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The past year or more has seen China’s position on the world stage change quite a bit. The nation’s increasingly aggressive stance toward Taiwan and the rapid expansion of its military and economic influence across the Pacific has left many western nations on edge. And, of course, China’s continued support of Russia during the invasion of Ukraine puts them at odds with all of NATO and the rest of our allies. That’s why it was rather surprising to see German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flying to Beijing this week to meet with Xi Jinping. Scholz clearly wanted to talk about renewed...

Russian President Putin to address the nation today.

After the Biden administration and the press wrongly predicted a Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 16th, they kept compounding the error in spectacular fashion.

THE TWIN CHALLENGE: At a weekend appearance at the Reagan Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered vague promises of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and Taiwan while stopping short of specifying what the U.S. would do if either country is invaded. The most immediate concern is the massive buildup of Russian forces, armor, and high tech weapons poised on Ukraine’s eastern border, which has every sign of an impending invasion, which could be launched as early as next month with up to 175,000 troops, according to a U.S. intelligence document obtained by the Washington Post....

China and Russia's combined military spending exceeds that of the United States when adjusted for purchasing power, which has allowed China to shorten capability gaps in its quest to become the top superpower by midcentury, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday. "Combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceed our budgets if all the cards are put on the table," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He called China's increased spending trend "disturbing." China and Russia are the U.S. military's two biggest competitors. Defense secretaries from Jim Mattis to Lloyd Austin have identified China...

The next dangerous Covid variant is likely already out there, British scientists say… Rand Paul, in tense exchange, presses Biden’s Education Department… Business Insider logoChina and Russia blocked the UN from condemning Myanmar's military coup a military vehicle on a road: Armored military vehicles in Mandalay, Myanmar, on February 3, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images© STR/AFP via Getty Images Armored military vehicles in Mandalay, Myanmar, on February 3, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images China and Russia blocked the UN Security Council from condemning the Myanmar coup. Myanmar's military detained politicians and imposed a state of emergency on Monday. China has...

Claims by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that "foreign powers" are organising a build-up of troops on the country's border are baseless, says Nato. Dressed in military fatigues, the president said he had placed his armed forces on "high alert". Protests continued in the streets of Minsk on Saturday following a disputed election two weeks ago. Demonstrators are demanding that Mr Lukashenko stand down. The leader, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, claimed the Nato bloc was trying to split up Belarus and install a new president in Minsk.

President Donald Trump, in Helsinki, expressed skepticism about the intelligence community's finding that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Within 24 hours, the President walked back his skepticism and said he trusts the intel community and believes their finding that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. But the Helsinki hysteria continued. Some Trump cable critics pronounced him "treasonous." How dare the President waffle on the intelligence community's definitive conclusion that Russia meddled? It's "treasonous" to be guarded about official government conclusions? We're going to need more prisons to house all the offenders. After all, this is the same...

I saw a line between the month of march leading into April then Jesus on The throne as described in Ezekiel with the wheels within the wheels beneath him and The Spirit of The Lord in the wheels moving Him forward . Then I heard this word come forth . . . My kingdom has come upon the Earth now through my Chosen ones so get ready for a shift and acceleration in the spiritual realm for truly I AM about to shake all creation until all that is left is My Kingdom come. I saw many left behind as...

My children do you realize all the battles we have walked through together have already made you Overcomers as David over Goliath ?! Now I desire you to take the hand of others I have placed in your path and reveal to them that I AM The KEY to all trials and I alone hold the Key to their Victories as I overcame for you in your Valleys ! Now be that buoyancy compensator for as I have been the Lifter of your Soul Now I desire you to lift up others and love them as I Love you for...

Russia and China joined diplomatic forces on Tuesday and called on North Korea, South Korea and the United States to sign up to a Chinese de-escalation plan designed to defuse tensions around Pyongyang's missile program. The plan would see North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program and the United States and South Korea simultaneously call a moratorium on large-scale missile exercises, both moves aimed at paving the way for multilateral talks.

