Planet Watch
Obama pursues nuclear ‘modernization’ —not disarmament
Despite early pledges to seek a nuclear-free world, Obama is launching a "modernization" of the US arsenal that actually makes atomic war more likely.
Tag: United Kingdom
Greater Middle East
Bahrain: protests against British base deal
Protests were held in the Bahraini island city of Sitra against an agreement signed between the kingdom and Great Britain to establish a new military base in the Persian Gulf state.
Europe
Europe’s fascist resurgence: East and West
The rise of far-right "anti-Europe" parties in the Europarliament elections echoes escalating ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist rhetoric on both sides in the Russo-Ukraine conflict.
Europe
Sweden: Sámi protest British mining company
Swedish police have repeatedly broken up a protest occupation by Sámi indigenous people against iron mining in a crucial reindeer herding area above the Arctic Circle.
Iran
US, Iranian forces converge on Syria
Some 5,000 US troops are in Jordan to participate in the multi-national Eager Lion exercises—just as Iran is sending 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to support Syria's Bashar Assad.
Europe
‘Lukashenko Busters’ protest London stock exchange
A group calling themselves "Lukashenko Busters" protested outside the London Stock Exchange to oppose trading in companies that do business with wth the Belarus dictatorship.
Europe
The London attack: context vs. apologia —again
Reactions to the jihadist slaying of a British solider in London are polarized along predictable lines—emphasizing either the context of imperial wars or the threat of political Islam.
North Africa
AQIM manifesto found in northern Mali: report
A document found in a demolished building in Timbuktu purports to reveal plans by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to establish "command and control" over northern Mali.
Southern Cone
Falklands fracas flares amid Antarctic anxieties
A new war of words between the UK and Argentina over the Malvinas/Falklands follows a similar one last month over a disputed region of Antarctica.
North Africa
Mali: Europe prepares intervention
Military experts from Africa, the United Nations and Europe have drafted plans to retake control of northern Mali, as West African nations prepare a request for armed intervention.
Greater Middle East
madre
The US-led Coalition's ongoing failure to admit to, let alone adequately investigate, the shocking scale of civilian deaths and destruction it caused in Raqqa is a "slap in the face" for survivors trying to rebuild their lives and their city, said Amnesty International a year after the offensive to oust ISIS. In October 2017, following a fierce four-month battle, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—the Coalition's Kurdish-led partners on the ground—announced victory over ISIS, which had used civilians as human shields and committed other war crimes in besieged Raqqa. Winning the battle came at a terrible price—almost 80% of the city was destroyed and many hundreds of civilians lay dead, the majority killed by Coalition bombardment. In a September 2018 letter to Amnesty, the Pentagon made clear it accepts no liability for civilian casualties. The Coalition does not plan to compensate survivors and relatives of those killed in Raqqa, and refuses to provide further information about the circumstances behind strikes that killed and maimed civilians. (Photo: SDF)
Greater Middle East
FFR
A Turkish court sentenced a former British soldier to seven-and-a-half years for alleged links to Syria's Kurdish YPG militia, considered a "terrorist" group by Ankara. Joe Robinson of Leeds was arrested in Turkey last year after he apparently posted photos of himself in camouflage, posing beside fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. The Afghanistan veteran was among many volunteers who joined the YPG's campaign against ISIS. A court in Turkey's western city of Aydin sentenced the 25-year-old for "membership in a terrorist organization." Robinson is currently on bail and planning an appeal. His Bulgarian fiancée Mira Rojkan, arrested along with him, was sentenced to two years for "terrorist propaganda." (Photo via Defense Post)