Iranian general: Trump’s threat to attack Iranian ships ‘a joke’

By AP and Times of Israel staff

(The Times of Israel) TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the armed forces chief of staff has criticized Donald Trump for his past harsh words about confronting Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf.

The Thursday report quotes General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “The person who has recently achieved power, has talked off the top of his head! Threatening Iran in the Persian Gulf is just a joke.”

He said American presidential candidates during their campaigns “eat too much sugar,” a reference to a Farsi proverb about those who talk nonsense.

In September, Trump said Iranian ships trying to provoke the US “will be shot out of the water” if he were president.

In January, Iran took 10 American sailors prisoner after their ship veered off course into Iranian waters; they were released a day later.

Trump has strongly criticized the nuclear deal, formerly called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached with Iran to halt its development of nuclear weapons technology, calling it “one of the worst deals in history...” (continued)

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• Iranian general: Trump’s threat to attack Iranian ships ‘a joke’

US bomber crew shot down over Japan were dissected while ALIVE in horrific WW2 experiments: Japanese university acknowledges full details of atrocity 70 years on

By Elaine O'flynn For Mailonline

(Daily Mail) A Japanese university has opened a museum acknowledging that its staff dissected downed American airmen while they were still alive during World War Two.

The move is a striking step in a society where war crimes are still taboo and rarely discussed, although the incident has been extensively documented in books and by US officials.

A gruesome display at the newly-opened museum at Kyushu University explains how eight US POWs were taken to the centre’s medical school in Fukuoka after their plane was shot down over the skies of Japan in May 1945.

There, they were subjected to horrific medical experiments - as doctors dissected one soldier’s brain to see if epilepsy could be controlled by surgery, and removed parts of the livers of other prisoners as part of tests to see if they would survive.

Another soldier was injected with seawater, in an experiment to see if it could be used instead of sterile saline solution to help dehydration. All of the soldiers died from their ordeal.

The horrific episode has been described in previous books, one by a Japanese doctor who took part in the experiments, but the museum represents an official acknowledgement of the atrocity

When the incidents came to light during a discussion with professors in March, the university decided to include information about the experiments within their new museum.

About twelve airmen - the exact number is unclear - were aboard Captain Marvin Watkins' B-29 when it took off from Guam on a bombing raid against an airfield in Fukuoka... (continued)

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• US bomber crew shot down over Japan were dissected while ALIVE in horrific WW2 experiments: Japanese university acknowledges full details of atrocity 70 years on

Pope says world's many conflicts amount to piecemeal World War Three

By Stefano Rellandini

REDIPUGLIA Italy (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday the spate of conflicts around the globe today were effectively a "piecemeal" Third World War, condemning the arms trade and "plotters of terrorism" sowing death and destruction.

"Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep," Francis said in the homily of a Mass during a visit to Italy's largest war memorial, a large, Fascist-era monument where more than 100,000 soldiers who died in World War One are buried.

The pope began his brief visit to northern Italy by first praying in a nearby, separate cemetery for some 15,000 soldiers from five nations of the Austro-Hungarian empire which were on the losing side of the Great War that broke out 100 years ago.

"War is madness," he said in his homily before the massive, sloping granite memorial, made of 22 steps on the side of hill with three crosses at the top.

"Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction," he said.

In the past few months, Francis has made repeated appeals for an end to conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Gaza and parts of Africa.

"War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying," he said. "Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often justified by an ideology ...," he said.

Last month the pope, who has often condemned the concept of war in God's name, said it would be legitimate for the international community to use force to stop "unjust aggression" by Islamic State militants who have killed or displaced thousands of people in Iraq and Syria, many of them Christians.

In his homily, read at a sombre service to thousands of people braving the rain and which included the hauntingly funereal sound of a solitary bugle, Francis condemned "plotters of terrorism" but did not elaborate.

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• Pope says world's many conflicts amount to piecemeal World War Three

Find 20 Buried Spitfires and Make Them Fly

• Historic planes buried in Second World War are to be shipped back to Britain after their mystery locations were discovered
• War leaders did not want them to fall into foreign hands when they demobilised in 1945
• Hidden in crates at a depth of 4ft to 6ft the RAF then forgot where they were

By Kirsty Walker

(Mail Online) Twenty brand-new RAF Spitfires could soon reach for the sky following a deal reached with Burma yesterday.

Experts believe they have discovered the locations of around 20 of the Second World War fighters buried at airfields around the country.

David Cameron has secured an agreement that they will be returned to Britain

Historic: Spitfire pilots trudge through the mud at an advanced airbase in Burma after returning from sorties against the Japanese

Historians say the Spitfires were shipped out to Burma in the summer of 1945, two weeks before atomic bombs were dropped on Japan which brought the war to a sudden end.

The British campaign to push the Japanese out of Burma was the longest and bloodiest of the war, beginning after the Japanese invaded in late 1941.

Spitfires helped to support the Chindit special forces on the ground – and proved a huge boost to morale. They played a crucial role in defeating the enemy and covering the subsequent Allied advance through Burma, protecting the ground troops and providing vital supplies.

Historic moment: David Cameron meets with Burma's President Thein Sein after becoming the first British Prime Minister to visit Burma in 60 years, during which he secured the Spitfire deal

But the Mark II Spitfires in the secret haul never saw action. Earl Mountbatten issued an order for them to be hidden in 1945 to prevent foreign forces from getting their hands on them as the British army demobilised. The aircraft, straight from the production line, were buried in crates at a depth of 4ft to 6ft to preserve them.

Their whereabouts became lost after the RAF struck off their locations from their records.

But aviation enthusiasts, aided by experts from the University of Leeds and a Second World War veteran who witnessed their burial, believe they have now discovered their locations using ground penetrating radar technology.

Downing Street said the Government wants to unearth the aircraft and restore them to their former glory.

The condition of the cargo boxes and aircraft, whose wings and body are buried separately, is unknown. But experts are hopeful that they are well preserved.

A Downing Street source said that Mr Cameron had secured an agreement from the Burmese president to help Britain excavate the aircraft in a joint heritage project.

‘The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in the Second World War.

‘It is hoped this will be an opportunity to work with the reforming Burmese government to uncover, restore and display these fighter planes and get them gracing the skies of Britain once again,’ they said.

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• The new Battle of Burma: Find 20 buried Spitfires and make them fly