Politics

RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled on Wednesday to intercept two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers heading towards UK airspace. The Telegraph reports: The Typhoon jets were dispatched from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Wednesday afternoon following the security alert. An RAF spokesman said the situation was “on-going” and was not uncommon. He said: “We have Typhoons up on a quick reaction alert. The situation is on-going.” It is believed the aircraft are with the Long Range Aviation branch of the Russian military. They have never penetrated UK airspace.

Jeb Bush made a campaign stop on Tuesday at a gun manufacturer in Columbia, Ohio. The Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeted a picture of his handgun manufactured by a company which has a history linked to arming the Nazis during World War two, and is currently a leading supplier to the U.S. military. The gun represents “America”, according to Bush, both the manufacturer and the country. The Washington Post reports: The short tweet includes only the word “America.” (with a period for emphasis) and a picture of a .45-caliber handgun engraved with his name: “Gov.

You would have thought that if there was any one event that could turn Europeans against the notion that the EU is capable of accommodating the millions of asylum seekers fleeing the war-torn Mid-East it would be a terrorist attack on a major European capital.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi slammed the United States and the European Union on Tuesday for their inaction over Turkey’s military deployment in the north of the country. He warned that Baghdad may be forced to get help from Russia to push back the Turkish forces. On December 4th 2015, the Turkish military deployed troops and heavy weaponry near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and have refused to withdraw despite repeated requests by Baghdad.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

A week after the New Hampshire Presidential Primaries, what lessons, if any, can we take from the dramatic victories of two outsider candidates? Former New Hampshire resident and occasional Automatic Earth contributor Nelson Lebo weighs in.