When Boris Yeltsin left the Kremlin eight years ago, he gave Vladimir Putin the pen he had used to sign important documents and decrees, a gesture symbolizing the transfer of power to Russia’s new president. When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him. Putin, who became prime minister Thursday, has signaled that [...]

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Thursday’s gun battles broke out only minutes after the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, appeared on TV to accuse the Lebanese government of declaring war on his movement, whose raison d’etre is to resist Israel.
He said the only way out of the current crisis was for the government to rescind the decisions it took on Monday [...]

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On Israel’s 60th birthday, the Jewish state may be readying for its biggest fight yet. What that could mean for the next American president.
Arguably, it is at even greater risk now than it was then. Very soon now Israel could be engaged in the biggest battle for existence it has ever faced in its not-so-short-any-longer [...]

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Russia’s oil industry
WHEN the price of oil reached another record on May 6th, of over $122 a barrel, analysts pointed to attacks on pipelines in Nigeria and turmoil in Iraq as the immediate causes. Even small disruptions to supplies from such places can cause the price to jump, since only Saudi Arabia has the capacity [...]

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China as an “emerging superpower” makes for a compelling story line in the media. It is reinforced by the propaganda image that the current Chinese leadership would like us to accept. But the reality is quite different. Although recent events in Tibet and western China – and the central government’s response – appear to be [...]

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Left-wing governments in Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia have all become allies of Iran in recent years, and other countries in Latin America have diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic.
Shannon said Iran wants to ease its international isolation by showing it is able to win friends in Latin America, which has been historically in the [...]

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My forecast is based on the assumption that current trends in the world and in the Middle East will continue in the next decade and may even intensify. We should also recall that 10 years are, more or less, the time required to develop new weapon systems. The Israeli experience also proves that every 10 [...]

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The rattle of gunfire and crump of exploding rockets that shook the near-deserted streets of Beirut Wednesday seemed to signal the arrival of the long-feared showdown between the Western-backed government and its opponents led by Hizballah. Thick plumes of black smoke from barricades of burning tyres cast a deep pall over the capital, as many [...]

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North Korea has up to ten plutonium war charges in its nuclear arsenal. These data were given by former South Korean foreign minister and delegation head at the six-party talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula Lee Soo-hyuck in his book, published in Seoul.
The 59-year-old veteran of the South Korean diplomatic service noted, “North [...]

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Pakistan said it test-fired a short-range cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead Thursday, one day after archrival India test-fired a long-range missile with nuclear capability.
The 220-mile-range Pakistani missile, known as the Ra’ad or Hatf VIII, was developed exclusively for launch from aircraft, a military statement said.
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New Delhi flexing its muscles, test-fires nuclear [...]

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These phoney humanitarian protests, however, are in reality nothing more than a cheap camouflage used to cover the real reason for the German left’s opposition to the deal, namely, its deep-rooted anti-Americanism.
It’s bad enough that such anti-accord Germans seem to have forgotten 9/11, a good part of which was planned in their country. Many of [...]

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The significance of the Jin SSBN is in its ability to provide credible second strike capability for China, which the previous version, the Xia-class of SSBN was only able to provide notionally at best. It is believed that in the India-China match-up, while India enjoys conventional superiority, China has an overwhelming strategic superiority over India.
With [...]

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LONDON: The US risks starting a new Cold war by proposing to build its missile shield in central and eastern Europe, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned in comments published in London yesterday.
Washington claims the anti-missile system it wants to base in Poland and the Czech Republic is aimed solely at countering the threat from [...]

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A leading arms expert said Thursday that China is making dramatic improvements to its nuclear arsenal, raising questions for future arms control efforts.
Recent upgrades have increased the accuracy and mobility of China’s arsenal, while a switch from liquid to solid fuel has shortened reaction times, said Bates Gill, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research [...]

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Chinese officials at the Toulouse Space Show have announced plans to put an Asia-wide satellite positioning system in place by 2010 to work alongside the US GPS and European Galileo programmes.
The Beidou/Compass system already has four satellites in position. It will be free to use, but will include an encrypted channel for “authorised” users.
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ISRAEL’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY
Israel’s right to exist is questioned on a daily basis — and not just by radical Palestinians, but also by prominent intellectuals. As the country celebrates its 60th anniversary, they are sending their case against Israel in messages disguised as birthday greetings. But their supposed concern about the Middle East is really just [...]

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