World

Russia Test Fires Intercontinental Missile From Submerged Nuclear Submarine

A Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarine on Wednesday fired a test intercontinental missile from the Barents Sea to the country’s far eastern Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “Within the frameworks of testing the reliability of marine strategic nuclear forces, the Tula [nuclear submarine] launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea to the Kura Range [in Kamchatka],” the statement says. The RSM-54 intercontinental ballistic missile Sineva (NATO code name SS-N-23 Skiff) is part of the D-9RM launch system.

Europe has 421 million fewer birds than it did 30 years ago

Europe has an estimated 421 million fewer birds than three decades ago, and current treatment of the environment is unsustainable for many common species, a study released on Monday said. The population crash is related to modern farming methods and the loss and damage of habitats, according to the study published in science journal Ecology Letters. “This is a warning from birds throughout Europe.

Temple Mount crisis fuels unrest in volatile Jerusalem

Swirling winds and heavy downpours probably did more than the massive Israeli police presence to dampen Palestinian protests in Jerusalem over the weekend. Dire predictions that a third intifada was about to erupt after the brief closure of the Temple Mount — known to Arabs as the Noble Sanctuary — came to nothing. But the weather could not sweep away the toxic atmosphere in the city.

Russia Conducts Full ‘Nuclear Triad Drill’, Launches Topol-M ICBM

While east Ukraine, aka the Donetsk Republic, was voting over the weekend in what the west pre-emptively classified as another sham vote as its outcome would merely push east Ukraine even closer to the Kremlin, Russia was busy conducting its most comprehensive Nuclear preparedness drill in recent history, one involving the entire “nuclear triad” consisting of strategic bombers; submarines and an the ICBM shown below on Saturday morning. As reported earlier by the Barents Observer, the silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A few minutes later, the dummy nuclear warhead hits its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far eastern corner, the Ministry of Defense reports.

‘Status quo not viable option’ in Jerusalem, UN political chief tells Security Council

Ongoing tensions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank cannot be separated from the larger reality that remains unresolved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today. Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Jerusalem, Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, acknowledged that recent heightened tensions over unilateral actions, provocations and access restrictions at holy sites in Jerusalem are contributing to a volatile situation, and stressed that further delay in negotiations and the pursuit of peace would only serve to deepen divisions and further exacerbate the conflict. “The status quo is not a viable option,” Mr.

Russia Test Fires Bulava Sea-Based Ballistic Missile

Russia has successfully test-fired a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from the Borey-class Yury Dolgoruky nuclear-powered submarine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The missile was launched from the submerged submarine at a location in the Barents Sea and hit a designated target at the Kura test range on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, the ministry said in a statement. According to the statement, it was the first operational test launch of Bulava in line with the program of combat training.

Sweden becomes first European state to formally recognize Palestinian state

Israel has recalled its ambassador to Sweden to protest Stockholm’s recognition of a Palestinian state. Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson said Thursday the ambassador was being recalled for consultations, but declined to say how long he would remain in Israel. Hirschson said the move was made “because of the recognition of the Palestinian state.

Netanyahu approves over 1,000 new housing units in east Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized planning to advance 1,060 new housing units in neighborhoods in Jerusalem beyond the 1967 lines, officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said Monday. According to the officials, 660 of these units will be constructed in the northern neighborhood of Ramot Shlomo, and another 400 in Har Homa. Netanyahu has also given the green light to move forward infrastructure projects in the West Bank, including – the officials said – roads that will serve the Palestinians as well.

Obama Administration Reportedly Designed Snub of Israeli Defense Minister to Intentionally ‘Humiliate’ Him

The Obama administration’s mass snubbing of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon last week was designed to “humiliate” him, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, adding that Obama officials would continue to “ostracize” him until Ya’alon further apologizes for off-the-record comments he made about Kerry more than nine months ago. Barak Ravid, the diplomatic correspondent for the newspaper, compared the Obama administration move to a “hazing.” The public reprisal for the long-standing grudge prompted one Twitter user to quip, “So Obama does know how to deal with enemies.

Report: Palestinians accept US request to delay Security Council bid for statehood

The London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority has agreed to delay by two months its plan to seek a Security Council resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines within three years. The paper quoted Palestinian sources in Ramallah as saying that the PA leadership will give US Secretary of State John Kerry a two-month window to present his own plan for peace. The sources said that the PA leadership was nevertheless determined to proceed with the Security Council bid.

Canadian Shooter Was Recent Muslim Convert

Canadian authorities have identified the shooter who killed a soldier in Ottawa Wednesday as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau — a recent convert to Islam. Zehaf-Bibeau shot a soldier, 24-year-old Corporal Nathan Cirillo, at Ottawa’s National War Memorial, then entered the Canadian Parliament and fired several more rounds before the House of Commons Sergeant-At-Arms, Kevin Vickers, shot and killed him. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Canadian soldier killed as gunmen storm Ottawa capital complex

Multiple gunmen stormed the Canadian Parliament complex Wednesday, killing a soldier guarding the National War Memorial and spraying as many as 30 shots inside the government building in Ottawa in a brazen assault that left the nation’s capital on virtual lockdown just two days after a terror attack in Quebec, officials said. The shots rang out just before 10 a.m.

Brutal female police enforce ISIS sharia vision on women of caliphate

The Islamic State’s bid to impose Dark Ages law on the women within its so-called caliphate depends on a merciless cadre of young women who roam the streets of Raqqa, terrorizing females who fall short of the standard of strict Shariah. Known as the Al-Khansa brigade, the group consists of about 60 armed women between the ages of 18 and 24 who patrol the Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold. Their job, which they are said to perform with cruel relish, is to arrest and beat women who commit such transgressions as allowing ankles or wrists to show or being seen without a male chaperone.

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