Rove: 'Chickens Coming Home to Roost' on Obama

Mar. 25, 2014 - 10:36 - Former Bush senior advisor: President and US world stature paying for his 'hands off' foreign policy, US giving up Internet control seen as weak, Putin 'played Obama for a sucker'

How Is Obama Handling Foreign Policy Challenges with Russia?

Mar. 24, 2014 - 2:25 - Brit Hume has analysis

Obama: 'Russia Is a Regional Power'

Mar. 25, 2014 - 1:27 - President rejects idea that Putin's Russia is a top geopolitical enemy

Barack Obama's First Visit to Brussels to Cost Belgium More Than €10m

Belgium mobilising 350 police and military motorbikes to
secure the president's routes to EU and Nato summits.

THE GUARDIAN: Obama will arrive with 900-strong entourage, including 45 vehicles and three planes, and attend EU and Nato summits

As Belgium's capital and host to the EU and Nato, Brussels is used to deploying heavy security when big names pop by. But US President Barack Obama's visit on Tuesday will strain the city like never before with €10m ($10.4m, £8.4m) of Belgian money being spent to cover his 24 hours in the country.

The president will arrive on Tuesday night with a 900-strong entourage, including 45 vehicles and three cargo planes. Advance security teams orchestrating every last detail have combed Brussels already, checking the sewers and the major hospitals, while American military helicopters were last week given the green light for overflights. The city hosts at least four EU summits a year, with each of these gatherings costing €500,000 in extra police, military and transport expenses. "But this time round, you can multiply that figure by 20," said Brussels mayor, Yvan Mayeur. » | Leo Cendrowicz in Brussels | Monday, March 24, 2014

Barack Obama: Russia Is a Regional Power Showing Weakness over Ukraine

The US president, Barack Obama, in The Hague at the nuclear summit.

THE GUARDIAN: President rejects claims Russia is a principal foe, saying actions in Ukraine an expression of vulnerability rather than strength

President Barack Obama has described Russia as no more than a "regional power" whose actions in Ukraine are an expression of weakness rather than strength, as he restated the threat from the G7 western allies and Japan that they would inflict much broader sanctions if Vladimir Putin went beyond annexation of Crimea and moved troops into eastern Ukraine.

Speaking at the end of a summit on nuclear security in The Hague, Obama rejected the suggestion made by Mitt Romney – his Republican challenger in the last president election – that Russia was the United States' principal geopolitical foe. The president said he was considerably more concerned about the threat of a terrorist nuclear bomb attack on New York.

He said that the US was committed to the defence of its Nato allies but that for non-member states along Russia's borders, Washington and the rest of the international community would use non-military pressure to counter Russian encroachment. Read on and comment » | Julian Borger in The Hague | Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mitt Romney Calls Barack Obama “Naïve” on Russia »

Obama warns Putin that the US is the most powerful nation in the world. Russia is a regional power and would struggle to compete with the US’s global influence. Other countries look to America for a lead in global crises »

Climate Change Will Make UK Weather Too Wet and Too Dry, Says Met Office

THE GUARDIAN: UK will see wetter, milder winters and hotter, drier summers due to global warming, scientists predict

The UK's weather will become both too wet and too dry – and also too cold and too hot – as climate change increases the frequency of extreme events, the Met Office has warned in a new report.

Its scientists concluded that on average the UK will see wetter, milder winters and hotter, drier summers in the long term due to global warming. But the natural year-to-year variability of weather will also mean occasional very cold winters, like that of 2010-11, and very wet summers, like that of 2012. » | Damian Carrington | Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Douglas Murray – Asserting the Superiority of Western Values

Douglas Murray arguing in 2007 that 'We should not be reluctant to assert the superiority of Western values'.

Time to Grab Guns and Kill Damn Russians: Tymoshenko Tape Leak

Russia Sidelined from G8: Does It Matter?

Mar. 25, 2014 - 4:33 - Moscow shrugs off summit snub after Crimea takeover

'Post-Cold War West Poked Russian Bear with Stick until It Finally Swiped Back'

Crimea's secession has steered up a storm in the West, with flaming speeches being heard from politicians. However, there's little real action being taken - Why? What frightens the power players? We ask these questions to David Speedie from the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs.

Head to Head: Has Political Islam Failed?

Islamic intellectual Tariq Ramadan discusses Islamism and the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Putin führt Wehrertüchtigung in Russland wieder ein

DIE WELT: Jahrzehntelang machten Dutzende Millionen beim Programm "Bereit zu Arbeit und Verteidigung" mit. Das war noch zu Zeiten der Sowjetunion. Russlands Präsident Putin will diesen Geist wiederbeleben.

