China’s waning patience leads to a crack down on the Hermit Kingdom; A plan to rescue Cypriot banks might take an even bigger bite out of some savers than the recently rejected scheme; American pilots might find themselves without control towers to decide who’s landing and who’s talking off; And DON'T mess with angry giraffes, or sharks for that matter!

China will take part in a U.S. Military Drill for the first time. The Naval exercise takes place next year off Hawaii.

China is also sending a stern message to North Korea, after the latter’s increased nuclear weapons belligerence.  Beijing is ordering increased inspections of all cargo going to North Korea, including daily necessities like rice and cooking oil.  It’s not just the missile and weapons tests, China is upset with Kim Jong-Un for failing to take its advice to return to the peace process and reform its economy, which starves the population in favor of the military.

Cyprus is weighing an even bigger levy on savers in order to get a €10 Billion bailout from the “Troika” of the European Union, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.  Depositors with more than €100,000 would have to pay a levy 25 percent.  Parliament rejected a scheme to have savers pay 6 to 10 percent, after public outrage.  Cyprus has to come up with €5.8 Billion on its own before the EU will bail out its banks. 

THIS is “Austerity”:  America’s aviation authority is closing 149 air traffic control towers because of budget cuts that took effect earlier this month.  Conservatives are stonewalling a budget deal to solve this.  Pilots arriving at small airports will have to coordinate landings on a common radio channel for the duration. 

U.S. President Obama ended his Middle East trip with a visit to the Ruins of Petra in Jordan.  The trip yielded mixed results:  There was no progress on the Palestinian issue, but Israel apologized for killing some Turkish peace activists and is compensating their families.

Russian police and tax inspectors raided the offices of international human rights groups that get foreign funding.  The groups, which report on abuses going on under Vladimir Putin’s rule, are also required to register themselves as “foreign agents”.  When translated into Russian, the term suggests “espionage” and was widely used to describe internal enemies during the Stalin era.

“My Chemical Romance” broke up.  Never heard of ‘em, but apparently they were huge.

Authorities are charging 16 people in the nightclub fire that killed more than 240 revelers in the southern city of Santa Maria in January.  A singer ignited the fire by holding fireworks too close to the ceiling.  The singer, the band's producer, the club's owners, and fire officials who were negligent in their past inspections are charged with negligent homicide.  1,000 people were crammed into a club licensed for a maximum of 800, and there was only one door providing the way out.

Also in Brazil, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to evict indigenous protestors from a building the government is slating for an Olympic Museum after the 2016 games.  They occupied it for six years, trying to convince authorities to reopen it as Brazil’s indigenous peoples’ museum.

Pope Francis met with his predecessor Pontiff Emeritus Benedict at Castel Gandolfo in Italy.  Since Popes don't retire too often, it was the first such meeting in 600 years.  There was no official communiqué about the results of the lunch meeting, but they probably talked about pope stuff.  Also in Popeness, Pope Francis stunned the world by doing something that everyone else has to do when they move:  He canceled his newspapers in Argentina, all by himself.  By long distance call.

There's no news value here, but have you seen this video of a Giraffe chasing a bunch of tourists on a South African safari?  Here's another one of a Great White Shark sticking its Jaws into an allegedly safe cage while some horrified newlyweds shriek.  I don't know, maybe he was ticked off about having a hook in his face.