#chemical-weapons
#chemical-weapons

Friday Briefing: Hamas Considers Israel's Proposal

Hamas leader considers Israel's proposal positively, raising hope for talks in Cairo. [ more ]

euronews

Russia bombs Odesa again as situation worsens on eastern front

Kyiv's struggle deepens as Ukraine awaits military aid. [ more ]

www.nytimes.com

U.S. Accuses Russia of Using Chemical Weapons in Ukraine

Russia accused of using chemical weapons in Ukraine as a warfare method, violating global ban on such weapons. [ more ]

www.aljazeera.com

US accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine war

Washington accuses Moscow of breaching the global ban on chemical weapons with chloropicrin and tear gas in Ukraine. [ more ]

www.theguardian.com

1 month ago

Ukraine war briefing: alarm over drone attack on Zaporizhzhia power plant

The UN nuclear watchdog urges restraint after the attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, highlighting the risk of a major nuclear accident.

Russia accused of using illegal chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers, violating the Chemical Weapons Convention. [ more ]

www.theguardian.com

1 month ago

Russia accused of using chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers

Russia accused of using illegal chemical attacks against Ukrainian soldiers using small drones dropping tear gas and CS chemicals.

Ukrainian troops facing almost daily gas attacks, with evidence presented by an American combat medic describing the attacks as systematic. [ more ]

www.nytimes.com

Syria's Assad to Attend Arab League Summit After Yearslong Suspension

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria plans to attend a gathering of Arab leaders on Friday for the first time since he violently suppressed an anti-government uprising that morphed into a civil war, torturing and using chemical weapons on his own people.Syria's membership in the Arab League, suspended since 2011, was restored this month ahead of the leaders' summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

www.dw.com

Tony Blair: Putin can't use Iraq to justify Ukraine invasion DW 03/18/2023

Russia's invasion of Ukraine cannot be equated with the US-led invasion of Iraq, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the conflict that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.Blair said Moscow's forces had invaded "a country that has a democratically elected president who, to my knowledge, has never started a regional conflict or committed any aggression against its neighbours."

www.nytimes.com

World politics

New Earthquake Strikes Turkey, Rattling an Already Devastated Region

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday, killing at least one person and trapping others in collapsed buildings three weeks after a devastating quake struck the same region, leaving more than 50,000 people dead in the country and in neighboring Syria.The latest quake struck just after noon on Monday, south of the city of Malatya, according to the United States Geological Survey.

www.nytimes.com

Girls

Opinion | What 1940 Can Teach Us About 2022

On June 18, 1940, Churchill delivered his celebrated Finest Hour speech.The British Army had been evacuated from Dunkirk.France, under Petain, had decided to surrender.Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war, Churchill told the House of Commons.If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

www.aljazeera.com

Ukraine's Zelenskyy accuses Russia of planning to destroy dam

Ukrainian president says Russian forces planted explosives inside the Nova Kahkhovka dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir.

New York Daily News

Biden warns of 'Armageddon' risk as Putin threatens to use nukes

Russian President Vladimir Putin has brought the world closer to nuclear Armageddon than at any point since the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Biden warned Thursday night.

www.theguardian.com

The Thick of It was fuelled by my anger at the Iraq war and the way it left truth for dead | Armando Iannucci

Shortly before George W Bush and Tony Blair launched their war, the Arab League issued a statement declaring that invading Iraq would open the gates of hell.Of all the pieces of intelligence that the CIA and British agents were gathering at the time, this turned out to be the only accurate one.The invasion was launched on evidence about weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that consisted mostly of whatever it was Iraqi informants knew our intelligence agencies most wanted to hear and would happily pay for.

Washington Post

Analysis | Ukraine's Coming Attack Could Win or Lose the War

The Ukraine war is entering its third phase, and this one could well be decisive.

Phase one was Russia's failed blitzkrieg, meant to destroy the Ukrainian state.

Washington Post

Analysis | If AI Ever Becomes Sentient, It Will Let Us Know

Blake Lemoine, a senior software engineer in Google's Responsible AI organization, recently made claims that one of the company's products was a sentient being with consciousness and a soul.

New York Daily News

2 years ago

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny appeals 9-year prison sentence

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has launched the appeals process for a sentence that will keep him prisoner at a brutal Russian penal colony for the next nine years.

time.com

What the West Should Do If Putin Uses a Nuclear Weapon

As Vladimir Putin becomes more desperate in Ukraine, watching his killed-in-action tally rise weekly alongside the butcher's bill of destroyed equipment, his thoughts will turn to other options.We've already seen him launch a significant bombing campaign directed against critical Ukrainian infrastructureprimarily the electric gridjust in time to threaten civilians with blackouts and freezing home temperatures.

the Guardian

Pentagon spokesperson tamps down concerns over nuclear 'armageddon'

The US military's top spokesperson tamped down concerns of an imminent nuclear threat from Russia, days after Joe Biden warned of a potential nuclear "armageddon".

Nytimes

World politics

Biden calls the 'prospect of Armageddon' the highest since the Cuban missile crisis.

President Biden delivered a striking warning on Thursday night that recent threats from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia could devolve into a nuclear conflict, telling supporters at a fund-raiser in New York City that the risk of atomic war had not been so high since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nytimes

World politics

Biden calls the 'prospect of Armageddon' the highest since the Cuban missile crisis.

www.aljazeera.com

Don't, don't don't': Biden presses Putin on nuclear weapons

US leader warns any response will depend on the extent of what they do' in Ukraine.

www.aljazeera.com

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 207

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 207th day, we take a look at the main developments.

Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, September 18.

Washington Post

Ukraine live briefing: Major Russian supply bridge that symbolized Putin's occupation catches fire

Parts of a key bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula appeared to be on fire Saturday morning, Russian and Ukrainian media reported.

Washington Post

U.S. limits export of fentanyl to Russia, calling it a potential weapon

It slapped new controls on the export of quantum computing technology to Russia.

Washington Post

Putin blasts US 'hegemony,' predicts end to 'unipolar' world

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of trying to encourage extended hostilities in Ukraine as part of what he described Tuesday as Washington's alleged efforts to maintain its global hegemony.

www.aljazeera.com

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 798

Multiple Russian attacks causing casualties in various regions in Ukraine, US accuses Russia of using banned chemical weapons and riot control agents. [ more ]

New York Post

3 months ago

Russia intensifying chemical attacks on the battlefield, Ukraine says

Ukraine accuses Russia of using toxic chemicals in over 200 attacks in January alone.

Both Russia and Ukraine have denied each other's allegations of chemical weapon use. [ more ]

www.aljazeera.com

Iran blacklists more European officials as tensions rise

The foreign ministry in Tehran blacklists three entities and 22 individuals from the EU as well as a think tank and eight officials in the UK.Tehran, Iran Tehran has introduced more sanctions on European officials and entities for supporting terrorism and fomenting unrest in Iran.Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday blacklisted three entities and 22 individuals from the European Union in addition to one entity and eight officials from the United Kingdom.

www.france24.com

Live: Biden warns of the the risk of nuclear 'Armageddon'

HOUR BY HOUR 01:29 File photo: A member of the Ukrainian National Guard prepares a D-30 howitzer for a fire towards Russian troops in Kharkiv region, Ukraine October 5, 2022.

www.aljazeera.com

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 209

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 209th day, we take a look at the main developments.

the Guardian

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Joe Biden urges Vladimir Putin not to use tactical nuclear weapons after setbacks - live

Russia has reacted to its military setbacks in the past week by increasing its missile attacks on civilian infrastructure even if it does not have any military impact, according to the latest intelligence report from the British Ministry of Defence.

moreEurope news

Los Angeles Times

11 months ago

California

Prominent AI leaders warn of 'risk of extinction' from new technology

(Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

As artificial intelligence races toward everyday adoption, experts have come together - again - to express worry over technology's potential power to harm - or even end - human life.Months after Elon Musk and numerous others working in the field signed a letter in March seeking a pause in AI development, another group consisting of hundreds of AI-involved business leaders and academics signed on to a new statement from the Center for AI Safety that serves to "voice concerns about some of advanced AI's most severe risks."

Washington Post

Analysis | Abandoning the Middle East? Navy's AI Drone Fleet Says Otherwise

For more than a decade, Washington's Arab partners in the Persian Gulf have feared that the US is slowly abandoning the region.This view ignores strong evidence that the American security commitment remains high, even given the recent US-Saudi Arabia quarreling over oil prices.Nonetheless, the 50-year-old Carter Doctrine, the basis of the US security commitment in the Gulf region, needs to be updated and reaffirmed.

Washington Post

Analysis | All About the YPG, the Syrian Kurds Dividing Turkey and the US

For the US, the group was a critical ally in the campaign to defeat Islamic State in Syria and remains an important force keeping the jihadists from rising up again.Turkey, a US ally within NATO, views it as a terrorist threat.The group is the People's Protection Units, or YPG, a militia in Syria made up mostly of fighters representing the minority Kurdish community.

Washington Post

Analysis | Ukraine's Wins Make Russian War More Dangerous

Ukrainian forces have reconquered over 3,000 square kilometers of territory over the past week - more than all the territory Russia had added to its occupation in the six months since the start of the war.

Washington Post

Analysis | Europe Shouldn't Let Ukraine Go Into Default

The European Union cannot let Ukraine default.

Washington Post

Analysis | Don't Stop Ukraine Funding Because of Summer Vacation

The European Union cannot let Ukraine default.

Washington Post

2 years ago

Analysis | Why the Kurdish YPG Is an Issue in Sweden's NATO Bid

As Sweden and Finland moved toward applying for membership in NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they had expected no resistance.

Portland Mercury

Portland

YOUR SUNDAY READING LIST: Mayor's Sweeping Confused Plan, Naming that Adopted Kitten, and Let's VOTE, Mothereffers!

Plus, how our critic rated the mosh pit!
Suzette Smith
Portland-raised director Todd Field was best known, before now, for his acclaimed "In the Bedroom," but with Cate Blanchett as the central character in his new work "Tár," Field has made his most formally disciplined, ultimately enigmatic work to date.

Politics NY

Brooklyn

Sheinkopf Speaks: NYC progressives voiceless on Iran Morality Police

City streets clogged.Traffic-well we always have traffic.Not even a taxi cab driver honking.

www.aljazeera.com

Russia accuses Ukraine of chemical terrorism' using toxin

Kyiv dismisses the allegations of poisoning Russian soldiers with botulinum toxin and says invading troops likely ate expired canned food.

www.npr.org

Books

'The Facemaker' profiles the British surgeon who treated WWI's disfigured soldiers

There were no textbooks.

That's the one detail, amidst all the other revelations that Lindsey Fitzharris offers in The Facemaker, that continues to take me aback.

Washington Post

2 years ago