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☆ Israel's urban warfare tactics in Gaza offer lessons for NATO armies
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Urban warfare in Gaza has revealed a painful truth for NATO: Many of its armies are ill-prepared for fighting in crowded cities. There is good reason for concern: urban warfare has become a fixture of warfare on a rapidly urbanizing planet, from Fallujah in 2003 to Bakhmut in 2023. Israeli troops and their vehicles have faced challenges operating in sections of Gaza that the Israeli Air Force shattered. The biggest lesson of Gaza is the importance of firepower in urban warfare, according to RUSI. Related storiesFirepower played a decisive role "in determining initiative during the fighting in Gaza," RUSI said.

Persons: RUSI, Jack Watling, Nick Reynolds, Watling, Reynolds, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, NATO, Israel Defense Forces, British Army, Business, Royal United Services Institute, US Army, IDF, Israeli Air Force, Anadolu, Getty, Fighters, Hamas, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Gaza, British, Fallujah, Bakhmut, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Forbes

Israel’s top generals want to begin a cease-fire in Gaza even if it keeps Hamas in power for the time being, widening a rift between the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has opposed a truce that would allow Hamas to survive the war. The generals think that a truce would be the best way of freeing the roughly 120 Israelis still held, both dead and alive, in Gaza, according to interviews with six current and former security officials. Underequipped for further fighting after Israel’s longest war in decades, the generals also think their forces need time to recuperate in case a land war breaks out against Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that has been locked in a low-level fight with Israel since October, multiple officials said. A truce with Hamas could also make it easier to reach a deal with Hezbollah, according to the officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. Hezbollah has said it will continue to strike northern Israel until Israel stops fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Underequipped Organizations: Lebanese, Israel Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Opinion | America’s Military Is Not Prepared for War — or Peace
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Roger Wicker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“To be prepared for war,” George Washington said, “is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” President Ronald Reagan agreed with his forebear’s words, and peace through strength became a theme of his administration. It is far past time to rebuild America’s military. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has thrown Europe into war and mobilized his society for long-term conflict. Iran and its proxy groups have escalated their shadow war against Israel and increased attacks on U.S. ships and soldiers. Iran has provided Russia with battlefield drones, and China is sending technical and logistical help to aid Mr. Putin’s war.

Persons: ” George Washington, “, Ronald Reagan, America’s, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin Organizations: U.S . Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S . Navy Locations: American, China, Russia, Europe, Iran, Israel, Korea

☆ Why Australia keeps an arm’s length from South China Sea tensions, even as it draws closer with the Philippines
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the Australian Parliament last week there was no mistaking the fighting talk. The Philippines accused China's coast guard of setting up the barrier at the mouth of the disputed fishing ground. That meeting will also be attended by several other nations with territorial disagreements with China – including Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Australia was unlikely to back any tough language at the summit pertaining to the South China Sea or any other hot-button issue. As Bisley put it, “We don’t like what China does, but we’re not going to put ourselves in harm’s way.”

Persons: Ferdinand Marcos Jr, ”, Marcos, Rodrigo Duterte, –, Thomas Shoal, David, China’s, Marcos ’, China –, Scott Morrison, Collin Koh, Penny Wong annouced, Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Lukas Coch, Susannah Patton, it’s, ” Patton, China’s aggressions, Wang Wenbin, Nick Bisley, Bisley, we’re Organizations: CNN, Maxar, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, China, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, Australia, Australian, Partners, Reuters, South China, Southeast Asia, Lowy Institute, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, La Trobe University Locations: Philippines, China, South China, Manila, China’s, Philippine, Scarborough, Scarborough Shoal, Hague, United States, Canberra, Australia, Melbourne, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Beijing, Singapore, South, Penny Wong annouced Canberra, Southeast Asia, Japan, India

☆ A US veteran who says he fought in Ukraine accused Mike Johnson and MAGA Republicans of 'supporting the genocide of innocent people'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA US veteran who says he fought in Ukraine blasted House Speaker Mike Johnson, MAGA Republicans, and those who are blocking aid to Ukraine. The White House and war experts have said that Ukraine would fall without additional aid. AdvertisementHe also claimed to have seen the mass grave in Izium, a city in Ukraine that was eventually recaptured from Russia. Jackson added: "However imperfect we may be, we can come together on the simple fucking question that genocide is bad."

Persons: —, Mike Johnson, MAGA, John Jackson, Jackson, Jose Colon, Ronald Reagan Organizations: Service, MAGA Republicans, Business, Russia, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Mexico, Izium, Russia, Ukrainian, South Africa

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House is ready to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over border security, a deeply partisan and highly unusual attack on a Cabinet official that has drawn concerns from constitutional scholars and rebuke from Democrats. The House vote on the charges, which Democrats say are untrue and hardly grounds for impeachment, is set for Tuesday. “Very clearly Secretary Mayorkas has picked and chosen which laws he's going to enforce,” said Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, at a hearing ahead of the vote. Green’s committee had been investigating the Homeland Security secretary for much of the past year, but a resolution from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally, pushed it to the fore. Even if Republicans are able to impeach Mayorkas, he is not expected to be convicted in a Senate trial where Republican senators have been cool to the effort.

