President Vladimir Putin has carried out a major reshuffling of Russia’s law enforcement to grasp his hold on power, according to a Financial Times report. In the sudden reshuffle, Putin dismissed eight senior law enforcement officials and promoted twelve others who are viewed as Putin loyalists Business Insider UK reports: The reshuffle was first announced on the presidential website on Saturday as an official decree.
George Will has a rather odd plan for dealing with a Trump nomination:
Were he to be nominated, conservatives would have two tasks. One would be to help him lose 50 states [bold mine-DL] — condign punishment for his comprehensive disdain for conservative essentials, including the manners and grace that should lubricate the nation’s civic life. Second, conservatives can try to save from the anti-Trump undertow as many senators, representatives, governors and state legislators as possible [bold mine-DL].
The biggest financial and geopolitical story from mid-April was Saudi Arabia's threat that should the US pass a bipartisan law which would take away immunity from foreign governments in cases arising from a "terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil" and specifically could hold the Saudi kingdom responsible for its role in the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, then the Saudis would retaliate by selling up to $750 billion in American assets.
Sadly, a typical consequence of war is that innocent "collateral damage" lives are lost. The civil war in Syria is no different, as over the past week four medical facilities were hit with missiles from fighter jets taking out their targets from the skies, pushing the civilian death toll even higher.
NATO states are sending around 1,500 troops to participate in Estonia’s largest military drills which have been dubbed Spring Storm. Approximately 6,000 servicemen in total will be playing war games right on Russia’s doorstep despite Moscow’s repeated warnings of provocation. Russia Today reports: The country’s largest training exercise this year, comprising approximately 6,000 military personnel, including 1,500 allied soldiers, will run from May 2 to May 20, Estonian military said in a statement.