Latest news with #Russo-Ukraine
Montreal Gazette
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Lincoln: An urgent letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney
Dear Prime Minister Carney: Your reputation for quiet competence, reasoned judgment and steady decisiveness, already tested in your previous major career achievements, has resonated both here and beyond our shores since your election as our prime minister. No doubt your overwhelming victory as leader of the Liberal party played its part, as did your winning a national election in a result that had seemed quite improbable mere months beforehand. Your presence as prime minister attracts respect and confidence, and once again Canada is viewed and listened to with deserved seriousness by your peers on the world stage. The voice of Canada as a middle power may not be prominent or especially powerful, yet it resonates far and wide as a voice of stability, fairness and peace. Your mandate begins in a world beset by the instability and insecurity caused by conflict and war, where destruction and the loss of innocent lives have become the new normal. Conflict still rages in Myanmar after four years, with over 50,000 opponents of the junta losing their lives. The Sudan civil war has directly caused more than 150,000 deaths, with another depressing number of 525,000 infants having succumbed to malnutrition. The ethno-political cauldron that is the Middle East is stoked by the raging fire of ceaseless conflict and warfare. The recognized Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs estimates a staggering 4.5 million deaths have occurred in post-9/11 war zones. Last September, the Wall Steet Journal estimated the number of those killed or wounded since the advent of the current Russo-Ukraine war at one million. How can humankind tolerate such blatant disregard for life and living? How can the dignity and security of life and living have become mere stories and statistics for nightly news? How can the profound integrity and dignity of the human person have become mere 'collateral damage'? Prime Minister, you can be that new respected Canadian leader who emulates Lester Pearson's historical call for peace, which led to the creation of the UN's first peacekeeping force and the saving of an untold number of lives. You can and should launch a peace initiative, perhaps called People Peace / Monde et Paix. You could invite eminent Canadians to join you for the launch — for instance, Céline Dion, Margaret Atwood, Roméo Dallaire, Irwin Cotler and David Suzuki. Governor General Mary Simon would provide the important presence of our First Peoples. This would not be a political initiative, but a people's one, calling all across the globe to join hands and voices for peace and the preservation of life. You could use your status as leader of a country of peace to ask Pope Leo XIV and his world faith peers to join in your call. Each day that elapses means ever more deaths and destruction. The endless calls by political leaders for 'ceasefires' and 'de-escalation' remain so many buzzwords, while the carnage rages on. (Here's hoping the Iran-Israel ceasefire will be a welcome exception and will hold.) It is high time ordinary citizens, all of us across our lands, have our turn in urging and insisting, never giving up until peace and human life win the day. Of all the causes you may champion as our prime minister, the cause of peace is the noblest. Peace has no political allegiance or religion; it protects all of us, regardless of age, race or status. It means our right to live free lives while respecting the right of our neighbours to do likewise. Peace means access to water, food and the essentials of life. Peace means the protection of infants, mothers and the most vulnerable. Peace is normalcy, and the clear possibility to anticipate a deserved future. Peace recognizes our differences, but allows us to accept them freely and willingly. Peace most certainly does not mean guns, bombs and missiles, which have no other purpose but to kill and destroy. Please, Prime Minister, please be our champion for peace. In respect and hope,
NDTV
29-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
The End Is Near? Top Psychics Reveal Shocking Predictions For 2025
Four renowned psychics-Baba Vanga, Nostradamus, Athos Salome, and Nicolas Aujula-have all predicted troubling events in 2025, warning of global chaos. Baba Vanga foresaw devastating earthquakes linked to climate change and a war in Europe marking the start of "humanity's downfall". Nostradamus, in Les Propheties, predicted a cruel war involving the UK, with internal and external threats, and the return of a deadly covid-like pandemic. Athos Salome and Nicolas Aujula have echoed similar concerns, suggesting major unrest ahead. These shared prophecies have raised global concern and intense discussion about what the rest of the year might hold. According to a New York Post report, Brazilian psychic Athos Salome, 38, who has been known as a living Nostradamus for predicting momentous events like Queen Elizabeth's death, also believes that WWIII is on our doorstep and that "the worst is yet to come". This conflict will be perhaps scarier than in years past, as tech and cyber warfare will become the modus operandi for 21st-century combatants. "This is not just a war of men but of machines, and in this aspect, what comes next?" lamented Salome. Another member of this apocalyptic quartet, London hypnotherapist Nicolas Aujula, 38, believes that war could break out by the middle of this year due to a "lack of compassion in the world". Based on his psychic visions, "We will see horrific acts of human evil and violence towards each other in the name of religion and nationalism." These unsettling predictions come at a time of rising global instability. Conflicts continue to escalate, with ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan and no resolution in sight for the Russo-Ukraine war. Recent geopolitical shifts-such as Sweden's NATO membership in March and Finland joining in April 2023-have significantly expanded NATO's border with Russia. Adding to the tension, Moscow recently warned the UK against forming a "coalition of the willing" in Ukraine, cautioning that such actions could trigger a nuclear World War Three. Against this backdrop, the psychics' warnings feel all the more alarming.