Kreml-Chef Wladimir Putin hat die aus Sowjetzeiten stammende Wehrertüchtigung wieder eingeführt. Zur freiwilligen Teilnahme aufgerufen sind alle Einwohner ab sechs Jahren. Dank des Systems seien Generationen gesunder Menschen herangewachsen, sagte Putin. Als "Tribut an die Traditionen unserer nationalen Geschichte" werde auch wieder der alte Name "Gotow k trudu i oboronje" (GTO, Bereit zu Arbeit und Verteidigung) genutzt.

In den 30er-Jahren stand in der Sowjetunion patriotische Erziehung von jungen Proletariern auf dem Programm. Sie mussten stark sein und ihr sozialistisches Vaterland verteidigen können. An den Olympischen Spielen nahm die Sowjetunion damals nicht teil, Sport galt als Zeitvertreib für Kapitalisten. Eine eigene Sportbewegung musste her, ohne das westliche Wort "Sport" zu benutzen. Stattdessen war die Rede von der "physischen Kultur". "Physische Kultur im Sommer muss den Arbeitermassen neue Kräfte gebe, neue Energie in die ermüdeten Muskeln gießen, Fertigkeiten geben, die ein Arbeiter und ein Soldat braucht", schrieb die sowjetische Zeitung "Komsomolskaja Prawda" 1930. » | Von Julia Smimova | Dienstag, 25. März 2014

Un islamiste suisse tue trois personnes en Turquie

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Un Suisse originaire du Kosovo a abattu trois personnes, dont un gendarme à un barrage, avant d'être capturé par les forces de l'ordre turques.

Un citoyen suisse originaire du Kosovo a été arrêté en Turquie après le meurtre de trois personnes, dont un gendarme, dans la province anatolienne de Niğde la semaine passée, a annoncé la police . » | Par Pascal Schmuck, Zurich | mardi 25 mars 2014

Rumsfeld's Take: Karzai Snubs West, Backs Putin's Power Grab

Mar. 24, 2014 - 4:22 - Former defense secretary on Afghan President Karzai, joining Syria and Venezuela in backing Russia's annexation of Crimea

War Threats Escalating in Ukraine?

Mar. 24, 2014 - 2:24 - Ukraine officials fear Russia could soon launch a new attack

Unbranded Cigarettes Could Mean People Smoke More, Experts Warn

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Unbranded cigarette packs could mean people smoke more, experts warn

Putting cigarettes in plain packs could lead to a rise in sales, experts have said, as smokers will no longer care about buying expensive brands.

The warning came as industry data from Australia - the only country to introduce plain packaging - suggests that the amount of tobacco delivered to retailers has risen in the year since changes were made. » | Laura Donnelly, Health Editor | Monday, March 24, 2014

Inside Story: Turkey Turns Off Twitter

Is the move by Turkey's regulator to block the social media site an isolated move or the start of greater restrictions?

Far-Right Makes Electoral Come-back across France

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen's Front National is now the third major force in French politics after large gains in the first round of municipal elections

France on Sunday woke up to a “new political age” that appears to have sounded the death knell of two-party politics in the country when the far-Right party Front National (FN) made surprising gains in municipal elections.

Surpassing even the most upbeat forecasts by Marine Le Pen, the FN leader, the anti-EU and anti-immigration party gained at least 10 per cent of the vote in 229 towns across France, qualifying them to run in the second round of elections on March 30. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, March 24, 2014

Mitt Romney Calls Barack Obama 'Naive' on Russia and Vladimir Putin

THE GUARDIAN: • Losing 2012 candidate slams president for 'faulty judgment'
• Senator Durbin accuses Republican of 'political amnesia'

Mitt Romney said on Sunday that President Barack Obama is naive when it comes to Russia, has shown "faulty judgment" about Moscow's intentions and could have done more to try to deter its annexation of Crimea.

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee said Obama had not had the foresight to anticipate Russia's moves and should have been working earlier with allies to make clear the penalties that Russia would face if it moved into Ukraine. Romney did acknowledge that such steps might not have been enough though to hold back Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

"Had we communicated those things, there's always the potential that we could have kept them from invading a country and annexing it into their own," Romney said in an appearance on Face the Nation, on CBS. » | Associated Press in Washington | Sunday, March 23, 2014


Putin urged to make Transdniestria his next conquest »

Russia Ready to Annex Moldova Region, Nato Commander Claims

THE GUARDIAN: Philip Breedlove says large force on eastern border of Ukraine could easily move into Trans-Dniester if the decision was made

Nato's most senior military commander said on Sunday that Russia had amassed a large military force on Ukraine's eastern border, and warned that Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester region could be the Kremlin's next target.

General Philip Breedlove, Nato's supreme allied commander, described the Russian force that began exercises 10 days ago as very, very sizeable and very, very ready.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Trans-Dniester if the decision was made to do that. That is very worrisome," Breedlove said. » | Luke Harding in Donetsk | Sunday, March 23, 2014