The recently sealed Sino-Solomon Islands security pact has taken centre stage in the ongoing campaign for the federal election in Australia. The opposition Labor Party has stepped up its attack on the Morrison government, terming the security pact as a "policy failure" on part of Canberra. The federal vote is scheduled to be held on 21 May.

 

Two former Australian prime ministers have hit out at the country’s Defence Minister Peter Dutton, a day after the latter asked Australians to “prepare for war” with China.

 

US will move ‘heaven and earth’ to back Ukraine – Pentagon

 

The defense Secretary pledges to do whatever is necessary to give Kiev what it wants

 

The US will move “heaven and earth” to supply Ukraine with what it says it needs to fight Russia, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The announcement came on Tuesday at a 40-country meeting aimed at getting Washington’s allies on board the mission to prop up Kiev’s defenses.

 

Ukraine-Russia war live: Vladimir Putin getting exact opposite of his aims in Ukraine, former NATO commander Philip Breedlove says…..

The retired US general who led NATO in Europe from 2013 to 2016 says Vladimir Putin's aims in Ukraine are "weapons out, NATO back, and no America" — but the Russian President is getting exactly the opposite. Why?

 

In some way this is true, but far from settled…. Eventually, it is likely Ukraine will fail in stopping Russia getting what it wants: SECURITY. So what is the game of NATO and the USA? They both are prepared to sacrifice more Ukrainian lives for their little game of Empire. They are both ugly fascist hypocrites.

 

Emmanuel Macron has done something no other French president has achieved before: winning re-election while still being in charge of his own government.

In God We Trust is a phrase that we regularly see on our change and bills, while also gracing several of our car license plates, our government buildings, and even as tattoos on people’s bodies. Despite efforts to remove In God We Trust from several places, the faith-based motto has stayed in our lives for centuries. This is because it has a background that goes far beyond being a novelty logo or recognized as part of our currency. It came into existence thanks to some strong Christians who felt a nation going through a painful, costly war needed a constant reminder about God and His provision, and this should be something we take note of every day. It even went into law, becoming an intricate part of our nation’s history for life.

 

Scott Morrison wants the election to be about competence, but an examination of his record suggests that he is not capable of delivering good government.

Scott Morrison has never had a policy agenda. Rather he sees his role as reacting to and resolving problems as they arise, and not setting a policy reform agenda.

Consequently, Morrison is seeking to make the forthcoming election purely a choice based on who is the more competent to manage the government of the country. As Morrison put it: “This election is a choice between a government that you know and has been delivering and a Labor opposition that you don’t.”

But how competent is the Morrison Government really? How well has it in fact been delivering?

“I tried to talk to Emmanuel Macron last night,” Biden told reporters on Monday. “I spoke to his staff, and he was at the Eiffel Tower having a good time. And I’m going to be talking to him today.”

Other well-wishers had better luck, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was reportedly among the European leaders who got through to Macron on Sunday. Biden and other NATO heads of state were quick to congratulate the French leader on Twitter, as many feared the implications of nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen defeating Macron. As it turned out, the incumbent beat his Eurosceptic rival handily, by a margin of 58.5% to 41.5%.

Sputnik's Chief Was on Neo-Nazi Kill List, Suspects Took Orders From Ukraine’s Security Service: FSB

Commenting on the assassination plot earlier Monday, President Putin said it showed that Ukrainian and Western attempts to sow division in Russian society and break the country up from the inside had failed, and that they had shifted to a "policy of terror" against Russian journalists.

It’s what Australian military historians tend to call ‘Anzac season’ – the weeks preceding ‘the one day of the year’ when they get asked to speak on talk-back radio about current anniversaries (there are always a couple), or to discuss how Anzac seems to be both changing and un-changing. But this year, Anzac season seems somehow different.

 

United States nuclear weapons in Europe

 

Approximately 150 American B-61 nuclear gravity bombs are stationed in five countries in Europe: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey. While the governments of these countries have never officially declared the presence of these weapons, individuals such as the former Italian President and former Dutch prime minister have confirmed this to be the case.

March 26th marks the seventh anniversary of the disastrous war in Yemen, which has resulted in almost half a million dead. ​​The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels has recently ramped up its attacks in this destabilizing conflict that, prior to the Ukraine war, was the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. 

A little over 20 years ago, [1999] North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted a military exercise that involved a “hypothetical scenario” of hijacked planes flying into both the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

According to the fantasy, there is a ‘moral obligation’ toward dead Anzacs – but not to democratise the decisions that would throw live Anzacs into war.

There is no doubting the sincerity of the grief felt by the bereaved, those who will gather at the myriad sites of memory and mourning across Australia on Anzac Day. Let us acknowledge that sincerity at the outset, and pause respectfully.

But there is a fantasy that haunts our cult of the fallen. The fantasy is this: that our political leaders so love the serving men and women that they would never recklessly commit them to war.

 

 

By Douglas Newton

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared on Sunday that a Chinese military base on the Solomon Islands would be an unacceptable “red line,” without adding how Canberra would retaliate. Morrison’s government and the United States are scrambling to respond to a recently-signed security deal between the islands and Beijing, which they consider an “aggressive” move.

“Working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States, I share the same red line that the United States has when it comes to these issues,” Morrison said. “We won’t be having Chinese military naval bases in our region on our doorstep.”

For many years, I have studied and given much thought to the UN Charter’s prohibition against aggressive war. No one can seriously doubt that the primary purpose of the document – drafted and agreed to on the heels of the horrors of WWII – was and is to prevent war and “to maintain international peace and security,” a phrase repeated throughout. 

 

Daniel Kovalik: Why Russia's intervention in Ukraine is legal under international law