India Today
09-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
What is drone warfare? A simple explainer amid India-Pakistan tensions
In the wake of rising tensions along the Indo-Pakistan border, residents in the region have witnessed drone and missile attacks from Pakistan for two consecutive nights. This escalation followed India's targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure within Pakistan. The chain of events was triggered by a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, where 26 tourists -- including a Nepali national -- were use of drones by Pakistan signals a shift in the nature of modern warfare, pointing towards a new era dominated by unmanned aerial this is not the first instance of drones being used in international conflict, similar tactics have been seen in the ongoing three-year-long Russo-Ukraine war and in Israel, where Iran recently launched a barrage of drone like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France have also demonstrated their drone capabilities in operations targeting terrorist networks across various regions of the too, has employed drones in recent operations, including the recently conducted Operation Sindoor and retaliatory strikes against Pakistan. Indian drones, such as the HARPY -- an Israeli-made loitering munition -- have played a significant role in these have long warned that drone warfare will increasingly shape 21st-century conflicts. As the global military landscape continues to evolve, it is becoming clear that unmanned systems are poised to dominate future the early years of the 21st century, most drone strikes were carried out by the US military in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya, using air-to-surface missiles against ground warfare has since been adopted by countries like Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran, as well as by non-state actors such as the IS DRONE WARFARE?Drone warfare refers to a mode of warfare employing unmanned or remotely controlled devices. Such drones have the capability of staying in the air, on land, at sea level, or underwater. The drones may be operated by manual control, and others may utilise auto-pilot systems on their or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, is commonly known as a drone. It is the flying component of the RPAS, operated without a human pilot onboard. RPAS which establishes the communication link between them, stands for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System. It refers to a set of components that include the drone, its ground-based control nations, such as the US, UK, Israel, China, India, Russia, and Turkey, have produced combat drones, or UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles).These are employed in targeted attacks, frequently in locations difficult to access by conventional second stage of drone application is artificial intelligence. AI drones can navigate on their own, detect targets, and even operate in "swarm" groups which were used by Pakistan to attack such as the DJI Matrice 300 are already employing AI in combat zones like Ukraine to find and lock onto threats independent of human technology advances, drones will increasingly be utilised for military and civilian OF UAVsEarlier, even in the 1960s, British Commonwealth artillery regiments started developing drones for target identification and extending their though the gadgets have advanced over time, their primary application -- surveillance and acquisition of targets -- has remained past two decades saw US set the trend world-wide with using drones for its counterterrorism action in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen with precision attacks minimising personnel was the Ukraine war that saw a turning point. Russian and Ukrainian forces both used small drones on a massive scale for real-time intelligence and direct drones, usually locally constructed, were lower in cost and more maneuverable, better capable of evading modern air defences than big drones such as the Predator or Reaper, which were rapidly 2023, small drones had evolved to accommodate multiple payloads - from infrared detectors to electronic warfare with gas and machine guns during World War I, drones are now evolving faster than the laws intended to regulate makes it imperative for military strategists and policymakers to get ahead -- not only with technology, but with ethics and regulation as United Nations defines targeted killing as the planned and deliberate use of lethal force by a state, its agents, or an armed group during conflict, aimed at a specific person who is not in their InMust Watch
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Only Question Trump Asks Himself
