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| Death toll rises to nine from Oklahoma tornadoes - Reuters Posted: 01 Jun 2013 08:41 AM PDT  OKLAHOMA CITY | (Reuters) - Nine people were killed in tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma on Friday, part of a storm system that caused widespread flooding in Oklahoma City and its suburbs, the state's chief medical examiner said on Saturday. The dead included two children and seven adults, said Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. The death earlier had been reported as five. The tornadoes struck just 11 days after a twister ranked as EF5, the most powerful ranking possible, tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore and killed 24 people. The storms dumped up to 8 inches of rain on the Oklahoma City area, causing flash flooding that submerged parts of the sprawling metropolitan area that is home to more than 1.3 million people. Nearly two dozen people were rescued from areas cut off by rising water, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said the severe weather would shift on Saturday into Illinois, after it also hit neighboring Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday. (Writing by Jane Sutton; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Eric Walsh) |
| Hagel chides China for cyber-espionage - Washington Post Posted: 01 Jun 2013 07:12 AM PDT SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel took China to task for alleged cyber-espionage on Saturday, drawing a sharp response from a Chinese general who questioned whether the United States' growing military presence in Asia is anything more than a challenge to Beijing's rise. Delivering the keynote speech at the annual security summit here known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, Hagel said the United States is "clear-eyed about the challenges in cyber" and echoed past assertions by the Obama administration that multiplying cyberattacks on U.S. government and industry portals "appear to be tied to the Chinese government and military." It was the latest public charge by the administration, which has concluded that calling out China publicly could curb what U.S. officials call a brazen and sophisticated quest for American secrets stored online. "We are determined to work more vigorously with China and other partners to establish international norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace," Hagel said in a conference hall packed with Asian military officials. China has denied Washington's accusations, most pointedly last week, when it said it did not need to steal U.S. military-hardware blueprints because it was more than capable of producing its own. After Hagel's speech, a Chinese general took to the microphone. In unusually pointed remarks, Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu, the director of China-America defense relations at the Chinese military's Academy of Military Science, started with a wry remark. "Thank you for mentioning China several times," she said to Hagel, drawing laughter and muttering. U.S. officials have long said their growing footprint in the Asia-Pacific region is not meant to offset China's military might, Yao said, but noted, "China is not convinced." Hagel said the United States is hoping to build a more constructive relationship with China by fostering closer ties between their militaries. "The only way you can do that is you talk to each other," Hagel said. "You have to be direct with each other." Hagel's lengthy speech was meant to reassure allies in the region that steep defense cuts and security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa have not derailed an initiative to shift the U.S. military's attention toward Asia as it wraps up a period of messy, unpopular wars. China's ascendance in maritime affairs, space and cyberspace has alarmed many in the region in recent years, said Patrick M. Cronin, an Asia-Pacific expert at the Center for a New American Security. "The 2008 global financial crisis and overcommitment of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan served to accelerate the perception of China as the next superpower and the decline of America," he said. "The gradual global awakening to China's cyber-espionage heightened doubts about America's power, a foundation on which regional security has rested since the end of World War II." America's fiscal crunch will not derail its policy goals, Hagel said. "It is true that the Department of Defense will have fewer resources than in the past," the secretary said. "It would be unwise and shortsighted to conclude, however, that our commitment to the rebalance cannot be sustained." U.S. military spending will continue to represent roughly 40 percent of worldwide defense expenditures "even under the most extreme budget scenarios," he added. By 2020, Hagel said, the United States intends to base 60 percent of its naval assets in the Pacific. The Air Force, meanwhile, has stationed 60 percent of its overseas troops in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States is working to expand its partnerships with Washington's closest allies in the region: Japan, South Korea and Australia, Hagel said. He said the U.S. defense establishment continues to produce "cutting-edge" technology from which allies can benefit. Hagel also warned attendees about conducting "business as usual" with North Korea, a pariah state that counts China as its main ally in the region. "The United States will not stand by while North Korea seeks to develop a nuclear-armed missile that can target the United States," he said. Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report. |
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