The Latest: Russia says US drone shot down in Iran airspace…
June 25, 2019
Russia's national security adviser says Russian intelligence has determined that Iran shot down an American drone last week over Iranian airspace.
Nikolai Patrushev's assessment contradicts U.S. claims that the aircraft was downed in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
Patrushev spoke to reporters after a three-way meeting with his Russian and Israeli counterparts in Jerusalem. He said Iran has not briefed Russia about the incident but that the Russian Defense Ministry has concluded the drone had entered Iranian airspace.
He says: "We have not seen any proof otherwise."...
Greece now ahead of UK in defence spending as share of GDP…
June 25, 2019
Estonia and the United Kingdom both spend 2.13% of their GDP on defence while Greece spends 2.24% and the US spends 3.42%...
Here are the top five countries by total expenditure:
- United States (730.15 billion dollars)
- United Kingdom (60.38 billion dollars)
- Germany (54.11 billion dollars)
- France (50.66 billion dollars)
- Italy (24.48 billion dollars)
SpaceX launched its heftiest rocket with 24 research satellites on Tuesday, a middle-of-the-night rideshare featuring a deep space atomic clock, solar sail, a clean and green rocket fuel testbed, and even human ashes…
June 25, 2019
Bolton sees U.S. pressure on Iran leading it to new talks…
Iran Vows That Path To Diplomacy Closed "Forever" After Latest US Sanctions...
June 25, 2019
“They’ll either get the point or ... we will simply enhance the maximum pressure campaign further,” Bolton told reporters after meeting his Russian and Israeli counterparts in Jerusalem. “It will be, I think, the combination of sanctions and other pressure that does bring Iran to the table.”
German City Foils ‘Neo-Nazi’ Festival by Confiscating All of Its Beer. Cops confiscated more than 4000 liters of beer from the Sword and Shield festival in Ostritz, while activists bought out the local supermarkets’ stock…
June 25, 2019
Ostritz residents did their part too: the BBC reports that they bought more than 200 crates of beer from the supermarket. "The plan was devised a week in advance,” Georg Salditt, a community activist, told Bild. “We wanted to dry the Nazis out. We thought, if an alcohol ban is coming, we'll empty the shelves at the [supermarket]."
Somewhere between 500 and 600 neo-Nazis attended the festival, which was soundtracked by concerts from “far-right extremist bands.” There were also more than 1,400 police officers present, including federal police, riot squads, and cops from elsewhere in Germany and Poland...
NATO calls on Russia to destroy new missile, warns of response…
June 25, 2019
“We call on Russia to take the responsible path, but we have seen no indication that Russia intends to do so,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference. “We will need to respond,” Stoltenberg said.
He declined to go into more details. But diplomats said defense ministers will consider more flights over Europe by U.S. warplanes capable of carrying nuclear warheads, more military training and the repositioning U.S. sea-based missiles.
Philippines’ Duterte Plays Down Recent Chinese Ramming of Filipino Fishing Boat And Calls It a ‘Mishap’…
June 25, 2019
His statement, made on Monday, comes amid nearly daily protests by Philippine nationalist groups over the incident. The demonstrators are pressing China to turn over the crew of the ship that rammed the smaller Filipino boat two weeks ago, sending its 22 crew members into the waters near Reed Bank before they were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel.
Reed Bank is well within the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, but China claims that area and virtually all the rest of the South China Sea...