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is 'a dictator without elections,' with only a 4 percent approval rating. The war in Ukraine is 'madness' and 'senseless.' Although it is true that Russia is currently 'pounding' Ukraine, 'probably anyone in that position would be doing that right now.' Kyiv is 'more difficult, frankly, to deal with' than Moscow. This Russian propaganda could be easily dismissed, were it not being verbalized by President Donald Trump. I was Trump's national security adviser from 2018 to 2019; I know that his view on Putin has remained constant for years. In saying recently that dealing with Putin is easier than with Zelensky and that Putin would be 'more generous than he has to be,' Trump has simply reprised the sentiments of his first term. In July 2018, when leaving the White House for a NATO summit (where he almost withdrew America from the alliance), then later appointments with Prime Minister Theresa May in England and Putin in Finland (where he seemed to back Putin over U.S. intelligence), Trump said that his meeting with Putin 'may be the easiest of them all. Who would think?' Obviously, only Trump. But now he has turned U.S. policy on the Russo-Ukraine war 180 degrees. Instead of aiding a victimized country with enormous agricultural, mineral, and industrial resources in the heart of Europe, bordering on key NATO allies, a region whose stability and prosperity have been vital to American national security for eight decades, Trump now sides with the invader. Ukrainians are fighting and dying for their freedom and independence, as near neighbors such as Poland's Lech Walesa fully appreciate. For most Americans, 'freedom' and 'independence' resonate, but not for Trump. He has gone well beyond rhetoric. In a nationally televised display, he clashed with Zelensky face-to-face in the Oval Office, ironically a very Wilsonian act: open covenants openly destroyed. Trump suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including vital intelligence, to make Zelensky bend his knee. Even when Trump 'threatened' Russia with sanctions and tariffs, the threat was hollow. Russia is already evading a broad array of poorly enforced sanctions, and could evade more. On tariffs, U.S. imports from Russia in 2024 were a mere $3 billion, down almost 90 percent from 2021's level, before Russia's invasion, and trivial compared with $4.1 trillion in total 2024 imports. [Jonathan Chait: The real reason Trump berated Zelensky] The Kremlin is delighted. Former President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X: 'If you'd told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud.' This is serious, and may be fatal for both Kyiv and NATO. Trump has sought for years to debilitate or destroy the alliance. He doesn't like it; he doesn't understand it; he frowns on its Brussels headquarters building; and, worst of all, it was deeply involved in not only Ukraine but Afghanistan, which he didn't like either. Trump may ultimately want to withdraw from NATO, but in the near term, he can do serious-enough damage simply to render the alliance unworkable. Recent reports that Trump is considering defending only those NATO allies meeting the agreed defense-spending targets mirrors prior suggestions from his aides. This approach is devastating for the alliance. What explains Trump's approach to Ukraine and disdain for NATO? Trump does not have a philosophy or a national-security grand strategy. He does not do 'policy' as Washington understands that term. His approach is personal, transactional, ad hoc, episodic, centering on one question: What benefits Donald Trump? In international affairs, Trump has suggested repeatedly that if he has good personal relations with a foreign head of state, then America ought to have good relations with that country. While personal relations have their place, hard men such as Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un are not distracted by emotions. Trump thinks that Putin is his friend. Putin sees Trump as an easy mark, pliable and manipulable. Trump says he trusts that Putin wants peace and will honor his commitments, despite massive contrary evidence. Notwithstanding considerable efforts, Zelensky has never escaped the 'perfect' phone call precipitating Trump's first impeachment. Of course, that call turned on Trump's now-familiar extortionist threat to withhold security assistance to Ukraine if Zelensky did not produce Hillary Clinton's server and investigate other supposed anti-Trump activity in Ukraine aimed at thwarting his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. [Gal Beckerman: The key mismatch between Zelensky and Trump] The entirely personal nature of Trump's approach also manifests itself domestically. Trump is now reversing what Joe Biden did in Ukraine, just as in his first term, he reflexively reversed Barack Obama. Trump derided Obama for not providing lethal military assistance to Ukraine, so he did just that, sending missiles and more. Ronald Reagan knew how to handle nations that might commit unprovoked aggression against U.S. interests. Trump clearly does not. This does not reflect differences in strategy, which Trump lacks. Instead, it's another Trump reversal, this time of The Godfather's famous line: It's not business; it's strictly personal. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
The Only Question Trump Asks Himself
