Moscow’s long-feared attack on Ukraine began early on February 24, with missiles being fired at airports and military infrastructure in at least seven cities after Russia President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special” operation to “demilitarize” its neighbor and rival.
В день промови Путіна, російські фондові біржі обвалилися в масштабах, небачених із часів світової фінансової кризи 2008 року
Prominent Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists are continuing to express fear about Iran’s “expansionist” schemes in the Arab countries, especially Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They say that they are worried that a return to the JCPOA would further embolden the mullahs in Tehran and the Iranian-backed terrorist groups.
A Vacancy at the Top Threatens the Group’s Global Operations
It is only February, and already, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) has had a rough year. ISIS’s supporters quickly went from cheering on a large prison break in northeast Syria to learning, days later, that the group’s reclusive leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a daring U.S. special operations raid.
How the West Can Still Protect Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears poised to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has amassed troops near the border, spurned Western attempts at a diplomatic resolution, and most recently recognized the independence of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, with Russian troops and weapons entering the region soon after. U.S. President Joe Biden has called Russia’s move into the Donbas an “undeniable invasion,” and announced a set of sanctions on Russian financial institutions, sovereign debt, and individuals. These were interim steps; Biden warned that more sanctions will follow should Russia continue to escalate the crisis. Berlin has also halted the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Russian natural gas to Germany, marking a major shift in its policy toward Russia and sounding a warning to Putin that his aggression is alienating the country, along with others in Europe.
One would think that Russia was busy with other matters, but on February 20, 2022 – at the height of the Ukraine Crisis – the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced that the Vice Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” would travel to Moscow at the end of the week and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov.[1] It is the first visit by a senior Sudanese official to Russia since the October 25, 2021 military coup in Sudan which removed the civilian part of the Sudanese government under Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.
The approval follows the signing of EOs by President Putin on the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation has approved President Vladimir Putin’s request for the use of armed forces abroad.
As the media-saturated hubbub over Ukraine drags on, the avid but illegal party-goer–“Covid lockdown rules be damned”–Boris “BoJo” Johnson has been trying to save his job by sounding combative towards Russia (among other things).
Alas for the charlatan BoJo, Vladimir Putin must be taking this in with a cynical smile.
On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered the Iraqi army to invade and occupy Kuwait in an operation that led to Iraq’s defeat in war, rebellions crushed in blood, 13 years of UN sanctions, defeat in a second war, foreign occupation, and two decades of civil conflict that is only now drawing to an end.
French President Emmanuel Macron has clearly decided to up the ante in a standoff with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, where France is backing Greece and Cyprus in their dispute with Ankara over natural gas reserves and maritime boundaries.