillbox. Enemy fire now was concentrated on him, but he charged on, miraculously reaching the position, and in plain view he climbed to the top. Leaping from 1 opening to another, he sent burst after burst into the pillbox, killing 12 of the enemy and completely destroying the position. Pfc. Ruiz's heroic conduct, in the face of overwhelming odds, saved the lives of many comrades and eliminated an obstacle that long would have checked his unit's advance.





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World News for 28 April thanks to Military Periscope



USA—Army Announces 7 Unit Rotations Despite COVID-19 Pandemic U.S. Army | 04/28/2020 The U.S. Army has announced the planned deployment of seven units overseas in the coming months. The 101st Airborne Division Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., will deploy to Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The units will replace the 3rd Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, respectively, the Army announced on April 23. The 1st Cavalry Division headquarters, Fort Hood, Texas, will replace the 1st Infantry Division headquarters as the Atlantic Resolve Division Headquarters (Forward) in Poznan, Poland. The 4th Security Forces Assistance Brigade, Fort Carson, Colo., is headed to Afghanistan to replace the 3rd Security Forces Assistance Brigade, while the 4th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Carson, will replace the 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade there. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., will replace the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, in Iraq. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas, will replace the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team from the North Carolina National Guard in Kuwait. All of the deployments are part of regularly scheduled rotations. The announcements indicate that the Army plans to move ahead with large-scale unit rotations despite the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Pentagon has halted all such movements under a travel ban that runs to June 30. U.S. Army Europe and Central Command were working to define the necessary quarantine procedures that will be required of the deploying soldiers, officials said.



USA—Tail Issue To Limit Supersonic Ops For Navy, Marine F-35s Defense News | 04/28/2020 The F-35 program office has decided not to address a tail issue that limits how long the Marine F-35B and Navy F-35C variants can operate at supersonic speeds at extremely high altitdues, reports Defense News. A deficiency report on the issue was closed in December with the concurrence of the military services, with no plans to correct the problem, the F-35 Joint Program Office told the newspaper. Instead of fixing the problem, the deficiency would be addressed through changes to the jet's operating parameters, it said. At issue is the stealth coating on the tail section, which can blister and weaken during supersonic flights at extremely high altitudes. The tail also houses several antennas for its sensor systems. Resolving the problem would require a lengthy development and testing process for a new material coating, the program office said. The limitations may prevent the F-35C from making supersonic intercepts.



USA—Navy Accepts Delivery Of Zumwalt Destroyer Following Combat Systems Activation Navy Newsstand | 04/28/2020 The U.S. Navy has accepted delivery of the the lead ship of its newest class of destroyers after years of delays, reports the Navy NewsStand. USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was officially handed over to the Navy on April 24 after completing its combat systems activation. The ship will now move on to the next phase of developmental and integrated at-sea testing. The delivery means the Zumwalt can be included in the Navy's battle fleet but does not mean significant operational changes for the crew or the fleet, reported USNI News. The warship was commissioned in October 2016 following the delivery of its hull, mechanical and electrical systems, but the Navy could not legally accept delivery until the Zumwalt was fully outfitted with its combat system. The Zumwalt is scheduled to complete its initial operational test and evaluation and declare initial operational capability next year. The destroyer is officially part of the Pacific Fleet and remains assigned to Surface Development Squadron One to continue to develop tactics, techniques and procedures for the class.



USA—AFRICOM Publishes 1st Quarterly Report On Civilian Casualties Africa Command | 04/28/2020 U.S. Africa Command has just published its first quarterly report on its ongoing and completed investigations into allegations of civilian casualties. From Feb. 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, AFRICOM conducted 91 airstrikes against militants in Libya and Somalia. During this period, the command received 70 allegations about 27 separate potential civilian casualty incidents with about 90 alleged casualties, said an AFRICOM release on Monday. As of March 31, 20 incidents were closed and seven remained under review. One incident of civilian casualties had been confirmed. On Feb. 23, 2019, two civilians were killed and three injured in an airstrike that also killed two Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia. The probe determined that the casualties were due to the effects of U.S. munitions or secondary explosions from Al-Shabaab weapons stored at the site of the strike. This is the second time the command has acknowledged a civilian fatality as a result of an airstrike. In April 2018, the command conducted a strike in El Buur in the Galgadud region of central Somalia that killed two civilians, noted Reuters. The command announced in March that it would begin investigating allegations of civilian casualties and fielding tips from the public, following several years of allegations that it did not adequately address such claims.