Syria Rebels Face Collapse as Thousands Flee North Aleppo (Video) Posted on Feb 8, 2016 By Juan Cole On Friday, the Syrian Arab Army and its Hizbullah and Iranian/ Afghan allies made further progress in taking the area just north of Aleppo. They were apparently mainly fighting al-Qaeda, which had a stronghold in the city of Ratyan. The Russians subjected it to intensive bombing and the SAA and allies ultimately took it. Al-Qaeda (the Nusrah Front) said it had killed 25 of its attackers. In New York, as the Syrian peace talks collapsed, the Russian envoy asked out loud why...

According to the Russian Senator Igor Morozov, Beijing has taken decision to take part in combating IS and sent its vessels to the Syrian coast. Igor Morozov, member of the Russian Federation Committee on International Affairs claimed about the beginning of the military operation by China against the IS terrorists. "It is known, that China has joined our military operation in Syria, the Chinese cruiser has already entered the Mediterranean, aircraft carrier follows it," Morozov said.

Back in November, before most grasped just how serious the collapse in crude was (and would become, as well as its massive implications), we wrote "How The Petrodollar Quietly Died, And Nobody Noticed", because for the first time in almost two decades, energy-exporting countries would pull their "petrodollars" out of world markets in 2015. This empirical death of Petrodollar followed years of windfalls for oil exporters such as Russia, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Much of that money found its way into financial markets, helping to boost asset prices and keep the cost of borrowing down, through so-called petrodollar recycling....

Russia and Crimea have signed treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol in the Russian Federation following President Putin’s address to the Parliament. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin requests parliament to ratify the agreement that would see both Crimea and the city of Sevastopol joining Russia. “I ask you to consider the adoption of two new subjects of the Federation: Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol,” Putin told Parliamentarians. Crimea was represented by Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov and Sevastopol mayor Aleksey Chaly, who signed the treaty. The two were accompanied by Crimean top official Vladimir Konstantinov. “Since the adoption...

Historically, political figures have softened the heart and opened the mind of tough Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by giving him cute four-legged creatures, but Kyrgyztan’s PM Almazbek Atambayev has found another gift that will likely put him in Russia’s good graces for years to come. The Kyrgyztan parliament is in the process of naming a 4,500-metre mountain ‘Mount Vladimir Putin,’ reported RiaNovosti, BBC News and the Herald Sun; it will be in the Tian Shan mountain range not far from China’s border. If the Kyrgyzstan parliament approves the mountain’s name PM Putin will be in well-known company — nearby...

A mixed task force from the Russian Pacific Fleet started on Wednesday a series of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills in the Sea of Japan, a fleet spokesman said. "Two task forces comprising missile destroyers and diesel-powered submarines are taking part in the drills in line with a regular training program," Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov said. The exercises involve a number of search-and-destroy missions, simulated torpedo attacks and live-fire drills with on-board artillery and air defense systems. The Admiral Tributs and Admiral Vinogradov destroyers, which carried out patrol missions in the Gulf of Aden as part of international efforts to...

Mr. Podrabinek is one of a literally dying breed: Russian journalists who are not afraid to tell the truth even if it gets them murdered. Reuters reports: “New York-based press watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Russia the world’s third most dangerous country for journalists, with 17 killed since 2000 including Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.” Over at my blog La Russophobe, we’ve translated Podrabinek’s column on the valiant Russian website Yezhedevny Zhurnal many times. He’s written about official corruption, state propaganda, human rights atrocities in the Chechnya region, persecuted dissidents and opposition leaders, and the essential lack...

Excerpts from Rice speech: "What has become clear is that the legitimate goal of rebuilding the Russian state has taken a dark turn," she said, citing a rollback of personal freedoms, pervasive corruption and a "paranoid, aggressive impulse" to view neighboring new democracies as threats. ...the United States "will resist any Russian attempt to consign sovereign nations and free peoples to some archaic 'sphere of influence' " and "will not allow Russia to wield a veto over the future of our Euro-Atlantic community." ....Russia's actions "fit into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years." She mentioned, among other grievances,...

MOSCOW -- For months, the owner of a muckraking news Web site had stayed away from his home after receiving warnings to tone down his critique of Kremlin-backed authorities in the Russian province of Ingushetia, friends said. But Magomed Yevloyev finally boarded a plane to return to Ingushetia this week, and there he encountered a surprise: The local governor was riding on the same plane, a few seats away from him in business class. When the plane landed in Ingushetia, the governor was met by a Mercedes that whisked him away. And Mr. Yevloyev was arrested at the airport, deposited...