Stealth and surprise are related tactical characteristics that are key to a submarine’s success in battle. They are also, it seems, key tactical characteristics for the Government advancing a highly controversial AUKUS submarine program. Ex-submariner Rex Patrick explains.

Those familiar with the classic work of Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, will remember the scene where Arthur Dent lies in front of a bulldozer to stop his house being demolished to make way for a new freeway bypass.

     by Rex Patrick

Hyacinths, peonies, cornflowers, and carnations aren't just wonderful, sweet-smelling flowers; they're also the names of some of Russia's deadliest weapons systems. On Thursday, Russia added the Oreshnik (lit. Hazel) hypersonic missile system to the list.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Thursday speech unveiling the Oreshnik missile left Western observers scrambling to decode the meaning behind its name, which translates to 'hazel' - a flowering plant in the birch family.

But anyone familiar with Russian weapons design knows that there’s nothing Russian engineers enjoy more than giving their terrifying creations names that sound deceptively harmless or mundane:

Deadly bouquets and children’s stories

On the same day that former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, Trump announced that former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is his second choice to fill that role in his administration.

Putting Elon Musk in charge of the new US Department of Government Efficiency is problematic. Can the richest man on Earth avoid conflicts of interest while heading the charge to cut government spending?

A lot has been written about the budding friendship between President-elect Donald Trump and the world's richest man, Elon Musk.

Musk and Trump: Ethical concerns and conflicts of interest
Timothy Rooks

THE ENGLISH HAVE HATED RUSSIANS SINCE THE MID NINETEENTH CENTURY...

THE FRENCH STILL REEL ABOUT NAPOLEON'S DEFEAT IN 1812 THOUGH THEY MADE FRIENDS WITH THE RUSSIANS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, POSSIBLY DEVIOUSLY PREPARING THE RUSSIANS TO FIGHT THE GERMANS IN WW1, UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE BRITS...

THE AMERICANS HAVE OFFICIALLY HATED — AND VOWED TO DESTROY — RUSSIA, SINCE 1917.

THE GERMANS, UNDER DEVIOUS INFLUENCE FROM THE USA, RENEGED ON ITS PACT OF NON-AGGRESSION AND ATTACKED RUSSIA DURING WW2.

SINCE THE END OF WW2, WESTERN RUSSOPHOBIA BECAME EVEN MORE FORCEFUL...

AND THE UNITED NATIONS UNESCO HAS JOINED THE FRAY....

UNESCO bars Russian journalists from free speech session
Moscow’s delegation insists the illegal ban was imposed “under pressure from the collective West”

Recent hostile actions by the German government, following the death of a notorious terror ringleader responsible for numerous civilian deaths in Iran, underscore Berlin’s longstanding policy of offering support to anti-Iranian terrorist groups.

On Thursday, Germany announced the closure of three Iranian consulates in Frankfurt am Main, Munich, and Hamburg, citing the execution of "a German citizen" in Iran.

The individual in question, Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-born convicted terrorist, was the leader of the Tondar terrorist group and the main orchestrator of the 2008 Shiraz mosque terror attack that killed 14 civilians and injured 215 others.

Donald Trump is not a Republican, although he was supported by the Republican Party. He defines himself as a Jacksonian and has made numerous references to former President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837). To understand him and judge his actions, it is necessary to know those of his predecessor.
In the history of the United States, General Jackson tried to transform his country from a monarchy without nobility into a true democracy and to replace wars with trade.

Donald Trump, an Andrew Jackson 2.0?
by Thierry Meyssan

The visit of US President George W. Bush to the UK in November 2003 was a moment of significance in British history, as demonstrations against it revealed massive public outrage over the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Iraq became the most important reason why the British public grew increasingly disaffected with the Tony Blair government and, indeed, with the country’s electoral politics altogether.

What we saw then were the first signs of the exhaustion of liberal democratic politics.

By David Miller

In the intervening years, there was a last hurrah for the idea that change could come from the ballot box, most notably with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.

"THE DEMOCRATS LOST BECAUSE THEY FOLLOWED THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lez1hQxweFU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lez1hQxweFU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4usyZcbHrXw

We’ve seen an uproar since it’s become apparent that the US has given Ukraine permission to launch long-range strikes deep inside Russia. There are several reasons for this. 

Firstly, Moscow’s unequivocal warnings that such a move would be seen as NATO’s direct entry into the war. And secondly the fallout from the dramatic change in the political situation in the US.

Fyodor Lukyanov: Biden is trying to throw Trump under the Ukrainian bus
The White House recognises that negotiations to end the conflict are inevitable, but it wants to delay the day of judgment.

From atop Mount Olympus, Zeus peers in perplexity through fumes of fire, dust and vehicle exhaust, toxic chemicals, roiling tempests and raging floods, idly wondering what those darned mortals are up to now…

First his eye is drawn to ancient Media, part of old Persia (now known under its modern name of Azerbaijan). Here a conspiracy is unfolding as 1770 oil magnates work out how best to enrich themselves while killing off everybody else – man, woman and child – and turn the planet into a charred, uninhabitable cinder as swiftly as possible.

U.S. closes embassy in Kyiv amid warnings of "significant" Russian air attack

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv shut its doors Wednesday as Ukraine braced amid warnings of retaliation from Moscow for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with American-made missiles. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams has more.

CBS News 24/7 is the premier anchored streaming news service from CBS News and Stations that is available free to everyone with access to the internet and is the destination for breaking news, live events, original reporting and storytelling, and programs from CBS News and Stations' top anchors and correspondents working locally, nationally and around the globe. It is available on more than 30 platforms across mobile, desktop and connected TVs for free, as well as CBSNews.com and Paramount+ and live in 91 countries.

Experts agree that the health of U.S. democracy has declined in recent years—but what does that mean? The United States is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach.

Most obviously, after the 2020 election, the sitting president, despite admitting privately that he had lost, attempted to subvert the results and remain in office. But democratic erosion in the United States is not synonymous with Donald Trump.

    October 17, 2023

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia became the EU's largest gas exporter for the first time since spring 2022 in September, with its share reaching 23.7%, Sputnik calculated on Thursday based on data from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).

In September, European companies purchased $1.48 billion worth of gas from Russia, which is around 30% more than in the same month a year ago. Liquefied natural gas accounted for 40% of the purchases, with the remaining 60% being pipeline gas.

The increase made Russia the EU's largest gas exporter, with its share growing to 23.74% from August's 16.54%. This happened for the first time since May 2022, when Russia's share in the EU's gas imports was at 22.9%.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has decided to write off about $4.7 billion in taxpayer-funded loans to Ukraine as part of a broader effort to bolster Kiev before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year.

Since February 2022, the US Congress has approved more than $174 billion in aid packages to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The latest tranche, approved in April, included over $9.4 billion in “forgivable loans” to help fill the gap in Kiev’s budget.

“We have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, confirming that Biden seeks to write off half of that amount, or roughly $4.7 billion.