USA—Lockheed To Perform Integration Work For DARPA Satellite Program Lockheed Martin | 04/28/2020 Lockheed Martin has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of satellite integration for the agency's Blackjack satellite network program, reports the defense firm. Under the $5.8 million contract, Lockheed will define and manage interfaces between the satellite bus, payload and the "Pit Boss," said a company release on Monday. The Pit Boss is an autonomous, space-based command and data processor. BAE, Systems, SEAKER Engineering and Scientifics Systems Co. were awarded contracts to design the processor last year. The Blackjack program aims to develop and demonstrate the critical elements of a global high-speed network in low Earth orbit. The satellite constellation is intended to provide the U.S. military with highly connected, autonomous, resilient and persistent coverage via multiple payload types and missions. Lessons from the program are expected to assist in the development of constellations of hundreds of satellites. A demonstration constellation of approximately 20 satellites is expected to be launched in the summer of 2022, reported C4ISRNet.



USA—Lockheed To Perform Integration Work For DARPA Satellite Program Lockheed Martin | 04/28/2020 Lockheed Martin has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of satellite integration for the agency's Blackjack satellite network program, reports the defense firm. Under the $5.8 million contract, Lockheed will define and manage interfaces between the satellite bus, payload and the "Pit Boss," said a company release on Monday. The Pit Boss is an autonomous, space-based command and data processor. BAE, Systems, SEAKER Engineering and Scientifics Systems Co. were awarded contracts to design the processor last year. The Blackjack program aims to develop and demonstrate the critical elements of a global high-speed network in low Earth orbit. The satellite constellation is intended to provide the U.S. military with highly connected, autonomous, resilient and persistent coverage via multiple payload types and missions. Lessons from the program are expected to assist in the development of constellations of hundreds of satellites. A demonstration constellation of approximately 20 satellites is expected to be launched in the summer of 2022, reported C4ISRNet.



Netherlands—Army Orders More Bushmaster Armored Vehicles In New Medevac Configuration Australian Defence Magazine | 04/28/2020 The Dutch military has awarded Thales Australia a contract for additional Bushmaster armored vehicles, reports Australian Defence Magazine. The Aus$14 million (US$9.03 million) contract covers five vehicles in a bespoke medical evacuation configuration and one infantry mobility vehicle. Production of the medevac variant will involve Dutch firm Visser Horti Systems, which specializes in the design of clinical white spaces for the Royal Netherlands Army, reported Jane's Defence Weekly. The order will bring the Dutch Bushmaster fleet to 104. Delivery is scheduled for 2021.



Estonia—Belgian Jets Intercept Russian Aircraft Off Coast Defence-Blog | 04/28/2020 The Belgian air force contingent assigned to NATO's air-policing mission in the Baltic states has twice intercepted Russian jets off the Estonian coast in recent days, reports Defence Blog. On April 25, Belgian F-16 fighter jets intercepted a Russian A-50 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft off the coast of Estonia, the Belgian air force said in a statement. On Monday, the Belgian fighters were again scrambled to intercept a Russian An-26 cargo aircraft. The NATO mission regularly intercepts Russian aircraft that fail to maintain contact with local air traffic control while flying between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland.



China—Beijing Moves To Strengthen People's Armed Police South China Morning Post | 04/28/2020 Chinese lawmakers are amending legislation to strengthen the role of the paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP), reports the South China Morning Post. The draft amendment to the Law on the People's Armed Police Force was submitted to the Standing Committee of National People's Congress on Sunday, reported the Global Times (China). The legislation would add a new chapter on "Organization and Command" and divide the chapters on "Missions and Duty" into the new chapters "Mission" and "Function and Power," reported Xinhua, China's state-run news agency. The mission section details the scope of the PAP's sentry duties and responsibilities in emergency responses and disaster relief. The organization section moves the armed police under the command of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Central Military Commission (CMC). It was previously placed under the command of the CMC in 2017. The law also requires the armed police to form a more efficient organizational and command system and join a national intelligence-sharing network. The draft amendment gives the CMC additional supervisory powers over the PAP. The changes give the Chinese Communist Party more direct control over the armed police since it has assumed more important duties, said experts.



North Korea—Diplomatic Team Heads To China To Talk Trade, Food Imports Reuters | 04/28/2020 A North Korean delegation will visit Beijing this week to discuss food aid and trade, which have been disrupted by the the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, reports Reuters. The officials will discuss resuming cross-border trade and increasing food imports from China, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Early in the COVID-19 outbreak, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un sealed the border with China and cut off most trade and travel, resulting in shortages of food and consumer supplies. Beijing continues to restrict the entry of foreigners into China in an effort to prevent a resurgence of the virus. An unnamed source said China planned to send emergency items such as rice, soybeans, vegetables, instant noodles and medical supplies to Pyongyang. Despite the restrictions, at least one freight train has crossed the border daily since April 22, reported the Yonhap news agency (Seoul), citing a source at the North Korea-China border.



South Korea—Final Cheongung Air Defense Systems Handed Over Yonhap | 04/28/2020 The South Korean military has taken delivery of its last Cheongung domestically developed air defense systems, reports the Yonhap news agency (Seoul). All of the systems on order have been delivered, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said on Tuesday. The Cheongung is South Korea's first indigenous surface-to-air missile system. The system, which was designed to replace aging MIM-23 Hawk batteries, first entered service in 2015.



