Russia and Europe could be headed for a showdown over independence claims of a breakaway region in Georgia. Russia might be preparing to recognize Abkhazia sovereignty. The European Union opposes the move.
Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia last month gave hope to rebels who have been fighting to do the same in the region of [...]

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The latest Pentagon report on China is a sobering tale of advancing capability and aggression intentions inside Beijing. The report also illustrates newly developed weapons being fielded by the Chinese military based in part on advanced technology exported by the United States.
“China has the most active ballistic missile program in the world. It is [...]

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The annual intelligence report submitted to the Israeli government Sunday, March 9, predicted grave dangers to Israeli security in the coming year. However, even in the short term, DEBKAfile’s military and Middle East sources report the Israeli army, police and security forces are on guard for stormy events in the second half of March.
1. To [...]

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China’s environmental woes are mounting, and the country is fast becoming one of the leading polluters in the world. The situation continues to deteriorate because even when Beijing sets ambitious targets to protect the environment, local officials generally ignore them, preferring to concentrate on further advancing economic growth. Really improving the environment in China will [...]

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A pillar of China’s communist economic model, land collectivization, faces mounting pressure from farmers bent on privatization.
China’s constitution lays down the principle of collective ownership of land as the basis for its socialist economic system. But thousands of farmers, in direct violation of this principle, are demanding privatization of rural land (CSMonitor) and are unilaterally [...]

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Israeli military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet last week that an air force strike killed several Iranian, Lebanese and Syrian instructors sent to improve Hamas’s military and missile capabilities.
The air force strike took place on Feb. 28 in which five people were killed in a truck filled with more than [...]

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Iranian hardline students have offered rewards totalling a million dollars for the “execution” of three Israeli military leaders after Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza, the student news agency ISNA reported on Monday.
The group is even encouraging Iranians to donate their kidneys to increase the bounties on the heads of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Mossad [...]

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Chinese President Hu Jintao has called on the military to improve its ability to “win high-tech regional wars”, state media said on Monday, less than two weeks before arch rival Taiwan heads to the polls.
“We must intensify our effort to strengthen national defense and step up army building while going all out for economic, political, [...]

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Bethlehem, West Bank – Fadi al-Amour and his friends – high school seniors – spent more time last week on the street than in class. Every day, they marched on Rachel’s Tomb, guarded by Israeli soldiers, and, along with hundreds of other young Palestinians, pelted the nearest symbol of Israeli power with rocks and Molotov [...]

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So why is this cold-eyed machine politician so eager to portray himself as a ruthless tyrant?
The answer is that Russia is run by thugs — whether KGB or mobsters with guns — who respect brute force. Opposition, in business or politics, is simply eliminated. Stalin was in a league of his own, slaughtering millions of [...]

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