Author: War Watch Now

A senior figure from South Africa’s ruling ANC party has defended his country’s sovereignty amid growing tensions with the US over race relations and a new land law.”We are a free country, we’re a sovereign country. We’re not a province of the United States and that sovereignty will be defended,” ANC National Chair Gwede Mantashe said on Sunday.US President Donald Trump has hit out at South Africa’s new expropriation law, signing an executive order in February stating it was a means to which the government could “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”.President Cyril Ramaphosa says the law ensures…

Vancouver’s interim police chief, Steve Rai, addressed reporters on Sunday, saying that there are now 11 confirmed deaths from the car-ramming attack, with the death toll expected to rise in the coming days.Rai added that dozens more are injured, with some sustaining serious injuries. Victims have been transported by ambulance to nine hospitals across metro Vancouver. The victims are both male and female and “young people” are among them, Rai said.The Lapu Lapu Day festival where hundreds of attendees were gathered was scheduled to end at 8pm PT, but there were still hundreds out on the street at the time.Rai…

Rome, Italy – About 250,000 mourners in Vatican City fell into hushed silence on Saturday morning as the funeral for Pope Francis began. The church choir echoed through loudspeakers across the city-state. Some bowed their heads in respect. Others clasped their hands in silent prayer. Just after 10am (08:00 GMT), the pope’s coffin was brought out of St Peter’s Basilica. Most of the crowd, too far away to catch a glimpse, turned to the large screens dotted around St Peter’s Square. Police officers, stewards and military personnel who had been directing crowds through cordoned-off streets since dawn finally relaxed as…

We’ve all imagined what we would do if we were king for a day. Even federal judges. Remember the joke, “Question: What’s the difference between God and a federal judge? Answer: God knows that he’s not a federal judge.” Well, for some federal judges, that’s no joke; they genuinely don’t know the difference. President Donald Trump has decided (among other things) to enforce federal immigration laws and remake the administrative state. Not everyone is happy. Numerous lawsuits—almost more than “the stars of the heaven” or “the sand which is upon the sea shore”—have been filed to slow or halt some of…

Author and Page informationby Anup ShahThis page Created Monday, October 07, 2013This page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/802/surveillance-state.To print all information (e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links), use the print version: At the start of June 2013, a large number of documents detailing surveillance by intelligence agencies such as the US’s NSA and UK’s GCHQ started to be revealed, based on information supplied by NSA whistle blower, Edward Snowden.These leaks revealed a massive surveillance program that included interception of email and other Internet communications and phone call tapping. Some of it appears illegal, while other revelations show the US spying on friendly nations…

Repeated threats by US to seize Greenland loom over Nielsen’s first visit to Denmark since taking office.Greenland’s prime minister and his Danish counterpart have presented a united front, criticising United States President Donald Trump’s administration for a lack of respect in its designs to seize the Arctic island, a self-governed Danish territory. “We will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by anyone, and that’s the message I think is most important to understand,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen told reporters on Sunday at a joint news conference in Copenhagen alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Trump’s repeated threats…

Getty ImagesThick black smoke was still towering above the port on SundayIn Iran, mourning is turning to anger after a huge blast at its largest commercial port killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000.The explosion happened on Saturday morning at Shahid Rajaee port. Many people rushed to hospitals up and down the country to give blood.A day later, fires are still blazing as a thick black cloud of toxic chemicals hangs over the surrounding area.People in nearby towns and cities have been told by the health ministry to stay indoors “until further notice” and wear more protective…

27 April 1805In what is modern-day Libya, US Marines and Arab mercenaries attack the port of Derna, hoping to crush the power of the Barbary corsairs.27 April 1810Pioneering road builder John Metcalf died near Wetherby, aged 92. Popularly known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough, he constructed about 180 miles of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England.27 April 1813Toronto (then known as York) was captured, looted and burned by invading American forces which had defeated a small force of British regulars, Canadian militia and native American warriors under Sir Roger Sheaffe. The British blew up their powder magazine to…

Your adversaries and closest allies might not need nuclear weapons to achieve deterrence — they just need you to believe they could build them at any moment. Nuclear proliferation is once again in the news. Iran is moving exceedingly close to a nuclear weapon. U.S. allies are calling for nuclear weapons with renewed fervor too. On March 7, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that it was now time to “reach for opportunities related to nuclear weapons.” South Korean leaders have made similar public calls for exploring the nuclear option. These events seemingly suggest we are entering a new era,…

Fifty years ago on Wednesday, North Vietnamese forces took Saigon’s presidential palace, marking the end of the Vietnam War—a two-decade-long conflict that shaped the second half of the 20th century. The American War, as it’s called in Vietnam, led to the deaths of millions of Vietnamese people and more than 50,000 U.S. troops. Arguably the first forever war, it is widely remembered as one of Washington’s greatest foreign-policy disasters. Today, the war continues to haunt global affairs. To mark the anniversary, which the Trump administration has explicitly directed U.S. diplomats in Vietnam not to commemorate, we’re sharing essays on the…