Samoa prime minister apologises after 2007 Nazi salute video emerges
Samoa's prime minister has apologised after a video surfaced showing him giving a Nazi salute and saying "Heil Hitler" at a family gathering in 2007. The seven-second clip shows Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt leading about a dozen people in the gesture. The footage was first reported by a local newspaper and has triggered a political controversy around the country's leader.Schmidt said the words and gesture were "inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt". He said the clip was recorded at a private gathering and was "not intended for the public". In a statement published on Facebook, he also said: "I... [Continue Reading]
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Conservatives pledge £10bn Britannia Shield air defence system
The Conservative Party has pledged to create a new missile and drone defence network called Britannia Shield if it returns to government at the next general election. The plan would commit up to £10bn over 10 years to an integrated system of radar, command and control, interceptor missiles and counter-drone capabilities. The proposal was set out ahead of a speech by shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge at the party conference in Birmingham.According to the party, the system would be designed to protect critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories from advanced threats. Cartlidge is expected to describe it as... [Continue Reading]
North Korea says missile test was designed to evade defences as tensions with South Korea rise
North Korea said it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile from the eastern coastal Wonsan area, describing the launch as a demonstration of a weapon it says can manoeuvre in flight to evade missile defences. The announcement came as tensions with South Korea remained elevated over landmine explosions near the border. South Korean and Japanese authorities both tracked the launch, which was reported on Saturday morning.Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said he oversaw the test and called the missile "strategic", a term that suggests it is intended to carry nuclear warheads. She also claimed... [Continue Reading]
South Korea threatens further action over Ukraine POW disclosure row
President Lee Jae Myung has threatened unspecified further action if Ukraine does not issue a public apology over the disclosure that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to South Korea. The dispute centres on remarks made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly last week, which Seoul says should have remained confidential. South Korean officials say the revelation has created a diplomatic row over the handling of the prisoners and the safety of their families.Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has described the matter as a diplomatic misunderstanding and said Kyiv is working to resolve... [Continue Reading]
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South Korea demands apology over DMZ blasts as North Korea denies planting mines
South Korea has demanded a formal apology from North Korea over landmine explosions in the Demilitarised Zone that injured three soldiers earlier this month. The latest exchange centres on the western section of the border buffer zone, where the blasts took place on 21 September near the military demarcation line. Seoul says the incident was a clear violation of the armistice that ended active fighting in the Korean War.Kang Hyunwoo, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff's director of operations, said the military strongly urged Pyongyang to apologise and take responsible measures to prevent a repeat. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul... [Continue Reading]
Fear the Shia, Arm the Sunnis: The Uncomfortable Numbers Behind America’s War Narrative
“When fear is managed carefully enough, a nation can be taught to look away from the blood on the floor and stare instead at the shadow on the wall.” A friend of mine, whose name I will not reveal because he asked me not to, sat across from me over dinner and placed a question on the table that would not leave me alone. He was born into a Muslim Shia background, and for the angle of this article, that detail matters, not because I wish to reduce a man to a sect, but because sect has become one of... [Continue Reading]


