News. Analysis. Opinion.
The United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday.
U.S. government officials told [continue reading in new window...]
Putin’s old-style politics won’t work in new RussiaVladimir Putin’s next 12 years at Russia’s helm – if he lasts that long – will not be as smooth a ride as his first dozen.
His inauguration for his third term as president in the splendour of the gilded throne room of imperial Russia’s czars on Monday had about it the air of a dynasty that has reached its zenith.
The pomp and glitter of Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a new term as president, now extended from four to six years with the possibility of another six beyond that, could not obscure the sense that even he feels unsure about [continue reading in new window...]
The U.S. military wants to plant nanosensors in soldiers to monitor health on future battlefields and immediately respond to needs, but a privacy expert warns the step is just one more down the road to computer chips for all.
“It’s never going to happen that the government at gunpoint says, ‘You’re going to have a tracking chip,’” said Katherine Albrecht, who with Liz McIntyre authored “Spychips,” a book that warns of the threat to privacy posed by Radio Frequency Identification.
“It’s always in incremental steps. If you can put a microchip in someone that [continue reading in new window...]
May 04–WASHINGTON — In his final months padding around the dark third-floor room in his cinder-block Pakistan hide-out, the world’s most notorious terrorist mastermind spent a lot of time in his own head.
He fretted about his public image and the legacy of his organization. He wondered whether he had misnamed it Al Qaeda. He fired off orders, handed out promotions, denied requests for help from the battlefield and sought to direct publicity for the looming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. And as well, he schemed to kill the man who would, in the end, give the order to shoot him dead: Barack Obama.
That’s the portrait of Osama Bin Laden painted by the slim collection of notes and letters made public Thursday by the Combating Terrorism Center, a think tank at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The 17 documents represent a [continue reading in new window...]
In many ways the policy of Japan is the weathervane of international politics. Even before military aggression became the modern world’s favorite modus operandi, Japan put it to use in 1894–95 against China and again in 1904–05 against Russia, and even its military tactics foreshadowed those that combatants later employed in the First World War. Once again in the 1930s, by the time Hitler’s steamroller got moving, and even before Italy invaded Ethiopia, Japan had already seized and occupied Manchuria. Then, after its defeat in World War II, Japan led a trend in the opposite direction. In the 1970s and 1980s, long before the Johnny-come-lately Great Powers, the Soviet Union and United States, had understood the revolutionary new trends in world politics, Tokyo had already put into practice the strategy of the [continue reading in new window...]
Russia says it is prepared to use pre-emptive force if the United States goes ahead with its plans for a missile defence system based in Eastern Europe.
The comments, made by a top Russian general, came as the country’s defence minister said negotiations to end the dispute were near a “dead end”.
Russia has argued vehemently against a defence system the US is deploying to protect its European allies against any attack from enemy states such as Iran.
Officials in Moscow fear the shield may harm its own nuclear deterrence and have warned of unleashing a massive new armament program if Washington failed to allay its concerns.
Chief of Staff General Nikolai Makarov said [continue reading in new window...]
Leader felt affiliate groups were tarnishing reputation of Islamist group, according to documents seized during fatal raid.
Documents taken by US special forces from Osama bin Laden‘s compound and released by American authorities reveal a leader frustrated by the actions of affiliated groups that he felt were tarnishing the al-Qaida brand.
Though tens of thousands of documents, videos and computer discs were seized during the raid in which the al-Qaida leader was killed a year ago, only 17 were made public, in the original Arabic and in [continue reading in new window...]
(Reuters) – Russia will use computer modelling to show how a missile shield the United States and NATO are deploying in Europe could threaten its security, a senior defense official said in remarks published on Wednesday.
A dispute over the system has hampered improvements in Russian-U.S. ties and is likely to remain an obstacle to better relations after Vladimir Putin returns to the Kremlin next week for a six-year presidential term.Washington says the missile defense system, to be installed in four phases by 2020, is meant to counter a potential threat from Iran. Moscow says the system will undermine Russia’s [continue reading in new window...]
The IDF has issued emergency call up orders to six reserve battalions in light of new dangers on the Egyptian and Syrian borders. And the Knesset has given the IDF permission to summon a further 16 reserve battalions if necessary, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
An IDF spokesperson said intelligence assessments called for the deployment of more soldiers.
According to 2008′s Reserve Duty Law, combat soldiers can be called for active reserve duty once every three years, and for short training sessions during the other two. Rising tensions between Israel and Egypt and the ongoing unrest in Syria caused the army to ask the Knesset for special permission to call up more soldiers, more often.
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the request recently, enabling the IDF to summon [continue reading in new window...]
TODAY’S LEADING POSTS
Follow Us!