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky is ' a dictator without elections,' with only a 4 percent approval rating. The war in Ukraine is ' madness ' and 'senseless.' Although it is true that Russia is currently ' pounding ' Ukraine, 'probably anyone in that position would be doing that right now.' Kyiv is 'more difficult, frankly, to deal with' than Moscow. This Russian propaganda could be easily dismissed, were it not being verbalized by President Donald Trump. I was Trump's national security adviser from 2018 to 2019; I know that his view on Putin has remained constant for years. In saying recently that dealing with Putin is easier than with Zelensky and that Putin would be 'more generous than he has to be,' Trump has simply reprised the sentiments of his first term. In July 2018, when leaving the White House for a NATO summit (where he almost withdrew America from the alliance), then later appointments with Prime Minister Theresa May in England and Putin in Finland (where he seemed to back Putin over U.S. intelligence), Trump said that his meeting with Putin 'may be the easiest of them all. Who would think?' Obviously, only Trump. But now he has turned U.S. policy on the Russo-Ukraine war 180 degrees. Instead of aiding a victimized country with enormous agricultural, mineral, and industrial resources in the heart of Europe, bordering on key NATO allies, a region whose stability and prosperity have been vital to American national security for eight decades, Trump now sides with the invader. Ukrainians are fighting and dying for their freedom and independence, as near neighbors such as Poland's Lech Walesa fully appreciate. For most Americans, 'freedom' and 'independence' resonate, but not for Trump. He has gone well beyond rhetoric. In a nationally televised display, he clashed with Zelensky face-to-face in the Oval Office, ironically a very Wilsonian act: open covenants openly destroyed. Trump suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including vital intelligence, to make Zelensky bend his knee. Even when Trump 'threatened' Russia with sanctions and tariffs, the threat was hollow. Russia is already evading a broad array of poorly enforced sanctions, and could evade more. On tariffs, U.S. imports from Russia in 2024 were a mere $3 billion, down almost 90 percent from 2021's level, before Russia's invasion, and trivial compared with $4.1 trillion in total 2024 imports. Jonathan Chait: The real reason Trump berated Zelensky The Kremlin is delighted. Former President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X: 'If you'd told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud.' This is serious, and may be fatal for both Kyiv and NATO. Trump has sought for years to debilitate or destroy the alliance. He doesn't like it; he doesn't understand it; he frowns on its Brussels headquarters building; and, worst of all, it was deeply involved in not only Ukraine but Afghanistan, which he didn't like either. Trump may ultimately want to withdraw from NATO, but in the near term, he can do serious-enough damage simply to render the alliance unworkable. Recent reports that Trump is considering defending only those NATO allies meeting the agreed defense-spending targets mirrors prior suggestions from his aides. This approach is devastating for the alliance. What explains Trump's approach to Ukraine and disdain for NATO? Trump does not have a philosophy or a national-security grand strategy. He does not do 'policy' as Washington understands that term. His approach is personal, transactional, ad hoc, episodic, centering on one question: What benefits Donald Trump? In international affairs, Trump has suggested repeatedly that if he has good personal relations with a foreign head of state, then America ought to have good relations with that country. While personal relations have their place, hard men such as Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un are not distracted by emotions. Trump thinks that Putin is his friend. Putin sees Trump as an easy mark, pliable and manipulable. Trump says he trusts that Putin wants peace and will honor his commitments, despite massive contrary evidence. Notwithstanding considerable efforts, Zelensky has never escaped the 'perfect' phone call precipitating Trump's first impeachment. Of course, that call turned on Trump's now-familiar extortionist threat to withhold security assistance to Ukraine if Zelensky did not produce Hillary Clinton's server and investigate other supposed anti-Trump activity in Ukraine aimed at thwarting his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. Gal Beckerman: The key mismatch between Zelensky and Trump The entirely personal nature of Trump's approach also manifests itself domestically. Trump is now reversing what Joe Biden did in Ukraine, just as in his first term, he reflexively reversed Barack Obama. Trump derided Obama for not providing lethal military assistance to Ukraine, so he did just that, sending missiles and more. Ronald Reagan knew how to handle nations that might commit unprovoked aggression against U.S. interests. Trump clearly does not. This does not reflect differences in strategy, which Trump lacks. Instead, it's another Trump reversal, this time of The Godfather 's famous line: .