South Korea—New Combat System To Be Developed For Next-Gen Destroyers Yonhap | 04/28/2020 The South Korean government has approved plans to domestically develop a new combat system for a class of next-generation destroyers, reports the Yonhap news agency (Seoul). Under the plan approved on Monday by the Defense Project Promotion Committee, a US$546 million contract to develop the combat system for the Korea Destroyer Next Generation program will be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2020, said the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). System development is expected to be completed by 2030. South Korea plans to build a new class of 6,000-ton destroyers equipped with an indigenous combat system. Separately, the committee approved a US$260 million plan to develop a joint tactical data link and a US$975 million project to improve military radio communication systems.



Afghanistan—Violence On The Rise Since March Despite Overall Decline In Civilian Casualties United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan | 04/28/2020 The number of civilian casualties caused by fighting in Afghanistan fell by nearly a third in the first three months of 2020, according to the latest report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. The U.N. mission documented 533 civilian fatalities and 760 injuries as a result of fighting between Jan. 1 and March 31, UNAMA reported on Monday. This represents a 29 percent decrease from the same period in 2019 and the lowest figure in the first quarter of a year since 2012. Fifty-five percent of civilian casualties were attributed to militants, while government and coalition forces were responsible for 32 percent, said UNAMA. The number of civilian casualties increased in March as fighting escalated between the government and Taliban despite an agreement reached between the U.S. and the militant group on Feb. 29.



Iraq—U.S. Renews Waiver For Import Of Iranian Electricity Tasnim News Agency | 04/28/2020 The United States has again renewed a waiver exempting Iraq from sanctions over its import of electricity from Iran, reports the Tasnim News Agency (Iran). Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed the waiver on Sunday, said a State Dept. official cited by Reuters. Previously, the U.S. has extended Iraq's waiver for 90 to 120 days, but the latest exemption is for just 30 days and will expire on May 26. Washington will assess whether to renew it once Iraq has formed a credible government, the State Dept. official said. The waiver applies only to electricity, the official said. Sanctions on natural gas imports are the purview of the Treasury Dept. Iraq has been struggling to form a government since Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned in December.



Libya—Haftar Declares Himself Ruler, Bypassing Rival Governments Anadolu News Agency | 04/28/2020 Eastern Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar has declared himself ruler of Libya, bypassing civilian authorities in the east and west, reports Turkey's Anadolu Agency. In a statement on Monday, Haftar said that he had " accepted the mandate of the Libyan people" and would govern the country. The 2015 Skhirat agreement, which created a U.N.-recognized but largely powerless government in Tripoli, was no longer relevant, he said. Haftar's statement suggested that he intends to replace both the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and Tobruk-based House of Representatives. He has long been consider the de facto ruler in eastern Libya despite the civilian administration in Tobruk. Russian state media cited by Reuters reported that officials in the Kremlin were "surprised" by the announcement. In April 2019, Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) launched an operation that he said would liberate Tripoli from militias that controlled the capital. His campaign has since stalled south of the city, with the LNA losing ground to pro-GNA forces over the last month. Haftar's statement is unlikely to change the situation significantly on the ground. Militias continue to control much of the west, while Haftar remains beholden to forces in eastern Libya, said analysts.



Democratic Republic of the Congo—Rangers, Civilians Die In Attack In Virunga National Park Voice Of America News | 04/28/2020 At least 18 people have been killed in an attack in Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, reports the Voice of America News. Six civilians were killed when their car was attacked by militants said to belong to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group, reported Al Jazeera (Qatar). The park rangers were moving to assist the civilians when they came under attack, said a release from park management. Twelve rangers were killed in the fighting. Two civilians and three rangers were injured, one critically. Virunga is the oldest and most biologically diverse protected habitat in Africa. Violence has frequently broken out between the rangers and the rebel groups, militias and poachers that operate in the park. Over the past 20 years, at least 176 rangers have died in clashes in the park.



Chile—Newly Acquired Frigates To Head Home In May Australian Broadcasting Corporation | 04/28/2020 Two former Australian navy warships acquired by the Chilean navy are scheduled to set sail for the South American country next month, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corp. The Adelaide-class frigates Melbourne and Newcastle, which were decommissioned last year, were formally transferred to the Chilean navy and commissioned into its service on April 15, reported Naval News. The frigates have been renamed Almirante Latorre and Captain Prat. The warships were sold to Chile in a deal worth approximately US$70.3 million, including US$28.8 million for each frigate and various stores, data and training. The deal was reportedly kept quiet due to concerns about the public response to the purchase in light of recent budget cuts in Chile. The Adelaide-class ships are undergoing a basic refit in Sydney while the Chilean crew completes training, reported Jane's Navy International. The Phalanx close-in weapon systems on the frigates are being removed in Australia, with Thales Goalkeeper CIWS and other Chilean-standard equipment to be installed once the ships arrive in Chile. The frigates will replace Chile's recently decommissioned Almirante Latorre-class ships.