Persons: Alejandro Mayorkas, Mayorkas, “, ”, —, William Belknap, Mark Green, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Joe Neguse, Biden, Hunter Biden, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump, Mike Johnson, it's “, ” It's, Johnson, Jonathan Turley, Alan Dershowitz, Deborah Pearlstein, Belknap Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Homeland, Republicans, Homeland Security, Democrats, Mayorkas, Princeton Program, Law, Public, Capitol Locations: U.S, Mexico, Mayorkas, impeachments

Russia is executing soldiers who resist orders to throw themselves at heavily fortified positions using “human wave tactics” as part of a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, the White House said. Russian forces took heavy losses of machinery in the course of an assault involving a tank column, but Kirby’s emphasis was on the lack of regard Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military has for its own people. “We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders,” Kirby said. The White House documented cases earlier in the war in which Russian military members surrendered rather than fight. “Recent Russian equipment losses around Avdiivka will likely lead to even more pronounced Russian equipment shortages and setbacks for any progress that the Russian military has made in addressing degraded mechanized maneuver warfare capabilities,” the institute wrote.

Persons: John Kirby, Vladimir Putin’s, ” Kirby, “, “ Russia’s, ”, ” Kirby couldn’t, Kirby Organizations: National Security, House, The Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Avdiivka, Donetsk, Russian, Ukrainian, Avdiivika

REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The United States has information that the Russian military is executing soldiers who do not follow orders related to the war with Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday. "We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Russia's ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, in a comment on the Telegram messaging app, made no reference to the White House allegations. The United States has strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has been providing significant aid to Kyiv. "I think it's a symptom of ... how poorly Russia's military leaders know they're doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective," he said.

Persons: Alexey Pavlishak, John Kirby, Kirby, Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Russia's, Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Ronald Popeski, Arshad Mohammed, Daniel Wallis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, United, Kremlin, Antonov, Thomson Locations: Simferopol, Crimea, United States, Ukraine, Russian, Washington, U.S, Ukrainian, Avdiivka

☆ Modi’s Hindu-Supremacist Politics Are Pushing India to the Brink - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Debasish Roy Chowdhury | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Under Mr. Modi’s government, the state monopoly on violence is being surrendered to extremists and vigilantes. The targeting of minorities — particularly Muslims — by right-wing Hindu extremists is now a way of life in many states. A similar drive in neighboring Assam state targeting Muslims has already reportedly disenfranchised nearly two million people. Those were Meitei men in the horrific 26-second video, sexually assaulting two Kuki women. Many similar attacks on Kuki women have been reported.

Persons: stokes, Modi Locations: India, Manipur, Myanmar, Assam

☆ Niger's ousted prime minister hopes talks can end military coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Niger's Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou speaks about the situation in Niger during an exclusive interview with Reuters, in Paris, France, August 5, 2023. Niger's military takeover, the seventh in West and Central Africa in three years, has rocked the western Sahel region, one of the poorest in the world, which has strategic significance to global powers. Still, as the deadline loomed, Bazoum's Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou believed a last-minute intervention was possible, he said in an interview in Paris. France said on Saturday it will support efforts to overturn the coup, without specifying whether its backing would entail military assistance for an ECOWAS intervention. Niger's neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, where military juntas have also seized power in recent years, said they would support Niger in the event of military intervention.

Persons: Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, Stephanie Lecocq, Niger's, Mohamed Bazoum, Mahamadou, Bazoum, General Abdourahamane Tiani, Abdel, Fatau Musah, Mahamadou shrugged, Julitte Jabkhiro, Michel Rose, Clotaire Achi, Louise Dalmasso, Edward McAllister, Jan Harvey Organizations: Niger's, Reuters, REUTERS, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, Sunday, Bazoum's, Thomson Locations: Niger, Paris, France, Stephanie Lecocq NIAMEY, West, Central Africa, Niamey, Rome, China, Europe, Russia, Nigeria's, Abuja, Mali, Burkina Faso

☆ UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia's Wagner
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva told the Security Council that Mali had made a "sovereign decision." "Russia will continue to provide comprehensive support to Mali for normalizing the situation in that country on a bilateral basis." Ambassador Issa Konfourou told the Security Council. "The government regrets that the Security Council continues to consider the situation in Mali as a threat to international peace and security," Konfourou said. The Security Council deployed MINUSMA in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability.

Persons: Russia's Wagner, Mali's, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, John Kirby, Anna Evstigneeva, U.N, Issa Konfourou, Konfourou, Antonio Guterres, Abdoulaye Diop, MINUSMA, Michelle Nichols, Steve Holland, Caitlin Webber, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations Security, African, Security, House, Security Council, United Nations, Malian Foreign, MINUSMA, Thomson Locations: Mali, United States, Russia, French, Bamako, Malian, Washington

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

In the West, only about 10 people have died of monkeypox this year, figures from the U.S. CDC show. No monkeypox vaccines are publicly available in Africa. But those failures are being repeated a year on with monkeypox, the health workers consulted by Reuters said. Congo health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani told Reuters Congo was in talks with the WHO to buy vaccines, but no formal request had been made. A WHO spokeswoman said that in the absence of available vaccines, countries should instead focus on surveillance and contact tracing.

☆ Putin tries to boost decision-making and kit manufacture for Ukraine campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for more streamlined decision-making in Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, addressing a new Coordination Council designed to boost support for an invasion now in its ninth month. Putin set up the new council last week as he imposed martial law in four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine that he has declared part of Russia, where his forces have suffered several defeats by a resurgent Ukrainian army. "Administrative reform is impossible without broader coordination between all departments: the economic bloc, the security bloc, the regions." Even before Putin started a "partial mobilisation" of hundreds of thousands of men last month for the Ukraine campaign, soldiers were complaining on social media of being woefully underequipped. The chairman of the new council, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, told Putin: "We need to intensify work to increase the production of personal protective equipment.

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