Politics

Originally posted at The Saker,

The situation in Syria has reached a watershed moment and a dramatic escalation of the war appears imminent. Let’s look again at how we reached this point.

Syrian Kurds known as the YPG, backed by the Russian Air Force captured the strategic city of Tel Rifat in northern Aleppo from ISIL on Monday. The highly strategic city close to the Turkish border is a loss for the terrorists and lays the road open for an advance eastwards into ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State territory. Fars News English reports: The People’s Protection Units (YPG) who enjoyed the Russian air backup prevailed the terrorists’ positions from the Western direction and shook hand with other Kurdish troops who entered the town from the North.

Israel are helping Persian Gulf states to acquire nuclear weapons in order to counter the ‘threat’ Iran poses, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon revealed at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday.  “We see signs that countries in the Arab world are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons, that they are not willing to sit quietly with Iran on brink of a nuclear or atomic bomb,” Ya’alon told fellow defense ministers on the final day of the Munich Security Conference.

The UK have announced plans to outlaw Israeli boycott campaigns by local councils, public bodies and student unions, in a controversial crackdown that many believe to be a severe infringement on free speech.  The new law will make it a criminal offence for publicly funded institutions to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in arms trades, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Independent.co.uk reports: Any public bodies that continue to pursue boycotts will face “severe penalties”, ministers said.

How quickly the official narrative changes.

Just several months ago, in October, we reported that the now-rattled largest European bank, Deutsche Bank, boosted its forecast for German 2016 GDP to 1.9% from 1.7% saying that "although the external and the financial environment have deteriorated we have lifted our 2016 GDP call... drivers are stronger real consumption growth due to lower oil prices/stronger EUR and the surge in immigration."