CHINA is preparing for an all-out blitz of Taiwan, a former US Department of Defence official has warned. Michael Beckley said Xi Jinping will have learned from Putin’s disastrous mistakes in Ukraine and will aim to “hit Taiwan hard from the start” and “sever them from the outside world”. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said China is “learning lessons” from Putin’s invasion … Continue reading Is China prepares for Taiwan blitz?

Ukraine won support Tuesday from Baltic nations and Poland in its quest to obtain Western fighter jets, but there were no signs that larger nations like the U.S. and Britain have changed their stance of refusing to provide the warplanes to Kyiv after almost a year of battling Russia’s invading forces. “Ukraine needs fighter jets … missiles, tanks. We need to act,” Estonian Foreign Minister … Continue reading Ukraine pushes for Western fighter jets after tank deals

Ukraine’s defense minister is expected in Paris on Tuesday to meet President Emmanuel Macron amid a debate among Kyiv’s allies over whether to provide fighter jets for its war against Russia, after U.S. President Joe Biden ruled out giving F-16s. Ukraine planned to push for Western fourth-generation fighters like F-16s after securing supplies of main battle tanks last week, an adviser to defense minister Oleksiy … Continue reading Western allies differ over fighter jets for Ukraine as Russia claims gains

RUSSIA is massing at least 200,000 soldiers for a massive new assault on Ukraine, Nato’s top official has warned. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg grimly said there is “no sign” that Vladimir Putin is “preparing for peace”. He warned that Russia is preparing for “more war” ahead of the conflict’s first anniversary at the end of the February. It comes amid intelligence reports that Mad Vlad … Continue reading Is Putin mobilising 200,000 troops for new invasion to topple Ukraine?

Ukraine needs new weapons and faster deliveries to confront a “very tough” situation of constant attacks by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. “The situation is very tough. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other sectors in Donetsk region — there are constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to break through our defences,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. … Continue reading Zelenskiy: Ukraine needs more weapons, faster

Behind the decision to sharply step up Western military aid to Ukraine lies a worry in some Western capitals that time might be on Russia’s side.  That concern suggests the window for Ukraine isn’t indefinite and it needs powerful Western weapons—main battle tanks, other armored vehicles and more air-defense systems—soon to reinforce the momentum it achieved in offensive successes around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson last … Continue reading WSJ: Some Western Backers of Ukraine Worry That Time Might Be on Russia’s Side

A shadowy Army unit secretly spied on British citizens who criticised the Government’s Covid lockdown policies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Military operatives in the UK’s ‘information warfare’ brigade were part of a sinister operation that targeted politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the official pandemic response. They compiled dossiers on public figures such as ex-Minister David Davis, who questioned the modelling … Continue reading UK ARMY SPIED ON COVID CRITICS

Bomb-carrying drones targeted an Iranian defense factory in the central city of Isfahan overnight, authorities said early Sunday, causing some damage at the plant amid heightened regional and international tensions engulfing the Islamic Republic. The Iranian Defense Ministry offered no information on who it suspected carried out the attack, which came as a refinery fire separately broke out in the country’s northwest and a 5.9 … Continue reading Iran says drone attack targets defense facility in Isfahan

Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the architect of President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, took over the day-to-day running of Russia’s war effort this month by convincing his boss that his predecessor was too passive, American and European officials say. But General Gerasimov’s turbocharged strategy is what led to Russia’s problems to begin with, and Moscow still does not have the troops, ammunition or equipment … Continue reading To Fix it’s Ukraine Problems, Russia Turns to the Architect of the War

Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that … Continue reading Pope says homosexuality not a crime

Finland for the first time opened the door to potentially decoupling its NATO application from that of Sweden, after its neighbor encountered fresh resistance from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The path floated by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, if it becomes more serious, would mark a significant shift in Finnish policy since the Nordic nations jointly applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in … Continue reading Finland Floats Solo NATO Entry After Erdogan Rejects Sweden

The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office quit Tuesday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to launch a staff shake-up amid high-level corruption allegations during the war with Russia. Kyrylo Tymoshenko asked to be relieved of his duties, according to an online copy of a decree signed by Zelenskyy and Tymoshenko’s own social media posts. Neither gave a reason for the resignation. Deputy Defense Minister Viacheslav … Continue reading Senior Ukrainian officials ousted in corruption crackdown

An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned NATO on Thursday that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said the world would end if the West tried to destroy Russia. Such apocalyptic rhetoric is intended to deter the U.S.-led NATO military alliance from getting even more involved in the war, on the eve … Continue reading Putin ally warns NATO of nuclear war if Russia is defeated in Ukraine

A helicopter carrying Ukraine’s interior minister crashed into a kindergarten in a foggy residential suburb of Kyiv on Wednesday, killing him and about a dozen other people, including a child on the ground, authorities said. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, who oversaw the country’s police and emergency services, is the most senior official killed since Russia invaded nearly 11 months ago. His death, along with the … Continue reading Ukraine helicopter crash kills interior minister, others

Russia will create new commands near Europe as it expands its military to 1.5 million people amid deepening tensions with the US and its allies over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. New structures in the regions around Moscow, St. Petersburg and Karelia on the border with Finland will be created under the program, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told commanders Tuesday, saying the major changes will … Continue reading Russia to Boost Troops in West, Expanding Army to 1.5 Million People

The Kremlin said on Monday that tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine “will burn”, warning the West that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the outcome of the war. Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States and its allies have given tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry including … Continue reading Russia says Britain’s tanks ‘will burn’ in Ukraine