Western governments jointly warned on Wednesday about a potential threat of increased malicious cyber activity by Russia against critical infrastructure as a response to sanctions imposed as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
The cybersecurity agencies of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand that together form the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance said the war could expose organizations everywhere to cyber crime.
If the European Union is serious about squeezing Russian oil, it may need to brace for some pain.
A full and immediate ban could displace more than 4 million barrels a day of supplies — propelling Brent prices up by around 65% to $185 a barrel, JP Morgan warns.
Canada has a stockpile of light armoured vehicles that could be deployed, says former Chief of the Defence Staff, Rick Hillier. ‘It would make a serious difference’.
Ukraine war: Russia bombards cities as eastern offensive begins
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia has launched an assault to seize the eastern Donbas region.
Moscow bombarded cities with rocket and artillery fire on Monday and in a video address Mr Zelensky said that the battle “for the Donbas has begun”.
Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said that Russia tried to break through Ukrainian front lines in the region.
The offensive has been long-expected after Russia failed to seize Kyiv.
Google Maps made Russia’s strategic facilities visible to users Monday, revealing the details of the country’s military infrastructure.
Searches on Google Maps showed newly accessible images of military bases, intercontinental ballistic missiles launch pads, naval facilities and key command posts all across Russia.
The left wants a full scale war with Russia.
Russian occupying troops in Mariupol are preparing to close all entries and exits to Mariupol and ban all movement in the city on 18 April in order to carry out a “filtration” operation among the city’s male population, some of whom will be mobilised.
Russia has ‘unleashed chemical weapons on Mariupol’ with Ukrainian troops claiming they were hit by an agent dropped by a drone leaving them unable to breath and dizzy – as the besieged city’s mayor reveals more than 10,000 civilians in the conflict have died so far.
The unidentified agent is said to have been dropped on the southern port city from a Russian drone, according to unverified reports from the city’s Azov regiment.
Russia and Ukraine appear to be in the final stages of preparation to fight the Battle of Donbas, in what is shaping up to be the biggest tank battle in Europe since the decisive Battle of Kursk in World War II.
The stakes for both Moscow and Kyiv couldn’t be higher.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the newspaper that the alliance was “in the midst of a very fundamental transformation” that will reflect “the long-term consequences” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
“What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security,” Stoltenberg said, per The Telegraph. “Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a longer-term adaptation of NATO.”
“For 25 years people like myself have said that NATO expansion would lead to war. Putin said several times that if it came to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, there would be no Ukraine anymore. In Bucharest in 2008 there was a plan of quick accession of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO. It was blocked by the efforts of Germany and France, but since that time Ukraine has been integrated into NATO. It was pumped up by weaponry and its troops were trained by NATO, their army getting stronger and stronger day by day. In addition we saw a very rapid increase of neo-Nazi sentiment especially among the military, the society and the ruling elite. It was clear that Ukraine had become something like Germany around 1936-1937. The war was inevitable, they were a spearhead of NATO. We made the very hard decision to strike first, before the threat becomes deadlier.”
‘Russian Oligarchs Are Welcome in Turkey’
Few people could imagine that on a cold March day in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, the presidential corps, after more than a decade of hostility to its neighbor Israel, would welcome Israeli President Isaac Herzog by playing Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, with two presidential guards holding Turkish and Israeli flags on horseback. Pundits were quick to talk about a “reset in relations,” or a “historic visit.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he now intends to host Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Ankara.
Vladimir Putin was annoyed – or maybe just bored. The Russian leader had been patiently fielding questions from a small group of international journalists in the restaurant of a modest hotel in Davos. Then one of the queries seemed to irritate him. He stared back at the questioner, an American, and said slowly, through an interpreter: “I’ll answer that question in a minute. But first let me ask you about the extraordinary ring you have on your finger.”
All heads in the room swivelled. “Why is the stone so large?” Putin continued. A few of the audience began to giggle and the journalist looked uncomfortable. Putin took on a tone of mock sympathy and continued: “You surely don’t mind me asking, because you wouldn’t be wearing something like that unless you were trying to draw attention to yourself?” There was more laughter. By now, the original question had been forgotten. It was a masterclass in distraction and bullying.
Several of Russia’s top state-controlled nuclear companies stand to gain billions of dollars in revenue as part of a new nuclear accord with Iran that will waive sanctions on these firms so that they can build up Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, according to a U.S. government-authored document reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Russia’s state-controlled Rosatom energy firm and at least four of its major subsidiaries will receive sanctions waivers under a new accord so that they can complete nuclear projects in Iran worth more than $10 billion, according to the 2019 document, which details all the Russian entities involved in these projects.
According to Defence Chief Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada cannot hope to maintain a permanent presence in the north, but instead will only deploy troops where necessary.
Eyre appeared before a Senate committee earlier this week as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Anita Anand met with premiers from Canada’s territories – Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
The transition to capitalism was chaotic and painful
The Nineties were a time of American hegemony and British cockiness. The internet was a utopian idea as opposed to a collective psychological disorder. Climate change, terrorism, autocracy and gross inequality were either not-on-the-radar or assumed to be moving in the right direction. From the vantage point of 2022, that period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 seems impossibly sunkissed. What did we have to worry about?
