Latest news with #militarization
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Department of Defense expands militarised zone along Texas border
The US Department of Defense is significantly expanding a militarised zone along the southern border in Texas, granting troops the authority to detain individuals for potential federal prosecution on charges of trespassing within a national defence area. The Air Force announced on Monday the annexation of a winding 250-mile (400-kilometre) stretch of the border. This expansion comes amid a broader buildup of military forces initiated under President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the border. This newly designated national defence area, running along the Rio Grande, spans two Texas counties and borders cities including Brownsville and McAllen. It will be treated as an extension of Joint Base San Antonio. The Air Force has stated its readiness to immediately install warning signs prohibiting entry into the zone. The military strategy was pioneered in April along a 170-mile (275-kilometer) stretch of the border in New Mexico and expanded to a swath of western Texas in May. Hunters, hikers and humanitarian aid groups fear that they will no longer have access. In the newest national defense area, military responsibilities include 'enhanced detection and monitoring' and "temporarily detaining trespassers until they are transferred to the appropriate law enforcement authorities,' the Air Force said in a news release. At least three people have been directly detained by troops in New Mexico for processing by Border Patrol. More than 1,400 immigrants have been charged with incursions into the national defense areas, a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Court challenges to the charges have met with mixed results. The militarized border zone is a counterpoint to the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles following protests over Trump's stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. The troop deployments are testing the limits of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil. Arrests at the border for illegal entry have decreased dramatically this year.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
U.S. Is Creating 2 New Expanded Military Zones Along Border With Mexico
The Pentagon is creating two additional expanded military zones at the southwestern border, to be patrolled by U.S. soldiers, in the Trump administration's latest step to militarize the boundary with Mexico to help further reduce already dwindling migrant crossings. One narrow strip of land will be established along the border of Arizona and become part of the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, according to two Defense Department officials. A second strip, in southern Texas, will become a part of Joint Base San Antonio, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. With the addition of the two land strips, called national defense areas, there are now four such newly designated military installations. Migrants who enter the areas will be considered trespassers and can be temporarily detained by U.S. troops until Border Patrol agents arrive, military officials said. The military's Northern Command had previously announced that it was establishing a narrow strip of land along the southern border of Texas that will become part of Fort Bliss, near El Paso. The strip will be about 63 miles long. And in April, the Pentagon created a 60-foot-wide strip of land along 200 miles of the border between New Mexico and Mexico, effectively turning it into part of a U.S. military base there. The new Pentagon directives expand a military presence that has increased steadily along the southern border in recent months, even as crossings have already dropped precipitously during the Trump administration. The Pentagon has sent nearly 9,000 active-duty troops to the border, as well as spy planes in the skies and Navy warships offshore, to comply with President Trump's order in January to increase the military's role in reducing migrant crossings. Armed infantry and support troops from the Fourth Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado — one of the Army's most seasoned combat units — make up a major portion of the ground force in what the Pentagon calls Joint Task Force-Southern Border.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘Yapping bitches in Brussels a direct threat to Russia'
The European Union has emerged as a hostile force to Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed, accusing the bloc of arming the 'neo-Nazi Kiev regime' to attack Russia. In a Telegram post on Wednesday, Medvedev stated that the old EU as an economic union has 'essentially ceased to exist,' and in its current 'perverted form is no less of a threat' to Russia than NATO. 'Brussels today is Russia's true enemy,' he wrote. 'Slowly but surely, the EU is transforming into a self-sustaining military bloc that will gradually come to compete with NATO...' The ex-president accused 'Brusselian cockroaches and narrow-minded leaders of EU countries' of advancing their militarization strategy based on an imaginary 'Russia threat,' ushering in a new 'era of rearmament.' According to Medvedev, the EU's goal is to arm the Kiev regime to the point where it becomes invulnerable to Russia, claiming Brussels is ramping up its military-industrial output and building military factories on Ukrainian soil. The EU, he said, is also sending personnel to train Ukrainian militants 'so that they can kill our citizens and carry out terrorist attacks.' He also accused Brussels of 'brazenly' using profits from Russia's frozen assets to finance its 'vile activities.' 'The EU, stuffed with weapons, rainbow freaks, and yapping bitches in Brussels, constitutes a direct threat to Russia,' Medvedev wrote. 'This, of course, should not hinder our bilateral cooperation with individual European states.' Ukraine's potential EU membership – which Russia had not objected to in the past – would now constitute a 'danger' for Moscow. While Kiev's NATO ambitions were always seen as a red line for Russia, Medvedev indicated the EU had now adopted a similar confrontational posture. Ukraine made EU and NATO membership official national goals by amending its constitution in 2019. It applied to join the bloc in February 2022 and was granted candidate status later that year. Admission requires unanimous consent from all 27 EU member states. While some members voiced objections, Brussels has backed Kiev's bid. The European Commission suggested Ukraine could join by 2029 if it made sufficient progress in areas such as political and judicial reforms, as well as in combating organized crime and corruption. In his post, Medvedev proposed two outcomes for Ukraine: 'Either the EU itself realizes that it doesn't need the Kiev quasi-state at all, or, better, there is no state left to join the EU.'
LBCI
4 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Kremlin slams NATO's 'rampant militarization' ahead of bloc's summit
Moscow on Tuesday slammed NATO's "rampant militarization" ahead of the Western military alliance's summit where members are set to agree to hike defense spending to five percent of GDP. "The alliance is assuredly going along the path of rampant militarization. Europe is going along the path of rampant militarization. This is the reality that surrounds us," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the summit began in The Hague. AFP
Bloomberg
19-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Can the UK Afford to Defend Itself Anymore?
At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit scheduled for later this month, alliance members are expected to adopt a new defense spending target totaling as much as 5% of each nation's gross domestic product, an historic acknowledgement that a new Cold War has arrived, and that a recalcitrant Donald Trump could one day leave Europe to the mercies of a revanchist Vladimir Putin. Indeed, NATO's sprint toward re-militarization comes after more than three years of Russian war that's claimed tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives. Unable to rely on America given Trump's expressions of warmth for Putin and coolness to allies, many European governments see shifting to a war-footing as arguably a matter of long-term survival. The short-term question, however, is how to pay for it. On this Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary, we explore this brutal conundrum as it is currently faced by one of NATO's key powers: the UK. In 2010, the UK had a relatively small military of about 100,000 personnel. In the 15 years since, that number has fallen by tens of thousands. The Labour government is now struggling to make up for decades of underinvestment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to spend 2.6% of GDP on defense by 2027, which falls short of the 3.5% goal proposed by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the soon-to-be 5% target. The British military is currently at its smallest size since the Napoleonic era, and reversing course would require sustained investment and major sacrifices. Given the delicate nature of the UK's finances and the bond markets, it may not even be possible.
