For the neoconservatives, ground zero in the creation of the Islamic State (ISIS) is the departure of the American occupying forces without a Status of Force Agreement (SOFA). At the behest of President Barack Obama, or so the allegation goes, the American military decamped, in December of 2011, without securing an SOFA. A residual American
China slams US weapons to Ukraine
China is against Washington’s plans to provide Ukraine with weapons, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday. “China calls for the political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine as this meets the interests of all the sides. People in eastern Ukraine now are more in need of peace rather than weapons,” the
SA stashes billions in Swiss banks
Hundreds of South Africans have stashed more than $2-billion (about R23-billion) in accounts at Swiss banking group HSBC, details of which have now emerged in a leak that shines a new spotlight on the secretive world of Swiss banking. The information was dug out by a network of journalists in 45 countries operating under the
NATO fractures on Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that each member of the alliance must make an independent decision on the supply of weapons to the Kiev government, which continues to fight independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine, the DPA news agency reports. Speaking at the Conference of the Social and Democratic Party in Berlin on Sunday,
Russia to set up military bases in an EU state
Cyprus has offered Russia to have air and navy bases on its territory. Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades announced that the country is ready to host Russian aviation and naval bases. The official agreement on military cooperation between the two nations is expected be signed on February 25, 2015, according to Lenta.ru. “There is an old
Will Russia remonetize in gold?
The “perfect-storm” of geopolitical instability, diplomatic isolation, severe currency depreciation, and economic decline now confronting Russia has profoundly damaged Moscow’s international standing, and possibly for the long-term. Yet, it is precisely such conditions that may push the country’s leadership into taking the radical step that will secure its world-player status once and for all: the
Ukraine: War drums beat louder
As the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, prepared to brief Barack Obama in Washington on Monday about the state of peace negotiations in Ukraine, the Atlanticists were preparing for war. The Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, compared Western inaction against Russia with the appeasement of Adolf Hilter in 1938, when Nazi Germany was alllowed to seize
Getting paid for doing nothing
A former director of the water affairs department has been drawing a R3 million salary following his suspension two years ago, the Sunday Independent reported. Maxwell Sirenya clashed with the then water affairs minister Edna Molewa over a R419 million tender in 2013, according to the newspaper. The information technology contract for Business Connexion pitted
Shell sails off with vessel named after Nazi
Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to plough ahead with plans to host a ship named after a Nazi in UK waters has provoked outrage among Jewish communities and Holocaust memorial groups. The vessel is named after Pieter Schelte Heerema, a Nazi who was a member of the Waffen-SS during WWII. Having failed in its efforts to
Britain to lead spearhead NATO force in Eastern Europe
Britain will play a lead role in a “high readiness” NATO force that will be established in Eastern Europe, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said Thursday. Britain would send up to 1,000 troops and four RAF Typhoon jets for “air policing” in the region, BBC reported cited Fallon as saying. The multinational force is the biggest
Read more: Britain to lead spearhead NATO force in Eastern Europe
British threaten to halt intel to Germany
British intelligence chiefs have threatened to halt their sharing of information with their German counterparts if Germany goes ahead with a parliamentary inquiry into British and US spying, according German media reports. The British are worried that German politicians could expose classified information including details of code breaking and other technology, including a European surveillance
Hollande says Ukraine should not join NATO
French President François Hollande and the German chancellor Angela Merkel are set to visit Moscow on Friday after a trip to Kiev, in order to find a peaceful solution to the escalating violence in Ukraine. “Together with Angela Merkel we have decided to take a new initiative,” Hollande told a news conference. “We will make
Falklands on high alert
Extra British troops will be stationed on the island for three to six weeks. They are part of a force of more than 1,000 soldiers being prepared for duty in the south Atlantic and will be sent out in five tranches of 150 to 300. They will include members of the Royal Artillery and 3
FAZ editor regrets planted stories to foment war
Becoming the first credentialed, well-known media insider to step forward and state publicly that he was secretly a “propagandist,” an editor of a major German daily has said that he personally planted stories for the CIA. Saying he believes a medical condition gives him only a few years to live, and that he is filled