According to the US State Department, Russia has sent tanks, heavy weapons and rocket launchers into Ukraine over the past days, in order to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, confirming statements recently provided by Ukrainian media sources. The State Department said there was video proof. “We assess that separatists in eastern Ukraine have acquired heavy weapons and military … Read more
In the war-ravaged though officially at peace Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 percent of the population has been raped. Nearly 50 women and girls are raped every hour. “It’s true that we raped here. We found women because they can’t escape. You see her, you catch her, you take her away and you have your way … Read more
Russia took over the chairmanship of the UN Security Council (UNSC) June 1, and Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa took over the Presidency of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) June 11. One of these nations is currently at the top of world headlines for aggression in Ukraine, and both have recently made headlines for passing … Read more
Russian parliamentary speaker and former Historical Truth Commission Chairman Sergei Naryshkin has made statements asserting that it was Ukraine–not Russia–that actually annexed Crimea, citing a 1991 Crimean referendum as evidence. Naryshkin made his statements to the Russian parliament Wednesday. RIA Novosti quotes Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, “Back in January 1991, the Crimean region held a referendum, which disputed … Read more
The US Consul General in St Petersberg, Bruce Turner, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service who served in Russia and Afghanistan as Director of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement affairs, has published a collection of poems in anticipation of the end of his work in Russia. Turner regretfully admitted that it was hard to leave … Read more
At a meeting Wednesday between Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Lavrov, in addition to commending the “usefulness” of Zannier’s upcoming trip to the Rostrov region–where Zannier would meet some of the 12,000 refugees reported to have fled from the … Read more
Stay-at-home dads have increased so sharply in recent years that the number of fathers who do not work outside the home has doubled since 1989, according to a Pew Research findings based on US Census Bureau data. Although high unemployment during the 2007-2009 Great Recession also contributed to the trend, Pew found that fathers were choosing … Read more
Three Hell’s Angels who escaped from a Canadian prison by helicopter–Canada’s second such helicopter prison escape–received relaxed security benefits in their prison just one day before the escape. The three convicts are the subject of a massive manhunt in the province of Quebec. The three men–in prison on charges of murder and drug offenses–were … Read more
Telangana State, India–where approximately 5000 Indians have self immolated for the cause of an independent state–has unanimously elected its first Speaker of the Telangana Assembly Tuesday, unopposed, one week after the creation of India’s 29th state. Protests both for and against the formation of a separate Telangana state have often been fierce over the years. Approximately 5000 … Read more
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa is set to become President of the UN’s General Assembly on June 11. The election of Kutesa has caused some criticism because the Ugandan government–for which Kutesa forms foreign policy–has been under the 28-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni, and has been accused and found guilty by international courts of international … Read more
Bill HR4490, which has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, would make Voice of America (VOA) officially a designated “public diplomacy” service, as well make additional changes in US international news communications–as a reaction against the alleged media manipulations of “countries like Russia.” VOA would be mandated to “provide a sharper focus on explaining the … Read more
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) needs 50 ratifications to become legally binding international law, and it already has 40 ratifications, with the eight ratifications added June 3. Ten were expected to ratify. A total of 118 states have signed the treaty. Four of the world’s major arms producers–USA, France, Germany and USA–signed in September. Appeals have been … Read more