The New York Times editors express hope that a proposed cease-fire in Yemen might hold:
Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet soon with foreign ministers of gulf Arab nations. If he can make sure they go forward with the cease-fire, there may be a chance of ending a conflict that has slaughtered civilians, tarnished America’s standing and diverted resources from fighting the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
Russia has criticised US plans to position troops, tanks and other armored vehicles full time along NATO’s eastern borders, and said that Moscow is preparing a “completely asymmetrical” response to the deployments. Alexandr Grushko, Russia’s Ambassador to NATO said on Thursday that Moscow would not act like a “passive observer” but would rather undertake all those military measures needed to counter the “totally unjustified increased military presence.” Press TV reports: “Of course, our response will be completely asymmetrical.
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Military experts have warned that China is about to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to mainland America. As Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with officials in Washington DC for the Nuclear Security Summit, military experts have raised serious concerns over China’s DF-41 nuclear missiles: “Given the number of real reported tests, it is reasonable to speculate the DF-41 will be deployed to PLA Strategic Rocket Force bases in 2016,” said Richard Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
It was the most scandalous story of November 24: moments after Turkish forces had taken down a Russian fighter jet for allegedly violating Turkish airspace, Turkmen rebels in the region executed one of the parachuting pilots while he was descending to earth. As CNN Turk's Foreign Editor tweeted at the time, Turkmen rebels said: "We hit at the two pilots after they parachuted." This was a war crime.